Chapter 19

019.

Everyone’s gaze fell on the man lying flat on the ground.

“Huh? It is you, right? Mister. You know me, don’t ya?”

As Tofu approached him accusingly, the man hurriedly whipped his head from side to side, desperately trying to avoid his gaze.

“Y-you have the wrong person. I-I’m not that mister.”

The man answered in a disguised voice, apparently trying somehow to conceal his identity.

……Is he pretending to be a woman?

“It is you! Turn your head this way so I can get a good look.”

“I-I said it isn’t!”

Tofu finally grabbed the man by the back of his neck and forcibly turned his head.

When the man’s face, covered in dirt and blood, was fully revealed beneath the flickering torchlight, Tofu clapped his hands with certainty.

“See, it is you! You’re that mister who was in Teren village square!”

“Who is he? Someone you know?”

When I asked, Tofu started to answer, then suddenly seemed to remember something. His expression turned fierce as he shouted.

“Wouldn’t exactly call him someone I know…… but I saw him when I was sellin’ potatoes. Wait. Hold on a second, mister. Did you…… follow me here?”

He was definitely suspicious.

For a human to wander alone through this incredibly dangerous frontier, without even proper equipment, was practically suicide.

And no matter how closely I examined the man’s knuckles or build, he did not have the air of a warrior skilled in combat or hunting.

“Answer properly.”

At that moment, a flat voice came from behind me.

It was Zakan.

Bright red blood was soaking through his bandages, but the murderous intent and pressure radiating from his entire body were so ominous that even I flinched.

“E-eek! P-please spare me!”

Meeting Zakan’s blazing gaze, the man foamed at the mouth like a frog before a snake and slammed his head against the ground.

“You. Did you follow Tofu?”

“I-I-I’m sorry! Please, just spare my life……!”

The man began wailing while trembling like an aspen leaf.

Honestly, there was no need to listen to a long excuse. The story was obvious.

Tofu had pulled the bizarre stunt of selling potatoes for ten times the market price in the village square.

Naturally, flies drawn by the smell of money would gather, hoping to strike the kid from behind after he made such a huge profit.

“Seriously, what an unbelievable bastard! So you followed me all the way here to rob me or somethin’!?”

“N-no! I swear I-I wasn’t tryin’ to rob you! I-I just…… wanted to secretly find out where those magical crops came from, then steal from the field……!”

The man cried out indignantly.

So he had been after the magical crops rather than Tofu’s money? Sly bastard.

“Look carefully at what your greed has done.”

Zakan looked around at the ruined village and spoke firmly.

“You destroyed our defensive line and drove our children to the brink of death. On top of that, you turned the precious village our ancestors have lived in for generations into ruins. It is no different from trying to steal the lives of our tribe.”

“Th-th-that…… couldn’t be helped! A monster suddenly appeared……!”

“So that greedy humans never again dare to prowl around a warrior’s land, I will cut off your wrist and make an example of you.”

The moment Zakan passed judgment, Tofu let out an “Eek!” and abruptly turned away.

Normally I would have stopped him, but this time I also kept my mouth firmly shut.

Because of that stupid human, the kids had nearly died…… and even Zakan had suffered a serious injury.

At Zakan’s gesture, the furious kids rushed in, roughly pinned the man’s arms down, and bound him.

“Aaaaaagh! N-no! Please! Please forgive me!”

“I will cut it off in one stroke without pain.”

“L-let go! Let me go! Please, just this once! I-I make my living with my hands. Please!”

The man struggled desperately, shedding bloody tears.

He twisted his body and tried with all his strength to escape, but there was no way an ordinary human could break free from a barbarian’s grip.

The moment Zakan raised his greatsword high.

Sensing his death, the man frantically looked back and forth between the wreckage of the collapsed tents and fences before screaming desperately.

“I-I’m useful! I can help! The village is all broken, isn’t it!”

Even at that shout, Zakan indifferently swung his greatsword.

“Aaaaaagh! I’m a carpenter! I can fix all of it! I can fix it. Sob, sob. I’ll take responsibility and put it all back…… n-no! I’ll rebuild it much sturdier than before!”

A carpenter?

“Wait, Zakan!”

