The Berserker’s Second Playthrough in the Game - Chapter 29



Only Krnovel

Episode 29. Twin Canyons (2)

The scene of an inn filled with blood and corpses.

“Ugh, huh… … Ugh, nope… … .”

The mercenary was shaking and sobbing. All of my colleagues have already died a long time ago. Horrified eyes were fixed on the slowly approaching majestic outline.

He was like a monster. No, it was clearly a monster disguised as a human. To kill nearly ten mercenaries single-handedly in less than an hour. I heard that somewhere in this world there were gods with superpowers beyond common sense, but I never dreamed that I would encounter them in a remote corner like this.

If things continue like this, I’m going to die without a move.

When he faced the barbarian head-on, the club he was holding looked as shabby as a toothpick. The mercenary looked around in a panic. He saw the axe that had split the helmet and was stuck in his comrade’s head.

The mercenary didn’t have a great eye for detail, but even to an outsider, that axe was an extraordinary weapon.

‘That, that thing, its power is no joke… … . It tore apart the iron helmet like it was a piece of paper… … ? If I throw it well, I might be able to kill that monster in reverse… … .’

The mercenary swallowed his saliva. When I grabbed the handle and pulled it out, a bloody ax blade came out with a clanking sound. I could barely calm my forearms that were shaking from tension. I gathered all my strength and threw the axe.

Unfortunately, the axe only traced a parabola as narrow as the old man’s stream of urine.

Whoosh, thump, thump… … .

The axe blade rolled on the floor in a pitiful manner. It was a completely different sight from its previous appearance, when it flew down like a fierce bird of prey. The savage picked up the axe that had touched his feet and shook his head.

“Axes are not thrown like that.”

“Huh… … Ugh… … .”

“Hold it firmly with your grip, gather strength in your muscles, bend your wrist flexibly, push with your fingers and rotate it all the way like this.”

Parararararack – !

The mercenary was finally able to clearly see the correct posture for throwing an axe.

Fur – ugh!

The price of education is life. The horrified face was split exactly in half and the back of the hand fell to the plank floor.

“You have to throw it like this.”

Kadim mumbled quietly as he approached and retrieved the axe. Then he wiped away the blood and flesh and sat down on the chair.

“Have you finished drinking yet, master? “The snacks are all ready.”

The innkeeper, who had been hiding behind a low platform, suddenly emerged. He answered in a voice that was almost half-asleep.

“Yes, yes… … ? Huh, huh, gi, please wait! I’ll bring it right away!”

On special days, the owner had kept the honey wine he had kept hidden away to drink, and it came out as an accompaniment.

*

I filled my glass and drank it down.

The honey wine had little sweetness and was quite high in alcohol content. Still, it had a dense honey and fruit flavor and a thick texture that stuck to my mouth and made me sip it over and over again.

It wasn’t as cold as a cold beer, but it was satisfying enough. Kadim said as he emptied three glasses in a row.

“The alcohol tastes really great. “What did you put in the honey?”

After receiving the thousand-luden gold coin, the shadow cast over the innkeeper’s face cleared away. However, he could not help but feel nervous about dealing with this barbarian.

“No, I added juniper berries, wild apples, and raspberries. The mercenary will be better. “Wow, I’m really glad you like it.”

“Is there anything else you’re hiding? “I’ll just have one more bottle and then I’ll have to leave.”

“Yes, yes?”

“Why, wouldn’t it be better for you if I left?”

The innkeeper was at a loss as to what to say. She left without any hesitation, saying she would bring more drinks.

It was Duncan and the villagers’ job to clean up the mercenaries’ bodies. For some reason, as Duncan was carrying the bodies one by one, the villagers who were watching outside hesitantly came in and began to offer their hands.

The young men worked together to carry all the bodies outside. The women brought buckets of water and mops and wiped away the blood stains. The work progressed smoothly until someone brought a cart and transported the body.

Thanks to that, the inn quickly regained its normal appearance. Duncan approached Kadim with a bewildered look on his face.

