Not a barbarian warrior.

After a day at the campsite, as soon as dawn broke, Eugene headed towards the village with Daisy.

Eugene walked alongside Daisy, who was riding on the pack animal.

The pack animal kept expressing its discontent by making clicking sounds with its beak.

It was because Eugene had placed rolled-up wolf pelts and a heavy sack filled with meat on top of the pack animal.

“We’ll arrive soon, so bear with it a little longer.”

As Daisy soothed the pack animal, they traveled for several hours. By the time the two arrived at the village, the sun was already high in the sky.

“Is this it?”

“Yes, that’s right. Do you see that wooden wall up there? That’s our village.”

Daisy pointed to the village that had built a palisade by densely planting logs on a low hill.

There was only one entrance leading to the inside of the village, and it was firmly closed, probably with a bar across it.

Above the palisade, people who looked like the village vigilantes were standing guard, watching the surroundings.

Eugene moved his steps towards the village entrance and looked around the palisade.

‘They’re all kids who aren’t even adults yet, boys around Daisy’s age. What they’re wearing, is it gambeson? They’re wearing ones too big for their bodies. The sleeves are loose. The leather hats on their heads are the same. What they’re holding, are those spears? They look like just wooden poles with blades attached…’

Judging by the size of the palisade, it wasn’t too difficult to estimate the scale of the village.

Daisy’s village would probably have just over a hundred people at most.

She had said that dozens of villagers were injured and killed while trying to catch the monster.

There was no way there could have been young boys or elderly among them.

Then, the only people who could wield weapons in this village now would be those little kids.

Eugene realized that the state of the village was more serious than he had thought.

‘Even a few moderately armed bandits could turn this place into a wasteland in an instant.’

While Eugene was thinking this, one of the little ones standing guard on the palisade got angry as soon as he saw Daisy riding the pack animal.

“Daisy! Where have you been and why are you only coming back now! Do you know how worried we were?”

Daisy answered with a bright expression.

“Noah! Are you worried about me? I’m safe! First, open the gate for us!”

“Wait, who’s that person next to you?”

“He’s the person who saved me yesterday! I almost died from wolves, but I survived thanks to Eugene!”

“What? You’re really crazy! When your uncle wakes up, he won’t let you off easy!”

“Just hurry and open the gate first! The monster might appear at this rate!”

“You knew that and still ran out of the village? Come in quickly!”

Noah, who was guarding the village entrance, came down from the palisade while scolding her and hurriedly unlocked the barred gate.

As Eugene’s group entered through the half-opened gate, he quickly locked the entrance again.

The boy named Noah approached Eugene, who had his robe pulled over his head.

The boy first bowed his head to express gratitude.

“Thank you for saving Daisy.”

“It wasn’t that big of a trouble.”

At his words, Noah raised his head to look at Eugene.

“…!”

When he saw his face shadowed inside the robe, Noah’s eyes changed instantly.

“…Mr. Eugene, could you perhaps take off the robe on your head?”

Noah grabbed Daisy’s wrist, who was nearby, and slowly stepped back.

He didn’t forget to tighten his grip on the spear in his other hand.

Eugene obediently followed Noah’s words. As he pushed back the robe covering his head, his face was clearly revealed.

“A… barbarian!”

Noah exclaimed in shock and pointed his spear at Eugene. Cold sweat flowed down involuntarily.

“I’m not a barbarian.”

“With that face, who would believe you’re not a barbarian? Daisy, did this barbarian really save you? You’re being deceived right now!”

At Noah’s words, Daisy shook her head.

“What deception? He’s the person who saved me when I was being chased by wolves and fought for me. You shouldn’t judge people carelessly just by their appearance.”

“You idiot! Don’t you know what situation our village is in? All the adults in our village are bedridden now! Can’t you see why we’re standing guard on the palisade like this?”

“What does that have to do with Eugene deceiving me?”

“Why else would this barbarian come here? He’s here to plunder the village! His goal must have been to safely enter inside the palisade by deceiving you!”

At Noah’s speculation, she looked at Eugene with a bewildered expression.

She didn’t say anything, but it was as if she was asking, “Is that true?”

Eugene made a dejected expression seeing this.

‘How could you believe that…’

Eugene had a headache thinking about how to clear up Noah’s misunderstanding.

It was much harder to prove non-existence than to prove existence.

Moreover, what he had to prove wasn’t a material thing, but an invisible heart.

For now, Eugene slowly raised both hands to the sides of his head.

Showing that he had no intention to fight at all, he looked into Noah’s eyes and spoke calmly.

“Let me say it again, I’m not a barbarian. Although my black hair and eyes resemble those of the warriors from the Northern Continent you speak of, that’s all there is to it. I’m not even from the Northern Continent.”

Noah, while still pointing his spear, quietly listened to Eugene’s words for now.

“If I had intended to plunder this village as you say, I wouldn’t have come alone, and certainly not in broad daylight. I wouldn’t have shown my face so willingly either. Think about it carefully.”

As his calm tone and behavior added persuasiveness, Noah thought it seemed somewhat plausible.

“Th-then, why have you come here?”

Eugene pointed to Daisy beside him and said.

“To safely escort this child back to the village. Also, I wanted to deal with the wolf pelts and meat before they spoiled. And above all, I had something to discuss with the village elders.”

