“A knight?”, I asked. “How big of trouble are we in?”

  “Depends on the knight.”, Simon said grimly. “Ceteric has two knights and a squire. We should pray it's not the latter.”

  The guards had given up their pursuit of the wagon on foot, but I did not yet dare breathe easily when I noticed one of them barking orders towards another. The wagon bumped over the street, shaking us thoroughly.

  “How long can Emily keep this up?”, I asked.

  “Long enough-”, she yelled into the back. “As long as-”

  A command word was shouted from the wall. I was barely able to hear it, but it sounded like “loose”?

  The realisation hit me moments after the arrow hit the wagon. “They′re shooting at us!”, I yelled to the front.

  “Oh, are they?”, Emily gasped. “Let me just run faster then.”

  Despite her words we did not move faster. Another arrow missed the wagon by only a couple of feet.

  “You′re not-”

  “Henry, by all the gods, I'm pulling a merchant wagon this thing isn't made for–”, she gasped for air. “- spee-”, another whistling gasp. “-speed-” She took in air deeply “-nor maneuverability.

  I opened my mouth to respond, but Simon slapped me over the back of the head. “Don't talk to her, she′s under enough stress already. I looked at the city walls, worrying about Rebecca for a few moments, before I noticed a man riding towards us. Even the furthest arrows didn't come within a threatening distance of us anymore at this point.

  “There′s someone on a horse.”, I said. “Do you recognize them?” I asked Simon, who just stared at me with wide pupils. “Boy, I can't even see the horse.” For a few moments, we just sat there, dependent on Emily′s ability to keep going, dependent on the wagon not breaking down with each creak and straining sound of the wood, and just waiting for what would happen, with the two unconscious bird-children showing no signs of life beyond breathing.

  The tension gripped my insides and twisted them like a child who got their hand on a plush worm and was now testing the durability of their new toy. The person on the horse was catching up with us. I thought about our options. I had no Moonstones with charges available. Even if I had, none of my spells were usable for offensive purposes. I had no skills that could help, no ranged ability, no nothing.

  I had half a handful more coins, my poisonous blood, and the flickchain. I could grab and charge the coins again, try tossing them again; it had worked before, right? Maybe I'd be able to kill the horse, leave the knight behind.

  “Simon.”, I asked. “Any ideas?.

  “If I had, would I have hired guards?”, he asked. His eyes widened, and I knew he could see the rider. “It's the squire.”, he whispered, barely audible above the sound of the wagon hitting every single rock on the path.

  “That's bad.” I said. “You said that's bad, right?”

  Simon didn't respond. “IM GONNA KILL LEA FOR THIS!”, he yelled. “Shouldn't have listened to her for crying out-”, he pointed at me. “If not for yo-” I felt ice run down my back. He was right. This was my fault; had I not made the offer with the Moonstones-

  I took a breath. “Ok. Stop the wagon.”, I told him. “They′re after me; they′ll leave you alone.” Simon, with a grim facial expression, yelled to the front: “Emily. Stop the wagon.”

  “What?”

  “Stop the wagon.”

  “But-”

  “Stop the wagon by all the gods, Emily.”, he yelled, and after a few heartbeats, Emily followed his demand. The wagon slowed down, and by the time it stopped, we had been reached by the squire.

  “It's me you′re after, isn't it?”, I asked and left the wagon. I wished I knew how strong he was, could I take- no, what was I thinking. I had no real combat abilities to speak of, and I had no clue where Rebecca was.

  “In the name of the Vide Family, I, Castiel, Squire of the town of Ceteric, was sent to arrest the man who has stolen the face of Henry Vide and bring him before the hangman.”

  I swallowed. The hangman?

  “I have- I-”, I couldn't speak, my voice stuck in my throat. I gripped my own neck, clawed at my throat. “Didn't- steal.”, I pressed out “m-my face.”

  No weapons, no shield, no powers, no abilities. Then a thought came to me. I hadn't wanted to admit it before, fearing the potential fallout that would come after, but it was either this or death. Of course, I'd admit it.

  “Rol-”, I pressed out.

