Make the Barbarians Great Again

Chapter 12: The Devoured One (1)

“Then tell me about the other generals.”

“…You’re actually remembering everything I say, right? I won’t have to explain all this again later, will I?”

When Hindir stared at him silently, Ubol looked appalled.

“Alright, alright, I got it. That glare is terrifying. Anyway, above that guy, there are two more generals, and even if the Snowy King doesn’t act, those two will move first. No, since his disciple was killed, the First General will definitely act. As for the Second General… honestly, I have no idea what she’s thinking.”

“Disciple?”

“The three generals and the subordinate you killed yesterday all trained under the same master. I heard the First General was their teacher. The Second and Third Generals were said to be his top disciples.”

“I saw traces of Trinity Academy swordsmanship on the one who died. Wasn’t he from there?”

“Trinity? Did you mention that in front of General Bel?”

“I did.”

“Hahaha! Then he must’ve gone berserk, right? To those guys, Trinity is like their reverse scale.”

Ubol burst into a fit of laughter, as if something was hilariously funny.

“I don’t know the full story, but I do know the First General used to be at Trinity Academy. But bringing that up in front of him is basically taboo. I suspect he was kicked out, and now he acts all high and mighty pretending to be a master, so of course it’s laughable.”

“Is your demotion related to that?”

“…Damn it. You’re sharp as hell. Yeah. I brought it up while drunk, and he tried to kill me. The Snowy King stepped in and sent me here instead.”

“The Snowy King saved you?”

“Yeah. I was a fairly high-ranking battle commander and a local too, so I guess he thought I deserved some decent treatment.”

“Isn’t it strange, though, that someone who doesn’t like you was sent to your area?”

“There’s no reason for that. It’s unnecessary.”

“Does the Snowy King know you carry the blood of Parno?”

“Cough! Hack!”

Ubol, who had been about to take a sip of alcohol, choked and started coughing violently.

Each cough seemed to bring a new wave of drunkenness.

“Wh-What the hell kind of crazy talk is that?”

“The bloodline of Parno carries a unique power by nature. I sensed traces of it in you yesterday, so there’s no need to lie.”

“There was… something like that…?”

Ubol silently dropped his head onto the table, then started scratching his head roughly.

“Shit. Is this some kind of threat?”

“Did it sound like a threat?”

“Yeah. Totally.”

“I merely reminded you of the possibilities because you seemed too complacent.”

The Parno family had always struggled to produce heirs.

So they rarely let their bloodline out to outsiders.

It was like that five hundred years ago, and likely still the same today.

Yet Ubol, with Parno blood, was in the Snowy King’s Army.

The family almost certainly didn’t know, so that wasn’t a major issue.

“If the Snowy King knows, though, things get serious.”

“…So he kept me here for some hidden purpose?”

As that thought formed, Ubol finally began recalling pieces of his past.

Despite being called a mad dog and causing all sorts of trouble, even clashing with the generals, the Snowy King spared his life.

“…No. If he had a purpose for keeping me, he wouldn’t have sent the Third General here.”

“What if he was certain that you’d win, even if a fight broke out?”

“……”

Ubol’s mind grew increasingly tangled.

Hindir’s words were starting to sound plausible.

“Why are you doing this here anyway?”

“What do you mean?”

“If you're from Parno, then your kin wouldn’t let you out into the world until you were fully prepared. But here you are, not just anywhere, but among bandits. Of course it raises questions.”

“We’re not exactly close enough for me to tell you everything, are we?”

“If you don’t want to talk, that’s fine.”

As Hindir backed off easily, Ubol felt like he was the only fool in the room.

“Damn it!”

He now fully accepted that things had taken a nasty turn.

He didn’t know exactly what was going on, but just looking at the current state of things, it was hopeless.

Bel was dead, and he was alive.

The other generals might come to kill him, or maybe he’d been caught up in the Snowy King’s schemes.

“Why all of a sudden…”

“Don’t overthink it. Won’t everything be resolved if you just go back to your family?”

“No.”

Ubol’s answer came out instantly.

“Then there’s only one option.”

“…What the hell am I supposed to do?”

In the end, Ubol had no choice but to admit he had to cooperate with the giant before him.

“I was originally going to head to the main temple myself, but after hearing what you said, it seems I can just wait here. You’ll need time anyway to fully trust me, so let’s wait together. Of course, you’re free to leave if you want. And send away all your subordinates.”

They had no reason to be involved in this fight, and they wouldn’t be of any help anyway.

It was better to send them away than to let them die in vain.

“Damn it. I ended up becoming a servant, something not even in my fate.”

Hindir ignored Ubol’s grumbling as he sipped from his cup.

The Clan Head ordered everyone to leave if they didn’t want to die.

As always, the members of the Snowy King’s Army dismissed it as nonsense, but once Hindir spoke, they packed up and left without a word.

“Why the hell don’t those punks ever listen to me properly?”

“I can probably guess what your past was like without hearing it.”

Hindir replied, sitting on a wooden chair and tossing firewood into the Choranchai campfire.

“Those idiot bastards. Freeze to death out there, for all I care.”

Spitting on the ground, Ubol flipped the meat he was roasting.

He frowned at how it had turned pitch black but quickly pretended not to care and continued cooking.

“So when they come from the main temple, are you going to kill them all?”

“If we can talk, there’s no need to. If our guess is right, they’re probably being used by the Snowy King too.”

“Don’t say ‘we.’ Honestly, I’m still not convinced.”

“Then consider it my certainty.”

“……”

Thinking how annoying Hindir’s way of speaking was, Ubol vented his irritation elsewhere.

