RE:WRITE

14.0 Grayscale_Chapter 2: Clouds

Clouds drifted over the sun, shielding the city from the blistering heat that had plagued it for the past month.

I walked out of an alley and blended into the crowd going down the streets of Cerena, capital of the Light Kingdom, after having finally escaped the castle.

I heard vendors shouting praises for their wares, horses neighing as their riders walked them down the street and the general sounds of a bustling medieval city.

Well that was surprisingly easy. I thought. Or am I just too amazing? Hu hu hu!

And that wasn't simple narcissism, mind you. I'd been planning my escape ever since I got here and had executed it perfectly. They never suspected a thing and I really just walked right out the front door!

You see, when you train so hard that everyone thinks you're willing to die for your cause, they never expect you to actually not give a damn about defeating the Demon Lord or whatever.

When you wear bright, shiny clothes all day and waltz around in armor and makeup, nobody bats an eye when a grubby little maid leaves your room, even though noone saw her go in.

If you keep stealing cookies and fruits and asking for money to buy candies, they never suspect that you've been swiping small change from all over the place and saving up a small fortune.

And of course, when the Sacred Sword and Holy Armor can be summoned by the Hero whenever they want to, summoning them when you're safely out of the castle isn't a problem at all.

Though they were pretty dumb, at least they taught me something useful.

This past month had been grueling. I'd learned sword techniques, magic, skills and the History of Erath, and the knowledge and training had indeed proven useful.

For example, the Sacred Sword and Holy Armor that I had acquired, were safely tucked away inside my 'Inventory,' which was a skill that only the Hero and the Demon Lord could learn. Of course, over the years people had created another skill called 'Storage' which was derived from 'Inventory,' so my skill shouldn't stand out unless someone uses appraisal.

In fact, it was because of the 'Appraisal' skill that I had to wait so long before escaping. I'd learned it quickly enough, but I didn't want people to know that I was the Hero so I had to find a countermeasure for it first. In the end, I had to settle for a skill called 'Obscure' that made it harder for people weaker than you to see your status through Appraisal. Even though it wasn't perfect, I couldn't bear staying in that castle any longer so I escaped as soon as I learned Obscure.

But why did I leave? They were giving me food and shelter after all, and it's not like I'd get bored there either.

But that old geezer's eyes...they were disgusting.

I'd seen eyes like those before.

I'd seen them on the self-important politicians and privileged assholes that ran my old city to the ground; eating away the money meant for orphanages and homeless shelters.

I'd seen them on people who wanted to use me for their own goals. Gang leaders that wanted me to bait some police officer, a pimp that wanted me to spread my legs for his clients or a police officer that promised to spare me if I ratted out my friends but would probably throw me in jail anyways.

I hated those eyes and I couldn't bear staying near him or being under his control.

Besides, why the fuck would I risk my life to kill a Demon Lord? I didn't give a damn about these privileged bastards and I didn't owe them anything.