"Wahahaha! This is great! I really like it!"
Halli burst into satisfied laughter as he stroked his new helmet.
<Gray Bear Head Helmet>
-A helmet crafted by a highly skilled artisan from the head of a demonic gray bear. It is designed with absorbent material in the spare spaces to effectively mitigate external impacts. The tough leather is integrated to cover the shoulders and back.
This was a special item made from a demonic beast head he had set aside right before returning to the city after saving Cecily, replacing his damaged black panther helmet.
Given the developed mercenary industry in Tarak, the overall skill level of the artisans was high, resulting in a fine product.
This too was the result of Hubert walking around to find a skilled artisan to commission.
Additionally, he had all new demonic beast tooth accessories made, returning him to the perfect appearance of a barbarian warrior.
"But to think that the weapon sellers insist on the buyer coming in person. These artisans sure are picky."
The only thing not yet acquired was a weapon for Halli to use.
Hubert had found a quite decent weapon while roaming the forge district, but the artisan who made it had drawn a line, refusing to sell unless the person who would use it came in person.
'Actually, going in person is not a big deal. I really like it too.'
Because of this, today too, Halli was walking through the streets of Tarak with an imposing air.
Everyone was murmuring but couldnt say anything to him, just avoiding his gaze.
However, that situation didnt last long.
"Ugh, what's with that tacky look? He's bringing shame to the South all by himself."
A complaint uttered loudly, as if meant to be heard.
Halli stopped in his tracks.
His gaze slowly turned towards the source of the sound.
'This is a new situation.'
Even after seeing his imposing appearance, to utter such words.
Who could be so bold?
To the side of the road where Halli's gaze landed, three men stood looking at him with furrowed brows.
Each of them had an above-average build, broad shoulders, and solid muscles, giving off the vibe of seasoned warriors.
Their common feature was the various tattoos etched all over their bodies.
Even after making eye contact with Halli, they did not shy away but raised their voices even more.
"A nobody acting all high and mighty as a warrior."
"What's with that sloppy scribble? Trying to imitate an engraving?"
"Are you really from the South? Even your mismatched eyes. Half-blood?"
...From their talk, it seemed they were indeed warriors from the South.
Given Tarak's developed mercenary industry, it wasn't strange to encounter people from other regions.
Halli had changed his facial features to resemble a Southerner as much as possible based on the information I had collected beforehand, but to the locals, it must have felt out of place.
'What's needed now is sheer audacity.'
He boldly squared his shoulders and walked towards them.
The manly Halli did not avoid an approaching dispute.
"Are you insulting me? I stand here as a warrior without a single ounce of shame! You look like warriors from the South too, so what's the reason for nitpicking at my magnificent appearance?"
He smoothly bypassed the suspicion of being a fake Southerner and focused the issue on his attire, standing before the warriors and looking down on them.
Though they were not small in stature, standing before Halli, there was more than half a head's difference in eye level.
"Ha! It's because of fools like you that all Southerners are lumped together and ridiculed!"
"Such clothes should only be worn at traditional festivals. Don't strut around so proudly in places like this!"
"It's impossible to properly fight in such inefficient attire. You look like a clown who's only built up muscles without a single scar on your body?"
Their attire was ordinary armor, partially reinforced with metal on leather, the very image of average mercenaries.
It was a very regrettable reality.
'I knew it, but it's disappointing. An era where the romance of the barbarian warrior has already faded.'
Despite several exchanges of arguments, their differences in opinion remained unresolved.
"Words are getting us nowhere! Then, there's only one way to resolve this, right? Hahahah!"
There was one thing among the information about the South that I had investigated beforehand that was particularly impressive.
A custom among warriors that when conflicts arose, they would settle their arguments through bare-knuckle brawling.
It was a tough method where they would compete with the pure strength of their bodies, without using weapons or aura.
"If you have a complaint, why not prove your point with skill instead of just running your mouth?"
"A halfwit without a single engraving...!"
One of them gritted his teeth at the boldly thrown challenge.
Handing over his weapon to a companion, a fight quickly broke out centered around him and Halli.
"I don't mind if all three of you come at me at once?"
