System Change

A collection of gasps sounded out of the gathered crowd once Katrisha fell to the ground.

“Is she dead?” One voice sounded out.

“Did he kill her?”

“Maybe she’s just unconscious.”

Derek listened to the discussions going on around him. Finally, he decided to clear the confusion. “I have killed the Overseer. She is dead. Not only did she fail to reliably do her job, but she also acted in a way unsuitable for a person in power, noble or not.

Afterward, he reached down and placed his hand on the lifeless body. With a thought, the body disappeared inside his storage ring. That was more proof that he had indeed killed the woman, as storage rings were unable to store the living.

“Alright, clear out.” Rayna got everyone’s attention. “The show is over.”

With that, the crowd dispersed. Occasionally, Derek could hear people discussing what happened with each other, and whether it would have any effect on the village or themselves.

“Come on.” Derek said to those remaining. “Let’s go back to your residence.” He said to Rayna.

On the way to the residence, Derek picked up the two unconscious guards before walking inside and tossing them in the same room as the other unconscious guard. He would wait for them to wake before deciding their fate. The most likely scenario was death if they were contracted to the noble house, but it was possible that they had been personally contracted to Katrisha. If that were the case, then the contract or oath would be voided, and he could let them live… depending on their attitudes.

“Watch over the guards. If they stir, just hit them in the head. It won’t take much to keep them unconscious. Don’t worry about striking too hard. If they die, they die. I’m going to go make sure the others have had no problems getting back.” Derek wasn’t worried about Rayna watching the guards. She may not have been as strong as they were, but she was strong enough to watch them in the state they were in.

Everyone nodded and Derek left, heading straight towards where he left Silvi and the others.

After a short time of running, Derek made it close to where he left the trio. He continued until he saw the bloody mess that was the bodies of Torith’s other guards. He viewed the scene, giving Silvi a mental nod.

Derek went and inspected the bodies, making sure that they no longer had any of the stolen storage rings on themselves. They did not. Satisfied, Derek turned to the path that most carriages would take when traveling between the villages or the villages and the city. Now on the path, he followed it towards the village.

He had gone to the village in a straight line from where he intercepted the guards. So, it made sense that he might have missed the trio by a bit.

Sure enough, after only a few minutes of running, Derek caught sight of the cart. He continued and closed in on the cart.

“That’s when the smelling vegetable began to roll towards the edge of the table.” Derek heard Silvi’s childlike voice from the carriage. “I didn’t know what to do. I went over idea after idea, but before I could decide on one, the onion had already made it to the edge. That’s when I saw the knife. With no time to idle, I bit down on the handle, then I was under the onion.”

“What happened next?” Brandi’s voice chimed.

“Haha! Of course, I saved the smelly vegetable from hitting the dirty floor. With my superior reflexes, it wasn’t even possible for the onion to hit the ground. I stabbed it with the knife, then appeared back on my work table. You should have seen the look on all the chefs’ faces. They couldn’t stop complimenting me on my skills for the rest of the day.” Silvi spoke proudly.

Derek wanted to facepalm. He had heard about the incident, and while Silvi did as she claimed, she had told him that only one other person had seen it happen. I guess no matter where you go, you’ll always have people telling fish stories.

Derek kicked the ground and landed in the seat next to Brandi. There wasn’t a lot of room, but with Brandi slid up against Mal, and Silvi in the girl’s lap, there was more than enough of a seat left for him.

“Wow! You sure are amazing!” Derek said to Silvi with admiration.

“I know. That’s what I’ve been saying.” Silvi answered, not the least bit shocked at Derek’s sudden appearance. With her stats, if he had caught her by surprise, he would have been disappointed in the bunny.

“Ah!” Brandi let out a light yell before her eyes fell onto Derek. “Derek!” She shouted, then leaned over and put both arms around him.

Malorie had reined in the two Equvins after they were spooked by Derek’s sudden entrance. Once the horse-like monsters were under control, she turned to him. “Rayna?” She asked.

“She’s fine. I was barely in time, but I made it.” Derek replied.

