Both Duke Hasslerouge and I stand across from one another breathing heavily. Him more than I as being over 40 really eats into your stamina. The apartment is a disaster zone, with chairs and tables shattered to splinters and stuffing. At least two were reduced to smoldering ashes. The walls have massive scorch marks on them and the few walls were made of wood rather than normal stone, with massive holes in them around the same size of a full-grown man. We are about two yards from one another just staring.

He has a busted eyebrow which is bleeding profusely and running down his face, darkening his nice suit. His other eye is already turning black from bruising. His clothing is ripped and torn in places and almost all the buttons have been torn out. He holds his right arm limply at his side and his left is holding his right side.

I stand there a little crispy around the edges. The smell of burning hair comes from my head and I'm not sure if I have eyebrows still. I also have a black eye and a busted lip. My formal clothing is either burned or torn in the same manner as the Dukes. There are still glowing embers on my left sleeve and I hold the badly burned flesh underneath it with my other arm.

I spit some blood onto the charred floor. He wipes his face staining his white gloves a deep red. The table we were once sitting at is somehow both shattered and burned to a crisp at the same time. I am sure if we both took off our clothes massive bruises would be revealed. I can say I've fought tougher men in fisticuffs but I really can't remember when... maybe once back home with the Stella Coyote, but even then... it was nothing like this. I manage to say through my heavy breathing,

"I can't believe you used magic... pussy."

He snorts and replies,

"Oh yeah? Are you gonna go after an old man for cheating? Especially after you broke my arm?"

I chuckle and explain,

"Your arm isn't broken. I simply dislocated your elbow... possibly your shoulder. If it was broken it would've made a different sound."

He laughs and tries to move his arm but it just barely shakes for a moment while he grimaces in pain. He exhales loudly and says to me,

"Well... I haven't taken any form of hit since I was around your age... the war against the Duchy of Kent. I guess it's good for me to have a busted head every now and again."

He chuckles dryly as we both continue to stare one another down while slowly getting our breath back. I say to him lowly,

"Do you understand me now? My concerns?"

He laughs deeply for a second before he groans in pain and holds his broken ribs. He nods and replies,

"And do you understand my reasoning and ambitions?"

I nod once and then the Duke uses his foot to set a non-destroyed chair upright before lowering himself onto it. I do the same and we both sit with our heads thrown back in exhaustion. Every muscle in my body aches from how hard I had to fight this old man, plus the burns hurt really fucking bad. Duke Hasslerouge looks around the room quickly and then jokes,

"I think... I think the housekeeper is gonna hate us."

We both begin painfully laughing at the joke as we take a good look at how destroyed the room is. I had thrown him through at least two wooden walls, and during a grapple, we fell through the last remaining wooden wall. The chairs and tables broke from either using them as a weapon against one another or simply falling back into them, or in the case of the table we were sitting across from one another at, shattered because I had power-bombed the Duke through it. He's a tough old bastard that is for sure, and I don't know if I could beat him in an actual fight where anything goes, including highly destructive magic.

I had arm bared him which caused his elbow dislocation, and his shoulder came out when I double-legged him into the stone fireplace. His ribs got broken by a knee into his side during one of the times we went to the ground during the brawl. I busted his brow when I headbutted him in the opening stages of the fight.

My eye and mouth got busted when he threw some impressive punches I couldn't dodge, and he hit me with more than one chair, which I am certain of. He only used some small fire spells to create space between us after I disabled his arm. Our fight only stopped after we both ran out of gas after around ten minutes. Ten minutes may seem like a short time, but when you are giving your all in a fight it feels like an eternity.

There is a heavy knocking on the apartment door and the Duke motions for me to get it. I do as asked out of a newfound respect for the man. I still think he is a sack of shit, but at the very least I can say he is dedicated, and definitely not the kind of person to just order people to do his work. It's just that I have been in a proper position so far to do the dirty work without raising suspicion. He is more than capable and willing to do his deeds.

I answer the door to find two maids and two of the royal guards. One lifts the visor of his helmet revealing it to be Sertean. He looks past me and into the destroyed room with wide eyes and he asks, in the Alrius kingdoms language,

"Uhhhh... what happened here. There were reports of loud and... very dangerous sounding noises coming from this room... including some very vile obscenities. We have been sent to investigate... were you both attacked?"

