Otherlife Awakening: The Selfless Hero Trilogy

by William D. Arand

  Runner blinked across the street to the roof of the manor. Isabelle appeared beside him, triggering her ring to the same effect of his spell.

  “What do we do once we’ve got him? Take him to the inn?”

  “Good question. I say play it by ear. I haven’t seen anyone else in the manor, so we might be able to question him here and now. If not, we can go elsewhere.”

  Runner ghosted up the roof to a window and peered inside. Getting a quick picture of the room, he blinked into it. Reaching back behind himself, he flipped the window lock to open.

  Runner heard the window pane swing out and the soft hiss of boots as Isabelle joined him on the second floor.

  Creeping into the room, Runner glanced around and found nothing out of the ordinary. A study that held a collection of books, paper, writing tools, and somewhat costly furniture.

  “Do me a favor, Belle? Start stealing anything that looks expensive and that we can take with us. Really channel your inner Hanners. When we leave here we’ll need to make it look like Leto left in a hurry with whatever money there is.” Runner picked up a pocket watch from a writing desk and slipped it into his inventory.

  “Pretend to be Hannah? Should I say ‘fuck’ every other sentence and hide when you show up?” Isabelle whispered, moving off to a side table.

  “Funny mouse. Interesting to hear you curse though. Maybe later we can explore that.” Runner opened the door and crept into the hallway it adjoined. Turning left, he moved down along the length of it and peeked into each room he passed as he did so.

  At the end he finally found what he was looking for.

  Sleeping in a bed far too large for him was the Gnome. Wild and bushy black hair stuck up from the pillow. Runner waited there at the door for Isabelle to eventually catch up. He assumed she was doing as he’d instructed, systematically clearing out the rooms behind him of treasures.

  He could keep himself busy in his own mind.

  A hand pressed ever so lightly into his back after maybe ten minutes of waiting.

  Moving into the room, Runner skirted the bed and came up to the Gnome’s side.

  Glancing backwards, he found Isabelle had the look of someone ready for a fight.

  Targeting the Gnome, who was named Mert, Runner slapped him. He followed it up immediately with Sleep when the Gnome’s eyes snapped open.

  Sleep wouldn’t actually put him to sleep. It would simply render him unable to take action.

  “Good morning. Well, evening? Something. I’m the grave keeper, motherfucker. I’m here to bury you depending on your answers. I need information. I’m going to get it from you by your volition or I’ll turn you into a living trashcan. I figure I cut off your arms and legs and you’d be about the right height for people to throw their garbage in.”

  Runner hit Mert with a Brainwash.

  “You will answer my questions honestly and to the point,” Runner said, and made a gesture at the rest of the room to Isabelle.

  “Who tortured my retainer? A Sunless woman of peerless beauty.”

  “I did.”

  Runner felt his teeth click together sharply, and his hands closed into fists.

  “Tell me where Leto is.”

  Isabelle started stealing everything in the room. That single answer had told her enough.

  “He is not here.”

  “Where is Leto currently?”

  “He is not here.”

  “I get that. If he is not here, where is he?”

  “Nowhere.”

  “Is there anyone else in the house?”

  “Yes. I have a troublemaker in the basement.”

  “Anyone loyal to you?”

  “No.”

  “How do I find Leto?”

  “You don’t.”

  “If I wanted to find Leto, what would I do?”

  “I would summon him.”

  “And how do you summon him?”

  “With a spell.”

  Runner paused at that and scratched his head. The rapid back and forth helped, but the answers were getting him nowhere.

  “What is Leto?”

  “An illusion.”

  Runner laughed suddenly at that. His mind ran along the answers he had received and what he figured was going on.

  Mert was about to break the limit of the Brainwash spell. Runner needed a few more seconds for Sleep to cycle, so he used Stunner instead.

  Arching his little spine in discomfort, Mert screamed and twisted in the bed.

  I really am the villain, aren’t I?

  “What the hell, Runner?” Isabelle hissed at him, her arms deep in a chest in the corner of the room.

