Chapter 1: The Outsider

“Someone! Is anyone there!?”

I heard a voice shouting from outside, directed toward the inside of my house.

The place where I currently live is deep in the forest, far removed from any human settlement.

The only ones who come here are a handful of friends or people with certain intentions.

Not recognizing the voice, I assumed it was the latter and stopped what I was doing to head toward the entrance.

“Alright, alright, hang on a sec…”

Just as I was about to open the front door and reached for the doorknob, I froze.

Outside my house, there were over a dozen people.

If they were here for a certain purpose, they wouldn’t have come in such a large group, and they would likely attack the house without any warning.

Which meant they weren’t here for that purpose.

Who are these people? I started to wonder, but in the meantime, they continued calling out loudly.

Annoyed by their relentless shouting, I decided to give the noisy visitors a piece of my mind.

“Shut up!! Can’t you consider how much of a nuisance you’re being!? Who the hell are you!?”

I threw a bit of magic pressure into my words as I yelled, and they all recoiled in fear.

Looking at the ones who were cowering, I noticed several men in impressive matching armor, a few in standard armor, and, for some reason, a woman in frilly lace-adorned armor who looked like she held a high status.

“Huh? Who the hell are you guys?”

As I questioned this inexplicable group, the men in the fancy armor immediately stood up.

“You! Do you know who you’re talking to?!”

“Huh? How should I know? Who are you?”

It’s our first time meeting—how am I supposed to know who they are?

Is this guy an idiot?

Despite the fact that I was just stating the obvious, the guy in the impressive armor—who I’ll just call “knight” for simplicity—looked furious.

“Such insolence…”

“Stand down,” a woman interrupted as the knight started to speak. It was the woman in the lacy armor.

The fact that this knight was getting riled up over my “rudeness” probably meant he was someone of fairly high status.

And for her to interrupt him like that meant this woman had an even higher position.

Ugh… I can already tell this is going to be a hassle.

“My subordinate was rude. I am Victoria, the First Princess of the Kingdom of Weimar. You are Kenta Maya, correct?”

The woman who called herself Victoria had beautiful, long golden hair that reached down to her waist and flawless, pale skin—a truly stunning beauty.

At least in appearance.

But a princess, huh? This is getting more annoying by the minute.

“…Yeah, that’s right.”

When I answered her inquiry, the knight that the princess had stopped earlier bristled with anger.

“You insolent fool!! How dare you speak to Her Highness that way!!”

“…”

With that knight’s attitude, I now understood their position in coming here.

Seriously, this world is just rotten.

“Stop it! I apologize! Please, don’t be offended!”

The princess was trying to smooth things over, but there’s no way I wasn’t going to be offended after being treated like that.

What on earth is she talking about?

“…So? What do you want?”

Still annoyed, I asked with a sour expression. The knight tried to say something again but was quickly held back by the others.

He really is an idiot, isn’t he? Can’t he learn?

Noticing the cold look I was giving him, the princess started speaking to try and fix the situation.

“Actually, we would like to ask for your help, Maya-dono!”

“My help?”

“Y-Yes. After you defeated the Demon King, we thought the demon nation would collapse, but… they’ve crowned a new king and have begun attacking human towns and villages again.”

“Really?”

I replied indifferently, having little interest in the matter, and I could see the princess flinch. She probably hadn’t expected her story to be brushed off so casually.

“We… we’ve been trying to handle it ourselves, but… the demons have a greater advantage in magic than we humans do. The damage has already been significant. So, we’re hoping you would lend us your strength, since you once defeated their king.”

The princess looked at me intently, her expression serious. But…

“No.”

When I declined her request, the princess’s face went blank, clearly not expecting her plea to be rejected.

She probably couldn’t fathom the idea of a princess’s request being turned down.

But whether it’s the princess, the king, or any of the rulers of this world, I had no intention of granting their requests.

“Wh-why…”

Her clueless, almost thoughtless question made me bristle with irritation.

“Why? Why would you even think I’d want to help the ‘humans of this world’?”