Duke Hasslerouge laughs behind me before once again going quiet with a groan of pain. I then reply to Sertean,

"We simply were having a disagreement and couldn't understand one another's point of view or reasoning... we figured each other out."

The other royal guard tilts his head in confusion but Sertean understands. He laughs and says,

"The Duke must be one hell of a fighter then if he could bust your mouth."

We share a short laugh and he then declares,

"Well, there's nothing wrong with having... a mutually agreed upon brawl so we are gonna leave... you both may be transferred to a new apartment while this one is... well... rebuilt. We are also going to call some healers."

I nod before slowly closing the door and going back to my chair. We both sit quietly for a moment, mostly contemplating what we each said. Then the healers arrive. They enter the room and begin using magic to patch us up. In no time we are both back to top shape... but our clothes are destroyed so we acquire a new set each, not as nice as the stuff we ruined but it's still a formal suit. We are both forced out of the room and into another, smaller apartment while the big one is repaired. We sit across from one another for a while sipping on some wine while we wait. Duke Hasslerouge after a while sighs and says to me,

"I apologize for utilizing you beyond your... mental capabilities. With the good work you provided, I halfway thought you... well were either completely bought in, which was stupid for me to think because I never really explained my goals to you, or I thought you enjoyed it... which I now know is not the case. I understand the Frontiersmen are militaristic of course and are very martially oriented, but I didn't know you came from one of the groups that weren't... well bloodthirsty like those shark ones."

I nod confirming his statements. I then reply,

"Yeah... I get what your goals are now. As much as you told me I thought you were just doing a regular power-grab, which still isn't entirely wrong, but not the full story of course... I will in the future, keep up my good work, of course, but I do want to be given a full reason I am to fulfill my task. I don't want to be used as an attack dog anymore... especially if I don't know the reason."

He nods understandingly and he states,

"Yes, I greatly underestimated both your intelligence and skill. I will make sure you are as well-informed as possible moving forward... and please let me know if you feel as if you are once again a slave. I understand that's the part that bothered you the most. I will of course grant you the freedom you truly deserve."

After this small conversation, we once return to silence, digesting the whole situation. Suddenly Duke Hasslerouge gets up and retrieves a burlap sack of something. He tosses it to me and it's heavy and full of something metal. It feels like money. He then says to me,

"Well... you are a young man and the day is still young. Take this and go and enjoy what the royal capital has to offer. I... I think I'm going to take a nap."

I smile and thank him for the cash as I leave the room. Before I exit he tells me,

"This is your freedom... use it wisely."

I nod understanding his statement and begin to leave the palace, not knowing what to expect from the city below...

It takes a lot to get out of the palace, I can't walk thirty feet without getting stopped by some random noble. All talks are either brown-nosing and calling me a hero or some kind of idol. It's annoying but it's harmless. I make small-talk for a little bit with each group but make up an excuse of having business to attend to. Then I make it to the front gates of the palace grounds, which stops me in my tracks. The royal guards won't let me leave unescorted. I try to argue and even request a weapon to wear as a precaution. Eventually, I break and request Sertean to be my escort.

It takes him a little while to arrive as he is forced to remove his heavy armor and gets dressed in a nice formal set of clothes, he is also stripped of his weapons aside from a rather flimsy-looking sword, but I am assured it is heavily enchanted. He wasn't told who he was escorting until he arrived and he joked with the rest of the royal guards,

"Well shit, Isa would save my ass if there ever was any trouble."

After a round of laughter from the gate guards we are about to head out when we both notice someone. We both tighten our throats and make a high-pitched yipping laugh and as expected we have a reply. The eldest Fulridge daughter approaches us with a wide smile and Henna tailing close behind trying to hide her face under her maid's bonnet.

We immediately ignore the noblewoman who starts spewing something about being at my service. Henna lets go of her bonnet as we three share greetings with small pecks on each other's cheeks as we both take one of her hands and kiss them. I turn to young lady Fulridge and ask her,

"Can I borrow your servant miss Henna? Just for today?"

She thinks about it for a while before she says,

"Of course m'lord, in exchange for a kiss."

I laugh and give her a big smooch on her cheek. She does a bashful giggle and quickly hurries off. I hope nothing strange happens because of that... who am I kidding, I probably started three rumors just from that. Then us three Hounds of Luna are allowed out of the safe walls of the palace grounds, and our merry band is let loose.

