Surviving the Game as a Barbarian

The Dragon Elder of the dragonkin.

The head of the Kalstein family of the beastfolk.

Except for these two, the rest were meeting me for the first time, but it wasn't hard to recognize them without introductions.

"Haha, somehow this is the first time I've seen you. I've heard a lot about you through Titana! I hear you owe her a great debt?"

"Owe? No, it's us who owe Akuraba."

"Haha! You're humbler than the rumors say!"

Malaku Izor, dwarf leader of the Dumoka.

Ah, "Dumoka" is an ancient word meaning "Judging Hammer," but you can just think of it as their term for chief.

'Anyway, this old man wasn't an explorer.'

That's one of Malaku Izor's peculiarities.

Most chiefs, including those here, historically came from explorer backgrounds, but this man rose to this position solely on trust.

'Well, trust means he must be naturally talented at politics.'

In this world, the friendliest-looking people are the ones you shouldn't underestimate.

They're the kind who can protect themselves without anger or irritation.

Ah, unlike that prickly elf.

"Bjorn, son of Yandel, your absence caused several delays in this meeting."

"And?"

"We'd like to hear the reason for your late arrival today."

"Oh, that? I came too early and ended up having a meal nearby, so I was late."

"...A meal?"

"What, don't you eat?"

"......"

The elf chief—or rather, should I say 'Ragsian' instead of chief?—was at a loss for words, probably because the answer was so absurd.

'Come to think of it, every race except barbarians has a fancy name.'

Why do barbarians just use the simple title 'chief'?

I wondered briefly, but it didn't seem important, so I stopped thinking about it.

Ironically, that made sense.

'...Ah, that's why they just remain "chief."'

Why bother changing it? Chief is enough.

It's the most straightforward title.

"That child..."

Just when I thought the power struggle was mostly over, the elven representative, a clear-cut handsome man, spoke.

"Is that child doing well...?"

"You mean Elwen?"

"Who else would it be?"

He looks friendly but why is there such an edge in his voice?

"If it's Elwen, don't worry. She's doing well at our holy land."

Still, thinking of her as part of the household, I answered diligently this time.

But then, what's this?

"Along with the other women?"

"The other women...?"

I asked back in confusion, and all I got was more mysterious words.

"She is special even among our kin. Not just because she's a pureblood heir, but everyone cherishes and loves her."

"...But?"

"If you make tears fall from that child's eyes, you'd better be prepared."

It was a declaration filled with a resolve that seemed willing to repeat the wars of the past.

But I wasn't particularly angry.

Unless for some other reason.

They said this for Elwen, and I'm not foolish enough to confront that.

"That won't happen, so don't worry."

"...Then it's settled. Please take good care of her."

Only then did I realize that his particularly cold attitude toward me was probably because of Elwen.

Not because I'm a barbarian.

'If he hated barbarians, he wouldn't even say "take good care."'

After that conversation, I shifted my gaze to find the last person—the human representative.

"By the way..."

I had been wracking my brain for a while, but I had no idea who this human representative was.

So I asked bluntly, like a barbarian.

"Who the hell are you?"

An outrageously rude question for a summit, but the human representative smiled calmly and answered.

"I am the Marquis of Maxiland. Fortunately, I was honored to represent the humans in this meeting."

I remembered the Marquis of Maxiland.

He belongs to the chancellor faction and is not the right-hand man of the marquis, but more like a left-hand man.

"Oh, I see. I didn't recognize you since this is the first time seeing you in person."

"We met once at the investiture ceremony..."

"I was too preoccupied then."

"Don't worry about it."

After hearing his identity, I understood why no one was paying attention to the human side.

'The intent is clear.'

They sent a low-ranking figure to signal that humans don't plan to take initiative and will quietly listen and leave.

The marquis himself seemed to just want to keep a low profile.

"Well then, with everyone here, shall we begin the meeting?"

And so my first racial conference began.

The first racial conference I attended was somewhat different from what I expected.

No deep discussions with set topics.

No serious decisions about world affairs.

No secret talks about the world's mysteries.

None of that.

Though it was still early, the conference I observed was simply a place where everyone politely voiced complaints and argued.

Like this.

"I heard the dwarfs are buying land from Noumtree. Are you trying to get into farming too?"

"Why? Do the elves have to approve land purchases?"

"So does that mean we and the beastfolk can start metallurgy businesses too?"

By the way, in these minor disputes, our barbarians were completely outsiders.

Because we had no territory within the city.

With no territory, we had no territorial disputes...

"Ha... Don't worry. We have no intention of invading your territory. We only bought land to expand Noumtree's forges."

While these misunderstandings could be resolved with a few words, there were other cases not so easy.

