And just like that, over three months had passed since I had left the orc village.
The ravenous gazes of the female orcs highly disturbed both Kelvin and me, and feeling uncomfortable, we had left immediately the next morning. As he declared, Kelvin headed for the southern territories of the empire, which was to the north of the Havan kingdom.
Since my destination was Havan Kingdom anyway, I accompanied Kelvin for part of the way, and then infiltrated Havan Kingdom from the north. Parting ways with him at the ice-filled northern border, I blended in with the humans and joined multiple convoys during my long journey back toward the holy capital of Havan, Royales.
The journey took me across several cities and over three months. That would be weeks where I did odd jobs to earn enough coin for a carriage, or for food. Not that I needed food, but I had to procure some means of gathering blood. Sometimes I made do with monster blood, but thanks to my growing vampire abilities, I could hypnotize several people and then take a bit of their blood.
Fortunately, I didn't need to drain them dry, and I could store their blood in vials as emergency rations. However, to avoid suspicion, I didn't stay in the same town for long. I was glad for the books and tomes that Silvia had acquired for me. Without them, I wouldn't know to what extent of magic vampires would be capable of.
With the money I earned, I procured more supplies. I even bought a pair of glasses and enchanted them because of how useful they were. The lenses could switch to night vision, allowing me to see in the dark, display mana visually, had an x-ray function that allowed me to see through walls, and other sorts of useful functions.
The main purpose of the long journey, however, was to gather information. As the party who slew the Demonic Emperor, Herman and the others had been handsomely rewarded. With the war over, the party had disbanded and the members scattered all over the kingdom to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Bradley was now a duke who presided over a northern province, coincidentally near Silvia's territory. I had totally missed it when traveling south, but I vowed to pay him a visit sooner or later.
Miranda had joined some mage corps further to the west, and was now an honorary member in their research committee. Yvonne had traveled further south, presumably to return to her hometown and continue hunting in the tropical forests there. As for Alan, there was unsurprisingly little news regarding him. Assassins lived in the shadows, after all. He practically vanished after the defeat of the Demonic Emperor and the distribution of rewards.
The Hero, Herman, and his lover, the Priestess Irene, were given a palace in the capital, which was why I was traveling there. The both of them had gotten married in a grand wedding ceremony a month after the war, and Herman was appointed a noble. An archduke of the highest rank, he now presided over a vast district within the capital itself. As for his wife, Irene, she was now appointed the Supreme Priestess. Essentially she was the head of the religion of the kingdom. None could oppose her.
Normally, this would sound like a happy ending, but it was only a happy ending for the Hero and his party members. The citizens…not so much.
"Again…"
"Don't look. Move!"
When I stepped into Royales, one of the first sight I was greeted with was that of a debt collector beating up a poor guy and trashing his store. Apparently, the moment Herman took over, he had jacked up taxes, and many citizens had gotten into debt just trying to pay them off. To make things worse, Irene had stipulated a mandatory "donation", where citizens were required to prove their faith by making regular, large donations to the Church.
Consequently, the common folk of this district were driven into poverty. I walked past crumbling streets, studying the homeless. Entire families had been driven out of their houses and were living in squalor, sick and starving. My stomach turned at how emaciated they were, even though this was the damned capital of the strongest human kingdom in the continent.
What the fuck happened?
In contrast to the poor homeless, the debt collectors and officials were living in luxury, their extravagant carriages clacking along the roads. I passed by lots of empty houses, which were claimed as property by the state or by greedy officials. There was a family trying to return to one of them, but armored soldiers smacked them off the gates.
"Please…" the mother was begging. "At least let my children…"
"This is no longer your home," the soldier replied flatly, his face hidden behind his helm. I could hear the scorn in his voice. "It now belongs to Official Oz."
"But…"
"If you insist on trespassing, I will cut you down."
As if smacking her with his gauntlet wasn't enough, he drew a sword. The mother quailed, and she brought her children away.
I shook my head at the sight. I wished I could help, but there was nothing I could do. Even assuming I beat up the soldiers and allowed the family to return to their house. What was going to happen after that? More soldiers would return, and the family might even be executed for their "crime" of beating up soldiers. And with my mission to take revenge, I couldn't possibly stick around and protect the family or guard their house forever.
Moreover, I was just one person. I couldn't fight against the army of the entire kingdom.
Besides, this wasn't the only scene of injustice I had seen during my travels. I had seen worse, particularly in the towns I had passed by.
Having earned a bit of coin by escorting a convoy, I was somehow able to rent a room at a nearby inn. Most of the inns – particularly the cheap ones – had closed down because they simply couldn't sustain their businesses when Herman's tax hike hit them. Only the businesses owned by the rich or by nobles remained open, and I winced when I saw the cost of renting a single room.
With the amount of coin I had, I wasn't going to be able to afford staying in the inn for long.
"Oh, you're lucky!" the innkeeper, a fat dude with rings around his fingers and some golden teeth, grinned, when I showed up. "You arrived just in time for the parade tomorrow!"
"Parade?" I repeated as I placed the coins on the counter. The innkeeper nodded.
"The Hero is throwing another parade tomorrow. He and his priestess wife are going to lead a procession across the street, to remind the common folk of who they should be grateful to, and to maintain their faith in the gods."
Apparently, Herman and Irene continued their ostentatious demonstration to show off their achievements at every chance they could get.
