Unfortunately, I’m Not A Hero 82: Interlude: Henri

Interlude: Henri

…

Commissioned by GuardianHero

Wordcount: 2500

…

A/N: This is a rewrite of the previous Interlude and placed here after revision. It's largely the same, but there are some differences.

...

The entirely of the region celebrated our victory, but a shadow fell upon us as the thrill of battle died and we became surrounded by cheer and love. Lord Hikigaya scattered us across the various, celebrating villages to represent him in the libations after victory. He meant to do as a reward for us, but I knew that amidst the celebrations, I and so many others of the expedition could only think of one thing as we attended the festivities while he stayed in the shadows and did the thankless work of a leader.

I taught him that it was important to do. His place on the battlefield was a temporary one, and in truth he was meant to lead and coordinate the country. Not only that, but by not attending the parties, he gave his soldiers and warriors a looser leash. Though it was unsaid, he called upon all those he sent out to enjoy themselves for a job well done, as though he wasn’t already paying them all a tidy wage.

Still, as well intentioned his implementation of my teachings was, his absence only made his troops now feel alone.

When I was a child, I was told by all my teachers and tutors that I must always balance the love and hatred of those I ruled. There was no such thing as a perfectly-loved ruler, as such a ruler cannot hope to protect their people. For the power I needed to protect my people, especially with our position so close to war, I couldn’t be as kind as I wished for them as I needed to tax them in order to protect them, as well as ask of them to give me their lives when battle arose.

I was taught that I needed to find ways to be kind to them at the most meagre of costs. Small festivals where they wouldn’t have to worry about hunger. A lightening of tribute and taxes in trying times. Addressing them directly about grave matters which affected the fate of the entire province.

They needed to know that I cared for them, and that the actions they deemed cruel were necessary for their lives.

I can say for certain that path of mine would have never caused had my people worry and fret that I did not guard my life with another’s once the opportunity arose. The lesser nobility would have called my actions as debased and perverse. My citizens would’ve thought me a monster who aspired towards godhood, and quietly prepared to either rebel or mass-emigrate, as they would not wish to be ruled by an immortal. Even my own family, in our pursuit of power in order to protect ourselves and our people, would be strained to remain with me if I chose that path.

But as Hachiman’s soldiers, citizens, and officers looked upon the celebrations, they all looked towards the men being enjoyed by the natives.

They looked not with lust, but with morbid curiosity, at the various stages of manhood that was present within the town. The young men who only graduated from boyhood was like Hachiman, but he was closer to those who reached true maturity. Whenever their eyes locked upon those who edged past their prime, who began to show signs of wear, they all had to look away… and they barely locked gazes upon the oldest of the men with gray hairs, wrinkled faces, and vigor only possible through the drinking of enhancements.

All those men were surrounded by Kindred… who could only be claimed by violence and disease, if provided with food and mana.

It was almost laughable.

Yet I couldn’t laugh at all.

I felt the same as they did.

I yearned as they did. I wished for Hachiman to remain, to never fall, and to continue to lead Ylstu, and perhaps the entire continent, into a golden age forever.

Despite how we met, despite how he impressed me into servitude, and despite how I should hate him and plan his demise… I too feared not only his death… but his aging and fading while we stayed young and hale.

My entire life was spent being told to never chase after immortality, but as I clutched my family’s heirloom, my family’s final gift to me before it fell, I couldn’t help but find it useless despite all my plans for it.

I would rather have found something which would’ve granted Hachiman safety from the perils of age and violence.

…

Cheiftain Tali of the Lua’Kona took note of my retinue’s demeanor and asked me to walk with her and her guards. She and her people were good at hiding their strength behind their gentle looks and hospitality. Many of their weapons and trinkets were enchanted with subtle magics that explained their continued existence, despite their province previously being occupied by three calamitous existences.

I was sure that they had the strength and power to kill one of the terrible titans that plagued them, and only stayed their hand against the invaders because they couldn’t kill them all. They could surely slay one without issue, but one of the two remaining would capitalize upon their weakness. In that ensuing battle, one of the last two tyrants would’ve been slain, but they wouldn’t have had the ability to bring low the last.

