Ch.5Chapter 5: The First Gate.

“So… you failed?”

In the dark dawn hours when few people were active.

A nobleman’s office with medieval, antique decorations that caught the eye.

The man, his face obscured by darkness, slightly furrowed his brow at the news of the operation’s failure.

Seeing his displeasure, the masked figure kneeling before him prostrated himself and spoke.

“I-I’m sorry! There was an interloper. I tried to complete the mission at the risk of my life, but they were at least a Floor 4 level fighter, so I thought reporting back was the priority!!”

He talks too much.

There were many skilled fighters among his subordinates.

Yet he had deployed these worthless trash who had only reached Sword Floor 2 for the operation because they were merely tools to be discarded if things went wrong.

But to fail at kidnapping a single 20-year-old girl… At 20, she was practically a child who had just reached adulthood.

Still, he couldn’t deny his curiosity about this so-called interloper.

“An interloper?”

At the man’s words, the masked figure rejoiced inwardly.

Showing curiosity meant the report had value.

“Y-yes. It was a barbarian of enormous size. Clearly a great warrior class…”

“That’s enough.”

Bad luck. If it was a barbarian who had ventured that far from their forest, these men wouldn’t have stood a chance.

Knowing this, the mysterious man dismissed them.

“Wait for further orders.”

The masked figures quickly withdrew from the man’s room, relieved to be alive.

“Y-yes, understood!”

Snap!

After they disappeared, the man created fire with his hand, lit his pipe, and spoke.

“Hmm… So Count Valentine leaving the frontier is now a foregone conclusion… I had hoped to keep him there longer… Well, it can’t be helped.”

The man was certain that Lady Valentine, having been attacked, would return home.

If so, there was no way to keep Count Valentine bound to his post.

All he could do now was observe the situation.

The man exhaled a cloud of smoke and repeated the word “barbarian.”

“Friendship with barbarians… Have I lived in this world too long? Well, we’ll see what happens.”

***

The forest where Valt and Lisa had gotten lost.

They were still wandering through it.

“Are you sure this time?”

Valt asked Lisa in a low voice.

“O-of course!! I’m from this area, so I’m certain!”

‘Oh no! I don’t really know the way!’

In truth, Lisa had rarely ventured outside her domain.

From the beginning, she hadn’t needed to know the route since the escort would have safely transported her to the Halkin Empire.

‘I should have studied geography better!!’

If that terrifying barbarian following behind her got lost in the forest and became hungry, he might eat her.

“I hope you’re right.”

At Valt’s words, Lisa, who was leading the way, squeezed her eyes shut.

‘M-mommy! I’m scared!!’

Regardless of Lisa’s internal panic, Valt diligently followed behind her.

He figured she would still be better than himself, a foreigner to these lands.

Since they were in the forest, he had sent his horse back to the tribe, and with little luggage, the journey wasn’t particularly difficult for Valt.

Valt was currently studying to accurately understand his current state.

【Name: Valt Lv. 10

Stats: Strength 100, Agility 50, Intelligence 5, Spirit 30, Will 50, Mana 2

Traits: Barbarian, Mixed Blood, Impressive Barbarian Attitude, Do No Harm.

Skills: Smash, Battle Cry, Throw.

Remaining Stat Points: 55】

Valt felt overwhelmed looking at his status window.

This was such an insane status window….

When starting the game as a human mage, he had Strength 5, Agility 3, Intelligence, Spirit, and Mana at 30, and Will at 20.

But this character… despite being only level 10, the stats were absolutely ridiculous.

For context, a typical level 10 NPC villager would have all stats at around 5.

But what? Strength 100? It’s exhausting just to say it.

Plus that Barbarian trait.

It’s a trait that makes Strength not just strength, but several times superior to the Strength stat of ordinary central continent people.

No wonder his body was so tough.

And he still had all his free distribution points from leveling up.

‘Insane….’

Even though they were his own stats, Valt was dumbfounded every time he looked at them.

Even an ogre wouldn’t be this powerful.

But….

‘What good is this if I can’t use it!?’

If there were no restrictions, he would have dumped all those bonus points into Strength.

Still, there was one encouraging thing.

As far as Valt knew, barbarians typically had a Mana stat of 1.

But Valt had 2. A whole 100% higher.

‘How wonderful, really….’

True to his barbarian nature, his skills were quite primitive.

Smash… he couldn’t use it on enemies, but it was perfect for breaking through obstacles.

He had never used Battle Cry….

Throw! That was Valt’s only attack skill.

‘I need attack skills. Is there any way?’

Even if Throw could somehow bypass that cursed “Do No Harm” restriction, Valt’s weapons were far too inadequate.

For now, he could manage with physical attacks and throwing, but who knew how long such tactics would work as enemies grew stronger.

‘I need to learn… There’s no choice. I’ll have to learn magic.’

