“Whoa There! I just want to talk!”

 

It was late, drizzling and not a safe part of town to be walking in. However, Ryan wasn’t exactly someone you just jumped in a dark alleyway, not if you didn’t want to have a fight for your life. Ryan reached up to flip his hood back, not because he wanted to face the man accosting him, but so that he could hear the two people behind him a bit clearer. The man standing in front of him had red hair, freckles, and sharp features. Ryan had never met someone like him, but he’d seen these types of faces in books.

 

This was a man from Eirin, the nation to the west and rival power.

 

Now it wasn’t like he wasn’t allowed to be here, but just having hair that color would draw a lot of unwanted attention. So the fact that he was willing to stand there in front of Ryan like this was a sign that Ryan was about to get jumped, or this man was rather desperate. Ryan wasn’t entirely certain which option was more likely, so for the moment he’d play it cool.

 

“Visiting hours at my workshop are oneday, threeday and fiveday, noon to four or by appointment.” Ryan blatantly glanced backwards, ignoring the person in front of him to make it clear he was expecting an attack. The man in front kept his hands out in front and open, showing he was unarmed, “I get you aren’t the trusting sort, but what sort of idiot do you take us for if we tried to attack a water elementalist in a rainstorm?” Ryan glanced forward at the man who gave Ryan a rakish grin and a shrug.

 

“So you admit the two behind me are with you.”

 

The man nodded, “Companions, yes. Nothing gets past you.” Ryan shrugged, “As you said, jumping me in this downpour isn’t a good move. I can see them by the space they occupy in the rain.” Two figures stepped out and slowly came closer. One was a rather thin, lanky teenager who carried about him that feeling of being terrifyingly overpowered. His arms and legs were off. He wore loose billowing clothing to hide his limbs and whatever weapons he carried. His hair was also red, but his face was pale and gaunt. Now that they were closer, Ryan was puzzled to notice that they all had hazel eyes.

 

The other companion was a cliche. She looked like a young Irish lass with a large chest wearing a skintight leather outfit that made her look like an anime assassin. Far more effort was put into looking sexy, than into being an effective fighter, however, in a world of magic, it didn’t pay to underestimate your enemies. She smiled and spoke with a light accent, “Your workshop is on the university campus and we aren’t exactly welcome there, if you get our meaning.” The lanky kid said nothing.

 

For about the thousandth time, Ryan wondered to himself what sort of hack wrote the original story this world was based on and why the concept of tonal consistency was beyond him.

 

Ryan rubbed his nose, “A’rite. You wanna talk? Keep up.” With that, he pointed two hands at the ground and a short roaring blast of steam created a billowing cloud as he propelled himself up and off the walls of the narrow alleyway. Three short jumps and he was on the roof of a nearby building where he came to a stop on a chimney. It was currently cold indicating the building below wasn’t in use.

 

A moment later the leader flew up to land on the roof, the swirl of wind about him indicating his mastery of air. The woman merely bounced up off the walls the same way Ryan did, while the lanky kid was a bit slower than the rest. He just climbed up the side of the building, apparently having a rather long reach indeed. The three lined up at the edge of the roof facing Ryan, who was sitting down on the chimney and pulling his hood back over his face, “Interesting. I thought something was up with your eyes.”

 

The woman smirked, “We don’t like giving away information we don’t have to, so everyone who works for our government has their eyes changed to the same color.” Ryan fished out his cigarette case, “I like the look. Very Irish.” He put a cigarette in his mouth and offered the case to his visitors. The leader stepped forward and gingerly took the case, “What’s Irish?”

 

Ryan took out his zippo and flicked it open so he could light-up. He took a long drag and tossed the lighter to the leader, “Oh. They call it the emerald isles. Wonderful place. Met a lass there once in another life. Strawberry blonde hair, light freckles across her cheeks. She was so cheerful and happy all the time. I made a move on her and she friend-zoned me so hard it hurt. Then again every guy was chasing after her and I was just some American doughboy on leave.” He took a long drag and blew the smoke skyward to swirl away in the light rain, “Haven’t thought about her in a long time. I bet she has a dozen kids by now.”

 

The leader lit up a smoke and offered it to his two companions. The lanky kid seemed interested in the lighter, but didn’t actually light up a smoke. The woman just waved it off. The leader took a long pull and looked surprised as he blew the smoke out his nose, “Hey. That’s some good stuff.” When the kid was done examining the lighter, the leader offered both back to Ryan, “I was told you had some strange thing happen to you where you lived another life in three days.”

 

Ryan took both back and slipped them into his pockets, “Something like that.” He squinted with one eye as he took a short puff, “But you didn’t come by to chat with an old soldier and exchange regrets, did you?” The lanky kid tilted his head to the side and squinted at Ryan. The leader shook his head, “Heard you were unhappy with the nobility of this fine kingdom.” Ryan nodded, “A soldier doesn’t need to like his assignment. He just needs to follow orders.”

