Barbarian’s Dark Fantasy Strategy Guide

Chapter 17: Tutorial Complete （1）

“Don’t let anyone into my room until I wake up.”

“Uh, huh……”

The innkeeper nodded with a bewildered expression. Khalid, who returned to the inn around dawn, was covered in wounds. When asked if he should go to the clinic first, he refused with his back and went up to the second floor.

Thud.

Khalid, back in his room, stretched out on the bed. It had been a pretty tough day even for him, who had gone through all sorts of hardships.

During the day, Dominic and the mercenaries in front of the canyon.

And at night, after dealing with Mila, who had turned into a demon, he was completely exhausted. He had bled a lot here and there, but there were no fatal injuries, so he skipped bandaging and fell asleep as he was.

“……”

When Khalid opened his eyes again, two full days had passed. Sitting blankly on the bed, he checked his physical condition, twisting his muscles.

“Ah, ah.”

His ears were working fine, and most of the pain was gone.

『Ugh…… I’m hungry!』

Becky’s reaction was faster than his stomach growling. Come to think of it, he hadn’t had a proper meal since he left for the expedition. He had been fasting for almost three days.

‘I am a bit hungry.’

Khalid got ready to go out and came down to the first floor. The innkeeper’s eyes widened, and without even taking his order, she went into the kitchen. She soon returned with a table full of food and set it down in front of Khalid.

“You don’t have to pay separately this time either, so eat your fill.”

Khalid wondered what was going on, but silently filled his stomach. Like with the ogre incident, the innkeeper expressed her gratitude with food. He must have done something to make her grateful, though he didn’t know what it was.

When Khalid finished his meal, the innkeeper spoke.

“While you were asleep, people came looking for you several times. Someone sent by the Lord and the Mercenary Guild Master came too. I chased them all away as you said.”

“Thank you. I’ll go find them myself later.”

Khalid left the inn and came out to the square.

But for some reason, the streets seemed deserted today. It was originally a countryside town with not many people, but it was the first time he felt it was this empty.

『Where did everyone go? The merchants have returned. I don’t see any mercenaries either.』

He was able to solve that question at the Mercenary Guild. Guild Master Eric smiled brightly when he saw Khalid. When Khalid asked what was going on in the village, he said that everyone had been summoned to the Lord’s mansion.

“The Lord’s mansion?”

“They have to decide what to do with the mercenaries who participated in the rebellion. The residents went to watch that. Besides, the refugees from Stoneberry have arrived, so the Lord must be busy.”

“What do you think will happen to the captured mercenaries?”

“Well…… Knowing the Lord’s personality, I don’t think he’ll impose harsh punishments. It’s a well-known fact that mercenaries are driven by money, and most importantly, Windfall is severely lacking in manpower. It’s best to persuade them and win them over. There’s no more room in the cemetery.”

He said that the Lord was planning to incorporate the mercenaries, whose income was unstable, into his private army, which was quite a generous act. Any other nobleman would have chopped off their heads right away, but it showed that Hojae had a different caliber.

“Anyway, shouldn’t you get your reward?”

“Reward? Wasn’t the expedition request canceled due to the rebellion?”

“I guess you haven’t heard yet. I went to the inn yesterday to tell you the news, but the innkeeper lady wouldn’t let me in no matter what.”

The content was that the mercenaries who helped suppress the rebellion would be paid 30 silver instead of the original 20 silver. He also expressed his intention to recruit them as his private army if they were willing. Of course, with much better conditions than the mercenaries who started the rebellion.

“If you apply, the Lord will appoint you as a knight, not a soldier. With your skills, becoming a senior knight wouldn’t be a problem at all. What do you think? Really no thoughts?”

It was a well-known fact that Hojae had accumulated far more wealth than any other nobleman. Even Khalid and Becky, who hadn’t been here long, knew that much.

『Hey, hey, a senior knight! Are you really not going to do it?!』

The average monthly salary of a senior knight is 1 gold.

If Khalid worked under Hojae for just one year, he would surpass his target amount.

『There are no more dangerous demons around here, and you could live a luxurious life if you wanted to. Don’t reject it outright, think about it carefully……』

However, Khalid was not one to be swayed by such temptations. He avoided answering with a completely uninterested expression.

“Now that I think about it, I don’t have an axe again.”

Khalid, who had received the expedition reward, headed to the blacksmith’s across from the guild.

『By the way, isn’t it too inefficient for the axe to break every time you use a skill, whether it’s Full Power or Conviction?』

‘It can’t be helped. The strength of iron is all the same.’

『Should I just pack a bunch in my bag this time? If I have ten, twenty, it’ll be a little better, right?』

‘I might really have to do that.’

Khalid arrived at the blacksmith’s.

Even though it was well past lunchtime, the blacksmith’s door was firmly closed. He knocked, but there was no response.

『That’s strange. Is it a day off today?』

Even when he was deeply asleep for two days, the sound of hammering never stopped. He wondered if he had misheard it in his sleep, but Becky said she heard the same thing.

As Khalid was about to turn back, someone called out to him from behind.

“It will be difficult to meet Melissa-nim today, Khalid-nim.”

Turning around, he saw a woman standing in a demure posture. She was dressed in a neat uniform, with snow-white skin that didn’t seem to sweat a single drop and pointed ears. She seemed to be of the same kind as the city elves he had seen at the bank.

『It’s an elf!』

Becky cheered.

