Written by Oblivon2991
Proofread: The usual drunken gang of misfits and TranscendedPotato
Thank you for reading my fanfiction and for giving me a chance.
My mother tongue isn't English, so please be patient about the grammatical issues.
I don't own One Punch Man anime/manga/webcomic, it belongs to ONE.
I don't own The Rising of the Shield Hero (Japanese: 盾の勇者の成り上がり, Hepburn: Tate no Yūsha no Nariagari), it is written by Aneko Yusagi.
If you have anything to add or have questions, or remark, please review, or send a PM.
Thank you!
Now let's start the story!
(So, this is the proofread version of the same chapter, I cut the actual chapter two because honestly it grew to be 25k word+! Hopefully, it is more digestable. Who read it before, only the way of meeting Raph will changes slightly, nothing drastic)
Chapter 3: The Meaning of Hero (Part 1)
"Sigh... Dammit…"
Exhausted and downtrodden, King walked down on the main street.
It was some time since that event in the throne room played out, yet, he was still confused about what he had went through in that place.
To be honest, it was like a badly written play. Why would his companion want to frame him? Even if mentally confused — remembering false events due to a very lifelike dream — people wouldn't just accuse others with sexual assault on a dime! Without evidence, no less! That's not what normal people would do!
Still, perhaps it was better this way, remaining alone like usual. At least he didn't need to worry about her expenses, nor be bothered by her every day. If he had to constantly deal with her sleep-walking and her immediately judging a dream to be a reality... he'd rather take his chances with the monsters alone! As for taking other companions...
"What if they get seriously injured? Or worse, died? What do I tell their families?"
There was no way he wanted to tell a grieving family that he was the cause of their beloved one's death, due to his inability to protect them as a shield-user!
"Even if it means going alone, and though my chances of dying are almost at 100%, maybe it's better than the other option…"
King was weak, he'd admit that. He was a coward! There was no doubt of that! He tried to tell people many times he was just a good-for-nothing Otaku who rather spend his time in isolation with his anime and games, and there was a better chance of a random block of tofu saving them than him! He was quite literally worthless as a fighter!
Yet whenever he tried to muster his courage... it fell down like a pile of uneven, random mishmash of lego bricks stacked together. No less than 3 seconds, and it'll fall apart. Even if he tried, they'd just misinterpret what he said!
"No one ever understands what I mean… I'm just a weakling! I can't protect anyone!"
If someone joined his group and got injured or died because of him, he wouldn't know how he'd bear the guilt. Just leaving the monsters to the civilians back in his old world placed a heavy weight on his chest, taking responsibility for a member dead on his behalf... he wouldn't be able to shoulder it — no, he'd be utterly crushed by it. There was no normal person that could shrug off the death of someone like it was a piece of paper! Not unless they were monsters!
"Worse… after finding out how weak and utterly incompetent I am, they would surely gang up against me and beat me to a pulp."
Maybe he was just more afraid of this than the other consequences. Deep down, perhaps he was just selfishly looking for his own self-interests.
"Yeah... that's probably it."
One of the reasons why he didn't take any apprentices like Bang or Atomic Samurai was exactly this.
"I remember many people, fans, and lower-ranked heroes, asking me- begging me to teach them. I refused each and every one of them. Saying that I cannot teach them, and they always respond; 'I see. I am not yet worthy for your teachings.' And then they leave."
"But in truth, I meant what I said. I cannot teach them... It's simply because I have nothing to teach; there is nothing they can learn from me! Why don't they understand...?!"
"Hey, Shield!"
"Huh?"
Looking straight ahead, King noticed a bald, dark-skinned man looking at him.
"That guy…" King recognized him instantly; that was Erhard, the town's best blacksmith, at least, according to Myne. King still remembered him; after all, he was the one that sold him what he was currently wearing.
"Hmm... he's bald, like Saitama. Maybe he trained until his hair fell out, as well?" King thought. He still couldn't believe anyone would want to train to the point that their hair falls out — maybe it was due to the stress. He's never even trained a day in his life, doing something like that was way out of his league.
"Yes?" As for him not saying his 'name' properly, he couldn't care less; he already got used to it, just like when someone calls him 'S-Class Hero King'. 'Shield Hero', 'Shield', 'S-Class Hero', or even 'The Strongest man on Earth!' it was all the same to him.
"I heard about what you did. You raped that companion of yours, didn't you? Allow me to hit you once myself." Erhard said with his arms crossed.
This again? King was tired of this bullcrap!
This was a different world, so he couldn't say much, but one thing he could complain about was the common sense in this world! Did no one ever doubt or anything? The moment he left the castle, everyone started looking at him weirdly, he could hear some women whispering 'rapist' behind him. Did they want him to hear it or something?!
"Raping a woman? As if! I haven't even graduated from virginity yet!" Yep, he was going to be a wizard soon. As shameful as it is, an S-Class hero like himself is still a virgin. Then again, dealing with a girlfriend was a whole can of worms King wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole.
"Anyway, not long after I left the castle, everyone's been avoiding me like crazy. I know rapists are disliked, but this kind of reaction? It's like I'm carrying the second plague with me!"
"Hmm. I've explained this to them once, and I tried to clear it up twice. That was a false accusation. I did no such thing. She simply confused a nightmare with reality."
And that was the truth! That was logic! That was common sense! Why would he want to rape the only person that wanted to join him? That wasn't what normal people did! Or was the sense of the norm completely warped in this new world?
"Tch!" Erhard violently grabbed King's chainmail, scowling. It was like he was about to beat him up. As a blacksmith and former adventurer, he was much stronger than an average person. If it was say, a random 20 year old university student, it'd have been enough force to lift them off the ground! But against the Shield Hero...
[Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! Rumble…]
"That sound… I've heard that it was the sound you make when you're ready for battle, so is that it, you're ready for a fight!?"
"Sigh..." That apathetic stare! That grab barely shook him; it was as if there was a statue wearing that chainmail, completely motionless and uncaring! Thinking back, he also heard rumors that this hero had utterly overwhelmed all the other three heroes, AND decimated an entire section of the forest with one punch... a former adventurer he may be, but there was a chance he might've bitten off more than he could chew.
Then again, what was to be expected? King was level 29, after all! That was comparable to a rampaging beast in the forest, almost like a manticore, or a chimera!
Slowly but surely, Erhard could feel a slight tremor, a vibration that started off bit by bit, before growing into a pulse, the beat of this man's war-drum, the only thing holding back that endless bloodlust underneath his skin! Looking back at King... Erhard noticed his apathetic expression changed. It was no longer a face of apathy-
It was killing intent.