“…”

The princess fell silent, unable to answer my question.

For her, it was probably inconceivable that her commands could be rejected.

And that only annoyed me more.

“You practically kidnapped me from another world, lied to me to get me to fight the demons, and after I took down their king, I returned only to be sentenced to death as a traitor instead of being sent back home. Why the hell would I help a world like that?”

When I said that, the princess desperately tried to justify herself.

“Oh, that was… something Lindor Kingdom did, not Weimar Kingdom…”

“When I destroyed half of Lindor’s royal capital to escape execution, I was put on a global wanted list. Weimar included.”

“Th-that’s…”

The princess was left speechless by my response.

The whole reason I live hidden away in the depths of this forest, far from civilization, is because after I escaped execution, I destroyed half of Lindor’s capital, bringing down a good number of the royal family who had summoned me. As a result, I became a globally wanted man.

Now, I’m hunted no matter where I go in this world, which led me to this secluded life in the forest.

However, word of this place must have gotten out, because bounty hunters occasionally show up here to try and claim the reward on my head.

That’s the “certain purpose” some have in coming here.

Most of them believe the claims of my so-called crimes and are lured by the high bounty, but once I show them the gap in our abilities, they never bother me again.

A few, though, have come with genuine conviction to rid the world of a “great criminal” like me. After I beat them, they heard the truth about my situation and even sympathized, shedding tears.

One of them still keeps in touch, helping me with any essentials I can’t get on my own out here.

“It sounds like you understand my point. So, please just leave. You’re a nuisance.”

“A-ah, but…”

Even though I urged her to leave, the princess hesitated, still trying to say something.

But what more could she say? It’s useless.

Just then, the knight, apparently reaching his limit, barked out:

“How dare you show such disrespect to Princess Victoria! Do you think a lowly person like you can refuse a request from Her Highness?!”

“W-wait…”

The princess tried to restrain him, but the knight was too caught up in his own fervor.

“Or is it that you’d be troubled if the demons were defeated?! Aha, I understand now. You hold a grudge against Lindor Kingdom. You’ve been inciting the demons to exact your revenge!”

“…”

I was so dumbfounded by the absurd logic this knight confidently presented that I was at a loss for words.

How did he even come to that conclusion?

“You can’t deny it because it’s the truth, can you?!”

I let out a deep sigh at the knight’s foolish accusation.

“Look… don’t you realize something?”

“Realize what?!”

“I’m the one who defeated the Demon King.”

“So what?!”

“…To the demons, what am I?”

“Why, you’re the one who killed their ki-king…”

As he answered my question, the knight’s voice grew quieter, finally realizing the truth.

And honestly, it pains me to even call this “truth.”

Why couldn’t he figure that out sooner?

“How would I, their enemy, be able to incite the demons? Care to explain that to me?”

“Th-that’s…”

Ignoring the knight who had started mumbling, I turned back to the princess.

“The fact that you brought along someone who thinks it’s natural to make others obey tells me all I need to know about your attitude here. You’re calling this a ‘request,’ but you fully expected to get what you wanted. If I refused, you’d just force me to comply, wouldn’t you?”

“Th-that’s not…!”

“It’s not convincing when you have someone like him here.”

I spat out the words, and the princess shot the knight a sharp glare.

The knight’s face went from shock to despair. Serves him right.

“So, get lost already. You’re an eyesore.”

With that, I turned on my heel and headed back toward the house.

“W-wait! If we leave, then…”

“Shut up! Get out of here!!”

Since they were being annoyingly persistent, I released a bit of my magic to intimidate the princess’s group.

They all turned pale and froze in place.

Having had my painful past dragged up, I couldn’t help but vent my anger at them as they stood there, motionless.

“Handle your own problems yourselves! If you can’t, then give up and perish! Why should I have to do anything about it? I… I…!”

I…

“I’m an outsider in this world!”

I don’t belong in this world.

I’m an outsider.

Why do they think I’d do something for them?

They’ve got to be kidding.

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