The Wretched Hero

As they made their way in a carriage toward the house, Liam inspected his stats.

*****

Name: Liam Leonard.

Race: Human.

Soul Record: Black.

Level: 1

Strength: 2

Speed: 1

Mana: 1

Special ability: [Hakai: Level 1]

[Dodge: Level 3]

[Sharpening: Level 3]

[Halberd Arts: Level 2]

[Scimitar Arts: Level 2]

[Sneak: Level 3]

******

Hakai didn't level up, but that's expected, I only used it once. My level is stuck, but it should change when my base stats rise. No one knows exactly how leveling works, but the higher your stats, the higher it gets.

It's both bad and good. On one hand, you want people to recognize your strength which leads to having fewer people daring to fight you, but that also means people can gauge your strength and prepare, which removes the element of surprise.

That might be better, fighting someone while pretending to be level 1 only to say that you aren't even using 1% of your true power. My subordinate loved to do that and torment people by showing them hope only to crush it. It's also why those bastards managed to betray me and win with the help of the hero, they were a bit stronger than I expected and that was enough to tip the scales of the battle.

Liam sighed and looked at the lord sitting beside him. "Lord William, I've only been living in this city, but you must know of what happens on the other side of the kingdom. Is there a place where adventurer money easily flows?"

"You're leaving?!" Sara stared at him with a gasp. She was sitting on the other side with her sister Lilia and their maid Aisha.

"The twelve demon lords have been rampaging all over the world. I won't recommend going outside the kingdom unless you're over level 100." William looked out the window. "This city is relatively peaceful and I'm proud of it. People here only have to worry about the threat of small monsters like goblins and kobolds, slimes, and demon deer on rare occasions." He turned toward Liam.

"Are you seeking a hero's path? Forget it. It's been a thousand years since the last one perished." He sighed.

"I've heard he managed to beat the evil lord of destruction. He was a true hero indeed." Liam smiled.

"What hero? The fool made a deal with the evil lord's subordinate to overthrow him. They betrayed him right after the battle and killed him. The hero didn't live to see the first dawn after the evil lord's death. And since that day, the twelve demon lords have been terrorizing the outer continents." William growled and Liam stared at him with a tired face.

"I didn't know that…" He sighed. He was a fool indeed; if my subordinate betrayed me what made her think they won't turn on her later? It wasn't even later, immediately it seems.

"Sir Liam…" Lilia looked at him. "Are you not feeling well? You didn't get any time to rest or recover."

"I'm fine." He replied, but that was a lie, his whole body still hurts. "I'm just disappointed, that hero is indeed a fool. How did she not expect to be betrayed by the demons that betrayed their lord?"

"She?" William stared at him. "No one knows the hero's gender. He was only mentioned in texts as the hero, and the sword of light."

Liam blinked twice. Wait, of course, none of them would've met that hero… But, she had weak full body plate armor so no one could tell if she was a man or a woman. Even I didn't know until five years into our war when I managed to knock her helmet off.

"We arrived." The carriage driver said, and his tone changed. "Lord William, I see traces of footprints in the garden and I've seen a shadow inside the house. Someone is there."

"It could be the old lady that owns the house." William replied. "This place should've been empty for the past six months. No one lives there."

The guards escorting the carriage walked in the front to explore the house.

****

Where am I? Alice opened her eyes, feeling a sharp pain across her legs as her blurry vision slowly cleared up. She was sitting on the cold ground between two buildings and wore an old tattered rug. She tried to speak but her dried lips barely moved and she could feel as if a hole had been punched in her stomach.

I need to move. She touched her stomach to see if she was injured but that didn't seem to be the case. At that moment she could see her stick-like arms in front of her… I see starvation. She could barely crawl to look around.

I don't know this place, what did happen? The last thing I remember is the death of Asura. I finally managed to cut that bastard in half… Everything after is blurry…No, I remember, a blade stabbed me from the back. Her face twisted into an enraged frown. Those demon lords… they betrayed and cut me to pieces, I died that day. I thought they were turning a new leaf, but they weren't, I should've expected that.

