Chapter 119
When Sieg subdued the demonic beasts, the barbarians picked up their weapons again and charged forward.
The demonic beasts that had been regenerating, having been severely wounded by Sieg, were unable to withstand the combined assault of the barbarians and perished.
Before long, the surrounding trees and rocks were covered in the black ichor of the beasts.
"Keek!"
Sieg, having slain the last of the beasts, approached King Fist.
"King Fist, it's been a while."
King Fist nodded.
"Thanks, big brother Sieg, for your help."
King Fist pulled Sieg in for a hug.
Then, other barbarians approached the two.
"King Fist, is that a human?"
King Fist introduced Sieg to them.
"This is Big brother Sieg. He's super strong."
"Seems so. Is he really human?"
Sieg nodded as he replied to the barbarians.
"I am human. Nice to meet you."
While the barbarians were a reclusive tribe, they were not ones to ignore the favor shown to them.
They recognized Sieg as a fellow warrior.
Sieg spoke to King Fist.
"Aren't you from the Boulder Tribe? Why are you with other tribes?"
King Fist's face darkened at Sieg's question.
"The demonic beasts increased in number. We joined forces with other tribes."
The Boulder Tribe, unable to deal with the beasts on their own, seemed to have allied with neighboring tribes.
Sieg, surprised by King Fist's words, thought to himself.
'It looks like the situation is more serious than I thought if even the barbarians, who usually don't ally with other tribes, have united.'
Just then, Richmond appeared from between the trees.
"Hah, hah, master. How could you leave me behind... Hi-hiek! Ba-barbarians...!"
With dozens of barbarians, who even eat monsters raw, gathered around, Richmond was visibly frightened.
Sieg addressed Richmond.
"Don't be afraid. They're not enemies. Besides, you're a lich. Shouldn't you be less afraid?"
Richmond wiped his cold sweat as he replied.
"Well, I've spent most of my life researching monsters, so I have little combat experience."
"You're quite peculiar in many ways."
"Hehe."
Just as the conversation ended, King Fist invited Sieg to come with him to the village.
"Can I go into the village?"
"Yes. My father tribal chief."
Having a human invited to a barbarian village was as rare as having an outsider invited to the Ishtar family.
'Since he's the chief's son, it should be fine.'
With King Fist's offer, Sieg and Richmond followed the barbarians toward the village.
"Whoa."
Richmond's jaw dropped at the sight of the barbarian village entrance.
A fortress, made by piling up massive rocks like walls, was constructed atop a mountain.
Such fortifications would likely keep out not only high-risk monsters but even demonic beasts.
Indeed, when enemies attacked the fortress, the barbarians would hurl rocks from above to fend them off.
No weapon was as terrifying as a stone thrown by the strength of a barbarian.
Even the strongest human knights dared not provoke the territory of the barbarians for this reason.
Sieg surveyed the surroundings with his Dragon Eyes and discovered something astonishing.
'Magic is installed all over the fortress?'
Not modern magic but ancient spells were set up throughout the fortress.
Even if a magic squad came here to use large-scale siege magic, the fortress would not crumble. Instead, it would deflect the magic, causing harm to the attackers.
Sieg realized that the civilization of the barbarians was more advanced than he had thought.
"Wait here for a moment, big brother Sieg."
King Fist and other barbarian warriors approached the fortress entrance and collectively pushed aside a massive rock.
"Kurururung!"
With a thunderous noise, a rock the size of a house was rolled aside.
As the group entered, the barbarians moved the rock back to its original position.
Sieg and Richmond were left gaping at the bewildering entrance mechanism.
King Fist and the barbarians led them inside. As they entered the village, a marvelous sight unfolded.
The interior of the fortress housed a barbarian city, unlike anything they had seen before.
Houses made by carving and stacking small rocks extended down the mountain, and wide roads and plazas paved with smooth stones, as well as stone stalls, were impressive.