  The squire jumped off his horse, a rope in hand. “What?” His tone was impatient, as if he couldn't wait to see me strung up.

  “Rolander.”, I managed to press out. “I'm a Rolander.”

  At the moment, it felt like the answer to save my life. The ear-to-ear grin that formed on the squire's face made me reconsider.

  “Is that true? Am I that lucky?” He slowly removed his sword belt, pulling his sword out of the sheath before dropping the sheath onto the ground.

  “They say that before a Rolander, the lives of us mortal men are naught but fuel.” He hefted his sword onto his shoulder. “So I make a suggestion.”, he said.

  I took a deep breath. Yes. A suggestion. He was gonna ask to join us. Or become a future rival, test his strength against whatever Rolanders meant to the people in this world. This was a solvable problem; we had a chance of survival.

  “I'd like to duel you to the death.”, he said with a wide grin that was no longer excited but malicious.

  My heart sank.

  “What?”, Simon yelled before I had the chance to do so. ”Are you mental?”

  “Silence, rabbit.”, the squire said.

  “Either my death will fuel his growth as a Rolander and change this country's fate, or he lied about being a Rolander, the punishment for which is death. There are no downsides as far as I see it.”, he looked at me. “Wouldn't you agree?”

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  I did not agree, but I could hardly say that. What should I do now? What could I do now?

  As I rummaged through my thought an idea came to me. Roleplaying. More Roleplaying that was. I was a Rolander, yes, but I had no powers. So I channeled all the memories I had of Isekai Protagonists of characters I had played and hoped for the best.

  I turned to the wagon, waving off the squires' complaints. “I'll just pick up my gear.”, I said. “Can't go all out otherwise, can I?” I needed to buy time for-

  For what?

  For what did I need to buy time for?

  The question did not vanish as I slipped into the chainmail, as I could feel three pairs of eyes on me while doing my best to act like they weren't there, like I wasn't trying to stall for time. I put on the gauntlets. The Overlapping Protection popped back up. I wondered how long this would keep me safe. A strike? Two? The one D-Rank had broken me apart in a few hits without seeming like he struggled too much, despite the effect, and nothing had changed since. How much stronger than an adventurer was a squire?

  My eyes fell onto a small box of nails. They′d be no more useful than the coins, but at least these were made to penetrate something stronger than flesh, so maybe it would be an improvement. I didn't know, but any hope was better than no hope. I stuck the nails into the coinpurse. I couldn't hear anybody following us. They must have decided that the squire was enough to handle us.

  I was scared. There was no other word to describe it. I was scared, terrified even. My limbs were heavy and frozen, and I had to force them into every single movement.

  I stood at the back of the wagon and put my hand on Simon's shoulder. He flinched. “You go up ahead.”, I managed to wring out of my throat.

  “I'm afraid I can't let that happen.”, the Squire said, planting the tip of his sword into the ground.. “If you are indeed lying about being a Rolander…. their lives are just as forfeit as yours.”

  I placed my hand into the bag. Wearing the gauntlet meant no poisonous blood on the nails, but without wearing both, the effect wouldn't work.

  “Shame.”, I said. “How am I supposed to go all out otherwise?”

  “All out?”, the squire asked, licking his lips.

  “All out.”, I forced out of my throat. “And let's be honest, you caught up to me in minutes. If I'm not a real Rolander, then you′re gonna kill me and catch up with them in no time, no?”

  He hesitated. A thought went off in my head. Flattery wouldn't get me anywhere helpful, but maybe it would be enough to get them away.

  “You think so?”, he asked.

  I closed my eyes. “Oh, I know so.”, I said, before activating [Emperors Gaze] with a whisper and opening my eyes. I wasn't even sure what I was looking for. I had hoped that I could see something helpful, like a weak point in his armor, or a weakness in his stance, anything like it. My Grace opened.

  The gods hope that your death will be slow and drawn out.

  Non-physical phenomena cannot be targeted at the current level. Please choose a different target.

  “The Vide Family′s bloodline ability is quite adept in visual matters. So seeing just how strong you are-”, I faked a grin, showing my teeth. “Gonna be at least a level up or two.”