"I've said this once, and I've said it twice. I hate repeating myself... but I'll make an exception for you, seeing as you provided me with some armor, after all."
"If my innocence is under suspicion, then I have no other choice." His menacing face made even Erhard's own expression crack in nervousness, King's voice unwavering, his tone filled with determination. It was as if this man would get ready to fight to the death- no, commence a slaughter at the drop of a hat.
But in truth, King was just afraid this man would hurt his 'pretty' face.
"Tch!" Erhard loosened his fist, letting King's chainmail go, and the King Engine's rhythmic thrumming slowly simmering down, as if disappointed by a lack of conflict.
"You changed your mind?"
"Your eyes, your tone… you're telling the truth."
"I've already said so; the rumors are false. To believe such a ludicrous statement without any proof is the height of foolishness." King said, unconsciously criticizing the king of Melromarc and his court. "If you'll excuse me, I need to go now…" With that, King turned his back to Erhard, walking away so casually, as if he didn't just threaten the man with an aura that would give even the most battle-scarred mercenaries pause.
"Huh, that guy... he's a real piece of work." The smith muttered in the end, smirking with satisfaction as he retreated in his shop, closing the door for a moment... to grab his wildly thumping chest, his heart beating like he faced a monster- no, he DID face a monster. "The rumors were not wrong… his presence alone... is suffocating! I should count myself lucky he didn't pick a fight, I suppose."
"That was close! Man, I was almost punched!" Not far away, in a hidden alley, King sighed, relieved the blacksmith didn't try to punch him. "Let's not try that again…"
Scene Change: Somewhere in a different country: Sometime later:
"My queen!"
"Report!"
With a majestic motion, the queen raised her fan, elegantly fanning herself, covering half of her face.
She was mature and beautiful, her violet hair, combed to a bob with long bangs, complementing her elegant royal gown. Under the moonlight that lit her luxurious office, she looked even more mysterious.
"The Cardinal heroes have been summoned."
Silence descended in the lavish room, and the queen closed her fan, hitting her hand hard.
"Are you sure your information is correct?" She asked, her eyes squinting angrily.
"Yes, my queen. Your husband ordered the start of the ritual, summoning not one, but all four heroes in Melromarc."
"…" Blood sprouted from the queen's lip as she bit on it with force, showing an expression that was the sign of her barely contained rage.
'Creak!' Even her fan started to crack in her grip.
If not for the strict training that prepared this Shadow before her for every possible outcome and scenario — steeling their nerves to the absolute limit — she would have stiffened, showing concern. Yet, like this, the expression of the dark hooded girl remained unchanged.
"That idiot…" The queen swore under her breath, her servant remained silent, still lowering her head under her mask. It was not every day she heard her queen swearing — No! She never before heard her queen uttering such unsightly words!
"Your Majesty?"
"Tell me, how are they treating the Cardinal Hero of Shield?"
"So far, he hasn't received the same treatment as the other three Cardinal Heroes. After their arrival, king Aultcray dismissed his presence, preferring to favor the other three heroes instead. More so, princess Malty even tried to frame him with the false charge of rape."
"Tch! Are you sure it was a false charge?"
"Indeed, my queen. We kept the heroes under constant surveillance since their summoning. The only thing we can accuse the Cardinal Hero of the Shield is the care he showed towards the princess's well-being, mistakenly believing that she is a sleepwalker after she attempted to drug him and steal his possessions — locking her door to prevent her from wandering away and hurting herself in the night."
"Sigh... My husband and that girl will ruin me one day…" Leaning back in her lavish seat, the queen showed an exhausted expression. Indeed, no matter how much she loved those two, they were tough to bear from time to time.
The Shield Hero showed care to her, yet she tried to frame him for rape? Honestly, where did she learn these kinds of things? Aultcray's discrimination against the Shield Hero, perhaps, but where did she learn to lie so easily?
In a way, the problem was not her daughter, but her husband. He was so innocent and naive, like any other child, easily manipulated by her daughters.
But maybe, it was her fault; she foolishly trusted her husband to raise her in her place while she traveled abroad for the kingdom's business. When she came back... Malty was no longer the same.
"Leaving Malty with Aultcray was the worst decision I've ever made in my life. Let's hope Siltvelt won't hear about this, or else they'll declare war…" She really hoped that wouldn't be the case. A war was the last thing their kingdom needed.
"We don't need a war right now, with the waves coming and all…"
"According to our investigations, The Church of the Three Heroes might be collaborating with the princess. They were the ones who proposed the summoning of all the heroes to Melromarc."
"I see…" Mirellia was not even surprised. Why would she? That religion was suspicious ever since they first appeared. Why would they paint one of the heroes as the devil? It made no sense.
"Be it our national religion or not; some of their writings make absolutely no sense…"
"Tell me, at least; how does the Shield Hero fare now? Did my 'dear' husband imprison him? Or…"
"No, my queen. Despite the false charges. The Shield Hero managed to convince the court and the other three heroes about his innocence, bringing up logical reasons. Despite this, King Aultcray still banished him from the palace, and spread lies about him."
"I see…" the Queen lowered her head, sighing in disappointment. "Support him in every way you can. Subtly, as usual."
"Very well, but with all due respect, I think that will be not necessary for the Shield Hero."
"How so?" Queen Mirellia raised her head, raising her brow intrigue for the first time since this conversation started.
"I think… you'll need to see it to understand, my Queen." Recovering a crystal ball, the Shadow started to replay the fight in the forest.
...
...
"H-He destroyed that entire section of the forest!? With just the chain reaction of one punch!? He even managed to attract such a large army of orange balloons with just a few well-placed screams! Did the Shield Hero plan all of it out?!" Even the well-experienced and usually calm and collected Queen gaped at the scene, seeing the impossible event playing again in the recording.
She couldn't help but slump back in her seat, her face filled with disbelief and traces of fear.
"Just who is he? What kind of…"
"His name is… King."
"What?"
"He introduced himself as the 'S-Ranked Hero King' to King Aultcray."
Mirellia gulped, unsure if they had summoned a monster or the sovereign of a powerful nation. Or was he something else entirely? He mentioned being a hero in the report, did his old world have monsters as well?
If so, how did they summon him? The summoning ritual was supposed to summon heroes from a far-away land to combat the monster waves, but so far in history, the summoned heroes never had monsters in their original world before! They were always, as they said themselves, 'ordinary civilians' from a 'peaceful world'.
He introduced himself as 'King'... did he not reveal his actual name because he felt no need for it — but to only give away his former position? But he also said that he was an 'S-Ranked Hero'... Was he both a Hero and a King in his former world? A Hero King? That was... to say that he was the most influential hero that has ever been summoned throughout history would be an understatement!
