Chapter 46: A Story Of A Hero!
I looked around the throne room and made my decision.
"Until the King wakes up, and he's sound of mind, I am king regent!"
"Announce to the people that under the king regents orders, the Queen shall be held prisoner until she admits her sins or until the King recovers from his attack. Also, declare that the King has been saved by me, and he is undergoing recovery."
"Um… Master? What was he attacked by?"
"I don't know, make something up, but make it sound like it was the Queen's fault and I'm the one who returned their stolen goods."
Everyone looked hopeful at this answer, they all assumed they would get their treasures and family heirlooms back.
"Even us?"
"Haha… No."
They immediately looked on in disappointment and disbelief, but there wasn't much they could do.
I made my intentions clear without making any important decisions. At the end of the day, King Michael was king and I was just some invader who enslaved everyone and stole their shit.
Obviously the only ones who know that are the people in this room but what else am I supposed to say? Their king granted them mercy and a home, but according to them I'm just a guy who killed a scary monster, and saved the day… with zero proof.
"Why are you still here? Go tell the people how great I am!"
Everyone scattered like rats.
…
After that fiasco, I picked up the kid and placed him him on his throne where he belonged before wrapping him in a blanket I had in my storage.
The reason wasn't as symbolic as you would think. I just didn't know where the rooms were.
Instinctively, I wanted to loot the place, but I remembered shortly after that I already had.
I got down from the throne and handed him off to Alora before sitting down on one of the steps. I just relaxed for a while out of boredom. After a while I just started humming some show tunes until I heard a quiet murmur by my feet.
"Hmm? I didn't know footstools could talk?"
At the moment I was using the queen's face as a foot rest. It was comfy actually. Your feet really just sink in.
"Don't… don't kill me…"
B**** I don't even know you. I hadn't even thought of killing you. Besides, that's not up to me.
"That depends on what the king wants."
She curled herself up even more after hearing that. She seemed afraid to speak but she still had the courage to get out from under me.
"I had too."
She tried moving away but I just used a blast of [PARALYSIS] on her.
"Yeah yeah, talk to the judge, jury, and executioner when he wakes up."
I dragged her back over to me before laying my feet right on her breast. This is way comfier!
COUGH!
I looked behind me and noticed Alora was glaring at me.
I thought about it for a moment before deciding that I prefer comfort. She can yell at me later.
After a few minutes of waiting. A group of elders came walking back inside.
"Finally. So? How did it go? Do they like me?"
The old men looked at me confused as to why I was sitting on the steps while my feet were propped up on their Queens breast, but as the professionals they are, they quickly overlooked it.
"Many were confused, angry and didn't understand what happened, but after we promised them their food and stuff back they quickly began to calm down. They are also grateful for your service and… 'Heroism.'"
"As expected. I'm amazing."
Many people looked around like they were expecting something from me, but I didn't have anything to give them.
"Until the king wakes up, all we can do is wait. You. Over there."
An old guy who clearly looked annoyed and angry at this whole situation suddenly perked his ears up in confusion.
"Me?"
"Yes, you. Come here… good. Now take my shoes off. I'm tired. You might as well massage my feet while you're at it."
"Eh?"
The old man just stared for a few seconds before another one pushed him lightly to hurry up.
"You too."
"Shit."
That's what you get for pushing.
…
After a few minutes of relaxing I heard some rustling noise behind me.
I looked back for a second before replying, "You're awake. About time kiddo."
I resumed relaxing, while getting my feet massaged by two handsome old men. I hope I don't open some new doors after this…
"Where am I?"
While I was relaxing, Alora was just sitting on the armchair of the throne while combing the boy's hair with her fingers. Should I feel jealous?
"You don't recognize the place you built?"
The boy looked around for a second before replying in doubt, "The paintings, chandeliers and velvet drapes have all been removed…"
Oh yeah, I forgot about that.
"*Cough* Or maybe you're just a poor designer?"
The kid looked back at me like he was listening to an idiot. For some reason I get that a lot. Even the people around me were looking at me like I was a degenerate. They're not wrong though.
The kid looked around once before looking down at my feet.
"Oh?" I looked at the kid wondering what he would do, before long I got my answer.
The kid soon walked down the stairs and stood in front of Queen [INSERT NAME.] Yeah I might have forgotten what her name was. Was I ever told? I don't know.
I backed away from my special footstool and the old men did so even faster.
I looked back, hoping not to miss a single thing. After the brief staredown between the two, the boy finally made his move. He opened up his status screen and started moving his fingers around while looking at something.
After a few seconds the floor started to open up underneath her like they were the jaws of the underworld. The kid pressed his foot against her ribcage and… pushed her right in. No words were exchanged. No begging, no crying. Just poof. She was gone and the floor started to close back up.
"Well that was anticlimactic. Maybe I shouldn't have used paralysis on her."
I looked at the kid and wondered what we were going to do from here.
"And the others?"
The kid looked back at me before gazing at the old elves.
"They didn't do this to me. I have no grudges against them."
"Hmm, you really think that? They knew you were a prisoner. They knew you're the one who gave them all of this and they did nothing. They repaid your kindness with negligence, and that's no different from torturing you themselves."
The kid looked at the ground for a second contemplating what I was saying.
The old elves just watched on, afraid of the outcome of his decision until the boy spoke up.
"They deserve to be punished." I couldn't help but speak up as I watched his reactions.
Now the old elves were shaking in their boots.
"They should be stripped of their wealth and made into slaves." The boy was now speaking true words of wisdom.
As soon as I heard that I just laughed as loud as I could. How couldn't I?
"I'm one step ahead of you. They're all broke and they've been made into slaves."
The kid looked back at me with wide eyes while stepping back wearily.
"Hahah! You should've seen it. It was hilarious. The queen just up and sold everybody's soul to me. She really was a useless woman."
The kid looked down in guilt, "I never should've saved her life."
I looked at him curiously, I had a feeling I was going to get a bit of lore any second now.
"I found [Redacted] deserted… on the beach alone and unconscious, covered in wounds and bound… by broken rusty chains... When I discovered… an intruder on my island I immediately… thought to check it out, when I saw her I…"
When the boy spoke, his voice sounded harsh and grated. I wonder if the scar on his throat is the reason?
"Let me guess. Your little brother did all the talking?"
"Jess!"
Alora yelled at me across the room while the kid just blushed in embarrassment.
"Yeah."
Hey I was a 13 year old boy once too, although at that point I was starting to grow tired of all the body bumping. I'm talking about my previous life of course. Hey, guys gotta eat, and a growing boy even more so.
"So after you healed her up, lost your cherry, you were betrayed?"
"Something… like that."
I couldn't help but chuckle, the story was such a cliche that it's almost surprising that anyone could fall for it.
"And the scar? Was that her doing?"
He just looked up briefly before nodding his head a little.
Basically, the former queen was most likely a former slave. No, knowing her personality? More like a prisoner… or both.
I'm becoming more and more curious about this dwarf continent these people came from, but I don't have the time to listen.
"So? What now your majesty? Would you like to buy them off of me?"
"Jess!"
Alora's face was pale as a ghost, she was clearly scared of this boy's capabilities but I had a feeling he wasn't as scary as others let on.