Ch.3Chapter 3: Unexpected

# Chapter 3: Unexpected

Balt threw the wolf by its scruff with all his might toward the sky.

Whoosh!

It was a trick that exploited the fact that throwing itself didn’t cause damage.

The thrown wolf shot straight up into the sky in an instant.

“Kyaaaaaang!”

All the wolves and Balt stared at it in amazement.

By the time the wolf became a mere dot in the sky.

The dot grew rapidly larger again as the wolf plummeted back toward the ground.

Splat!

As soon as it hit the ground a short distance from Balt, the wolf instantly burst apart, spraying blood everywhere before disappearing.

At that moment, a suffocating silence fell between the wolves and Balt.

Balt inwardly rejoiced that his trick had worked.

“Come at me.”

‘Great! It worked! All of you come at me! I’ll turn you into stars in the sky!’

But in the very next moment, a howl came from what appeared to be the alpha wolf.

“Awoooooo!”

Hearing that sound, all the wolves began to flee.

“Not much of a challenge.”

‘Whew, that’s a relief. This body is seriously no joke.’

But something felt strange. Had he always been this composed?

Surely, even though he might have panicked a bit, his real self wouldn’t have been able to think so clearly as he was now.

Moreover, his body hadn’t tensed up at all.

Normally when the mind is confused, the body should also be flustered.

After pondering for a while, Balt came to one conclusion.

‘This must be… the attitude of a magnificent barbarian…’

He had thought it was just an annoying trait that restricted his speech, but it seemed to have additional functions.

Barbarians don’t easily get scared.

That’s why Balt acted that way too.

‘This isn’t even funny…’

Despite the slight incident, he was fine.

Balt started moving again to find his way.

‘Ah, where the hell is the path!?’

After walking for about 30 minutes…

The sound of wolf howling was heard again from nearby.

“Aooooo”

‘Huh? Those wolves from earlier? That’s their attack signal.’

***

“Huff, huff, huff!”

In a dense forest, a woman was running through the trees.

With brilliant red hair and a pretty face, she wore light leather armor, but her body was covered in wounds both large and small.

“Catch her! Don’t let her escape!”

Pursuing the woman were assailants! Each one wore a mask and carried a sword as they chased after her.

Lisa Valentine.

That was the name of the red-haired woman who was running away.

She couldn’t understand how things had come to this.

She had merely been on her way to the Halkin Empire to enroll in the academy…

There was no time to think. If she didn’t want to be caught, her only option was to run.

Each of the masked assassins was as skilled as she was.

‘Where did they find such skilled fighters…!’

Lisa was a child of the Valentine family, renowned for swordsmanship. While not quite a genius, she was considered quite talented.

Although she was just at the beginning of the 2nd Floor, she was skilled enough to be called an Aura user.

The fact that these men were driving her into a corner meant they were no ordinary opponents.

The only reason she had been able to escape so far was because they were trying to capture her alive.

They probably planned to kidnap her, the only daughter of Count Valentine, to blackmail her father.

As she was running away, she heard the howling of wolves.

“Aooooo!”

‘Damn it! Not now!’

The sound was coming from directly in front of her.

Sure enough, she heard the rustling of bushes and the panting of wolves rushing toward her.

The distance closed rapidly as they ran toward each other.

“Grrruff!”

A Dire Wolf with dripping saliva barked loudly and lunged at her with its glistening maw wide open.

“Hyah!”

Slash!

“Kyaang!”

With her battle cry, the Dire Wolf’s belly was split open, spraying thick blood.

But because of that, the masked men behind her drew even closer.

Despite having dispatched the wolf with ease, curses flowed from her lips.

“Damn it!”

Just my luck! It was already uncertain if she could escape just by running, but now being attacked by wolves meant she would inevitably be caught.

To make matters worse, the wolves howled again, and this time dozens of them began rushing toward her all at once.

Even someone of her skill couldn’t handle so many wolves attacking simultaneously.

But perhaps being killed by wolves would be better than being dragged away by those men. Such was the honor of a noble family.

Lisa closed her eyes with determination and shouted:

“I haven’t even had a proper romance yet!”

That was Lisa’s last will.

“Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof!”

But something was strange.

The wolf pack didn’t pounce on her but rushed past her at incredible speed.

Lisa opened her eyes wide and gripped her sword again.

