Karma

Leaving behind Krul, who'd staked his tribe's honor on a vow to ensure everyone reached the city without any conflict whatsoever, Asilie and I hoisted the slave trader onto our shoulders and returned to the capital.

What I really wanted was to loot their tents and corpses for some pocket money, but we'd already launched a one-sided ambush. The last thing I needed was some bullshit excuse trailing me about how it was all for plunder or that I was some honorless bastard. So I swallowed my tears and just came back.

Obviously, honor and all that crap meant nothing to fucks who bought and sold people as slaves, but they were nobles. Giving them any pretext just meant more bastards I'd have to kill later.

The trip home was over in a flash, between absorbing the astonishing fact that beastmen's fangs, even if pulled out, regrow like fingernails, and all the other stories. The guards who spotted a suspicious figure hauling a bound man through the middle of the night tried to do their duty and ask this and that, but when I boldly declared I was just hauling in a criminal, they let me pass smoother than expected. Moments like that always made me wonder whether the security here was good or bad.

The Ogatorf manor, which I reached after those minor inspections, should have had its lights out long ago at this hour, but not only were they still burning, the servants were bustling about busily.

"What's going on?"

I'd come bearing gifts and no one was paying me any attention, which was just getting disappointing when Sheryl, standing with the head butler, caught my eye.

"Ah, Eldmia. Good timing. We were just about to transport that Yen Tie you brought to where my father is."

"Yen Tie? Who's... ah, Mongsun's name is Yen Tie?"

"...You really were calling her by some bizarre alias of unfathomable origin. If we're talking about the Servant of the Dream, her name is Yen Tie. More importantly, who's that on your shoulder?"

"Slave trader. These are the evidence documents."

I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠dumped the still-unconscious bastard and the bag of assorted documents onto the floor. Not just Sheryl, but even the head butler lost control of his expression and stared at me in amazement.

"Good heavens. How did you manage to kidnap him?"

"Killed everyone else and only took him alive. The people they'd captured to sell as slaves, I divided up the bastards' assets among them on the spot and let them go on their own."

My flat delivery of the facts left the head butler unable to hide his admiration, and Sheryl aghast.

"You killed them all?"

"Every last one, without exception... Ah, big sis. Those ones fleeing at the very end, they all died too, right?"

"Yeah."

"She says so. Then everyone but this one is dead. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠This one being him."

I'd thought she'd be happy we had new evidence, but Sheryl stared down at the bastard sprawled on the floor with an oddly composed demeanor, then spoke to me.

"Eldmia. This is obviously an enormous help, but... you might end up having to shoulder a lot more than you think. Are you okay with that?"

"Shoulder what?"

"...Turning a great many nobles into enemies."

Had she gotten some message from Lord Ekaf while I was gone? Sheryl's reaction was dead serious, but honestly, it just made me laugh.

"Wrong. I'm not turning them into enemies; they turned me into one. And I'm not the one who'll have to deal with the consequences—they are."

Those who have a lot to begin with always have a lot to lose. It was an answer delivered with a smile, but Sheryl would understand it was far from a light joke. Say what you will, the truth was she and I were birds of a feather.

Sure enough, after nodding a couple of times in comprehension, she returned to the main topic and nudged the slave trader collapsed at our feet with her toe.

"...For now, it seems best to transport this one to where my father is as well. What do you want to do?"

"Where is that?"

"The royal palace. His Majesty the King is personally involved in this matter. A message came that tomorrow's trial is one thing, but separately, he is dealing with many issues."

"I'll pass. I need to sleep early and wake up early to hit some other places too."

The moment I heard 'royal palace,' the image that came to mind was that sly Duke Lesrom. A figure who left a bad taste in my mouth even when getting involved with him produced good results.

Going there would just give me a headache and lose me sleep. The king was already on the move, so what would I even do there?

"But this could be a chance for your contributions to be commended..."

"They can give me that later, when everything's settled and if they need to. Running around all day today, I saw they're already on the verge of dragging out the vipers in their own guts and turning it into a festival. I don't want to get mixed up in that. Politics turned out to not be my domain."

I was simply too busy making life utterly fucking miserable for the bastards who messed with me. There was a reason I dodged formal appointments and refused to learn swordsmanship directly from Lord Ekaf despite all the shit I did.

"Tomorrow, I'm going after the thieves who were collaborating with the slave traders. I'll bring back anything else I find, so leave a means of contact at the manor."

Just from her attire, it was obvious Sheryl would be heading to the royal palace by carriage, so I left her with a brief farewell and headed into the manor.

