Unfortunately, I’m Not A Hero: 148

Unfortunately, I’m Not A Hero: 148

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Commissioned by Shaderic

Wordcount: 2500

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The damage to Ysltu as a result of the battle was more than I expected.

I’d wanted to go out on my horse to look through the place firsthand, but that wasn’t allowed, so I was looking out from one of the castle’s balconies with all the Witches on standby to bring up the barriers in an instant.

Yep, I can’t even leave the castle with armed guards, even during cleanup.

I’m officially being treated like a princess, or a queen, instead of a general or lord of this place. While I faintly recalled having faint hopes of being a househusband, I was sure that having such dreams in this world wasn’t going to end well, so I put those thoughts aside.  Nope, I didn’t like being kept cooped up, while everyone else was getting work done, even if I was the one who made everything happen.

But I made do with what I had, while being protected from every conceivable angle of attack.

“Well, there goes that choke point.” I couldn’t help but mutter, as I looked at the biggest change to Ylstu’s geography as a result of the battle. Besides new inlet/lake forming opposite of the town, the mountain range facing the opposite side was missing one of its mountains. Sure, for now, there was a lot of rubble and stone in the way, but after being cleared, there was now a point of egress into Ylstu that I didn’t want to exist. “Bekat, how long do you think it would take to build a massive fortress to replace the mountain that used to be there with laborers from the Pharaohs?”

I consulted the Anubis peering at the scene of destruction. Her golden eyes were fixed on the charred forests that were already being proactively cleared out. I was having it all gathered up, because it had its uses, according to a few of the craftspeople that I consulted. I hadn’t known, but apparently it was used by medieval societies for making soap, fertilizer, and pottery. Not only that, but the wood ash closest to the blasts was passively imbued with magic, which could be used for reagents.

What we lost in lumber could theoretically be made up by selling both ashes, and using them to make products, but I wasn’t holding my breath until I saw the first payday.

“Pharaoh Mekh would be more than happy to lend you his stonemasons and builders.” Bekat’s eyes gleamed and her tail wagged at the prospect of fulfilling her duty as an envoy. Yeah, after a disaster, it was better to rely on outside help to fix everything up. This was a good way for everyone who wanted to get along with me to do just that. “They have not worked in over three centuries. Rest assured that we would deliver the finest of fortresses to fill that gap.”

Cellphone-lite chimed in, although her gaze was focused on the flight of Royal Guards sweeping high above Ylstu as guards, instead of Bekat or the damage that Ylstu’s surroundings incurred.

“You have Dwarves at your beck and call. Their mountain holds are famed, but so are the strongholds that they build outside of those mountains.” The question was strangely without any antagonism towards Bekat. The Dragon just seemed curious, and asked me an honest question. As much of an asshole as I was, I wasn’t inclined to telling someone to fuck off, just because they wanted a sincere answer. “Why ask for craftspeople from so far away?”

“The Dwarves have projects of their own the finish. Projects that I want done.” They were my chief architects and builders. Even if Ylstu wasn’t going to see a population boom during this conflict, I wanted to be prepared for the occasion. A disaster like this was no excuse to pull funds away from my city’s future projects and plans. It was an investment, especially since the tenements and apartments being built were owned by me and brought in a lot of money. “So, I’m bringing in outside help and workers, because I’ll get those things done and another thing done, too.”

Cellphone-lite nodded at my words, my answer good enough for her to accept, and so I moved my gaze towards the chasm that was filling with water opposite of the city. A lot of the rubble and ashen tree trunks were being fished out already, so the current generated by the river was washing the soot and grime that dirtied the water. Beneath the noon sun, in a few weeks, it was going to be a new lake for Ylstu… which would probably make it easier to move things for the fortress I wanted to plug up the hole in the mountain.

“Remind me to ask Lua’Kona for some people who know how to move freight through water, and some people who can start some sort of stable ecosystem in there.”

“Ecosystem?”

“Add the right fish and plants to the lake, so it doesn’t turn into a muddy cesspool.” I clarified to Bekat, who was already taking notes on the situation. I was sure my request was a longshot. The Undersea Kindred worked in saltwater environments, but they were the closest to specialists on the matter that I had available. “It’s there, so I might as well make it useful.”