“Everyone was very surprised, but they don’t seem to be that upset about the mercenaries being killed. Were they doing something really bad in the village? … ?”

“Have a drink, Duncan. Thank you for cleaning up.”

“Ah, ah, yes. Thank you, Nauri!”

“There will be another bottle coming soon, so let’s finish that before we leave town.”

“yes?”

I reflexively asked back, but soon had no choice but to agree with Kadim’s words.

Whether or not the mercenaries were acting out of turn, killing ten people was no small matter. If word got to the local authorities, it would certainly cause trouble.

I couldn’t help feeling disappointed. I thought I would finally be able to rest comfortably in a roofed place, but I ended up homeless again… … But it was still better than being a criminal and being thrown in prison.

I took a sip of my drink with a small sigh. It was my first time drinking in a while, so I felt tipsy. Ugh, I turned my head and let out a burp. Duncan looked around with a flushed face and whispered in a low voice.

“But it will get better… … . Could it be that monster again… … “No, did you drink devil’s blood?”

“no. “That blood is in your bag now.”

“Oh, I see. Actually, I was a bit surprised. I knew you were strong to begin with, but now you fight as if you have, even without drinking blood… … ”

“… … .”

Now that I think about it, it was like that.

This body was already quite strong, but only by the standards of an ordinary person. It was by no means strong enough to break a person’s shinbone with a slight kick.

‘Is this body getting stronger too…? … .”

It was the same in the first round.

His body, which was at best a strong man, was trained to a superhuman level after slaying countless monsters and demons. Because the opponents were powerful Demons of the Demonic Realm, they had to rely on demon blood, but if the opponents were other monsters, their bare bodies would have been enough.

It was different from the real body, which clearly had limits to growth. Perhaps the game’s system of increasing abilities with stat points was applied automatically. The growth of the body was quite welcome as there would be less need to rely on demon blood.

I quickly emptied even the extra bottle of mead the innkeeper provided. Duncan staggered a bit, but Kadim was fine, without any change. The strong body of a barbarian could not even feel intoxicated by strong alcohol.

But just as I was about to leave, a middle-aged man stood in front of the table.

“Excuse me, mercenary. “Could you please give this insignificant villager just a moment?”

Kadim twitched his cheeks as if he was annoyed. But he didn’t ignore it and leave right away.

“Are you the village chief of this village?”

“Yes, I am taking on that role to my utmost regret.”

“I unintentionally bothered you. “It will take some effort to bury ten bodies.”

“No, it’s not your fault, mercenary. Those scoundrels all just died from snake bites.”

Kadim raises his eyebrows slightly.

The village chief smiled meaningfully. The idea was to handle things that way.

“The dead said they were protecting the village. What happened?”

“This is a blatant lie that is not worth hearing even a single word of. They pretended to be mercenaries, but in reality, they were no better than thieves. “In the name of protecting the village from various threats, I have been living in this inn and committing all kinds of evil acts.”

“Then why did they go to that forest?”

“… … It’s not that I’m trying to protect the village, but that I’m going to catch snakes and brew snake wine. I think I heard somewhere that snake wine is good for stamina.”

“… … .”

“Anyway, I was worried that those ruthless people would get drunk again and molest the women… … Thanks to you, it eased my worries. “As the chief of a village and the head of a family with a daughter and granddaughter, I would like to thank you on behalf of the village people, mercenary.”

“Give thanks to the snakes, chief.”

The village chief nodded with a faint smile. The mercenary group that went out to catch snakes was bitten by snakes and slaughtered. It was a reasonable solution that satisfied everyone. Except for the dead mercenaries.

Meanwhile, a question arose. Kadim crossed his arms and leaned back against the backrest.

“How are the administrative districts divided on the Alliance side, and who rules each district? It doesn’t seem like there will be an emperor and a lord ruling the land like in an empire.”

The village chief stroked his beard. It was definitely not a topic that would come out of the mouth of an ordinary barbarian mercenary.

