Chapter 50

Chapter 50. Worldbuilding (1)

Balun went straight to Seria’s smithy.

Although Seria was flustered by Balun’s sudden visit, she still welcomed him.

“I did hear the news about you, but I did not expect you to come looking for me.”

“Of course I came. You are my after-sales service technician. You have an obligation to service my axes. The warranty period is lifetime.”

“What? Service what?”

“Never mind. Anyway, how did you hear my news?”

“It would be stranger not to know. I doubt there is anyone living here who has not heard the story of the expedition team’s safe return.”

“Is that so?”

“You are quite famous now. They say you are the hero who saved the expedition team from Black Moon’s Assassin attack.”

“I see.”

Balun scratched his chin. No wonder everyone had been whispering. So that had been the reason.

‘I thought it was just the usual racial discrimination.’

By now, Balun had grown as accustomed to whispering as he was to breathing.

“Would you like a cup of tea?”

“That would be good.”

She quickly brought out tea.

It was the fragrant flower tea he had drunk before.

As Balun sipped and savored the tea, Seria nodded in satisfaction. Her pointed ears, protruding through her shimmering hair, especially caught his eye.

‘Elves are always fascinating no matter how often I see them.’

They truly stole the gaze.

“It tastes good, does it not?”

“It is the best.”

“I knew I liked you. Among humans, you are the best.”

“Is that a compliment?”

“Of course.”

“Thank you.”

Seria looked at Balun as he sipped his tea. For some reason, his complexion did not seem good.

“Are you sick somewhere?”

“My stomach hurts a little.”

“Then why not go to the outhouse?”

“I already went, but that was not it. This is not a bowel problem.”

“Really?”

Seria drew out the end of her words and looked Balun up and down. His solid body somehow looked as though it had flushed red with heat.

Seria stared at his body for a while, then unconsciously placed her hand on Balun’s abdomen.

Then she startled and pulled her hand away.

“Ah, hot! What are you? Why is your body this hot?”

“Ah, that is because I ate samgyetang.”

“……?”

“It was for nourishing the body. It was very delicious. I want to eat it again.”

“?”

She could not understand what he was talking about at all, but that was not important. In her eyes, Balun’s physical state was far from ordinary.

“Balun. Come here.”

“What is wrong?”

“Come here, take off your clothes, and lie down on the bed.”

“Are you trying to pounce on me? That is troubling. I am not ready yet.”

“Stop joking and come lie down before I get angry. No, keep your pants on.”

Balun obeyed her without complaint. Her expression did not look like she was joking.

“Oh, this bed is very soft. Is this the power of science?”

“Stop saying strange things, lie down, breathe comfortably, and listen to me.”

“Understood.”

“I am going to touch your body now. Just leave your body to my hands. You must not speak, and you must not make any sound. Understand? If you understand, nod.”

Nod, nod.

“Good. Here I go. Endure it even if it tickles.”

“I am not ticklish.”

“No, I told you not to answer.”

Nod, nod.

Her slender, elegant hands touched Balun’s bare upper body without hesitation.

The movement of her hands was quite stimulating, so his body flinched on its own, but he did not show any more reaction than that.

Seria’s expression was far too serious for him to do so.

Soon, Balun felt something like an earthworm moving around inside his body.

By now, Balun knew very well that this was mana.

‘What is this? Is she examining me?’

Did this woman have a medical license?

‘She is not a quack, is she?’

While Balun was growing suspicious, Seria examined his body and withdrew her mana.

“What is it? Is it cancer?”

“What did you eat?”

“I told you I ate samgyetang.”

“No, not that. I am asking what kind of precious elixir you picked up and ate .”

“Ah, I ate wild ginseng. No, what was the name again? Mandragora? Its fine root. It was at least three hundred years old.”

“What?”

Seria’s face turned dumbfounded. Where had he obtained something so precious and simply eaten it?

“How did you eat it?”

“I chewed it.”

“All of it?”

“Yes. I soaked it thoroughly in broth and ate it. Why, is there a problem?”

“Of course there is! You ignorant fool! How could you eat it like that?”

SMACK!

“Argh!”

A merciless slap struck his back.

Balun grimaced deeply and rubbed his back.

It hurt more because his upper body was bare.

“Phew, I cannot believe this. Where in the world is there a madman who just eats a lump of mana whole?”

“Was I not supposed to do that?”

