The most pernicious of status conditions are those that a simple [Restore] spell cannot take care of. And that is precisely why the [Therapist] class is needed.

A [Priest] can handle a common cold. A [Bishop] can ameliorate a debilitating disease. And an [Arch Bishop] is likely capable of handling any sort of condition up to (but explicitly excluding) death.

However, what treatment is considered complete if it does not remove the underlying cause of the condition?

If a man has received burns instead of death at low HP, would the [Priest] let him stay in the fire as he [Restores] him?

Of course not!

And that is why [Therapists] are needed. In fact, looking back in history, the greatest example is Mad Friday.

Many first-hand accounts say that the [Demon Lord’s] madness targeted their psychological weaknesses. Their insecurities. Their cowardice. Or even their past traumas.

In my professional opinion, many of those adventurers likely had lesser, or perhaps even minor, mental status conditions that the [Demon Lord] simply capitalized on.

How different would that day have been if the [Demon Lord] had nothing to latch onto? If everyone there had already worked through all of their issues?

I cannot say for certain, and it is entirely possible that the [Demon Lord] of madness was capable of simply instigating madness inside perfectly sane people. However, I do believe that while it would not have stopped that day from happening, having all adventurers go through basic psychological checkups could have greatly mitigated the destruction.

Introduction to “On Defense of the [Therapist] class” by [Therapist] Jay Hoffstatter

-----

It’s weird finding yourself suddenly and intolerably sane.

I say intolerably because of the fact that I remembered each and every detail of what happened.

I stopped running for a moment and dry-heaved as I remembered…

The black sludge that came out of my body the first time I transformed.

Tricking and murdering Jake.

All of that, in addition to the other people I murdered while in that form.

I shuddered, and part of me was about to just shut down, but based on the shouts that I heard, I needed to keep moving.

I managed to force myself to stop retching, and I ran away blindly.

I somehow ended up in the slums.

I ran past mostly beastborn, and I was honestly shocked at their lack of response towards me. Most saw me and then simply turned away when they heard my pursuers shouting after me.

I understood when I finally caught a hint of my reflection in the window of a shop I ran past.

Honestly, my first reaction was to swivel my head around to find the unfamiliar person in the mirror.

Then, after I was done being stupid, I took a closer look at myself.

I was still wearing the black cloak that I had stolen from some poor guy late last night. I also still had the same red eyes, dark red hair, and exaggerated canine teeth.

Those were the only things I recognized about myself.

Staring back at me was an androgynous-faced pretty boy with curved goat horns.

“What the frick,” I stated.

“What the frick,” I repeated in disbelief.

“What the frick is going on!?” I shouted at my reflection.

If the other bystanders had been ignoring me before, that doubled it. They didn’t want to get involved with a crazy guy who was also running from the police.

Speaking of running from the police, I determined I should probably get back to that when I heard the shouts drawing closer.

-----

I ended up getting away cleanly by just going into an alleyway and covering myself with the cloak. It turns out that pretending to be homeless is great camouflage.

The shouts eventually died down, and I finally got to take stock.

Okay, that [Holy Restore] the new [Hero] did couldn’t have possibly made this many changes to my body, right?

I stood up and stretched out my hands as far as they could go. Something felt off, and I finally figured it out.

“I’m freaking shorter,” I muttered. I had lost a few inches, which, combined with my new look, could only mean that I was in an entirely new body.

I leaned against the wall and slid down it until I thudded to the ground.

“I guess that makes sense. My old body probably doesn’t exist anymore.” I shuddered briefly as I remembered the [Sunder] that ended my life. “I wonder if there was even anything left to loot.”

I knew that there were a lot of things that I needed to deal with, but I simply didn’t want to at the moment. Instead, I flipped open my status to skills.

Did we get a UI update? I asked myself as I saw a completely unrecognizable page staring back at me.

I decided not to question it too much.

Skill

Level

Reflect Attack

DEMON LORD

Disrupt

DEMON LORD

Flash Step

5

Elemental Strike

5

Athletics

5

Detect

3

Sneak

1

Survivor

1

“All still there,” I muttered. Spells still listed just the three. [Summon Dave], [Hell Blaze], and [Summon Heavenhound].

I cringed a bit about the last one.

That’s such a stupid name…

I was mostly just stalling for what I was going to see on the main page. Grimacing, I flipped to it.

