Barbarian Quest - Chapter 50: Road to the Empire (2)

“A magician lives in the forest to the north. It might be best to go around it,” said the farmer. Urich, who left camp and was looking around a farm to buy food, turned to look at him.

“Magician?”

Urich tilted his head.

“Even the Lord’s subordinates learned their lesson after entering the magician’s forest. All of their bodies were scorched black when they came out.”

“What’s a magician?”

“The people who shoot fire out of their hands and call demons every night!”

“They shoot fire out of their hands? And what are demons?” asked Urich with his eyes sparkling with curiosity. He grabbed onto the farmer and relentlessly asked questions. The farmer called over the other mercenaries as if he was too lazy to answer Urich’s questions.

“Someone take this big one away! I’m already busy enough with my farmwork, damn it.”

Fahel, who was riding Kilios, came to them.

“Stop harassing that poor farmer.”

“Fahel, do you know what a magician is?”

“A magician?”

“He said that a magician lives in that forest over there. He also said they shoot fire out of their hands and call demons.”

The other mercenaries started to murmur amongst themselves. It seemed like they had also heard a similar story.

The mercenaries gathered in one spot after going around different farms to gather food and supplies. They were discussing the next step to take.

“It’ll be the fastest to go straight through that forest in the north.”

“But the farmers said that it was a magician’s forest. I’m a bit skeptical about going in there.”

“I heard that if you accidentally go into a magician’s forest, you’ll come out as an old man with a full beard.”

“Regardless, wouldn’t it be best to avoid it? The farmers warned that a magician lived in that forest. There were actually people who saw the magician as well.”

The mercenaries were all reluctant to do it. Urich quietly read the room before finally speaking.

“Let’s go straight through the forest. We shouldn’t waste time and give Duke Harmati another opportunity to catch up.”

The corners of Urich’s lips were quietly rising. Bakman didn’t miss that.

“Urich, you just want to see the magician. I already know it, you bastard.”

“There’s no guarantee that we’d be running into the magician by entering the forest, right? Don’t misunderstand. I, as the leader of this mercenary group, just wanted to go the fastest route,” said Urich while trying hard to hide his expression.

‘That means he’s dying to go there.’

‘He’ll probably go into the forest by himself if he has to.’

The mercenaries already knew Urich’s personality. He was the type of person who would jump into a pit of fire because he was curious about how hot it was.

‘He’s so damn curious about everything. As expected of someone in their teens.’

Bakman clicked his tongue.

“I also think it would be best to go straight through the forest,” said Phillion, supporting the mercenary leader’s decision.

Urich’s face quickly lit up as he looked at Phillion.

“R-Right? See? Even Sir Phillion thinks that it would be best to go straight through.”

“You only call me ‘Sir’ in moments like this, Mercenary Leader Urich. Anyways, the farmers are foolish. They baselessly call someone who secluded themselves in the forest a magician and are terrified of them. And even if it really is a magician who shoots flames out of their hands, they wouldn’t be able to take on fifty warriors.”

The mercenaries nodded, relieved.

“That’s true. There’s no way a magician actually exists. I’m sure the farmers just saw it wrong. There’s no reason for us to waste time because of some rumor.”

“Then let’s go straight through the forest.”

The mercenaries started gathering their belongings and entered into the forest..

“Tsk, tsk. They entered the forest even though I warned them so much,” said a farmer on his way to the field. He watched their backs as they walked into the woods.

* * *

* * *

The mercenaries followed the path inside the forest. They could occasionally hear birds chirping and cawing. Small beasts rustled the grass as they passed by.

“It’s something I heard from my grandmother in the past, but… if you earn the ire of a magician, a demon will come visit you every night to suck out your soul until you die. My great grandfather died like that because he cut down a tree in a magician’s forest.”

“If you get the soul sucked out of you every night… that might be a good way to go.”

“You idiot. Don’t you know that if you die from a curse, your soul gets cursed as well? You’d be forced to wander the world.”