Or did he just want to subtly mock Aultcray for his impolite behavior? For once in her life, she was completely unsure. But just by watching the recording, he was definitely a dangerous man. A being with such destructive power that even with their country's military might, should never be offended! But despite that, her idiot of a husband decided to do so over old grievances that didn't make sense!
"K-Keep an eye on him, and offer assistance whenever he requires it. Make sure that no matter what, he doesn't notice your presence."
"Yes, my queen. It shall be done." With that, the Shadow disappeared from her room, leaving no trace of her existence.
"That idiot!" 'Creak!' The queen sat on her chair with excessive force. It was all too much to bear for now.
That night, Mirellia didn't sleep for even a minute.
Just how was she going to fix the mess that her idiot husband and daughter caused? Even the otherwise apt queen had to think this through more thoroughly, or all will be lost!
Scene Change: Inn: Night:
A few days later, King was in an inn eating a cheap meal, unable to decide on what to do to solve his current predicament.
"Another long day…" Sighing reluctantly, he felt miserable, as always. After all, what he'd consider his only comfort in his old world was thrown out of the window.
Now? He had actually to work to kill some monsters; perhaps this was retribution; his punishment for having all the rewards of an S-Class hero yet having killed no monsters. Now? If he didn't kill monsters, he wouldn't level up, and that'd mean he would be absolutely screwed when the 'waves' arrived. This was all he could do to stay alive!
Like all the other days, today was a long day.
Since this morning, he went out, tried to gather as much information as possible, farmed for experience, trying his damned best to level up and learn what else he could do with that 'Legendary Shield' of his. The only good thing about it was that it was unbreakable — At least so far. There was no monster that was able to pierce through his shield, but simply assuming it to be so would be tantamount to suicide.
"Ever since that day, I barely raised a few levels…" King thought, depressed. No matter the number of monsters he tried to kill, no matter what tactics he used to farm... he's never leveled up more than once a day. In some cases, he wouldn't even level up at all! That was the slowest progress he'd ever seen in his life! In most games, the first few days would be enough to level up to at least level 10 or 20, and then journey to the next zone in order to level up more.
...It's been almost a week, and yet he hasn't even leveled up more than three times aside from that time he got to level 29 after a massive section of the forest was suddenly decimated in front of him.
That led him to the conclusion that... when his mysterious savior killed all the monsters in front of him, a portion of the EXP was rewarded to him, as well — the other explanation was the awfully optimized leveling curve.
But how? According to how this game-like world functioned, EXP was only shared between party members, and the one that contributed the most obviously gets the bigger share of the EXP.
Was the one that saved him an ally to him, hence the shared EXP? Then, King had a mind to believe that Saitama was the one that saved him again.
"Then why he didn't stopped to at least say 'hello'?"
This was still a question he didn't yet found an answer.
Aside from this, he still wondered just how much EXP must that have been, if King, who did nothing, managed to level up all the way from 1 to 29?
Despite that huge boost, King only managed to raise his levels up to 33 throughout the week, despite his best efforts to grow stronger, he only managed this much alone.
Still, every human would naturally urge themselves to seek good things in their life. That's how humans worked. Even King tried to see the bright side of his situation.
If people were depressed all the time, they wouldn't even have the will to live, and most would simply commit suicide in their hopelessness.
Yet, no matter how much King tried to find the bright side of things, he was still unable to come to terms with the current situation. Every cloud had a silver lining, but this cloud was a thunderstorm. Even if there was a silver lining, King wasn't able to see it through all the rain and thunder.
"At least I opened a few more shields…"
That was progress; he should be glad for! When he started, he only had his basic shield.
"Now I have the balloon shield, leaf shield, pickaxe shield, rope shield…" And he could continue listing them for some time. King definitely busied himself throughout the entire week. After all, it was the basics of any RPG game, raising levels, and upgrading equipment. If he could farm no more, he could do at least this much.
If he was like the other summoned heroes, his progress could be considered slow- but in his opinion, he did quite a lot! Despite the level advantage, he definitely didn't slack off during the farming process, and he had to do what the other heroes did... all on his own, while they all had their parties to ease their burdens.
It was true that he preferred to go alone either way, but still- they had an advantage that he didn't!
Still, not only did he unlock as many shields as possible, but it also became more obvious that as the 'Shield Hero'... his defenses and natural resistances against other attacks were incredibly high!
It was both assuring and disturbing.
On one hand, he could walk through a swarm of rampaging balloons like nothing at his current level. Hell, he could even ignore some of the other enemies as well, like basic wolves, and other smaller monsters he encountered. — Maybe it was due to his general increase in stats.
At his current level, not only were the basic monsters unable to penetrate his defense — but his strength also grew along with it — albeit not as much as his defense stat, which made sense. Still, at his current level, he was plenty of strong to consider his progress great from his basic state of being.
...He wasn't very strong originally anyway, but his progress was still great in his eyes.
His basic punches, though sloppy and untrained, could easily pop those starter balloons, and in terms of pure, brute strength, he was around twice as strong as the common bear.
Those were incredibly strong punches compared to normal humans, but comparing them to the heroes he usually worked along — not the ones he was summoned with, but the real, Heroes Association heroes — it was nothing noteworthy to mention.
Heroes like Tank-Top Master, Superalloy Darkshine, hell, even Puri-Puri Prisoner would trounce that level of strength easily without even trying.
"Well, at least I can't get hurt by them. But I would rather not get overconfident. Who knows when a monster that can ignore armor or defense will appear…" He'd encounter monsters like that in games all the time in order to cause trouble for defense-spec characters; he'd rather not encounter them here when his only strengths were his defenses and resistances.
On the other hand, his attack power was still dangerously low — raised from the base value of '11' , the value he was summoned with — but there was nothing noteworthy about it. His physical strength was definitely improved, but it was nothing compared to monsters on the same level.
"True, I received some thorn damage thanks to the strange spiked fruit and those thorny monster parts my shield absorbed; still, I can only use it to defend myself for practical reasons."
Thorn damage was not unknown to him. It was present in most RPG games he played with.
Basically, certain plants evolved thorns to protect themselves from being eaten, as simple as that. Inspired by this, certain classes came up with methods to cover themselves with 'thorns' to discourage others from attacking them or by damaging their attacker by just defending and blocking.
It was that simple!
"For a tank class, it comes in very handy. By just defending, I can damage opponents."
Of course, the damage was far from ideal, but this little boost was more than nothing. At least, it was enough against those balloons and lower-tier monsters he encountered around and near the town.
