CH 85

“I do not quite understand what you mean…” Siegfried muttered.

“Just wait and see,” Quandt said with a sinister smile before he added, “The Green Dragon’s scale plus the mind metal… I will make you the deadliest throwing weapon set on the continent!”

Siegfried had no idea what kind of plan this seasoned blacksmith was hatching in his head right now, but Siegfried was certain of one thing.

‘I guess I’m going to get a really good weapon…’ 

The abilities of the throwables being crafted by the Bavarian Workshop’s best division when it came to making high-end artifacts, the Hometown of Death, would definitely be a good one.

“But there is one problem…” Quandt said.

“What is it?”

“The dragon’s scale and the mind metal aren’t enough for me to complete the throwing weapon set I wish to craft.”

“What else do you need?”

“I need a mind sapphire.”

“A mind sapphire…? What is that…?”

“The mind sapphire is a mineral that reacts to the brainwaves of a creature like mind metals. I will be able to further enhance the specification of the throwing weapon set with it.”

“Then you mean…” Siegfried muttered.

He finally understood what Quandt was trying to say, ‘It’s a quest.”

From his experience, the only reason an NPC would speak like this was when they wanted to give a quest to a player.

“Do I have to go and get a mind sapphire?” Siegfried asked.

“Exactly,” Quandt replied with a nod, and then he added, “Of course, I can make it without the mind sapphire, but the item won’t be that good without it… I will only be able to call it complete with the mind sapphire, so can you go and procure one?”

“Where can I find this mind sapphire?”

“Look for the Dahomey Barbarian Tribe up north. I heard that the chieftain of the Dahomey Tribe is in possession of an artifact made out of a mind sapphire.”

Then, a message popped up in front of Siegfried’s eyes.

[Alert: Quest – ‘For the Torrential Flower Rain!’ has appeared!]

[Alert: Do you wish to accept this Quest?]

The quest details were then revealed:

[For the Torrential Flower Rain!]

[Type: Normal Quest]

[Description: Take possession of the mind sapphire in the possession of the chieftain of the Dahomey Barbarian Tribe up north.]

[Progress: 0% (0/1)]

[Reward: Quandt’s Masterpiece]

[Caution: None]

There was no need to even think about it.

[Yes!]

Siegfried accepted the quest from Quandt without an ounce of hesitation. He had been planning to go up north and wipe out the barbarian tribes anyway.

“I will bring the mind sapphire back,” he confidently said.

“Will you do that? Then, I can promise you that I will craft a masterpiece if you do manage to bring back a mind sapphire,” Quandt said.

“I look forward to your masterpiece,” Siegfried replied with a smile.

***

“We are going to subjugate the barbarians,” Siegfried declared as soon as he returned to Casein Castle.

‘This is killing three birds with one stone,’ he thought.

Subjugating the northern barbarian tribes was an opportunity for him to expand and strengthen his border defenses as well as level up on top of being able to clear the quest ‘For the Torrential Flower Rain!’. As such, the term ‘killing three birds with one stone’ truly suited such an endeavor.

“But, Your Majesty,” Oscar interjected and said, “It is not going to be easy subjugating the barbarians of the plains. I advise that we establish a long-term plan and slowly subjugate them instead of rushing it this time…”

It was very wise advice from a seasoned veteran.

“Dame Oscar is right, Your Majesty.”

“That is indeed the wiser choice.”

“Subjugating all of the barbarian tribes is going to prove to be a difficult task. It is far wiser for us to proceed with caution on the matter.”

The other officials seemed to agree with Oscar’s suggestion.

“Is that so? I understand. I shall take your suggestions into consideration and think about it one more time. Hmm…” Siegfried replied.

He wanted to become a wise king who listened to the opinions and advice of his loyal subjects. As such, he was willing to rethink his decision about subjugating the barbarian tribes.

“I thought about it again, but I still think that now is the perfect time for us to subjugate them. Haha!” Siegfried laughed.

The problem was he only thought about it for three seconds before deciding once again…

“…”

The officials of Proatine were rendered speechless by their king’s actions.

“It is a wise choice, Your Majesty,” Michele suddenly said and supported Siegfried’s decision before adding, “The barbarians of the plains are currently in disarray thanks to Durian’s failed attempt at conquest. We won’t be able to exterminate or subjugate them completely, but we will surely gain satisfactory results from our campaign. Based on my humble calculations… I think that we will be able to deal enough damage to ensure that the barbarians would not dare invade our lands for the next few years at the least.”

“I agree with your words, Sir Michele,” Siegfried said with a smirk.

“On top of that, Your Majesty has killed both Durian and the Green Dragon under his command. Can you imagine how much morale the barbarians will lose if Your Majesty personally participates in the battlefield? Combat power is important in a war, but morale is equally important as well. That is why I judged that this is the right timing for us to strike them.” Michele continued to support Siegfried’s decision.

That was not the end of it…

A few officials vehemently opposed the campaign by providing their logic, but Michele stepped up and rebuke every single one of them. He squashed every dissent over the barbarian subjugation campaign.

‘This is a disaster…’ Oscar thought.

She realized that things weren’t going in the right direction for the kingdom.

‘Nobody can go against His Majesty’s decision as long as Sir Michele is supporting him…’ 

Oscar realized that nobody would be able to go against Siegfried’s decisions as long as his authority was backed up by the logical reasoning of a genius.

“Now then, is there anyone else against the campaign? I’m checking just in case,” Siegfried asked the officials.

“…”

The officials shut their mouths after suffering a crushing defeat at the hands of Michele’s oratory skills and logic.

