Barbarian Quest

Chapter 230

Carnius, the veteran of the empire, looked at the wall where his family's treasured sword was hung. It was adorned with red jewels and lion-shaped silver decorations around the sheath and handle. It could probably buy a mansion if sold.

"I was going to pass it on to you, Leo."

Leo was the son that was no longer with him. Carnius still vividly remembered that day. He had thought the barbarians would not break through the front. He had judged that chasing down the defeated warriors would be good for his son.

However, the barbarians decided to clear a path directly ahead. Carnius' son was caught in the barbarian counterattack and died. He was never coming back anymore.

It was his own misjudgment that cost his son's life. This guilt prevented him from sleeping at night. Every time he closed his eyes, his son's face haunted him.

"Lou, was it truly just my foolish greed?"

Carnius clasped the sun necklace with both hands. His cheeks were gaunt. He ate just enough to not die. Even those sporadic meals were often skipped due to his guilt.

'I wanted to raise my son as a general to follow in my footsteps.'

Leo was not just any son. He was nearly an extension of Carnius himself. An extension to carry on the Carnius name.

"Why did you take him away? If you had called this old body of mine to your side in his place, I would have happily gone. I would have waited patiently for the flames of purification without a hint of regret."

He had lived his entire life with gratitude toward Lou. But after Leo's death, only resentment and hatred filled his heart. Even then, the guilt of resenting the Sun God oppressed him.

'All faults are mine. There is no one else to blame.'

Carnius gritted his teeth. No matter how many times he told himself that, the anger did not subside. Dark emotions ate away at his heart.

Creak.

Carnius stood up as he dragged his clothes. Every movement brought sounds from his joints. His age had reached its limits for a warrior. His body, gotten as worn out as it could be, often betrayed him and did not move as he intended.

Carnius walked into the hallway and knocked on a door.

"My lady."

There was no response. Even when he occasionally met his wife's eyes, they exchanged only cursory greetings. Their relationship was no better than strangers.

There was rustling inside the room. The sound of a woman weeping over their lost son was heard. Carnius only moved his lips a few times.

"If resenting me eases your heart even slightly, then please resent me all you want. It's all my fault. I am a foolish father who lost his son and returned alone. But you, unlike me, have always been a fine mother and a good wife."

Carnius said to his wife on the other side of the door and turned away. He entered his office, which smelled of dust from having been unoccupied for a long time.

"Sir Ferzen, you were a true knight and a sage."

Carnius sat down and took out a bottle of liquor from the cupboard. He poured one glass for himself and another as an offering to the legendary immortal knight.

Carnius had spent his youth with the legend. He envied Ferzen while also admiring him. Now, after the passage of time, only a distant admiration remained as the burning jealousy faded away. The great knight with whom he had shared an era was distinctly different from others. He was truly excellent as if he was so obviously blessed by the gods.

Once, Carnius had asked Ferzen why he never married.

—We take the lives of others, Carnius. No matter how hard we try to deny it, we accumulate our sins every day. We sometimes even take innocent lives because that is our job. Our life is a life of shedding blood as the sword of the empire. Lou does not love warriors like us.

Carnius had asked again what that had to do with marriage.

—The sins I commit won't end with my soul alone. The curses and misfortunes I accumulate will pass down to my lineage. I will not have any children of my own.

Ferzen's convictions were firm. As he said, he never married or had children in his life.

"You were right, Sir Ferzen. The sins I committed have even swallowed my son."

Carnius drained his glass in one gulp. He drank slowly until sunset.

"Sigh."

Exhaling the stench of alcohol, Carnius picked up a pen. He pulled out a piece of parchment and began to write at length.

"My tainted soul does not deserve to be by Lou's side."

He took out a rope from the corner of his office, draped it over a ceiling beam, and formed a loop with the end that hung down.

"Hoooo."

He took a deep breath. The rope felt especially rough to the touch.

Creak.

He pulled on it to test its strength. It was sturdy.

Carnius brought a chair over and stood on it. He then placed his neck inside the loop.

Creak.

The chair wobbled. Just a light kick, and everything would be over.

Knock, knock.

Someone knocked on the door. Judging by the footsteps, it was a servant. Carnius sighed deeply and stepped down from the chair.

"What is it?"

"It is a message from His Imperial Majesty. He commands your presence at the palace."

Hearing this, Carnius covered his forehead and laughed. His dried-up voice echoed hollowly.

"Lou, do you still have work for me to do?"

Carnius drew the sword that was leaning against his desk and swung it. The rope hanging from the ceiling beam was cut and fell to the floor.

* * *

Emperor Yanchinus sat with his legs crossed. His displease was evident. Every report he received only mentioned the perilous state of the empire.

‘Things aren't looking good.’

Nothing was going his way. The plunderers from the west had invaded the empire’s direct territories, and the rebels from the north had raised their banners high.

Yanchinus took a deep breath. Getting worked up wasn’t going to solve anything. He considered every possible action he could take.

‘The great empire cannot fall during my reign.’

Yanchinus reflected on the achievements of the earlier emperors. A fierce desire washed away his anxiety and ignited his ambition.

‘It's just a momentary crisis. Once we overcome this, I will lay the foundations for a millennium empire.’

The empire's power was still unparalleled. The absolute power of the empire and its formidable military were the legacies left behind by the previous emperors.

"I am the ruler of the world."

He declared aloud, snapping his fingers. Soon, the audience doors opened, and a white-haired knight entered.

"You look exhausted, Carnius."