Clang-

The axe I thrust out barely stopped Zakan’s greatsword.

Ugh…… my wrist tingled painfully, but I forced myself to keep a straight face and looked down at the man sprawled on the ground.

“You. Did you just say you are a carpenter?”

“Sniff…… sob. Yes! Yes! That’s right. I’m a carpenter. When it comes to working with wood, I’m incredible!”

As though unwilling to let go of the lifeline I had thrown him, the man crawled toward me on his knees, grabbed the hem of my trousers, and nodded furiously.

“Izak. Move.”

“Zakan. Why not give this human to me? I need him.”

“We cannot break the law. One who tried to steal our home must pay the price for his crime.”

Zakan did not back down. With a firm gaze, he raised his greatsword again.

Sigh…… no helping it. I’ll have to explain logically.

Tingle-

[Barbarian Spirit resists!]

Why now, of all moments?

It normally caused no trouble, then hit the brakes only when I truly needed it, as though genuinely telling me to go screw myself.

Not a chance. I’ll try again.

[Barbarian Spirit resists! A massive amount of Mental Strength is being consumed.]

“Gasp! Izak’s nose is bleeding. He is using wisdom!”

As I resisted Barbarian Spirit through a headache that felt as though my head might burst, blood predictably streamed from both nostrils.

“Zakan. Look at the collapsed wreckage. If you cut off this man’s wrist according to the law, does the destroyed village come back? No. We only lose the craftsman who could repair it. The Red Moon will rise again soon. The White Winter will come soon. If another monster like the Varg attacks us right now…… what will you do then?”

“……Izak. Stop using wisdom. You are harming your body.”

“The ancestral god says this man will survive, tend our home, and raise our defensive walls high to pay for his crime.”

“If he fails to prove his usefulness, then I will follow the law.”

“Yes! Understood! I’ll show you. I’ll work really hard. I’ll do well!”

Only then did the stubborn chief lower his greatsword, while the carpenter, who had even pissed himself, bowed to me with a face covered in tears and snot.

Whew…….

Every single moment is exhausting.

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After roughly sorting everything out.

I walked through the ruined village in the darkness with Zakan.

Despite being wounded, he followed firmly beside me like a rock without showing even the slightest sign of pain.

Looking around slowly, the village was more severely damaged than I had thought.

Torn tents, barricades and fences shattered to pieces.

But those could be repaired. The important thing was not that the village fence had merely been broken.

“……You were reckless, Zakan.”

This time, I had no choice but to reprimand him.

“You were not cautious in the battle against the Varg. That was something you should never have done as chief.”

“…….”

“If you are gone, the Rock Tribe collapses. The one you had to protect until the very end was yourself.”

It might sound cold in a way, but this was the law of survival.

Without a leader, the pack scattered and was annihilated.

But even after my reprimand, Zakan offered no excuse, his stubborn gaze fixed on empty space.

“My village, my tribe members. I protect them.”

After a long silence, his voice was as stubborn as expected.

Still wearing a sullen expression, Zakan stared straight ahead at the collapsed wreckage and added in a flat voice.

“Just as my father protected us. I will not let anyone die on my land either. Never again.”

The deep trauma of a boy who had once lost all of his precious family.

And the abnormally heavy sense of responsibility he bore as chief.

Yeah. A few words from me could not change conviction as solid as rock.

But…… what a frustrating, inflexible, stubborn fragile little barbarian.

Just as I let out a small sigh.

“POTATO-!”

Potatodori, which had been sleeping inside my clothes like it was dead, suddenly popped out and smacked the stubborn teenage chief right on the jaw.

“……?!”

Zakan’s large eyes filled with disbelief at the completely unexpected blow.

“Why…… is the spirit hitting me?”

His dumbfounded expression was strangely satisfying, so I stroked Potatodori’s round head and chuckled.

“You deserved it.”

Good job-! Potatodori!

____________

The next morning.

I called over the man who had been tied with rope and dumped in a corner of the tent.

He seemed to have recovered somewhat from last night’s terror of death, but whenever barbarians wandered nearby, he hunched his shoulders and trembled.

“All right, human. What is your name?”