If they had attacked, even with their strength and power, their lands would’ve fallen into the hands of others. The last power remaining in the region, the victory who would undoubtably bend the knee to Roseanne, would replace them. Their traditions, customs, and history would be lost to time… so they stayed their hand.

Until one day, from the heavens, came a legend who felled a Dragon, enslaved her, and offered all the treasures stolen from their people.

Hachiman was pretending he was using these people, that he was abusing their hospitality and wished to used them as free laborers for his future projects, but just as he did in Ylstu… he was uplifting this people into a better life than they ever imagined.

He was getting more than mere trade partners and workers.

He was getting the fanatical support of a people who have languished beneath the heels of calamities by giving them their freedom, their honor, and their right to rule.

So, I was not surprised as the Chieftain of the Lua’Kona addressed the low spirits of my retinue in the town and wished to know why it was so.

Her only motive was to help us.

So, I told her of our circumstances without hesitation.

A look of contemplation crossed her features for a moment, before she gestured for me to follow her and her guards.

“Lich, my mother and my mother’s mother told me that Undead rarely allow themselves to be ruled, and that they either do so without a choice… or because the one they follow is greater than death itself.” The words of the tribal chieftain were surprisingly astute. Undead typically only followed stronger Undead, such as Vampires and Liches, out of fear of their stronger kin. Undead who followed the living were guided by something more than fear, such as the Onimusha… and I suppose myself. “Tell me of Lord Hikigaya Hachiman, Noble Man of the Kindred in your eyes. I have seen much of him myself, but I must know what one of his closest advisors thinks of him.”

The shiver of pride I felt at being deemed one of his closest advisors told me all that I needed to know of myself, regardless of how we first met, how we fought, and how he defeated me by threatening the last fragments I had of my past. The fragments which were now becoming whole again, as he aided me in returning to me the souls and memories of my friends, after decades upon decades of seeing only their empty, mindless bodies.

“He is the finest leader one could possibly serve. His mind and knowledge are beyond any other individual’s in this world, and he not only has ambition, but the will to see it through.” I didn’t need to think, as I spoke to the Lua’Kona chieftain. I spoke from my heart and with all my being. I remembered dark days spent studying the occult, feeling nothing but hatred while puppets with the bodies of my friends waited upon me, until one day I was dragged out of my tower into a town and purpose that would be my ultimate salvation. “We are like this now, because he has refused to tie the life of a powerful Kindred to his own… because he would not have one who loves him completely share in his life completely, as he fears their demise.”

Hikigaya Hachiman would wish for all those who cared for him to move on, to live, and to be happy if he died.

That singular thought made my chest ache, despite the fact my heart no longer beat.

In the shadow of palm trees, at the edges of the celebrating town, the Chieftain of the Lua’Kona studied me carefully and considered my words before asking another question.

“If you were asked to rebel against him by the Demon Lord, what would you and your fellows do?”

It was a question of treason against the highest power of the Kindred.

Yet I answered without a single second’s delay for myself and all who lived in Ylstu.

“We would all deny the Demon Lord. All of us. Lord Hikigaya has our trust, our loyalty, and our lives… even if he doesn’t wish for it.” The two Lua’Kona warriors were quick to act. They levelled their weapons at me, their spear tips over the shoulder of their silent chieftain… as they struggled to stand completely still at the knives suddenly bared against both of their necks courtesy of the Kunoichi. “We would fight against the world entire, if it sought his death, even if it meant our own.”

I couldn’t imagine it.

From any of his advisors and officers all the way to the lowliest Goblin in Ylstu, I couldn’t imagine a single citizen of Ylstu not fighting for him.

Why?

Because they didn’t just fight for him, but the life he gave them.

Lives spent in wonderful, clean homes instead of hovels made of dirt and wood would drive most to emigrate, but he gave far more. He gave fair wages to all who would work, the chance to learn for all those who wished to learn, and to all the right to live as people and not merely property of the nobility. He gave all his citizens the same rights and protections, regardless of their power and strength, evaluating all by their merit and ability in their best fields.