"What do you take the honor of a warrior for! I alone am enough!"
"Oh? Is that so?"
A fierce smile formed on Halli's lips as his muscles slowly swelled.
The muscles, starkly revealed by his attire, moved and writhed vigorously with each resolution.
Startle!
The Southerner standing opposite involuntarily flinched, but not backing down, it seemed he was confident in his own skill.
Of course, his confidence didn't last long.
Thud!
"Ugh."
"Next!"
One person.
"Argh!"
"Next!"
Two people.
Crack!
"Ugh... You're not from the South! To be without a single warrior's engraving with this level of skill!"
And then the last one.
It was utterly impossible for them, being human, to defeat him with sheer physical strength alone.
His fists caused no significant damage to Halli's solid muscles, and the difference in strength was incomparably vast...
'In truth, it was an unfair fight from the start.'
His body, almost monstrous, naturally enhanced by the life energy flowing through it without even needing to use aura, was practically always in an enhanced state.
'This might actually be a good opportunity.'
Halli looked down at the Southerners sprawled on the ground.
Unexpectedly, he had come across genuine Southerner warriors on the road.
It was a meeting between the fake Southern man, Halli, and the locals.
'These guys, if played right, might have some use...'
He immediately relaxed his expression and burst into a hearty laugh.
"Hahahaha! Brothers have quite the skill!"
"Bro...brothers?"
"We might have had a little disagreement, but meeting people from our homeland in this faraway place, that too is fate! Wouldn't you say that makes us brothers! Hahah!"
"What kind of nonsense..."
"Ahem!"
When he sternly glared at someone trying to make an unnecessary remark, the person quietly averted his gaze.
"Hmm! As you might have guessed, I'm not actually from the South."
"But why dress like that...?"
"Shh!"
He had a brief 'healthy' exchange with the rude ones who kept nitpicking.
And soon after, he took the now more polite group into an alley to have a serious conversation.
"There's a deep reason for all this. Where do I even start..."
He began to lay the groundwork to rationalize his origin and to coax them, slowly starting his tale.
"I heard my father was a renowned warrior from the South. Ah, don't ask who. I only heard about it, so I don't know the details. Anyway..."
An out-of-the-blue confession of his past.
The warriors were visibly reluctant, but since the pecking order had been established after a brawl, they had no choice but to listen quietly.
And so, a detailed love story followed.
A story that began with a fateful encounter of a warrior from the South.
A woman from another land, their worst first impression of each other, but fate kept them tied together...
Misunderstandings and conflicts due to differences in values, and then reconciliation.
After several incidents, overcoming social status, they fell in love.
But their trials were far from over...
The daughter of a chieftain, who had taken a liking to the warrior, began to interfere in their relationship.
Eventually, the warrior rejected the chieftain's daughter's advances and chose to elope with his fated woman.
Wounded pride led the rejected woman to send pursuers after them...
After overcoming numerous adversities, they sought refuge in a settler village in the West.
By that time, the fruit of their love had already blossomed...
"Yes, that was me."
Halli finished his story and looked around.
Gulp
"...So, what happened then?"
"Don't interrupt, brother, hurry up and continue the story."
Initially skeptical, the Southern men were now fully engrossed in his tale.
'It's just a mishmash of clichs. Works better than I thought.'
After all, what's common on Earth could be a riveting story here.
Plus, given the South is a collection of numerous tribal alliances, such a storyline was plausible.
"Hmm... But the tragedy didn't end there. The persistent villainess, the chieftain's daughter, her reach extended even there. The family of three dreaming of a happy life..."
A story without a dose of 'K-drama' melodrama wouldn't be complete.
Halli closed his eyes and emotionally continued the narrative.
The relentless pursuers tightening their grip, the father's tearful struggle to save his wife and child.
After repeated escapes and battles, they succeeded in defeating all pursuers, but the warrior was gravely injured and fell.
An innocent child, smiling blissfully in his mother's arms, unaware of everything.
The warrior... the father, with trembling hands, placed his beast tooth ornament around the child's neck.
'If I'm gone, you must protect Mom. I will be with you... with that necklace, till the end.'