“Oh. Hm, that’s a bit bad.”

The mercenaries cracked pointless jokes with each other. They started to talk more, as if they were trying to ease the gloomy tension of the forest.

“Some people say that the animals in a magician’s forest were formerly human. They became toads and rabbits because they were cursed.”

“Stop that. Use that time to pray to Ru. Do you know why magicians live in the forest? It’s because they’re trying to hide from the sun in the forest’s shades. They’re terrified of the sun. Because Sun God Ru is always watching.”

The mercenaries kept surveying the surroundings. They were more tense than usual.

“This is a magician’s foreeeeeest?”

Urich was muttering to himself while leading the front. He let out a sigh. Contrary to his expectations, it was just a normal forest.

“Just think about it. If you were the magician, would you show yourself to a bunch of warriors who are prepared for you?” Fahel scolded Urich.

“I wanted to see them shoot fire out of their hands like bwaaaah,” said Urich while stretching out his arms. Obviously, fire didn’t come out of it.

“You could do that for a hundred days, and fire will never come out of it.”

Fahel laughed at Urich’s actions.

It would take three days to cross the forest. The mercenaries, who spent the first night safely, were no longer afraid. Nothing happened despite an entire day passing.

“Of course it would be like this. There’s no way something like a magician actually exists.”

“If you want to curse me, curse me! Sun God Ru is protecting me!”

The mercenaries cackled and laughed.

“As expected, it didn’t exist.”

The only person who was disappointed was Urich. He looked around the forest and discovered people’s shadows between the tree trunks.

Sliiide.

He quickly pulled out his sword and raised his hand. The mercenaries signaled each other by hitting each other’s shoulders.

“Enemies?”

“D-Did the magician finally appear?”

“Damn it, just start praying to Ru. Pray for protection from magic.”

The mercenaries’ faces became stiff.

“I knew we shouldn’t have entered a magician’s forest. Damn it. I’m going to die from getting my soul sucked out of me like my great grandfather.”

“Shut your damn mouth.”

“Archers, prepare your bows!”

The mercenaries who had bows drew their bowstrings. They stared at the shadows that were peeking out of the trees.

“We have no intention of attacking you. We just happened to be traveling on the same road,” said a man’s voice from behind the trees. The mercenaries were on alert and started to yell.

“It’s a magician. The magician’s tricking us.”

“Urich, it’s dangerous. Don’t get closer.”

The mercenaries wavered. Urich shrugged his shoulders and stepped forward.

“Don’t fire your arrows. He’s just a person,” said Urich. He then turned his head towards the trees and yelled out, “If you don’t want to be attacked, reveal yourselves!”

Urich was the person who wanted to see the magician the most but was also the person who was the most calm. As he ultimately faced the stranger, Urich wasn’t afraid of something he’s never seen before—like a magician. He just confronted the man as a person as he always did.

“You must be the leader. We are just warriors who are passing by. I would appreciate it if you could lower your weapons now?”

“It’s a bit troublesome if you say you are ‘just warriors’. I’m someone who’s quite sensitive to things like this. Reveal yourselves. Before I tear apart all of your skulls. If you include those guys who are hiding back over there, there are five of you in total.”

Urich planted his sword into the ground and pulled out his axes. He was overflowing with bloodlust.

His words were not a joke. The mercenary group was being chased, and they weren’t sure what types of tricks Duke Harmati would pull to block their path. He planned to kill everything and anything that was a little suspicious.

“Stop! We are Sun Warriors!”

Armed men stepped out from behind the trees. On the cloth that was worn on top of their chainmail armor was the insignia of Sol.

“Sun Warrior?” questioned Urich as he looked at them.

“Now that we have revealed ourselves, please don’t threaten us any more.”

The man who spoke walked until he was in front of Urich. The two were of similar stature.

“We are ‘Urich’s Brothers’, a mercenary group. And I am Mercenary Leader Urich.”

“I am Havald of the Order of the Sun Warriors.”

“Havald? That name sounds like it would be a Northerner’s name?”