‘They just passed by? How is that possible? Wait! They’re running away! But from what?’

Looking in the direction the wolves had fled from, she saw trees collapsing as something approached with thunderous footsteps.

Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud—

Crack!

Snap!

Crunch!

“W-what is that!?”

***

Having lost his way and feeling irritated, Balt chased after the wolves, intending to vent his frustration on them.

They had attacked him once while he was minding his own business, then ran away when they realized they couldn’t win. The more he thought about it, the more annoyed he became.

“Stop!”

‘Stop right there, you wolf bastards! Perfect! Become my experience points!!’

This insane body had no trouble running through the forest path.

Rushing quickly after the wolves, when a tree appeared in front of him, he instinctively struck it, causing it to instantly break and collapse.

Excited, Balt continued his pursuit.

And the moment he spotted the wolves!

The alpha wolf, upon seeing Balt, howled again.

“Awoooo!! Awoooo!! Awoo! Awoooo!!”

It seemed extremely urgent.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

‘Trying to escape again? I won’t let you this time.’

Hoping to gain experience points and relieve stress, Balt charged toward the wolves.

But then…

‘Huh? A person?’

There was a red-haired woman standing in the wolves’ escape path with her eyes closed.

The woman suddenly opened her eyes and shouted at him with an urgent expression.

“Please help me!!”

‘Ah… this is awkward. Did I cause this by chasing the wolves?’

Feeling apologetic, Balt responded.

“I will.”

The woman’s expression instantly brightened.

Of course, the woman who appeared before Balt was Lisa.

Lisa couldn’t understand the current situation.

But Lisa knew one thing.

Her territory, the Valentine region, was located on the border with barbarian lands.

Her father had told her that these barbarians were terrifyingly fearsome, but having never experienced it herself, Lisa couldn’t understand what was so frightening about people who looked like anyone else.

The man before her eyes was definitely a barbarian.

Those broad shoulders, incredible muscles and height! And that silver hair like fallen snow!

Silver hair was uncommon. It was a hair color often seen among barbarians.

She had called out to him in desperation, and the barbarian man readily agreed to help her.

“Th-thank you, mister!!”

‘What? Mister? What is this woman saying?’

Balt was only 20 years old in barbarian years! Yet she called him “mister”!

Fortunately, even Balt himself was only 20 when he lived in Korea.

Luckily, the words that came out of Balt’s mouth were what he wanted to say.

“Not mister.”

It seems even magnificent barbarians don’t like being called “mister.”

But something was strange. He had been chasing wolves, but now he saw strange masked people running from the opposite direction.

‘What’s this?’

Balt glanced at Lisa once.

“Was it them? The ones you needed help with.”

“Yes, yes! Those men! They’re trying to harm me!”

‘Ah, I’ve gotten myself into a mess…’

Historically, getting involved in such matters rarely ended well. Balt wanted to run away immediately, but a quest window conveniently appeared.

【Sudden Quest: Save the Girl in Danger.】

<Description>

A red-haired beauty is in danger! A magnificent barbarian doesn’t ignore a maiden in peril! Save the girl from danger!

<Completion Conditions>

Ensure Lisa Valentine’s survival and prevent her abduction.

<Rewards>

Success – 5 Bonus Points

Failure – Gelt Valentine’s wrath.

Who on earth was Gelt Valentine?

‘Why do people keep getting angry at me? What did I do wrong?’

Faced with an ominous penalty, Balt reluctantly decided to proceed with the quest.

“Hide behind me.”

After saying that, Balt stepped forward.

Lisa felt her heart ease because of Balt’s actions.

‘S-so dependable!!’

He wasn’t exactly a prince on a white horse coming to rescue her, but having a 2-meter tall muscular man firmly protecting her front gave her a sense of security like being behind a fortress wall.

After all, Lisa was only about 160cm tall.

The masked men spotted Balt and charged.

“Kill him. There must be no witnesses.”

‘Huh? These bastards?’

Though he had only fought once, Balt knew how strong his body was.

He thought their swords, like the wolves’ fangs, would have no effect on his body.

With that in mind, Balt raised his arm to block a sword falling toward his head.

Clang!

But contrary to the sound, blood flowed from Balt’s arm.

‘Ugh, ow, that hurts!? What the hell?’