BXBX NOVEL Chapter 1 – The Barbarian of the White Snowfield (1)
Chapter 1 – The Barbarian of the White Snowfield (1)
Chapter 1 – The Barbarian of the White Snowfield (1)
The man gazed at the horizon with a sullen expression.
Despite the biting chill of the merciless blizzard, he stood there clad only in a light leather vest, his eyes fixed on the distant expanse.
“What are you doing?”
A voice came from behind him.
A gray-haired woman, similarly dressed in thin clothes, tilted her head in confusion.
The man opened his mouth.
“Admiring the scenery.”
“Why?”
“To calm my mind.”
“Why calm your mind?”
“Because I’m tired. You ignorant barbarian. Stop asking questions.”
“Your mind is tired?”
The woman seemed to not understand his words, her head cocking repeatedly.
“Why is your mind tired, not your body? I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
“Enough. Idiot.”
The man sighed.
“I told you I’d handle the perimeter. Why are you here? What’s the matter?”
“Five tribesmen ate the black scorpions.”
The man’s face contorted.
“Again? I clearly told them not to eat them because they’ll make you sick. It hasn’t even been a week, and five of them have already eaten them?”
“It was a glorious challenge. I was proud of them.”
The woman laughed brightly.
“Ughh, fuck.”
The man exhaled a heavy sigh.
“Go back and clean up the bodies. And don’t eat them again while you’re at it. I’ll kill you if you do.”
“But…”
The woman hesitated.
The man clicked his tongue.
“If you eat them, you’ll die by my hand.”
“Ah, I understand. I’ll never eat them.”
The woman shivered and scurried away.
The man watched her retreating figure and sighed again.
“Ignorant barbarians.”
Of course, they’re scared of his threats because they’ll die if they eat them anyway.
Ignorant, stupid fools.
The man kicked the snow gloomily.
His figure disappeared into the snowfield.
* * *
Snowfall.
A world of pure white, as if made entirely of snow.
Several carriages were moving through this landscape.
Creak. Creak.
“Ugh. Plague. It’s freezing cold.”
The man escorting the carriage pulled his fur hat down tightly.
The breath he exhaled instantly turned to frost and fell to the ground.
His eyebrows were also frozen, ready to fall off if he touched them.
“Wrap yourselves in your furs even tighter. Otherwise, you’ll freeze to death.”
The man who seemed to be the leader spoke in a low voice.
The people pulled the collars of their coats even tighter.
“Y-yes, we are.”
“Ugh. It’s cold.”
Slowly, they moved forward.
The tracks of the carriage wheels and footprints were left on the white snowfield, and they were instantly covered in white and disappeared.
A man watching the scene with weary eyes opened his mouth.
“Captain, no matter how good the reward is, this is just crazy.”
The man raised his head.
Front, back, left, right.
All he could see was white.
There was no creature with color here except for them.
“Crossing the White Snowfield? Isn’t that really crazy?”
“Quiet.”
A harsh voice rang out.
“You all agreed.”
“That’s true, but…”
“Then be quiet. We’re getting close to the border.”
“Damn it.”
With a small curse, he closed his mouth again.
In fact, they didn’t have much time to talk.
The moment they opened their mouths, the cold air would penetrate their lungs.
In the silence, they moved forward again.
And in the carriage they were escorting, an old man clicked his tongue.
“Tsk.”
The old man had a long white beard and was dressed in a fancy suit.
He asked with a worried face.
“Are you alright, young lady?”
“Yes.”
The young woman nodded.
Her blue hair swayed.
Her black eyes met the old man’s.
“I’m fine.”
“What is this really?”
The old man sighed deeply, seemingly in despair.
“There was no need for you to take this arduous journey yourself, young lady…”
“No. I have to go.”
The young woman shook her head.
“That was the condition of my contract with my father.”
“Oh, old man. You don’t appreciate the young lady’s efforts to save the family and…”
“Hey. I’m going to freeze to death.”
The old man’s words of lament were cut off by a grumble.
The old man’s face turned red.
“Those disrespectful creatures.”
“Don’t be too hard on them. They’re the only ones who agreed to escort us through this White Snowfield.”
“That’s true, but…”
“Anyway, can’t we bring them inside now? They look so cold.”
Crash. Crash.
The carriage screamed in the cold.
Even though it was protected by magic, it was hard to ignore the extreme cold.
It was hard to imagine how cold those outside must be.
The young woman spoke with concern, but the old man firmly refused.
“No. You don’t understand what exists in this White Snowfield.”
“Monsters… is that right?”
Monsters lived in the White Snowfield.
Horrifying creatures beyond imagination lurked outside.