  “Relax, Belle, we’re alone in the house and I’m pretty sure Mert here is Leto.” Runner hit Mert with the Sleep spell when it came off cooldown.

  “Right. Thanks for that, Mert. Next up is another series of questions. These are going to be fairly direct, so this is almost over. For what it’s worth, I don’t disagree with what you were doing.” Runner sighed dramatically, leaning up against a bedside table.

  “In fact, I would have done the same thing you did. The problem here is you harmed one of my retainers. Had you not done that I probably would have explored other options to deal with you. I’m a petty man, sorry.”

  Runner threw another Brainwash into the little man.

  “Answer my questions honestly and directly. Are you Leto?”

  “No.”

  “Is Leto an illusion that you summon and you pretend to be Leto?”

  “Yes.”

  “And there we are. So if you vanish, Leto will vanish?”

  “Yes.”

  “Does anyone else know about Leto?”

  “No.”

  “Fantastic. That’s done. Where is the treasury for Letoville?”

  “Basement.”

  “How do I get to the treasury?”

  “Hidden door in the first cell.”

  “Great. Open a trade window and give me everything you have.”

  Mert immediately became nude in the bed, and a window opened for Runner.

  “Perfect, here’s some really strong poison for you. Accept the trade now.” The trade window closed. “I’d like you to drink all of that poison, as fast as you can.”

  Mert began downing vial after vial of the expensive high-grade poison. Runner had picked it up back in Norwood for such an occasion.

  “I think I missed my calling as an assassin. What do you think, Minxy?” Runner asked to the empty space above him.

  “You’d have made an exquisite assassin. But then you wouldn’t be my equal,” Amelia replied.

  “Is that enough poison to kill him?”

  “Yes. He’ll be dead before the spell wears off. Somewhat cruel, lovey. Technically he is committing suicide.”

  “He hurt Grace. I’m ending the threat to my takeover of Letoville and paying a return to the one who would dare to touch my people. Two for one deal here at Runner-mart. I’ll talk to you later, Minxy.”

  Mert died then and there in the bed without another word.

  Runner shrugged, stood up, and walked away from the corpse.

  “That was a little evil, Runner.” Isabelle was pulling books from a shelf, checking the labels and taking some, dropping others.

  “A bit. Nadine wouldn’t be thrilled with me, but she would understand. I can live with what I’ve done here.”

  “So long as you go no further. Don’t worry, my dearest lord. I’ll keep you on track,” Isabelle said to him, looking up from a book she held. Her green eyes pierced him to the soul. Then she blessed him with a warm smile.

  Runner felt his heart skip a beat, and he left the room quickly. The treasury waited for him.

  Runner nearly skipped down the basement stairs. He’d be glad to be away from Letoville.

  Going to need a new name. I should ask Belle or Grace to see what it was named before this.

  Runner found himself standing in front of the first cell that lined the basement’s walls.

/>   “Ho there.”

  Runner looked around for a moment before following the sound of the voice. It had come from deeper in the basement.

  Standing in the last cell was a green-skinned man. His brow was a little heavier than a human’s, and he had the build of a warrior. His hair was short and nearly cropped to his scalp. He only stood a few inches taller than Runner, and looked like the picture of indifference.

  “Hi. Were you the troublemaker Mert the gnome was talking about?”

  “Mert? Don’t know Mert. Leto put me here for questioning him at the town hall meeting. Got me after it ended. Woke up here.”

  Runner looked up to the name plate, which read “Lobu.”

  “Right, then. So, Lobu, here’s the lowdown. I literally just came from upstairs where I found out Leto has fled.”

  “Liar. Leto would never flee. You mentioned a Gnome.”

  “I beg your pardon.”

  Lobu merely blinked at him as if he had all the time in the world.

  “Fine, I murdered a Gnome I found upstairs named Mert that was actually Leto. Leto was an illusion. Course now that you know, you kinda have to disappear or die.” Runner held up his hands in apology. “Sorry.”

