Chapter Text
"You! The one carrying the bricks!"
A stern-looking guard, with his hair styled up high over his forehead and a long metal javelin in his hand, shouted out from behind. Saitama looked around himself, then at the sacks of bricks in his hands.
"Me?", Saitama asked, pointing a finger at himself.
"Yes! You! The royal prince has called for your presence! Follow me!"
A little confused, Saitama had no choice but to trail behind the guard. When the guard turned to see if he was following, he shouted again.
"Are you stupid?! Drop the bricks! You don't bring bricks to see the prince."
Compliantly, Saitama placed the sacks to a side, reminding himself to collect them again later.
"Hey! Where are you from?!", the guard asked angrily and Saitama quietly wondered why he bothered to ask if he was so pissed about it.
"Zee Capital."
"Zee? You are one of the slaves then!", the guard said, disgustedly.
Saitama didn't retort back, despite the subtle rising anger in his heart, as he silently followed the guard into a general's hut.
In there, Saitama saw a handsome, young man sitting in the middle. His messy blond hair glowed, like a halo around his head, as the sun shone in. Saitama met his eyes.
It's golden too , Saitama thought to himself. The dude looks like a demigod with all this bright radiation.
Saitama observed another fair-skinned man standing beside him, his silver hair styled up into two large prongs. What's with all these cool hairstyles nowadays?
Saitama subconsciously rubbed his bald head, grimacing. Contrary to popular belief, Saitama wasn't bald because he was forced to shave them off as a slave, as others did. In fact, he had lost all his hair prior, due to his hard training to get stronger in order to fight monsters.
He had wanted to be a hero and protect the weak. Yet, before he could complete his training, the monsters, under the Evil Cyborg's command had attacked. In retaliation, Kuseno's Kingdom had fought back. As a result, Zee Capital became a battleground for them.
The people of Zee Capital were collected as spoils of war; becoming slaves to the intruders, Saitama being one of them.
Suddenly, Saitama felt a kick to the back of his knee and he fell forward, kneeling on the ground following the momentum. It didn't hurt and Saitama didn't fight back. It was a waste of time and energy anyway.
"Answer the prince, slave!"
The guard beside him shouted again.
Huh?
"I asked for your name.", the man on the chair leaned forward and finally spoke up, or spoke again probably. Saitama couldn't be sure, he must have zoned out.
"It's Saitama."
"Saitama what?" The silvered-hair man asked him impatiently.
"Just Saitama."
"Very well. Saitama, I will require your assistance in the army. Your strength will be of great help to my empire."
I see, so blondie is the prince, Saitama finally managed to guess.
"It's a huge honor to be asked directly by the prince. Hurry up and accept this and get this over with!", the guard annoyingly shouted at him again.
Saitama thought for a moment, then said, "And what if I refuse?"
"You will be executed."
Saitama turned to look at the new voice who spoke. He must have missed the man when he entered, he was sitting in the shadow after all. He noticed the odd-looking glasses in front of the man's eyes.
He had only heard of it but he had never seen one up close. Those things are rumored to make you see things more clearly.
The man stood up and walked towards him. He offered him a hand and Saitama absentmindedly accepted. When they stood eye-to-eye, Saitama could see the large brown eyes behind the glasses.
"Allow me to introduce ourselves. It was rude of us."
Saitama heard the guard rudely remarked, "He's a slave!", but the man in glasses ignored him.
"The great man in front of you is Prince Genos, the sole heir to the Kuseno empire. The man beside him is his loyal personal guard, General Garou. The man who brought you in here, General Bado. I am Mu-"
"You are not another general, are you? You don't look like one."
The silvered-hair ma-, Garou, immediately flared up. "How dare yo-!"
"It's fine, Garou.", he interrupted and looked at Saitama again, "No, I am not a general. I am just a royal doctor, who serves as a temporary advisor for now. My name is Mumen."
Saitama looked at the four men around him and decided he liked Mumen the best for now, despite the threat of killing him off.
Mumen smiled at him and continued, "Prince Genos asked of your help in the ongoing war against the evil King Cyborg. I am sure your expertise on the geographical location of Zee Capital and your physical strength would be helpful to our tropes."
Mumen had kneeled down to inspect the scratches on his knees, caused by Bado. Then, he stood straight up again to continue, "But if you insist on not being on our side, I'm afraid we can't allow you to live."
"Mumen's right. A slave who wouldn't lay his low life down for his master is a slave to be slaughtered!"
Saitama gritted his teeth at Bado's remark. I am not a slave! I am a free man until you and those monsters invaded my land!
But he kept his mouth shut.
That was when the prince spoke up again.
"I will offer you your freedom. If you will help me defeat the mad cyborg."
Saitama stared at him straight in the eye. He could see the fire and passion burning in his eyes. The prince was stubborn, if anything.
He took a deep breath and then, "Deal."