I had flying ships that could help with construction, but having redundancies was always welcome. It made more jobs, which paid me more taxes, and word got out that Ylstu had more jobs… which led to more people coming to Ylstu who’ll take more jobs, pay rent, and pay taxes. They won’t want to ever leave because of all the amenities and opportunity, because everywhere else is shit, and I’ll tax the ones who grow filthy rich too.

Ah, I loved win-win scenarios, especially when I was winning more than everyone else.

Anyway, I was going to keep looking at the damage and coming up with ways to use everything I was looking at, when A’Bel decided to chime in.

Naturally, the Demon chimed in with news I didn’t like in the slightest.

…

“I told you to kill her.”

“Alas, my dear master, my curse upon her prevents that.” A’Bel coyly mused. For a Demon covered in bandages, barely capable of standing, she was being far too bratty for my tastes. “The only one who can kill her is you.”

“I wondered why I could not bring myself to behead it. You placed some sort of Fate-binding curse upon her.” Roseanne offered her own two cents on the matter. The Demon Lord was bedecked in full black armor trimmed with shades of gold. The crest of her family was in red and spread across the chest plate. It would look real cool, if the symbol wouldn’t look out of place as a crotch tattoo. “You used the connection between her and Hachiman, Demon?”

“That I did. Her hatred for him, and his hatred for her, allowed me to bind them against one another as foes.” A’Bel crowed with pride. The three of us stood in a crater the opposite side of Ylstu’s mountain range. I had to admit, that the damage I’d done to the Empire’s side was more terrible than what they’d managed to do to me. There was potential on Ylstu’s side, while the Empire’s frontier that touched my mountain range was a wasteland. “Isn’t it amazing?”

Roseanne nodded, while I had only one thing to say about my “connection” to the Popess.

“Gross.” I stated and kicked the barely-alive creature in front of me. “Don’t do that ever again.”

I ignored A’Bel giving me the puppy eyes, while looking over what remained of the Popess after she battled against both Henri and A’Bel at the same time.

She only had on limb remaining, which was her left leg. Most of her skin was leathery and blackened by Henri’s attack, while everything else was covered in wounds that bled blackened blood. The ground that she lay dying on was becoming tainted by her just being there. Some plants were dying, while others were taking on a reddish hue. In effect, the Popess was hit with so much Demonic and Death-based mana that her presence alone started corrupting the surrounding lands.

Surprisingly, though, the Popess was still alive, not Kindred, and meeting my gaze with eyes filled with hate, loathing, and fear.

Well, I guess I could spare her a few words.

“Yo. Been a while.” I was vaguely aware that this was the woman who ripped me from my home and sent me to Ylstu. If there was anyone who could be blamed for my current circumstances, it was her… and I’d probably have slit her throat or crushed her skull under my boot, if we met while I was still fighting against the Kindred. But things were different now. I had Ylstu, capable warriors, and people to rely upon. In a way, she was responsible for that too… and the fact that it all led ruining her Church and country made me stay my hand. “I’ve been doing alright. Sure, I’m still pretty shit at magic, but I think that I’m doing well for myself.”

The Popess couldn’t move or respond. Her mouth was a mess of blood and bile without any teeth, while most of her muscles were nonfunctional. She couldn’t spit at me even if she wanted, let alone turn her head towards me.

So, I just let myself talk.

“You know what? I’ll be honest. I usually forget that you and the Empire exist nowadays. I signed your death warrants a few months ago already, after all.” I gestured towards Roseanne, who blinked at my words in confusion, until I explained to both her and the listening Popess. “The Kindred are strong now. Stronger than you could ever hope to beat, because I’ve made sure their lives are better… and I’ve been telling them all that the Empire wants to take it all away.”

The words clicked in Roseanne’s head, while A’Bel giggled with mirth.

Because, of course, an Archdemon whose only hobby besides hyperfetishized cosplay was war would approve of propaganda.

“Hachiman, what have you done!?” Roseanne’s panic drew the Popess’s attention for a split second. The terror in the bitch’s eyes increased as she realized that I wasn’t exactly under the Demon Lord’s thumb, and that I had far more freedom than she probably thought. “What are you talking about!?”

