Unfortunately, I’m not a Hero. (OreigaruXMGE-Style)

 Unfortunately, I’m not a Hero. (OreigaruXMGE-Style)

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Wordcount: 2500

Commissioned by Shaderic

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Usefulness is dictated by circumstance. While individuals will look upon the likes of plumbers, janitors, and garbagemen with disdain… when they’re needed, they’re irreplaceable.  People give up their freedoms to become cogs in the machine called society so that water comes to them, they’re protected, and they don’t have to touch waste. Societies built upon ideas and dreams will inevitably falter and fail due to corruption and tyranny, but while societies of mutual dependence will inevitably falter, they’ll persist.

Why?

Because human beings used to certain standards will consider that standard the norm, therefore give up more to maintain it, thus becoming nothing more than puppets dancing to a tune.

Source: me.

That was true in my previous world and in this one as well.

At the very least, this new world I’ve been summoned into is refreshingly honest about what they want and desire from those they kidnap from other worlds.

Problem: Demon armies.

Solution: interdimensional conscription of those who won’t be missed.

Rinse and repeat, until demon armies are swallowed by bodies of people who can’t refuse you, who you’ve enslaved, and who you don’t care for in the slightest.

In all honesty, I’d enjoy reading such an Isekai novel. The main character just being shit on, until he either breaks or rises above the occasion would be a fresh breeze through the stagnant halls of the genre. Not that it wasn’t stagnant from the moment it was conceptualized in the mind of some wishy-washy mouth-breather/Zaimokuza-type, since it’s all derivative and unoriginal in the first place, but I’m uncultured and have no taste, therefore I like such things. I would very much like to an MC get the what for, struggle, and maybe survive only because of the sacrifice of other people.

Needless to say, I didn’t like it when I was the aforementioned MC in a setting where I can only suffer.

I lasted the longest of my batch of fellow individuals who were kidnapped.

Some had attempted to escape initially, but there were turned into examples of how much control our new masters had over us. The moment they grouped up and tried to run, it was as though Kira came down from the heavens with the Death Note in hand to express his displeasure upon them. Yep, disobeying means a heart attack and a stroke. Nothing silly like electricity or “lightning magic.” Everyone is replaceable, therefore there’s no need for such extravagant measures.

Those who had potential for magic were taken away to be taught, arrayed into massive lines, and then act as artillery batteries that commanders didn’t have to worry about repositioning.

All that were left were individuals who could use their bodies and hold spears, wearing only what they had on their backs.

Thereafter, battle after battle, my “group” got whittled down.

Some had potential to be warriors, awakening some cheap bullshit while in combat, and they were taken away to be ablative vanguards. A few had proficiencies for ranged weapons, then they were deployed as sacrificial skirmishers to disrupt supply lines. And, of course, those who weren’t particularly special all just died during battles, even after better armor and equipment was given to us every time we survive.

Eventually, I was leading a group of newly-kidnapped individuals from other worlds entirely, without anyone of my group remaining.

The veteran slave leading the rest into combat against monstergirls.

Hmmm?

What’s that?

Yeah, I said monstergirls.

What of it?

Trust me, if this was some sort of lewd world, I wouldn’t nearly be as fucked in the head as I am now. They are simply monsters who must be overcome through calculated sacrifice of chaff. The humans of the world we came into are nothing besides completely rational and utterly focused. 

There was no lewd plot twist to be had.

Well, or so I thought, until I fell in battle and woke up again.

The plot twist was apparently the human empire kidnapping people to wage war for them across dimensions was the bad guy all along.

And the monstergirls were the good guys.

Again, who would’ve thought that the wizards kidnapping able-bodied individuals from across time and space to fight their wars against a whole world out for their blood are the bad guys?

Really.

Truly.

Surprising.

…

It goes to show the uselessness of education that not many high-schoolers from modern worlds managed to survive battles where they’re forced to fight or die. In fact, according to my very-useful liason when I awoke in a ward with my crest removed, the human kingdoms preferred to recruit from worlds that were more tribal or feudal in nature. Teens from those time periods tended to either be farmers, warriors, or other sorts of laborers.

Things modern teenagers are not.

They also only looked for people with a certain amount of fitness.

Again, something most modern teenagers are not.

