Unfortunately, I’m Not A Hero: Roseanne Alternative Part 6

Unfortunately, I’m Not A Hero: Roseanne Alternative Part 6

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Commissioned by Lastmanstanding

Wordcount: 2500

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“This is different from all your other plans.”

Hachiman looked up from his projects at my statement.

“Yep. It’s a backup to make sure you win.” His statement made me raise an eyebrow, because just outside his office the fiftieth “Mobile Suit” was about to be completed and set to stand alongside all its sisters. “Yeah, that’s plenty, but I don’t want to take any chances.”

He gestured towards the board that he’d been writing upon. Instead of a copy of technology or ideas from his world, it was a diagram of problems, answers, and goals.

“This is a renovation plan for the Kindred. Economic reforms. Political and social reform can wait until later.” Hachiman extended his pointer and a slight shiver went down my spine, as it somehow completed his outfit. The suit that he wore made him look dashing, but when combined with his glare and the extending rod, a carnality was unleashed that was difficult to ignore. “Oi, pay attention, Roseanne.”

Such impudence would be grounds for dismissal from my court from others.

I only shivered and fretfully nodded when it came from Hachiman.

It was frighteningly clear why so many nobles were so debauched and cared so little of what occurred beyond their walls.

I could easily lose myself if I did not stand against my base instincts.

“Right. My apologies.”

“… Alright, good. Anyway, back to the basics of logistics. I explained a bit of it to you before, right?” I nodded at Hachiman’s words. He’d refined the logistics of my Royal Guards by introducing field rations, tents, and baggage trains that could keep up with my Dragons. “Well, it needs to get scaled up for all of the Kindred so that you can win, but to prevent that from causing your economy to crash, you’ll need to start industrializing.”

“Hm? I thought that step was being skipped due to the availability of magic?” I asked, since he’d referred to industrialization in passing before. The usage of machines and new techniques to raise up the populace into a “middle class” had intrigued me, but I’d agreed with Hachiman’s belief that it would be better to solve the pressing matter that the Empire posed first. “What changed?”

“We’ve already reached what we can do with magic with the Mobile Suits. It’s time to take some steps back and build a strong foundation, instead of just relying on a single cornerstone.” Hachiman explained it with care and precision and pointed out the various words he placed on the board. Food, shelter, and protection. The three things all subjects required of their rulers. He circled each of them. “We need bigger, larger cities that work properly and put the people living inside them to work. We need to educate the people, turn them into a skilled workforce, have them produce goods for one another, us, and people from far away, and tax them”

He spoke of it all so casually that I couldn’t stop my eyebrow from raising.

A grin formed on his face that did something to make my heart skip a beat, even as I suddenly felt embarrassment for the first time in years.

“Go ahead and say you don’t think it can happen, Roseanne. It can see just fine, y’know?”

The flush on my face deepened at his words.

“It’s not that simple. You cannot simply create cities and improve lives from nothing. You will be opposed, there will be difficulties, and there is no guarantee that people will come to live under your rule.” I stood my ground and allowed logic to flow from my lips. As startling as it was for my mind to start demanding for me to act submissive, I resisted against my instinct in order to act in accordance to my station. “Perhaps in a hundred years, you can raise a grand city with all that you desire, but not within a decade.”

The grin on his face became predatory and my thoughts suddenly became dominated by the thought of having many, many children, but I withstood them.

Even if my underthings could not.

“Then, how about a bet? You give me control over a small territory… a special administrative zone… and let me make something there with a small investment. I’ll quadruple your investment, make a city within twenty seasons, and show you how you’re wrong.” He approached me and I had to bite my lip to make sure that I had a stern countenance instead of some wanton whore. “If I win, then you’ll have to give me anything that I want… and if I lose, I’ll give you anything that you want.”

The sheer determination in his eyes, along with the proof of his knowledge and potential looming behind him as massive death machines, told me that I shouldn’t be a fool.

Despite all logic and knowledge to the contrary, my instincts told me not to accept the bet, because Hachiman would win.

Nevertheless, with shuddering words at the thought of that victory, I nodded and spoke meekly.

“F-fine, but I expect you to do anything I ask of you should you lose, H-Hachiman.” My face felt as though it was on fire. My attempt to intimidate him with what I planned to do with him died each time I tried to muster up a thought, because I couldn’t imagine winning… and that pleased me to no end. “You will keep your word.”

His smile at my acceptance made my knees weaken.

“Of course, I’m a lot of things… but I keep my promises.”

I swallowed at those words, as he hummed and turned away from me to go back to his work.

I looked at the clock in his office and found that it was going to be two hours until he returned to his abode… and perhaps more if he decided to commit himself to his project.

Thus, I came to a decision and committed to it… despite the infuriating and incredible smirk he had on his face when I pulled at his shirt sleeve for what I desired.

What an utterly damnable man he was!

…

Three seasons.

While I went about breaking the monopolies over violence my nobility had over their territory through showcases of the Mobile Suits, Hachiman had devoted himself to his new project. I provided him with some staff of his choosing, as well as a princely sum, before leaving on the tour across all my lands and my to-be-cowed nobility.

I returned after each tour amazed in the first few weeks.

Then, I was utterly shocked.

Finally, as my tour ended, before even a year had passed… Hachiman’s special administrative zone was a small city of crafts, trade, merchants, and industry that already quadrupled the amount I invested into it from taxes of the individuals within.

He managed to defeat me thoroughly in our bet in a fifth of the time and it was all finely documented by the clerks.

I was so shocked that my natural arousal was utterly overcome, so he was capable of serving me tea and cake while I stared into the distance and received a lecture for the first time in ages.

