Chapter 10: 10

Barbarian Quest

Chapter 10 – Horus Gladiator Troupe (3)

The first day of the gladiator matches was over. The free gladiators stood in line to receive their money.

Clink, clang.

Horus counted each individual coin for Urich’s payment.

“If I deduct what I gave you in advance… 200,000 cil.”

Urich, who still smelled like blood, narrowed his eyes.

“I’d earn more if I robbed some random person off the streets. Are you kidding me?”

“Look, Urich. I’m someone who is exact in his calculations. You earned 800,000 cil, and I just took off the 600,000 cil that you asked for in advance.”

Horus spoke with sharp eyes.

“I need a million cil. No, 2 million cil. For good measure.”

Urich spoke while counting with his fingers.

‘I have to pay the blacksmith for the axes. And if I want a real girl instead of the prostitutes that go around for free, I need around 100,000 cil.’

Horus interlaced his fingers and leaned back.

“I’ll be asking for interest this time, then, Urich. I only do things out of goodwill once.”

“Interest?”

“If you borrow 2 million cil from me, you have to pay me back 2,200,000 cil next time.”

“Set up a lot of matches. I’ll pay you back in an instant.”

Urich talked big. Horus smirked.

‘I thought he was smart, but he was just a stupid barbarian. He’s an idiot that only looks at the short term. It’ll be easy to use him.’

Everyone already knew that Urich was a barbarian. It became obvious whether or not someone was a barbarian after a while of living with them. The behavioral patterns of barbarians were completely different from the Empire’s citizens’.

‘I’ll use you as much as I want and kill you off flamboyantly.’

Horus pulled out gold coins from his pocket, and Urich smiled.

“I knew I could talk it out with you, Horus.”

Urich grabbed the gold coins.

“Interest is 10%, Urich.”

“Set up, like, three matches in a row for me. I’ll pay you back quickly.”

The other gladiators who heard it laughed to themselves.

“There isn’t a more reckless bastard than that guy. He’s not going to live long.”

Donovan spoke as Urich walked away.

‘Urich won’t last. It was just another barbarian being senseless again.’

Everyone thought that.

* * *

Urich had his coming-of-age ceremony at the age of fourteen. A healthy male becoming an adult also meant that he was becoming a warrior. A warrior was the shield that protects the tribe as well as the spear that strikes the enemies. To become a warrior, they would have to prove their capabilities as one.

There was nothing set in stone for the coming-of-age ceremony. Spending half a month in the forest and plains by themselves and surviving alone, killing a lion on their own, etc. They must do something to be recognized as a warrior. Even if it was a bit lacking at times, the village members would understand it.

Urich’s coming-of-age ceremony shocked the entire Stone Axe Tribe.

He left to the plains by himself and invaded another tribe’s territory. He came back with the heads of three warriors who were on their way back from hunting.

When the underdeveloped boy came back with the heads of three warriors on his waist, the members of the tribe all had the same feeling.

‘Urich will become a great warrior.’

He never failed the expectations of his tribe members. It didn’t take two years for him to set accomplishments that other warriors would be terrified of. It was to the point where, if he came out to battle against another tribe, the other tribe would instantly give up.

‘Killing thirty people was quite fun.’

Urich thought of his past. There was a time when a tribe woman who embraced Urich was kidnapped and died after getting assaulted by multiple men. It was just a year ago.

He didn’t love the dead tribe woman. They were compatible, so they embraced each other every once in a while, and the woman just enjoyed receiving a strong warrior’s seed.

However, Urich was enraged. He went into the territory of the tribe that kidnapped the woman alone and killed thirty men over the span of three days. He hung the severed heads on the nearby trees, and Urich’s warning spread all throughout the plains. After that, no one dared to kidnap women from the Stone Axe Tribe.

Even in the eyes of his tribe members, his actions were that of a lunatic. But no one judged him for what he did. In the world of warriors, you receive more respect the more deranged things you do.

Crush, twist.

Urich twisted someone’s neck as he was reminiscing about his past. He wiped the blood that landed near his lips with his forearm.

“UWAAAAAA! Urich! Urich!”

The audience cheered. Urich looked at the corpses that fell before his feet.

“It’s 500,000 cil for each head. So, one, two, three, four… That’s 2 million cil. I’ll be able to pay back the majority of the debt.”

The match was already over. Urich won two 1v2 matches in a row.

“That’s insane. Does he want to die or something? He’s not even a slave gladiator! I can’t believe he wanted a 1v2!”

The opposing gladiator troupe also had a lot to say about Urich.

The only people that were enjoying it were the audience. Urich stomped on all of his competition with overwhelming power. His techniques were so fast that it was as if a phantom did it, so they couldn’t even comprehend what happened.

“Urich! Urich!”

Urich’s popularity shot to the sky in just two days. The superhuman movements he displayed on the first day. Winning two 2v1 matches on the second day.

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‘There’s no way he isn’t popular after doing all that! The audience loves reckless gladiators more!’

Horus tightened his fist. He sent Urich out on these matches to die. He earned 5 million cil as payment for his match. Even if Urich died, it was financially worth it to send him out.