Zaimokuza, I’m sorry to say, you’re too fucking fat to be an Isekai protagonist. I sincerely apologize (not) for being the bearer of bad news, regarding the fact that you have too much of a belly to live out your dreams.

Regardless, while I was not a laborer, warrior, or of a society that considered violence the norm, years of staying healthy, as to not invite scorn and become another Zaimokuza-type had fucked me over.

Disregarding the fact I’ll never see my family again, am permanently trapped in another world, and will forever live with the knowledge that someone, somewhere is kidnapping people to be used as slave-warriors, the Monstergirls weren’t exactly in good shape. The constant stream of bodies flooding into the borders of their empire, with the backbone of the actual, magic-using human army, was stretching their forces to the limit. Though they were numerous, individually more capable, and had far more land, due to not being pricks and willing to work with one another, that wasn’t enough to deal with the constant onslaught of able-bodied individuals who either fought or died.

Thus, I was given the option of helping them out.

And, thus, I decided not to.

The moment the option to go somewhere peaceful was offered… I took it. Two years of being a slave, having to claw my way up from trash to trash who looked after the rest of the trash, was something that I intended to put behind me. What’s that? Why don’t I continue fighting, so I could perhaps find a means to get back home? First, I’m not an idiot. Second, I do not enjoy fighting. Third, I like living, preferably comfortably and with as little contact with other people as much as possible.

Upon my rescue, I looked forward to either living in the woods for the rest of my life, or finding a small town to become the grumpiest old man at. In a world devoid of entertainment, I figured that I’d either become a farmer, maybe write a few books, and do something else besides fight an empire that has the ability to kidnap and enslave others from across time and space. Anything, actually, sounded better than that.

Unfortunately, my dream of a life of simplicity and peace did not come to be.

Why?

Because, after I was given the option to leave, I was identified, taken aside, and told what I was really going to do.

By a Dragon.

Of the monstergirl variety.

But, still, a Dragon.

As expected, there’s more than one way to enslave a person in this world.

…

I would’ve been pretty happy to meet the Demon Lord in her throne room. Throne rooms, after all, are in the center of the capital city of any faction. It is the defacto place for a ruler to stay safe, secure, and strategize at. Meaning, of course, that it the safest place to be during war. Even wars that involved magic that could level entire cities, killing the leader of an entire country indiscriminately would only result in massive reprisal, welcoming the same attack upon oneself, and utterly eradicating a chance for an armistice.

A good ruler will sit tight in their capital, so that they can communicate with the other side, stay safe from battle, and ensure that a war does not devolve into a fight of extinction.

Unfortunately, the Demon Lord led from the front, because this was a total war of extinction, no chance of armistice was possible, and the only way this was going to end was complete destruction of the other side.  Even worse, she was the commander of the cohort of monstergirls that destroyed mine. And, finally the worst possible thing in the history ever, was that it wasn’t luck that kept me alive in that fight… I was looked for, found, and apprehended.

In conclusion, I already knew what happened before the tent’s entrance was opened for me.

I was taken for my skills by one side, so that I’d use them on the other side.

Therefore, naturally, I had to fuck up as much as I possibly could, so they’d just let me go.

If fucking up didn’t get me killed, of course.

…

The Demon Lord was as a Demon, as expected. As far a battlefield opponent went, Demons were typically commanders who strode into combat and laid waste to just about everyone they fought. In game terms, they were Hero Units for those particularly enthused by real-time strategy. Each one had their speciality, the gimmick that they used to best effect, and they had to be killed by sacrificing a lot of a chaff while someone from range kills them slowly… or they’re stabbed in the back.

Naturally, I was part of the chaff that was supposed to die for an opening.

“There’s no need for you to have your weapon drawn, Jean. Without weapons, he cannot harm either of us.” Typical and stereotypical were the best words for the red-haired, horned, and armored woman looking over the massive map. It was the same kind that I used the night before, when planning the attack, so I was able to tell where to look. Yep, there’s the piece that represented me and mine. Ooh, it’s a black and gold pawn, instead of just black like all the other slave-units. Neat. “Our former opponent is wasted in combat. I’m sure that he agrees.”

Huh, despite looking like a generic Demon Lord, she didn't act as I expected. There were no “ara aras” nor were there “ohohoho.” Also, despite her looks, there was no signs of flirtatious or salacious behavior. Indeed, she walked toward me clad fully in plate-mail from neck down, and offered me her hand to shake.