『Seeing her outside, her skin is glowing. How do these guys manage their skin…… No, is it just natural?!』

The sight of the beautiful woman made him breathe heavily. I’m seriously worried about what’s going on in this guy’s head.

“Do you know me?”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Khalid-nim. I am the branch manager of the Morris Credit Union, Windfall Branch.”

“So you’re from the bank. What do you mean I can’t meet Melissa?”

“Let’s discuss the details at our bank.”

Despite the branch manager’s amiable attitude, Khalid was wary of her. The Melissa assassination request was not completely finished. It was still unknown how they would react after Dominic’s death.

“This way, Khalid-nim.”

Khalid was led to the branch manager’s office at the bank. This place was also a thoroughly sealed space for security reasons. Unlike Khalid, who didn’t let his guard down, the branch manager greeted the customer with a consistent smile.

“Please wait a moment, I’ll bring you some tea shortly.”

“I don’t need tea. Tell me why you called me.”

The biggest reason Khalid was wary of the city elves was because of that fake smile. It’s hard to see them as sane when they can shove an assassination request at someone with a smiling face like that.

“I understand. I won’t waste your precious time, so let’s get straight to the point.”

The branch manager sat across from Khalid. She didn’t show any displeasure at Khalid’s overbearing attitude. While complying with the customer’s demands, she met Khalid’s gaze directly without flinching.

Even veteran mercenaries were intimidated by Khalid, so it was a posture that couldn’t be shown without a considerable amount of confidence.

“The reason we invited you, Khalid-nim, is none other than this special request.”

“The deadline hasn’t passed yet, has it?”

“That’s correct. It was until the end of this month. However, there have been many changes in the circumstances of the individuals related to the request recently, so we invited you to inform you of that.”

Khalid’s lips curled up.

“Why? Did the client die or something?”

“……You knew, didn’t you?”

The news of Dominic’s rebellion and the Baroness’s affair had already spread throughout Windfall. It couldn’t be helped, as there were so many witnesses on both sides. There were also rumors that Khalid had torn Dominic to pieces.

“First of all, if the client’s deposit is insufficient when they pass away, as you said, the request will be automatically canceled, but……”

The branch manager left room for interpretation at the end of her sentence.

“Are you saying that if the deposit is sufficient, the request will continue?”

“That’s correct. We can handle the request confirmation process and payment of the reward, so the client’s survival does not affect the cancellation.”

If that was true, it meant the Melissa assassination request was still ongoing.

“If nothing has changed, there’s no reason for you to have called me.”

“The policy has changed because there has been a change in the identity of the target of the request, that is, Melissa-nim.”

“What happened to that child?”

Khalid had a bad feeling as he recalled the blacksmith’s shop that hadn’t opened today.

“Melissa Smith…… No, Melissa Arik-nim was officially appointed as the successor of the Arik family today.”

Even Khalid couldn’t help but be surprised by the sudden news.

“Lord Hojae Arik of Windfall has been a very important client of our bank for a long time. Therefore, it goes against the bank’s basic policy that a formal member of that family cannot be targeted for a request.”

While Khalid was asleep, a lot had happened to Hojae as well. He had publicly announced that Melissa was his biological daughter and declared his divorce from Mila.

The residents, who learned of the Baroness’s disgraceful behavior, supported Hojae even more, and the refugees from Stoneberry, who had settled in Windfall, also became Melissa’s strength.

“In short, the assassination request……”

“has been voided.”

“Well, that’s good.”

The only thing he regretted was that he wanted to see the bank’s sanctions in action at least once.

With this, Melissa was able to settle down safely in Windfall. She wouldn’t have to be caught up in anyone’s schemes anymore.

“Then I’ll be going now.”

“Please wait a moment, Khalid-nim!”

The branch manager stopped Khalid, who was trying to leave with a light heart.

“What is it?”

“There’s one thing I haven’t told you about, regarding the reward for the request.”

“Isn’t the request over because it’s been voided?”

“That’s not the case. According to our internal investigation, it was revealed that the client was aware of the target’s identity from the beginning.”

Isn’t that obvious?

If he hadn’t known about Melissa’s birth, there would have been no reason to assassinate her in the first place. The assassination request itself became evidence of Dominic’s true intentions.

“Therefore, this contract has been deemed to be a case of the client’s deception, and we have decided to pay a penalty to Khalid-nim, who accepted the request. The amount is 1 gold, which the client set as the reward.”

“Even though I didn’t take any action after receiving that request?”

The branch manager said with a grin.

“As the staff would have explained when you visited the bank, we consider the request to be accepted the moment the request form is opened.”

Khalid saw no reason to refuse the money when they were willing to give it to him.

“Then I’ll gratefully accept it.”

“The deposit has already been processed before you arrived. We hope you will continue to use Morris Credit Union in the future, Khalid-nim.”

The branch manager and the elf staff politely saw Khalid off until he left the bank.

『Wow. You’ve already earned 3 gold coins in this village? At this rate, you’ll reach your target of 10 gold coins in no time.』

‘You need to work harder too.’

『Huh? What do I need to do?』

‘Didn’t you say you wanted it as an offering before? You were talking about divine revelation and all that.’

『Ah…… Right. There’s still a lot of time left, so there’s plenty of time! Don’t worry, I’ll receive a revelation soon and take it all.』

As Khalid came out to the square again, the Lord’s servant approached him as if he had been waiting.

“Khalid-nim!”

『You’re quite the popular one, aren’t you?』

Seeing that the square was now full of people, it seemed that the matters at the mansion had been mostly settled.