I was a Nerfed Hero in Another World

A soldier approached us and met our gaze. All four of us stood from our seats and awaited the guard's announcement.

"The king awaits your arrival, Merchant. We will bring you there effectively and immediately," the soldier said, and ordered the soldiers to open the gates.

Those guards heeded his command and pulled the hinges apart, revealing the throne room. The light coming from the insides welcomed our eyes, inviting us over to go to the other side. All four of us walked towards the centre, but the guard we met before stopped us from our tracks.

"Merchant, are you sure we could bring these three inside the throne room? There are unfamiliar faces for me. The king may trust you, but I don't."

"Then, would you defy your majesty's orders? If he placed his faith in me, you have no choice but to believe in his word," the Merchant retorted, while revealing a grin on his face.

The pissed guard clicked his tongue and lowered his head. An apology came afterwards, considering the words that the guard mentioned. If I could guess the situation correctly, the king could throw the guard in jail because of what he had said.

We passed through the gates and entered the heavenly room. As I had always expected, the throne room looked dashing, with the hint of royalty at every side. Even the furniture at the sides spelt "royalty" in the middle.

If I planned on selling these items back home, maybe they would fetch me around one million dollars, excluding the entire citadel.

My greedy thoughts got disrupted when I met the eyes of the current king seated on the throne. It took me a complete minute before averting my gaze from the crowned man. Beside him was a girl who I assumed was his daughter…. the princess of this kingdom.

"We need to bow... Bend your knees and be silent," the Merchant instructed, and fell to his knees.

All of us lowered our heads and mimicked the Merchant's pose, everyone except Fenrir. We had trouble following his orders, since Fenrir refused to listen to his instructions. She told me that dire wolves never bow to anyone but their masters.

I wanted to ask what Fenrir meant about masters, but now was not the time for that.

Because of Fenrir's stubbornness, the soldiers and mages noticed our disobedience. They pointed their wands and swords in our direction, with their eyes glaring at us.

"YOU DARE TO DISRESPECT THE KING? INSOLENT FOOLS!"

All of them shouted in unison, while chanting spells and attacks to themselves. But before they could discharge those abilities, the king raised his hand, signalling everyone to stop. As soon as the soldiers and mages noticed the king's hand, all of them retracted their weapons. They remained in their position once again and awaited further commands from the majesty.

"Raise your head. I'm terrible with these formal greetings. And don't get bothered about my army. As long as I told them you're harmless, they won't lay a finger on you or your friends, Merchant," the king explained, while carving up a smile on his face.

Although he calmly expressed his words, a tingling sensation entered my brain. I did not know why, but it felt like the king was not the person everyone expected.

I tried glancing around without getting caught by the king or the soldiers. It was what I had expected. All the mages and guards had a nervous look on their faces, with their hands shivering in fright. I did not know what they were thinking, but I knew these people were in trouble.

Fenrir nudged towards my ears and whispered, "I know what you're thinking… Something's not right, hasn't it? I thought the same."

Fenrir hit the nail as I listened to those words. It was what she had mentioned. These people needed the help of some sort from something inside this castle. And if I had to suspect it would probably be….

"I've never seen these people before, Merchant! Are they your new friends?" said the king.

"Yes, your highness," the Merchant answered. "And they're here to help me… Actually, they're the ones who came up with this idea."

"I love it! Come on, let me hear those juicy experimentations," the king answered, and pointed his forefinger towards the nearest guard. "You there! You better take some notes, or else…"

"Yes, your highness."

The guard dashed from the room and went towards the grand door. After a few seconds, the soldier returned to the throne room, bringing a piece of paper made of leaves. The ink they used came from a feather of an eagle. It only showed that the generation of this world did not have machines that could produce texts with a printer.

The Merchant cleared his throat and explained, "Since we are waging war against the monsters, I believe my potions would do their magic on the battlefield. I have prepared two stocks as a demonstration of what my flasks could do to wounded people."

As soon as the Merchant ended his sentence, he reached out for his pockets and offered the king red potions. Those bottles had similar designs for the game.

My system reacted and identified the flasks clipped on the Merchant's hand. It described the containers as "red potions" that would increase the regeneration of one's body. However, despite its name, the red potion did not reach its true potential. It only had 40% purity, which could barely heal minor cuts and bruises.

"Hmmm….," the king mumbled to himself while staring at the potions.

Before the Merchant could say anything else, the king requested a nearby soldier to come near the seat. The baffled guard heeded his words and went in the king's direction. When the knight arrived beside him, the king revealed his bastard sword. He sliced the soldier's leg and made a long wound towards his thigh.

"GAAAH!" the man winced in pain and immediately caressed his wounded thigh.

"Now, Merchant, please show the potential of your potion," the king said, without flinching at the horrible sight of the injured man.

All the guards who witnessed the brutal scene retorted nothing. Instead, they kept silent about the occurrence, while watching everything unfold before their eyes.

The Merchant had no other choice but to listen to the king. He took his steps and came face to face with the wailing man.

"Help me... please," the man cried, while gritting his teeth.

"Don't worry. This potion would heal your skin."

As the Merchant poured the patient's content, the crimson fluid did its magic. A bright light enveloped the man's thighs, covering the site with its liquid form. Within a few seconds, the wounded skin slowly closed itself up, showing everyone the process.

"Wow! Heavens, praise the King of Camelot! Your work truly did a splendid job, Merchant. That's why I call you here! You should be our engineer. What do you think, Merchant?"

"Please, your highness. Your kind words are all wasted on the likes of me."

"Come on, Merchant! You've been here for me since the day I rose to this throne! I would like to return the favour and grant you a promotion."

But the Merchant only shook his head in response. He had an apologetic face, unable to retain his regret for rejecting the king.

The king forgot about the wounded knight beside him. He cared nothing more but the potency of Merchant's potion.

However, despite the results, the king wanted more. He wished for the Merchant's approval to join their hierarchies in the kingdom. But the Merchant kept refusing his proposal, making the conversation turn to the south.

"I cannot make any weapons for war…. I plan on sharing this potion with you and my best interest."

Silence filled the air as soon as Merchant said his sentence. Much to my surprise, those words became his last. The king stood up from his throne and looked around. All the knights and mages already knew what to do before he could even order them.

"Kill Them and take the Merchant to the dungeon. We have no use for this useless bunch."

Despite the weight of his words, the king said what he wanted to the knights. He even had his daughter with her while ordering his people to eliminate us.

But when the knights and mages made their move, Fenrir growled as loud as she could, rendering all enemies paralysed, except for the four of us and the king. She glared at the crown while baring her claws.

"That's why I hate humans! All of you are just greedy monsters, trying to use others for their amusement! I despise them. I will kill all of you!" Fenrir shouted, and dashed straight to the king.

Before Fenrir could even reach the king, a guard disabled the paralyzing magic and rushed towards him. Within a flash, the knight took the direct hit from Fenrir's claws. After a few seconds, that knight got torn in half.

Our eyes expanded as we witnessed Fenrir killing the king's men without a hint of doubt in her eyes. It was the beginning of a new war in the Kingdom of Caerleon.