Chapter 44: Ah! Poor Barbaros!

Tide took a sip of beer to moisten his throat, then hugged his lute and began singing the third gate of Grubb.

“In the third gate, there is a greedy Green Goblin. Grubb doffs his hat to greet his kin. The goblin sniffs his scent, speaking of unbearable loneliness and friendlessness. Grubb weaves a dream for him.”

“In the dream, friends surround him. When he asks for money, his friends generously offer it. When he wants crystals, his friends sell their belongings. The Green Goblin owns everything, yet spends his days gloomy and joyless.”

Someone in the tavern exclaimed, “This is the first time someone is dissatisfied with a dream. What’s he unhappy about?”

“Maybe he’s upset his friends didn’t give up all their possessions to him,” another replied.

Jocelyn couldn’t resist putting down her roast to join in the discussion.

“Do you think he’s lacking friends, or the Goddess of Wealth’s blessing?”

“Maybe he’s lacking the Goddess of Wealth as his friend,” Li Qiuchen thought aloud.

Tide continued singing: “Grubb asked in surprise, ‘What is amiss?’ The Green Goblin replied: ‘Though I have many friends, they are false; Though I have much treasure, I cannot take it into reality. The crystals are splendid, but only I can admire them.’ Grubb said: ‘My dear kin, enlighten me: You speak of loneliness and lack of companionship. I made generous and kind friends for you, yet you treat them only as wallets.’”

“The Green Goblin fell silent. When he woke, he walked into his own underground chamber. He watched the test tube reagents, as if seeking the secret of dreams on his own.”

***

At almost the same moment, far away in the Moonshadow Forest, although there were no goblins, a green-haired little elf had been hiding in a tree hole for a long time, tinkering with test tube reagents.

“She hasn’t eaten in a long time,” the elf matron’s face showed worry.

“She’s not dead, is she?”

Talaide, as usual, assumed the worst.

“Second! If you can’t speak, sew your mouth shut! If you think your skill isn’t good enough, I’ll have Linna help you!”

The irritable eldest snapped.

“I think the girl’s been acting strangely lately,” Linna Shadowsong, Hestia’s aunt, gave her opinion.

“She even asked me if there’s any potion that can make someone pregnant in a dream. Do you think she’s in love?”

“Ah? Ah?! Hestia, you—!”

Hestia’s father, the strongest warrior of the Shadowsong Tribe, roared so loudly it shook the entire wooden house, but his shout was cut off by an explosion.

“Done… succeeded!”

As the smoke cleared, Hestia’s excited face appeared in the blown-open house, clutching a vial of potion with joy.

But the happiness didn’t last long.

At the sight of her father’s fury, Hestia’s smile vanished in an instant, and she faded into the smoke.

The Stealth Technique of the Assassin Faction had become more refined over the years; under everyone’s gaze, she vanished without a trace.

“Eldest, do you think she went to find a place to sleep? Or to meet someone in her dream?”

Talaide the elf mage couldn’t help but think pessimistically.

“Hestia!”

Hestia’s father’s roar shook the heavens and the earth.

***

Meanwhile, at the Oak Barrel Tavern far across the world, nothing was disturbed.

People continued clapping and drinking, and Tide kept singing, his voice unexpectedly gentle and lingering.

“Grubb wandered through endless dreams, witnessing the grand dreams of heroes and the fantasies of cowards. Merchants counting endless coins, lovers embracing shadows that never betray.”

“One day, he met the Green Goblin again. It turned out he’d created a dream for himself. In the dream, friends were countless. Treasures inexhaustible, and crystals dazzling.”

Tide finished this verse, then turned to the listeners.

“So, what do you think is the meaning of dreams?”

Whoever guesses right gets free drinks for three days on me.

“Is it rest for the body and soul?”

White, the drunkest, answered first.

“No.”

Tide shook his head.

“An illusion?”

Naili asked.

“Close, but not the answer to this story.”

Tide shook his head again.

“A cage.”

Li Qiuchen’s voice sounded.

Kaili immediately looked at him.

How could a dream be a cage?

She couldn’t understand how he came to that answer.

Tide pursed his lips.

“Let’s call you correct.”

“Hey, how can dreaming be a cage?”

White complained.

But Tide continued singing:

“Grubb collapsed in his laboratory. He stared blankly at the shimmering Fool’s Food Ritual: The meaning of dreams is simply to deceive oneself, using splendid illusions to glaze the bitter reality.”

Like many bards, Tide raised his voice to emphasize the point.

“The simplest thing under the heavens is self-deception! That’s why everyone loves dreaming and indulges in it!”

So he laughed and completed the Scroll of Spell, adding a line of Incantation at the edge: ‘The fool’s phantom dream is like a cage.’

It was both the Dream God’s Gift and a City, imprisoning dying souls and those unwilling to wake.

“Sigh, if only someone could sell me a beautiful dream too.”

White admitted, conceding.

“I’ll give those three days of drinks to you. Boss, is that okay?”

Li Qiuchen asked Tide.

“Sure! I’d never refuse a savior’s request.”

Tide winked.

