The Protagonist System

Chris the thief cursed her timing, which was the first time she had ever done so, because she met the carriage carrying her target and they had already defeated Dust and his party. She had planned to swoop in at the last moment to 'save' them and ingratiate herself with Kazuma to make up for what happened the last time they met... as Chris, she meant. What she did as Eris would stay a secret.

She followed the very fast carriage back to the capitol and may have enhanced her borrowed horse a little to keep up with them. She also delayed the encounter he should have had with one of the Demon King generals, because he was in no condition to handle them.

Chris was only three spots back in the line to get back into the capitol at the gates, since the guards were on high alert for a horse thief. It was a good thing the horse no longer looked the same after her alterations and she could sell it back to the stable where she found it. What? That was fair. She made it better and it looked like a different horse. The money would be donated to her church anyway, since she didn't really need it herself.

She followed the carriage as it went to the Adventurer's Guild and she debated staying outside and waiting or going in first to have them stumble into her inside. A chance meeting was preferable to being followed, right? Right. She secured the horse and put a spell on it to be ignored and dashed inside the building as Kazuma helped the rest of his party out of the carriage.

Chris stood near the bar beside the teller booths, where she knew they would visit first to get Kazuma's card updated. Defeating Dust's party would gain him a dozen levels or more and then she would put his encounters back on track.

Kazuma entered the guild in full armor and everyone in the whole place turned to look at his orangey-yellow full suit and the formed flames of his helmet. Chris tried to not fidget or draw attention to herself as they approached the booths, then her eyes widened when they changed directions and went over to the quest board.

No, no, no! You need to level first! You're too weak to take anything on! Chris mentally pleaded and didn't know what to do as several of the quests were chosen and the women of his party chatted happily about the much wider choice of things in the capitol city than had were back in Axel.

They finally ended their browsing and walked back toward the teller booths.

Chris started freaking out again as they submitted four quests that were too high level for them, or so she assumed. She slipped away without being seen and made her way into the back offices to talk to one of the higher officers of the guild. She had to stop Kazuma before he made another mistake and kills himself again. The fate of the world depended on him!

*

I stood behind the girls as they were assigned the easy repeatable missions that would net us a lot of XP and myself a bunch of levels. It had been a surprise when they all said they knew I had weakened myself and they had no problems with taking up the slack and sharing their XP with me like I had with them.

“Excuse me, sir. Can I see your adventurer's card?” A harsh male voice asked as he approached me.

I turned to face him and used my naming trick on him and almost choked at the Level 80 King's Knight named Lancealot. I was not ready to throw down with this guy as I was, not even with the cheats my armor gave me.

“That's a bit personal to ask without even introducing yourself, stranger.” I said, my voice even and didn't show how nervous I was. I went through what I had in my inventory and chose a few things I could use to disable the guy and get away, especially if he was as hostile as his voice indicated.

The man squinted his eyes. “As a high rank official in the guild, it is my right and duty to check the cards of those I deem are unfit for this life.” He said and put his hand on his sword hilt. “Now hand over your card and I will determine if you will still be a member.”

I almost laughed in his face. “You expect me to hand my card that controls my skills and levels over to some pompous asshole that demands it without any cause or excuse?” I asked and pointed at the teller booth without diverting my eyes from the knight. “I demand the guild's manager appear here immediately! I'm being threatened to hand over my guild membership for no reason.”

The girl behind the counter looked guilty. “I'm sorry, sir. He is one of our officials and he does have that right.”

The knight smiled smugly at me and held out his hand for my card.

“I don't care if he has the right to piss on the floor and can order you to lick it up.” I said in a loud voice and put my own hand down on my sword hilt. “I paid my fees and I completed my missions. If this idiot can deny me my rights on a whim and stop me from levelling up to helping this world, then I want the manager here to tell me to my face.” I said, my tone changing to an authoritative one. “Call them NOW!”

“The manager doesn't speak to weak scum like you.” The knight said and drew his sword.

“Now your mad dog is breaking Guild Law and is going to attack me INSIDE the walls of this fine institution.” I said and didn't draw my own sword. “What kind of honorable example are you setting for everyone that's looking at us, Lancealittle?”