"I heard you called for me, Your Majesty."

Carnius threw the formalities out the window. His face was gaunt, but his eyes sparkled like a wolf's.

"I know that there is a discord between us," Yanchinus spoke.

"Why even call it a discord? You are the ruler of the world, and I am but your subject."

Carnius did not kneel. He had nothing more to fear, and even death was simply the natural flow of things now. It seemed he could willingly offer his neck if the emperor chose to decapitate him for irreverence.

"You have been defending the empire since your youth, fighting barbarians alongside the late emperor, Sir Carnius."

"I was not the only one who did so. Many knights who you stripped of land and wealth also shed their blood for the empire."

Carnius spoke bluntly. Only the emperor's heavily trusted guards were present. The emperor's guards might as well have been without ears or eyes.

Yanchinus tilted his head, resting his chin on his hand, and twisted his lips.

"I don't expect you to understand what I did. All my actions were for the empire. History proves what happens to kings who let powerful nobles be. The empire's stability comes from the emperor's absolute power. Sir Carnius, I am prepared to do anything and everything for the peace and prosperity of the empire."

"Those are vile excuses, Your Majesty. The men you purged were merely true warriors wishing to protect the empire. Do you not think it is you who have been eroding the wealth built by the empire for your own ambitions?"

"Without expansion, there's no prosperity for the empire! Do you think my actions are meaningless? If you think the wealth built by ancestors will last tens of thousands of years, that's a grave and ignorant misconception!"

Yanchinus raised his voice. He wasn't wrong; the empire's prosperity had been achieved through expansion and exploitation. First, the kingdoms were seized for war reparations, and after that, wealth was accumulated by exploiting the north and south. The barbarian slave industry freed many civilized people from the yoke of labor.

"There's no point in arguing here. It will only deepen our rift. You must have called me here for a reason. Surely it wasn't just to argue."

"Our methods may differ, but our intent to protect the empire is the same, Sir Carnius."

"Like my comrades before me, I am fully prepared to offer my heart for the empire."

"Enemies threatening the empire have crossed the borders again. No matter how hard I try to think of someone else, there seems to be no more competent commander than you."

"That is high praise."

"Fight not for this emperor, but for the empire. I entrust you with full military command."

For the first time during the audience, Carnius bowed deeply and showed respect.

"I will do as you command, Your Majesty."

* * *

The chill of dawn tapped sharply on Samikan's chest.

His lungs were silent, and his heart thudded as if it was going through a seizure. Samikan opened his mouth wide and clutched at his chest, while not even being able to scream.

“Kaagh, kugh!”

Samikan burst out of the tent to breathe fresh air. Warriors standing guard on either side supported him.

“Great Chief!”

“...I’m fine.”

Contrary to his words, Samikan’s face was pale. He struggled to breathe, looking over the camp.

‘This is my army.’

Over ten thousand warriors had invaded the empire’s territory. The empire’s border guards had scattered, unable to confront the plunderers.

‘I will go down as a great being.’

The fierce desire even dispelled his illness. He glared and re-entered the tent.

Samikan called for a captured Solarist priest, who had medical knowledge like the shamans of the tribes. Tired of constant yet ineffective treatments from his tribe’s shaman, Samikan decided to rely on the medicine of another world.

“How does my body seem to you?” Samikan asked in Hamelian, in which he had become quite fluent over time.

The priest's hands trembled. He glanced at the sun necklace on Samikan’s chest and swallowed his fear.

‘Oh, Lou, save us from this cruel and ruthless barbarian.’

The priest placed his hand on Samikan’s chest, feeling the unevenness of his breath.

“Your heartbeat is irregular, and one side of your chest does not inflate when you breathe. Vigorous movement will be difficult. Has your condition been worsening? If so, that is not a good sign,” the priest told Samikan as his garment, which had turned gray from the struggles, flapped.

Samikan grabbed his arm tightly and asked again, “Am I going to die, then?”

“That depends on Lou’s will.”

“Priest, I’m alive because this necklace stopped an arrow. Don’t you think that’s divine will?”

The priest flinched. He had already noticed the oddly dented sun decoration. Initially, he thought the barbarian had deliberately damaged it to insult Lou.

“Are you telling me that Lou’s sacred object stopped an arrow for you?”

“But your god took my only friend instead. The only man I could call a friend... Now, priest who reads the will of Lou, answer me. What exactly does Lou want from me by doing this?”

“It could be Lou’s will that you wither away from illness. You are receiving the punishment for your deeds, leader of the barbarians,” the priest said, biting his lower lip.

At that moment, Samikan’s hand moved in the blink of an eye.

Slash!

Blood spilled onto the floor. Samikan’s axe had buried itself in the priest’s chest.

“Krrrrr.”

The priest foamed at the mouth, trembling violently. His lower body released the urine and feces he had been holding in.

“You are wrong, priest. Your ability to read the heavens and divine will is even worse than mine.”

Samikan stepped on the priest's head and pulled the axe from his chest. Even more blood gushed out as the gash widened. The gaping chest briefly exposed the faintly throbbing heart.

“This is proof that I still have work to do on this earth. Proof that Samikan has been chosen as the agent of the gods! Do you understand now?”

The priest could not listen to the rest of Samikan’s words. The convulsions stopped, and his body slowly cooled as the mist from the warmth of the blood rose.

Samikan called the warriors to remove the body. He walked out of the tent with a much-improved expression. That morning’s breakfast tasted particularly good for the first time in a while.