‘He’s a gem. A real gem,’ Horus muttered. Urich was a warrior that transcended his imagination. Horus was a man who didn’t know anything about wielding a sword, but even he could tell how amazing of a level Urich was at.

“He wasn’t an ordinary barbarian. He’s amazing.”

Even the gladiators that were indifferent to Urich couldn’t help but praise him.

“I thought he was going to die, but he spectacularly came out alive.”

As Urich returned to the waiting room, gladiators came up to talk to him and pat him on the back.

“It’s been a long time since I was able to warm up like that. I thought my skills were getting rusty nowadays. Ahh, nice. This looks tasty.”

Urich sat on the chair. He gulped down water mixed with lemon juice.

He was being cocky, but the gladiators loved the way he spoke. Because a skilled warrior was allowed to say whatever he wanted to.

“Where did you learn swordsmanship?”

“Learn? What do you mean, ‘learn’? You get used to swords by cutting people with them. I heard that there are some retards out there who train themselves by hitting scarecrows? Doing that is a waste of time! Skills for killing people are improved by killing people.”

Urich spun his sword and cooly put it back in its scabbard.

“That’s exactly it. I like you. My name is Bakman. I’m from the harbor city in the East. I was originally a seaman.”

“Seaman? I’ve never been to the sea.”

Just as Urich said that, Bakman excitedly spoke about what the sea looked like.

“You can think of it like a shaking lake that’s as wide as the sky. You can’t see the end of it.”

Urich’s eyes widened, then he shook his head after hearing the rest of Bakman’s explanation.

“Ahh, no way. How can that be real? Are you lying to me because I’ve never been to the sea before? Huh? I’ll have you know, I’ve crushed the skulls of multiple people who lied to my face.”

Urich was serious, yet Bakman and the other gladiators grabbed their stomachs and laughed.

“Haaah, this guy really is a bumpkin. When we go to the East later, make sure to go look at the sea. Then you’ll know whether I’m lying or not.”

Other gladiators started to follow Bakman’s lead and spoke with Urich. They were people who either didn’t mind Donovan’s gaze or didn’t have the best relationship with Donovan.

* * *

* * *

While the Horus Gladiator Troupe remained in the city, they rented out an entire tavern to use as their dormitory. As meat and alcohol sold insanely quickly, the tavern owner couldn’t stop smiling.

“Sven? He’s a bit special. If he felt like it, he could negotiate with Horus to become a free gladiator instead of a slave. And Horus would probably let him. But he doesn’t try to stop being a slave,” said Bakman.

Urich and Bakman drank beer and ate meat together. Gladiators around them also had fun and played boisterously.

“I’d rather die instead of living as a slave.”

Urich knew about the life of a slave. They weren’t treated as humans. It was the same here as it was back at home.

“From what I heard, Horus is the very person that saved Sven’s life. When he was adrift at sea, on the verge of dying, Horus treated Sven and even gave him a place to fight at. From a Northerner’s perspective, that’s enough to swear loyalty for.”

Urich tilted his head.

“Northerner’s perspective?”

“Do you know about the ‘Hill of Swords’? It’s the place Northerners who are warriors go to when they die. Apparently, you have to die while fighting to go there. It’s a heaven where their great ancestors and warriors wait. They can eat meat and drink alcohol as much as they want and fight to test each other’s skills regardless of the time. Northerners are the most afraid of dying of a disease or in an accident. Because if a warrior dies normally, they won’t be able to go to the Hill of Swords. They believe that they would just wander around this world.”

Hill of Swords. It was a bit different, but it wasn’t too different from the stories Urich would hear from his motherland.

In his village, they believed that, if a warrior didn’t live faithfully, he wouldn’t be able to reach the world of souls. To have a peaceful afterlife, they had to grab their weapons until their bodies gave up.

‘The elders said that the world beyond the mountain range was the world of souls.’

But that was a lie. This place beyond the mountain range was also a place where people lived.

‘Then where do our souls go when we die?’

Due to his feelings of frustration, Urich gulped down his alcohol faster. He fell into deep thought.

‘What happens to me when I die?’

Urich looked at Bakman.

“Then where do you go when you die? You’re not a Northerner. You’re a civilized person.”

The people who lived in the Empire called themselves civilized people. It was a word to discriminate against the barbarians from the North and South. The Northerners and Southerners were barbarians, but the people of the Empire were civilized.

Clang.

Bakman pulled out a necklace from underneath his shirt and shook it.

“The sun?”

The sun ornament on the necklace swung. Urich also saw that design a couple of times before.

“My soul returns back to Ru, the Sun God, and I will be reborn. You should also convert to Sol.”

Sol. It was the religion that the majority of civilized people believed in. All of the kingdoms that belonged to the Empire followed their lead and also made Sol their national religion.

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“What I believe in is the sky. The sun is a part of the sky, right? Then that means what I believe in is bigger!” Urich condescendingly responded. Bakman cackled with him.

“Well, believe what you want to believe. But devoutly religious people would be shaking in anger if they heard that.”

It looked like Bakman was not that devout of a believer. He put the sun necklace back underneath his shirt.

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