Chapter 1: Outsiders
“Is anyone there?! Anyone?!”
A voice called out from outside, echoing into the depths of my home.
I was currently nestled deep within a forest, far removed from human settlements. The only visitors I typically received were a handful of friends or those with a specific purpose.
Since I didn’t recognize the voice, I assumed it belonged to the latter and paused my work to head toward the entrance.
“Alright, alright, just a moment…”
Just as I reached for the doorknob, I halted in my tracks.
Outside stood a group of over a dozen humans. If they were here for a specific purpose, they wouldn’t have come in such numbers, nor would they be shouting without hesitation.
That meant they weren’t here for a friendly visit.
What could they possibly want? As I pondered this, the visitors continued to call out loudly.
Growing increasingly annoyed, I decided to confront the noisy intruders.
“Shut up already!! Can’t you think about how loud you’re being?! Who the hell are you?!”
I infused my words with a pressure of magic power, and the group collectively froze in shock.
As I observed them, I noticed several men clad in impressive armor, along with a few in standard gear. Among them was a woman dressed in an ornate armor adorned with frills, suggesting she held a high status.
“Huh? What do you want?”
As I questioned this bewildering group, the armored men stood up with indignation.
“How dare you speak to us in such a manner?!”
“Huh? I don’t know who you are.”
Why would I know them? It was our first meeting.
Is this guy an idiot?
Despite my perfectly reasonable response, the armored men—let’s just call them knights for simplicity—were filled with rage.
“W-What an outrageous insult…”
“Wait a moment!”
Just as one knight was about to retort, the woman in frilly armor interrupted him.
Given that she was shouting about rudeness, it seemed this knight held some rank. The fact that she could silence him indicated that she was of even higher status.
Ugh… this is only getting more troublesome.
“My subordinate has acted inappropriately. I am Victoria, the First Princess of the Weimar Kingdom. You are Kenta Maya, are you not?”
The woman who introduced herself as Victoria had beautiful long golden hair that cascaded down to her waist and flawless, snow-white skin. She was indeed a stunning beauty.
That said, she was still a princess, which only added to my annoyance.
“…Yeah, that’s me.”
As I confirmed my identity, the knight who had been silenced by Victoria exploded with anger.
“How dare you speak to Her Highness in such a manner!!”
“…”
From the knight’s attitude, I could tell exactly what kind of position they held in coming here.
This world truly is a mess.
“Stop it! I apologize! Please don’t take offense!”
Princess Victoria pleaded, but there was no way I could not be offended after being treated like that.
What is she even saying?
“…So? What do you want?”
Having firmly taken offense, I asked with a disgruntled tone. The knight attempted to speak again, but was restrained by his fellow knights.
Seriously, how stupid can he be? Does he have no learning ability?
Noticing my cold gaze directed at the knight, Princess Victoria hurriedly began to explain their purpose.
“W-Well, actually, we would like to request your assistance, Maya-dono!”
“Assistance?”
“Y-Yes. After you defeated the Demon Tribe’s king, we believed their nation would collapse… but they have since rallied behind a new king and have begun attacking human towns and villages once more.”
“Oh, really?”
I replied nonchalantly, lacking any real interest, and I could see Princess Victoria flinch at my indifference.
She probably never expected her words to be brushed off so casually.
“We are also working to address this issue, but the Demon Tribe is stronger in magic than we humans. We have already suffered considerable losses. Therefore, we need your strength, the one who once defeated their king!”
Princess Victoria gazed at me with earnest eyes, her expression serious…
“Not a chance.”
When I flatly rejected her request, her face went blank in shock.
She likely never imagined that her wish as a princess could be denied.
But I had no intention of granting the wishes of any ruler in this world, be it a princess or a king.
“W-Why…?”
Her bewildered, almost ignorant murmuring irritated me further.
“Why? Why on earth would I lend my strength to ‘the human tribe of this world’?”
“…”
Princess Victoria fell silent at my retort.
For her, her commands were absolute, something that could never be overturned.
That realization only served to further fuel my irritation.