"I suppose that's better than nothing…"
Still, King wasn't dense. He knew that he was rather high-leveled for his current situation, and he only managed to level up so far due to the fact that when his mysterious savior destroyed that entire swarm of enemies chasing after him, some of the EXP from those monsters were transferred to him.
Because of his high level, despite his best efforts and tactics — tactics he learned from games and other media, such as laying traps to ensnare mobs so that he could take them down without any real danger, kiting a large number of mobs and killing them slowly with his shield charge, etc. Everything he could think of worth little to nothing to help his leveling process.
"I need to come up something fast, or that wave thing will kill me…"
Though despite his hardships, this world, with this game-like system, was to his liking.
For the first time in his life, he truly felt stronger! Not only did he dared to stand up to his enemies — where he'd normally shy away from, he felt as if he was just playing a game in front of his television!
Though, of course, it wasn't like he didn't have any complaints about the system. What kind of bullshit was giving a class a shield — but not a weapon? If he was not allowed to have a weapon, he may as well play as a brawler class!
...Yeah, no. He wasn't Saitama. He'd rather use a shield than just tank it out with his body alone.
But even with the similarities to those games he used to play, it felt slightly different from that. Maybe because it was because he was actually doing all of this himself, instead of pushing buttons behind a screen?
"Well, it looks like playing all those games are finally paying out in the end."
His stamina, his strength, his durability, etc were also increased accordingly to his stats! He felt more confident after every level up! He was less tired from day after day of venturing out.
"It's almost like that manga with that 'Gamer' system…" It resembled that manga a great bit, but really, the only resemblance between this world and that manga was that he could obtain higher and higher stats with every 'level-up' he undergoes.
For just the slightest of moments, King started to believe that his current predicament was not as hopeless as it first seemed, just for the inescapable reality of his situation to crush him in the next moment.
That apocalyptic 'wave' was still over the horizon, and he had less than a month deal with it and level enough to survive.
Also, he was no closer to finding a way home! His resistances and defense stats might be high, but his damage was still low for his level, his confidence wasn't high enough to warrant wandering away farther from the town- and alone? Of course not!
Who knows what awaited him in the deeper regions of the forest!? He might be found and eaten by a huge monster that was much higher-leveled than him! Sure, the idea of the 'leveling zones' wouldn't allow that, but this was a different world, who knows what might happen?! What if he survives in the stomach of a creature that swallows him, just to get digested slowly and painfully?!
He could hardly imagine a worse fate. His damage stat was low; he couldn't use bladed weapons to cut himself out; there was no way for him to escape once he was swallowed!
...Thinking back, King suddenly pitied the monsters that ended up in Pig God's stomach. Though they were monsters that desired death and destruction, being eaten by Pig God was a fate he wasn't able to imagine.
"I'm so scared… no, I'm terrified!"
Despite King's rather high level, he was not confident at all that he could survive that wave with the incredible difficulty — a wave that was said to have almost wiped out the entire army of the kingdom and all the other adventurers that tried to fight it!
How did they expect him and those other three summoned heroes to fight against something like that!?
Not to mention, according to his interactions with the other three heroes before he was banished from the castle; all of them were civilians! Not one of them had actual fighting experience at all, and they were treating the whole thing like a game!
Still, seeing as they came from a peaceful world without monsters, King could see why they'd see it that way.
King felt somewhat sorry for them. They didn't see the situation like he did; they were transported to a completely different world where you had to kill to get stronger, and monsters ran rampantly everywhere. The technology was drastically worse than their old world; they were basically in the middle ages! Once reality hit them, they'd be hit. Hard.
A playboy, a self-indulged little kid, and a random high-school student. Not one of them were trained for this situation!
If instead the heroes were summoned from where he was originally came from, they'd at least know that the situation was more dire than it seemed — though they'd recognize him as King and that was another can of worms he didn't want to deal with — and if they were pro heroes, the better!
If say, Silver Fang, Atomic Samurai, Flashy Flash, Tatsumaki, Superalloy Darkshine, had either one of them taken his place, the current situation would've been solved! Even one of them could probably fend off the 'waves' on their own.
Tatsumaki might've been the best choice. With her superior psychic powers, she would've suppressed those monsters in an instant with her immense psychic powers. She was one strong esper.
King sighed. "If it wasn't for that apocalyptic 'wave' approaching in less than a month, I would be a lot less stressed. I wouldn't have been running around in circles finding mobs to kill, but instead find a calm place where I can at least get some info on how I can get home, or even slowly leveling up collecting ingredients, crafting or killing lower level monsters without endangering myself. But like this? This world so pushy! I don't want it! I want to go home!"
He hated such pushy and violent games! They scared away their player base in no time! As much as the system of the game-like world worked, he'd rather go back to his original world — where he at least had a chance to scare away the mysterious beings — before going back to his apartment and play his games — like the antisocial otaku loser he was.
The thing about his old world was that his false reputation worked in his favor. He could intimidate the monsters away, or at least trick them into surrendering or distracting them long enough for another hero to appear and deal with them for him.
Here? All the monsters were real monsters, they wanted to kill him whether he was high-leveled or not.
"I need to carefully consider how to proceed… I barely have three weeks before that 'wave' hits."
If one wanted to level effectively and quickly, usually, one needed to gamble and venture out for greater difficulty areas, farm the monsters for more EXP with their party — or do it alone, risking their life by fighting stronger monsters.
Alternatively, one could complete a quest that was worth a lot of experience points — maybe go dungeon-delving for greater gear and rewards.
In his current situation, however…
"That's easier said than done…" In most games, he would do it even if it was a timed mission or speed-run, and risk dying as he was confident he could start again, respawn, or just reload the previous save.
But now?
Endangering his own life?
Hahahahaha... No.
"I'm certain there's no resurrection or respawning in this world…" And even if there was, he wasn't stupid enough to try his luck. As said, he was never that lucky a person. If anything, Lady Luck seemed to love watching him suffer. It was shameful, but he'd rather let the other three 'heroes' find that out.
"Sigh..."
But what was he to do? He couldn't really do much with his current situation.
The monsters around the town were too weak for him to gain EXP anymore. True, collecting ingredients and crafting potions would still earn him some small bit of EXP. That was a staple in games, as well. But that amount of EXP was just a pitiful little drop of water in the bucket that was considered his EXP bar. There was no way he could level up effectively by doing just that all the time.
Thanks to his currently high level, the potions and other things he could craft barely got him any substantial amount of EXP. Currently, if he wanted to level up, he would need to collect thousands of materials and craft thousands upon thousands of potions.
"Even if I could just craft and collect materials from sunrise to dusk for a whole month, it probably still won't be enough to raise my level any higher."
