After the battle, Kase organized the Barbarians who weren’t seriously injured, and they gathered up the loot to head back.

The recent surprise attack by the Centurion had claimed a few more Barbarian lives, and many others were left severely wounded.

It was a truly narrow victory.

It was safe to say the tribe was in for a rough time...

Fortunately, the Skeletons weren’t very intelligent and had scattered their forces when they attacked.

If they had ganged up on Colin’s party before dealing with the Barbarians, they might have had a chance to win. Or if they had attacked alongside the Skeleton Legion from the start, Colin and his companions would have faced certain defeat.

’Of course, there’s no point in thinking about this now except to scare myself.’

Halfway back to the cave, a group of Barbarian children swarmed them.

They ran up to Kase, clamoring and shouting.

The angry Half-Orc wore a sour expression, offering only a few perfunctory replies now and then. Colin had never seen him this mad, not even back in Thousand Masts City.

"You seem to know these people well. They really trust you," Colin said, trying to make small talk and change the subject. He had no idea why Kase was so furious.

"My tribe has a pact with them."

Kase continued, "My ma was the daughter of this tribe’s leader, and my pa was the previous strongest Totem Warrior from the Orc Tribe. A union of the strong, that’s how I came to be. Of course, I’m putting it in terms you’d understand. My tribe doesn’t really have ’moms’ and ’pas’."

’So, that means the Barbarian Leader from before is Kase’s grandfather?’

"Is that so?" Colin asked, his curiosity piqued. "What about them? Your parents."

"Dead."

"Oh... I’m sorry."

"Look at that. Typical human weakness. Or should I say, typical *Southern* human weakness."

Kase’s mood seemed to soften. "My parents died during the last Winter Calamity. They led the charge to destroy the Winter Wolf Pack that was preying on both our tribes. They were true warriors. They went on to the Divine Kingdom to enjoy glory after death, so there’s nothing to be sorry about."

"Now that I think about it, my human mother had a bit of that ’human weakness’ in her too."

Kase continued, "She’d sometimes come over to the tribe’s Child-Raising Cave to see me. She’d sneak me meat, too, but she stopped after the War Mistress chewed her out. After that, she would just come over and watch me from afar every now and then.

"To be honest, I found her really annoying back then. The way she looked at me got on my nerves, like she was looking down on me or something. But after she died, I couldn’t get used to it. It feels like someone’s watching me all the time... and that feeling’s gotten even stronger recently."

"My mom and dad left me so early that I barely have any feelings about it. I guess that’s a kind of blessing," Orelia said, sniffling. "Poor Mr. Kase..."

’Bringing up parents was a terrible idea with this group. What was I thinking?!’

While silently berating himself, Colin cleared his throat and announced loudly, "So, I wonder how we’re going to divide the spoils!"

"We’ll figure that out soon enough," Kase said.

By then, the group had nearly arrived back inside the cave.

The Barbarians piled the loot and the bodies of their comrades in the center of the main cavern.

The bulk of it consisted of animal hides and meat that the Skeletons had hunted and processed, along with the small coffer Colin had found and the Bronze Weapons and Armor the Skeletons had wielded.

The Barbarian Leader, his arm wrapped in bandages, was standing by the pile of loot. He slowly walked over after Kase called out to him.

’How should I put this?’ As a self-proclaimed "cunning Southerner," Colin could clearly read the calculating look on the leader’s face.

Just as this thought crossed his mind, the Barbarian Leader swallowed, straightened his face, and spoke.

"He wants all the meat and furs," Kase translated. "Everything else is yours. The commission remains as we agreed." 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"That’s fine with me," Colin said nonchalantly.

’From the look on the Barbarian’s face, I thought he was going to ask for the moon. Turns out he didn’t even want the most valuable items—the Bronze Antiques and Antique Armor. Instead, he asked for the worthless hides and meat.’

’Then again, for Barbarians living out here, what could be more valuable than hides and meat?’

’Besides, that Bronze Equipment isn’t very durable; it’s definitely not as useful to them as their own weapons. And don’t even get me started on the useless Bronze Antiques that they’d have to find a buyer for just to turn into cash.’

’Thinking about it that way, I suddenly feel like one of those treacherous sailors from the Age of Sail, trading glass beads with the natives for ivory.’

"My tribe still needs to eat once we go south! This won’t be enough," Kase grumbled, starting to haggle with the leader again.

’This Half-Orc really is a money-grubber,’ Colin thought.

’But on second thought, I can’t really blame him. Growing up in his environment, blood ties must not mean much.’

The two of them haggled for a while longer before the Barbarian Leader finally called out.

A few younger Barbarian women came out, each carrying a strip of snow-white animal fur. They handed one to each member of the party. The moment Colin’s hand touched the pelt, he could feel how special it was.

Its down was fine and dense, incredibly comfortable and warm to the touch.

"Is this Sable Fur? What a wonderful gift," Ale said, gently stroking the pelt in her hands.

Colin asked, "How much is this worth?"

"Probably over fifty Gold Coins. The quality is excellent. I love it, at least," Ale said, carefully placing the Sable Fur in her pack.

Afterward, the Barbarians happily carried off the food and pelts.

Colin turned his attention to their share of the loot: a pile of Bronze Antiques.

He picked up a piece of the Armor and examined it closely.

[Bronze Breastplate / Poor Quality]

[Defense: 4]

[Ancient Design: Cannot be used by creatures with less than 14 Power.]

Next up were the weapons.

[Bronze Short Sword / Poor Quality]

[Damage: 1.5-6.5]

’Simply put, the quality of this equipment was absolute trash. It was on par with the defective, unmaintained junk you’d find at a flea market.’

’It was hard to believe they’d just been run ragged by enemies using this stuff.’

Colin bent down and continued rummaging through the pile.

As he was sifting through the tattered robes of the so-called Legion Priest, a small metal disk popped out from somewhere and clattered onto the ground.

The disk was palm-sized and cast in the shape of a half-sun, identical to the Holy Emblems displayed in Morninglord Cathedrals.

[Lost Wanderer’s Holy Emblem / Non-Ordinary Magical Items]

[Dawnlight Shield: The user can grant all allies within a ten-meter radius +2 Defense. This bonus Defense is only effective against attacks from Undead and Evil Demons. Duration: one hour.]

"Isn’t that a Holy Emblem of a follower of the Morninglord?" Orelia exclaimed in surprise, looking over.

"And it’s a Magic Item. It has a Magic Radiance."

He wasn’t lying. Colin could indeed see a faint Magic Radiance, but without his system Panel, a simple glance wouldn’t tell him its effects.