Chapter Text
That bitch…
Myne and Motoyasu, they set me up. They just wanted to use me for my starting money and throw me away when they were done with me. And that was what they did. They even got me to throw away the silver I stored behind my shield. Well, why not give them everything, huh!?
It wasn't like anyone here believed me. The second I walked out of the castle, I heard the whispers. 'Rapist'. Everyone already heard about what Myne accused me of trying. News spread fast here.
I shouldn't just be sitting here. I should be going out and getting XP and getting stronger…but I couldn't. My attack stat was crap.
"Psst!"
Heh. Maybe that was why they wanted to get rid of me. Since I couldn't level up properly, might as well throw me away. Well, I'd show them. All I needed to do was fight in the Waves, right? Then I could go home.
"Psst!"
But that was going to be a long time from now, wasn't it? I could just tell. It was nearly night on my third day here, and I had nothing to show for it. How could I possibly…no. I'd make it. If it was the last thing I do, I'd make them regret doing this to me!
"Psst!"
I looked around for whatever was making that annoying noise. It wasn't like there was a lot of things around me, since most of the merchants have already packed up for the day.
"PSSSSSSST!"
With how loud it was, there was no way I couldn't find it. There, in between two of the buildings across the street, was a short…something. If I had to guess, I'd say it was a goblin. It had tattered leather armor and a club in its hand. I wasn't that surprised they exist, but how did one get into the city? Were the guards terrible at their job?
"What?" I asked. If nothing else, it was a lot more friendly than the people. It had a dumb smile on its face while it waved at me.
"You the hero, right?" The goblin asked, its voice making me think it was a man…boy…male.
"Yeah, so what?"
"Hero from castle? Hero king yells at?"
This thing was starting to piss me off. "Yeah! What do you want!?"
The goblin did a little dance, smiling. "You are! Havoc find bad hero! Hard to see in castle. Too many humans."
"Yeah, you found me." I ground my teeth. If I grabbed him, how long would it take to kill him? A balloon took five minutes to kill. Goblins were supposed to be weak monsters, the weakest, but I thought he'd be stronger than a balloon.
He started waving at me again. "Come, come! Gnarl want to see you. Be a bad boss!"
"A bad boss?" I repeated.
"Be baddest boss!"
This thing was too stupid to even talk right. "Not interested."
The goblin went still. "You no come?"
"That's right. I'm staying right here." It wasn't like I had any intention of following it. Why should I?
"But…" The goblin scrunched up its face, like it was trying to think. "But minions need new overlord, and bad hero make bad overlord."
"What?" Just what the hell was this thing saying?
"Gnarl tell it!" He started gesturing to me again, trying to get me to follow.
"Why should I?" I repeated myself. Talking to him was pointless, but at least he was distracting me a little.
"Get strong! Lead minions! Rule world!" The goblin said, striking poses.
Ruling the world, huh? Was that what I was supposed to do? Well, I couldn't say getting strong was something I didn't want. And leading minions? Like him? Eh…
But maybe I should follow him. What else was I going to do? Besides, what could he do to me? Those knights tried punching me, and they were more hurt by that than me.
I stood up and walked over to him, the goblin standing barely at my waist. "Fine. I'll come with you."
He gave a toothy smile. "Come, follow!"
We went through a few alleyways, going between buildings and stalls, avoiding roads. With the sun nearly set, it wasn't like we'd be seen easily.
After a few minutes, the goblin lifted up a broken grate against a wall that led underground. Actually, this might go under the castle. I followed along.
The tunnels were dark, the fading light from outside doing nothing to help. If they weren't so narrow, I'd worry about going down a wrong path. And if the goblin didn't look over his shoulder and show me his glowing yellow eyes every so often, I'd assume I was left behind.
After what felt like forever, light came back. We then went into an open area underground, weird mushrooms and white rocks providing light. And…
"Who this?"
"Looks short."
"Naked man!"
I was already done with this place. More of these brown goblins came near and started saying stupid things. I wasn't even naked, just in my underclothes. Because that's how I was dragged to the castle! If only I could find my way back, I wouldn't have to deal with this.
"Now, now, what's all the noise about?" Hearing someone actually talk normally improved things slightly.
The goblin that spoke was much older—assuming the white hair and beard/goatee weren't fake. This one was closer to gray and had more clothes on, though he was still barefoot like the others. There was a weird staff-thing on his back with a light-rock hanging over him.
"Gnarl! I find bad hero! He make bad overlord!" The goblin that brought me here said.
"Hm." The old goblin, Gnarl, approached me and looked me over. "Ah, yes, the hero that attempted to rape his companion."
"I didn't do it!" I yelled at him.
"No? Pity." Gnarl shrugged as he kept examining me. I didn't think he would believe me—or even really care if he did, I guess—but seeing him not care didn't make me feel any better about any of this. "Hm. Well, you might have what it takes. Perhaps you could make a powerful overlord."
"Why would I want to?" I asked. Enough was enough. "All I want is to go home."
"You don't want revenge?" Gnarl asked. He had me there.
"Doing my job and going home is more important." If I can make all of them pay for what they did in the process, that was fine by me. That didn't mean I was about to go along with whatever a bunch of goblins wanted, and not at the expense of leaving.
"Hmmm." Gnarl ran his leathery fingers through his goatee. "If the Waves destroy the world, I suppose there will be nothing left to rule."
"Good." I was glad he understood.
"And if a hero wants to forgive the princess that framed him, who am I to judge?"
"What?" I stared at the old goblin. "What did you say?"
"The red-haired woman that joined you before was the first princess of Melromarc, Malty Melromarc." Gnarl said. "Truly an evil being, but too petty for my tastes. No real power of her own. She'd make a terrible overlord."
Gnarl spoke, but I could barely hear him. Myne was actually a princess? Then the king…he was in on it. Father and daughter framed me. And for what? Why? Why!?!
"Havoc, take this hero back up to the surface." Gnarl waved his hand at me. "He's no use to—"
"I'll do it."
"Hm?" Gnarl looked up at me.
"I'll do it. I'll be your 'overlord', or whatever." Even as I said the words, I could hardly focus. Myne. Malty. I will make her suffer. She and her father.
Gnarl grinned. "Now there's an evil look for you! Come. Let me show you around, Sire."
Sire?
…Yeah. I think I liked how that sounded. Maybe that was what I was supposed to do, what I was supposed to be. Those three can go play at being heroes. I'll be the evil Overlord.