Status

Name

Titus

Level

19

Class

Demon Lord

Race

Demon Lord

HP

340/340

MP

255/255

SP

510/510

Age

24

“It turns out Jake was worth a lot of XP,” I chuckled humorlessly. 19 levels meant 19 more skill points and spell points, but I would much rather have not killed a friend.

I flopped over onto my side and curled up into a ball.

So… now what?

I didn’t have a single clue. In my last life, I always had a goal. Whether it was to find my way home or get revenge for Megan, I always had something.

I now knew that revenge was impossible. Admin already wanted to destroy AltSys if he could find him, and neither of them could be trusted.

That also meant that going home was off the table. Not that I would likely have much of a home to go back to.

How long has it been? Jake looked ancient, but Garrett and Sam just looked… older.

Either way, unless I lucked into some Narnia-level time bull spit, that meant that my parents were probably long gone, and my brother wouldn’t recognize me… if I could even find him.

“No home here, no home back there,” I muttered. “I guess I wasn’t just pretending to be homeless.”

I think that it was about there that I shut down. I just lay down unmoving for hours… then for days.

I was roused briefly by some voices.

“He hasn’t moved in days. Do you think he’s dead?” a female voice asked.

“Probably,” a gruff voice answered in return. “I wish he would’ve had the decency to die a bit further away from my shop.”

With colossal effort, I rolled over to my other side.

“I’m not dead. Now, go away,” I said flatly to the beastborn man.

“Hey! You’re parked right next to my shop, and you’re scaring away the customers! If you don’t go at once, I’ll-“

“I said, LEAVE!” At the same time that I shouted, I blasted both of them with the full force of my fear aura. They turned tail, one literally, and ran.

I gave a brief nod of satisfaction before rolling back over.

Then I realized what I’d just done.

Great job, Titus. Some poor schmuck is just trying to run his shop in the slums, but you’re scaring away all his customers. I gave a short self-deprecating laugh. Even when I’m not doing anything, I ruin everything.

I figured the least that I could do was go haunt a different alleyway, so that’s what I did.

I was kind of in a “least I could do” type of mood.

I ended up catching a few whispers as I continued my emotional shutdown.

Apparently, the army and the watch were on the lookout for me, but no one really knew what I looked like, and they thought I had already left Vir. They’d “turned the entire city upside down” looking for me but apparently didn’t bother checking the slums.

That was good for me. I didn’t want anyone, or anything, to interrupt my moping.

Unfortunately, I hadn’t accounted for simple compassion one bright morning.

“He’s right down this alleyway, and he hasn’t moved for an entire day. I think something’s wrong with him.”

“Thank you for letting me know,” a familiar voice replied. “Sir, I’m a [Priestess] with the church. Do you need healing of any kind?” My curiosity got the better of me, and I rolled over to face her as she continued. “I should be able to [Restore]…” the [Hero] trailed off as we recognized each other.

“You!” we said simultaneously.

I suppose my brain was a bit too used to [Heroes] being threats after the last one killed me because I immediately panicked and ran. Or, more specifically, I [Flash Stepped] 10 feet down the alleyway and also up into a standing position.

Then, I booked it.

That was short-lived. The alley ended in a T, and both sides were dead ends.

It’s the [Hero]. She’s going to kill me. I started hyperventilating, even though I didn’t need to breathe. I don’t want to die again! I can’t go back to that realm of nothingness!

I finally turned around to face her.

“Wait… Please… Stop,” she gasped out as it turned into a coughing fit. She cast a quick [Restore] on herself, and I belatedly realized she had covered maybe a quarter of the distance I had.

“You’re… not very athletic for a [Hero], are you?” I couldn’t help but ask.

“Tit-, sir you must be mistaken. I am a [Priestess],” she gave me a warning look and glanced backward at the man who had a confused expression on his face.

Part of me wanted to retort that I was the Queen of England, but given that she had yet to blow my cover, I supposed that I could do the same.

That and neither of the two in front of me would know what England was anyway.

“So, what do you want with me, [Priestess]?” I finally asked.

She drew up to her full height, I would’ve put her at about 5 foot 6, and answered. “As a [Priestess], it is my job to take care of the sick and hurting.” She looked back at the man who was staring at both of us. “Thank you. I know this man, and I’ll take it from here.”

“Umm… If you’re sure then,” the man said.

She gave him a small wave as he left.

