I Did It, Didn't I?
-Slash- -Slash- Piles of monster corpses were stacking up across the silent plain.
"This ain't half bad."
When I'd first left the Ellinsier Kingdom, I'd had no clue how I'd survive from here on out. But after a few days, I'd gotten used to this life.
"Kieeeek—"
While scouting around, I'd spotted a pack of ugly-looking goblins.
-Thud
I kicked off the ground and charged straight at them. The goblins swung their clubs wildly every which way, but the moment they grazed my sword, they split in two.
"Ha... Guess it's goblin meat for dinner again today."
The Ellinsier Kingdom was shielded by massive walls, but out here with no such barriers, monsters roamed in droves.
-Crackle, crackle
I skewered a few of the captured goblins over the fire and roasted them. Once they were cooked through, a decent smell wafted up.
-Crunch
It was nothing compared to the meats back in the kingdom, but goblin infused with mana was palatable enough.
"Wonder if the stronger ones taste better?"
After getting banished, I'd learned something new: a monster's taste scaled with its mana. Before, there'd been no need to eat their corpses—no one in their right mind would—and we just burned them all. So no one knew.
"Ogres would be pretty good, at least."
Ever since realizing I could eat these things—and that the stronger they were, the tastier they might be—I'd grown obsessed with hunting monsters.
'I want something more delicious.'
It was still nowhere near kingdom steaks, but snagging an ogre—a step up from goblins—might get me close.
'Fuck, I'm out here grinding my ass off, so why just these small-fry minions?'
Hundreds of monsters slain here already. Yet the Demon King kept sending weaklings like goblins instead of anything beefier.
Normally, he'd escalate, sending tougher ones to torment me relentlessly. No idea why he was skimping now.
-Slash- -Slash-
"Fuck!! Send some strong ones, damn it!!"
After hacking more goblins, I finally snapped and yelled.
Goblins yesterday, goblins the day before, goblins today. Days of choking down the same shit.
Time for something new.
-Rustle- -Rustle-
Suddenly, the bushes nearby shook side to side.
'Finally sending an ogre?'
Excitement bubbling at fresh meat, I bolted toward the thicket, sword raised.
Then I froze.
"Frensia...?"
There stood Frensia, covered head to toe in wounds. One of my old party members, always by my side before the banishment.
"Hero... I finally found you..."
She'd lost too much blood, breaths ragged. She staggered a bit, then collapsed in a heap.
'How the hell did she get here?'
She was a healer with zero combat skills. Her divine power was overwhelmingly potent, great for ally buffs, but she had a fatal flaw: she couldn't heal herself. Not even self-buffs.
Physically, she was just average adult woman strength. Goblins would've been a nightmare for her.
Sure enough, her face and body bore club-like bruises everywhere.
'No, screw how—why is she here?'
Goblins were dumb; even in numbers, she could've dodged and weaved to reach here. Took some hits along the way, sure.
But why come at all?
'I'm the psycho who raped and murdered a saintess right now...'
I was under a horrific frame job. A succubus—one of the Demon King's elite—had fabricated ironclad evidence. Too perfect to refute.
So I'd skipped excuses and quietly left the castle. No defenses, no rebuttals. Arguing with the king would've meant fighting every knight captain there.
'If it'd come to blows, I'd have slaughtered them all.'
Their strength? Irrelevant. Mine was overwhelming. In earnest, their heads would've rolled in an instant.
But they were innocents, duped by the succubus like the witnesses. Better to slip away quietly than explain and fight.
Living out here was no big deal for me.
-Gurgle... -Gurgle...
I watched Frensia sleep in the cave. Roughly patched her wounds, but exhaustion had her out cold.
-Clink
Boulders blocked the entrance; no one'd get in. Grabbing my gear to hunt again—
"He...ro...?"
Frensia stirred awake. Perfect timing to ask what had bugged me.
"Frensia. Why're you here?"
"I had a question for you, Hero."
"You came all this way for that?"
Even I could manage, but this was monster-infested wilds outside the walls. Goblins everywhere now, but an ogre? She'd be torn apart.
'Risking her life over mere curiosity?'
Her state screamed more than a day or two out here.
'Followed right after I left?'
Hiding, fleeing goblins the whole way? Explained the time.
She stared straight at me, ignoring my disbelief, and asked point-blank:
"Hero, did you really rape and kill the saintess?"
"..."
Silence. Deny it and would she believe? Hell, should I even explain?
Succubus evidence was flawless; knights had eyewitnessed the setup. King declared my exile personally. Only he could undo it now.
"..."
I bit my lower lip and said:
No point explaining; nothing'd change.
"There's clear evidence, ain't there?"
I neither admitted nor denied, staying vague.
But she pressed hard.
"I don't care about evidence. I'm asking you, Hero. Did you do it?"
"..."
Truth? Yeah, it stung. But too late for that.
Even if I explained and she bought it—what then? King's word was absolute; he swallowed the fake proof whole. She couldn't change shit.
I gathered my thoughts, sighed shortly, and spoke coldly:
"I did it, so fuck off and quit bothering me."
I wasn't stupid. Her attitude screamed she suspected the frame-up. Risked her neck ignoring evidence, just to hear me out.
Knowing that, I had to ice her out harder.
'She'll try fixing it if she knows.'
King's decree was final. Challenge it? Treason.
'Do that, and Frensia dies.'
Treason in Ellinsier meant execution only.
"Hero..."
"What? Disappointed?"
She looked pissed.
"You always bite your lower lip before lying, Hero. You know that?"
"..."
Shit. Unconscious habit.
Seeing me flinch, she gazed sadly.
"Be honest."
"Fuck, I did it, okay? This bitch won't quit nagging."
Seeing I wouldn't budge, she turned firmly.
"Fine. I'll head back to Ellinsier right now and declare your innocence."
-Step step
I grabbed her retreating hand.
"Don't."
"Why stop me?"
"Do it, and you're dead. Execution."
Reasonable or not, irrelevant. She'd be dragged off by elites before finishing.
Reading my face, she eyed me with conviction.
"A man who raped and murdered a saintess worrying about me? A monster like that wouldn't blink at killing me."
"..."
No options left. Stay silent, she'd march back and proclaim me innocent—she kept her word, always.
Lie more? She wouldn't buy it; she'd already decided I was framed.
Ironic, right? All that evidence, the great king's word—outweighed by mine alone. Utterly irrational.
But.
'Guess I didn't waste my time.'
One person. Just one who still saw me, even when the world turned away. That alone was enough.
I gripped her wrist, staring at the ground, silent.
-Drip
A cold droplet hit my wrist.
-Drip- -Drip-
Clear skies, no rain—yet drops kept falling. Like a busted faucet.
I looked up to the source.
Frensia bawled like a child, pleading:
"You said it yourself, Hero? If you don't express it, no one knows."
"Please tell me. I can't know if you don't say it."
"So, Hero... please... be honest..."
I groaned inwardly.
'She still remembers that...'
Watching her sob, I made up my mind.
And told Frensia.