Much less properly level up, there was a snowball's chance in hell that he could level enough to be able to survive those waves.
To be able to defeat the entire country's military might... he might need to be level 50 or 60 for that! Well, that was if he was alone. If he was properly working together with those other heroes, maybe an average level of 30 or 40 would be enough to deal with the wave. But those other 'heroes' were just civilians given weapons! What could they actually do?
One was a playboy that didn't care for levels — only chasing the skirts closest to him. Nothing else to be said. He also jumped to conclusions fairly quickly without judging the situation at all. He was like an NPC… wait, no. He was worse than an NPC! He was like a bot!
Another was a solo-player who didn't want any companions and would rather do everything alone. In a sense, he was like him, but the problem was that... how could he put it, he was a complete noob. To be able to do solo grinding, one needed a sufficient level of skill to pull off and ample potions to make up for not having a healer in his party. He also needed to ensure he didn't get hit all that often — as DPS classes often didn't have very high defenses.
But he didn't even have basics skills, like — at all. King tested him by asking him basic game-jargon like DPS, kiting, nuking, raid, aggro, simple terms! He barely knows a few of them!
Lastly was some kid that was 17 but looked like a middle-school student. Honestly, he seemed a bit... too nice. He just seemed a little off, in King's eyes. Commonly, in games or manga, such were the hidden enemy to be faced later in the game, but this was just someone else from a different world, so who was he to judge? In any case, he just made him uncomfortable.
King came to this conclusion a long time ago; Either he could run, or he had to deal with the wave alone. Those three 'heroes' just seemed purely unreliable.
"But at least I can sell some things for money." Selling raw herbs and those monster parts that he didn't need gained him a hefty sum, and after realizing that he could craft potions with one of his shields, it got him a much more lucrative trade to deal in. As usual, potions, no matter how minor their effects, were worth a high sum.
"Well, at least I don't have a problem with money. Still, there was one time one of the traders wanted to dupe me with those monster parts yesterday. That was to be expected, I suppose. But I still need to be careful."
All traders were like that. To buy at a low price and sell it at a high price to any unsuspecting customer. That was also how the stock market worked; though he never really understood how it worked. He didn't need to try investing in the stock market, either.
S-Class pay was... astonishingly high. To put it in simple terms, even though he was just an S-Class hero for almost a year, if he stopped being a hero after just one or two years and left his pay in his bank account... he'd never need to work another day in his life and still have a nice amount to spend every month.
In the mega-cities of his world, everything had a fixed price, and there was no such thing as haggling — unless it was a market stall where one was just buying produce. A price tag was firm and unchangeable, and only existed in games, thus King never really had any experience in real haggling; except in games. Could that knowledge be used here? He wasn't sure.
Nonetheless, he went along with his 'haggling experience', trying to look confident, not offending the man by choosing his words carefully, etc — it was probably a custom to haggle for prices — but thankfully, that pharmacist he sold his potions and herbs didn't really try to haggle the price. Maybe not everyone haggles for everything?
"I've never really done it before, and that guy probably saw that I was a newbie to the whole haggling thing, and didn't bother with any actual haggling…"
Of course, the real reason to why the trader didn't dare to haggle with him was completely different from what he thought, but that wasn't important now.
Being supported with S-Class pay, King never really understood the mindset of a 'poor' person. After all, even a job at the local fast-food restaurant was able to keep employees above the poverty line almost everywhere in the world.
One person he could try to understand was Saitama. Whenever he came over to play with him, sometimes he was in a bad mood; and when asked about it, he simply said that he missed a sale.
Granted, King wasn't someone that disliked sales. He's saved maybe over a couple hundred thousand yen in buying anime DVDs and manga on sales and almost everything in his apartment — aside from the furniture that was already in it before he moved in — was bought at a discount.
The only thing he DIDN'T get on discount were the limited-editions of Doki-Doki Sisters. Forget paying below market price, just getting one was hard enough. Some people tried to auction their copies — which worked tremendously and earned them a pretty sum. However, King always got them before they sold out. If there was one thing the universe decided to help him in, it would be finding great manga and games to play.
"Speaking of Saitama... I remembered offering to borrow him some money if he really needed it. Even if he didn't return it, I wouldn't have minded anyway. Still, he always refused money from me. As cheap as an old man, but I suppose that small bit of pride- or common decency in him prevented him from that."
In a small way, this world was similar to his old one.
Aside from the pitifully low level of technology and the existence of 'magic', one similarity was the existence of monsters.
Albeit different, his old world's monsters were just humans that mutated due to their negative emotions affecting their body and mind beyond their limits. The world he was in had monsters, but it was better suited to just call them different species.
He was basically an over-glorified exterminator. The heroes of his world were actual, competent heroes. King had no idea what this world had come to, to need to summon completely ordinary civilians to act as 'heroes' for them.
"This world is different from my old one... I have a 'legendary weapon' stuck to my hand, and I can level up to increase my stats and check them at a moment's notice..." But even Child Emperor and Metal Knight had already come up with a method to measure combat strength.
They too could create weapons that would be considered 'legendary' in this world. With their scientific prowess, they could invent new weapons that would be no different than actual magical weapons in this world.
After all, missiles, nukes, drones, etc, all of those were probably unthinkable for the denizens of this world. They didn't even have access to any form of advanced weaponry, relying on melee weapons and their 'magic'. Maybe it was their magic that made up for the technology gap, but he'd still choose science over magic any day.
To look at it from his perspective, aside from the fantasy setting, almost everything was the same as his old world! He was made a hero against his will, everyone around him misunderstood his words, and he was known for doing something he didn't do- well, in this case, he was falsely accused.
To make matters worse, his only go-to stress reliever, his anime, games, manga... all of them were gone! The only thing he had left was the bag he brought — which contained the newest games and manga on sale that day he was transported here.
"Sigh…" Looking down at his simple and plain meal, he wasn't even hungry anymore; all of this just started to cramp his stomach.
Realizing how much this world resembled his own just made him even more nervous! If everything was going according to what happens in his old world, he should be facing some monster; he'd run away, someone — presumably his savior again — would defeat the monster, and the credit would go to him.
That was not what he needed right now. In fact, his false reputation as 'S-Class Hero King' was the last thing he'd need. Soon, everyone'd count on him to solve a crisis he couldn't solve — again!
Usually, that crisis'd solve itself, but to be honest, he'd rather go home and not deal with this at all. Granted, he's getting stronger, bit by bit — actually stronger felt extremely good!
But really, he'd rather stay in his apartment and play games all day. He wanted to actually become stronger, yeah. But at the risk of dying? No thanks.
