The Nation's Butcher vs. At Least I Should Live
The Nation's Butcher vs. At Least I Should Live
000
I read a novel once.
It wasn't a particularly impressive novel.
However, if it were now, I could completely overturn my evaluation back then.
"Is it today?"
That harsh evaluation of mine as a reader was only possible because I didn't know that the novel would become my life.
"Fucking stupid bastards and bitches......"
Right now, I am inside that novel.
To make matters worse, I became a member of the very party that banished the protagonist.
"Sigh."
No matter how much I try to persuade them, those fuckers just won't listen.
Soon enough, those assholes will probably fall into regret, ruin, obsession... or whatever with the blackened protagonist.
However, I have no desire to join that line.
So.
I went to see the Hero.
"Y-You're going to betray me too, aren't you!"
"Hmm."
The Hero seemed to be suffering from a severe case of misanthropy.
Since I wasn't included in the party's list of 'idiotic bastards and bitches', she at least agreed to meet me.
But her tone made it clear she thought I was just like the rest of them.
Of course, I had a repertoire prepared for a very long time for this exact moment.
These were things I had been preparing ever since my possession.
"Whenever they got the chance, they nagged and berated me, calling me a rootless, orphan beggar bastard."
"???"
"In the party, I was basically treated as a slave who acts as a meat shield, and excluded from the official party roster."
"I-I never......"
"Just recently, what was it again? The gear I received as a meager share was claimed to be useless even if given away, so they slashed its price to a quarter and ripped it away from me."
"No, those crazy—!"
"Because they didn't want to share a double room with me, I was kicked out to the stable."
"Ah, ah......"
"Last time, they told me, 'Go get bitten!' by a mimic, so I actually got bitten."
"......"
"When we went to the demonic realms, didn't I do all the night watches and keep guard during meals?"
"I-I...... didn't know......"
"Naturally, my meals were just leftovers. Honestly, isn't being treated like a guard dog better than this? Ah, another thing that comes to mind—"
"S-Stooop...... Euaaaaang—!"
At the full barrage of revelations, the Hero burst into tears and accepted me as a comrade sharing the exact same plight.
All the humiliation I suffered for four years after my possession was entirely for this single moment.
"I, I...... reeeally didn't know......"
"I know, I know. I know it's not your fault, Hero-nim. That's why I came here like this."
In a single moment, the roles of perpetrator and victim were reversed.
The gaslighting cultivated through years of build-up was a complete success.
With that, the Hero Amelia became completely on my side.
"......Should I not... take revenge?"
"Why?"
"Didn't you come here to stop me?"
"Why would I?"
".....?"
Of course, all of this bullshit was merely an act for the sake of my own safety.
Whether those fuckers get revenged upon or not has nothing to do with me.
"If it pisses you off, why don't we just smash everything to pieces?"
"......Yeah! Got it!"
Whether Amelia defected to the Demon Realm like in the original novel or smashed her home country to pieces.
Either way, this is a world where I have no ties.
It is simply taking its natural course according to the original story.
But as for me, I have to survive.
Looking at Amelia steeling her resolve with sparkling eyes, I simply showed her a satisfied smile.