“Of course not! You are supposed to divide that into tiny portions and eat it little by little. Even then, you cannot absorb all of its mana, but you ate the entire thing whole. How could it not upset your body?”

Seria fired the words at him without mercy. Balun felt somehow wronged.

‘No, how was I supposed to know that?’

From the beginning, Balun had not even known that the Mandragora rootlet was an elixir. He had simply thought that since it was like wild ginseng, it would probably be good for his body.

‘Why did Banet not tell me that?’

That was because he had assumed Balun would naturally know.

Even Banet had not realized that Balun lacked this much knowledge.

Even a Barbarian knew what he needed to know. Namely, the basic common sense that Mandragora was an elixir.

“Then what should I do?”

“What do you mean, what should you do? You will have to suffer a little. It will be quite painful. Much more than now.”

Balun tilted his head.

‘More than now?’

“Balun is not in pain.”

“What kind of nonsense is that? So much mana has rushed through you. It would be strange if you were not in pain.”

Seria said that while wiping Balun’s sweat with a cloth.

“I know you are enduring the pain, but there is no need to do that. I mean you do not have to be prideful. I understand everything anyway. Do men not cry?”

“…….”

“I will take care of it quickly, so endure it only until then. You can do that, right?”

“No, I am telling you, it really does not hurt. Here, look.”

Balun slapped his own body repeatedly. Only then did Seria begin to take Balun’s words seriously.

“It does not hurt? Truly?”

“My stomach hurts a little, but it is nothing much. I can endure it.”

“That makes no sense.”

Seria’s expression turned strange. How was this possible?

“Could it be that you cannot feel pain?”

“I can feel it.”

“Then how are you like this?”

“Why are you asking me that?”

Soon, Seria let out a hollow laugh.

She had truly never seen anyone like him in all her life. His entire body should have been under crushing pressure from the mana, yet he could not feel it?

Was this man’s body made of steel?

“Do not just stand there doing that. Explain it. Is Balun in serious trouble now?”

“…….”

“Answer.”

“No, I do not think anything serious will happen.”

“Truly?”

“Yes. If there is no pain, then there is no real problem. In any case, as time passes, the medicinal effect will be absorbed into your body.”

“How anticlimactic.”

Balun lost all sense of caution.

Then he asked, “What will happen once the medicinal effect is absorbed?”

“You will become stronger. Mana will accumulate in your body.”

“Oh! Good!”

Balun smiled brightly.

‘What a monstrous man.’

Seeing Balun like that, Seria could only shake her head.

***

After the incident with the Mandragora rootlet was settled,

Seria, having regained her composure, asked Balun,

“Anyway, what brings you here? Do you want me to make another axe?”

“Ah, it is because of this.”

Balun tapped the axes hanging at his waist.

“What about the axes?”

“They will not cry.”

“What?”

“Why will they not cry?”

Seria tilted her head.

What in the world was he talking about?

“What is wrong? Is there a problem?”

“Do you not think that was far too vague? How am I supposed to understand if you say it like that?”

“Were my words a little difficult? Then I should explain at length.”

“No, forget it. Even if you explain at length, what would it be besides a string of strange words?”

Balun flinched.

‘How did she know?’

This woman seemed to have very sharp insight.

“In any case, I roughly understood the nuance. So you mean those children are not answering your call.”

“That is exactly it.”

“Have you heard those children cry since parting from me?”

“I have.”

“When?”

“After fighting the Assassins. I spoke to them, and they hummed. But after that, they did not.”

“So when was that?”

“A few days ago.”

“Was that the first time it happened, a few days ago?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm. Strange. That should not be the case.”

Seria muttered as she twirled a lock of her hair around her finger.

“Your children have definitely awakened their egos. They recognize you too. But if they are not answering……”

She stopped, then stared intently at Balun.

“Balun. What are their names?”

“Names?”

“Yes. What names did you give them?”

“They do not have any.”

“What?”

“They are Big Axe and Small Axes. In another way, I call them Two-Handed Axe and One-Handed Axes.”

“Hah.”

Seria let out a deep sigh.

“Why are you sighing? Is there a problem?”

“Of course there is. A very big one. You did not give them names. Names!”

“Why is that a problem?”

Seeing Balun tilt his head as though he genuinely did not understand, Seria gave a faint laugh.

What an indifferent fool.

“What is your name?”

“It is Balun.”

“Yes. Your name is Balun. Your parents also call you Balun.”

“That is right.”