Malorie let out a sigh. “Thank goodness. I thought she was a goner.”

Brandi sniffled. “I… I had a Scroll of Resurrection, but they stole my ring.” She sniffed again. “Even after begging them to use it on her, that awful woman refused.”

That set Derek’s mind right. He no longer felt any remorse about killing Katrisha. He had not known that she was actually asked to use the scroll by Brandi. In fact, he could now say that he was very happy with her outcome.

“It’s okay. I got there in time and used my potion. Luckily, it worked.” Derek comforted her.

Brandi nodded her head. After a few seconds, she frowned. “When did you get a potion? From the city?”

Derek flinched. Malorie looked over at him with sadness in her eyes, but a smile on her face. Of course, she already knew, if she didn’t, then she should have already had a pretty good guess.

“I had it when I got to this world.” Derek said, choosing not to lie to the girl.

“Then… when daddy…” Brandi muttered.

Derek nodded. “I’m sorry.” He said.

Brandi pulled back from him and looked up into his eyes. Her jaw was quivering, and tears flooded from her already teary eyes.

“Brandi.” Malorie spoke.

The girl turned to look at her mother.

“He made the right decision.” Malorie said. “Anybody in his position would have done the same.”

“B-but.”

Malorie shook her head. “He was a lone adventurer. He didn’t know anybody; he didn’t know us. He’d already done more than enough by saving us. That he even thought about using his potion already puts him leagues above most in this world.”

Derek looked up at Malorie. “How did you know I almost used the potion?”

She smiled back. “Leon.” She said. “He told me he thought you had one. He said you kept fiddling with your storage device while looking at Travis. The only thing that made sense was that you were hesitating in using such a precious potion on my husband.” Then she looked back at Brandi. “And you know he’s good because of how well he treated everybody once he got to know us. Just think of all he’s done for us, though some of it was probably from guilt.” She looked up at Derek.

Derek smiled. “Only a little.” He spoke. He did feel guilty about not using the potion, but it was the logical decision to make. And if he had never gotten to know Mal or Brandi afterwards, he would feel no guilt at all.

“And he doesn’t owe any of us anything, yet he rushed to the village and used that precious potion on Rayna. I’m sure there are people who would choose to keep one of those potions for themselves instead of using it on a family member or friend.” She continued.

“That makes me think.” Derek said. “Why would the guards give the ring with the scroll in it to the Overseer if it’s so precious?”

“Because they didn’t know what was in it. They took it off of Brandi and gave it directly to her. By the time they realized it had a scroll in it, it was too late. It was already in the Overseer’s protection.” Malorie answered. Brandi was still quietly thinking. “Speaking of which. What are we going to do about the rings? The Overseer still has them. Will we let her keep them?”

Derek pulled the rings from his storage bracelet. Rings couldn’t hold other rings, but for some reason, most likely because it was from his old system, his bracelet was able to store storage items. He still wondered about the reason.

He handed the rings to Malorie. “One’s yours, the other is Brandi’s. The Overseer is dead. When I found the scroll on her, I made the decision. When Brandi told me she begged her to use the scroll, I was sure I made the correct one.”

“What’s going to happen?” The woman asked.

“I’m not sure. I’ve already offended a noble family. One more’s not going to matter. I made some friends with high status, so I’ll also let them know what happened. We’ll talk more about it when we get back to the village.” He answered.

At that time, Brandi reached over and put her arms back around Derek and began crying loudly into his shirt. He could feel the tears seeping into his clothing.

Derek hugged her back with his left arm and stroked her hair with his right hand. “I’m sorry.” He said again, quietly.

Brandi pushed herself back and shook her head furiously. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“Still.” Derek said.

“Momma’s right. If dad was here, he would thank you for saving and taking care of us.”

When did she become so mature…? When her father died in her arms. He chided himself. “Thank you.” He spoke. Her acceptance made Derek feel a relief that he didn’t even know he needed.

Derek looked over at Malorie and smiled. She smiled back. “How about we see how fast these beasts can get us back to the village?”

Mal nodded and pulled on the reins.