When I managed it, after a moment, she didn’t smile and simply nodded.

“Well met, but there’s no time to waste. You’re healed, you’re fed, and now you will aid me in composing a plan to extract my forces from one of the pincer movements the empire adopted since you came to lead.” With a gesture at the parchment map, magic formed a more comprehensive picture of the battlefield. “Tell me what you see, as I can’t see a means to withdraw without suffering utterly grievous losses.”

Terrain came to life, models became surrounded by armies and projected a number, and other, important information streamed in. However, most of all, I noticed that the now “living” units of the Demon Lord were sending in information and updates, as well as requests for orders. Given how my body guard looked upon it with no surprise, and how easily the Demon Lord called upon it, it was probably common for well-supplied, military commanders. Now that I think about it, my kidnappers got the hang of fast-maneuvering very quickly and responded to threats with reinforcements quickly.

So, I was being fucked over not only on the battlefield, but also on the tactical and strategic level by my former captors.

What a bunch of dicks.

However, I was now being tested and I was just informed that my abilities were well-known.

It couldn’t hurt to try to act stupid, though—

“Your help is most appreciated. Rest assured that your fellows will be treated with the best possible care upon our successful retreat.”

Well, shit.

“You overextended to take out a priority target, but took prisoners and a baggage train. No wonder I managed to push you back.” I understood that these people are stuck in the medieval age, but this is a clear case of stupidity. “Fire whoever taught you tactics, because this little escapade is going to get you killed.”

The Dragon growled, but I ignored her even when the Demon Lord didn’t tell her to stop. There was no sign of her drawing her sword, or acting stupid, due to just a set of words. My hostess’s features did not change either, she just smiled and nodded at my words. They were competent and strong, but they were tactically and strategically inept. No fucking wonder they were being pushed back by shitty mass-wave attacks and half-assed tactics.

“The next time you do this, you need make a force that you can afford to lose, but has a chance of doing what you told them to do.” Risk, reward, and cost. That was the ultimate determinant of any operation. If you can afford the payment, then risk can be ignored, then you can acquire the reward. Needless to say, monstergirls could’ve afford a steep body count, and even if they took out plenty of people, it didn’t matter of those people were worthless in the eyes of their masters. “What you should’ve done is had me kidnapped by your people who weren’t worthless, because now you’re fucked.”

“I’ll remember that, but first the problem at hand.” The Demon Lord gestured towards the table. She moved to show me where we were, but got there before her. As far as magic went, I had next to nothing, but that was the typical case. I was able to interact with the magical map. There was the river that the battle had been fought on, there was the artillery, and cavalry. The infantry wasn’t present, because that was my job and I’d failed at it. So, that should’ve been it. We would’ve had to face the heavy hitters, just artillery and cavalry, but that wasn’t the case. “How do you propose to deal with these two other divisions that have arrived, which have encircled us after being reinforced by the remnants of your own?”

The typical response an infantry portion of a division being lost was a full-strength division in a day’s time. It was the typical strategy of reinforcing the backline, then leapfrogging, thus having a defended rear and a chance to rest troops.

I had no clue where the second division came from, but that didn’t matter at all.

I needed to deal with the problem at hand, just I’d been ever since I’d been summoned in this damn world to be a slave thrown into a meat-grinder.

Thankfully, this time around, I was actually fighting to survive.

That meant, I was more than willing to play dirty, instead of cribbing off of history.

Joy of joys, I get to fuck over the people who fucked over my entire fucking life.

The only thing that could make this better was if I could do without worrying about dying if I failed.

Spite, after all, is best enjoyed without your target being able to hit back.

I suppose that I’ll have to manage until the time comes.

A/N: Got a little carried away with the dark tone of this Isekai. Generally speaking, I've applied a touch of grimdark to the genre.  I mean, technically, all the kingdoms summoning heroes from other worlds are kidnappers who use child soldiers, so why not just take that idea and run with it? Why are the monsters the good guys? Well, because they don't want to be enslaved and used for reagents? How come the uber-species aren't winning? Because their dead are being used to summon more fodder that's literally drowning their armies. 

Wow, when I think about it, this is really dark holy shit.