She grasped into a crack in the wall at her side and stood up, her knees shaking as if she were a newborn calf. She tried to heal herself but couldn't.

Why I am still alive, I died… something must've happened that I wasn't aware of…Maybe those demon lords didn't kill me…She looked around, but this looked like a regular alleyway, not a slave camp.

She barely could walk into the main street, but a man immediately punched her in the face and sent her rolling back. "You thieving bitch! How many times have we told you to stay off the market." He rushed forward and kicked her in the side, sending her further into the back alleys.

"The guards keep jailing and letting you off after months and you return here to make our lives worse. Next time we see you here, you're dead. We'll feed your corpse to the slimes in the sewage." He lifted a rock and threw it at her, getting a clear headshot.

At that moment, memories of the body started rushing through Alice's mind. How this woman had lived her life, as a wretched thief and addict. The people in the city had gotten sick of her through the years and they finally snapped and gave her a beating.

The fragile host of the body died and she took her place.

Without saying a word she crawled away from the market.

"That's it! Leave and never come back!" The man shouted.

After crawling for a while, she finally passed out beside an empty old house. Alice woke up at dawn due to rats running around, thinking she was a corpse. She quickly hushed them away. A decision she'll come to regret soon.

As she could see the house was old and empty, she crawled inside to stay off the city, the people, and stray animals on the street.

This house is old and already crumbling, it can't even ward off the cold. She explored the whole place with a growling stomach, yet found nothing besides dust and cobwebs.

By noon, she started facing a problem bigger than starvation. Her head started screaming in pain and her whole body felt as if she was stung by hundreds of bees. She started hallucinating about the ground spinning around. Alice crawled into a corner and stayed there.

Withdrawal, whatever this woman was taking, it's coming back to bite me… of course; they are tied to the body. It'll eventually go away; I need to wait it out. She sat there, hitting the back of her head on the wall and growling. Like a ghost screech, everyone that came to inspect the house to rent has run away claiming the place to be haunted without even entering.

Alice kept fighting starvation and the withdrawal, lamenting on not catching one of those rats to eat.

After that, her symptoms lessened a bit, but they came out frequently to be torture. This is what I get for believing in the demon lords… She shook her head, standing to search for food and water. For the next three months, she could barely remain alive by hunting the occasional mice and bugs, she even ate grass from the garden, but that didn't work well.

One day as she was sitting alone in her corner, she could hear a carriage stop at the house entrance. People, they finally came to kill me… At this point, she couldn't even think of just being kicked out as an option.

Armed guards opened the door and rushed in with their weapons drawn, spotting her immediately. "We caught a squatter! What should we do? Wait…I recognize her, she's that addict woman." One soldier shouted.

"We didn't see her in a few months so I thought she died somewhere…" They surrounded her. "You know the routine. Please don't resist arrest."

"This time you'll be charged with trespassing…" Another soldier sighed, "We'll give you an extended sentence. At least you'll survive the winter in prison."

Liam and William walked inside and saw her. "A squatter, we'll get her removed at once." William said.

Liam stared at her… I could probably use help in here… "Wait… can you let her live here?"

"With you!" Sara and Lilia gasped immediately.

"This place is huge. I'll need any help I could get." Liam waved his hand, "And I'm sure she won't mind being allowed to stay here." This reminds me of the day I picked the first member of the demon lords. A free worker, and she looks like someone who might not mind their boss being a bit shady every now and then. He'll come to regret that.

Liam didn't want to hire anyone to help him for two reasons. Most people won't be open to his way of living, and he was still salty about the betrayal. And Alice looked like someone he could exploit with ease.

"What's your name? I'm Liam Leonard." He approached her.

"Alice…" She mumbled, suspicious of his intentions. "I'm just a bag of blood and bones."

"Nothing food can't fix." He gave her a fake smile. Damnable name, Alice! I'll get her to change it no matter what.

"Wasn't your name Alva?" A guard stared at her.

"I like to start anew…" She mumbled, "If I have the right to that…"