As soon as he did, I whispered sharply, “So, what’s your game, [Hero]?”

“That should be my question!” she whispered back. “Why are you still in Vir? What are you doing? Don’t you know the entire army and all of the watch are out looking for you!?”

I furrowed my brow. “Why does that matter to you?”

“I don’t want a repeat of 2 weeks ago if they put you into a corner!” she exploded. “They think you’re the embodiment of all evil. They don’t know that you’re just a person!”

I thought I caught a brief glimpse of someone at the entrance to the alleyway, but by the time I looked, they were gone.

This encounter was going nothing like I expected.

“So… why do you think that I’m just a person?” I finally asked.

“Jake told me,” she said simply.

“Jake told…” I trailed off. “You knew Jake?”

“Yes, but we shouldn’t talk here.” She looked at the alleyway we were in. “I’m worried someone might try to mug us.”

I snorted. “You honestly think someone would get away with mugging me?”

The [Hero] shook her head. “No. I’m worried for them. Come on, let’s go.”

She grabbed my hand and started dragging me along. I was much stronger than the frail woman in front of me, but I decided to let her anyway.

We walked for a few minutes like that when her extra ears suddenly perked up at a noise I couldn’t hear.

“Oh, System! It’s already 8 AM!? I’m late!” she said in a panic.

She picked up the pace, but it was honestly only a jog.

It was too pitiful to watch.

“Piggyback, or princess?” I asked.

“Princess?” she asked back as she cocked her head.

I took that as my answer.

I scooped her up into my arms and started running.

“W-w-what are you- wait stop-“ she stammered out. She also turned bright red.

I raised an eyebrow at that but gave her the benefit of the doubt at the moment. I mean… Being princess-carried can be a bit embarrassing. “I’m going to need you to tell me where I’m going.”

“Right. Of course,” the [Hero] replied with her face still burning. We almost missed our first turn, but we made a lot better time.

The church was easy to spot since it was the only steepled building in the area. I recognized it at a glance, and that thought gave me pause.

Wait. Why do I expect churches to have steeples? I asked myself. I frowned as I realized that religion was yet another hole in my memories. I didn’t even know what I believed back on Earth.

I didn’t realize that I had stopped until the [Hero] prodded me.

“Ti…berius. Could you put me down now?” the [Hero] asked.

“Oh, right,” I replied. I set her down gently, and we walked the rest of the way to the front of the church. There was already a line of people backed up down the street.

“Wow, you’re pretty popular,” I said.

She ignored me. “Sorry I’m late, everyone!” she said as she hastily walked up to the front door and unlocked it. “There was an emergency that I had to take care of. I’ll see the first patient now!”

The first person in line limped inside and shut the door behind them.

I couldn’t help but feel a bit amused.

I’m the [Demon Lord], the biggest threat to Placeholder… and the [Hero] is completely ignoring me.

“Hey! You have to go to the back of the line!” a voice shouted in my direction.

I turned to look as a human guy stomped in my direction.

“She only sees one at a time, and you have to close your eyes when she treats you, understand?” he continued.

I shrugged. “Oh. I’m not in line. I don’t need healing. I’m just here to talk with…” I trailed off for a moment as I realized I still didn’t actually know the [Hero’s] name. “The [Priestess],” I finished lamely.

He eyed me suspiciously. “And how do you know the [Priestess]?” he asked.

I shrugged. “I literally just met her this morning, okay? I just have some… matters… that I have to discuss with her.”

The door to the church opened, the man practically jumped for joy as he left, and the [Hero] peeked her head out the door and called for the next patient.

Then she looked over at me. “Tiberius, I’ll talk to you on my first mana break, okay?”

I nodded and was about to reply when the man next to me butted in.

“And what about me?” he asked.

She sighed. “Hi, Fred. Didn’t I tell you not to bug me when I’m at work? I’ll talk to you after.” She gestured the next person in line inside and shut the door.

I couldn’t help but chuckle at the indignant look on his face. “Shut down,” I said.

“Sh-shut up!” he replied. “She’s just busy! And you shouldn’t be bothering her either! You should leave!”

I sighed. “Look, Fred. I’m not trying to steal your little girlfriend. The things I need to talk to her about are strictly professional.”

Hey, I figured that our real professions were [Hero] and [Demon Lord]. So, in a sense trying to figure out why she wasn’t trying to defeat me or turn me in counted as a professional conversation.