“My mother was a Northerner, and I was named after my maternal grandfather. I was born and raised in the Empire.”

Urich examined him closely. Unlike his Northerner-style name, the way he spoke and the aura he exerted were like that of a noble. It just felt strange because his size was like that of a Northerner.

“Put away your weapons! These are just passing men,” said Urich to the mercenaries.

“Thank you. It looks like we’ll be exiting the forest together since the path is the same.”

Havald signaled the other warriors. Five warriors, including Havald, stepped forth onto the path.

‘They are all wearing a cloth with Sol’s insignia on it. It’s even on their shields. Their weapons and armor look good.’

Urich looked at their clothing and armor. They were fairly heavily armed.

“It’s the Order of the Sun Warriors. I never thought I’d see them in a place like this,” said some of the mercenaries who recognized them. Phillion and Fahel also seemed to quickly recognize them.

“O Sun Warriors, please excuse the mercenaries’ rudeness.”

Phillion lowered his head to show respect to the knights. Sun Warrior Havald also showed respect with the same gesture.

“Please, just call me Havald.”

Havald spoke respectfully towards his elder and fellow knight, Phillion. It was the behavior of a civilized person who had learned etiquette.

Phillion and Havald spoke with one another. It looked like those two got along with each other really easily.

“Fahel, what is the Order of the Sun Warriors?” asked Urich while crossing his arms. The mercenaries quickly eased their hostility towards them. It looked like they were a fairly trusted group.

“It first started as a unit of barbarians who have converted to Sol. The former Emperor thought highly of a barbarian warrior’s physique and combat prowess and issued an imperial order to create a military unit under his direct control. Even now, it’s an Order of warriors filled with only barbarians or mixed individuals. And it’s not something any barbarian can enter because they have converted. The conditions to enter the Order are extremely picky. They say that you have to prove both your devotion and skills to enter the Order of the Sun Warriors. But in return, you receive the same respect that the Empire’s Knights receive.”

The Sun Warriors walked with the mercenaries. While the Sun Warriors had a lot of barbarians, they were also famous for being a bastion of faith. Their devotion to their faith was even more pure than most civilized people. Their existence itself was a symbol of faith.

“Urich, we’ll walk in the back. It would be disgusting to walk side by side with these bastards,” spat Sven. He and the other Northerners followed the group at the furthest back.

‘It’s the first time I’ve seen Sven hate someone this much.’

Urich was surprised. Bakman shrugged then explained.

“It might be best to leave Sven alone. For the Northerners, Sun Warriors are traitors who deserve a death worse than being ripped apart to shreds. The Order of the Sun Warriors are barbarians who converted to Sol and pointed their sword towards other barbarians. It’s not a matter of conversion, but a matter of betraying their own kind.”

The mercenary group and the Sun Warriors camped out in the wilderness together. It would have been stranger if they split apart because the path to exit the forest was the same.

“So what brings the Sun Warriors here, Havald?” asked Phillion.

Havald smiled and pulled out a sack that he had been carrying.

“A magician’s head.”

Urich quickly turned his head to look at them after hearing those words.

“Magician?”

“There really was a magician in the forest?”

The mercenaries murmured and gathered together. Havald slowly opened his sack.

He pulled out the head of an old man with his tongue sticking out from the sack. There were lots of liver spots on the deceased man’s face. The blood was still sticky near the cross section of the neck because it still hadn’t dried yet.

“Because it is also the duty of the Sun Warriors to catch those who call themselves magicians with their shallow knowledge and deceive and delude the Sun. Please, watch this.”

Havald pulled black powder out of his pocket. He sprayed the powder into the campfire.

CHWAAAA!

The campfire shined blue before returning to its original . The mercenaries tumbled over each other.

“I-It’s magic!”

“A Sun Warrior used magic! He’s a magician! A magician appeared! A magician transformed themselves into a Sun Warrior!”

“Sun God Ru!”

A massive commotion. There were even mercenaries who pulled out their weapons.