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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Yuziro
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With Krul’s vow to protect the people’s safe passage to the city, a promise made on his tribe’s honor, Asirye and I returned to the capital, the unconscious slave trader slung between us.
My heart yearned to ransack their tents and corpses for some extra spending money, but given that we had already launched a one-sided attack, I had to suppress the urge.
I couldn’t risk them using the excuse that we were just looters, or that we were dishonorable.
I had to return empty-handed.
Of course, those who bought and sold people like slaves had no concept of honor, but our opponents were nobles.
Giving them any excuse would only increase the number of people I needed to kill.
During our return, I learned the incredible fact that beastkin teeth, like fingernails, grew back even if they were pulled out.
By the time we reached the capital, it was already late.
The guards, seeing a suspicious figure carrying a bound person in the middle of the night, did their duty and questioned us.
However, when I confidently stated that we were bringing in a criminal, they let us pass surprisingly smoothly.
It made me wonder if the city’s security was good or bad.
The Ogatorf mansion, which we reached after that minor checkpoint, was still lit up, even though it was well past the usual bedtime.
The servants were bustling about.
“What’s going on?”
I was about to feel a little disappointed that no one was paying attention to the gifts I had brought, when I spotted Cheryl with the head butler.
“Ah, Eldmia. You’re just in time. We were about to transfer Yen Tie, whom you brought, to where my father is.”
“Yen Tie? Who’s that… Ah, is Mongsoon’s name Yen Tie?”
“…You really do use the most bizarre and incomprehensible aliases. If you’re talking about the dream worshiper, then yes, her name is Yen Tie. More importantly, who’s that on your shoulder?”
“A slave trader. And this is the evidence.”
I placed the still-unconscious man and the bag of documents on the floor.
Cheryl and even the head butler stared at us in disbelief.
“Good heavens. How did you manage to kidnap him?”
“I killed everyone else and only kidnapped him. I distributed the money they had collected to the freed slaves and let them go.”
I stated the truth matter-of-factly.
The head butler was in awe, while Cheryl looked shocked.
“You killed them all?”
“Not a single one was spared… Ah, sis. Did those who ran away at the end die too?”
“Yes.”
“That’s right then. Everyone except him is dead. And he’s the one.”
I expected her to be happy about the new evidence, but Cheryl was strangely calm.
She looked at the man on the floor and then spoke to me.
“Eldmia, this is a great help, of course, but… you might have to deal with more than you think. Are you okay with that?”
“Deal with what?”
“…You’ll be making a lot of nobles your enemies.”
Did she receive a message from Lord Ekaf while I was gone?
Cheryl’s reaction was serious and grave, but I couldn’t help but chuckle.
“You’re wrong. I’m not making them my enemies; they’re making me their enemy. And they’re the ones who will have to deal with it, not me.”
Those who had a lot to begin with also had a lot to lose.
I answered with a smile, but Cheryl knew it wasn’t a lighthearted joke.
After all, we understood each other well.
As if she understood, she nodded a couple of times and returned to the main topic.
She nudged the slave trader with her foot.
“…For now, it’s best to transfer him to where my father is. What will you do?”
“Where is that?”
“The royal palace. His Majesty is directly involved in this matter. The trial tomorrow is one thing, but he’s also dealing with many other issues.”
“I’ll pass. I need to sleep early and wake up early to raid other places.”
The moment I heard “royal palace,” I thought of the sly Duke Lesrom.
He was a person who left a bad taste in my mouth, even after I got a good result.
If I went there, I would only get a headache and lose sleep. The king was already involved, so what could I do there?
“But this is an opportunity to acknowledge your contributions…”
“They’ll give me something if they need to after everything is settled. I’ve been running around all day, and it seems like they’re about to have a festival, pulling out all the snakes in their bellies. I don’t want to get involved. Politics isn’t my area.”
I was too busy making the people who messed with me miserable.
There was a reason why I avoided formal appointments and didn’t learn swordsmanship directly from Lord Ekaf.
“Tomorrow, I’m going to deal with the bandits who were working with the slave traders. I’ll bring back anything else I find, so leave a way to contact me at the mansion.”