“She-she isn’t my girlfriend,” he stammered out.

I didn’t consider myself an expert on body language or relationships, but the poor guy was so besotted with the [Priestess] that even I could tell.

“Sure, buddy. Sure,” I said.

That left the two of us standing there awkwardly as the [Hero] brought one person at a time into the church for healing.

I eventually got to the point where I couldn’t stand it anymore.

“So, how do you know the [He-“ I tried to cover up my mistake with a cough. “Excuse me. How do you know the [Priestess]?”

“We grew up together,” he replied. “Or, at least… the orphanage she was raised at was next door.” He held up his hands. “Now I get that you may not believe me, but it’s true! She was raised at a human orphanage!”

He looked like he was waiting for me to call him out or something, but I was confused about what was so outlandish about that tale.

“Okaaaaay,” I finally replied. “So, you lived next door to each other and have been friends since childhood?”

“Yes!” he replied while beaming.

Meanwhile, I shook my head. “And have you told her about your feelings for her?”

He turned red. “W-What feelings?”

I sighed. Poor guy doesn’t realize that she’s an MC and therefore completely oblivious when it comes to love.

I frowned at that thought. Wait. If she’s the [Hero] now, and she doesn’t seem like much of a fighter, how will this work out? My brow creased further. If this world is a video game… and my last life seemed to be an action-adventure one with Jake as the MC… I’m pretty sure I was scowling at that point. This life better not be otome-game[1] bull sit.

I was pretty certain that the entire world wouldn’t suddenly shift genres into that, but thinking about that also made me remember something.

The System could do that if it wanted to… because none of us exist.

That opened the floodgates. I had done my best to not dwell on that fact, but that simple thought was all it took. All of the other traumas I’d been working so hard to repress started rising to the surface.

Jake’s death at my hands.

All of my pain and suffering.

And… Megan.

“Are you okay? Hey, stay with me!” came Fred’s voice.

I didn’t snap out of it until he finally grabbed my shoulders and shook me.

When I came back to myself, everyone but Fred was giving me a wide berth.

“Sorry,” I said as I shook my head to try to clear it. “What happened?”

“You got really quiet after you asked that last question, and then you activated some skill or something?” he said with a frown. “Anyway, it’s still going, so could you deactivate whatever it is?”

I was about to ask him what he was talking about when I figured it out. My aura. I quickly retracted it and apologized again.

“Don’t worry about it. I can tell it wasn’t intentional, and no harm was done.” He chuckled. “If you had injured anyone, I might have had to report you or take you in, though. Duties of a [Watch Officer] and all of that.”

Some of the beastborn in the line paled at that pronouncement, but he quickly followed it up. “Though, I am off-duty today.”

The tension released a bit after that, but definitely not all of it.

However, I had questions. “[Watch Officer]?” I asked.

He misunderstood my question. “I know, I know. I look young for a [Watch Officer], but that’s because I joined right as I turned 18.” He grinned. “I’m not like the newbies who just joined in the last few months.” He shook his head. “I swear, you give some people an advanced class, and it just goes straight to their head.”

My questions were piling up, and I blurted out part of the next.

“Advanced class?” I asked.

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” he replied as he answered the question he thought I was asking. “You’ll only be able to have one other class! Things will be more expensive!” He shook his head. Then looking left and right, he whispered secretively, “It’s totally worth it for the bump in HP and SP. And while the Smith Trading Company says they only sell to adventurers, they don’t seem to discriminate much when it comes to gold.” He winked.

I felt almost as out of place as I had been when I first came to Placeholder, but I just nodded along and laughed. So… [Watch Officer] is a new class? And it sounds like it works like an adventurer class. Or, I guess, an “advanced” class is what they’re calling them these days.

I was starting to realize that Fred may actually be a good source of information for what had been going on for the… decades?... that I had been gone. Or at least indirect information that I could try to piece together.

Unfortunately, right then, another patient came out the door, and the [Hero] followed.

“Sorry, everyone!” she said. “I’m out of mana already, so please come back in an hour!”

There were several grumbles, but surprisingly, everyone dispersed.

She looked over at Fred and me and sighed. “Fred, are you bothering Ti…berius?”

He started protesting, but given the severe look she was giving him, I doubted it would work out.

“No, it’s fine,” I replied. “We were just talking.”

He breathed a sigh of relief. Then, looking back and forth between us, he asked. “So, how do you and Sarah know each other?”

