Respect the Barbarian

I’m confused.

My mind is hazy at the sight unfolding before my eyes.

Barbarians gathered together, passionately shouting slogans. It truly wasn’t something one could see every day.

Even the slogans themselves were strange.

They weren’t shouting the names of their gods or their tribe; instead, what?

Enjoy the security?

Protect the market?

Good luck at the auction?

What the hell is this.

“You two there! Why are you just standing around!?”

While I was still bewildered, an employee who had been leading the chant looked over at us. The barbarians also turned to look at us all at once.

“…… Didn’t you receive the training?”

Grunt asked.

Training? What training?

I’m just a customer here. I came to sell a first-class mana stone.

“What is the person in charge of training doing, really.”

The male employee sighed.

“It seems you two haven’t received the indoctrination yet. The rest of you, change shifts, and you two, please follow me.”

He said with a friendly smile to the barbarians.

“Please keep doing your best for honor! You Barbarians are the guardian deities of our market!”

I couldn’t know the details, but at least this much was clear.

These bastards.

They’re swindlers.

* * *

Barkal and I followed the employee for what he called ‘indoctrination.’

Honestly, just slipping out right now was an option. After all, my purpose here was to sell the ‘first-class mana stone’ and buy Barkal’s axe.

But my curiosity got the better of me.

What exactly was going on here?

“Then, everyone, please listen carefully.”

Once the so-called ‘indoctrination’ began, I quickly grasped what was happening around here.

This place was a scam created to take advantage of barbarians.

Put simply, they were using not-so-bright barbarians as cheap, high-quality security.

And it was a method well-suited for luring barbarians.

“In other words! This is a place blessed by the great and all-powerful Thrag!”

They were exploiting the fact that barbarians are zealots for their ‘god’.

Could that statement possibly be true? What do you think, Thrag?

* 〈Thrag is enraged!〉

Guess not.

“The God of Blood and Revelry remembers the strong! You protecting this place is the same as upholding Thrag’s blessing and proving His honor!”

It was a truly simple scam. But would such tricks actually work?

“…… O Thrag! Starting now, I shall use all my strength to protect this place for you!”

It must have worked, seeing how packed the place was with barbarians.

Watching Barkal belt out the chant, apparently moved by the employee’s words, I clicked my tongue inwardly.

So this was why they had us write down the name of our god when making membership cards.

If you knew ahead of time, scamming people would be so much easier.

Should I just walk out right now? My purpose was only to sell a first-class mana stone anyway.

The fact that barbarians were being fooled was their own fault. Aren’t they just prime targets for trickery because they’re stupid?

“I now understand why Grunt is here!”

But there was one thing that bothered me.

Grunt.

A barbarian from the same Red Wolf Tribe as us.

Honestly, I’m not a barbarian myself, nor do I feel some special camaraderie toward them.

But the friends who helped me during the coming-of-age ceremony.

Barkal.

Geodude.

Squirtle.

Bulbasaur.

No, it’s kind of silly to call them friends when I don’t even know their names.

Anyway, with those barbarians who were there at the time, we crossed the fences of both ‘Red Wolf Tribe’ and ‘Barbarian’ and they carved a place in my heart as friends.

That included ‘Urok’, too.

‘I never had a real conversation with him, but taking revenge for him was cathartic.’

Truthfully, the only reason I survived the coming-of-age ceremony was thanks to ‘Urok’.

His death united the barbarians together.

So in a way, ‘Urok’ was both my benefactor and my friend.

‘Grunt is Urok’s older brother.’

I received help, so it’s only right to repay it.

Urok.

The debt I couldn’t pay back at the time, I’ll repay by saving your brother.

“All right, indoctrination is complete. Now, please put on the provided attire and join us in protecting this sacred place for Thrag!”

Looks like I’ll need to pretend to be a dumb barbarian for now.

“For Thrag!”

“For Thrag!”

I chanted dutifully and changed into the suit-like uniform provided.

“Thrag has decreed that I protect this place!”

Barkal, that guy, was already changed.

* * *

“…… This place isn’t the sacred ground of Thrag?”

I found Grunt and told him the truth of what was going on. Shock and confusion spread across his face.

“W-was it a lie!?”

Barkal reacted the same.

You shouldn’t be acting like this, you madman.

“That can’t be! The staff told us that the red sandstone used in the building represents Thrag’s symbolic blood!”

I heard the same thing, but that’s just convenient spin.

Anyway, since they still didn’t seem convinced, I called over a passing barbarian.

“What is it?”

“Warrior, which god do you believe in?”

“I serve Gravas, God of Earth and Iron!”

Gravas—a more mainstream god than Thrag.

Not all barbarians worship Thrag.

Each of them believes in local deities and receives their power, sometimes making their tongues thick. That’s what barbarians are.

“Did you believe this place was a sacred ground for Gravas?”

“Of course! They said the weapons at auction are forged from Gravas’ iron, so we must guard them at all costs!”

Hearing that, both Grunt and Barkal’s eyes went wide.

“…… Two gods’ sacred grounds in one place!?”

“Aaaaaah! Unbelievable, Delan!”

Barkal clutched his head in confusion, while Grunt called out to another barbarian.

