Maid stared at the hero outside the window, her eyes red from the immense anger that was boiling up inside her. She tighty grasped onto the large kitchen knife as if she would lose it if she let go.
Currently Josh is being fed by the villagers and surrounded by them, they all recognized Josh from the photos and drawings. Some of the villagers, especially the kids, started worshipping him like he is a god. It is their first time that they have ever gotten this close to a hero. This would count as a once in a lifetime experience for them.
10 days lost in the forest without anything to eat or drink is beyond torture. Ordinary people wouldn't survive, but Josh did because he is a hero.
Josh counted himself lucky and thought it was his 'plot armor' that protected him, the same one that actual MC's have. But idiots sometimes get lucky.
Maid kept a close eye on Josh. She would do anything to get her revenge on the annoying hero who enslaved her. But she is a little, weak girl right now. She would have to kill him when he is alone, has his guard down, and most likely at night when humans are least active.
"Amelia? What are you doing with that knife?" A young girl's voice called out to Maid from behind.
Kat was scared to see Maid suddenly holding one of her mom's kitchen knives, and looking outside the window with that crazy, bloodthirsty look in her eyes.
Maid looked at Kat. She saw how scared she was so she put the knife down on a table. Only then did she realize how stupid it was to think of killing Josh while she still has the collar on her.
Amelia isn't her true name. It is just the temporary name they gave her because Maid isn't willing to talk to them. And besides, she'd much rather be called 'Amelia' than 'Maid' because the name is dumb and the hero gave her that name.
Maid could talk to them in their own 'human' language but they'll be barely able to understand her as she isn't well versed in their language. She learned to sort of speak human tongue after spending all that time being enslaved byJosh, and now this family.
And should she ever reveal her true identity, people would know that she is a slave to the hero. It's not every day that a dragon can turn into a human. And then Josh would be able to find her. As long as she has the collar, she is bound to his every word. If he utters one word to her she'll be powerless against him.
"Did you hear that a hero is in our village?" Kat decided not to think about the knife too much, not like she could communicate with Maid. Kat and her family did notice that Maid could understand them perfectly, but won't communicate with them.
Maid nodded. She was beyond pissed.
"Although that's great and all, I think that Mr. Scary eyes is a real hero."
Kat was referring to Will, who rescued her and the other children from the infamous child killer.
Unlike most people Kat's parents believe that heroes should be defined by their actions instead.
This is because 'Mr Scary Eyes' saved their daughter when no other hero could have.
Nobody knows him despite his heroic deed, as all the information regarding 'Mr. Scary eyes' has been taken down by the Great Sage. Since Will took down the child killer, the Great Sage did him a favor and didn't make him famous because he knew that Will did not want to be known.
Maid didn't respond. Taking one last look at Josh, the one she hated the most, she decided to head to the basement and hide there. As long as Josh doesn't know she's here she'll be able to hide. That way she'll have a chance to remove the collar around her neck.
Once she is rid of it, she'll be sure to kill Josh whatever the cost. But that would prove to be difficult as Josh has the strength to take down multiple dragons.
Josh looked to the window where Maid was, but he saw no one there. He just thought he felt a similar presence but waved it off as nothing important.
'Man, I miss Maid. A little longer and she would have started falling for me. I made sure to compliment her clothes and figure, help her, and give her headpats on a daily basis. Surely she already fell in love with me, right? Damn. Wish she was still alive.' Josh thought as he ate with tears rolling down his cheeks.
How could he have lost such a rare and valuable slave/harem member?
Unlike in fiction, real life girls don't easily fall in love with someone just because they compliment them a little, or because they give them headpats, or because they enslave them against their will, and suddenly they decide to give their body and soul to them after only meeting them for less than a day.
If it was that easy nobody would be alone.
"Hero Josh, would you care to donate to the cause?" Asked an old man. He shook a giant metal can filled with coins in it.
"The cause?"
"Yes. We collect the money from the stuff we sell and most of it goes to the families whose kids were killed by the child killer. It's to help them out as they were not as fortunate as the other families whose kids were saved from the bastard child killer."
It was Kat's parents and their friends who started the cause right after Kat came back to them. This idea spread to the other villages.