“Hahaha, perfect. Tide, lend me your lute. Let me play a cheerful tune for everyone.”

White took the lute and sat on the tavern’s central table, then called for everyone to move the other tables away.

“Clear the space! The greatest dance master in the Yanaweis Principality is about to perform!”

“White, what will you play?”

Many began asking, yet strangely, no one questioned his claim as the greatest dance master.

White cradled the lute sentimentally.

“Sigh, today’s joy makes me remember the great gathering three years ago. That was when the Demon-Sealing Squad defeated the Demon King and destroyed Demon King City.”

That day, the blood-red sky suddenly cleared.

Everyone stared at the heavens, frozen, afraid it was another illusion.

But the blood-red truly disappeared.

A deep, indescribable hope rose in everyone’s heart, but no one dared voice it, for they’d been disappointed too many times.

Not until the Temple and Mayor both confirmed it: the Demon King was defeated, the Demon King Army devastated.

Everyone broke into the happiest smiles of their lives.

Some drank and wept on gravestones; others laughed before quietly speaking to the dead.

Most gathered in taverns, dancing and jumping; the whole continent was swept up in joy.

The grand celebration in the principality lasted a long time, then the village festivities began anew.

At that village festival, White played dance music all night, just as the lively music rang out again now.

From the crowd came a chorus of awe.

“It’s the ‘Barbaros Wildroot Melody’.”

Li Qiuchen held back laughter as he looked at Jocelyn beside him.

Three years ago, he’d heard some wild rumors about her, but this was his first time hearing the song.

White’s voice carried a sense of age, as if telling an ancient tale:

“When the northern stars dimmed, a Titan’s descendant was born from frost. Standing over twelve meters tall, shoulders wider than hills, eyes like blazing torches, imposing and noble. A single meal consumed the food of a hundred households, and concubines as beautiful as cities gathered.”

Someone leapt into the center and began to dance to the rhythm.

Many others beat wooden mugs on tables, joining the chorus.

“A single meal consumed the food of a hundred households, and concubines as beautiful as cities gathered.”

Li Qiuchen sang, unable to keep his eyes off Jocelyn.

The ‘twelve-meter-tall’ girl was eating roast meat, but stopped, listening to the singing, her lips trembling with barely restrained laughter.

The two exchanged a glance, struggling not to laugh, but their distorted expressions made it almost impossible to keep straight faces.

“Are you okay?”

Kaili asked worriedly.

The tavern was noisy, so she had to lean close, catching the scent of hay on the boy.

“Are you feeling unwell?”

Wright was concerned too.

Li Qiuchen waved, suppressing his laughter.

“I just… remembered something funny.”

White’s singing turned bold and mighty:

“Shadows of the Demon blanketed the sun, the living wept. He cast aside feasts and glory, ‘Let my body be shield and spear!’ Resolutely, he donned the Armor of Fate. Divine iron gnawed his bones; his mighty form, once twelve meters tall, shrank to a mortal two meters! Only pride and laughter remained, striding into the Demon Domain for battle!”

Li Qiuchen glanced around.

This song really was widely known; everyone anticipated the next part.

The rhythm quickened, and all began pounding mugs on the tables like drums in the rain.

The mood reached its peak.

“Ah! Fearless Barbaros! The Demon Army fell like grass before your blade! The flames of Destruction burned away darkness. Victory resounded with your name across the land!”

“Yet as the final drop of demon blood spilled, before the victory bell rang— You wiped your faceplate, forgetting the flames on your hand, And so ended the legend!”

Everyone raised their cups, singing loudly, voices full of bittersweet emotion.

“Ah, pitiful Barbaros! Your pride became your epitaph!”

“Ah, immortal Barbaros! Your legend is eternal in the wind!”

Clearly, they chose the version popular in Osays.

After the battle, Barbaros wiped his eyes with his hand, forgetting the Destruction Flame still burning, and the gray-black fire crept through his armor’s visor, burning him to death.

Li Qiuchen couldn’t hold back his laughter any longer.

Luckily, everyone else was laughing too, so no one noticed his awkwardness.

He really wanted to interview Jocelyn, to hear her thoughts.

Jocelyn burst out laughing, beer foam spraying from her mouth.

White handed her a big mug of ale.

“Here! Cheers to that legendary fool!”

Jocelyn raised her mug, jumped onto the table, and joined the chorus with a clear voice.

The entire tavern erupted again.

They sang together:

“Ah, pitiful Barbaros! Your pride became your epitaph!”

“Ah, immortal Barbaros! Your legend is eternal in the wind!”

No one knew the legend was right there among them.

The Destruction Armor lay quietly in a bundle in the corner.

“A twelve-meter giant—”

The girl wiped away tears of laughter and asked for two more servings of roast from Tide.

“Alright, Jocelyn, you may have inherited Barbaros’s appetite.”

Tide placed the roast on the table.

“Yes, Jocelyn is a loyal fan of Barbaros. Eating more is a way to pay tribute to her idol.”

Li Qiuchen said in her defense.

“Yes,”

She rubbed her stomach.

“Inheriting his appetite is a kind of remembrance, too.”