"I just wanna go home…"
"Hey, you!"
"Hmm?" Turning around, King saw a few figures approaching him, grinning as they walked towards him. They were pretty normal looking, almost like the people of this tavern.
"Yes?"
"You're the Shield Hero, right?"
"Yes. Is there something you want?" King asked, no longer surprised at how people couldn't even call him by his name. Hell, it was as if people could remember name would be a sin in this world.
"Man, for a hero, you sure look lonely! How about we become friends, huh? All the other heroes have companions, why don't we join you?"
"Hmm, I ask you again. Are you sure about this?" Slowly, he cut another piece of meat from his meal, putting it in his mouth with 'deadly calm'.
"Of course we are!" They looked at each other, and King could already tell that something wasn't right with them.
"Then I'll have to ask you a few questions. Do you have proper gear?" He asked first. He wanted to clear up whether they needed equipment or not.
Even if they didn't, it was perfectly fine. He could just buy them some cheap gear and have them level with him until they could afford their own gear. The problem was if they were just aiming to have him pay for their gear and then disappear afterwards. True, this was just a stereotype in video games, but this world was stereotypical enough to warrant King's caution.
"No, we don't!" Almost proudly, they declared, laughing at each other. "You'll have to buy us some."
"Hmm. I suppose that can do." He honestly didn't like it, and something about them didn't feel right, and even so, what could he do? He wasn't confident enough to go asking around for any companions, and with his terrible reputation as 'the Shield Demon' and 'disgusting rapist', he doubted anyone would want to come adventuring with him anyway.
"Great! Now, before we do anything, why don't you come with us?"
"Fine, just let me finish my meal. But still, why do you want go out now? It is already night, and no blacksmith I know open their shops this late at night. If you want to talk about your equipment, we can go tomorrow, instead."
"Just come with us! We want to show you something... don't worry, you won't regret a thing."
One of them got extremely close — a little too close for comfort. He was almost right in King's face, and with that heavy smell of booze, King reckoned this man was probably way too drunk and needed a quiet taxi ride home. Problem was, taxis didn't exist here, and this guy was currently in front of him, and that was a problem.
It was pretty much obvious they wanted something from him, and at this rate, he could see them trying to extort him for some money.
"Sigh... I've already said this; If you want to talk about your equipment, we can go in the morning. It is currently night, and I haven't finished my meal." King said calmly, continuing to eat his meal.
"Hey, hey! Don't be so cold... and don't you worry, about our equipment..." The man in the lead pulled out a knife. "Why don't you pay us in advance? We can get our own equipment after..."
"I was right, after all. They're just planning to extort me." King expected this. Still, if this was some time ago, he would've been scared witless. Now, he knew that his stats were incredibly high, and could basically shrug off an attack from some of the higher-level monsters, a puny dagger like that would do almost nothing to him.
At times like this, he wished that his infamy as the S-Class Hero King was here, as it would probably deter any sane person from trying to mug him.
Still, with his increased stats, he could probably deal with these guys no problem. After all, he was twice as strong as a bear with his increased stats, and… wait, actually, there was a new problem...
He might accidentally harm them too much, the guards would have a proper excuse to throw him in jail- and he wouldn't have enough time to level up!
...Now, before him was a whole new problem. He needed to ensure that these people didn't get overly harmed, or even die! Even if he could cover it under self-defense, with how unreasonable the people were in this world, they would probably throw him in jail anyway!
"...I suppose you were those kinds of people after all." King said, unmoved by the knife. To be completely honest, he didn't fear the knife in his hands. At this stage, he was just afraid of harming that guy! If this escalated to a physical conflict, King was confident in getting away unscathed — but no matter how this turned out- he would be on the short end — and probably, no, most likely thrown into prison!
The best way to resolve this crisis was to try and settle this peacefully!
"I'll just say this once. You can back away now, and I'll treat it as you did nothing. If you continue... I can't guarantee your safety."
"What did you said!?"
The air tensed up all of a sudden; now, it was especially threatening.
"That's enough! We'll beat you up!"
"Hand over all your money and equipment or die, you bastard!"
A few of them pulled out their daggers, pointing them at King.
"Dammit! That just made things worse! Still, is no one trying to stop this?! Does the world just hate me?!" King thought, his mind racing. Never in his life did he think that instead of needing to escape from a monster, he had to deal with hurting someone as little as possible!
[Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!]
Thinking about possibly being thrown in prison, all his items being confiscated... Forgive him for being anxious, but he couldn't help it! His stupid heart was just too loud!
"What's that sound?" Many of the tavern patrons raised their head, hearing that strange sound emanate from King. Some were confused, others were gossiping about the Shield Hero getting into a fight with some civilians.
"Hand over your money!" the knife once more pointed at him.
Glancing around for a moment, it seemed that not only the patrons, but the innkeeper himself just turned away his attention rather than trying to help him. True, he didn't really need any help, but some assistance would be appreciated! Actually, no… wasn't this his damn job?!
No matter the time or place, he always managed to get himself into trouble. So much for being the 'Shield Hero'... What was he going to do?!
"Think, think! How do I always get out of these situations…?"
He pondered for a moment.
Whenever something like this happened, something else always manages to save him so that he could run away.
Either another hero popped up to defeat the monster- and he could run away, or the monster realizes who he is and surrenders or runs away, or he manages to bluff his way out.
"The first option is highly unlikely. Even if another one of those 'summoned heroes' appeared in this tavern at this specific time, what'll stop them from turning against me, as well? True, if it was either the Sword or Bow hero, they'd be rather reasonable. But if it's that rash Spear Hero... let's not talk about stopping them, he'd probably attack me himself! He tried to kill me when I was falsely accused, after all!"
"The second option is even more unlikely. They've already taken out their daggers, and they know that I'm the Shield Hero. I suppose the third option is my best option..."
"Leave, while you can…" He lowered his head, his expression darkening. If he couldn't convince them to leave, he had to try and intimidate them. That usually happened without his input anyway, so that was his best bet.
"What do you mean, huh? Scared?"
"Don't you know who I am? I am King, the Shield Hero!"
[Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!]
"Wh-what's this sound…" the surrounding people started to freak out, this sound was getting louder and louder! Earlier, it was just a slow, steady rhythm. Now, it was gradually getting stronger and louder, and they could feel the air start to freeze, the temperature dropping... they could even feel the vibrations in the air!
"Just leave. It isn't worth it." His unrelenting expression, his steady pace at which he continued his meal- he was basically showing how unconcerned he was!
"Yo-You think you can scare us?"
