376 Setting off to the Overlord's place

"Hey, someone come here!"

Compared to the previous time when I had to sneak in, as soon as I appeared in the real world, I shouted to make my presence known. There wasn't any point in fighting the guards that patrolled the place. Better, I could ask them to share some clothes with me, as attempting to visit the overlord while wearing only a pair of ragged pants bore the risk of his guards didn't even waiting for me to introduce myself before launching their attack at me.

And I had to make sure to free the remaining slaves before going all out with those people!

"Who are you? Why do I don't recognise you?!"

Contrary to my expectations, there wasn't any way for them to identify me as their so-called hero. Even if there were some measures in place that could respond if I were to be infused with the energy of the golem's host, but since I made sure to reject it, I could only rely on my own wits to clear the situation.

"Because I'm not one of your folk, yet your ancestors still recognised me as your hero."

Since this place would soon be flooded with a massive number of people from the inside of the dimension, I had to stick with my previous story. With how I wanted to get them all under my wings, if the discrepancy between what I told back at the tower and in the forest were to appear so soon, the legitimacy of my later claims would be easily put into doubt.

"Anyway, I hope you have a set of spare clothes. I can't go and save your families from the overlord while wearing those tattered rugs, can I?"

Looking at the guard who, wary of me as he was, continued to glare at me with a dangerous glint in his eyes, I couldn't help but feel the urge to slap my own face. How could I forget about something so simple yet so crucial?!

The sight of the knife hanging from this primitive guard's belt while he held his short spear, reminded me of my own lack of any real weapon! With how immense the tower inside that dimension was, I doubted there would be any lack of proper resources that would let me craft some makeshift sword or even a knife that would elevate my fighting prowess in the coming days!

But right now, it was too late to go back. Even if I were to somehow pass through the masses of people that would soon start running away from the insides of their ancestral grounds, even if I were to reach the foothold of the tower in a relatively short time, how would I climb it all the way back to the top? 

"Eh… Okay then. I will get someone to bring you a set of spare clothes."

After taking his sweet time to consider my request, the guard finally woke up from his daze as he somehow managed to make the decision. Seeing how slowwitted someone tasked with the insanely important job of guarding the place where his entire folk was, I couldn't help but shrug.

If that was the level of the officers taking care of their most important defences, it was no wonder they constantly needed the help of the heroes to repel the invaders! Just like always, it was far easier to just dump your own job and responsibility at the shoulders of some poor fellow who was unlucky enough to be picked as the hero…

"Would you mind if I borrow your knife as well? It kinda sucks to go out there unarmed…"

Even if I wouldn't have any trouble killing a random lackey of the overlord in order to get my hands of his weapon, bringing one to the fight in the first place would make everything far easier. With my intention to keep a low profile in this fight as I would be capable of, there was no advantage that I would give up on easily!

"What else? Should I put my head on the nearby stump so it would be easier for you to kill me in one hit?"

As if this poor guy was still suspicious of me, despite handling the spare and stinking clothes to me, he refused to handle me a weapon! While it wasn't something I couldn't live with, I couldn't help but wonder how would he act after my job here would be done, and everyone would be moving to my own dominion!

Shrugging at the refusal of the guard's help, I quickly threw the clothes on top of my body and without saying my goodbyes, I ran towards the depths of the forest. If that guy acted a bit nicer towards me, I might've warned him of the incoming swarm of people from the dimension, but since he decided to be as cautious as rude, there was no need for me to do so. After all, with the entire population of all the tribes that shared the blood coming out at once, cooperation or lack of it from a single person didn't really matter in the big picture!

But it was finally time for me to get back to that Overlord's place. With his daughter waiting for her 'teacher' and countless more slaves looking out for their saviour, every second mattered. While I had a deal with that guy about the remaining people and was quite sure that the last part of my technique that I offered in exchange for their freedom would be an incentive big enough for him to keep his word, all sorts of stuff could happen while I was away.

From his neighbours learning about my adventure with the fiancee of their leader, or even keeping the historical notes about the appearance of the hero and unwilling to give up this chance to weaken all the tribes by culling their numbers, all the way to the local guardians making a move on me before I could even attempt to put my plan into motion, there was far more than a single thing that could go wrong.

But in the end, most of those scenarios had either an open or hidden benefit for me. If everything would go all right, I would get the most of this situation by saving those people, expanding the influence of the mana core on my island and most likely getting enough experience points to level up to a point where I could upgrade my system. Those two or three objectives - depending on how one would count them - were my only reasons for being on this island in the first place.