Bjorn Yandel the Barbarian

My stomach is disgusting, my lips are dry, and my throat is stuffy because it has lost moisture.

However, rather than such discomfort, questions came first.

‘But why am I doing this?’

Cogtooth’s vice-captain, James Carla, took a deep breath and opened his eyes, like someone who had stopped breathing.

“Huup…!”

The first thing I saw was an unfamiliar ceiling.

Luxurious hardwood has beautiful patterns engraved on it, and a gorgeous chandelier hangs from a string next to the ceiling.

As I was inferring where this place was with a dejected mind, a man’s face appeared in front of me.

“Looks like you’ve come to your senses.”

Jun, a paladin of Tovera Church.

When I first saw it, I wondered why such a handsome paladin—

“Ah…!”

Recalling the last memory before passing out, James jumped up and stood up. And fortunately, I hurriedly asked the paladin whose face was not hit in time.

“The match is… How was the match?”

At his question, the paladin awkwardly raised the corner of his mouth.

“You already know, don’t you?”

“Then…”

“Yes, I lost. In many ways, he was really strong. He was.”

Unlike the paladin, whose voice did not show even regret, James Carla sighed involuntarily.

“Is it difficult for Carla-sama to surrender?”

“That’s not… it’s just… I didn’t know what to say to the Arminus Firm or the Explorers’ Guild, who believed in me and supported me…” “Why don’t you be

honest?”

“The four of us got into a fight and lost, so we were put in a position where we had to give the captaincy to some savage human?

“Excuse me. The word savage is too impressive.”

At that, James Carla admitted his mistake.

Realizing what it would look like to say such slanderous words from a defeated position.

It must have seemed like gossiping to put it down.

Like the disgusting squire he met countless times as he rose to the position of vice-captain.

“Is Carla still having a hard time accepting him?”

“That’s…”

he replied in a bitter tone.

“It’s not like that.”

It was a sincere statement, not a pretense.

Although the word barbaric came out first, it was only because the impact of the first impression was too great.

“He was… a smart man.”

The paladin agreed without objection to Kala’s chanting.

“Yes it is.”

“Looking back, from the beginning, we played in his hands. They thought we were easy to see. In reality, it wasn’t like that at all.”

“That’s right. It’s embarrassing, but I also didn’t think that we would lose until the end. It must be that I’m still lacking in discipline.”

James Carla strongly agreed.

If, instead of laughing at the word ‘man after the blood spirit’ for the first time, if he had investigated more closely, this situation might not have happened.

“The problem is that I don’t know how other people will react to it. Oh, where are Sir Kaislan and Aakuraba-senpai?”

“I’m in another room. I was unconscious until now, but I don’t know how it is now. Unlike Lady Carla, her injuries were more severe.”

“…You’d better go see it yourself.”

Afterwards, the two separated and headed to their private hospital rooms.

The healing of the body has already been completed through the priest, and I just have to wait for consciousness to recover?

As I sat and waited, before long, Titana Aqurava opened her eyes.

“Looking at that expression… I guess I lost?”

Unlike James, she didn’t ask long questions.

He just stayed silent for a while with a confused look, and then asked where the others were.

“Akurava-sama is also awake. Are there any uncomfortable places?”

“Yes, fortunately. But… where is the man?”

“Well, I don’t know. Maybe it’s just giving us time to wake up and clear our minds.”

“I hope that man is so delicate.”

When Aqlava spoke lightly, the quiet atmosphere became a little lighter. As we were talking about Doran in that state, Kaislan also came to his senses.

“…He! What happened to him!”

It was time for a serious discussion.

***

“That’s right. We lost……”

He muttered deep remorse and anger for no reason.

Soon, Knight Kaislan clenched his fists.

“I cannot admit it.”

“The fact that you lost?”

“No, I’m not foolish enough to deny that. However, it’s different for us to lose and for him to use a combat coat of arms.”

“You mean you’re going to break a promise that was notarized in front of the Marquis?”

When the name of the Marquis came out, Kaislan also briefly flinched, but it was not enough to break his stubbornness.

“Then, will you all agree? Thirty people! It’s not just thirty people, they’re the best talents who carry the future of this city! But you’re going to entrust their lives to those who have nothing but strength? I can’t!”

At the sharp cry, James Carla unknowingly grabbed his throbbing forehead. I didn’t know that I was a person who had no answers until this point.

“Is Kaislan claiming that he is better than that man in any other field other than military force?”

“I mean all of us, not just me. Aren’t we better off than a guy who doesn’t know where he got it from?”

“I see. If so, where would you like to tell me?”

“I don’t understand why he looks like that. Didn’t everyone have an in-depth conversation earlier about what an ideal commander would be? Except for him, not a single person has ever talked about force.”

“It was.”

“Didn’t everyone know? A commander’s military power has a lower priority than any other quality.”

Even to James, the knight’s words were not wrong.

A commander is a person who handles a famous sword, but he does not necessarily have to be a master swordsman.

However…

‘The result can’t be changed as long as the Marquis notarizes it. It would be better to draw the line now.’

James opened his mouth after finishing his political calculations.

“I don’t consider him inferior in quality to ours.”

“…what?”

“It’s hard to say from a losing standpoint, but he wasn’t significantly stronger than the four of us.”

James sincerely thought so.

If we had had time to come to an agreement in advance and dealt with it sincerely from the beginning, the winner would have been different.

But…

‘It won’t be meaningful now.’

“In one match, we lost and he won. Do you know what made the difference?”

The knight looked at him with a displeased expression, but did not reply.

