Chapter 12
Barbarians.
And not even adult barbarians.
Young barbarians who had struggled to gather those trophies.
Their blood and sweat had gone into every single piece.
And this bastard wanted to trade all of that for three sacks of potatoes that were nearly rotten.
Rage rose from deep inside me.
“W-Why are you doing this?! Let go! Chief, please stop him!”
Zakan seemed confused by my sudden behavior and stepped forward.
“Why are you doing this, Shaman? He is an important merchant.”
There was a warning in his voice.
From Zakan’s point of view, that made sense.
These barbarians had never left the barren lands near the Black Barrier.
The traveling merchant was their only connection to outside supplies.
But I ignored Zakan and continued glaring at Topu.
Of course, my thoughts weren’t nearly as reckless as my expression.
This kid crossed the dangerous frontier alone.
What if he’s secretly incredibly strong and beats me half to death?
Fantasy novels and games often had traveling merchants who were secretly legendary masters.
First, I need to make sure I’m safe.
Only then could I comfortably continue bullying him.
So I decided to use my skill.
Unfortunately...
The activation condition for the skill was the problem.
I hesitated internally.
But there was no other choice.
Putting on my most threatening expression, I raised my head and shouted toward the sky.
“BARBARIAAAAN!”
My Warrior’s Roar thundered across the square.
Topu flinched so hard that his whole body shook.
But then something happened that I hadn’t expected.
“BARBARIAAAAN!”
“BARBARIANS NEVER BREAK!”
The blood of the young barbarians boiled when they heard the brave Warrior’s Roar.
They began shouting along with me.
The entire square heated up instantly.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Dozens of enormous muscular maniacs stomped the ground while roaring “Barbarian!”
And standing in the middle of them was one thin human merchant named Topu.
His face turned completely pale.
Of course, I wasn’t trying to scare him.
I had only used a skill.
A translucent System window appeared above Topu’s head.
==========
【Target Information】
• Name: Topu
• Race: Human
【Basic Stats】
• Strength: 7
• Agility: 12
• Constitution: 25
• Intelligence: 14
【Potential】
• Overall Grade: A (Bloodline of a Great Merchant)
• Growth Progress: 18%
==========
I quickly read everything.
His Strength was terrible.
Good.
Zero chance he can beat me up.
But as expected from a merchant who traveled throughout the wasteland in search of customers, his Constitution was incredibly high.
What really caught my attention, however, was his Potential.
Are you kidding me?
Why are there so many A-Ranks around here?!
The blood of a merchant capable of controlling the entire continent flowed through this skinny kid.
“W-Why are you doing this? You’ve never treated me like this before.”
Topu blinked innocently.
“If my family didn’t come all the way out here, there wouldn’t be any merchants visiting this wasteland at all.”
When I didn’t answer, Topu’s expression became firmer.
He was subtly reminding us how important he was.
All right.
I understood.
His family had probably been making enormous profits by exploiting these isolated, innocent barbarian tribes for generations.
No wonder the kid lied so naturally despite his age.
Tsk.
Fine.
Life sentence.
After completing my assessment, I sentenced him inside my head and continued my intimidating act.
Zakan approached, clearly worried about my behavior.
“Why are you doing this, Shaman? Do not disrespect the merchant.”
“Chief.”
Still holding Topu’s wrist, I turned toward Zakan.
“What is a shaman’s job?”
“Managing the tribe.”
“Then whose responsibility is trading with merchants?”
I continued.
“Is handling the tribe’s wealth an important duty of the chief who protects the tribe?”
Realization appeared on Zakan’s face.
“Now that you say it, Izak, you are right.”
As expected of an S-Rank chief with Intelligence 11.
He immediately admitted his mistake.
“I am sorry. This is the shaman’s responsibility.”
Zakan stepped backward.
“Handle it as you see fit.”
Topu looked like he was about to cry.
“C-Chief! Where are you going?! Save me! You can’t do this!”
Ignoring his desperate cries, I turned toward him and gave him my brightest smile.
My mouth was smiling.
My eyes were not.
“Merchant.”
“Eek!”
“You and I need to have a long conversation.”
I tightened my grip.
“Somewhere quiet and private.”
“Chief! Save me! I’m scared! Somebody help me!”
Inside the shaman’s tent.
Looking at Topu from up close, he truly appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary young human boy.
Freckled cheeks.
Large eyes filled with fear.
But inside that head, hundreds of calculations for cheating barbarians are probably running at once.
I spoke gently.
“Coming all the way out here at your age... aren’t you afraid?”
My softer tone seemed to calm Topu slightly.
He cautiously answered,
“A-Afraid? Not really... It’s the family business. I know every route that avoids the monsters.”
Then he hesitated.
“Honestly, right now you’re scarier than the monsters. Why are you doing this? Did I do something wrong?”
Shameless bastard.
Even now, his eyes were moving quickly as he tried to understand the situation.
He really did have the talent to become a great merchant.
Instead of answering, I pulled away the leather cloth covering something in the corner of the tent.
“Gasp!”
Topu sharply inhaled.
Of course he did.
He was staring at a pile of large, plump D-Rank Potatoes with smooth, shining skins.
Crops I had personally grown and harvested.
Miracle food with the effect of doubling satiety.
Compared to the half-rotten potatoes Topu had just offered, these were premium food from a completely different world.
“W-What are these...? Crops like this shouldn’t be able to grow in the Northern Frontier...”
I smiled.
“Do you know barbarians well?”
“Well... I wouldn’t say I know nothing.”
“What do you think we barbarians are like?”
Perhaps he couldn’t bring himself to say his real opinion.
Stupid idiots who are easy to scam.
Topu looked away awkwardly.
“W-Well... you’re very tall... very strong... and... tough, excellent warriors.”
“Correct.”
I nodded.
“But one thing is wrong.”
I opened my mouth to carefully expose his scam.
Then...
A familiar resistance slammed into my head.
[Warning! Barbarian Mind resists logical thought.]
Inside my skull, Barbarian Kang Jinho suddenly seemed to scream,
Give me money or I smash your skull!
I clenched my teeth.
My Mental Strength had reached 10.
I could endure this much now.
“Ugh...”
Unfortunately, I couldn’t stop the pain that felt like a thick needle being pushed through my brain.
I endured it and spoke.
“We are not poor anymore.”
Topu looked back at the potato pile.