The father collapsed before finishing his words, the mother wept, and the warrior's will was passed on to the child.
Though no more pursuers came, it wasn't easy for the woman alone to care for the child.
But she raised him steadfastly and proudly, cherishing the memories of her late husband every night and sharing those stories with her child as the joy of her life.
'Mommy! What kind of person was Daddy?'
'He was a wonderful man. Truly a model warrior. There was this one time...'
Listening to his mother's tales with sparkling eyes, the child clutched his father's keepsake, nurturing dreams of becoming a great warrior.
And then... tragedy struck again.
"...I buried that ornament with my mother. I thought it belonged with her, who loved each other all their life and missed my father till the end. For me, inheriting my father's will is enough."
That's why I, who have never been to the South, walk around looking like this...
With a serious voice filled with emotion, Halli again tightly closed his eyes.
A moment of silence followed, and so, the long story came to an end.
And then...
"Sob... Sob!"
"Brother... Brother! You are a proud son of the South!"
"Yes! As long as that will is passed down, you are already a fine Southerner. Whatever knowledge you lack, we, in place of your father... Sob!"
Warriors, unable to keep their composure before the spicy flavor of a 'K-drama' tradition, shed tears.
They seemed to calm down a bit, but upon seeing Halli's face again, they burst into tears once more.
'Did I overdo it? This can't go on.'
"Hahaha! No need to worry so much! Now, I have become a great warrior!"
Trying to lighten the mood, Halli burst into a hearty laugh, but...
"You've grown... You've grown up well."
"So what if he lacks engravings. With that level of skill, he's already a great warrior!"
The warriors looked at him with somewhat proud smiles, seemingly having forgotten that they had been hit by him just moments ago.
'These guys seem to be getting a bit too carried away.'
They looked at him as if he were their own son.
Young warriors, who appeared to be in their 30s...
"Hmm, anyway. So, I have a lot of fantasies about the South, but I actually know very little about it? I'm not ready yet, but someday, I plan to head to the South, my heart's homeland."
Upon hearing this, the Southern warriors nodded seriously in unison.
"Indeed, it must have been a problem not having anyone to teach you."
"But don't worry, brother! Meeting like this must be fate, we will teach you about the true spirit of the South!"
"Yes, we'll make you into someone your father would be proud of."
'That settles it. I'll be getting private tutoring from the locals.'
I was going to force them to believe me if they doubted my word, but they turned out to be simpler than I thought.
Halli burst into a proud laugh and nodded.
"Ahaha! I'd be thankful if you did! By the way, we haven't even introduced ourselves properly. My name is Halli!"
And so, he made new followers... No, friends.
He might even make them help with Hubert's work whenever they had spare time.
A friend of a friend is also a friend, after all!
'I should think about the part of young Halli's journey involving meeting Hubert.'
Thus, with Halli in Tarak preparing for business, Hubert who's busy with his ventures, and Heinz managing heterosis on Earth.
As time flowed equally for all of them.
The situation for the remaining two avatars was reaching its climax.
***
Hans had been organizing the lab where he had stayed for several months.
The exploration by the High Elves of this area was about to begin.
He hadn't taken any specific measures to avoid detection, like removing nearby trees or timing the deactivation of summons to evade exploration.
[Heh, there's no need for that anymore.]
But despite the scheduled time passing, there was no sign of anything.
Surely there should have been some indication by now...
'Has the schedule been changed? Are they exploring somewhere else first?'
Maybe they hadn't found him because he was inside the barrier of the cave.
He had been somewhat tense, but then felt a sudden release.
However.
It was a bit premature to express such sentiments.
At the same time.
In the Grand Temple of Rosellia.
High Elf Laphori had called the stakeholders of this mission.
"We found it."
The eyes of the church officials widened.
Heinrich, who was also present, was no exception.
'I've been on edge and felt nothing, when?'
Without sensing any signs, it seemed the exploration had already concluded.
'More impressive than I thought?'
Laphori, surrounded by people showing signs of excitement, continued in a firm voice.
"In the west of the continent, in the Forest of Beasts. There, the aura of the Immortal King was detected."
Hans's location had finally been discovered.