Barbarians! Barbarians!

"I'm sorry, but I've never heard of the Ferrera Family."

Harvey Garcia wore an arrogant expression, his accent carrying a trace that did not belong to the Northern Lands.

"I've only just returned from the Royal Capital, so I'm not very familiar with the countryside... Sorry, I mean I'm not very familiar with the Ferrera Family. I heard you've come to purchase iron ore?"

Suppressing his discomfort, Derek forced a smile. "Yes. I heard your family recently discovered a mine, and I hope to secure part of its output."

"Heh! Baron Ferrera should be the one discussing such matters with me. Besides... I'm afraid we don't have much of a share to spare for you."

Harvey continued in the same casual tone, even shrugging as though he found himself amusing. "You know how it is. Iron ore is scarce these days. We need to set some aside, and when some friends arrive, we'll need to provide them with a little help.

"By the way, is your family acquiring iron ore for your own use? Then you must have surplus blacksmiths. If you're willing to offer them to my friends, once they earn military merit, they might be able to spare you a little something—perhaps even a knight fief?

"You understand what I mean, don't you, Knight Derek?"

Fine. Derek understood. He had his eyes on their iron ore, while they had their eyes on his manpower.

Perhaps they were even planning to take the entire Ferrera Family in as dogs.

As for whom they would serve, it was undoubtedly some noble from outside the region.

Derek nearly laughed in anger. He had no interest in currying favor with Count Perez, so why would he think highly of the Garcia Family?

"My apologies, Young Master Harvey, but you've been away from the Northern Lands for too long. You've already forgotten the valor of its people.

"When those friends of yours arrive, they'll probably only be picking up scraps. They aren't qualified to show off in front of me. Remember that—me."

Derek turned hostile outright. Screw the Garcia Family. Push him too far, and he would flip the whole table over.

A baronial family with its ass planted crookedly would learn what reality was soon enough.

Harvey had never expected Derek to turn on him. In his eyes, shouldn't some country noble be scrambling to ingratiate himself when offered an olive branch?

After all, the children of Royal Capital nobles held access to certain political resources within the kingdom.

Taking up official posts in the kingdom, even gaining one or two knight fiefs without having to fight tooth and nail—this was the path many people dreamed of.

How dare he?

Seeing Derek preparing to leave, Harvey shouted in embarrassed fury.

"Aud! Aud! Teach this rude country bumpkin a lesson!"

The Garcia Family had some real strength if they could squeeze their way into the kingdom's political circles.

This second son who had long resided in the Royal Capital had even raised a group of retainers.

At his shout, several warriors moved to stop Derek.

Adrian, who had been quietly following Derek all along, suddenly sprang into action. Dropping his shoulder, he slammed viciously into the warriors blocking their path.

Those seemingly brawny warriors toppled in all directions as if they had been struck by Brute Bear.

Without looking back, Derek strode straight through the path Adrian had forced open.

As he passed one of the fallen warriors, he suddenly stopped and reached down to draw the sword from the man's waist.

The quality was fairly good.

Derek gave it a glance, then threw the sword behind him with a backhanded flick.

A flash of cold light shot past Harvey's face.

Buzz!

By the time he reacted, the sword had sunk an inch into the wall.

Only then did Derek leave with great strides, leaving behind a group of warriors staring at one another.

It took Harvey a long while to recover, cold sweat pouring down his body.

That sword had passed right in front of his eyes. If it had been even slightly off, it would not have been lodged in the wall now—it would have been lodged in him.

"Aud, are you all useless? I spent so much money hiring you, and this is how you protect me?"

Harvey burned with rage, unable to accept being so thoroughly humiliated by a country noble.

More importantly, the subordinates he had relied upon were so utterly helpless.

Aud was helpless too. That man's strength had been far too great.

And that young Northland Noble had moved so quickly that he had not even had time to react.

So he could only endure the scolding. He stepped forward and tried to pull out the sword, succeeding only after several hard attempts.

Staring at the deep hole in the wall, Aud fell into thought.

Were Northland Nobles really this fierce?

If that was true, then what was there left to do? He might as well pack up and go home.

Either the Northland Nobles would beat the barbarians senseless, or the barbarians—said to be even fiercer than the Northland Nobles—would beat him senseless.

But then he thought of his master Harvey, who seemed weak as a chick. Maybe he was just an exception?

Derek had no idea that he had made a warrior question his entire life. Once outside the Garcia Family estate, he immediately fetched his warhorse and fled.

He had just offended the local tyrant. If he did not run, was he supposed to entrust his safety to their mercy?

Two fists could not defeat four hands. Derek considered himself brave, but he had no desire to be tripped up in some gutter.

This encounter had also shown Derek an utterly disgusting face.

The nobles he had visited before had either shown respect for the introducer's sake, for the Ferrera Family's sake, or because they too were Northland Nobles. In any case, they had kept up appearances.

But once those advantages were gone, their true faces were exposed.

The Garcia Family would not be the first. Derek's understanding of this era had deepened even further.

Adrian was also indignant. No matter how much he knew, he had never personally experienced something like this, so it was inevitable that it left a bitter taste in his mouth.

"Derek, are we continuing?"

"Of course. A true man can bend and stretch. Brother Adrian, the hardships we endure now will become stories of our future success. Believe me—once we succeed, the Garcia Family will only come begging forgiveness."

After Derek served him a bowl of chicken soup, Adrian felt his spirits rise again.

Pride? Derek was clearer-headed than most. That thing was worthless.

The road ahead was just as difficult.

Derek saw all kinds of ugly faces. War had indeed made certain people enormously wealthy. Even some merchants dared to look down on him, a noble's son.

Derek wiped the spit from his face and carried on, but he recorded every last one of them in his little ledger.

Just wait. I'll squeeze every one of you out of business someday.

By the time he returned to the estate, the shortage of iron ore had basically been resolved.

Then came training—relentless, desperate training.

Next time, he absolutely would not let anyone treat him with such contempt again.

Just as the Northern Province was in full swing, a band of barbarians who had trekked from the wilderness farther north formally entered the buffer zone.

They were taller than the barbarians of the Northern Lands, with rougher features, more brownish skin, and pale green eyes.

Yet they were different from what one might imagine. Though the weapons in their hands were crude, everyone had one. Some of them even wore armor and rode tall horses, their fierce aura rushing straight at anyone who saw them.

"Foolish Locke people. Do you think we're still the same as we were thirty years ago?"

The barbarian commander rode forward. Looking toward the increasingly close Northern Lands, he let out a cold laugh.