Part of me was relieved to finally know the [Hero’s] name. The other part realized that was a pretty awkward question.

“I… healed him,” she replied. “Of…”

“A mental condition,” I supplied.

Fred nodded in recognition.

“Ah. Yeah, those can be pretty rough. I may have ended up with one myself if I hadn’t gotten therapy,” he said. He paused for a second and muttered. “Where is it… There!” He handed me a business card.

My confusion that I was being given a business card in a world that I still viewed as having a strictly medieval tech level was once again misinterpreted by the helpful [Watch Officer].

“Yeah, that was my reaction too,” he said. “If you don’t have the condition anymore, why would you need a [Therapist]?” He shook his head. “If you don’t take care of the underlying cause, it can come back, though. And Doctor Wilson is great,” he said with a grin. It slipped a little right after, though. “He also won’t care about your… uhh… heritage.” He gestured at my horns.

I highly doubted that would be the case if he learned my actual “heritage,” but I took the card anyway.

“Thanks,” I said. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Yes. Thanks, Fred,” Sarah added. “I was actually going to suggest therapy, too.” She paused and looked abashed. “Though… I didn’t realize that you had first-hand experience with it.”

He grimaced. “Yeah. I needed it after a raid two years back,” he shook his head. “That was… A bad day.”

We stood there awkwardly for a bit before Sarah finally said, “Well, I’ll talk to you after work, Fred. Tiberius and I still have some things we need to discuss.”

He sighed. “I understand. See you at 5?” he asked hopefully.

“I suppose,” she replied.

I followed her inside the church, but I thought I saw something out of the corner of my eye.

I swiveled my head in that direction, but nothing was there.

“You coming, Tiberius?” Sarah asked.

“Yeah, I just thought…” I shook my head. “It’s nothing.”

I was a bit worried, but I assumed it was mostly in my head. I had been crazy just a few days ago, after all.

I walked into the church and closed the door behind me.

------

The [Thief] breathed a sigh of relief. His target had almost caught him twice now. Most [Watch Officers] couldn’t even do that, so that alone was enough to say “Tiberius” was no ordinary homeless.

However, several things made it clear the situation wasn’t as simple as it looked.

First, [Assess Mark] listed him as a high-value target. And his instincts were screaming at him that he was a dangerous high-value target. Whether it was how the man carried himself or something else, the [Thief] didn’t know. If he hadn’t caught some snippets of their conversation, he would’ve simply gone along with his day.

However, “Tiberius” had called the [Priestess] a [Hero]. That had caught his ear. Could the [Hero] actually have been hiding away in the slums all along?

That was enough for him to backtrack and look, but it seemed pretty unlikely. The frail [Priestess] of the slums couldn’t possibly be the [Hero].

Just for kicks, he used [Assess Mark] on her as well.

Interestingly, the skill had also said that [Priestess] had something of incredible value on her. That was enough to pique his curiosity. However, he still wasn’t stupid enough to steal from her. The Thieve’s Guild, which definitely didn’t exist, would blacklist him in a heartbeat… and also maybe bury him in an unmarked grave.

The [Guild Master] was awfully touchy when it came to the church for some reason.

All of that was more than enough to say that “Tiberius” was definitely not who he was claiming to be. That, and the way the [Priestess] kept hesitating while saying that name made it clear that it was an alias.

An alias that was suspiciously close to another name of importance. And given the snippets of conversation he’d heard…

The [Rogue] shook his head. There’s no way… Right?

It didn’t seem likely, but he would never hear the end of it from a certain other secret organization if he didn’t at least rule him out.

In fact, maybe he could do that right away. At least, that was the justification he gave himself for why he was going to break into the church.

------

Sarah and I sat down across from each other.

“So…” I started. “What now, [Hero]?”

She groaned. “I don’t know. You don’t really seem like you need to be defeated, and I couldn’t even if I tried.” She shook her head. “But just so I can be sure, you’re still the same [Demon Lord] that Jake fought, right?”

I nodded. “Yep.”

“I thought so,” she sighed. Then she cocked her head. “You look… different than I expected.”

I sighed. “Different life, different body, I guess. I used to look more intimidating. Speaking of… how long has it been since then?”

“Since you died? Well… 50 years. If I remember my history correctly.”

“50 years,” I muttered. “No wonder everything seems so different.”

“Where were you all that time?”

