Chapter 19

Chapter 19. Golden Fang (2)

It had already been ten days since Balun left Milford. During that time, the Marco Merchant Company’s journey had progressed without any major problems.

Other than encountering a few wandering goblins, nothing of note had happened, so the trip had remained comfortable thus far. Even so, Balun’s expression was not particularly bright.

That unsettling feeling still had not gone away.

Why was that?

“Hey, barbarian! Come eat!”

“My name is Balun.”

“Ah, right. Balun. Hurry up and eat. Food is best while it is warm.”

“Balun will be there soon.”

Pushing aside the unpleasant feeling, Balun received his evening meal. Tonight’s dinner was stew, though it was little more than a slop-like mash made by throwing together whatever ingredients happened to be on hand.

After finishing off a bowl faster than anyone else, Balun gathered his weapons, and Golden Fang’s captain, Morris, approached him and asked,

“Balun. Why are you arming yourself? Why not go in and rest?”

“Balun is not resting. Balun will stand watch.”

“There is no need to stand watch already. It is enough to keep watch only during sleeping hours. Besides, did I not say I would exempt you from night watch?”

“No. No exceptions for watch duty. Balun does it too.”

“You really are a stubborn fellow.”

At Balun’s firm reply, Morris shook his head.

“I told you before, did I not? The responsibility for escorting this caravan rests entirely with us. Since it is our responsibility, we are the ones who stand watch. There is no need for you to do it as well. Do you understand what I am saying?”

“Balun does.”

“Then please go inside and rest. I ask this of you. A strong warrior like you needs proper rest so you can be ready in case something happens.”

“…….”

“If anything appears, I will call for you at once, so go and rest. You have been taking night watch every single day for the past week.”

As Morris said, Balun had indeed stood night watch every day for the past week. Even though Morris had excused him from it, Balun had stubbornly insisted on doing it anyway.

That left Morris in an awkward position. After all, he had been trying to show consideration, only for Balun to refuse it and dig in his heels.

“Why does Morris keep pushing? Balun wants to do it.”

“Because I feel bad. I feel guilty.”

“Guilty?”

“Yes. Out of all these people, you are the only one who has not rested for even a single day. As the one responsible for the entire escort, how could I not feel bad about that? Is that not so?”

At those words, Balun looked at Morris. He was scratching the back of his head with an embarrassed expression, and truly did look like a man who felt sorry.

“So that is how it was. Balun did not realize.”

“Now that you do, will you go and rest?”

“Balun will.”

“Thank you! So the claim that barbarians have no flexibility was a complete lie after all! Hahaha!”

“If there is a problem, call Balun.”

“All right! But there will not be any problems. Other than the occasional wild goblin, there has not been anything dangerous around here at all. Hahaha!”

Laughing, Morris returned to the campfire where the group was gathered, while Balun went into his own tent, lay down, and thought.

‘Am I being too sensitive?’

The truth was that Balun had volunteered for watch duty because of that uneasy feeling. The sense of foreboding would not leave him, so he had stood watch out of anxiety.

But after ten whole days had passed with nothing happening, even Balun’s guard had weakened a little.

Then should he close his eyes for a while?

Balun had that thought, then vigorously shook his head.

‘Too sensitive? Not at all. You always have to test even a stone bridge before crossing it.’

Balun opened his eyes again. How was this being sensitive? It was simply being cautious.

‘No matter how I look at it, there is something suspicious about Morris.’

Balun suspected Morris. There were two reasons.

First, because his instincts told him to.

Second, because Morris was treating him too well.

It was already unsettling enough that Morris gave off such an unpleasant feeling, but on top of that, he treated Balun kindly without showing the slightest dislike. That only stirred Balun’s suspicion even more.

Because really, why would he go so far out of his way for a barbarian?

Someone else might have been moved by the kindness, but Balun only grew more suspicious.

That was likely because of everything he had gone through in Milford.

How many times had he nearly died?

And what about all those contemptuous looks, those eyes that stared at him like he was some animal, everywhere he went?

He had not shown it, but to be honest, it had hurt him a little.

Balun was human too. To say otherwise would have been a lie.

