Chapter 11
After the Red Moon passed, peaceful daily life returned to the Northern Rock Tribe.
But another storm was raging inside my heart.
And the name of that storm was...
Greed for material things.
Barbarian Izak does not hold back.
“Chief! I’m here!”
Crash!
I kicked open the entrance to Zakan’s tent, which had become more familiar to me than my own home.
Zakan barely reacted.
He had gotten so used to me suddenly barging in that he didn’t even look surprised anymore.
That made me feel strangely awkward.
Still, I immediately got to the point.
“What is it, Izak?”
“There’s something I need.”
“What? Just tell me. I’ll search the entire wasteland if I have to.”
His answer was reassuring.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t something his muscles could solve.
I shook my head at the dependable teenage chief.
“No. I want to go see it myself.”
“See what?”
“A market. Or a shop.”
Just saying the words made my heart pound.
I could almost imagine rows of goods spread out before me.
With a dreamy expression, I began listing everything I wanted.
“I want to buy things. Salt, tools, seeds...”
Zakan stopped polishing his greatsword and tilted his head.
“Market? Shop?”
“...”
What was with that response?
“A place where people buy and sell things. A place where people gather to trade.”
“Oh. A place for trading.”
Only then did Zakan nod.
But then he made an awkward expression.
“You know many difficult things, but you seem to know very little about easy things.”
“...Ahem.”
He was surprisingly good at hitting where it hurt.
I knew advanced information like a wyvern’s weaknesses and battle strategies, but I didn’t even know the geography of this area or the names of most of the barbarians I lived with.
That was what he meant.
But I couldn’t help it.
I wasn’t the real Izak.
I was Kang Jinho, borrowing Izak’s body.
I didn’t have any of the original Izak’s memories.
At times like this, confidence was everything.
“Receiving the ancestor god’s wisdom changed me.”
I grabbed my head and put on the saddest expression I could manage.
It was an award-worthy performance.
“A vessel must be very large to contain great wisdom. My vessel was too small, so I lost my old memories.”
Perfect method acting.
Amnesia was the ultimate cheat code for fantasy protagonists.
Surely he would believe it.
But Zakan’s reaction was strange.
He put down his sword.
Then he walked straight toward me.
W-What?
Why are you coming closer?
Did you figure out the truth? Are you going to kill me?!
I instinctively stepped backward.
Zakan grabbed both my shoulders tightly.
Gulp.
I slowly looked up.
Deep sadness and sympathy filled Zakan’s eyes.
Why?
“I am sorry. I did not know.”
“...??”
“They say no power comes without a price.”
His voice trembled.
“I did not know you sacrificed your precious memories to gain such great wisdom.”
Zakan’s grip tightened.
“It must hurt to forget your father’s face and your mother’s embrace. Have you been enduring that loneliness alone?”
“Huh? It isn’t really that hard...”
“Do not worry, Izak.”
Zakan looked at me with the most serious expression I had ever seen.
“I am your brother.”
My eyes widened.
“Every child in this tribe is your family.”
His voice was firm.
“We will fill the space left by your lost memories with new ones.”
“...”
I had no words.
I had only made up a lie to explain myself.
But this innocent teenager was genuinely trying to comfort me.
I remembered the Intelligence stat I had seen through Peeking.
Intelligence: 11.
Considering the average barbarian barely had around 4 or 5, Zakan was definitely smart.
But his intelligence hadn’t turned into the cunning of a world-weary adult.
Instead, it had become wisdom and sensitivity that allowed him to understand other people’s pain.
But... isn’t this unfair?
He was a great fighter.
He had S-Rank potential.
He was fairly handsome.
And now he had a good personality too?
For a moment, I felt sorry for Malko sleeping in the next tent.
If Malko had been smart too, maybe he would have been S-Rank.
Instead, God had given him an enormous nose.
Anyway...
The unexpected comfort didn’t feel bad.