Tremble…! Tremble…! 

The officials could only clench their fists and tremble in anger. They couldn’t do anything after being crushed by the young minister, who they believed was only appointed to his position due to his connection with the king.

“Dame Oscar,” Siegfried called out.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Oscar immediately responded.

“Prepare to set out tomorrow morning.”

“I, Oscar, accept Your Majesty’s command!” Oscar replied after going down on one knee.

***

The skies were clear, but it seemed dark for the Pullman Tribe as a great disaster befell them.

“Listen, you barbarians!”

A knight mounted on a white horse with five hundred troops behind her shouted at the base of the barbarian tribe.

“Lay down your weapons and surrender to the ruler and king of the Proatine Territory, His Majesty Siegfried van Proa! You will be spared if you swear your allegiance to His Majesty, but you will die if you choose otherwise!”

However, there was no way that the Pullman Tribe would be fazed by such a sudden threat to surrender.

“Kuhahaha! This bitch actually dared to appear out of nowhere and ask us, men of the plains, to surrender?!”

“Listen how that dirty bitch from the continent barks! Hahaha!”

“That bitch looks quite fair and delicate, though! Come here! Let me show you how a man of the Pullman Tribe handles a woman! Kuhaha!”

Even among the barbarian tribes of the plains, the Pullman Tribe was renowned for their aggressiveness as well as their crude language.

However, Oscar wasn’t fazed at all despite the sneering and sexual harassment from the barbarians. In fact, she smiled at their response before retrieving something and raising it high up. Then, she asked with a chilling smile, “Do you know who this is?”

Oscar had raised the half-crushed head of a human being.

“…!”

The eyes of the Pullman Barbarians shot wide open in horror when they saw the head.

Durian.

Their chieftain, who went south to conquer the Proatine Kingdom, returned to them as a half-crushed head!

***

“Im—Impossible!”

“This is all a trick! These bastards from the continent are trying to pull a fast one on us! There’s no way that’s our chieftain’s head!”

“Kuhahaha! Look how devious that bitch is! How dare you try to trick us?!”

Even after seeing Durian’s head, the Pullman Barbarians didn’t believe that it belonged to Durian. They considered it to be a cowardly, honorless ploy of the people from the continent.

The funny thing was the fact that they never seemed to have questioned even once why their chieftain never returned after going south to conquer the Proatine Kingdom, even though three full days had already passed…

“Bring the carts,” Oscar commanded.

Creak…! Creak…! Creak…! 

The soldiers pulled a large cart and tilted it, so it would be in full view of the Pullman Barbarians.

On the cart was none other than a Green Dragon’s head with its horns sawed off and its eyeballs dug out.

“That’s Smogger…!”

“Dra-Dragon! It’s a dragon’s head!”

“Impossible!”

It was only after seeing the Green Dragon’s head that the Pullman Barbarians finally realized that their chieftain had indeed fallen in battle at the hands of the people of the continent.

“Do you believe me now? Your chieftain is dead, and we hunted his dragon down. I suggest that you drop your futile resistance and surrender. That is the only way that all of you will be spared. His Majesty, Siegfried van Proa is a gracious and merciful man!” Oscar shouted, asking the Pullman Barbarians to surrender once more.

“Avenge the chieftain!”

“Kill them! Kill those dogs from the continent!”

“Rip them to pieces and feed them to the wolves!”

However, the Pullman Barbarians’ morale didn’t decrease at the news of their chieftain’s death. In fact, they went berserk as they charged to avenge their chieftain. It was an extremely stupid and illogical decision that could only come from their lack of intellect and reasoning, but that was simply the way of the Pullman Barbarians.

The word ‘surrender’ didn’t exist in the dictionary of the Pullman Barbarian Warriors.

Their sole purpose in life was to fight even though the odds were stacked against them.

This was the reason why the Pullman Tribe became renowned for their aggressiveness in these vast wide plains.

***

Rumble…! Rumble…! Rumble…! 

The Pullman Tribe cavalry charged toward the Proatine Forces.

“I’ll handle this,” Siegfried said, stepping forward.

“It’s dangerous, Your Majesty. A cavalry’s charge can be quite…” Oscar started.

However, Siegfried interrupted her and said, “I have to step up, so our soldiers won’t get hurt, Dame Oscar.”

“Y-Your Majesty…!”

“Isn’t it about time that you place your trust in me?”

“I… I shall follow your commands…” Oscar muttered. She finally gave up on trying to dissuade Siegfried.

‘What are you going to show us this time, Your Majesty?’ Oscar wondered. She decided to wait and see what her liege had in store for her this time.

Woooooong!

Siegfried placed a field of Speed Restraint up ahead.

Clop… Clop… Clop…

The barbarian cavalry’s speed noticeably slowed down once they entered the field.

‘Irradiate… Hmm… I wonder if I can erase[1] all of them with it…?’ Siegfried wondered about how strong his new skill was as he walked toward the barbarian forces.

‘Let’s find out…’ 

He smiled and activated his Evolved Circle of Weakness, a.k.a. Irradiate.

Seuuu…!

A green cloud of fog slowly seeped out from his body and into the surroundings.

Theft is never good, try looking at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

Exactly ten seconds later, a calamity would descend upon the barbarians.

1. This is a reference to the game Starcraft where a unit called a Science Vessel used the ability Irradiate on themselves and moved around enemy troops to ‘erase’ them like an eraser. It is a well-known game lingo in the Korean gaming community thanks to the popularity of Starcraft back then. ☜