‘Everyone else is practically falling over themselves to discriminate against me, so why is Morris the only one treating me this well?’

Once suspicion took root, everything became suspicious.

What? He liked barbarians? Thought strong warriors were dependable?

And what was with giving him a gift the moment they met? And not just any gift, but some wretched bone trinket he could not even use.

‘Suspicious. Definitely suspicious.’

Even just now.

Balun had offered to stand watch on his own, so why had Morris insisted so hard that he go rest?

Perhaps he truly did mean it and really felt sorry, but by that point Balun had already fallen into confirmation bias.

Endless suspicion born of anxiety!

The suspicion that had seized Balun’s mind kept spawning more suspicion.

If so, why was Morris acting like that?

Why was he so intent on pushing someone who wanted to stand watch into a tent and telling him to sleep?

That chain of suspicion led him to a single conclusion.

‘He is trying to kill me.’

It was not some baseless guess. There was something that fit.

‘It has to be that mage, Malik or whatever his name was.’

The mage who had been backing the Vipers.

That bastard had said there was a Magic Tower behind him.

According to what Balun had heard from Calrent, the Magic Tower was an enormous power.

Something practically comparable to a nation.

‘They are trying to take revenge on me. That is why they set this up.’

Balun ground his teeth. They really were a tenacious pack of bastards.

When had they even learned that one of their people had died? Dane had supposedly taken care of things properly.

‘I cannot let myself be taken like this.’

Balun grabbed the axe he had laid beside the edge of the tent and placed it close at hand.

If anything happened, he intended to swing it immediately.

‘You sons of bitches. Just try coming at me. Balun will crush you.’

Contrary to Balun’s expectations, his weapon did not dance that night.

Because nothing happened.

***

Another five days passed after that.

During those five days, Balun kept himself under extreme tension. He never let go of his weapon, slept only the bare minimum, and never ate too much.

It was all so that no matter what happened, he would be in peak condition for battle.

Outwardly, he acted indifferent, but inwardly, he remained razor-sharp, secretly listening to every word the Golden Fang mercenaries said.

And at last, Balun got results.

It was a conversation Morris and the Golden Fang officers had whispered in secret at dawn.

“Captain. When are we carrying it out?”

“It does not matter when.”

“Then why are we dragging it out?”

“Balun. That bastard bothers me.”

“Ah, yes, that is true enough. He never lets his guard down, no matter what. Is it because he is a barbarian?”

“I even gave him a gift, but he still would not open up. He is an infuriating bastard.”

Naturally, hearing his own name come up out of nowhere instantly drove all drowsiness from his mind.

“It seems that bastard Balun has caught on.”

“He caught on? That is impossible!”

“He is extremely quick-witted. He is not an easy one.”

“Then what do we do? Should we not hurry and do it? If things go wrong, we are all finished.”

“We will. Once we leave Kaindel Forest, it will be difficult to carry it out. We have to finish it within two days.”

By the time he heard that much, Balun’s suspicion had turned to certainty.

‘So they are planning to kill me in the next few days.’

Balun took a deep breath and gripped his axe tightly.

It seemed he was going to have to spill blood.

***

The following evening.

After dinner, just as everyone was heading into their tents one by one to go to sleep—

Morris stepped away from camp under the pretense of relieving himself, then called over several of his men.

The campsite was already beside a patch of grass by the forest road, making it hard to spot anyone clearly, and evening had already darkened into dusk.

Completely hidden by the darkness, they huddled together.

“Is everything ready?”

“Yes. Everything is ready.”

“You are certain the sleeping draught was mixed in?”

“Of course. To make sure, we even added one more vial of Nocrin Essence, so there is nothing to worry about.”

“What about that bastard Balun?”

“He was the first one to pass out. He was snoring loudly.”

At his subordinate’s words, Morris nodded in satisfaction. If that was the case, then there was no problem.

“All of you, keep your heads straight. If we fail, we are all dead men. Understood?”

“Of course.”

“If anyone is afraid of stabbing an ally, step out now. If you do, I will let it slide.”

No one followed that order. They all knew perfectly well that now that every secret had been shared, stepping away alone was no different from asking to die.

“Captain. You will keep your promise, right? About making sure we get a generous share.”