Kang Jinho had never been blessed with good relationships in his previous life.
Who would have thought I would find warmth like this in a savage wasteland?
“Thank you, Zakan.”
I cleared my throat and changed the mood.
“So... where is the shop?”
Zakan looked like he suddenly remembered what we had originally been talking about.
Then his face became awkward again.
Finally, he proudly answered.
“I do not know.”
Why?!
Why don’t you know?!
What am I supposed to do if you don’t know?!
As if he could hear my internal screaming, Zakan continued.
“Our tribe has never left this Black Frontier for generations.”
He spoke proudly.
“Did we not learn that guarding the Barrier has been our duty since our grandfather’s grandfather?”
He shook his head.
“So I do not know.”
That’s not something to brag about, you idiot!
I suppressed the deep irritation rising inside me and asked,
“Then what about that pot? Your leather armor? Humans made those.”
“Oh. We got them from a merchant.”
“Merchant?”
My ears perked up.
“A merchant comes here? To this place?”
“Yes. A merchant visits regularly.”
Oh!
As expected!
A traveling merchant!
One of the best parts of any fantasy world!
A mysterious person who appeared in the middle of nowhere, sold rare items, then disappeared again!
“When does he come? Where?”
Zakan fell silent again.
You little...
Don’t tell me...
“I do not know.”
“HEY!”
I shouted without thinking.
You said he came regularly!
Zakan tilted his head in confusion.
“You are the shaman. You are the one who records dates.”
Ah.
Right.
Sorry.
“I do not know the date.”
He continued.
“But I know that merchant comes on the fifteenth day of every month.”
Haa...
Sometimes talking to Zakan made my blood pressure rise.
He had a talent for making simple conversations unnecessarily difficult.
Anyway, I was lucky.
The Red Moon had risen on May 8.
Today was May 15.
The traveling merchant was scheduled to arrive on the exact day my material greed had finally exploded.
My heart raced.
A merchant.
What kind of goods would he carry?
We had more than five hundred D-Rank Potatoes.
How much would they be worth in actual currency?
Damn. What should I buy?
Just imagining it made me happy.
A sack of salt?
No.
Two sacks?
What about an iron pot?
A frying pan?
I’ll take everything from here to here.
Maybe I could finally say something like that!
“Izak! He’s coming!”
Malko shouted from his guard post at the village entrance.
I immediately abandoned what I was doing and ran outside.
Someone was approaching with children trailing behind him like the followers of a flute player.
...Huh?
That’s the traveling merchant?
In my imagination, a merchant was a friendly, or perhaps greedy, middle-aged man with a large belly and beard.
But the person walking toward us completely shattered that image.
He was thin.
An old turban covered his head.
His skin had been darkened by the sun.
Freckles covered his face.
At most, he looked around fifteen years old.
The strangest thing was the load on his back.
He was casually carrying an enormous bundle almost three times the size of his body.
The boy walked into the village and politely bowed to Zakan, who was waiting in the center.
Zakan silently nodded.
Then the boy smiled.
“Hello there.”
What was with that accent?
His gentle, camel-like eyes curved into a friendly smile.
“Been a long while, Chief. Have you been well?”
He greeted Zakan warmly.
“Yes! Topu, long time! Barbarians waited for Topu!”
Malko answered instead.
The boy grinned and lowered his bundle.
His name was Topu?
Tofu?
BOOM.
The ground shook beneath the enormous weight.
“I’m a little late this time. Monsters were causing trouble on the road, you see. Had to risk my life to make it here.”
The young merchant, Topu, wiped away his sweat as he joked.
With his innocent face and youthful voice, the tribesmen quickly lowered their guard and gathered around him.
But I remained behind them with my arms crossed.
My eyes narrowed as I studied him.
You know what they say.
Faces reveal everything.
In my experience, the people who acted the most innocent in business were often the most dangerous.
More importantly...
He crossed this brutal wasteland carrying that enormous load?
With those thin arms and legs?
