The sight of the royal palace collapsing was spectacular no matter when you saw it.
Actually, this was the first time I’d seen it… Whether first or not, it was a meaningful scene to me in its own way.
But the people of the royal palace didn’t seem to agree with my opinion much.
“Stop that guy!”
“Even if you say it like that… Will your subordinates listen?”
“Grr…!”
The royal palace knight commander pointing his sword at me was a middle-aged, robust human male.
From the faint light shimmering on his sword, he seemed to have reached the rare realm of swordmaster.
Swordmaster.
High-level personnel limited to a handful across this vast Armenial Continent.
Despite reaching the swordmaster realm that many people admired, the knight commander’s emotions toward me were filled with fear and dread.
And that… was the same for his subordinates under his command.
They held spears and swords, shielding their bodies with shields, but they held no great value to me.
You could say they were no different from toothpicks.
The kingdom’s soldiers were using their only advantage—numbers—to surround me, but paradoxically, the ones surrounded were them, not me.
“Execute that vile bastard who assassinated His Highness and destroyed the royal palace!”
The knight commander’s order, squeezed out with barely mustered courage, was excessively clichéd.
I slapped my forehead with my hand.
Good grief, did they think I destroyed the palace and killed the king just to hear this nonsense?
No, absolutely not.
I merely made a vicious and cruel villain—who not only shortchanged the value of my labor but also tried to take the life of someone who served diligently—pay the appropriate price.
“Look here, knight commander. With your skills, couldn’t you live well and be treated nicely somewhere other than this shabby kingdom? Make a wise decision. I don’t want to see more blood here.”
I was a pacifist.
Though it’s not something a horrific, evil, and utterly ruthless royal serial killer—who gathered and killed the king, his wife, and all their blood relatives—should say.
Still, I loved peace.
The ones I wronged (even if it wasn’t something I started willingly) were the king and his blood relatives, not this knight commander trembling in fear so pitifully that it made me feel sorry just looking at him.
I didn’t want to slaughter the over a thousand soldiers, including the knight commander, all trembling in terror.
“The same goes for the soldiers. The king is dead. The ruler you bowed to and swore loyalty to is already dead, and charging at me won’t bring the dead back to life. Do you need to sacrifice your one and only life for a dead person? And they tried to scam me.”
I explained it briefly as a scam, but strictly speaking, I was almost killed too.
If I had been weaker, I wouldn’t be standing here like this.
“A scam! How dare you spout such outrageous nonsense after assassinating His Highness! Unforgivable!”
“Ah, please.”
It’s fine to kill those who give orders and hold authority.
Especially if they tried to take my head.
But those below them… The dogs obediently following their master’s (even a dead master’s) commands—I didn’t want to kill them.
They have no sense of self.
Essentially, knights, mages, or whatever—they looked no more than “trained dogs” to me.
Some might refute my words. However, that’s how I see them.
No matter how strong, no matter how much knowledge they hold in their heads, they are domesticated livestock that willingly chain themselves to a leash.
And usually… People get troubled when livestock runs amok.
That’s how I felt looking at those surrounded ones pointing spears and swords at me.
They have the shape and appearance of people, but essentially, they’re no different from pet dogs or cats that pant and perform tricks for their owners.
In a way, their appearance might be closer to the “ideal” dog or cat……
As a kind person who likes animals with pure and innocent souls, I didn’t want to end these pitiful ones with my own hands and get blood on them unnecessarily. Really.
“Don’t charge in to die for nothing… Ah, so you’ve chosen. If that’s the free will of you loyal guys, then as you wish.”
“All units! Slay that traitor! Charge!”
“Waaah!”
Whether it was fear, madness, or the result of long training……. The soldiers charging at me with spears and swords raised felt unreal, like watching a movie from behind a screen.
But just like possessing a character in a game I enjoyed, this too must be reality.
What a waste of blood… I shouldn’t have accepted the king’s request from the beginning.
The king’s plea-like request to eliminate the wyvern flock that had settled near the kingdom.
More precisely, I regretted being tempted for a moment by the considerable amount of gold coins the corpse had promised.
What good is that money? It’s nice to have, but I can live just fine without it.
‘Still, I’m not the one who broke the promise.’
“Aaaargh!”
I mechanically disassembled the charging soldiers.
Down to the last one.
I didn’t use the term “people” to refer to them. They were nothing more than trained beasts.
Just because we use the same language doesn’t guarantee it’s a conversation with others. (It doesn’t.