“Of course. I will even add a bonus, so do not worry.”

“Heh. Good.”

Having finished their conspiracy, they soon returned to the camp.

By then, there was no one left outside. The campfire had been put out as well, leaving only ash behind, so the whole area lay under nothing but moonlight.

Only the lone mercenary assigned to stand night watch remained outside, yawning vacantly. As Morris approached, the watchman spoke.

“Come on, Captain. How long were you pissing for?”

“I had to go badly.”

“Well, that makes sense. You have been drinking water all day.”

“Hah, I thought my bladder was going to burst.”

“Go on inside and get some sleep. We are leaving early tomorrow, so you should get some rest.”

Morris did not answer.

As the watchman tilted his head in confusion, Morris finally spoke.

“Sam.”

“Yes?”

“I am sorry.”

“What? What are you talking abou—”

Thud!

“Ghk!”

The watchman, Sam, widened his eyes. A dreadful sensation bloomed in his chest. When he looked down, he saw a dagger buried in it.

Without even managing to scream, Sam crumpled to the ground.

He was dead.

When Morris pulled the dagger free, not even a drop of blood splattered. It was a truly neat piece of work.

Morris gestured behind him. His men, who had been waiting at a distance, hurried over and scattered in every direction.

Flap!

They pulled open the tents. The sound of rustling cloth and fluttering canvas rang through the silent forest, followed by the wet sounds of blades piercing flesh.

Most of it produced little noise, but they could not suppress every sound completely.

One of the mercenaries was clumsy with a blade.

“Ghk!”

A mercenary stabbed in the stomach woke with a strangled cry instead of a scream.

“What the— Urgh!”

“Tch!”

“What is this? Ene— Ghk!”

The tents began flapping wildly, and noise started spreading everywhere.

Watching the scene from a short distance away, Morris clenched his teeth.

‘Damn it. This is going to get noisy.’

He had to hurry. Morris looked around, searching for Balun’s tent.

Found it. He went straight there, and loud snoring could be heard from inside.

Even in the middle of all this chaos, that barbarian bastard had been sleeping peacefully.

‘After being that cautious, it still ends like this.’

Morris smiled viciously. Then he plunged his dagger straight toward Balun’s heart. At that instant, Balun’s eyes flew open and he rolled to the left. Clang! The blade struck the hard ground.

‘Damn!’

Alarm bells rang in Morris’s head. He immediately threw himself backward. Whoosh! A hand axe swung past by the narrowest of margins.

“You are quick, after all.”

Balun smacked his lips in disappointment. Morris got to his feet and narrowed his eyes.

“You were awake?”

“Of course.”

“How were you awake?”

“Balun did not eat the food.”

“So the snoring was an act.”

“Of course.”

“How did you know?”

“It has been a while.”

“A while?”

“Yes.”

“That is impossible. I never told the plan to anyone.”

Morris’s thoughts became tangled. Where had it leaked? No, that could not be.

“Well, it does not matter. Either way, you are going to die.”

Morris glanced around. A slaughter was already underway. That barbarian would soon become just another corpse.

Morris sheathed his dagger, then drew a long sword from his waist. The blade gleamed in the moonlight.

Then, when he exerted force, a blue haze shimmered over the sword.

Seeing that, Balun stared in shock.

“A beam blade! So Morris really was a skilled fighter!”

“I can cut down as many barbarians as I please.”

“Hmph! Not a chance! You Magic Tower bastards! Balun will split all your heads open!”

Balun puffed himself up with his axe in hand.

Morris tilted his head. Magic Tower? Why was that coming up all of a sudden?

“Magic Tower? What nonsense are you talking about?”

“Pretending will not help. Balun knows everything! Balun will not let Morris take revenge!”

Morris had just begun to think there had to be some kind of misunderstanding—

Then Balun let out a thunderous war cry and charged.

Morris instantly raised his sword and blocked the axe, and then he could not help but be shocked.

His sword had almost been knocked out of his hand.

‘Kh, what monstrous strength is this……?’

It was absurd. Morris was, at the very least, an Expert-rank fighter. And yet he had almost been overpowered by nothing more than an axe that did not even have aura gathered around it.