"Heh. Still the same, Eldi."

"Hm? What is?"

Asilie, who'd been silently watching the exchange between Sheryl and me, smiled as she spoke.

"That you have hardly any greed for power or possessions. Aren't humans your age normally obsessed with those things?"

"It's not that I'm not greedy exactly."

One of my tenets was that money isn't everything in the world, but it's most of it. And power was the same. For the sake of my comfortable, laid-back life, I had no intention of shunning them entirely like an ascetic. It was just that right now, they were nothing but a hindrance.

"Oh, really? Have you ever thought about how the current Eldi looks in other people's eyes?"

"Mmmmm... A pretty boy when he's quiet, but a batshit crazy pretty boy when you mess with him?"

"Seriously, just what gives you that overflowing confidence in your looks."

Hey, I had three women who were into me now. With confidence alone, it wouldn't be strange if I'd become a god. But since saying it out loud was an embarrassing source of confidence, I kept my mouth shut, and Asilie provided an answer that linked back to the main topic.

"It hasn't been publicly announced yet, but once this incident is wrapped up, Eldi will be known as a hero. You do know that many of the things you've already done are at a level where it wouldn't be strange ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠if they became stories of fairy-tale heroes, right?"

"Honestly, with so many eventful people around me, I figure I'm just at an average level."

Even just looking at the members of the abandoned dungeon party, none of them were ordinary. There was Esmue, the genuine Hero Siegfried, and Sheryl, a combat pragmatist sitting at the very top of the Kingdom Academy's academic hierarchy. Say what you will, Asilie's knowledge and skill were never ordinary either.

I wanted to say, "Someone like me is just a plain, ordinary citizen with a hobby of splitting the skulls of bastards who mess with me," but... thinking about it, unlike those exceptional ones, this world was crawling with pathetic nobodies.

"Mm. I retract that statement. I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠guess I'm not exactly ordinary."

"And you call that a statement. What ordinary person hits on an imperial princess?"

"No, calling it 'hitting on' makes me feel pretty damn wronged..."

Of all the things she could point out, she had to say that. Asilie shrugged, utterly unconcerned with my minor protest.

"Anyway. Each and every one is at a level that'd make your mouth itch with the urge to brag to others. And yet, far from bragging, you deliberately keep it inside. If that's not a lack of greed, what is it?"

"That's all just part of a grander plan."

"A plan?"

She wore a puzzled expression, but Asilie knew better than anyone that what I'd call a plan ultimately boiled down to revenge, so she didn't press for an answer.

"Hey, I'm not entirely unaware of the scale of what I've done so far. You know as well as anyone, big sis, I'm pretty sharp for my age. Now that we've properly nailed Count Bosha, in the process of rooting out the traitors and seizing their assets, I'm bound to be on the list of figures they can put forward as a poster boy to soothe the already restless public sentiment, right?"

With the war dragging on and news spreading about signs of treason, an already gloomy world would get even gloomier. Putting forward a hero to try and create a positive mood at times like that was the same everywhere.

I didn't know how many hero candidates there were, but from stopping Pabaera's massive fraud scheme, to the Demonfolk in the abandoned dungeon, to rescuing Esmue, if you added it all up, I wouldn't exactly be a missing or lacking figure on that list.

"The moment I win that lottery, I'll be dancing to the kingdom's tune, so why the hell would I go around bragging about what I've done and increase my chances of winning?"

And the instant I snatched up the reward and power they tossed me under that pretext, they'd use me down to the bone.

If I were a man without a purpose, maybe, but not a chance right now.

"Right now, they're all nothing but obstacles. So I've got to run wilder to get myself dropped from that list. Wealth and power are for after the revenge is over."

If it was part of a plan I willingly devoted time to, that'd be one thing, but I'd rather not be jerked around by other people.

But I also couldn't just lie low and keep silent when bastards got on my nerves, so I was deliberately kicking up a huge fucking mess and steering things into chaos.

So that I'd be perceived as someone who was clearly beneficial, but too problematic to just blindly praise.

"Then what about Esmue?"

"Huh?"

"Even if you smooth things over with the kingdom like that, Esmue will never just keep your achievements buried, will she?"

"That is precisely the unforeseen complication that occurred in my otherwise perfect plan. Hopefully future me will figure something out."

"Honestly... You almost seem meticulous, and then you're such a scatterbrain."

I couldn't offer a single rebuttal to Asilie as she shook her head with a faint smile.