"Um… sorry, I don't have money. Oh! Wait, I actually do!" Josh took out a single copper coin and dropped it into the metal can.
A single copper coin is worth less than worthless.
"Thank you, hero." The old man knew that it wasn't a lot, but they thought it was the thought that counts.
"No problem." Josh felt like he did a good thing, now his fortune will turn out for the better, right? Since he is the MC.
But the truth is he currently has less than 800 gold coins inside a magical ring that can store items. A few gold coins could make a difference in one's life, but he would rather give out a single copper coin.
The money he practically earned by begging some rich people who gave him a few dozen gold coins each, mainly because it was a good idea to have connections with a hero, but it wasn't worth going bankrupt for it.
Some of it he earned by killing some monsters, plus he had some money leftover from when Will gave him money for the dragons he killed.
Add it all together and he has a bit over 800 gold coins.
'I need the money to buy an elven slave. Can't afford to give some to poor people.'
An elf could go for 5000 gold coins in the black market. But Josh's great idea was to use his hero identity to nab an elf cheaply, it was his last and desperate move.
What he doesn't know is that slave elves just aren't worth it. Those who lost the protection of their Goddess can't use the power of nature anymore, the black market only sells these types of elves so they don't suffer the wrath of their Goddess Lea. And so the elves are practically weak, but people only buy them for sick perverted acts.
And the elves who are protected by Lea are too bothersome to enslave.
Elves in general aren't that different from humans, so they're useless in terms of combat. For ordinary people it's worth more buying a magical item, which is WAY cheaper than an elf for some reason.
The only useful thing that the humans see in elves are when heroes decide to have offsprings with elves, that way those half-heroes half-elves have longer lifespans and are way more useful, but half heroes don't hold a candle to a complete hero.
"This village doesn't seem to have a lot of people." Josh noticed that the village was rather large, but the amount of people here seemed too little for a village of such size.
Surely they all would have gone outside to greet him, right?
Josh just likes being in the spotlight to fill the endless void that is his ego.
"Your perception is great, hero. Most of the villagers decided to move out of the village not so long ago." The old man said.
"Where to? The kingdom? Another village?"
"Neither. They are headed straight to the empire."
"Why?"
"The king is raising taxes to such a degree that most of us can't afford it. So our choices really are to either suck it up, live in the deserted lands, or move to the empire. Unfortunately most of the people who moved out have families to take care of."
"That bastard king! I should have seen this coming! He's an evil king! What is more important than the lives of people that the king has to strip them of everything they own?!" Josh felt mad all of a sudden.
He looked mad, but in heart he felt that this was perfect for him!
This is obviously the 'plot' calling out to him. What kind of isekai world doesn't have some sort of corrupted king?
Well, a lot don't surprisingly, but obviously this is not one of those worlds.
This king might be greedy and sexist, but if he were corrupted and vile the Great Sage would have removed him from the throne already.
After all kings aren't exactly known to be saints.
"I heard that the king is using the money for the heroes. So a lot of people who decide to stick around despite the high tax rate, they do it for the good of the heroes, like we do." The old man pointed to himself and others.
People view all the heroes as their gods, saviours, idols. So why wouldn't they give them what they barely have left instead to their families?
"Really? Well… I guess it's too early to tell if the king is evil, am I right?" Josh laughed it off, his mood shifted to a perfect 180 degree turn.
Josh thought that it was perfect!
If people give the king their money, the king will then use the money on the heroes and forge weapons for them. And Josh knows that he is at the top of the priority list among the heroes, since he is the only hero with two abilities.
Josh lost his magical weapon and desperately needs a replacement. And also has the strongest offensive ability out of all of them, aside from the Great Sage.
'Hm. Wait, I either have to choose to make the lives of the villagers better, or pick myself over them. Sorry villagers.' Josh felt no remorse for the people anymore. As long as they give the king money it'll be beneficial for his survival.
"Does anyone here know the way to the kingdom? I need to go have a 'talk' with the king." Asked Josh.
"I do. I do."
"So do I. I know a shortcut!"
"Take me! I practically live there!"
"Then why are you here?"
People started to fight over who gets to guide Josh to the kingdom. This is a chance that die hard fanatics like them cannot pass out on.
