Not a barbarian warrior.

It was still a time when night lingered, before the sun had risen.

Eugene, who had woken up at a time when everyone else was sleeping, quietly changed his clothes. He put on his boots, wore a thin robe over his tunic, and then looked at the backpack he had prepared.

As it was going to be a long journey for a while, the backpack was full of luggage.

Various tools and food for camping occupied most of it, with rolled-up wolf hides and the lurehorn’s horns slightly protruding from the top of the backpack.

Eugene shouldered the heavy backpack and started walking. And the moment he opened the door, he met eyes with Daisy.

“…Weren’t you sleeping?”

“I couldn’t sleep properly because some black-haired man told me he was leaving just the day before. Were you planning to leave without saying anything?”

Eugene looked at her face. Just by looking at her mouth, he could tell she was on the verge of getting angry.

“That’s not it… I was going to say goodbye.”

Eugene secretly hid his hand behind his back. In his hand was a note with a brief greeting saying he was grateful for everything and that he was leaving now.

Daisy glared at Eugene’s face for a while and then turned her back.

“…Let’s go. I’ll see you off to the front of the house.”

“Okay, thanks.”

Contrary to Eugene’s expectations, Daisy readily let him go.

She knew. Even if she stubbornly made Eugene stay for a few more days here, he would eventually leave. So she decided not to hold him back. Instead, she decided to send him off with a smile as if nothing was wrong.

The two, who had come out after opening the door, stopped in front of the path leading to the village entrance and had a brief conversation.

“Don’t get hurt, always take care of yourself… and make sure to visit the village later. You have to come back to receive the remaining reward money, right?”

“…That’s right.”

“Don’t send someone else instead. You have to come and receive it yourself. Got it?”

“I got it. I’ll do that.”

“Then promise me. Here.”

Daisy held out her hand. It meant to hook pinkies and make a promise.

“…”

Eugene hesitated for a brief moment but obediently followed her words. Her warmth was transmitted through their touching fingers.

Only after making the promise did she smile. Eugene also responded to her smile with the same expression.

“Well, I’m going now. See you later.”

Eugene thought. This journey of wandering without a destination would continue until he returned to Earth. And in that process, revisiting paths he had already traveled… would probably not happen. Therefore, he would likely never visit this village again.

But he couldn’t coldly tell this kind child that he would never see her again. Because her smile today was too warm.

Eugene said his goodbyes and started walking. He never looked back once as he left the village. He felt that if he did, he might stop walking.

Daisy could only silently watch Eugene’s back as he left indifferently. In case he might look back, she kept smiling. Eugene’s figure, which gradually became smaller, completely disappeared at some point.

Her eyes were already holding transparent light that seemed about to overflow. Soon, a tear that had been pushed to the edge flowed down.

“Thank you for everything. Take care.”

As Eugene went outside the village, the sun rose faintly over the horizon in the distance.

It was as if announcing to him that a new journey had begun.

Eugene, who had stopped for a moment to look at the sky, started moving his feet diligently.

After walking for a while, Eugene came to a fork in the road. He stopped for a moment and pondered.

Whether to go to the nearest fortress city as originally planned, or to Carlisle which was a bit further away.

Considering the weight of the luggage he was carrying and the food, going to Carlisle wasn’t too much of a stretch. He would have to camp out a bit more, but he was used to that much.

Just as the scale in Eugene’s heart was tilting slightly towards Carlisle, there was a rustling from the thickly grown bushes in front of the fork, and familiar faces appeared.

“We’ve been waiting all this time in case you might go somewhere other than Carlisle. It seems you were pondering where to go, so our camping out here was worth it.”

“Marlon…”

Eugene frowned and stepped back. Fortunately, they didn’t seem to intend to surround Eugene.

“Ah, I’m saying this in case you misunderstand, but we didn’t lie. It’s true that old man Malika in Carlisle will buy the lurehorn’s horns at a high price.”

The three men took their stance, each holding an axe, spear, and sword.

“But you know. We thought about it carefully yesterday… We figured it would be better if we took those horns instead of letting you take them. It’s good for you because you can travel light, and it’s good for us because we earn money and gain credibility. It’s even better than yesterday, right? Don’t you agree?”

Eugene didn’t get angry or flustered at Marlon’s absurd sophistry. Instead, he smiled calmly like someone who was relieved.

“I had an ominous feeling ever since you guys left yesterday. I thought you might target the village while I was gone, but it turns out it was me, not the village. That’s a relief.”

“Did you grow attached to the villagers in that short time? Well, never mind. To be precise, we’re not targeting you, but your horns. We’re not confident we can safely kill a barbarian warrior. We’ll back off if you just give us the horns. How about it?”

“Hmm…”

In the very brief moment while Marlon waited for an answer, Eugene stalled for time and scanned Marlon’s group with his eyes.

‘No weapons like bows or crossbows visible. Doesn’t seem like they’re holding anything throwable either. Is what they’re holding in their hands all they have?’

After assessing their armament status, Eugene opened his mouth.

“It’s a good offer, but…”

Eugene subtly turned his body instead of drawing a weapon.

“I’ll have to decline.”

And then he immediately threw himself into the thickly grown bushes beside him.