“The council of the major city directly governs the main districts, and the border areas are governed by councilors and their assistants dispatched from each council. Our village is governed by a councilor from the Delutana council.”

“Then why didn’t you ask for help earlier and drive out the mercenaries? Does the councilor have no military authority or ability?”

“No, mercenary. There are soldiers who follow the orders of the sergeant, and among the aides there is even a high-ranking magician… … .”

The village chief hesitated to speak. After looking at Kadim’s expression, he finally opened his mouth.

“Actually, that’s why I came here like this. I feel both shameless and apologetic towards the person who already helped the village once… … “We don’t have a place to ask for help.”

Oh, that’s right.

The village chief and the villagers didn’t cover up the commotion for nothing. They had taken care of it in advance because they had something to ask. Kadim thought that the village chief was quite a smart person for a village elder from the outskirts.

Even so, if it was bothersome to hear, you could just refuse. Kadim gestures for me to say something. The village chief nodded lightly and got to the point.

“As I said, this place, Eckl, is under the care of Commissioner Delutana. Thanks to this, the villagers have been able to live comfortably without much worry. As long as they pay their tribute and taxes on time, the Commissioner will take care of the problems on his own.”

Although it was not possible to solve problems as extensive as the ‘Forest of No Return’, it was not a big problem. Not all sides of the village were adjacent to the forest, and all you had to do was not go inside.

But now things have changed.

“Counselor, you are in the small town of Remtana nearby, and to get there from here you must cross the ‘Twin Canyons’ to the northeast. But a very terrible monster has been blocking the path for some time now.”

For some reason, the councilor had ignored this issue for several months. Villagers who took the risk of crossing the canyon almost lost their lives. The eastern side had steep mountains and the western side was blocked by the ‘forest of no return’, making detouring impossible.

In the end, Eccles was completely isolated.

That was why the mercenary group was able to commit evil acts in the village. As long as there was a vacuum in security, something similar could happen again at any time. Furthermore, even if self-sufficiency in food was possible, daily necessities such as salt were impossible to obtain directly.

In order for the Eccles to survive, they needed to kill the monster as soon as possible.

“I heard that you killed a huge monster in the ‘Forest of No Return.’ I thought the villagers were talking nonsense, but after seeing the mercenary’s skills in person, it seems that’s not the case. “Can you please take pity on these helpless villagers and help them just once, mercenary?”

Kadim wordlessly crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes.

The barbarian’s interest was now in something other than the life and death of the villagers. Seemingly thinking about something, he immediately called a peddler and had him unfold a map.

“Chief, is this the ‘Twin Canyon’ you speak of?”

“Yes, yes. you’re right. “It’s right there.”

“Then the monster blocking the road must be that guy.”

“… … which?”

“… … .”

The village chief opened his eyes wide in surprise when he heard Kadim’s subsequent words.

“How did you know? Have you ever passed by that area before?”

“There was. A long time ago.”

Perhaps, before your grandfather’s grandfather was even born.

Kadim skipped the rest of the conversation and relaxed his body. Now that he had a rough idea of ​​what was going on, it was time to negotiate.

Even though it wasn’t about catching the devil, I couldn’t work without pay. He tilted his chin and looked at his client. The quick-witted chief leaned down and whispered secretly.

“We are not well off, so we cannot pay you much. However, since this is a matter of life and death, we have pooled together the money the villagers have saved… … .”

“So, how much did you prepare?”

“… … I have prepared 10,000 luden.”

“I should get double that.”

The village chief’s eyes widened.

20,000 Luden? It was a monster so strong that most mercenaries couldn’t even attack it. But even so, it was an excessive amount.

Kadim wasn’t being unreasonably aggressive. There was a reason for raising the amount. If the amount offered was 10,000 ludens, then 20,000 ludens would have been the most reasonable compensation.

Kadim lowered his voice and added an explanation.

“I’m talking about the monster in that canyon.”

“… … .”

“It’s definitely not one, but two.”

There’s a reason it’s called ‘Twin Canyon’.

The village chief blinked and looked at Kadim from a distance.