Having made that decision, Valt invested all his bonus stat points into Mana.

Woooong-

A sound of mana fluctuating was heard, and Valt felt a strong magical energy within himself.

‘Huh? This feels good?’

But Mana alone wasn’t enough. Magic had to be learned to be used.

In other words, self-teaching was nearly impossible.

For that, he needed an academy.

Back when Valt was playing the game, there was definitely a Magic Tower that was perfect for learning magic, but…

A barbarian seeking the Magic Tower? He’d certainly be chased away with all manner of spells flying at him.

There was no choice in the matter.

Up ahead, the girl named Lisa was walking diligently, swinging her hips.

She said she was 20, and that seemed to be true.

In this game, characters generally had long lifespans.

Even humans lived about 200 years.

Why it was designed that way, he wasn’t sure, but some said it was because creating new NPCs was too much trouble.

That makes sense.

So even though 20 was considered an adult, it wasn’t particularly old.

If he had to compare it to Earth… but why bother comparing? It’s all meaningless now.

Anyway, the academy they were heading to was essentially the equivalent of a university on Earth.

What educational institution would people who had just become adults attend? University, of course.

It would probably be quite interesting.

Not for Valt, though.

‘A barbarian at the Imperial Academy, seriously….’

And so Valt and Lisa walked for a long time.

But even as the sun set, they couldn’t find the city.

“Are you sure this is right?”

At Valt’s question, Lisa broke into a cold sweat.

“Ahahahaha… O-of course! If we camp here for the night and set out tomorrow! We should reach Leicester by morning!”

Valt had heard of the place.

Leicester Castle, their initial destination.

From there, they could quickly reach the Imperial Academy using teleportation.

Sixty days was far too long a journey.

“I’ll trust you.”

They made a fire, and despite the warm night weather, Lisa’s heart was filled with a cold wind.

‘S-so cold…’

***

Five days later.

“S-see! Leicester Castle! We’ve arrived at Leicester Castle!”

Lisa and Valt had spent five days going in circles on what should have been a half-day journey to finally reach Leicester Castle.

They only managed to arrive because they discovered a path while heading in the opposite direction.

Somehow, they had passed the first hurdle.

‘I-I survived!!’

As a result, they both looked quite a sight.

Well, Valt didn’t look much different since he was a barbarian to begin with, but Lisa could have easily passed for a barbarian woman herself.

Fortunately, the forest had plenty of food, so they hadn’t gone hungry.

“Excellent. We really made it.”

At Valt’s praise, Lisa felt her pride swell.

“I told you I could do it!”

Lisa was proud.

It was the first time in her life she had accomplished something on her own without anyone’s help.

She had always had teachers for learning and was always accompanied by maids or servants.

This was her first time taking the lead in anything as a subordinate.

Valt smiled and said:

“Yes, well done.”

After five days together, Lisa’s fear of Valt had diminished considerably.

This barbarian man was truly intimidating, but there was something honest and pure about him.

She had heard barbarians liked beautiful women, so it was strangely irritating that he didn’t even glance at her.

Look at him now, sincerely praising her and offering warm words for her hard work.

If it weren’t for his appearance, she might have developed positive feelings for him.

Valt’s beard had grown even more over the five days, making it strange not to call him “mister.”

For someone claiming to be 20…

Lisa asked Valt:

“Mist—I mean, Valt, what are you going to do now?”

“I told you, I’m going to the academy.”

So it was true after all.

‘Is he a teacher?’

Lisa knew about the peace treaty between the barbarians and the central continent. That’s why she had asked for help in the forest.

If he was a teacher coming to teach barbarian combat techniques, it wouldn’t be strange.

“Then you’ll take the teleport, right?”

“That would be better.”

Teleportation fees were expensive.

Most commoners couldn’t even dream of affording it.

Remembering this, Lisa reached for her money pouch…

“Huh!? My money pouch!?”

It was gone.

She must have dropped it while fleeing from the masked men. Or perhaps she never brought it out of the carriage in the first place.

It was hard to expect such thoroughness from an inexperienced young lady.

“I-I’m ruined!”

But Valt had brought money.

He thought it would be enough for teleportation. Surely his father would have given him at least that much…

Or not.

Valt confidently offered his money pouch to Lisa, but her response was disheartening.

“Valt… I’m sorry, but this isn’t enough for both of us, not even for you alone…”

‘Damn it, he didn’t even give me enough for teleportation? Why give me money at all then?’

Valt had never used the teleportation service before. Why would he? He was a capable mage, so why would he need such a thing?

That’s why he didn’t know the market rate.

“With this money, we could barely, just barely, walk to the Halkin Empire if we’re extremely frugal…”

Oh, so he was meant to walk. Because barbarians are sturdy.

Valt’s pectoral muscles flexed as he crossed his arms and said:

“Hmm… that’s problematic?”