"Isn't it the beastfolk who crossed the line?"

"What line did we cross?"

"Oh? I heard the black bear tribe took in a traitor. Did I hear wrong?"

"......"

Apparently, the beastfolk took in a dwarf craftsman who had been exiled from the dwarfs for crimes.

"I understand the Dumoka's concerns, but we can't meddle in every individual case, can we? It seems they owed that fellow a debt."

"Haha, so they're not just taking him in to steal his tech?"

That's what you call a remark with a bite.

"Head of the family, enough nonsense. Kick that bastard out now."

The dwarf leader's fierce gaze was formidable, but the Kalstein head met it without flinching.

"If you can't do that?"

"Well, we have no choice. We'll respond in kind."

"......"

Neither side would back down.

In such cases, uninvolved representatives had to mediate.

"Putting aside the tech leakage issue, morally it's wrong for a kin's exile to be accepted by another race. I side with the Dumoka."

"Me too."

In the end, it was decided to expel the dwarf exile from the beastfolk.

Oh, and I abstained from voting.

After all, I don't really care about dwarf criminals.

'They're just talking among themselves, so this is boring.'

As the conference dragged on and my time here grew dull and tedious, I dozed off, resting my chin.

Suddenly, the topic shifted to me.

"So, chief, what about you?"

"...Huh?"

"You seem quite interested in construction tech. Since we're all here, why not tell us about that?"

Ah... this old man is trying to watch me closely.

"If it's about that, I am somewhat interested."

The Dragon Elder seemed genuinely curious.

"I hear the holy land has changed a lot?"

"Well, it's changed quite a bit. You can't keep living barbaric forever."

"If you think that, how about starting by changing how you speak?"

"Hmm, that's our tradition."

Why change what's comfortable?

Except for the king, everyone talks casually here—it's like a cheat code.

Anyway, I explained roughly how the holy land changed with the new buildings, and the Dragon Elder looked fascinated.

"It's hard to imagine just by words. To achieve so much progress in such a short time."

"Such a short time...? When was the last time you came?"

"...About twenty years ago."

Dragonkin's sense of time is completely different from ours.

I was silently impressed and was about to wrap up the conversation about our holy land when—

"Haha, barbarians have learned construction tech? As a craftsman, I'm very pleased. I hear you're also participating in this royal contract... Is that true?"

"Nothing is decided yet."

"Good to hear."

I smiled bitterly at the dwarf leader's words.

That contract was just discussed a few days ago at the Melbes assembly.

Whether their intelligence is good or if one of us is a big blabbermouth, information was leaking freely.

'Information really flows out easily.'

I couldn't really blame them.

Melbes itself is a group of mixed races.

Most of what's said there surely reaches the ears of the chiefs.

Still, this was a bit unexpected.

"By the way... I heard you're getting married?"

The Dragon Elder slyly asked me.

I flinched a little and glanced around, surprised to see that not only the Dragon Elder, but everyone seemed to already know.

"Ah, that. I heard the Melbes chairman has been pressuring you to get married."

"Well... you'd be old enough to have three kids anyway."

...What? How do they all know about this?

I doubt the chairman was running around telling everyone.

'Scary bunch...'

A chill ran down my spine, but I didn't show any sign of it.

One thing I learned from wearing the Lion Mask.

Act tough first; it's better than looking like an easy target.

Yeah, that must be it...

"If you don't have {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} a suitable partner, how about my daughter?"

When the Dragon Elder said that, I lost control of my expression.

Honestly, if I'd been drinking water, I might have spit it out.

"...Your daughter?"

"Oh, I didn't specify if it was the eldest or youngest."

Uh... I didn't mean to ask like that.

"Well, I wouldn't mind either way if it were you—"

"Why wouldn't you mind?!"

Suddenly the elven representative frowned and shouted, and the Dragon Elder hastily defended himself.

"Oh, that was a misunderstood remark. I just brought it up because I like this guy, not for some political union among clans—"

"That's not it."

"...Huh?"

"Didn't the Prime Dragon say earlier that Bjorn, son of Yandel, made a promise with me?"

"...A promise? Was there such a thing?"

"He asked me not to let tears fall from that child's eyes, and he agreed. He even reassured me not to worry."

"Oh... I vaguely remember that... What does that have to do with this?"

The Dragon Elder looked genuinely puzzled.

Then—

"Isn't everyone misunderstanding something?"

Suddenly a third party interrupted.

"That daughter and he are already deeply involved."

It was Misha's father.

"Indeed... There were rumors before."

"Well, what do you think? Is that true?"

The elf chief and the Dragon Elder both looked at me, and with lips suddenly dry, I picked up the glass of water on the table only to put it down again.

"..."

I felt like I might choke just drinking water.