“Mon, monster…….”
“Monster? I’m a proper person too. Ah, though right now, I’m not a human like you.”
“You madman…. His Highness… shouldn’t have brought in a monster like you…….”
“Looking back on the past only hurts yourself.”
I beheaded the knight commander, the last in line.
“…”
I didn’t count how many, but roughly over a thousand human corpses lay with heads separated from bodies.
The view from above was like a slaughterhouse. Not a modern one, but an ancient slaughterhouse. Seeing so much blood in one day made me a bit dizzy.
Perhaps because I didn’t take my usual leisurely rest time, my body was quite fatigued.
But that’s as far as it goes.
Any further emotions… Well.
I felt no great sympathy for those killed by slashing, tearing, and bursting in the ruins of the collapsed royal palace.
It was pitiful, but they made their choice. Choices come with consequences.
Over a thousand died, but there were still survivors.
I only dealt with those who charged at me—more precisely, the suicide hopefuls who raised spears and swords (or perhaps baring fangs and claws would be closer to the essence) at me. It was like providing a free service.
If they really wanted to die, they shouldn’t have charged at me; they could have hanged themselves. Or better yet, headed to the wyvern nest—then at least a monument honoring their bravery might have remained.
But it’s already in the past. Can’t turn it back.
Still, their words and actions aren’t entirely incomprehensible.
There are those who bash their heads against rocks to achieve near-impossible, heroic feats.
Men, after all, each have their own Don Quixote in their hearts.
Even if their end is death in youth, I don’t want to insult the dead unnecessarily.
“I need to collect my unpaid reward.”
It would be annoying and bothersome to bury each of the dead one by one.
Above all, there are too many.
Fighting and beheading enemies, cutting off their breath, is simple, but the cleanup is tedious.
Was there ever any affectionate something between the dead and me to begin with?
Once while guiding me to the wyvern flock’s location, and twice just now pointing swords at me.
The number of meetings was too few for any human interaction or intimate relationship to form between us. And those gaps were filled with irreversible horrific events.
“It’s my fault, my fault.”
It’s my fault for not seeing through people’s essence properly and falling for the King of Bers’s words that he’d give me enough imperial gold coins to make my mouth water if I killed the wyvern flock.
That said, it doesn’t mean the king and his family—who surrounded me with soldiers, scammed me, and even tried to take my life—are innocent.
“This is justified. It’s the rightful compensation I should receive.”
It was fortunate I didn’t completely destroy the royal palace.
I hadn’t planned this from the start…….
After clearing the debris of the half-collapsed royal palace, in some secretive and hidden place, I found the gold coins the dead king had promised.
Not just gold coins.
There were gems, various weapons and accessories too.
There were piles of silver coins like mountains.
They must have put a lot into security; even amid the collapsed ruins, the treasure vault maintained its original shape.
The reward for dealing with the wyvern flock.
The price for scamming me.
And… the price for trying to separate my head from my body, and for not properly managing the pups they raised, forcing me to tediously cut off their breaths.
I calculated thoroughly, rationally, and honestly, and took as much as I could.
Fortunately, the being that possessed me into the game character “Paramir” also gave me a virtual storage space invisible to others.
Is this kind of cheat or perk basic for isekai possession?
Making a monologue with no one else to hear, I carefully selected and put the gold, silver, treasures, and sparkling stones into my inventory.
I couldn’t take everything.
The inventory wasn’t infinite space, wider inside than it appeared from outside.
Thus, selecting only valuable items was essential.
I left the rest.
It was regrettable, but I had taken enough. Excessive greed brings disaster.
People should make a habit of taking only their rightful share.
“Where should I go now.”
After taking my rightful share, the path ahead felt daunting.
Usually in games, comics, or anywhere, when you possess someone, they give you a main quest or something to start with… But I had none.
What was given was the body of the character “Paramir” who had achieved max level. And an inventory that could hold a considerable amount of items (though not just anything).
And lastly, shabby everyday clothes good for blending in among the people of the Armenial Continent—that was all.
And so, one year.
Today, too, I wander this strange world, the Armenial Continent, alone.
“It would be nice to meet someone who doesn’t scam next time.”
Holding such hope.
Honesty. Trust. Faith. Hope. Love… Not quite that far, but people capable of devoting themselves for others.
Hoping to meet someone I can serve with the powerful, powerful, overwhelmingly powerful strength of my current “Paramir.”
I walked the path, leaving the collapsed Bers royal palace behind.