There was no way this kid was ordinary.
Regardless of my suspicions, the trade began.
The Northern Rock Tribe brought out everything they had collected.
Animal hides.
Monster teeth and bones.
Various miscellaneous materials.
These were trophies the hunting parties had risked their lives to obtain.
Unfortunately, magical beasts weren’t profitable when killed.
Unlike ordinary monsters, their bodies turned to ash and disappeared after death.
If they were valuable, humans probably wouldn’t have abandoned the frontier in front of the Barrier like this.
Anyway...
Topu pulled out a monocle and placed it over one eye.
Suddenly, he looked surprisingly professional.
He turned hides over several times.
He examined bone cross-sections through a magnifying lens.
He carefully inspected every item.
“Hmm...”
Every time Topu clicked his tongue or tilted his head, our tribesmen nervously swallowed.
They clearly worried their goods might be worthless.
After a long examination, Topu finally put his hands together politely and bowed.
“Chief. And everyone of the Rock Tribe.”
Topu made a troubled expression.
“To be honest... these goods aren’t very good this time.”
“...Is that so?”
Zakan looked disappointed.
“Yes. Look at this hide. There are too many blade marks, so it’ll be difficult to sell.”
Topu pointed at another item.
“And this fang is old. It’s already starting to decay.”
He carefully listed defect after defect.
He even mixed in complicated professional terminology.
Naturally, the innocent barbarians simply nodded along.
“Still...”
Topu sighed as though making a painful sacrifice.
“We’ve known the Rock Tribe for a long time, haven’t we? Even if I lose a little money, I’ll buy everything.”
The barbarians’ faces immediately brightened.
“Thank you, Topu! You are good friend!”
“Topu is kind!”
Oh, children...
I had already used Peeking to check the real value of the items our tribe had brought out.
Topu was lying.
[Winter Wolf Hide - E-Rank (Good Condition)]
[Tusk Boar Fang - D-Rank (Excellent Condition)]
Based on the market prices I remembered from the game, these should have been worth at least 100,000 shillings altogether.
Yet this little scammer was treating them like garbage.
“How much for everything?”
Zakan asked.
Topu pretended to think deeply.
Then he put on an expression as though he were being incredibly generous.
“For all of it... I’ll give you three sacks of potatoes.”
What?!
I couldn’t believe my ears.
Not money?
Potatoes?!
“The quality is much worse than last time. Normally, twenty potatoes would already be generous, but I’ll give you much more because we’ve known each other so long.”
Topu opened his bundle and pulled out potatoes.
Shriveled.
Almost sprouting.
Low-quality potatoes.
F-Rank?
No.
They were almost garbage.
They were exactly like the potatoes I had seen in our warehouse on my first day in this world!
But the most shocking part was the reaction of our tribe.
“Ohhh! Three whole sacks of potatoes! Topu is kind!”
“So many potatoes! Barbarians rich!”
Haa...
They were genuinely happy.
Now I finally understood why these people had always been so obsessed with potatoes.
They weren’t stupid.
They weren’t idiots.
They were simply sheltered children who had spent their lives being scammed by people whose hearts had turned completely black.
I became so angry that I almost wanted to cry.
“Here you go. Deal complete, yes?”
Topu grinned and held out the potatoes.
Zakan nodded and reached out.
Grab.
I caught Topu’s wrist.
“Stop.”
My own cold voice surprised even me.
Topu stared up at me.
“W-What is it, Shaman?”
“You think you can cheat us?”
“What do you mean? I don’t understand. That hurts!”
I tightened my grip.
My Strength was 24 now.
Crushing the wrist of a skinny little merchant wouldn’t be difficult.
Topu’s face twisted.
You think I’m some clueless idiot?
I stared directly into his eyes.
“You picked the wrong people to scam.”
You dared cheat my kids?
Bad luck.
Today, I was going to take back everything you had stolen from them.
No.
I would take twice as much.