I knew Cheryl would be heading to the royal palace in a carriage, so I said a quick goodbye and headed into the mansion.
“Hehe. You haven’t changed, Eldi.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
Asirye, who had been silently watching Cheryl and me, smiled and spoke.
“You don’t have much desire for power or material things. Most people your age would be greedy for those things.”
“It’s not that I don’t have any desire.”
Money wasn’t everything, but it was most things.
And the same went for power.
For my comfortable fantasy life, I had no intention of living like a monk.
It was just that they were a hindrance right now.
“Really? Have you ever thought about how others see you?”
“Ummm… When I’m quiet, I’m a handsome young man, but when you mess with me, I’m a crazy handsome young man?”
“You really are confident in your looks.”
No, I had three women who liked me.
It wouldn’t be strange if I became a god with just my confidence.
Still, it was embarrassing to say that out loud, so I kept my mouth shut.
Asirye gave me the answer that followed the main point.
“It hasn’t been announced to the public yet, but once this incident is resolved, you’ll be known as a hero. You know that many of the things you’ve done are already at the level of a hero’s tale, right?”
“Honestly, there are so many extraordinary people around me that I think I’m just average.”
Just looking at the members of the abandoned dungeon party, they were all exceptional.
There was Esmee, the real hero Siegfried, and Cheryl, who was at the top of the academy’s practical rankings.
Asirye was also not ordinary in terms of knowledge and skill.
Compared to them, I was just an ordinary citizen who liked to smash the heads of those who messed with me.
But… when I thought about it, unlike those exceptional people, the world was full of people who were worse than me.
“Hmm. I take back what I said. You’re not ordinary.”
“You say that as if it’s a bad thing. Which ordinary person would try to seduce an empress?”
“No, if you call it seduction, I’m a bit wronged…”
Why did she have to bring that up?
Asirye shrugged, ignoring my minor protest.
“Anyway, all of those things are things that most people would be itching to brag about. But you don’t brag about them, so what else could it be but a lack of desire?”
“That’s because they’re all part of a grand plan.”
“Plan?”
She looked puzzled, but she knew that my plans were related to revenge, so she didn’t press for an answer.
“Hey, I know what I’ve done so far. I’m quite smart for my age, as you know. If I catch Count Bosha and uproot the traitors, I’ll be on the list of people they’ll want to use as a figurehead to calm the public, right?”
With the war dragging on, the news of a possible rebellion would only make the already gloomy world even gloomier.
In such times, it was common to use a hero to create a positive atmosphere.
I didn’t know how many hero candidates there were, but I had stopped the Pavaera fraud, defeated the demon in the abandoned dungeon, and rescued Esmee.
I was definitely a candidate.
“The moment I get chosen, I’ll be at the mercy of the kingdom. Why would I brag about what I’ve done and increase my chances of being chosen?”
And the moment I accepted the rewards and power they offered, they would use me to the bone.
If I had no purpose, maybe, but not now.
“Right now, they’re all just obstacles. So, I need to cause more trouble to get off that list. Wealth and power are for after my revenge.”
I would only be swayed by a plan that I had voluntarily set up.
I couldn’t just sit still and let those who bothered me get away with it, so I would cause a big mess to make things chaotic.
It was definitely beneficial, but I would be seen as someone who was hard to praise.
“Then what about Esmee?”
“Huh?”
“Even if the kingdom tries to cover it up, Esmee won’t just let your achievements go unnoticed, right?”
“That’s an unexpected problem in my perfect plan. I guess my future self will have to figure it out.”
“Really… You seem so meticulous, but then you’re so careless.”
I couldn’t say anything to Asirye, who shook her head with a faint smile.
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[THIS IS THE FINAL CHAPTER WITH THE NAME KARMA LETS FUCKING GOOOOOOO]
“Hmm. I take back what I said. You’re not ordinary.”
Who says that and about who, exactly? Eldmia called himself average earlier, not ordinary. Then if that’s him saying that quoted part, why would he say “you”? Something’s wrong.