Having settled matters with the monster prisoners, my next order of business was to free the human ones. They were going to be a lot harder to release, especially with those damnable slave collars locked on their necks. Maybe one of the humans who monitored the prisoners would have a key or something to free them.

  Before I did that, I made sure to lead the freed monsters outside of the kingdom borders. When the humans first saw them, they were on edge. That is an expected reaction. They barely accepted me and my followers so seeing a bunch of them come out at once would look concerning. I had to be quick to reassure them that things are ok.

  “Well…. Since we’re already accepting a monster as our ruler, we should expect more around then?”

  “I mean… if our [Tiny Tyrant] says so it should be alright...”

  My body shuddered for a second from hearing that. Barely keeping myself from exhibiting a response to that. Right, that damn title I gained did say that they will see that as my moniker… Is there some way to turn that off?...

  V otherwise seemed excited to meet them. The young goblin wanted to introduce themselves, but my monster followers stopped them. Informing them that I was busy with them at the moment.

  Anyway, I managed to lead the monsters out. I made sure to give them some distance away from the borders. After making sure that things were safe, they all left in separate directions.

  Mordred walked up to me, raising an eyebrow before looking out to them. “Are you sure you want to let them go like that boss? They would have made great new followers to serve you.”

  I wagged my claw at my Minotaur henchman. “I already brought up my reasonings and I stand by it. I want to conquer this world properly and through my own efforts. Even if they don’t decide to serve under me soon, I’ll come by to conquer them later. ~”

  Mordred laughed loudly, enough that I needed to cover where I could hear. “HAHAHAHAHA, you got that right boss! For their own good, they’ll willingly serve under you soon!”

  “….. plus, we did promise to help their people to recover from the experimental ritual.” Damian reminded me. Currently keeping his emotions in check.

  Zeph interrupted. “Still, got to say that was an interesting way to resolve the situation with the gnolls Vlad.” When he brought that up, both Mordred and Damian looked away. Clearly, they wanted to keep their minds off that matter.

  The vulture then sent me a private message {“Whoop, looks like it’s too soon to bring that up. Want me to take care of the cleanup bossman?”}

  It’s a little late trying to discuss this privately now isn’t it. In the end I still responded {“I was trying to figure out how to take care of that mess. Sure, go right ahead.”}

  “Well, the bossman has given me an order so I’m off to go take care of it.” The Vulture tipped his hat before flying off to do some ‘clean up’ business. He seemed rather enthusiastic to do it too. A vulture in my old world does something similar, maybe this is the same thing.

  Once he left, the minotaur sighed while pinching the temple of his forehead in frustration. “That man, I still can’t quite figure him out.”

  We returned back into the kingdom, the humans had long since scattered. They were trying to conduct business like before though the soldiers were still waiting for me. I didn’t need them for anything, so I sent them off to return to their old posts and to be prepared if I need them for something else later. But not before asking for the keys for the slave collars. Unfortunately, they informed me that only the king had them on hand.

  I decided to message Zeph while he was busy with the cleanup. {“Hey, there should be some keys on the fat king. Can you give them to me when you’re done?”}

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  {“Found it already, hold out your claws in the air for me for a second.”}

  An odd request, but I did as he asked. No sooner did I stretch it out than I suddenly heard the sound of wings flapping and saw that the vulture was in the air above us. He threw something small down. The direction it was going, I would have worried it was going to miss if I didn’t already know about his [Death’s Route].

  The item landed perfectly in my claws, and for sure it was the set of keys I was looking for.

  Mordred clicked his tongue, looking the other way while quietly talking to himself. “…. Show off.”

  With the item I needed, it was time to release the last of the prisoners. I lead the way, partially familiar with the layout from the time when I escaped. We returned to the room where I was imprisoned at. Sure enough, the same human prisoners I last saw were still there. Still as scared as I remembered.

  I needed to say something to reassure them. “The king has been defeated, and I am here to set you free.”

  It didn’t look like that statement calmed them down, so instead I opened the doors. They looked confused, cowering in the corner of their room. They were shaking in fear, quietly saying monster under their breath and waiting for what I was going to do. I asked my two henchmen to keep their distance and to let me handle it. I figured they’d be less worried with a smaller creature approaching them rather than either of my imposing henchmen.

  I inched closer to one of them, a young woman. I took out the set of keys as I took careful steps to her. The whole time she was constantly in fear, but as I was but a few steps away she seemed to accept her fate as she closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable.

  It only took a few seconds to get the keys to the slave collars. I inserted the key and unlocked them as they detached and fell to the ground, no longer restraining their captives. She opened her eyes and noticed the collar on the ground. She couldn’t believe what she saw, she frantically ran her fingers over her neck. Once she fully processed that it wasn’t just her imagination she started to cry.

  “T-thank you. Thank you!!” She managed to convey through her tears.

  The others had watched us intently and as soon as they saw the woman was freed, they all assembled around me. Wanting me to free them next. My henchmen had to step in to keep them from swarming me. I had to instruct them all to form a line as I went to work to free them one by one each.

  After some time, every one of them was free from their collars as they started to cheer and hug each other over their freedom. I clapped my claws together to get their attention.

  “Alright everyone, now that you’re all free there are a few things we need to discuss.”

  They immediately quieted down; their happy disposition replaced with worry again. “W-what are you planning to do to us?”

  “Nothing for now. Since I’ve taken over this kingdom, I wanted a bit of a fresh start for it.”

  They started to hammer me with the same questions I had answered before, wanting details of what had happened and why a monster like me is the ruler now.

  “So…what should we do now?” One prisoner asked, unsure of the future.

  “For now, I don’t wish to take you on as my minions as you are now. You’re free to leave this kingdom and start fresh or you could stay instead until you’ve recovered and have a clear idea what you want to do. Think of it as a grace period before deciding whether or not to fully committing to serving me.”

  They all slightly nodded, something to add for me to do. I still need to return to my town soon and inform them of what happened. Best for now for my new human minions to handle those affairs as they slowly transition to the new changes.

  As for the rest of the prisoners who weren’t wearing the slave collars, I’ll have to go through the records and determine whether they should still be imprisoned or not. Just more work for me to go through.

  With that settled, I decided that now would be a good time to return. I left Zeph’s slum friend Alex to keep watch for now with Damian’s help. I figured that someone with a reputation as an adventurer would help ease them better. He looked at me without uttering a word, but those eyes of his told me he wanted to be around me longer, but I refused. I need someone who could communicate with me from a distance to stay here for now.

  Thankfully, V offered to stay behind as well. “I want to stay with Mr. Damian and help out too.”

  Willing to bet another reason was that they wanted to go sightseeing in the kingdom. I obliged as always; it’d probably be good for them to gain some new experience.

  I silently messaged Damian. {“Keep V safe while I’m gone.”}

  He replied, his message making my body shiver like always. {“You got it Vladdy, I’ll keep them safe. They’re almost as adorable as you are hehehe~”}

  It always makes me wonder how he can keep such a stoic face with those strong kinds of emotion within. It makes me dread what would happen if he were ever to let them loose unfiltered. Something I’ll have to deal with another time.

  For now, it was time to return home. ~

  [Tiny Tyrant] you are surprisingly reasonable.