Bjorn Yandel the Barbarian

“What? Say it again.”

Marquis Terserion, the prime minister and current commander-in-chief, answers my question while slamming the desk roughly without any change in expression.

“I will tell you one last time. As the Commander-in-Chief, I cannot allow you to change your affiliation.”

The response to the request to be sent to the front lines where our clan is located.

It was obvious, but it was hard to accept.

Well, I didn’t understand all the reasons either.

“Why is it impossible to change affiliation?”

“You are a nobleman by title.”

“I heard that there are cases where the affiliation can be changed if the person involved wishes?”

“In the military, judgment and action are made for the benefit of the group, not the individual.”

“Why wouldn’t it be in the collective interest for me to go there?”

It may not seem like a Barbarian, but this time I tried to present my argument as logically as possible to convince my opponent.

but····

“You have a job to do within the military headquarters. And I have decided that ‘mission’ is more important than going to the front lines and fighting directly.”

“What should I do···?”

“I’m just telling you this, but even here in the Imperial City of Karnon, it’s not safe. The unruly Noarks hid here that day, and the intelligence department hasn’t yet figured out what they’re hiding.”

“···So what does that have to do with me?”

“No matter how strong a building is, if its pillars collapse, it will eventually collapse. And the nobles gathered here are the pillars that support this country.”

“No, that’s why I asked, what does that have to do with anything?”

“Isn’t there anyone in this city who is as specialized in ‘protection’ as you? I don’t expect much from you. Just stay here and prepare for any eventuality.”

“under····”

Aside from the sigh, I now understand why you are holding me back like this.

Oh, of course that doesn’t mean I agree with that.

‘I’m a Barbarian anyway, right?’

A simple, ignorant warrior who knows nothing but fighting.

The barbarians of this era who are not bound by law and morality.

‘But I’m still a little worried about what will happen later…’

Well then, what should I do?

Should I just ignore everything and throw it away?

‘or not····’

That’s when my thoughts reached that point.

The Marquis muttered to himself as if to soothe me, perhaps sensing that I was thinking something strange.

“But well… I can’t let you go because of the Noarks who are hiding in this city… If you hunt them all down, then maybe I can grant your request.”

At those words, for some reason, a ‘tiring!’ alarm sound rang in my head.

‘Is this some kind of prerequisite quest…’

Okay, that’s all I have to do to solve this, right?

***

Sometimes, when playing a game, something like that happens.

There is a no entry sign posted so you can’t enter, but it opens up when you complete certain quests.

In some ways, the current situation is exactly like that.

[Search out all the Noark special forces hiding in the Imperial Karnon.]

By completing this quest, I can leave the zodiac and go to the front lines where my colleagues are legally.

However, the one thing that is a bit disappointing here is…

“Then call our clan over here. Then I will take responsibility and find them.”

“It’s impossible.”

“So you’re telling me to find everything by myself?”

“Even if you say that, it’s not right. If only your clan gets special treatment, what will the other explorers think? No one will be willing to fight for the crown with all their heart.”

I thought about using a trick, but as expected, the Marquis struck me down with one stroke.

“Of course you need people too. I will assign you some suitable people.”

Still, I decided that it wasn’t a meaningless attempt since I had already gained manpower.

“I’ll tell you in advance, you and the personnel assigned to you have been organized separately for a special mission, but your affiliation is with the military command.”

“i get it·”

“I’m saying this because you don’t seem to understand at all. I’ll say it again: never leave the Imperial Karnon without permission. If you do, it will be considered ‘desertion.’”

“···So you’re saying you understand?”

“Okay, then let’s go out.”

After the private meeting with the Marquis ended, I went back to the main hall of the Palace of Glory and spent time chatting with other nobles and gathering information.

“Haha! What do you need to worry about? This situation is nothing less than their last desperate attempt. The power of the royal family is absolute. It’s not enough to say that.”

“There is talk that it will be quietly ‘cleaned up’ in the near future, but I don’t know what will happen.”