"Guys, come on, there's no reason to fight over me. But, I'll pick that one." Josh pointed to a decent looking girl.
"Me?" The young girl pointed at herself in confusion. She wore a long, plain green skirt. She had long brown hair that was tied up into a ponytail. She was cute, and not even 16 years old yet. Her body was slender and healthy.
"Yes, you. You seem like the most reliable one." Josh said with a smile.
That was a lie. He just wanted to have a cute girl to ride with, and she's the only girl who knows the way to the kingdom.
And he also hopes that perhaps that along the way there will be a romantic development between the two of them. Since she is a little bit cute she'll be perfect to add to his harem member collection.
After all, there's no such thing as having 'too many harem members' when you isekai. At least that is what he believes.
"Okay, um... I'll get the carriage and horses ready!" The girl ran to get the village's wooden cart and horses that they use for trading with other villages.
She looked nervous and confused for a moment.
Since most of the villagers were already present they had no objections to using the wooden cart and horses to aid a hero.
"Sweet."
Not long after Josh left with the cute girl. He lay down on the carriage as the girl guided the horses. People watched the hero leave the village with tears in their eyes.
"Heroes are really divine. Now I can die in peace." An old woman said.
"Lucky her. Wish I could help out a hero." Some villagers can't help but feel envious that the girl is helping out the hero.
Maid could hear the villagers talking, and realized that Josh had already left. She sighed. Still, she vowed within her heart that she'll get her revenge on him.
"Amelia, you there?" Kat ran downstairs to her basement. She saw Maid with her back against the wall. The basement was rather spacious and empty, but cold and dark as well.
"Wanna play hide and seek?" Asked Kat. She wasn't afraid of the dark anymore after her dreadful experience. Any kid would be traumatized after being kidnapped.
Lucky for her no one has told her what her fate would have been like if Mr Scary Eyes didn't save her. Otherwise her scars would be even deeper. She's a kid, she doesn't deserve to know, yet.
Maid nodded.
"Okay. I'll go upstairs and count to 50. You hide." Kat was glad to have a friend, there weren't many kids her age where she lived.
Meanwhile…
Literally less than 2 hours later…
"Alright, hero, we're here." A cute girl said.
Josh woke up from his nap. The kingdom was in front of him.
"Wait, how long was I asleep for?" Josh felt like the ride wasn't that long. He thought it would last for days, considering that he was lost in the forest for over 10 days.
"A little bit less than 2 hours. Our village isn't that far from the kingdom."
"You gotta be kidding me." Josh felt like a complete idiot.
He was that close to the kingdom this whole time? Had he used his speed instead of traveling by cart he could have been in in less than 20 minutes.
"Well, thanks little girl. Do you want to go with me?" Josh asked, he didn't have the chance to bond with the young girl and form a relationship.
"Sorry, hero. I wish I could but I need to help my grandma, so I can't be away for too long."
The truth is the girl didn't offer to help him at all, he just pointed to her. She has her grandma to take care of, which is why she couldn't help him despite wanting to.
Maybe it's because all the villagers were looking at her, and because she knew them, she felt like they'd hate her if she refused to help a hero. And because she was nervous and happy that she just agreed on the spot.
"Shame. Well, if your grandma dies come and find me… wow, that sounded way worse than I intended to."
"..." Young girl.
"Well, bye!" Josh left the girl on her own. He left a little girl alone, unprotected, in a world filled with dangerous monsters.
The young girl hurried back to her village to help out her grandma.
Unfortunately she never made it back to her village.
Meanwhile…
"Okay, that should be good." Sandra looked at the now empty poster board.
Sandra left Will's poster on the job poster board. Unlike the last time Will visited the kingdom, there were now fewer poster jobs on the board. Last time posters covered the entire board.
The people were in desperate need of money so they took all the jobs they could take which is why there were only 3 left, including Will's poster.
And since people are in need of money people stopped putting up posters, which left people without a job.
The other jobs posters were actually for mages and heroes, which required either killing powerful monsters, or travelling extremely long distances which is just as dangerous.
The new taxes even affected the majority of the sorcerers. The kingdom even started posting sorcerer jobs outside the black tower so sorcerers could see it better.
People immediately jumped to the poster as soon as they saw a new poster. This would be the first time people paid more attention to something else other than a hero.