“The probability of encountering them is low, but we must be careful. That’s why we have escorts.”
“Yes. But…”
The young woman looked out the window.
All she could see was white.
No other colors were visible.
“Can people really live here?”
“That’s just a legend. There’s no way humans could survive in this environment.”
“But it’s a credible legend.”
“Well… that’s true.”
Even the old man didn’t completely deny it.
Long, long ago.
An empire that once ruled the world.
That empire had incorporated everything from the ends of the earth to the ends of the sea within its territory.
Except for the White Snowfield.
The White Snowfield, which occupied more than half the world, lay at the very center of the world.
It was a hellish realm from which no one had ever returned alive.
But the emperor, who wanted to grasp the world itself in his hands, desired to rule the White Snowfield.
And so, he led all the strong and soldiers, and even entered the White Snowfield himself.
And several years later.
Around the time the empire, having lost its master, had fallen and been forgotten by all.
The emperor returned.
Having lost countless strong men and soldiers, he returned with only his body.
Looking decades older, he spoke like a madman.
That monster lived in the White Snowfield.
White snakes that devoured icebergs.
White bears that caused earthquakes.
Ugly rats that polluted the oceans.
And he said.
That the most dangerous thing in the White Snowfield was not monsters.
But humans.
“Did he say ash-colored barbarians with scars on their chests?”
There were barbarians here.
“It’s just a legend, right?”
“But the emperor’s words are credible. Most of the monsters he saw have been discovered.”
After the emperor’s death, all kinds of strong men and expeditions entered the White Snowfield.
Most of them never returned, but a very small number survived to tell their tales of adventure.
Their adventures included stories that matched the emperor’s.
“But there are no stories of seeing barbarians, are there?”
“Well… that’s true.”
Even in those countless adventures, there was no information about barbarians.
“It was probably the emperor’s mistake. It’s not something we should worry about.”
The young woman closed her mouth at the old man’s dismissal.
As the old man said, it was not something they should worry about.
Just then, there was a knock on the door.
“We are approaching the border.”
“Yes.”
Tension appeared on the faces of the old man and the young woman.
The White Snowfield was not all dangerous.
Through the sacrifices of countless explorers, the areas where monsters appeared had been somewhat cleared.
The moment they entered there, there was a possibility of encountering monsters.
The faces of the mercenaries hardened.
Even though they had been quiet, their footsteps were now so quiet that they were almost inaudible.
“Not everyone who enters the border encounters monsters.”
The leader of the mercenaries spoke softly to ease the tension.
“If you move carefully, you can move without encountering them. And even if you do encounter them, you can probably defeat most of them.”
“And what about the monsters we can’t defeat? Don’t we all die?”
“I won’t deny that… but I mean there’s a good chance we can. Move slowly.”
Creak. Creak.
The sound of the wheels turning echoed softly.
They swallowed their saliva and slowly moved forward, their muscles tensed all over their bodies.
They prayed that no color other than their own would be visible in this white world.
But reality mercilessly trampled on their prayers.
“…Everyone stop.”
The leader who had been walking ahead stopped.
“There’s something there.”
“…What is it?”
“I can’t see it very well.”
The blizzard was too fierce.
They could only see a hazy figure, and they couldn’t even tell what kind of creature it was.
The leader narrowed his eyes.
“I have good news and bad news.”
“Damn it. Tell me quickly.”
“The good news is that it’s small.”
There were countless monsters here, and some of them were as big as mountains.
If it was about the size of a human, they might be able to defeat it.
“The bad news is that it’s coming towards us.”
There was no escape from the battle.
Curses and the sound of metal rang out.
One by one, they prepared for battle.
In the carriage, the old man and the young woman clenched their fists tightly.
In the tense atmosphere, the opponent gradually approached.
And finally, its figure was revealed in the blizzard.
The leader, who was about to charge with his sword drawn, stopped in his tracks.
“Uh?”
“Huh?”
The eyes of the young woman, who had been anxiously looking out the window with worried eyes, widened.
The creature that appeared was not a monster.
“…A human?”
Ash-colored hair, as if it had been eaten by dust, swayed in the white.
Muscles as perfect as a statue.
And an impressive scar on his chest that looked like a burst.
A light leather vest that looked as if he didn’t care about the cold.
“…A barbarian?”
Someone muttered.
The barbarian, who had been silently looking at them, opened his mouth.
“I didn’t want to go back, so I went out for a walk, but I didn’t expect to be so lucky.”
For a moment, they doubted their own ears.
From the mouth of a being that was the epitome of savagery, very fluent common tongue flowed out.
Ash-colored eyes met theirs.
“Nice to meet you.”