King stood up after calmly eating one last bite, sipping his juice, and placed a few coins on the table.
"For the meal…" He said, grabbing his bag and heading towards the exit, not even looking behind his back. It was almost as if he knew with utmost confidence that they weren't going to attack him- or that he knew exactly how they were going to attack him.
"Tch! You cocky bastard! Don't you dare try and ignore us!"
Yet, at that point King already left, leaving the ruffians to their own devices.
"Come on, let's follow him, we will corner him in the alley." One of them stepped forth, just for his friend to place his hand on his shoulder.
"Rock… are you sure?"
"What? Don't say you're scared of him! If it was those other heroes, like the Spear, Sword or Bow Hero, then we'd be fools to fight them, but this is just the damn Shield Hero! He doesn't have anything beside his stupid shield!"
"I-I don't know…" Muttered Rock's companion. "But that man, something doesn't seem right with him." His companions nodded, feeling the ominous air left behind The Strongest Man.
"Yeah, no one's that calm when knives are pointed at them, not even soldiers."
"A-And that weird thumping…" One of them gulped. "When that rhythm started, I felt a strange chill. It was almost like death was coming for us."
All of them nodded, shaken by the experience.
"Tch! Cowards! Just because he's a damn hero!? It doesn't matter. If you guys aren't going to join me, then I'll just do it myself!"
"Rock…" With that, the bandit left his companions behind, going after King to mug him.
...
"Ah, man! That was cutting it close! Why do I always get into situations like this?" King really cursed his 'luck'. No matter what he did, no matter how he tried to lay low, he always got himself into such situations.
His heart is was still pounding; he couldn't believe he got away with such a basic bluff.
"Ah… no matter, at least my bluff worked. On that note, I was seriously worried they would attack me." He muttered, only audible for himself.
"Hey, you there, stop!"
"Shit…" Just when he thought that he got away from them, these bandits followed him. Not to mention, they were currently in a dark alleyway, this was the prime scenario for them to try and mug him!
"What?" He hoped that he didn't need to deal with that stupid situation any more, but as per usual, nothing ever went how he wanted it to. He was probably the unluckiest person in existence.
"Look… how about I pay you and you leave me alone? Is that satisfactory to you?"
The ruffians looked at each other, whispering to each other.
"Tch! After how you humiliated us? No way! Guys, he's mine! Don't you dare interfere! I'll open him up from head to toe!"
"Are you sure, Rock? He's a hero, even attacking one of them is a serious offense." Wait, really? So even if they attacked first, they would be in the wrong? Damn, if he knew about it sooner, he wouldn't have minded them attacking him. Even if he wounded them badly, he would probably still not be in the wrong. It was self-defense, after all!
"It's just a meaningless title, I'll show you guys that even a hero can fall!"
"Are you sure…?" King tried to act, hoping his play will intimidate them enough.
"Yeah, Rock, this guy is quite menacing…" Whispered the other member.
"Shut up! I'll deal with him myself, just watch me!" Grabbing the dagger strapped onto his waist, Rock took a strange stance. "Don't interfere…"
"Rock…"
After gritting his teeth, the bandit started to charge towards King.
"Sure thing Rock…" The other members just sighed, knowing well how hard-headed their leader was.
"Well, I suppose I can just consider this self defense." King thought, seeing the slow and sluggish movements of the fellow.
Dodging them with natural ease, this only seemed to infuriate the bandit as he continued swinging the blade without paying heed to his surroundings.
"Still, I'd rather not try and kill someone if possible, so maybe I could just put on a show of force to intimidate them into surrendering. Also, judging by his attire, he's probably a bandit. I wonder if I could get a reward by turning him in...?"
Dodging the next swipe, King decided to simply end the farce now.
When the next dagger strike came, King raised his shield to block it, and as expected, the dagger broke due to it's low quality. Not to mention, King's Legendary Weapon was unbreakable. Some random dagger couldn't possibly be able to even scratch the shield, and instead broke due to colliding with said shield. Well, this was probably enough. The bandit no longer had a weapon, and if it came to a physical fight, King was confident this bandit wasn't higher than level 33.
"A-ah..." a piece of shrapnel from the shattered dagger managed to land directly onto the bandit's carotid artery, digging deep enough to pierce the skin...
And a shower of blood spurted out from the vein. The blood pressure of the artery, combined with the increased heart rate from the adrenaline of fighting, the blood seemed to pour non-stop from his opponent's neck, whom collapsed within seconds of the blood flowing from his neck.
"Oh... shit. Oh shit oh shit oh shit ohshitohshitohshitohshitOHSHIT!"
[Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!]
"Th-that's…"
"Rock!"
"I-I already told him not to do so…"
King looked at the bandit in shock, his face was covered in a crimson red liquid, and in the dark alley, it made him even more menacing. "No... nonononono!" King's mind raced. "I didn't want to kill him at all! Why does this always happen?!"
[Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!]
In the darkness, half covered in blood — the area filled with the roar of the King Engine… All of it aided the hero in looking even more ominous and terrifying for the muggers, urging them to run away, to flee from the terrifying monster they awakened! One could imagine a bloodbath if they stayed any longer!
"Ahhhhh!"
"Run away!"
"He'll kill us all!"
"S-so bloodthirsty!"
King stood ramrod still, paralyzed after realizing that he had basically killed a man.
"Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!" King started to panic; his attention snapped back to his attacker. "Are they just going to leave a dying man alone on the ground?! Hey, come back!"
He breathed heavily, trying to shout for them to come back. Alas, his mouth couldn't move, he was still stuck where he was, no sound could come out of his mouth!
"St-Stay calm! Stay calm! Stay calm!"
[Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!]
These people weren't loyal at all! Leaving their dying comrade on the streets next to a stranger? That was some of the most cowardly men he's ever met!
...Well, aside from him. He was likely to do so… much faster than any of them would!
"I didn't want to kill him in the first place, what the hell was that?!" King said to himself inwardly. All he did was put on a show of force to intimidate them into leaving- the last thing he wanted to do was kill someone, yet that was what was going to happen- if he didn't hurry up and save this person!
No, he shouldn't panic. Stay calm! Panic was the worst enemy one could have in serious situations!
"Shit! Why does this always happen to me?" Quickly recovering a cloth bandage from his bag, his brain worked at high speed.
When one wanted to get a driving license, one needed first to complete a first aid exam. Unfortunately, King never finished the practical part of the driving exam- driving a car was just too stressful for him! All the people on the street, the signs and the signals in the car that one needed to pay attention to when using a car? Plus, the monsters that pop up while driving? He didn't need that! He'd rather take the commute and be done with it.