The city is... confusing, to say the least. Sertean makes sure we know where the upper-class district ends and begins so that we don't leave it. This is for no other reason than he doesn't want to walk up and down the hill that leads to the lower-class districts. His explanation is that he has to spend all day standing stock still and his legs are tired despite it being around noon. At first, our walk takes us to decorative fountains and monuments. We appreciate the hard work done when it came to making these works of practical art.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Eventually, we find a fairly nice tavern to eat some lunch. We are set down in a secluded corner of the tavern and are given top-class service. Once our first round of dark beer arrives we begin speaking in the Howl of the Moon language to one another. I start by asking Henna,

"How have you been treated? Is the Fulridge family fair?"

She takes a long drink from her tankard and replies after wiping the foam from her mouth,

"Yeah, the Fulridge are fine. I think I've had it better than most Frontiersmen women, I mean I've only had one advance on me and that was very early on by the slave merchant... I cut off his dick!"

We laugh at the man's misfortune, it's well known among all Frontiersmen that the women of the Red Hyenas are not to be fucked with, both literally and figuratively. She then continues,

"Yes, I was... domesticated by the head maid of the Fulridge family, but aside from my initial mistreatment as they put me in my role I haven't been mistreated too badly. The young lady I serve is a little self-centered, but overall manageable. She does make me sick though, with how weak and timid she is, but it's the culture of this society so I have to put up with it. The amount I have to save her on a weekly basis is honestly impressive. She is naive and quite... well stupid, but I do not dislike her."

I then ask Henna,

"So what would you say if I were to purchase your freedom, or buy you outright? "

She finishes her beer and then takes mine, downing it in a single go before she slams the tankard down and stares me right in the eye. She then says in a deadly serious tone,

"Please fucking do. Hell, I'll be a good girl for you too if you do that."

We all laugh again at this joke and I assure her that I will try to purchase her at my soonest convenience. She then asks about our treatment while under the yoke. Both Sertean and I give quick summaries of our mistreatment, and as more rounds of beer come, the easier it gets to tell my story so far.

By the time we get through sharing stories, both funny and horrifying of our times in the Alrius kingdom we are all slurring our words pretty badly. Judging by the expression on the barmaid's face we have consumed an impressive amount of beer. I decide it's time to cut us off so I pay the tab and we all get some food to help us sober up a little, along with some cold well water.

Once we are able to somewhat walk straight again I pay and we leave the tavern. We do a few laps of the merchant district looking at all the wares of various merchants. There is really nothing that interests us so we end up not spending any more money on anything but a few sweets we come across in street stands. As the sun begins setting on the horizon we make our way back toward the palace. The whole time we tell jokes, share stories, and overall have a great time. We get strange stares as we talk in our rapid-fire shared language but it doesn't matter, I find myself no longer thinking about my woes for a while, Duke Hasslerouge was right, this did do some good for me, but at the same time, I can't help but think about my conversation with him before we came to blows.

His ambitions are grand, but he also never mentioned the Demon King... or why he has a few demons in his employ. I don't know what he has to do when it comes to all this demon bullshit, but I'll keep a close eye on it...

We return to the palace in high spirits and inside the palace find a secluded lounge to talk amongst ourselves. I then ask them both,

"What would you say if I invited you to join something called the Heroes Party? I don't know how many allies I truly have here in the capital, I can't fully trust Duke Hasslerouge, the princess, and I sure as hell cannot trust the hero. "

Sertean doesn't even need to think as he agrees to join me as expected. Henna thinks for a moment before replying,

"Yeah, I'll join, you are the first male I've met who is worth following."

I nod in thanks. Without another word, we all stand, give our goodbyes, and then leave one another in different directions, off to our proper places for tonight. There is nothing left to say between us, any more words would be wasted breath. Unlike the people of this kingdom we don't need overly long and complicated directions, especially between Sertean and I, we know our roles.

I enter the now-repaired apartment and find Duke Hasslerouge eating dinner by himself. He greets me warmly and asks,

"How was your time in the city? I saw you found a nice escort."

I laugh lightly and reply,

"It was fun, thanks for recommending that to me. I have a favor to ask though."

He nods taking a bite of food. I then ask,

"That woman, her name is Henna, she is an enslaved servant to the Fulridge family. Can you help me purchase her from them? She will be of great help moving forward."