One barbarian was selling monster meat and hides on a stall, while other places sold various miscellaneous goods.
Occasionally, there were shops dealing with items from humans or other races.
Sieg was amazed by the barbarian shops.
Although in his past life he had negotiated or fought alongside barbarians, he had never entered their villages, so this sight was novel to him.
Richmond, who was interested in monster bones, wandered from shop to shop with wide eyes.
"Ma-master! My goodness, they're selling wyvern bones and hides too!"
Sieg, telling Richmond to look around the shops, decided to meet the tribal chief with King Fist.
The purpose was to inquire about the whereabouts of the smith, Golyn, whom he had come to find.
The Boulder Tribe's chief lived in a building carved from a large rock, just as the tribe's name suggested.
King Fist went inside first and called out.
"Dad! Big brother Sieg is here with me!"
Inside the rock, a barbarian larger and more fearsome-looking than King Fist was meditating with his eyes closed.
He slowly opened his eyes, giving King Fist a stern look.
King Fist flinched and stepped back.
"Wh-why are you like that?"
King Fist's father and the Boulder Tribe's chief, Big Foot, slowly rose to his feet.
His gigantic form was reminiscent of a legendary giant.
The tales of barbarians being descendants of ancient giants made sense.
Big Foot addressed Sieg.
"You must have been surprised by my foolish son."
The chief had a deep voice and spoke fluent common tongue.
Sieg, surprised, responded to the chief's words.
"You speak the common tongue."
"It's one of the main reasons other warriors aren't eager to become chiefs. Please, take a seat here."
Big Foot asked King Fist to leave and offered Sieg a seat where a fire was lit.
Big Foot placed a large pot of water over the fire and tossed in a few twigs.
After a while, as the water started boiling, Big Foot poured the brewed twig water into a giant bowl and handed it to Sieg.
While it was merely a bowl to the barbarians, to Sieg it was the size of a washbasin.
"Thank you."
Curious about the taste of the barbarian tea, Sieg brought the washbasin-sized bowl to his face for a taste.
It was slightly astringent, but there was a refreshing quality to it.
Big Foot watched Sieg intently as he drank.
The bowl's weight was not something a typical human could easily handle.
Yet Sieg drank the tea effortlessly, holding the bowl as though it weighed nothing.
Once Sieg finished the tea and set the bowl down, Big Foot spoke.
"You don't seem like an ordinary human. Are you a knight?"
Sieg nodded.
"Yes. I am of Draker blood."
Big Foot frowned slightly at Sieg's words.
It seemed that even the barbarians knew the name Draker.
Big Foot relaxed his expression and spoke.
"You are a man who helped my child before being of Draker blood. I wish to repay that kindness."
Sieg then asked Big Foot.
"I am looking for a dwarf. A famous blacksmith. I heard he lost contact with those nearby."
Big Foot nodded to Sieg's words.
"You're speaking of Golyn."
Sieg's face lit up as he asked.
"You know of him?"
"A craftsman like Golyn deserves a warm welcome. Our tribe prides itself on stonework but lacks the skills to work with metal."
"I see. Golyn's skills are well-renown among humans as well."
Sieg showed Big Foot the scabbard he received from Gelion.
"This was a gift from Golyn's human disciple."
Upon seeing the scabbard, Big Foot nodded.
"I remember. Golyn combined the remains of monsters we hunted with minerals to create his first work. I recall his enthusiasm about making a weapon beyond a mere weapon."
Sieg was astounded by Big Foot's unexpected words.
"This scabbard was crafted here?"
The story seemed impossible given the timeline, so Sieg asked, puzzled.
"We've been acquainted with that stubborn dwarf craftsman for quite some time. He often visits this place when his new projects don't turn out well."
"You mean this isn't the first time Golyn came here?"
"About ten years ago, he wandered into our territory by chance. We invited him as a guest upon seeing his remarkable talent."