“Relax. I’ve just been telling everyone who can read, who now has the spare time to read, and who want to know more that they have a belligerent bunch of psychos on their border that want them to be miserable.” After my little conquest of the Vielles, or sometime before that (I couldn’t exactly remember), I’d went out of my way to help Roseanne reorganize her bureaucracy and efforts to increase literacy rates across her nation. “Remember? I told you that I’ll help you gain more influence, until you can override the nobility? Well, there’s no better way to make a strong leader than making a big threat for them to face.”

“The propaganda… you used the propaganda that was meant to centralize my power!” Roseanne accused, but I only shrugged. She gritted her teeth and did her best to recall our talking points and plans since then. Then, suddenly, her head snapped upwards. “All the points you were making about me are also against the Empire!”

“Yep.” I made the word pop. It was pretty easy to slip into the rhetoric. The Vielles had been working for the Empire, so I’d used them to defame all the other nobles opposing Roseanne. Their newly-educated, and strengthened, peasantry would eye any of them suspiciously, if they opposed the person who was protecting their new, improved way of life.  “Congrats in advance, by the way. You’re going to be a glorious leader who won against the Empire. No one’s going to think twice about the fact you’ll have the largest, most motivated, and healthiest army of Kindred to ever exist on this continent.”

I tilted my head after glancing over the wasteland outside of Ylstu, too.

“Oh, and you’ll be leading that against the Empire after their teeth have already been kicked in. You’re welcome.” I looked back at the Popess and gave her a little bow. “Thanks for getting this army together and just throwing it at me by the way. Now, my boss can’t complain about me forcing her go to war. I was worrying about how to do it. Now it’ll be because of public demand, and because the Empire’s so weak that she knows she’ll win. Hell, I’m sure EVERYONE knows that they can win now.”

My words must’ve managed to reach the Popess, because sheer panic filled her eyes at my words, and despite all her wounds she started to thrash in place. She bled and her corrupted, divine blood created a grove of wicked, sweet-scented flowers where she lay.

Well, with a reaction like that, I couldn’t exactly hold back.

“That’s right. You gave up everything, worked so hard, and all you did was kill yourself and your people faster. If you did nothing, or if you did the decent thing, took some rope, and hung yourself, your Empire and Church would have a few more years. Years that they could’ve used to prepare better, and maybe send out expeditions to colonize some backwater.”

You could say that I’d been setting the seeds for this moment ever since I was saved from the Empire.

The success of Ylstu, my rise to fame, and the demands of Roseanne for access to the same all led to this moment. The trust that I earned, the fame I gained, and the achievements I piled high made my colleagues jealous of me. They moved against me, against Roseanne, and put her into a corner until she had a choice to either bow her head, or keep to her own ideals. While everything I gave to Roseanne achieved everything she wanted for the Kindred, making their society healthier, better, and stronger, it also made a massive army in the process. An army that was set to slowly grow aware of the threat on their borders, of a people that butchered them and used them as fuel, and who would ruin their lives for nothing more than sport.

I was sure that was what Roseanne was thinking, as her nails dug into her palms until they bled, but that wasn’t the truth.

No, I just did my best in Ylstu, while not wasting any opportunity that arose. I just worked my ass off to make something that I could be proud of, while throwing potshots at the Empire whenever I could, and making sure my place was protected.

All this time, I’d struggled to get a fraction of what was stolen from me back.

But Roseanne didn’t know that.

And, more importantly for this very moment, the bitch who took my entire life from me didn’t know that.

So, I lied and broke the woman’s spirit until I was satisfied.

She’d probably be able to think through my lie, if Roseanne wasn’t fooled too, but that wasn’t the case.

I watched her spasm and cry out wordlessly for a long time, until her head tilted back and her gaze was fixed in the sky.

But whoever she was begging to save her, didn’t answer.

How terrible for her.

For a moment, I considered killing her just like A’Bel wanted… but my Demon had enough fun at my expense already.

“A’Bel, get rid of the curse, kill her, and get rid of whatever she has for a soul. Then, give the body to Henri.” I turned around and gave the still carcass a wave. Roseanne’s glare made me sigh, but I was sure that I could just explain myself and tell her the truth after the Popess was dead. “Good-bye.”

A’Bel was going to complain about me not finishing the job.

But, to be perfectly honest, I had a bigger job to finish in Ylstu.

Which was far, far more important than some bitch who I met a few years ago was, even if that bitch in question thought differently.