Hikigaya Hachiman showed all who came to Ylstu the sort of life all should live.

And everyone who has experienced it would die for the right to live as they do now.

“I see… then I believe it would be a great loss for your people indeed if he disappeared, even if he is as meticulous as planning ahead as I believe.” The chieftain of the Lua’Kona raised her hand and her guards lowered their spears. Both Kunoichi who appeared vanished before the guards could even look at them. They were so proficient with their blades that they could hold it close enough to not killed, while ensuring their target could not move in the slightest. “Then… I do believe there is an offer you might be interested in.”

The Kindred gingerly took a small, simple satchel from her belt with webbed fingers.

Upon opening it the scent of a fresh ocean breeze flowed forth from the small thing, until she produced a singular, pink pearl the size of a baby’s fist from its contents.

If drew a breath, even though I no longer needed to breath, as she turned its “face” towards me.

Inscribed with gold upon its surface was the crest of those who dwelled beneath the waves.

“My people once roamed the entire ocean blue upon our catamarans. We spread all over the world, making docks and islands on our journeys, and to this day we remain in contact with our peoples all over the world.” The chieftain… no… a local representative of an empire returned the pink pearl into its pouch and fastened it to her waist. She stood taller and mightier upon sharing it with me. “Our people allied with those beneath the waves, to be their point of contact with the rest of the world, and it is through us the other Kindred of the lands obtain the elixir of longevity and youth that is the blood of Mermaids.”

It explained much of the tribal people’s existence.

They spoke so well and acted with care, despite having no schools.

Their warriors moved with practiced grace, despite having no military.

Then, of course, was the fact that they had many sublime weapons of power amongst them, as well as many husbands in their number.

They lacked for nothing, because they were a foothold upon this continent for an established, far more massive empire.

And, Hikigaya Hachiman has shown them courtesy, immense potential, and kindness for weeks on end without knowing that.

I would’ve laughed, if not for the sudden dizziness from shock that I felt.

“We have been watching this continent for many years. Our people and the entire world have sat back and looked upon the horrors born of this place.” The chieftain spoke with honor and respect befitting someone greater than a mere tribal leader, and she did so with the same ease as the living breathed. It was more natural to her, and her guards even relaxed as she spoke, as if comforted with their leader’s presence for the first time. “Many have chosen to let things settle before venturing here… but not us… and we have endured hardship for our choice for many generations. It is only now that our decision has proven correct.”

Once again, I drew breath to steady myself, despite not needing to.

“This Hikigaya Hachiman will bring an end to centuries of conflict. I can feel it in my bones... and I also believe that his ways, his beliefs, and his ideas will shake the rest of the world. All we have heard of him, all we have seen of him, and all we know of him tells us this is true.” There was a fire in the chieftain’s eyes. An excited tremor in her voice that roused not only her guards, but myself. If they truly gathered information on Hachiman, if they knew even a fraction of the truth of what he was doing, then there was nothing for me nor anyone else in Ylstu to fear for a very, very long time. “We will make this a reality, as to prove our parent’s decisions correct, and to repay the debt we owe him for that privilege. For a long time, we have merely held our ground here, but with all he has done and returned to us… then we can reclaim the honor our families have lost.”

Those words should have been enough.

They promised so much, and I knew what their promise entailed, yet I spoke before I could stop myself.

“Then… for Hachiman… you would offer the elixir?”

Mermaid’s Blood, the elixir coveted by Kindred all over the world even in the highest seats of power, which was all but forgotten myth in the continent of the Demon Lord and the Empire.

Long has it been since it has left the lips of scholars in this land of strife and war.

So, I had to ask, so that I could hear it for myself… the treasure that would be within Hachiman’s reach.

“Offer? Nay. Should he truly do all as he intends, Lich, then I will give him a vial of the elixir before this continent enters its final war. I swear on my honor.”

An immense burden upon my shoulders was lifted upon hearing those words.

Soon, only the gravest of sickness and injuries will be able to harm him, and for that I was thankful.

Then, of course, upon their first meeting he decided to point out that representative of that great nation was traveling on a gilded fishbowl.