I could have answered the tutorial area, but I was only there for a short time. Instead, I thought about the void that I had found myself in, and I shuddered. I didn’t have a good way to explain it, so I answered, “I honestly don’t know.”

We stared at each other for a bit before she continued. “And, just to make sure, you aren’t planning on taking over the world… Right?”

I snorted. “Yeah. No. And if you want to be extra sure, you could always go and claim the earth dungeon.”

She paled a bit. “I-I have people here that I need to take care of. I couldn’t possibly go off on an adventure.”

I raised an eyebrow at that. “A [Hero] who isn’t going out on adventures, eh?... What level are you?”

“T-that’s an awfully personal thing to ask someone you just met!” she deflected. “Besides-“ her wolf ears twitched, and she cocked her head. “Did you hear that?”

“Don’t try to change the subject-“

“No!” she interjected. “It came from inside the church! Back towards my room!”

She actually got up and started walking that way, and I was a bit frustrated at her commitment to the act.

With a sigh, I followed behind her.

“I would have sworn that I heard someone back here,” I heard her mutter as she looked around the room.

Meanwhile, I reached the door and looked in. I was about to tell her to stop trying to avoid the topic when I locked eyes with an unknown man who was crouched down in her room.

We stared at each other for just a brief moment before his yellow eyes narrowed to slits. Before I could react, he threw open the window and leaped out of it.

“Where did he-“ Sarah’s exclamation was cut short as she started into another coughing fit.

Meanwhile, I ran over to the window and was about to chase the intruder down.

“Titus,” Sarah coughed out. “Help.”

As much as I wanted to chase the intruder down, the blood spilling out of Sarah’s mouth convinced me otherwise.

I rushed over to her.

“Can’t you just [Restore] yourself?” I asked.

“No… mana,” she forced out through more coughs.

I was starting to be incredibly thankful that I had kept all of my inventory from my last life and that I had stockpiled so many potions.

I handed her a blue potion, and she drained it without another word.

She pulled her scepter back out and cast. “[Holy Restore].”

That immediately took care of her bleeding, but it still took a few minutes for her to completely stop coughing.

Meanwhile, we cleaned up the blood in silence.

I could tell she was still shaken by the encounter, so I stayed quiet until we were done.

-------

Meanwhile, the [Thief] had made a clean getaway. He had also caught the [Priestess’s] slipup.

He made sure no one was around to see him, double-checked that [Sneak] was active, and then buried his head in his hands.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid!

He had joined the Thieve’s Guild because of his talent for it. It was how he was making his way through life, and being a [Rogue], and later [Thief], was worth the sacrifices he had to make, even if it often put him on the wrong side of the law.

However, the other organization he joined wasn’t nearly as thought through. And his subclass, even less so.

Not for the first time, he cursed himself for being drawn into that group of weirdos by the sway of those perfect hips.

However, now he was worried that they might actually be right.

With him out in the open… I’m going to have to report this before someone else does. The [Rogue] finally sighed.

After a quick stop to get in disguise, he stopped at the Mage’s Guild to send the [Message].

“I think I found something of yours. Leftovers from the fire. It’s at the church in the slums,” he dictated.

Fortunately, they had enough mana, and he had enough coin that it was sent immediately.

“Be a dear, and don’t let it out of your sight. I will be there this evening,” the mage gave the answer.

He barely managed to school his face into a neutral expression as he inwardly screamed.

She’s coming here!?

However, that was just one of two unfortunate pieces of news. The second was that he was now under orders to watch a target who could catch him [Sneaking].

Can this day get any worse?

The answer to that was obviously, yes.

------

“Are you okay now?” I finally asked Sarah.

“Yes, thank you,” she replied as she started pacing nervously. “I just never thought someone would break into the church.” She shuddered. “I have so few valuables in here. There’s nothing that they could-“ she froze midthought. “The scepter!” she whispered intently as she pivoted back towards me. “They’re after it! I can’t let them take it! I couldn’t heal nearly as many people!” She started up her pacing again. “Oh no. If they take that-“

“Sarah,” I said. I figured it would be best if I got her out of spiraling panic sooner rather than later.

“I might even lose my new class-“

“Sarah,” I repeated more intently.

“Jake never lost his sword, and I-“

Despite the seriousness of the situation, I couldn’t help but bust up laughing.

That was at least enough to get her to pause.