At that sight, Marlon’s group couldn’t hide their bewilderment for a moment.

A barbarian warrior who considers fleeing from an enemy as shameful was now turning his back and running away right in front of their eyes.

“…Is he running away now…? A barbarian warrior…?”

Marlon, who came to his senses first, shouted at his companions.

“What are you doing! Run before we lose him!”

Snapping to attention at those words, they started chasing after Eugene along with Marlon.

Meanwhile, Eugene ran at full speed, creating distance despite carrying heavy luggage on his back.

As he broke through the dense undergrowth with his body, his surroundings gradually changed into a forest where trees had grown.

Marlon’s group chasing Eugene lost sight of him due to all sorts of obstacles blocking their view. However, they weren’t particularly anxious.

Their main occupation was monster hunting after all. They continued the pursuit very skillfully, reading the traces Eugene had left behind. After several dozens of minutes passed like this, Marlon said to his companions:

“He must have slowed down by now after running at full speed with such a heavy backpack. Let’s gradually increase our speed, we should be able to find him if we close in a little more.”

Marlon’s guess was accurate. Soon after, they discovered the backpack Eugene had discarded on the ground.

“What, did he end up throwing away his luggage and running?”

They hurriedly rummaged through Eugene’s backpack. Inside were not only the lurehorn’s horns they wanted but also three well-dried wolf hides. Various travel tools and food were a bonus.

“What should we do now? Should we keep chasing him?”

At his companion’s question, Marlon thought for a moment and then shook his head.

“Forget it. Let’s be satisfied with this much. Even if we forcibly catch him from here, all we’d gain is…”

“What’s wrong?”

As Marlon cut off his words midway, his companions looked at him. Something flashed through his mind that had been silent for a moment.

“Wait… Didn’t that bastard have something like a crossbow attached to the side of his backpack?”

“…!”

At that moment. Something flew in at the speed of light from behind a tree in the distance. It struck the forehead of the guy holding a spear next to Marlon.

As the short arrow shattered the skull and pierced the brain, the guy collapsed with his eyes rolled back. It was instant death to anyone who saw it.

Marlon and his now only remaining companion turned their heads towards where the arrow had come from.

Eugene, who revealed himself from beside a tree, was standing holding a crossbow.

Eugene spoke to them in a calm tone.

“One down, two left now.”

“You son of a bitch! I’ll kill you!”

“No! Don’t go alone, you idiot!”

The guy holding an axe ignored Marlon’s words and charged straight at Eugene.

He wasn’t just rushing in thoughtlessly.

Of course, he was angry that his companion had died, but there was also the rational judgment that he needed to prevent that barbarian warrior from reloading his crossbow. And above all, he was confident he could slaughter that barbarian warrior alone.

Eugene cleanly gave up on trying to reload the crossbow. He put the crossbow down on the ground and threw prepared throwing knives in succession.

The axe-wielding guy didn’t have the skill to avoid or deflect all the incoming knives. Instead, he trusted his sturdy body and thickly worn gambeson.

He avoided or deflected two knives flying towards his chest and head by turning his head, and blocked the third knife he couldn’t handle by raising his left arm.

The knife was so sharp that it tore right through the gambeson and embedded itself in the muscle.

But that was the end of it. The knives were all used up now, and the only weapons Eugene had left were one dagger and one sword.

“Your tricks end here!”

Ignoring the knife stuck in him, he raised the axe with both arms and swung it powerfully diagonally. At that moment, the guy felt something was wrong. He couldn’t put strength into his left arm.

Eugene easily avoided it after seeing the slow trajectory of the axe.

“Hey, you bastard! What the hell did you do!”

The guy shouted, mixing bewilderment and anger, but Eugene didn’t answer.

Eugene drew his dagger, gripped it in a reverse hold, and rushed in. After penetrating to a distance where the guy couldn’t swing his axe, he struck with the dagger aiming for the neck.

The flustered guy tried to block it by raising his left arm that couldn’t lift the axe in that instant.

However, the arm didn’t move at all. The paralyzing poison on the knife didn’t allow it.

Eugene’s dagger plunged straight into the guy’s neck.

“Ugh…!”

The guy dropped the axe he was holding and covered his neck with his right hand. But he couldn’t stop the blood from flowing out. In the end, he collapsed with a thud, unable to even properly let out a painful groan.

It happened in an instant. The situation was over before Marlon, who was running from behind, could even join.

Marlon looked at his companion’s corpse as if he couldn’t believe it.

It was because his companion’s skills weren’t so poor that he would die after just swinging an axe once.

“…What on earth did you do?”

Eugene readily answered Marlon, who was now the only one left.

“I coated the knives with poison. It’s a mixture of curare and poisonous toad mucus.”

“…!”

Marlon was simply dumbfounded at Eugene’s words. What kind of barbarian warrior in the world would coat their weapons with poison that assassins would use?

“Such a coward… And you call yourself a barbarian warrior?”

“…I told you yesterday too, I said I wasn’t one.”

“You shameless bastard, look in a mirror before saying that!”

“…”

When Eugene fell silent, the conversation was over.

The two drew their swords and quietly glared at each other.