  “I’ll follow you out. That way you can make sure I leave.”

  “Fantastic idea.” Runner flipped through the items he’d taken from Mert and found a keyring. “Yeah, here’s the keyring. Figure it out. I’ll be over in cell one.”

  Runner tossed the keyring to Lobu and returned to the first cell. Grunting, he started tossing the cell and pulling and pushing on everything inside it.

  Then he realized the one thing that actually stood out of place. A toilet. A crude imitation of a toilet made from a wooden seat sitting over a hole.

  But it was still an actual, honest to the Triumvirate, toilet.

  “Well, shit.” Runner laughed and took a screenshot.

  Fucking miracle toilet.

  Reaching down into the hole, he found what he was looking for on the inside.

  When he pulled the lever hidden inside, the wall at the base of the stairwell swung outward.

  “So that happened.” Runner stood up and moved over to the newly made doorway.

  Inside glittered thousands of coins in various denominations.

  “Huh. Alright then. Brighteyes, I could use that pretty brain of yours.”

  As if she had been waiting for him to summon her, she materialized beside him. She gave him a bright smile that faltered after a few seconds.

  She leaned in close and laid a hand to his chest.

  “Hi there, Brighteyes. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll never spurn your touch, but I’m not sure this is the time or—”

  Brunhild pressed her nose to his throat and inhaled deeply. His mind tripped over itself and his head felt heavy. A feeling of dizziness washed over him the likes of which he had never felt before.

  “Okay, wow. Uhm. So, we can totally go into a cell or go back upstairs and find a bedroom. Your hair smells amazing.” Runner felt his brain spewing out things to say as fast as it could, taken completely off guard by her demeanor.

  Her glowing brown eyes moved up to his and she said nothing, merely watched him.

  “Hi… there. This uh, aggressive thing. Totally in favor of it.” Runner felt like his brain was working without his guidance. He didn’t deny she was a beautiful woman, but this felt like too much of a response on his own part.

  With Amelia it was a different feeling. For her it was the conquest, sex and passion, and victory of the chase.

  Brunhild wasn’t that way at all. This feeling wasn’t normal.

  Something’s wrong.

  “You ascended,” Brunhild said finally. Her fingers closed on his armor and she stood up, putting a distance of perhaps a foot between them. “Yet you didn’t. I would like you to explain it to me. Please?” Her eyes never left his, waiting for him to answer.

  She hadn’t demanded it of him, she had asked.

  “Brunhild, right now, I’m feeling pretty giddy at this situation. My head is actually spinning and I can’t think straight. Something is seriously wrong with me. I’m also working on a time limit here. So, I promise I’ll explain this and answer all your questions, providing we pick this conversation up in the exact same way, if you can help me out here?”

  Runner lamely pointed a finger at the treasury room.

  Brunhild broke her gaze from his and looked at the glittering pile. With a flick of her free hand it vanished.

  “I’ve moved it to your bedroom in Norwood,” Brunhild said, her eyes returning to his. “Srit will find it when she goes to retire for the night. You stated a promise.”

  “And I’ve always kept my word.”

  “You have. We will resume this conversation. Do not speak of this to my sisters. Yet.” Then she was gone.

  “So. You work for Runner Norwood? I heard he had goddesses in his employ,” Lobu said without much excitement. He stood several feet from Runner, dressed in simple leather armor.

  “No. I don’t work for Runner Norwood,” Runner said, choosing not to elaborate. “And yes, that was Brunhild, first of the Triumvirate.”

  Runner left it at that and took the steps up into the main holding of the home.

  Checking the time, he found it to be a few minutes after five a.m.

  “Belle, time to go. We’re set down here.”

  “Yes, dearest.” Isabelle’s voice floated down from above.

  “Dearest?” Lobu asked.

  “I uh—yeah. Long story.”

  Lobu grunted and rummaged around in the living room they were in. Runner frowned and looked at Lobu.

  “So, do you have a last name?”

  “Half-Orc is fine.”