Noah felt like he might have misunderstood something.

‘Is he really not a barbarian who came to plunder the village…?’

At that moment, Daisy grabbed Noah’s shoulder and got angry.

“Eugene is not the kind of bad person you think he is! Put down your spear now!”

Daisy, who had doubted Eugene for a moment, quickly changed her attitude and defended him again.

At her words, Noah hesitated but slowly lowered the spear he had been pointing at Eugene.

At this time, Noah’s colleagues who were standing guard on the palisade approached.

“What’s all this commotion about? Gasp…! A barbarian?”

“Daisy! Step back, it’s dangerous! You barbarian bastard! What’s your purpose for sneaking into our village!”

“Everyone, aim your spears! Surround this guy!”

Just when the situation seemed to be clearing up, it returned to how it was before, no, it became even worse. Eugene couldn’t help but let out a deep sigh.

“Haah…”

It wasn’t that he didn’t understand these little ones. It was natural for their vigilance to increase as much as the village’s defenses had weakened.

‘Do I have to work my mouth hard again.’

Eugene tried to resolve it through dialogue again like before, but the ones who had surrounded him in a circle and were pointing spears at him didn’t even pretend to listen and each shouted in excited voices.

“I’ll say it for the third time, I’m not a barbarian…”

“First, get on your knees!”

“You barbarian bastard! Drop your weapons immediately!”

“Lie down! If you do anything even slightly suspicious, we’ll kill you!”

Noah, who was the youngest, couldn’t do this or that, and his colleagues looked like they were about to thrust their spears at any moment.

As these young ones threatened him as if they were really going to stab without any fear, Eugene unconsciously felt his anger rising.

In that moment, words completely different from what he had originally intended to say burst out.

“I don’t know whose tune I should dance to. Kids, try to calm down a bit. Don’t act like mad dogs.”

“What? This son of a bitch!”

One of the kids who was provoked by his words moved his arm irritably.

Daisy, startled by this sight, screamed.

“No!”

Eugene instinctively sensed something flying from his blind spot and twisted his body.

The spear thrusting from behind barely grazed his arm as it passed.

Eugene, frowning, grabbed the spear shaft that the kid had thrust and pulled it strongly.

“Eek-!”

The kid who was resisting to avoid losing his weapon lost his balance and fell over ungracefully.

Eugene raised the spear he had taken and examined it with his eyes.

The blade at the tip of the spear was rusted. As a bonus, there was red liquid on it.

Feeling a throbbing pain in his arm, Eugene realized it was his own blood.

Curses involuntarily came out from inside.

‘Damn it… If I’m unlucky, this might fester.’

If he was even more unlucky, he might even get tetanus.

If that happened, all he could do was pray desperately not to die while shaking uncontrollably.

As memories of difficult past days came to mind, a terrible impulse arose for a moment.

‘Become a real barbarian like they say. Go ahead and stab this rusty spear tip into these kids’ arms too. When the time comes that their wounds rot and fester and they have to amputate their arms, they’ll know what mistake they made!’

Eugene shook his head, just as he had done when he met Daisy.

Eugene knew well that it would be crossing a line.

That line was one he had drawn long ago, when Eugene lived as Kim Woo-jin.

Meanwhile, the kids surrounding him didn’t know what to do.

“Hey, you idiot! How could you let your weapon be taken so easily!”

“That big bastard’s strength is no joke!”

Eugene gripped the spear with a grim face.

He gripped it so hard that cracking sounds came from his hand.

“Hey! Don’t move!”

Ignoring the kids’ warnings, Eugene spun in place and swung the spear widely.

Then the spear shafts that were being pointed at him surrounding him broke with a “Puck!” sound.

“Aack! My hand!”

The kids whose hands burst unable to withstand the shock of the breaking spear shafts groaned in pain.

To Eugene, this was just the right response.

He said to the kids who were clutching their hands:

“If I were the barbarian you speak of, it would have been your necks breaking just now, not the spears. That’s all I have to say. Now the choice is yours. Whether you’ll treat me as a guest, or as a barbarian.”

It took some time, but after various twists and turns, the vigilante kids accepted Eugene as a guest of the village.

After the incident ended like that, as they were moving towards the inside of the village, Daisy carefully asked while watching Eugene’s mood:

“Are you… very angry…?”

Eugene unconsciously relaxed his hardened expression and said with a bitter smile:

“It’s okay now.”

Encouraged by Eugene’s words, Daisy approached him.

She took out a handkerchief from her bosom and pressed it against Eugene’s arm.

For a moment, Eugene felt like he was receiving indescribable comfort from this small girl.

He turned his head to look at the girl’s face.

“…Does it hurt a lot?”

To her worried expression, Eugene said:

“Until yesterday I thought you were an aspiring lady, but you’ve grown up in just a day. I’m impressed.”

“…Is this the time for jokes?”

She hit Eugene’s arm with a thud.

“Ow, it’s bleeding.”

“Ah! I’m sorry!”

“Maybe you’re still an aspiring lady after all…”

“…Eek! And here I was worried about you!”

As she panicked over the blood-stained handkerchief, the pack animal behind them looked at the two as if they were hopeless.