So, James didn’t wait any longer and continued.

“Because I lacked information. I knew it when we fought. He already knew us all too well. What essence we had and what equipment we used.”

“So he’s a good fit for the ideal commander you said? Come to your senses! He just got information from the Marquis!”

“Isn’t that the scariest thing? We didn’t even know who was coming here until we got here, but the Marquis was different.”

At James’s words, Kaislan did not speak at length.

“Yes, I see what you mean. You’re just going to watch him stand over us. Do you all agree?”

Soon, Kaislan’s gaze moved to the 9th floor explorer Titana Aqurava.

But…

“Even if you look at it that way, I’m not too different.”

There was no support fire expected.

“…What’s the reason? Is it because you’re afraid of the Marquis?”

“I wouldn’t say there is none at all. But there are other reasons bigger than that.”

“Another reason?”

“Yes. I didn’t think that he would be worse than us.”

When Kaislan narrowed his eyes, as if he didn’t understand, Akurava shrugged and continued.

“What I was impressed with was not his back stomach, but his original meticulousness.”

“Meticulous…?”

Kaislan exhaled air as if he had been deaf.

“Yes. Meticulousness. For instance, how was it at the dinner table? He knew about us, but acted like he didn’t know, acted arrogantly and tried to get us to take the bait.”

Where is that?

It was the same after the battle.

I saved the abilities of various essences until the end, and only took them out when I could show the most optimal efficiency.

A prime example was James Carla.

He was lethargic and had to bear more burden in the beginning with the remaining three.

“And this… it’s a bit hard to call it judgment, but it was phenomenal when it came to fighting.”

“…He was born to sleep.”

It seemed like we were burning ourselves, but when we came to our senses, we were also entangled in the strong flames.

In that situation, he smiled contentedly.

“At the time, I thought it was a battle method left to instinct, but now that I think about it, it seems that I made a decision after making a thorough rational decision.”

“If that’s true, that would be surprising. Giving up one eye and hitting Lord Kaislan with the hammer was a rational decision.”

“It was from then that the battle line collapsed, so the gains were much greater from that point of view.”

Kaislan gritted his teeth as James Carla and the paladin exchanged compliments.

I didn’t understand at all.

‘What are the interest rates?’

You know how important the position of expedition leader is, but it’s like this.

It was to the point where I doubted that he might have made a secret pact with the Marquis while he was unconscious.

However, whether or not they thought about it, the conversation continued.

“Actually… the thing I value most is my determination to achieve my goal.”

Ha, are you determined this time?

Kaislan snorted, but the paladin continued talking without any reaction.

“As Carla-sama said, he wasn’t much stronger than the four of us. But he fought boldly to the point of being arrogant.”

His bones were shattered countless times, his intestines were cooked, and an arrow was stuck in one of his eyes.

But he never fell.

If you build a wall with fire, it will burn your skin and spit out blood made from chewing your tongue. Even though his shoulder blades were down and his shoulders were dangling, he swung the hammer.

“Is there anyone out there who can do that?”

“…….”

“It’s embarrassing, but I’ve yet to see anyone who fights without a shadow of a doubt in such a state.”

Even that man couldn’t have enjoyed the process.

It must have been painful.

Even if I gave up here, everyone would have been convinced.

It had reached its limit.

“Any normal person will have a gap in their heart when that situation arises. Yes, that’s enough. You’ve done enough. You start making compromises and making excuses to convince yourself.”

But he didn’t.

How could that be?

As befits a subordinate of God, the paladin found the cause in faith.

“It is faith. that I would never fall Because he had

strong faith in himself, he was able to not collapse, and he was able to overcome the ordeal and achieve victory .

”

The paladin said without the slightest doubt,

“Yes. If I have to follow someone’s back, I believe his back is the most reliable

.

”

It seemed that the paladin was properly attached to the man.

James Carla cared about the Marquis, and Aqurava made a promise, so it seemed that his pride was hurt by breaking it.

“Admit it. We lost. Even if the person who fainted in the first place recovered and returned to the front line, he didn’t even complain, did he? At that time, he wasn’t in a hurry to fight, but it was like foul play.”

“He must have thought that that was enough to convince us that he was silent.”

As long as the three agreed, there was nothing Kaislan could do.

‘thank god. If the author disobeyed the match and asked the Marquis for a rematch, there would be no way I would have let him go due to the nature of the Marquis.’

James Carla, who was spared from sparking, sighed in relief as he looked at Kaislan, who kept his mouth shut.

Of course, there were still elements of anxiety.

“Everyone, so I won’t say anything more. But just know that this is a mistake. As I said before, only strong discipline and strong control can create a strong group. I can’t believe he has that level of leadership. ”

Stubborn attitude of not acknowledging the other party to the end. Just looking at it, it seems that if there is a number of cases, it will rise up and down at any time……

If the place is in the labyrinth, it could become a big problem.

But…

smart.

A knock is heard outside the door.

“Ah, looks like everyone is awake.”

The moment a man entered through the open door before he even gave permission.

James Carla shook off even the slightest anxiety.

“Now that you are my subordinate, speak comfortably.”

A man who never used honorifics in the first place, but shamelessly muttered such words.

He fixed his gaze on one spot and tilted his head.

“What’s the matter, knight, why do you open your eyes like that? Is there something wrong with the head that was hit earlier?”

It was truly amazing.

I don’t know exactly when.

A knight who shouted the importance of leadership with a blood clot around his neck.

“You asked if I was answering.”

“Oh no……”

He had lowered his eyes before he knew it.

As if that was a very natural thing.