  “Err, alright. Lobu the Half-Orc.” Runner shook his head a bit and looked around the room.

  Brunhild’s actions had shaken him pretty badly. Her closeness wasn’t something he had expected, and her presence had a strange effect on him. Especially today. He couldn’t quite put a finger on it.

  Isabelle bounced into the room. Her eyes took in Lobu and then went back to Runner.

  “Found him in the basement. He’s leaving with us. If we can get outside the wall tonight I’d really prefer it. No idea if we can though.” Runner motioned to the front of the house.

  “What, no jumping from the walls? Changing our races? Hiding in a wagon?” Isabelle said, sliding up behind him and resting her hand on his back.

  “You’ve been talking to the wrong people again. Alright, let’s see if we can get out of here,” Runner whispered, opening the front door and easing it from the frame. He took a quick peek up and down both directions of the lane the house was on. No one was out and about.

  “Time to go. Be sure to leave the door open when we leave, needs to look like he left in a hurry.”

  Runner moved smoothly from the house and slid into the far side of the lane as if he had always been there. Isabelle joined him immediately and Lobu after a second or three.

  They said nothing and made their way to the stakewall. The goal was clear: get out if possible. If they couldn’t, the best timing would probably arrive when Satomi did.

  The guards would be so focused on what was going on outside, they might be able to slip out.

  As if to illustrate his point, they arrived at the gatehouse only to find everything locked up and well guarded. There would be no escape till it opened.

  Instead Runner motioned his two companion down a side alley where they could watch the gate.

  And wait for an opportunity.

  There was no conversation, and other than the occasional stray animal, they were left alone in then alleyway.

  At five in the morning on the dot, the guards opened the gate. No sooner had it opened than a guard rushed away after looking outside. Runner could only guess the guard was speeding towards Leto’s manor after witnessing Sophia and Satomi approach.

  “In a few minutes from now I’m sure we’ll get a shot. A chance t
o make a move and get outta here. Take this, Lobu, it’s a Stealth potion. It’ll actually force you into a stealthed state,” Runner said, handing the man a Stealth potion. “Drink it when we move. Been a pleasure. Don’t come back to Letoville.”

  Lobu took the vial without comment.

  Runner waited, figuring that eventually the guard would come back empty-handed. The rumors they’d spread the day before of Leto having fled would hopefully set up the simple belief that he had.

  That and the corpse we left upstairs is long gone.

  After a few minutes the guard who had sprinted towards the manor came back.

  The way he carried himself had the look of a man defeated. Runner could only guess what was going on behind that helmet.

  Every guard crowded around the returnee and started talking to one another.

  “Now,” Runner hissed, and cast Stealth on himself. Flitting out of the alleyway, he ducked wide around the guards. After exiting the open gate, he stuck to the wall and followed it for a way before turning.

  Fifty yards from the wall, he deliberately dropped his Stealth. Angling himself towards where he expected to find his people, Runner broke into a swift jog.

  There they were, immediately visible and in plain sight. Setting his sights on the back of Boxy, he kept moving.

  Sliding to a halt at the rear door, he peeked around the edge and found Sophia and Satomi standing side by side in the road.

  There was no new movement from the gates.

  “Lord Norwood!” an excited, cheerful voice greeted him.

  Runner looked up into the cabin to find the driver waving at him.

  “Ah, hello, Me. Glad to see you all.”

  Probably should actually get her name sometime.

  “Be a pal and go—never mind.” Runner grinned as Sophia and Satomi joined him at the rear of Boxy.

  “Grace, Vixen, you’re a beautiful sight.”

  Sophia saluted primly, and Satomi ducked her head an inch towards him.

  “We took care of the problem. They’re now discovering that Leto is gone. Turns out it was a Gnome with a penchant for illusion.” Runner shrugged his shoulders. “Who knew.”

  Runner stepped in close and hugged Sophia tightly. She stiffened up at first before returning the hug.

  “I made sure he understood it was because of his actions towards you that I took his life.”