The knight glanced around and saw disapproval on a lot of faces, especially on my party members. “Exceptions are made in cases where a disruptive element has trespassed on Guild grounds and they need to be removed.” Lancealot said.

“You mean disposed of, don't you?” I asked and he smiled. “Then go ahead and attack me without provocation. Prove to the world the King's Knights have no honor and we'll see how long you live afterwards.”

*

Chris was hiding off to the side and stared at the utter disaster her interference had caused. She hadn't meant for the knight to go this far with his demands. It was supposed to only be a check to see if Kazuma could handle the tasks chosen, not completely deny him his rights to level up!

The knight lunged forward, his sword extended for a chest slash. Kazuma didn't block him and the sword sent sparks flying as it skidded across his armor. The knight growled and tried to tackle him, only there was a light hum and the knight came to a sudden stop and hugged Kazuma.

Blood came from Lancealot's mouth as he slid to his knees, then he fell backwards onto the floor. Everyone saw the inch wide hole burned through his armor, his chest, and his heart. No weapon could be seen, though.

Chris didn't want to be anywhere near there and slipped away again. Her planned meeting was ruined again and she didn't know what to do now.

*

I had never been more grateful for my inventory and those lightsaber keychains. Five of them together saved my life and made a big enough hole to get to the man's heart. His follow-up swing was going for my neck and I couldn't have blocked it or survived long enough for a healing potion.

There was a loud clattering noise nearby and I was suddenly surrounded by other knights.

“You are under arrest for the murder...” The lead knight started to say.

“Hold.” A very sexy voice said and everyone froze.

I could only move my eyes as I watched a gorgeous woman walk into the room and over to me.

“You can still move your eyes? How?” She asked and I couldn't respond. She smiled sexily and patted my cheek. “You're an interesting one.”

I felt a flow of magic over me and she caught her breath.

“Oh. Oh, you poor dear.” She whispered and leaned in close. Her dark hair hiding what she did from everyone except me. “Divine intervention? How surprising.” She breathed and her lips touched my skin. “Hmm, you have a touch of divinity as well. I wonder how that happened.”

I could see the amusement on her face when I tried to do my name trick and it failed.

“Yes, very interesting.” She said and stepped back. “I am Selene and I am the manager of the Guild. May I see your card?”

I could move my hand and I did so to reach under my armor and took the card out of my inventory. Selene read the things on the back and she gave me raised eyebrows. Without a word, she slid the card back into my hand and gave me a smile that probably meant a lot more than what I thought it did.

Selene turned away from me to address everyone and we could all move normally again. “The Adventurer's Guild is a neutral place of meeting. It always has been and always will be. Lancealot will be publicly disgraced for breaking the rules, his lands seized, and his titles and accomplishments stricken from the record.”

The knights looked murderous at her words.

“If anyone disagrees with this judgment for his illegal act of attacking another adventurer inside the walls of my guild hall, where everyone has my protection while inside, you may hand over your Guild cards immediately.” She said and the knights looked even angrier. “Shall I order you to?”

None of the knights said anything and only glared at her, making her nod.

“Very well. I will issue a command if you won't do so willingly.” Selene warned them and they didn't move. “All knights in officer positions are hereby suspended. No knight may enter any guild hall in any city or town, nor can they update their Adventurer Cards.” She said and everyone gasped. “Go back to the king and let him know the truth of what happened here. If he wishes to talk to change my mind, he knows how to contact me through proper channels.”

The knight in the front took a step forward, clearly aggressive.

Selene's hand shot out and cleaved his head from his body. “Anyone else?”

The rest of the knights stepped back and shook their heads.

“Then leave and do as you're told.” Selene ordered.

The knights started to march out and a few of them bent down to grab the knight and Lancealot.

“Leave them. They are evidence in an ongoing investigation.” Selene said and the knights grumbled under their breaths as they left. “Such a mess.” She said and turned to me. “My people will clean this place up.” She held a hand out to me. “You and I have a meeting in my office.”

I started to turn to my party.

“They will have their turns to talk to me soon.” Selene said and wagged her hand at me. “Erika, show them to the guest rooms for them to wait.”