“By the way, since His Majesty the King has not shown up in this situation, it seems that there is really no sign of his health recovering.”

Well, most of it was just useless talk.

Still, I talked to as many people as possible and listened to their stories.

And how much time has passed since then?

“Baron Yandel, all the troops the Commander-in-Chief spoke of have arrived.”

I was able to directly encounter the ‘human power’ that the Marquis mentioned sooner than I thought.

There are a total of 19 people.

Here, including me, a total of 20 people will be organized into a ‘special search unit’ under the military command and will move…

This is good anyway

There was only one thing that surprised me:

“···Mr. Yandel?”

“Raven···?”

Hehe, I didn’t know the Marquis would send this guy along with him.

“Could it be that Mr. Yandel is the person in charge of this special search team···?”

Likewise, Raven was greatly surprised and embarrassed, wondering if he had heard about me before.

“It just so happened that way. Please take care of me for the time being.”

Since I know Raven is a talented person, I reached out to him with a grateful heart.

Hana Raven had an uneasy expression on her face as she shook hands.

“···Ah, I suddenly feel really anxious·”

“Are you feeling anxious?”

“It’s nothing. I just realized that this is going to be a very, very dangerous mission.”

“Don’t worry, I don’t plan on causing any trouble.”

“When did you have such thoughts and cause an accident?”

···That, the Barbarian who hears it is sad·

“Anyway, so what exactly do we do next?”

“Huh? Didn’t you hear anything before you came?”

“Yes. I didn’t hear anything other than that we’d be asked to find something. I figured it must be pretty important since we were called in so hastily. So what is it?”

Since it seemed like we were dragged in without knowing anything, I explained the mission we had to do afterwards.

“In simple terms, you’re saying we have to start from scratch and track down those people that even the Royal Intelligence Service couldn’t find?”

Raven’s expression was not good, as if he was already sighing. I felt a little sorry, but I put aside my pride and bowed down.

“Please take good care of me”

“No, even if you say that… I don’t have any superpowers or anything….”

“I have to do this to be able to go to my colleagues.”

As soon as he said that and stared at her with desperate eyes, Raven, who had been silent for a long time, let out the breath he had been holding in.

“Ah… Okay, I understand. I’ll try my best.”

“Okay, that’s enough.”

It’s not an empty promise, that promise is really enough.

How much time have we spent together?

Given his personality, the fact that he said this means that he is truly willing to help you with both hands and feet.

‘Still, the Marquis sent it after taking care of it.’

Why did the Marquis, who always did things I didn’t like, do things I liked? I felt curious, but I also greeted the unit members I was seeing for the first time, except for Raven.

“You see, I am Bjorn, son of Yandel. And you, what is your name?”

“This is Marcus Batelan.”

“Oh, so you’re from the Baron Batlan family?”

“Not a direct lineage, but a collateral lineage, Your Majesty.”

Even if it took a little time, I investigated each person’s background and even found out what their special skills were.

To sum it up, there were ten knights, three magicians, and five ‘search agents’ who were considered special positions within the military…

“If you’re a search party member, did your ability blossom into a detection type?”

“Yes, that is correct, Baron.”

“How capable are you?”

“No one within a 20m radius can escape our eyes.”

In the voices of the search team members who answered like that, you could feel a sincere sense of pride.

Well, it didn’t feel like unfounded pride.

“As you may or may not know, whenever the Royal Knights stand guard at the gates, at least one of our search party members is always present.”

If you can use it to guard the gates of the royal family, it’s safe to say that you’ve proven your ability.

Soon I lost interest in the search party and looked at the last one.

A man wearing a black uniform with no patterns or designs, not a regular military uniform.

“You’re from the intelligence service?”

“Yes, Baron.”

“What’s your name?”

“I hope you will understand that I cannot reveal this information due to the regulations of the Information Agency.”

“Then answer me just this one thing. Is your first or last name by any chance ‘Hans’?”

“···?”

“It’s important, so hurry up. If you can’t answer, I’ll have no choice but to kick you out of the intelligence department or whatever.”