The Duke pauses and swallows before asking,

"Are you sure?"

I nod and he replies,

"Alright, she will be yours by tomorrow. I trust your judgment."

There is another period of awkward silence before Duke Hasslerouge explains,

"Well... I know now how you feel about the situation, but I have something to explain about this "hero's party" thing the princess is creating. Well, I'm going to explain to you how the crown is going to handle it, mainly as a control method for the hero himself, but also the new special defense council that formed between me, Duke Donnerstein, King Alrius, and the Prime Minister, is in direct control or I guess will directly supervise the party.

Basically, here is how it's gonna work. Donnerstein and I will be the ones handing out missions, so long as we both stay in our current positions. The other two high nobility family heads are trying to force their way into our current spots. They are part of the royalist faction I've had you act against. Let's just say... the hero party will be doing my will to solidify my... ambitions."

I nod understanding that the hero party, also isn't a space for freedom. I then ask,

"Anything special you need me to do?"

He shakes his head and then answers thoughtfully,

"Not really... I of course will be attempting to... keep you sane and safe, but more or less I feel you will be the de-facto leader of the party despite not being the hero. This is considering you are the only competent one.

Also feel free to bring in as many people as possible to the party, as well as start thinking about what resources you will need, or I guess whatever you want. Overall you will be the only one I care about. "

I say in a mocking antebellum accent,

"Awwwww, massa is kind to uh lil' ol me."

He blinks a few times not understanding why I spoke with such a drawl he says inquisitively,

"Well... whatever that was... but I mean what I said. While our relationship is not as father and son, as we have made much of the kingdom believe, and yes, I have used you more as a tool, by care, I mean you are the only one I have any real investment in."

I nod and reply,

"Yeah, I got that, I was just being an asshole."

He nods understandingly when suddenly there is a knock at the door. He nods and motions to the door as he takes another bite. I open the door to find a palace servant girl. She gives me a short curtsy and then says,

"Please follow me, Lord Isa, you have been summoned."

I nod and motion for her to lead the way. She nods and begins gracefully moving through the halls. I keep a short distance between us as I follow, I make sure to try and map out the layout so I can make my way back later.

Eventually, I am led to what is effectively a conference room. A long table with seats. At the head is the King, and the rest of the hero's party is present. Blake sits at the far end of the table from the king. He glares at me as I approach the table, quickly drop to a knee for the king, and then stand again. He motions for me to sit directly to his left which I oblige. Once seated the King starts speaking in a semi-bored tone,

"Welcome... heroes party... today marks the official formation of the Hero's Party special military division. As of now, you are all officially officers in the Royal Alrius army. You all will have more power than most in the kingdom, only behind the heads of the military, the high nobility, and of course myself. You will answer directly to me, Duke Hasslerouge, Duke Donnerstein, and the Prime Minister, but my word will supersede anyone else's.

Your goals will be to first and foremost, hunt down any traitors of the kingdom, heretic sympathizers, agents of the Demon King, and of course the villains who performed the attack on the university.

The entirety of the royal treasury is at your disposal, as is the royal military in the event you require more force than what you can deploy on your lonesome. Tomorrow there will be a large ceremony announcing not only the hero to the rest of the kingdom but also the formation of this little group. Afterward, you will be expected to start working.

Any questions or concerns?"

Blake raises his hand and the King looks at him in contempt but nods to him. Blake then says,

"What if the Demon King is able to infiltrate into this group, or is of one of our... authorities?"

The King sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose. He says in a sharp, but very annoyed tone,

"No. That is not possible, and if it was it would require absolute proof. I know you and Isa have had some, disagreements, especially recently. I will not hear of this today. If you have absolute proof of him being an agent of the Demon King bring it to me and it will be dealt with. Until then, keep your mouth shut."

Blake looks very annoyed but doesn't say anything more. The rest of the room is quiet for a moment before the King looks at me, intrigue visible in his eyes. He then asks me directly,

"Isa Hasslerouge... I know you have already been forced by your... father... to begin planning for this group. What are some steps you wish to take right off the bat?"

I nod acting as if I have thought this through, but in reality, I'm quickly formulating a completely bullshit plan. I then say confidently,

"First step is to create a firm foundation. I would like to request a headquarters somewhere, a place that can be used as a staging ground for all the missions we will conduct. This place is also so that we may have support staff easily ready and on hand. They mustn't be used by anyone else but us, so we have their complete undivided attention.