“Yes, manager.” The counter girl said and closed the booth.

I tried to not sigh as I accepted the offered hand, then I felt another flow of magic over me and the sigh left me anyway when I felt a little better. I tried to not stare at her and she smiled that sexy smile again.

This is going to be another kind of trial for me, isn't it? I asked myself as I was led into a part of the guild hall I had never seen before. The offices.

It was a bit surprising to find out the manager's office was just that. A normal office. There was nothing outlandish to show off the sheer power her office held, considering she was the overall manager of all the guild halls and not just the main one here in the capitol.

“Have a seat.” Selene said, ordered really, and indicated the plain chair in front of her normal sized desk. I expected a huge oak monstrosity for her to keep her distance from those she talked to and it was only a couple of feet wide.

I wasn't a barbarian and stood beside the chair as I waited for her to sit down first. The small smile on her face as she sat down, let me know she understood why I didn't do exactly as she commanded right away. When it looked like she was settled, I sat without being prompted again.

“So.” Selene said and put her elbows on her desk and rested her chin in her hands. “What's your story? How did someone like you defeat two of the Demon King's Generals and the roaming Fortress of Destruction?”

Yes, it's definitely a personal trial for me to be judged. I thought and held in my sigh. It took me several moments to decide if I wanted to be completely frank with her or not, and the amused look on her face told me she knew exactly what I was thinking. Right, balls to the wall. Go big or go home. “I assume you've seen or heard about several oddly behaving people appearing suddenly out of nowhere with skills or abilities beyond those of normal people?”

“Or oddly powerful equipment that shouldn't exist, yes.” Selene said. “How does that apply to you, a basic adventurer?”

I wondered how much I could twist my story to my advantage as I motioned to my armor. “As you might have noticed, I'm pretty much relying on my armor to keep me mobile right now. All of my skills and abilities have been reduced to almost nothing after I was forcibly reset to Level 1 recently.”

Selene nodded her head slightly and motioned for me to keep going.

“Well, my story started after I arrived in Axel, the starter city for adventuring. My goddess assigned mission was to save the world from the Demon King.” I informed her, her eyes widening slightly, then I kept talking, and talking, and talking. I held her spellbound as I told her pretty much everything that happened to me and what I did to fix things in the city.

Selene did not look happy to hear about how the previous Lord of Axel had clearly abused his powers and ran the place like his own little kingdom. She looked quite pleased when I eventually told her I had dealt with the problem and a much more respectable noble had replaced him. I even whispered that his daughter was a member of my party as well, whom I had saved from a forcibly arranged marriage.

It took quite some time for me to tell her everything, even in an abridged version, and she didn't comment or spoke at all as she listened to what I had to say. By the time I was done, concluding with this latest incident that could have killed me, I was pretty sure she was impressed with both my honesty and the outrageous situation I was now in.

Selene sat there for several minutes as she gazed at me intensely and didn't say a word. I didn't say anything either, mostly because I knew if I did, it would change whatever decision she was going to make. It was the first time I regretted not having the ability to spend Karma points to affect the outcome of something in my favor.

“You will be shown to the rooms assigned to your party and will stay the night as my guests. I will make my determination in the morning about your position in the guild.” Selene finally said.

I let out the breath I didn't realize I was holding. This woman held the future of the world in her hands and she looked like she knew it. “Thank you.” I said, genuinely grateful. “I appreciate you taking the time to respond to my request personally, even if it reached you a little too late to stop what happened.”

Selene let out a soft sigh. “I will be having a talk to Erika and the rest of the workers. If anyone in the hall requests my presence, especially if there is a question of a guild member's rights, I should be contacted immediately.”

I didn't want to add fuel to that fire, so I only nodded in response. Selene gave me another slight smile, as if she knew my thoughts, and stood and motioned for me to follow. I did and we went to her office door.

Selene opened the door to see Erika standing right there. “Bring Kazuma to the guest rooms and return here. I need to talk to you about proper procedure.”

Erika's face lost some of its color. “R-r-right a-a-away!” She barely stammered a response, grabbed my arm, and pulled me down the hallway as quickly as she could, mumbling 'hurry' constantly as she did so.