“I don’t know why you’re asking, but I’m not Hans.”

“Do you swear on the name of the royal family?”

“···I swear·”

Okay, so Hans doesn’t exist at all?

There’s no way a guy from the intelligence service would lie in the name of the royal family.

“Then what should I call you?”

“Please call me anonymous.”

Hey, with that speech and attire, your name is anonymous?

At first glance, it looks like you don’t have many friends…

Okay, decided.

“Anonymous is too long”

“What do you mean, ‘nameless’ is long—”

“From now on, I will shorten it to Mumu.”

‘MuMu’, who had been given a new name, had an expression on his face like he couldn’t understand what was being said for a while.

“···How on earth did you shorten that?”

“MuMu, and the nameless pronunciation has decreased, hasn’t it?”

“···?”

“If you don’t like it, tell me your real name. Then I’ll call you by your name.”

As soon as I said that, Mumu let out a deep sigh and shook his head.

“That’s okay. What does the title matter? Call me whatever you want.”

“Okay, Mumu.”

“······”

Even after giving permission, he makes a shit-eating expression because he doesn’t like the name ‘MuMu’.

Well, I had no reason to care.

It’s obvious that the Marquis planted one of them, so why would he treat him well?

“Anyway, before we start searching in earnest, I would like to share with you what the intelligence agency has found out.”

“I knew this would happen, so I prepared in advance.”

Afterwards, from Mumu, who was from the intelligence agency, I learned how the current military searched which areas, what they found, what clues they obtained, etc.

I spent time sharing such things.

Oh, of course there was no particular income.

“So, you’re saying that even though you searched everywhere, you couldn’t find a single hair?”

“If I had to say so, yes······”

“Hmm, then it’s possible that all the Noarks who have hidden are hairless.”

“···Are you serious?”

“No, I was joking.”

Does this guy think that barbarians are a truly brainless race?

“Okay, let’s go outside first.”

“Is there anything you can point to?”

“No, it’s not like that. If you just walk around, won’t you remember it?”

“······”

Moo-Moo seemed to have a lot to say when he saw me like that, but he held it in and just kept it down.

Should I say that he thinks he just wants to kill time?

“Still, thanks to you, we were able to narrow it down to some extent.”

“···?”

“Aren’t the Noarks not hiding in common places?”

Mumu, who had a look of surprise on his face, looked at him again as if he was saying something obvious, but in fact, this point is important.

“It looks like the nobles’ mansions weren’t searched.”

When I pointed out the area that the intelligence agency had not searched, Mumu flinched and opened his mouth urgently.

“Baron? Surely not the Baron···”

Even though I was saying it, I had a look on my face that said, “Is that really so?” but I had no intention of compromising on this part.

“Maybe there is a family that is in collusion with the Noarks. What’s strange about that?”

“Do you think we left it alone because we didn’t know that possibility existed?”

“Raven, does our special search party have the authority to search the interior of the nobleman’s mansion?”

“Well? I don’t know about that.”

“Then let’s just do what we have from now on.”

Mumu looked at Raven in surprise at my natural and innocent answer, but Raven just nodded nonchalantly.

“Yes. Since the Marquis created this organization anyway, he will take care of the aftermath. Besides, all the heads of the households are gathered at the Palace of Glory, so the servants won’t dare stop us.”

“What are you two talking about right now!”

“Okay, then it’s all over. Hurry up. We need to raid and seize as many houses as possible before the lords notice and take action.”

“Yes, but what does search and seizure mean···?”

“Just in case, if there are any suspicious items, I should bring them and check them out.”

“ah····”

Judging by the look of contempt on his face, he must have understood that I was going to search through the family tree and secretly take something useful.

Are you just tired of trying to stop me?

Raven just looked at me with resigned eyes and asked me:

“Then which family should we start with?”

Oh, that?

Of course·

“The first destination is the Marquis Tercerion”

I wonder what’s hidden in the corner of the prime minister’s house?