“The trick was just offering something that was better than everything else anywhere else to everyone willing to work hard. It’s how you attract everyone worth having as citizens.” He took a seat across from me and gave a light, pleased hum. It shook up my core with need, but I was still dazed from the report on his town. Incredible amounts of money. Innovations that were forcing my capital’s artisans to cry out for aid which I wouldn’t give. A happy populace working hard and paying taxes every month in a timely fashion! “I gave them what no one else would and now they all worship me. With a few more investments, I can probably scale it up to be even bigger.”

“You’ll have it. All the money that you need. As long as you get the results you’ve promised.” I spoke automatically with only the lessons ingrained into my mind and my experience as a ruler speaking for me. I could do nothing else, even as my body clamored for me to do many, many things with fervent ecstasy. “How much can your city currently support? This report says that you have an “air cavalry” available?”

“Wyverns looking for work. Most of them are helping shipping out towards every region. The merchants are buying up space in containers in bidding wars, it’s great.” Hachiman hummed and smiled. “It feels like a city management game, but without any rules and with people that’ll be ecstatic for life for getting beds and toilets. It’s great.”

“The air cavalry, Hachiman.”

“Oh, right.”

He gave a hum and swiped through the pages of the novel-length reports given to me by my very-haggard, but very excited Head Clerk.

“One-hundred and fifty seven Wyverns with backgrounds in tribal warfare. I’ve mostly focused on making sure that they’re assembled in teams and squads who carry cargo around, but they can easily work as support crews and a flying supply chain.” Nearly two hundred Wyverns under control was staggering. They had a pack mentality and typically didn’t work well in groups larger than twelve, but he used their instinctual rivalry against one another by having “squads” compete against one another in bonuses, merits, and awards. He didn’t even think of all the power he had at his disposal… only that they carried what he wanted around and about. “I think they’ll do pretty well as support, especially with arms and armor.”

With arms and armor, all of Hachiman’s Wyverns could’ve drowned my Royal Guards in numbers.

I felt no fear of them only because of the very powerful weapons my guards now had at my disposal.

If I’d placed Hachiman in charge of a village without proper counters, and just sent passive means to inspect his work and gather what I could for myself, then he would’ve outstripped me in terms of power within a few years. I would have spent many nights sleepless, wondering what I could do against a noble with near-insurmountable martial, economic, and political might that gathered all talents around himself.

But he wasn’t an opponent.

Hachiman was mine.

For the first time in my life, I looked at someone who was utterly superior to me in the ability to lead… and he cared for me, supported me, and wished to be beside me.

There was only one thing stopping me from taking him after having all my questions answered.

“You’ve won. What do you want from me for your victory?”

My pride and existence as the Demon Lord stopped me from breaking my promise, so I adhered to it.

I was ready to give him anything that he wanted.

Even if he asked for others, even if he asked for the noble titles of another, I would give it to him to keep him beside me forever.

He pointed at me and my heart ceased at his words.

“You need to take weekends from this day forward. Every two days out of seven, forever, you’re going to rest and recuperate.” He could’ve asked me for power, influence, and everything else within my ability to grant. He could’ve even asked for me to be his forever. But Hachiman instead demanded that I care for myself more. Because he was ludicrously selfless, would never ask for anything that would make himself happy, and so I knew what I needed to do: shower him with immense amounts of affection. “Roseanne? Hello? Where are you going?”

“The contract is sealed. I will do what you’ve asked of me, Hachiman.” My mind was awhirl. What did Hachiman like? What did he dislike? Who did he like? Where was his favorite place to stay? Why did he like and dislike what he did? I ran through the questions in my mind, while I walked out of the door, locked gazes with the chief maid. She was a Kikimora with hazel hair and a lidded, gentle smile that has cared for him gently for months without allowing her own feelings to get in the way. “You’ll do for tonight. Strip.”

She stepped inside and began to undress, when Hachiman suddenly stood up to question me, but I closed the door and silenced him with a pointed finger and made my declaration.

“I’m going to make you the absolute happiest man in the world, while keeping you who you are, and I’m not allowing you to say no, Hikigaya Hachiman.” He liked other women. He kept them at armsreach for me, even though I didn’t truly mind. But I knew that some part of him desired other, beautiful women and so I was going to see that desire of his satiated along with all the others. “Do you understand, Hikigaya Hachiman? You’ve captured my heart, so take responsibility and accept all the affection that can muster.”

I knew for sure now that I couldn’t live without him.

Even if I prided myself in being a Demon Lord before Kindred, I knew that I couldn’t be anything anymore without the stupid, arrogant man known as Hikigaya Hachiman.

And, just like that, my world shifted.

The thought that those who took him from his home now lit a rage within my heart. The Empire and its Church ceased to just be foes that roused my fury, but detestable organization that filled me with cold determination to utterly wipe them out from existence.

The thought of Hachiman never seeing his family again became anathema. Though he stated he was fine if the kidnappings from other worlds ceased, and his sacrifice was a small price to pay for all other worlds being safe forever, I couldn’t accept that sorrow of his. I would find a way to reconnect him with his family someway, because he truly still missed them.

Amongst those greater statements, I recalled his idle complaints of being leered at by nobility and being accosted, and recalled their names and descriptions. I would see their houses seized first as I reformed my whole nation towards taking over the entire continent.

“Wha-what!?” A blush formed on Hachiman’s face at my newfound determination and desire. He’d captured my heart and my instincts, but now he had to contend with all of me. My mind and spirit was dedicated to him now as well. I couldn’t be without him and he knew that. Or, perhaps, he was blushing because I took hold of him and pressed him against myself, while his personal maid approached him wearing only a blush and thigh-high, white stockings and a garterbelt. “Roseanne!?”

I answered his question with a firm, unyielding kiss.

Tomorrow, I’ll explain everything.

But tonight I would be with him.