“You summoned me here from another world, practically abducting me, lied to me about being thrust into a war against the Demon Tribe, and when I returned after defeating their king, what awaited me was not a return to my original world, but execution as a traitor? Why on earth would I lend my strength to such a crummy world?”
As I spoke, Princess Victoria desperately began to make excuses.
“Th-That was! It was not the Weimar Kingdom, but the Lindor Kingdom that caused that…”
“When I half-destroyed the capital of Lindor to escape execution, I was declared a wanted criminal across the world, you know? Even in Weimar.”
“T-That is…”
It seemed Princess Victoria was running out of words in response to my statements.
The reason I was hiding out in this secluded forest was precisely because I had been declared a wanted criminal after half-destroying the capital of Lindor, which involved the royal family there.
Thanks to that, I could be pursued anywhere in this world, leading me to retreat to this forest.
However, it seemed this place had become a public secret, as bounty hunters occasionally came seeking the reward on my head.
That was the “specific purpose” I had mentioned earlier.
Most of them believed I was a great criminal, blinded by the high bounty, and when I demonstrated the difference in our strengths, they never bothered me again.
Of course, there were those who genuinely sought to take me down for the sake of the world, not for the bounty.
After defeating one such individual, I shared my experiences with them, and they ended up shedding tears in sympathy.
By the way, we still keep in touch.
They help me out with things I lack in this self-sufficient, secluded life.
“It seems you have some understanding of the situation. So, why don’t you just leave? You’re a nuisance.”
“W-Wait…”
I urged them to leave quickly, but Princess Victoria stubbornly tried to say something more.
It was pointless to continue talking.
As I thought this, the knight finally reached his limit and shouted.
“How dare you show such disrespect to Her Highness, Victoria!! Do you think someone as lowly as you can refuse her request?!”
“W-Wait a moment…”
Princess Victoria attempted to restrain the knight, but he was too caught up in his own momentum to stop.
“Or do you have some reason to oppose the extermination of the Demon Tribe?! Ah, I see! You hold a grudge against the Lindor Kingdom! You stirred up the Demon Tribe to take revenge, didn’t you?!”
“…”
I was left speechless by the knight’s absurdly confident and ridiculous theory.
How could he possibly arrive at such a conclusion?
“It’s the truth, so you can’t refute it, can you?!”
I let out a deep sigh at the knight’s foolishness.
“Ugh… have you forgotten something?”
“Forgotten what?!”
“I’m the one who defeated the Demon Tribe’s king, you know?”
“So what?!”
“…What does that make me in the eyes of the Demon Tribe?”
“Uh, well… you’re the one who defeated their king…”
As the knight finally began to grasp the truth through my questioning, his voice gradually grew quieter.
Honestly, I didn’t want to call this realization a truth.
How could he not have thought of it?
“How could I, the enemy of the Demon Tribe, possibly incite them? Please, enlighten me.”
“W-Well…”
Ignoring the knight, who had suddenly become flustered, I turned my attention back to Princess Victoria.
“From the moment you chose to bring someone who thinks it’s natural to command others, it’s clear what stance you all have in coming here. You say it’s a request, but you expect your demands to be met without question. If I hesitated, you would have forced me, wouldn’t you?”
“T-That’s not true!”
“Having someone like him here makes your argument utterly unconvincing.”
As I spat those words out, Princess-sama shot a piercing glare at the knight from earlier.
The knight, taken aback by her gaze, quickly shifted from shock to despair.
Serves you right.
“That’s why, just get lost. You’re an eyesore,” I said, turning on my heel to head back home.
“W-wait! If we leave like this, then we—”
“Shut up! Just go home already!!”
Their persistence was infuriating, so I released a surge of Magic Power to intimidate Princess-sama and her entourage.
All of them turned pale, frozen in place, unable to move.
Confronted by the unpleasant memories of my past, I couldn’t help but unleash my pent-up feelings toward the motionless Princess-sama and her companions.
“You all need to figure things out for yourselves!! If you can’t, then just give up and perish!! Why do I have to be the one to save you?! I am! I am!!”
I am—
“I am an outsider in this world!?”
A being that shouldn’t exist in this realm.
And yet, despite being an outsider, why do they expect me to take action?
This is ridiculous.