“I’d prefer if you killed them all. It was unbearable just watching those bastards act all high and mighty.”

“You can’t just kill everyone you don’t like.”

“Weren’t you the one who said you would? It’s not like we’ll be able to talk to them anyway.”

“If I had, you’d be dead too.”

“…Talk about ruthless.”

Ubol tossed the burnt meat onto the plate in front of Hindir and then started grilling again, this time with proper focus.

“When do you expect the main temple to move?”

“Who knows. The news from here needs to reach them first, but that guy acts however he pleases. Even if there's no word for a while, the main temple might just let it slide.”

“So nothing will happen in the next few days, then.”

“Got something planned?”

“I’ll train in the meantime.” Check latest chapters at novel fire.net

“……”

Ubol gave up asking for more details.

‘He won’t say because I might become an enemy later, huh.’

In truth, Ubol hadn’t planned to help Hindir with all his strength either, so he had no room to talk.

“Is the Snowy King strong?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. He’s strong.”

“You’ve fought him before?”

“No. But you don’t have to fight someone to know. If he was weak, how would he have kept his position all this time? The First General would’ve chopped his head off already.”

“So you’ve fought the First General, then.”

“Well… like I said, I don’t get along with that side. I’ve faced off against the First General, and I fought the Third General once. Got beaten like a dog.”

“You didn’t use the power of Parno?”

“If I had, that bastard would’ve been dead. And so would I.”

Even if that confidence couldn’t be verified, Hindir also thought that if Ubol had truly awakened the blood of Parno, defeating Bel would’ve been simple.

“What about the Second General?”

“I only saw the Second General fight once, but her movements were definitely better than the Third’s. But she uses a different style of swordsmanship compared to the First and Third. If anything smells fishy, I’d say it’s the Second General.”

Then Ubol stared straight at Hindir.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“What the hell are you? Your body’s ridiculously dangerous… If I trust you and get screwed, what then?”

“Want me to prove it?”

“No.”

Ubol shook his head without hesitation.

‘He’s seriously strange.’

Judging by his mana alone, he seemed like a normal person.

With the level he was currently showing, there’s no way he could’ve taken out Bel and his subordinates.

‘But he did it.’

He could definitely feel that the Snowy King and the First General were stronger than himself.

But Hindir… he couldn’t tell.

That was what gave Ubol an unknown fear and tension.

“Anyway, if you lose, I’m definitely dead too, so I’m counting on you.”

‘Let’s take care of the generals first, then go for a reversal when the Snowy King makes his move.’

He didn’t know what the Snowy King was plotting, but if he had to bet his life, it seemed more worthwhile to gamble against the King than the generals.

So for now, he decided to help Hindir take out the generals.

Just as he had told Ubol, Hindir visited Snow Dragon Valley every day and trained in his own way.

He ran while carrying sacks filled with logs or stones and repeatedly lifted and lowered them for strength training.

When Hindir first headed into Snow Dragon Valley, Ubol had followed, suspecting he might try to escape.

But after witnessing that brutal training himself, he dropped the suspicion.

Meanwhile, Hindir wasn’t only spending time on training.

He had even begun to feel a sense of emptiness within his heart-core.

The consumption of mana meant that his body had rapidly grown stronger, and to maintain efficiency, it now needed to be replenished.

So, alongside that, he had also searched for spirit elixirs.

Although he gained nothing, even that was part of the training, so it couldn’t be called a waste.

An empty core?

Since when did the Charun tribe rely on mana to fight?

Even without mana, Charun could grow stronger by any means.

However, there was just one thing that irritated Hindir.

“Are you not preparing anything at all?”

One night, a few days after only the two of them were left, Hindir asked Ubol during dinner.

“Preparing?”

“You seem to be drinking all the time.”

“Are you one to talk? You’re the one holding a bottle day and night.”

In truth, Ubol had cut back on drinking.

Or rather, he was trying to.

But having lived as a drunkard for so long, quitting overnight was impossible.

He had calculated his drinking to minimize withdrawal symptoms.

“You’re trembling all day, and yet you say that?”

“Hey, that’s why I’m cutting back slowly.”

“Even so, that won’t get rid of your anxiety.”

“Who said I’m anxious?”

“You don’t seem to be sleeping at night.”

As Hindir said, Ubol hadn’t been able to sleep well lately.

He feared waking up to find a blade stabbed into his neck.

But that wasn’t just because he was scared of the generals — it was also because he didn’t fully trust Hindir.

“Damn it… And whose fault do you think that is? Isn’t it abnormal to sleep peacefully in this situation?”

“You’re itching at the back of your head because you’re aiming for mine.”

“……”

Ubol was left speechless at the dead-on remark.

“You look like you’ve done all sorts of filthy things in the Snowy King’s Army, but your guts are tiny.”

“Shut up. This is all because of the booze. Once I quit drinking…”

Just as he was about to make another excuse, Ubol’s expression stiffened and he suddenly stood up.

“Someone’s coming!”

He grabbed his blade and dashed toward the entrance of Choranchai.

Amid the darkness of the snowy plains, a faint, flickering flame was gradually drawing closer.

It didn’t seem like someone from the main temple.

“Stop right there!”

Ubol shouted with a thunderous voice.

But the figure kept approaching, and Duar readied his blade and assumed a battle stance.

“This is your final warning. If you don’t stop, I’ll attack.”

“Whoa now, what’re ya saying? I’m about to freeze to death out here!”

“…What?”

“Who are ya, anyway? Is Brother Hindir in there by chance? Ah! There he is! Brother! It’s me!”

Duar shouted in a delighted voice as he spotted the red leather inside Choranchai.