 

The woman spoke up, “Is that what you are? A soldier in service to your king?” Ryan glanced at her, “In service to the All-Father. Serving the king is just part of my duties.” He took another drag, “He’s a decent enough guy.” The leader inhaled deep from his cigarette then held it in a way to shield it, one-handed, from the rain, “On that we can agree. However, his children are squabbling little tyrants. Each one has their own flaws and weaknesses. We can trust King Uthur.” He took another puff and blew the smoke out his nose, “We do not trust his children.” He dropped his cigarette on the roof and crushed it with his toe, “And you definitely shouldn’t trust the Saintess.”

 

Ryan quirked an eyebrow at that. He flicked the butt of his cig off the roof, “And why is that? She’s proven to be remarkably useful.” The woman shook her head, “She’s not the saintess. She’s not even blessed by Mira.” Ryan narrowed his eyes slightly, “And you know this because…”

 

The lanky kid finally spoke. His words were passionate yet soft so it was hard to make him out clearly, “Because I met the real saintess. She’s in Eirin. Your Saintess is a fake.”

 

Ryan let out a low, “Uhhhhh…” He paused as he tried to collect his thoughts, ~Well, she’s obviously also a reincarnator like me, so they aren’t entirely off base.~ Ryan held up a hand, “I’ve seen her in action. Kinda hard to fake that sort of thing.” The leader nodded, “True, but not impossible. I have it on good authority that she’s here for a long con. Oh, and if you haven’t figured it out, she hates you and has you fitted out for a toe tag. She tried to get the king to kill you.”

 

Ryan blinked but the woman cut him off before he could respond, “The crown prince is terrible when it comes to keeping secrets. It’s how we know she’s been claiming to be an oracle who knows the future. She’s coming between the Crown prince and his fiancee. Many of your current problems with Lilith have nothing to do with Lilith herself.” The leader chimed in, “We think that Pricilla is trying to get you to turn on her.” The woman continued, “Pricilla was being supported by your old friend Baron Akar.” The lanky kid muttered, “He might be supporting her still.”

 

Ryan’s face went flat, “Elaborate. NOW.”

 

The woman smirked, “The Baron seemed to think that Pricilla would have been a better choice as the bride of the crown prince than the current one.” The leader spoke up, “Good job on that one, by the way. Scum like that needed to be put in the ground.” Ryan retorted, “I didn’t kill him.” The leader nodded, “Oh? Well, you still disrupted his organization and nobody has seen him. With any luck, his demonic allies ate him.” He pointed at Ryan, “And we know it was you, despite the fact that someone tried very hard to give all the credit to your friend Aldelmo.”

 

Ryan made a fist and pressed it up under his nose, then started to bounce it against his lips. He eyed the trio, “Why are you guys telling me all this?” The leader smiled, “Duh. We want you to come to our country.” The woman smiled as she chimed in, “You’re a man who is honest to a fault. You are a true, blue hero and follow the code. We assume you hate deception and lies.” The leader continued, “Which means that we suspect at some point you are going to get fed up with the bullshit.” The lanky kid interrupted, “Or the king is gonna get assassinated by one of his kids and you’re going to see their true colors.”

 

Ryan looked at the lanky kid, “You got any proof to back up that claim?” The kid shook his head, “Nope, except there have been a number of strange purchases of rather exotic materials lately that normally are used in magical poisons and the ones buying the poisons are known to work for this country’s royals.”

 

The leader nodded, “And your king has Zachariah, so he doesn’t need to buy poisons from out of the country.” He took a deep breath, “Things are looking very shaky here and we just wanted to make it clear, you got friends.”

 

Ryan nodded slowly then asked, “So tell me, how can I trust you?”

 

The woman responded, “You can’t. However, if we lie to you, like the nobles of this country, I doubt you will have any respect for us. We know what sort of person you are and we know what a premium you put on the truth.” The leader interjected, “We might be wrong, but we aren’t lying. I make no claim to being 100% accurate, but something seriously shady is happening in your backyard and I think you might want to start carefully asking some questions.” The lanky kid stepped closer, “We have the real saintess on our side. We have Mira backing us up. Usually it’s only one chosen one per god, per country.” He pointed at Ryan, “So tell me, why are there two in yours? Why does your saintess want you dead so badly?”

 

Ryan didn’t know how to respond. The leader jutted his chin at Ryan, “Just think about it. Take your time, but if you find yourself completely backed into a corner, come to Eirin. We’ll figure something out. You have my word. One old solider to another.” He turned to step off the roof.

 

Ryan spoke up, “Hey. Who are you, anyways?”

 

The leader paused and looked back, “I think it’s better if you don’t know that.” He gave Ryan a short salute than stepped off the roof. The woman blew Ryan a kiss as she followed after her boss. The kid looked at Ryan with a hollow expression, “Keep the faith, brother.” And started climbing down the side of the building.

 

 

 

Ryan remained sitting on the chimney for a very, very long time.