Chapter 6
We faced the Western Volcano Tribe once again.
They were just as huge as before, and because of them, Zakan’s tent looked like it might burst.
Chief Zakan sat across from them without shrinking back from their frightening presence.
I could see his shoulders were slightly tense, but he refused to back down.
“What do you mean by saying you want to hire us?”
Burta, chief of the Western Volcano Tribe, asked.
The pressure coming from his body, which stood well over two meters tall, was incredible.
The Western Volcano Tribe and Northern Rock Tribe were originally said to be around the same level.
Of course, that was before all the adults of the Northern Rock Tribe died.
Still, Zakan raised his chin.
“Exactly what I said. The Rock Tribe wants to hire the Volcano Tribe.”
Burta silently looked down at Zakan.
His eyes were like those of an experienced beast that had survived countless battles, examining a young animal whose fangs had only just begun to grow.
But Zakan met his gaze without wavering.
Oh... not bad.
Was this really the same kid who had been throwing a tantrum over his pride thirty minutes ago?
“I do not understand.”
Burta tilted his head.
“We will buy the Volcano Tribe.”
“What?”
Burta stared at him.
Then...
“Khahaha... Zakan. Have you lost your mind?”
A mocking laugh escaped him.
The red-skinned warriors sitting on either side of Burta laughed as well.
From their point of view, a bunch of children from a dying tribe whose adults were all dead had just announced that they were going to “buy” them.
No wonder they found it ridiculous.
As expected, Zakan’s explanation probably wasn’t enough.
The concepts of employment and contracts barely existed among these people.
But Zakan did not panic.
He continued exactly as I had taught him.
“Fight for us when the Red Moon rises. Then we give you potatoes.”
“What?”
“That is our request. We need swords. Volcano needs potatoes. Am I wrong?”
Oh.
Nice and clean.
I applauded inside my head.
There was no unnecessary explanation.
The core of a trade was simple.
You gave me what you had.
I gave you what I had.
That was the foundation of every deal.
But Burta hadn’t become chief for nothing.
He wasn’t an easy opponent.
His smile disappeared as he slowly studied Zakan.
“Zakan. You are still young.”
Burta’s enormous shadow danced beneath the torchlight.
“You have no adults left to teach you. That matters.”
“...”
“How to hold a sword on the battlefield. How to read an enemy from the smell of the wind. How to survive the Red Moon. A barbarian learns by watching the backs of adults.”
Burta’s eyes narrowed.
“But all of your adults are dead.”
Zakan clenched his fists.
That struck directly at the Northern Rock Tribe’s greatest weakness.
There was no older generation left to pass down experience and wisdom.
Burta had cleverly targeted that exact weakness.
“If you do not know, you die. If you do not learn, your tribe disappears.”
He continued.
“You have the potential to become a good warrior, Zakan. But you cannot protect an entire tribe alone.”
It was persuasion.
He was silently pressuring us.
Instead of accepting our offer, he wanted us to submit beneath the Western Volcano Tribe.
Contrary to my prejudice, barbarians weren’t stupid.
They simply expressed themselves in rough and violent ways.
Our kids just hadn’t been taught enough yet.
And an experienced adult barbarian like Burta was far smarter than I had expected.
What a sly bastard.
I clicked my tongue inwardly.
A clever old fox was hiding inside that huge, brutish body.
Information was power.
In the world I came from, if there was something you didn’t know, you could search for it and learn everything from farming techniques to the laws of the universe.
But what about this world?
How to farm.
How to hunt.
How to survive.
If no one taught you, you could remain ignorant until the day you died.
Burta was using his tribe’s monopoly over that knowledge as a weapon against Zakan.
Poke.
When I saw Zakan’s eyes begin to shake, I lightly poked him in the back.
Wake up.
Show him what we prepared.
My touch snapped Zakan back to his senses.
“Zakan. Your tribe does not have that ability.”
Just as Burta was about to deliver the final blow...
Zakan silently lifted the leather sack beside him and turned it upside down.
Clatter!
Dozens of heavy, dirt-covered objects spilled onto the ground.
They rolled across the floor until they stopped near Burta’s feet.
Potatoes.
And not ordinary potatoes.
Burta’s thick eyebrow twitched.
He slowly picked one up.
The potato was almost as large as a barbarian’s fist.
[E-Rank Potato]
A crop blessed with the richness of fertile land, something that should have been impossible to grow in this dead wasteland.
Dozens of them were lying across the floor.
Burta’s eyes widened.
He held the potato near the torch and examined it.
“...This.”
For the first time, greed entered his voice.
He deeply inhaled the potato’s scent before turning a dangerous gaze toward Zakan.
“The Rock Tribe had something like this?”
“We are rich.”
Zakan proudly raised his chin.
“This is only a small part. Our warehouse has mountains of them.”
That was obviously a lie.
But Burta had no way of knowing that.
Seeing Zakan’s confidence, the Volcano Tribe warriors began to stir.
I even heard someone gulp.
But Burta was still a chief.
He suppressed his surprise and released an even stronger pressure.
It was an instinctive battle to maintain control of the negotiation.
“Why should Volcano listen to you?”
Burta squeezed the potato.
It crushed in his hand like tofu.
“We have strength. We have swords. If we want what you have, we can simply kill you and take it.”
“...!”
Zakan flinched and grabbed the hilt of his sword.
Just as expected from the Volcano Tribe.
This was the rule of this world.
The strong devoured the weak.
When the weak possessed treasure, that treasure did not become something to trade.
It became something to steal.
Burta was asking one question.
So what?
Do you actually have enough strength to protect that treasure?
Zakan opened his mouth.
Then closed it again.
He couldn’t find an answer.
If he said, “We will fight,” Burta would simply respond, “Then we will kill you.”
The atmosphere instantly turned cold.
The Volcano Tribe warriors adjusted their weapons.
The situation was one spark away from exploding.
This is as far as Zakan can go.
I sighed and stepped forward.
Zakan had done well.
But what came next could not be solved with a warrior’s logic.
“Enough.”
My voice broke the silence.
Burta’s gaze shifted from Zakan to me.
The eyes of a predator ran over my neck, sending instinctive fear down my spine.
I forced myself to remain calm and sat beside Zakan.
“What are you?”
“The shaman.”
“Lie. Rock Tribe has no shaman.”
“It does now.”
I looked directly into Burta’s eyes.
For once, Barbarian Mind was actually useful.
Burta snorted.
“A chief who has barely grown and a shaman who has barely grown. Children playing at leadership.”
He looked me up and down.
“The shaman is the head of a tribe. I smell no wisdom from you.”
“Our shaman is...!”
Zakan immediately grew angry.
I quickly raised my hand to stop him.
Stay still.
Then I looked back at Burta.
If I wanted to convince this man, I couldn’t show him strength.
I had to show him profit.
I just hoped my Mental Strength could endure it.
“Burta, Chief of the Volcano Tribe. You are right. Volcano has strength.”
I picked up a potato from the ground.
“You could kill us right now and take these potatoes. You could also take the children of our tribe.”
“If you know that, why are you acting so boldly?”
“Because doing that would be a loss for you.”
“A loss?”
Burta’s eyebrow twitched again.