“Delan! What god do you serve?”

“I serve Scala, the Goddess of storms and rage!”

“What proof did the staff give that this place is sacred to Scala?”

“It was a very windy day!”

Their explanations were getting increasingly half-hearted.

Eventually, perhaps admitting to themselves that they’d been fooled, Grunt shouted out in frustration.

“We’ve been deceived! The staff told us this was Thrag’s sacred ground!”

“What?!”

Hearing the commotion, other barbarians gathered, and soon enough, everyone’s backstory was being revealed.

After about ten had gathered, I thought,

This has gotten bigger than expected.

My plan was just to get Grunt out of here.

“Uuuuh…… Uaaaaaaah!”

Suddenly, one of the gathered barbarians began howling loudly.

Giving a heartrending cry, the barbarian stared at Grunt.

“I’ve been fooled again! I’ve experienced this sort of thing before!”

“Brother Delan, calm yourself!”

“Why are we barbarians always so easily duped?!”

As he raged, several other barbarians clenched their fists, hearing the sorrow poured into his voice.

“Who was it that told us the truth?! If he’s not a barbarian, I won’t believe it!”

“The one who told us was a barbarian!”

When Delan said he wouldn’t believe it if it weren’t from a fellow barbarian, Barkal stepped forward.

Hey, you don’t have to step up.

I’m not even a real barbarian.

“He is Dmihtan Elvar, sage of the Red Wolf Tribe!”

“…… He could have been deceived, too! Prove he is a sage!”

Perhaps feeling contentious over their recent deception, the barbarians raised their voices.

Barkal sneered at them.

“My brother Dmihtan triumphed in a debate with the priest!”

“A priest!?”

“Yes!”

It’s true, I guess. As much as I’d like to deny it, it’s true, but I feel weird about it.

I tapped Barkal on the shoulder. That’s enough. All we need to do is sell the first-class mana stone and get Grunt out of here.

“Even our god, Thrag, personally sent rain to congratulate his victory!”

“T-the god himself?!”

“Yes!”

As Barkal continued, the way the barbarians looked at me began to shift.

At first their gazes carried no small amount of hostility, but now I could sense respect and the sticky warmth of brotherhood.

“He is a sage! I trust his words more than my father’s!”

You unfilial bastard.

“Then, sage Dmihtan! Teach us!”

The barbarians started kneeling to me one after another.

“Sage, what should we do?”

“Please lend us your wisdom, great barbarian Dmihtan!”

Here, I discovered another barbarian trait. They’re keenly aware of their own limitations.

Barbarians know they’re not smart. And they also know they have to work to improve.

But knowing doesn’t solve everything—what a dreadful lack of intelligence.

Still, didn’t the gods grant them overwhelming physical ability as compensation, for balance?

If your body is strong, your brain faces less suffering.

“You fall for lies because you’re stupid.”

“Hrrrrk…….”

The barbarians groaned in pain. Barkal nodded as he looked down at them.

That’s something I wanted to tell you, but seeing your reaction… whatever.

“And the reason they lie to you is because they don’t respect us barbarians.”

“Respect…?”

“Make them respect us. We have the right to be respected, too.”

“Respect……respect…….”

Honestly, what I wanted to say wasn’t for the barbarians here, but for Grunt.

It wasn’t the barbarians I owed, but Urok. All I had to do was knock some sense into his brother Grunt and get him out of here.

“Respect…….”

“I know how to be respected!”

Grunt raised his hand, drawing everyone’s attention.

“I heard this from my father! When my father was young, there was another tribe that settled in the canyon!”

Was there some moral in this story? I held my tongue and listened quietly.

“Our tribe clashed with them! We fought over territory repeatedly!”

“But then, after we spoke with them, our tribe was able to be respected!”

Barkal murmured along with him, perhaps because he knew the story as a fellow Red Wolf clansman.

It was a good story for drawing conclusions.

Don’t just trust the other side blindly; have a dialogue. That’s the path to ‘respect.’

“What sort of conversation did you have?”

“We had a conversation of blood!”

“At the end of the blood conversation, our Red Wolf Tribe killed them and brought peace!”

What?

“To be respected, you have to show them!”

“Show them who we are!”

“Kill them! Kill them all!”

“Killing isn’t conversation!”

I shouted to stop the barbarians, who were on the verge of losing control in their rage. Thankfully, they began to calm down upon hearing my words.

“You can’t have a conversation if the other side is dead! You can’t receive respect if you’re dead, either!”

“That’s true!”

“Indeed, brother, you are a sage!”

Do you know what I’m trying to say?

“The sage said not to kill!”

“We must punish the liars who deceived us!”

“Gravas is great!”

“Thrag is greater!”

Thump, thump, thump──!

The barbarians began to run in unison in one direction.

“If something happens, where are we supposed to go?”

“If something happens, go to the office!”

“Find the manager! He deceived us!”

I watched the hulking mass of barbarians stampede toward the auction house.

This has nothing to do with me. It’s out of my hands now.

Wait, hold on.

“Barkal, where are you going?!”

————-= Clacky’s Corner ————-=

Whahahahahahahahahhaha.

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】

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