"I see. Is Golyn still staying in this village?"
Big Foot's expression darkened at Sieg's words.
"No, Golyn is in the village beyond that mountain. The problem is... the communication between villages has been severed for months because of the demonic beasts."
Sieg looked at Big Foot and remarked.
"Seeing how the demonic beasts reacted while climbing the mountains, something seems off. Their regeneration was unusually fast, and they didn't die even when killed. Could it be that demonic beasts here naturally behave this way?"
The chief shook his head in response.
"No. The Boulder Tribe has traditionally played the role of guardians to prevent the demonic beasts here from escaping into the outside world. In all those years, this is the first time we've seen such behavior from the beasts."
Hearing Big Foot's words, Sieg frowned.
"There must be some abnormality. Do you have any suspicions?"
Big Foot slowly began to speak.
"For the past few years, humans have intruded on our land, desecrating it by digging up the earth and forest imbued with our ancestors' power."
Sieg realized that the intruders Big Foot referred to were the Hounds.
"Despite tearing them apart, they kept coming without pause. Unlike before, they moved stealthily and continued to dig into our land. And then..."
His expression darkened.
"They dug into a place they shouldn't have."
"What do you mean?"
"They awakened a monster that should never have been stirred."
Something crossed Sieg's mind as he listened to Big Foot.
"Could it be?"
Big Foot spoke with a serious expression.
"The Nine-Headed Dragon broke free from its sealed domain and emerged outside."
Sieg's guess had been correct.
The hydra he had seen in Kaiser's Sanctuary had escaped beyond its domain.
"Although a hydra is regarded as a corrupted dragonkin, could it be that it affected other demonic beasts as well?"
Sieg couldn't comprehend how the hydra, which had spent so long in the same region, suddenly began rampaging, leading demonic beasts and setting the mountain monsters abuzz.
Sieg recalled the various experiments conducted by the empire.
"Could it be that those scoundrels did something to provoke the hydra and the demonic beasts?"
Given the empire's history of conducting all sorts of experiments on monsters and demonic beasts, they might have provoked the hydra.
Sieg spoke to Big Foot.
"That means until the problematic hydra is dealt with, we can't reach Golyn's village."
"As it stands, that's correct. While the young warriors of the tribes have combined their strength, it's challenging to hunt the hydra. Though the probability of a successful hunt would be higher if I and the other chiefs joined in..."
At Big Foot's words, Sieg shook his head.
"Should that happen, those humans you mentioned might seize the opportunity to attack the village."
Big Foot nodded in agreement.
"That concern keeps us from acting rashly."
"Is there no other place you can seek help from?"
"We've contacted the Hermit of the Forest, but it's uncertain when he will arrive."
Upon hearing Big Foot mention "Hermit of the Forest", Sieg briefly froze, his body stiffening and cold sweat forming.
Big Foot tilted his head, puzzled by Sieg's sudden reaction.
"What's the matter?"
Sieg shook his head, still sweating.
"N-nothing."
Sieg collected himself inwardly.
'If he means the Hermit of the Forest, that could be Master's moniker. If I delay too long, I might run into him.'
Sieg's master was the one person he preferred not to encounter.
Sieg then asked Big Foot again.
"So, the safety of the people in that direction is uncertain as well?"
"If they're within the fortress, not even a hydra or demonic beast can easily endanger them. However, knowing Golyn, I'm not certain he'd just stay put in there. Given his penchant for valuable materials, he tends to wander around even in hazardous areas."
Golyn, the eccentric master artisan, was exactly the type of dwarf one would expect.
"It'd be a miracle if he doesn't charge at the hydra himself, wielding an axe, claiming he's gathering materials."
Sieg decided it best to resolve the issue swiftly so they could descend from the place.
Rising from his seat immediately, Sieg spoke to Big Foot.
"Chief, gather your warriors."
"The warriors, why...?"
"We're going to slay the hydra and fetch Golyn."