She looked at me in confusion as I tried and failed to get my explanation across three separate times. I just couldn’t get more than a word or two out before I’d bust up laughing again.

Eventually, I managed to wipe the tears from my eyes and calm down a bit.

“Thanks for that,” I said. “I really needed a laugh.” However, given the baffled look that she gave me, I figured I should give her an explanation. “Losing his sword was practically the first thing that Jake did when he got here. Meg-“ I paused midway through saying her name. Even that simple act brought up a lot of feelings I didn’t want to deal with at that moment.

“Our party’s [Rogue],” I finally continued. “Stole it from him when they first met. She didn’t know what he had and didn’t realize that it would be an item that was absolutely useless to everyone else.”

“Oh. I never realized,” Sarah replied.

I shook my head. “But I’m not done. He had it stolen from him by a bunch of street urchins in DeepMine town, and then in our fight at the ice dungeon I knocked it out of his grip and pulled it into my inventory. So,” I cracked a grin. “If you want to follow Jake’s legacy, maybe you should let that intruder [Steal] it.”

She only responded with a very indignant look as I bust up laughing again.

The upside to all of that was that it calmed her down enough that we could talk things through.

I found myself disagreeing with her initial conclusion.

“If they’ve never tried to steal from you before, maybe you aren’t the target,” I said.

“Hmm,” she frowned and wrinkled her brow. “You might actually be on to something. Papa Jeremiah always said not to carry too much around in your inventory because [Thieves] might have a way to tell.” She looked over at me. “How many potions do you have on you?”

“Uhh…” I replied intelligently as I flipped open my inventory. “21 health potions, 18 mana potions, and 26 stamina ones?”

Her eyes popped open. “And they’re all the same quality as the one you gave me!?”

I shrugged. “Uh… Yeah.”

“System preserve us,” she breathed out. “Y-yeah, it’s definitely possible that you’re the target.” She shook her head. “You should leave those behind somewhere safe. Like…” she trailed off.

I snorted. “My house? The church?” It was my turn to shake my head. “Yeah, my stuff is safest on me. Thank you very much.”

“But what if they [Sneak] up on you to [Steal] from you?”

I shrugged. “[Detect].”

“But they could wait until you’re asleep!” She paused as I just gave her a look. “Oh. Right. You don’t sleep.” She sighed. “I guess you have a point.”

I had successfully convinced her that she didn’t need to worry about me. However, since she still looked slightly nervous, I realized that shouldn’t have been my primary concern.

I came up with a plan.

“I probably scared that thief off, but just in case, maybe I could go take a walk around town?” I proposed. “If he comes after me, you’ll be able to rest easy knowing that you weren’t the target.”

“But what if he comes when you aren’t here?” she asked. She also started pacing again.

I put my hands on her shoulders to stop her.

“I’m sure that [Watch Officer] guy would be more than happy to stay and watch over you while I’m gone,” I replied.

“Fred?” she asked. “No. I shouldn’t impose. And people would start to talk if a human stuck around for too long…” I gave her a flat look until she finally relented. “Fine,” she groaned.

“Perfect,” I replied. I shot her a party invite. “As double insurance, if something happens, I can come running.”

She paused. “Is it really okay for the [Hero] to be in a party with the [Demon Lord]?” she asked.

I shrugged. “Jake did it.”

That sealed the deal.

I was joined in my party by a level 1 [Hero]… Sarah Smith.

“Level 1… Smith!?” I looked at the display and the back at the [Hero]. Then back at my display again.

I was half a second away from asking if she was Jake’s illegitimate child, but she forestalled questions. “Yes, I’m level 1. I can’t leave Vir to go level, okay? There are too many people counting on me.” She shook her head. “And I’m an orphan. I got to choose my own last name when I turned 18.”

“Oh,” I replied simply. Then I realized I had another question. “What was it before then?”

She gave me a confused look that turned into one of recognition. “Right. I keep forgetting you’re from a different world. My last name was None, just like every other orphan.”

I thought that was kind of a stupid setup, but I didn’t complain too much. At least it wasn’t NULL or N/A.

Either way, after that, we finally got to act out my plan.

We grabbed Fred, who was more than willing to stand watch for her the rest of the day, and I took off aimlessly into the streets.

My plan was to send Sarah [Messages] periodically to check-in, and then also if I encountered the thief. I would then head back to the church that night to watch over it with my [Detect] skill and super not-needing-sleep perk.

