Chapter 7 – Greedy Old Man

The city gates groaned open, and the first person we met was a walking cliché.

He stood just inside the entrance, a short, round man with a politician’s smile plastered on his face. A fancy-looking sash was stretched tight across his prominent belly. The townsfolk milling around behind him shuffled their feet, their eyes fixed on the ground, on the sky, on anything but him.

“Welcome, brave heroes!”

His voice was slick and oily. It was perfect. I had to physically restrain myself from grinning like an idiot. This guy was ripped straight from page one of the Villain’s Handbook.

“My name is Pedro, and I am the mayor of this humble town.”

He attempted a bow, a maneuver that made him wheeze from the effort.

“It’s an honor to meet you, Mayor Pedro.”

Kenji said it with his patented, “I’m the Hero” smile. Of course he would be flawlessly polite. He hadn’t read the script. He didn’t understand that this was the first boss, the tutorial villain designed to test our party’s morals.

The mayor’s eyes slid right past Kenji’s heroic glow. They scanned over Reina’s confused beauty and Daisuke’s hulking silence. Then, they landed squarely on me. His smile widened, showing a little too much gum.

It was my cue.

“And you are?”

His voice dripped with feigned interest.

Time to perform. I let my shoulders slump. I made my eyes wide and pathetic. I fixed my gaze on the muddy tips of my shoes.

“I… I’m Ryuuji.”

I pitched my voice to a pathetic, trembling squeak. It was an Oscar-worthy performance.

“Ryuuji-kun.”

He repeated the name, rolling it around in his mouth like an expensive piece of candy. His face twisted. The smile tightened at the corners, his eyes crinkling in a way that screamed greed. He looked like a wolf sizing up a particularly stupid lamb.

This was going to be so easy.

Pedro insisted on giving us the grand tour himself. He led us away from the gate and down the main street. “Grand” was a generous term. It was a wide, muddy lane wedged between rows of tired-looking wooden buildings.

People practically dove out of his way. Shopkeepers who had been standing in their doorways suddenly vanished inside. A couple of women chatting by a well fell silent and turned their backs as we approached. The vibe was less “beloved leader” and more “mob boss doing a shakedown.”

“Our town has fallen on hard times.”

He announced it with a wave of his hand at a bakery with boarded-up windows.

I bet it has. Probably because you taxed everyone into the poorhouse, Baron von Greed. My internal monologue was on fire.

“We are in desperate need of heroes like yourselves.”

Kenji, bless his simple, heroic heart, put a hand on his chest. His expression was a mask of pure sincerity.

“We’ll do everything we can to help, sir.”

What a total sap.

A little kid, no older than five, was chasing a worn leather ball down the street. He tripped on a loose cobblestone and went down hard, right in the mayor’s path.

Pedro stopped, looming over the boy. The kid froze, his eyes going wide with what looked like pure terror.

See? The man was a monster. Even the children knew it. It was perfect.

With a groan of protesting joints, Pedro bent down. The fabric of his trousers strained. He scooped the kid up with surprising gentleness.

“There, there, little one. Be more careful now.”

He beamed his weird, gummy smile.

The kid took one look at that smile and burst into tears.

A woman, presumably the mother, ran out from a nearby doorway. She snatched the child from the mayor’s arms without a word of thanks, gave Pedro a look of pure loathing, and scurried away.

Pedro just watched them go. He sighed, a long, weary sound, and straightened his sash. A flicker of something I couldn’t read crossed his face.

It was probably just annoyance that his fake benevolent act didn’t fool anyone.

“The people are on edge,” he explained as he turned away from the scene.

“Why is that?” Reina asked, her brow furrowed with concern.

“It’s because of the goblins, they’ve taken up residence in the northern woods and have been attacking our trade caravans. It’s crippled our economy.”

Goblins. The quintessential starter-quest mob. This was it. The low-level mission, the clear objective, and the corrupt quest-giver who would use it as a pretense to get rid of me, the party’s “weak link.”

My master plan was unfolding exactly as I had written it.

The mayor’s office was surprisingly plain. It was a small, cramped room where massive stacks of paper threatened to avalanche onto every available surface. Dust motes danced in the single beam of light slanting in from a grimy window that looked out over the muddy street. The whole place smelled like old parchment and low-grade desperation.

“Please, have a seat.”

Pedro gestured to a few rickety wooden chairs that looked like they might collapse if we looked at them too hard. He squeezed himself behind a massive, cluttered desk and sank into his own oversized chair, which let out a pained groan.

“As I mentioned, we have a goblin problem. A rather serious one.”

He got straight to business. He slid a crude, hand-drawn map across the desk toward Kenji.

“They’ve made a nest in the old ruins, here.”

His stubby finger tapped a spot marked with a poorly drawn skull and crossbones.

“Clear them out, and the town will offer a reward of five hundred silver coins.”

Five hundred silver. It sounded like a lot. To these run-down people, it was probably a king’s ransom. The perfect bribe.

Kenji leaned forward, his eyes tracing the lines on the map. He didn’t even hesitate.

“We accept the quest.”

Way too easy. He didn’t even try to haggle. The guy was hopeless.

The mayor looked immensely relieved. He leaned back in his creaking chair, his eyes scanning our party one by one. His gaze lingered on Kenji’s confident posture, then Reina’s bright, determined expression, then Daisuke’s silent, intimidating bulk.

Finally, his eyes landed on me. I was still huddled in my chair, doing my best impression of a scared kitten.

Here it comes. The part where he points out the obvious weak link. The part where he tells them I’m dead weight.

“Excellent. You are a godsend; you can prepare in town. Stay at the inn. My treat, of course. Just put it on my tab.”

He stood up, signaling the meeting was over.

As we filed out of the cramped office, I was the last to leave. I glanced back over my shoulder.

Pedro was still standing there, watching me. His eyes narrowed, and that greedy, calculating smile returned to his face. He gave me a slow, deliberate nod.

It was a confirmation. A silent agreement between two schemers. He had identified the problem in the party: me. And he was going to make Kenji an offer to solve it.

I couldn’t stop the triumphant grin that spread across my face as I shut the door.

This was perfect. Absolutely, flawlessly perfect. The man was a textbook corrupt official. He’d seen Kenji’s strength and my weakness. He’d give them the quest, let them see how much I’d slow them down, and then he’d make his move.

He would pull Kenji aside in the tavern tonight. He would offer him the five hundred silver, not for the quest, but for a “logistical adjustment.” All he has to do is “lose” the useless baggage in the goblin forest. It’s a classic for a reason.

My betrayal was scheduled. My revenge arc was locked in. Everything was going exactly according to plan.

I watched the door close behind the last of them, the small, quiet boy, Ryuuji. He even glanced back, a look of what seemed to be understanding on his face.

I let out a sigh of relief so deep it shuddered through my entire body. I collapsed back into my chair, the springs groaning in protest.

I was born with this unfortunate smile, a face that makes people assume the worst. All my life, they have seen greed and malice where there is only a desperate desire to help my people. When the heroes arrived, the others—the strong ones—looked at me with that same familiar suspicion I’ve seen a thousand times.

But that quiet boy, Ryuuji, he was different. He looked at the ground. He trembled. He wasn’t judging me. He was just scared.

In him, I saw not a hero, but a gentle soul pushed into a dangerous world he wasn’t ready for. He has a good heart, I can feel it.

I must protect him.