The second step is to gather subordinates. I have two people I trust completely lined up to join us. Both are loyal and very capable combatants... yes they are both Frontiersmen, but I have full faith in them.

The third and final step is to set up an information network. I haven't had enough time yet to completely formulate this, but I am sure the two Dukes can help with this greatly, as well as the spymaster of the Kingdom if you are willing to lend their expertise to us, sire...Information is not only key for sniffing out our foes but is important for the safety of our ranks. We cannot blindly walk into the dens of demons.

That's all I have now, these three things are the day-one type things to get done. After that, we will need to be flexible, and ready for anything. I cannot plan much further ahead than this right now as I do not have the information needed to do so."

The King gives me a long look before he asks defensively,

"The Spymaster is unknown to all my nobles, even Duke Hasslerouge shouldn't know of them, how can you know this?"

My mind goes into Defcon 1 and damage control starts rolling out. I keep a calm face and reply in a matter-of-fact tone,

"Tell them to either get better at tailing someone or find better operatives. I like being watched as much as the next guy, but that was a poor showing..."

I hope and pray I am right, I really just made a guess that there was a spymaster based on the game Crusader Kings I played once and never picked up again. The King stares into my eyes for a long while before laughing loudly. He then says to me,

"You really never cease to amaze me, boy. No magic, yet you destroyed all your competition. From a barbarian culture yet you somehow haven't gravely offended anyone of importance yet. You are able to easily spot and almost shake my spymaster who I ordered to tail you. Now you have a full plan formulated in less than a day. You are truly an interesting person..."

I nod my thanks for the compliments and the King then announces,

"If there are no more words to be said, you are dismissed. I have things to attend to."

We all stand and show our respect to the King and begin to leave the room.

Once outside I am grabbed by the arm and dragged into a side room. It's Blake. He sharply says to me in English,

"I won't let you get away with this, murderer! I don't know what kind of sick individual you are to get off to killing people like that, but I will expose you! Why would you do this? You have everything! You are the son of a high noble! What more could you want?"

This time I don't have to fake being angry about the situation, because I am. Who is he to presume that this is what I want? How the hell can he say I have everything? I quickly rush him and grab him by the collar. I push him against the wall and lift his fatass a little to where he is standing on his toes. I look him in the eyes and say in English through gritted teeth,

"Listen here, you fat shithead. I don't enjoy that shit. I'm constantly sick to my stomach about that shit, and I wish that was the only time I ever have been forced to kill someone.

Yeah, I see your confusion, yeah, forced. I don't have everything, because I have nothing. I am a freed slave, and hell I'm not sure I am free yet. The Duke has me working constantly behind the scenes doing that horrible bullshit. I dunno what would happen to me if I don't! What I want is freedom, to live my own damn life. You... you..."

I run out of steam quickly, his eyes aren't indignant like they were before. He is scared. I let go of him and say in a low voice,

"I'm sorry...I just can't do this anymore man...I wanna go home... I don't care which one. Either back on earth or with the Stella Coyote... I hate this fantasy bullshit."

He looks at me incredulously as if trying to see through my lie, but it is no lie. He frowns and leaves the room, but before he leaves he says gently,

"I will make sure you see justice...but you are... safe for tonight... just don't do anything."

I am left alone in the little room but quickly leave and head toward the apartment. I think I need some sleep.

I enter the apartment, it's dark and quiet, the Duke must've gone to bed. I make my way to my designated room in the apartment and find Mekare waiting there at the foot of my bed. I feel drained, not upset or mad, just really, really tired. I undress and throw my clothes into a chair before getting under the blanket. Mekare goes to climb in with me for some reason and I say in a low and tired voice,

"No... I don't want to be bothered... not tonight..."

I hear her shift awkwardly for a moment before she asks,

"Are you sure you don't want a reward for your efforts?"

I reply quietly,

"I'm too tired to play this game with you, I don't think I'm in the mental state to get it up right now even if I was stupid enough to sleep with a literal succubus... just please... let me be."

She doesn't say anything but she pulls up a chair next to my bed. She sits down next to my head. I pull the blankets over my head, my nose and mouth the only thing exposed to breathe... sleep comes mercifully quick...