“Yes!? Ah! M-my name. My name is Jack.”

“You said you are a carpenter?”

“Ah…… w-well, I used to be a carpenter.”

“Used to be?”

At my question, Jack nervously rolled his hollow eyes around before nodding as though he had no choice.

“……Truth is, after I got out of ‘the slammer,’ nobody would give me work anymore.”

“Prison? Are you a criminal?”

When my voice turned cold, Jack thumped his chest indignantly.

“C-criminal!? That’s how it’s recorded, but I’m really innocent! I truly didn’t know. I didn’t know it was an illegal structure……! I just did what the nobleman told me to do……!”

Hmm. It was such an absurdly common cliché of a story that there was not even any need to determine whether it was true or false.

What mattered was this guy’s skill.

“I do not care about your story. How can I trust you? If you run away, that will put me in trouble as well.”

“P-please trust me, Shaman! Truth is, now that I’ve been branded a criminal, I got no way to make a living even if I return to the village. If you just spare my life, I swear I’ll take responsibility and perfectly rebuild this destroyed village!”

Jack desperately shouted and pulled a tattered notebook from inside his clothes before opening it for me.

When did he even do this? It contained sketches of the village, the necessary materials, and the blueprints he was planning.

When I looked at the notebook with interest, cowardly Jack’s eyes suddenly changed, and he began chattering excitedly.

“Look here! The current barricades in this village are complete garbage from the foundation load design onward, no, they’re a total mess! If ya drive the posts straight down vertically without calculating soil density, they’ve got no strength. You need to excavate the ground and use intersecting wedges at a 45-degree angle…….”

What is he talking about?

Anyway, all kinds of technical terms and figures I could not understand came pouring out.

Jack gestured into the air and passionately rambled with madness gleaming in his eyes.

I crossed my arms and repeatedly nodded with a serious expression.

‘I don’t understand a single thing he’s saying, though…….’

“Excellent insight, Jack. I will trust you and leave it to you. But if you run away or your skills are terrible, I will kill you.”

“Gasp! Y-yes! Understood.”

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After successfully finishing my interview with Carpenter Jack, I resumed patrolling the village to determine the exact extent of the damage.

‘The warehouse is safe.’

Fortunately, even amid the Varg’s rampage, the warehouse containing our precious food had not been destroyed.

The moment I reached the warehouse with a satisfied heart, I felt something strange.

Warehouse Keeper Malko.

That idiot, who had an almost pathological pride in his occupation, had abandoned his post!

“Malko!”

Feeling an ominous chill, I entered the warehouse and found Malko crouched in a dark corner, staring at something.

“What are you doing here?”

Without taking his eyes from the floor, Malko thought deeply about something before speaking.

“Izak. Strange.”

Gasp-! I’m more surprised that you’re thinking!

Anyway, Malko continued staring intently at the potatoes arranged in a straight line to dry and muttered.

“The potatoes…… why did they turn into stones?”

What nonsense is this now?

When I crouched beside him, Malko pointed at the ground.

But…… why is it actually true?

Looking where he pointed, I saw three gleaming pebbles sitting where three potatoes had been at the end of the row.

“Look. Potatoes turned into stones.”

What is this?

“Magic! Wizard turned potatoes into stones.”

“…….”

Malko shouted confidently as though he had figured it out.

“Izak, what do we do? What if all potatoes turn into stones!”

……Yeah. That would be a serious problem.

If a wizard who turns potatoes into stones attacked us, that would definitely be serious.

But what bored wizard would ever do something like that!

I roughly nodded along with Malko’s nonsense and raised a hand as though calming him down.

“Malko.”

“Yes!”

“Starting today, guard the warehouse all day long. There is only one person I can entrust with this mission. The Great Warehouse Keeper Malko. You.”

“Trust me! I, Great Warehouse Keeper Malko. I will not take one step outside warehouse.”

Idiot Malko struck a salute while his hole-riddled leather clothes fluttered.

Anyway, after assigning him the mission, I turned away with an uneasy feeling.

Did the kids play some kind of prank……?

That evening.

“Aaaaaaaaagh-! Izak! More potatoes turned into stones!”

Malko came running over in a panic and shouted.