On the other hand, he managed to complete the first-aid part of the exam — with exemplary results!
"Remember! Remember! What do you do when someone's bleeding?"
Judging from the obvious bleeding spurting from the wound, it was arterial bleeding. King couldn't just wrap his neck — that would suffocate him!
"Yes! Now I remember!" Tearing a piece of the bandage with sheer strength, King stuffed the wound and covered it with more bandages.
"Ah... I know he's bleeding from the neck, but that's so much blood!" He hated blood. He was disgusted by it. Being covered in it just made things worse! Still, there were times he was covered in worse fluids after a monster attack. Getting home dripping with blood and guts wasn't the best of weekends, but it was most of his weekends.
"Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! Don't die!" Upon noticing that the fellow's conditioning was worsening, he recovered the healing potion he bought from the pharmacist — as a safety precaution to be sure that he could recover on the field if he was badly injured.
In truth, he still couldn't craft proper healing potions, just ones that healed minor illness and injuries like minor cuts and abrasions — and this one was not a 'minor' injury, that's for sure! Though it was true that the cut wasn't that deep, the fact that it cut the artery was enough for it to be considered a heavy injury, he'd likely die from shock and or blood loss even if he completely stopped the bleeding.
"Dammit! Work!"
The person that tried to stab him started to tremble; it seemed like his whole body was in shock due to the blood loss! His mouth even started to foam.
"Tsk! So disgusting!"
Nonetheless, King gently pried his mouth open with his shield, pouring the potion in his mouth; he couldn't just give up! He was no saint, and neither did he want to be a hero, but he was at least a decent person- if he could save someone, he would damn well do his best to save them.
"Heal already! The pharmacist said that this could heal wounds almost instantly! Heal!"
He popped open one more potion, stuffing it down his throat, and the shaking stopped, the man losing his consciousness for a moment.
"I-Is he alive?"
"AHHHHHHH!"
"AHHHHHHH!" King shouted back in response to Rock's sudden shout, the mugger jumped up, and then collapsing again right away. It seemed as though the shock of being 'resurrected' like this was too much for the poor man.
"Wha-What the fuck was that!?" King thought, not knowing what the hell that was about. He tried his best to save him, and he seemingly did. But what the hell was that at the end, though?
"Looks like you're facing quite a predicament here."
"Hmm?" King turned his head towards the source of the sound, his senses heightened in response to the unknown voice, and a man stepped out from the shadow of the alley, revealing a strange rotund man wearing a ring-master's outfit.
"A... ring-master?" Suddenly his mind flashed to the one manga he read before about a ring-master that collected souls — this was strangely reminding him about that one manga!
This world got stranger and stranger with every passing moment, and with that- scarier!
First, muggers, then a ring-master appeared out of nowhere? If this wasn't a cliche anime plot, then he didn't know what was.
"Who are you?"
Looking at the man before him, wearing his strange ring-master costume and those large glasses...
Paired with his feathered cape and top-hat, it would be a complete lie to say that he didn't look suspicious at all!
"Hmm…" the 'ringmaster' walked towards King, inspecting the unconscious mugger, placing his two fingers on his neck.
"Still alive... you actually managed to save him even though he was bleeding that much without magic..." The ringmaster then laid eyes on both potion bottles on the floor, and smiled. "So you used those high-quality potions, eh? Those would cost quite a lot, surely it wasn't worth it to save one measly mugger that tried to steal from you, no less. You're quite the merciful one, aren't you?"
This strange little man offered a toothy grin to King, clapping his hands. It did nothing to lessen his fear… hell, it added to his apparent creepiness!
"Nice work. Well done! Well done…"
"You still haven't answered me. Who are you?" King stood up, trying to look tough, making sure to reveal no outward fear, in truth, he was too paralyzed by the recent happenings.
[Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!]
"Now, now! You need not be violent."
"Who wants to be violent, you just scared me!" King deadpanned in his mind. Who in the world wouldn't be nervous after a strange man pops out of nowhere to inspect an unconscious person beside you? That wasn't normal! In fact, nothing in this world was normal, he took it back, he wanted to go home!
"I'm just a humble trader, walking around here on this beautiful night. Great sir, you seem to be in dire need, may I help you with this 'little' problem?" the trader leaned against his staff, despite the bloodied alley, still grinning.
"Well…"
Looking to his side, it couldn't be denied. King needed to do something. He couldn't just leave a half-dead person here in an alleyway.
He was the least worthy person to be a hero. Comparing himself to people like Saitama, Bang, Atomic Samurai, Genos... even those C-Class heroes were better heroes than him! But even then, he wasn't a horrible person. He caused this person to almost die, he'd deal with the aftermath properly.
"Yes, I wouldn't mind some help."
"I see… I see. Hmm, what to do?" The short man stroked his chin. "I can help you, as I have my business stationed not far from here. Of course, only if you have the coin to pay for his proper healing." The fat man rubbed his fingers together, expecting compensation.
"That's my luck…" King sighed, but what did he expect? People were greedy beings; of course they'd hope for compensation for anything they do. Even heroes of the association do not work for free.
If one cut the pay of all the heroes completely, he could say with confidence that a lot of the heroes would quit. He wouldn't say all of them, as he knew a few people that would earnestly help people as heroes with or without pay, but a good majority of people would quit.
Now, he wasn't saying the majority of heroes weren't earnest — there were quite a lot of heroes that were willing to risk life and limb to save others. But without the pay from the Heroes Association, it simply wasn't realistic to be able to support their heroic duties. The pay of the Heroes Association wasn't just an incentive for heroes to work harder — it was also support for heroes to do their work without needing to worry about their financial situation.
Still, though he didn't have access to his money right now, and nor did he have the true will to save people as a hero, he needed to do something.
"I am willing to pay for his recuperation, but I ask for only one thing..." King wanted to clear something up before he did anything with this shady character.
[Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!]
Looking at King from his angle with that bloodied face in the dark, King looked utterly terrifying! Even for the usually calm-and-collected trader, he couldn't help but start to fear for his life.
"Y-Yes… and what that would be?"
"Honesty. Don't try to deceive me."
"R-Right. That can be arranged." The trader adjusted his tie, nervous being around this man. The news circulating about him was not without a foundation; he was indeed an intimidating man.
"First, you will heal him. Only then will I pay for his healing."
"Naturally…" Nodded the short man, already fearing for what might happen if he denied this request.
"Well then!" The man cleared his throat, trying to regain his composure and twisted his staff in the air stylishly to re-establish his lost confidence. "Grab him and follow me. My business is not that far from here..."
King just sighed. Great! Now he had to carry around a bloodied, half-dead man. Just what he needed tonight.