Sandra looked at how the people read the poster. At first they were confused, some left disappointed, while others quickly ran back to their homes to get to work.
"How sad. This is just like covid all over again. People are losing their jobs, the economy is a mess."
Suddenly Sandra felt like Will was smart to build his own base. This way the economy doesn't affect him in the slightest. It may not be the best way to live, but it was better than being desperate like these people.
At least these people had some money. Compared to the people from Jim's village that Will visited, these people were doing 100x better.
Sandra then bought the tools and everything else they needed, food, clothes, towels, etc.
Sadly the items she bought were being sold at a cheap price. She barely spent 90 silver coins.
Seeing some of the people in a bad state, she gave them money. She hoped that Will could understand. Will wouldn't care, he had so much gold left to spare.
Only did she realize that she didn't have a way to carry a lot of stuff. So her hands were full of stuff.
"I wish I asked Will for something to carry all this before I left." Sandra now felt like a wife, buying all the groceries, helping out Will build and decorate a house/kingdom, and Will brought home the money.
Not exactly how she envisioned her happy life with Will.
"Sandra?" A woman called out to Sandra.
Sandra turned and saw a familiar sexy woman with long blonde hair. She wore steel plate armor that covered her entire body, she also carried a long spear with her. This is Britney.
"Oh, hi Britney." Sandra said in a hollow tone. Britney was Will's first crush, and that made her a bit uncomfortable, especially after yesterday when she found out why Will asked her out.
She doesn't blame Will for having a crush on Britney, many of her classmates are the same, including some of the girls.
"Wow, that's a lot of stuff you're carrying. Towels, food, and clothes… are you moving out or something?"
"Dunno."
"Did… did I say something wrong?" Britney noticed her tone. They weren't exactly friends, but her tone sounds like they were on bad terms.
"No, you didn't. I'm just busy."
"Oookay… Listen, could you join our group?" Britney asked.
Sandra just noticed Peter and Henry looking at them from a corner, like a pair of creeps.
'Why are they hiding?' Thought Sandra.
"Why do you want me to join you?" Asked Sandra.
"Well, I heard that you, Bruce, Josh and Victoria are the only ones out of all of us that have experience in the outside world. We just thought we could use your help. We asked Bruce but he said 'no' to us. And Josh is living in his own fantasy. And Victoria… well you already know."
"Wait, but I heard that your group also went outside, or am I wrong?"
"No, you're not wrong. It's just that… the furthest we travelled outside of the kingdom was like… 5 blocks away. Most of the time we pussy out, especially Pete."
"Then stay in the kingdom. If you guys can't do it then don't do it."
"Yeah, but if we don't do it by next week the king will have Victoria join our group."
"Why would he pair you up with Victoria? It's not like you guys are the only heroes."
"True, but the king knows that we wuss out all the time. So he plans on having Victoria join our group so that we can get the 'courage' to kill monsters and travel far. Like I said, Victoria is one of the few of us who has experience in killing monsters."
These three heroes would never want to kill a giant monster, but what is worse than that is having Victoria joining their group.
But still they are still braver than the other 90 heroes.
"So, basically if I join you guys then Victoria won't join you?" Asked Sandra.
"Yes."
Sandra looked at the bags she's carrying.
"Sorry, I am a bit busy." Sandra said. She can't just leave Will alone.
"Are you sure? We could really use your help." Britney asked.
"Sorry. I really can't."
"Pst! That sucks. Thanks anyways." Britney felt terrible. Now all who's left to ask for help is Josh, who was a better choice than Victoria.
Sandra left running.
Pete and Henry ran up to Britney.
"I take it that's a no?"
Britney shook her head.
Pete and Henry's heads dropped.
"Well, Josh is all that's left to ask. Otherwise, Satan will join us." Henry was not looking forward to having the spawn of the devil joining their team.
"That's insulting, to Satan I mean."
"Hilarious, Pete." Britney said in a sarcastic tone.
"Oh, look, there he is!"
"Satan?"
"No, Josh."
At that moment Josh strolled through the kingdom as if he owned it.
"Hey, Josh, do you want to help us?"
"No." Josh gave his reply and left them.
"Aaaaaaand we're screwed."