Surprisingly, I had scarcely walked down two streets before I had my first inkling that I was being followed.

Well, well, let’s see how committed you are to this. I thought with a grin. I picked up the pace to a jog. Then to a run.

Fun fact about the [Sneak] skill. The awkward-looking crouch was mandatory for remaining hidden.

I heard a bit of a panic as several people milling about in the streets had a cloaked figure appear in a run right next to them.

“[Message] Sarah Smith,” I cast. “Found him. I’m definitely the target. See you tonight.”

I didn’t notice what she said in reply since I was busy leaving my pursuer in the dust.

Or so I thought.

He was much more determined than I expected. I was much faster, but he obviously knew the city better than I did. Part of me was tempted to confront him, but given Sarah’s concern about me beating up my muggers, I decided giving him the run-around until he gave up was better.

Except for the fact that he just. Wouldn’t. Give. Up.

I evaded him dozens of times over 2 hours, but he always managed to find me and start our game again.

Eventually, I had an idea for a place he couldn’t follow me.

Vir’s walls. They always had them around the castle, but it looked like sometime in the last 50 years, they had also made a set that encircled the perimeter. I was planning a trip outside, but not through the gate.

I’m sure I looked like a madman to the thief that was chasing me as I sprinted headlong at the wall. At least, right up until I jumped and took three running steps up it.

My momentum stalled, but I launched myself up the remaining distance with a [Flash Step] and grabbed hold.

I yanked myself up, gave my pursuer a cheeky salute, and then jumped down the other side.

System: Zone entered, Wilderness

I took a decent chunk of damage for the fall and managed to remember to send a [Message] so that the [Hero] wouldn’t be too worried.

“So… Now what?” I asked myself. I was outside of Vir and didn’t have anything to do for the rest of the day.

Or did I?

I grinned. Maybe I could help the [Hero] out with another problem as well.

-----

Sarah’s worries had not been eased by either of Titus’ [Messages]. However, there wasn’t much she could do. It wasn’t like she could chase down the level 19 [Demon Lord] if she wanted to.

She resigned herself to doing her job just like normal until he got back.

At least, that was her plan.

“Sorry, everyone!” she called out as she led her most recent patient to the door. “Out of mana again, see you all in 2 hours!” However, as she said that, she stumbled and nearly fell over.

What is happening? She panicked. She briefly thought maybe her illness had gotten worse if that was even possible, before she realized that she felt… stronger?

She also suddenly had a few points of mana back. She quickly called out. “Wait! I think I can take one more patient, actually.”

Fortunately, she didn’t have to focus much to cast [Restore] or [Holy Restore], or she wouldn’t have been able to. She was a bit too busy internally screaming.

Level 2… Titus, what are you doing!?

She managed to finish out the day even with a few more trips caused by level-ups.

Night had fallen when Titus finally returned, and she exited the church prepared to let him have it.

-----

Sarah was not as happy with the levels as I expected her to be.

She railed at me and how difficult it would be to hide her class now that she would be healing even more people a day, and I couldn’t even get a word in edgewise.

That is, until I noticed we had company.

“Sarah,” I said calmly during the middle of her tirade. “Go back inside and shut the door.”

She was confused at my sudden seriousness, but her questions died as we were surrounded by a dozen figures obscured by black cloaks.

“Is he the one?” came an older female voice.

“Yes,” replied a younger male one.

“Trust me,” I said as I put myself between them and Sarah. “This isn’t a fight you want to pick.” I decided to give them a taste of my fear aura.

Surprisingly, they drew back slightly, but that was it.

“The sign…” the female voice whispered. “The test! Do it quickly!”

One of the hooded figures threw a vial in my direction. I could have easily dodged it, but Sarah hadn’t listened to my order and was still behind me.

I stayed where I was.

The vial hit me, broke, and caught fire.

I blinked in confusion. “Alchemist’s fire?”

“ALL HAIL THE LORD OF FLAME!” the older woman shouted as she dropped to her knees and then to the ground.

“HAIL THE LORD OF FLAME!” the others chorused as they followed suit.

Meanwhile, I was still on fire, looking at the prostrate forms around me.

“My very own cult,” I muttered. “Great.”

[1] Otome – A genre of story-based game targeted towards women. It generally follows the pattern of having a female main character surrounded by a slew of male love interests, and the gameplay is basically making choices that determine which love interest the main character ends up with