  The Squire took a step back. “You took the body of a Noble?”, he asked in surprise.

  Was there a visual indicator that I was using [Emperors Gaze] ? Didn't matter, nobody had mentioned it so far, but if this was true, I'd have to be more careful going forward.

  “I woke up in this body, that's all I can say.”, The squire′s grin widened.

  “Get outta here.”, he told Simon. “Rolander or not, I don't need anybody to see what I'm gonna do to that body ifit'ss really noble..

  An ice-cold shudder ran down my back at the sheer malice in those words. In minutes, he had swayed between emotions so aggressively; something was wrong with this man.

  I clenched my hand around the nails. Energy began flowing into them. I had formed something like a plan in my head, with no guarantee how well it would work. I couldn't tell how well his stats were built after all.

  The moment he looked back at me, I flicked the handful of nails into his face. Before I had the time to see what that had accomplished, I rushed towards him. If I could knock him off his feet, I could-

  Hitting the man was like hitting a brick wall, he did not budge, his chestplate not reacting to my desperate attempts to push him over. The squire hadn't noticed my rush, still pulling away nails stuck in his face. He raised his sword and swung blindly with one hand while the other felt for more metal parts. If I weren't this close, he would've hit me already, but it was only a matter of time till he noticed where I was.

  “You coward.”, he growled. “How dare you call yourself a Rolander?”

  He whipped around, fast enough to throw me off before he finally opened his left eye. His other eye was nailed shut.

  “You are a disgrace to everything the Rolanders stand for. You-”

  He swung his sword, hitting the chainmail with such force that I could hear a crack in my ribs. He lifted his sword again and brought it down on me once more. So far, the chainmail and Overlapping Protection had managed to keep me mostly safe, but what next?

  I grabbed another handful of nails, but as I clenched my fist, he kicked my hand down. Standing on my wrist, he spat on the ground. “You′re no Rolander. And even if you were, I'm doing the world a favor in wiping you out here and now. Your effects can't keep you safe forever, you coward.”

  Suddenly, I heard the screeching of steel on steel. The air was driven out of the squire; his eyes widened in shock as he stared behind him in confusion.

  “Sorry. Am I too late?”, Rebecca gasped. She was drenched in sweat, her longsword in both hands. She twisted her shoulders and pulled the squire off me. I saw that the blade had bitten into his chestplate, deep enough to draw blood.

  I gasped for air, my head feeling too light and empty to think, so I just nodded at her with an open mouth.

  The squire screamed in pain. “And who are you?”, he spat out with pure hatred.

  “Rebecca.”, she said, pulling out the sword from his side, blood gushing from the wound. “Can't say I'm charmed.”

  She kicked him in the chest, knocking him down next to me.

  “Why′d you nail his eye shut?”, she asked, looking at me as she raised her sword again. “No, how′d you nail his eye shut?”

  Before I could answer, the blade arched through the air and landed with a sickening crunch.

  As your stats cannot be improved upon, all the Experience Points you would have been granted for assisting are discarded.

  “I expected more of him.”, she said, confused. Looking back at me, she asked: “Where are the others?”

  “Fled.”, I replied. “Told them to run, that I'd hold him off.”, Rebecca pulled me to my feet, supporting me when I nearly sank to my shaking knees again.“I thought about it before, but first the charade to free Simon, and now this? I really need to get stronger.”

  _________________________________________________________________________

  Current Status:

  Stats:

  Power: 2

  Agility: 1

  Toughness 3

  Mental: 2

  Perception: 3

  Mana: N/A

  Effects:

  Broken rib(s)

  Night Vision  Lvl. 1

  Overlapping Protection  Lvl. 1

  Poisonous Blood  Lvl. 1

  Protection against Natural Poison and Venom Lvl. 1

  Skills:

  [Behind every great person, there's their spouse] Lvl. 1

  [Emperors Gaze]  Lvl. 2

  [New World Mental Block]

  Known Ritual Spells:

  [Determine Value]

  [Simple Transportation Magic]

  Thank you in advance.