“Imagine you had no name. Imagine that the loving parents who gave birth to you called you ‘hey,’ ‘oi,’ ‘Barbarian,’ or ‘human.’ How do you think that would feel?”

“It would feel bad.”

“See? You know it well. Then why did someone who knows that treat these children so carelessly? No names, and what? Big Axe and Small Axes? Hah!”

Seria seemed angry as she roughly swept back her hair. Then she glared at Balun, leaving him utterly bewildered.

How could he have known the conclusion would be this?

“Of course they would sulk when their owner was so utterly indifferent. You made a very big mistake. Do you understand?”

“They sulked?”

“Yes!”

“Weapons?”

“I said yes! They are not speaking to you because they are sulking at you!”

“This is absurd.”

Balun let out a hollow laugh. He had thought there would be a reason, but he had never imagined that his weapons were sulking because he had not named them.

“Let me ask one thing. Why did you not give those lovely children names?”

“Balun thinks weapons are tools. That is why I do not give them names.”

This was not only true of Balun. From the beginning, it was the custom of the barbarian tribes that lived across the Great Plains.

The Warriors of the Red Fang Tribe were the same.

Most of them did not give affection to their weapons either. They lived in a wild world where war happened every day, and in such a world, weapons inevitably became consumables that were frequently replaced.

Naturally, there was no need to give affection to weapons.

“If that is the reason, then it cannot be helped. You must have lived your whole life that way. It is natural that you never even thought of it.”

Soon, Seria smiled faintly.

“It was my mistake. I should have explained that to you as well.”

She continued.

“Then change your thinking from now on. Those children are not simple weapons. They are your companions.”

“Companions.”

“Yes. If you think of them that way, you will understand what you need to do without me telling you.”

Balun looked at the axes.

‘Companions.’

When he thought of them that way, he felt a little sorry.

‘Now that I think about it, I should not leave children without names.’

People even gave names to dogs and cats, so how could it make sense not to give names to beings with personalities?

‘So that was why you sulked?’

Heh.

A laugh slipped out.

The reason was cute, but at the same time, he felt sorry.

“Good. Balun will give you names.”

Balun looked at the axes.

One large axe and two small axes.

First, the large axe.

“You are Black Moon.”

Black Moon. In other words, the black axe.

Then the two small axes.

“You two are Blue Moon and Crimson Moon.”

They meant the blue axe and the crimson axe.

In truth, the two axes were not actually blue or red. He merely remembered that the eye colors of the two girls he had seen in the mindscape were red and blue.

“I am sorry I gave you names so late. I will be counting on you from now on.”

The moment Balun stroked the three axes with sincerity, everything before his eyes seemed to whirl and gather into a single point.

‘Uh?’

Then his vision blacked out, and Balun’s consciousness was sucked deep into his unconscious.

And Seria, who witnessed that scene,

“No, what do these little ones like so much about this ignorant Barbarian that they forgave him right away? Do they like their owner that much?”

Her gaze landed on the three axes.

VMM!

They were trembling vigorously.

She let out a hollow laugh, as though she could not believe it, then laid the unconscious Balun on the bed and covered him with a blanket.

***

When Balun opened his eyes again, he was standing in the middle of a familiar grassland.

Mountains could be seen in the distance, and the grassland was thick with vegetation.

In front of him, he saw three black-haired children standing.

A boy who was a little taller, and two girls with tiny, adorable builds.

As soon as he saw the three children with familiar appearances he had seen before, Balun realized where he was.

‘This is the mindscape.’

Even though he had been abruptly dropped into the mindscape, Balun somehow did not feel flustered.

It was because he felt as though he knew why he had come here.

‘Perhaps those three children called me.’

They were companions, after all.

Companions bound by blood, at that.

“Black Moon, Blue Moon, Crimson Moon.”

“…….”

“That is right, is it not? You three.”

When Balun quietly called their names, he saw the three children flinch.

“I was too indifferent, was I not? I formed a covenant with you and did not even give you names.”

Perhaps because this was the mindscape, the Warrior Tongue naturally came out of his mouth.

“I am sorry. I was wrong. Will you forgive me?”

Balun crouched down and spread his arms wide. He also gave them a gentle smile.

He met the eyes of the three children.

The children folded their arms, then turned their heads sharply away.

“Hmph!”

Then they said,“We hate you, Daddy!”

Balun was deeply flustered.

‘D-Daddy?’

Me?