"It's also a method to root out dissenters," the innkeeper whispered. I pushed my glasses up my nose and stared at him.
"Dissenters?"
"You'll see what I mean tomorrow."
He was right. The next morning, when I left the inn to gather more intelligence and perhaps look for a job, the parade was in full swing. Masses of grumpy, unhappy commoners were herded into both sides of the main road. The homeless were forced off their alleyways and squalor, their attendance mandatory. I was swept up, but I hung at the back.
Colossal carriages swept across the road, their golden hulls glittering with all sorts of gems and jewelry. So that was where all the taxes and "generous" donations went. Ranks of Templar knights marched on foot, escorting the carriages, upon each were nobles favored by Herman and Irene. On the biggest and most ostentatious carriage, which was strategically placed in the middle of the parade, were the Hero couple.
Herman and Irene always did love to be at the center of attention.
They were standing atop the carriage, dressed in ridiculous costumes. Herman was in gleaming silver armor that sported new heraldry – noble heraldry bestowed upon him by the king of Havan himself. He had his holy sword sheathed by his side, and a flowing red cape that hung from his shoulders. Beside him, Irene was no less flamboyant, wearing a pure white dress that simultaneously exposed a lot of skin, being slit at the sides to expose her creamy, white thighs. Yet, the gown was so long that it became a train that extended past her back, almost as if she was wearing a carpet. Tiny jewels sparkled while hanging from her cowl, illuminating her beautiful face.
The both of them smiled and waved to the unenthusiastic masses. Then, at Irene's gesture, the parade came to a stop.
"You there," she said, pointing at a young lady. She was actually good looking, though nowhere near Irene's level. She had also been somewhat well off, having escaped the poverty that ravaged most of her neighbors, and was dressed simply in a plain dress.
The young lady blinked, and then she lowered her head. I could hear the quiver in her voice when she forced a greeting. It was no wonder. She was addressing the supreme priestess herself.
"Your holiness."
"You have committed a sin," Irene declared somewhat dramatically. "I could feel your gaze of lust upon my husband. You are a heretic, and for your sin, you deserve death."
The lady's jaw dropped open for a moment, and then she hastily prostrated across the ground, weeping and begging.
"Your holiness, you are mistaken! I did no such thing! Please show me mercy! I didn't look upon your husband at all!"
"Are you saying that I am lying then?" Irene replied sharply, her voice glacial. What in the flying fuck…?
"No, I do not dare! But you really are mistaken…!"
"Please, your holiness," a young man said, coming forward and taking the lady's arm. "You are truly mistaken. My wife would never look at the Hero in such a sinful manner…"
"Harboring a heretic is a crime," Herman spoke up at last. "If you are helping a heretic, you are one as well."
"What…? No…"
"And heresy deserves death."
With a single swing of his sword, Herman killed the young man. Blood splattered the young lady and she screamed. The crowd moved away from her, also panicking from the pointless bloodshed.
"You missed the other heretic, my love."
With one hand trailing along her husband's arm, Irene raised the other and conjured a holy spear. The golden light lanced through the shocked lady's chest, slaying her instantly. The Supreme Priestess then waved toward the knight contingent closest to her carriage.
"Take those heretics' bodies and bring them to the stakes. They deserve to burn."
"Yes, your holiness."
The soldiers didn't hesitate and immediately dragged the two bodies off the street, leaving a trail of blood in their wake.
I watched the whole thing numbly, icy horror feeling my chest. The whole thing happened so quickly that I couldn't even do anything to stop it. I never expected Herman and Irene to murder commoners in cold blood like that, over such ridiculous reasons.
I mean, I always knew they possessed rotten personalities, but no more than the usual selfish people who were only looking out for their own interests. Irene was on the lazy side, refusing to help even though she could, and was a spoilt, self-centered brat. Herman was arrogant, egoistic and stubborn, always believing himself to be in the right. I wasn't surprised that they had flaws. Nobody was perfect, not even the priests who were often heralded as paragons of virtue.
Hell, even I wasn't a saint. I was aware of my own vices and flaws. I was stupid, retarded, weak, spineless and a coward (or at least that was what people beyond the fourth wall insisted). I wasn't going to pretend that I had any higher moral ground than these bastards.
To be fair, I had known they were ruthless, and as such, even though I was caught off guard, I could still come to terms with the fact that they betrayed and tried to kill me. It was in their self-interests, after all. Extreme to the point that I never saw it coming, yes, but still somewhat consistent with their corrupted characters.
But…psychopathic? Murdering people over the most stupid reason? This made no sense. It was almost as if the victory had gotten into their heads and swelled their egos to the point where they began having a god complex and regarding commoners as insignificant. Even back then, they weren't that evil. Otherwise they would be executing the soldiers we fought alongside with over every trivial excuse.
I was almost unable to reconcile their current personalities with what I knew of them in the past. It just made no sense.
…no, I was overthinking it. These were the fuckers who betrayed me. Who tried to kill me. All for their own self-interests, greed and ambitions. Of course they had no regard for human life. The soldiers were one thing – they could still be useful, and the Hero party had to rely on them to fight off the demon army. But these commoners…Herman and Irene saw no value in them. No use. They were just ants or cattle, through which they could squeeze out as much money of as they wanted.
I grimly followed the procession as the knights hauled the bodies toward what Irene described as the stakes.