Zack

The noise from inside The Mead Beast was audible even before Zack reached the doors, which assured him Sadie’s little tavern was having yet another good night. Given the deluge outside, that wasn’t surprising. Zack had neglected to bring a cloak when he left Wolfpine this morning, but fortunately, his [Dusk Leather] was waterproof. So mostly, his hair was just wet.

It hadn’t taken long to find the notice in the town square informing everyone a Rakshasha was now on the loose in Grassea, which had understandably encouraged all low Level Adventurers to cease Leveling for the day. Yet in absence of Monsters to kill, Adventurers needed something to do, and getting very fed and very drunk (followed by getting very boned) was what Adventurers did when they had nothing better to do. If the nights kept up like this one, Sadie might even have to hire someone to help Randi handle all the orders. The little scamp was great at her job, but she was only one person.

Zack effortlessly stepped aside as a drunken man stumbled out with a drunken woman on his arm—those two were obviously off for a different kind of fun—and slipped inside The Mead Beast before the doorscould close again. He scanned the crowded tables for any trace of Leopold Argentshade, possible Blazer bounty hunter, and didn’t find him. He might not be here yet, but then...

Was that Glenn? And Erika? Gods. Zack held back a grimace as both of them looked his way and beckoned him over. His overeager friends were going to complicate everything.

Leo had said he had no interest in drinking with a Town Guard, and even if he’d been lying about that, he wouldn’t want to appear to be lying about it. That meant that if Zack sat down with Glenn, Leo would probably leave the moment he spotted them. Which was exactly what he didn’t need.

Yet he couldn’t just leave. He needed to wait for Leo, and he couldn’t just leave Glenn. Erika might assume he wanted some alone time and accept that, but Glenn wouldn’t give up that easily. He’d get concerned and try to help.

So Zack would handle this. He’d saunter over, make a little conversation, accept some free drinks, and find some way to excuse himself before his target arrived. He slipped through the tavern crowd without issue and arrived at the table with Glenn and Erika. No one else sat with them, which was unsurprising given Glenn’s job. Yet the moment he arrived, he spotted the problem.

Glenn was smiling just a bit too wide. He looked a bit too friendly. Glenn was nervous.

He was hiding something. He had always been terrible at that. And if Leo was a Blazer ... could he already have convinced Glenn to help him arrest Anna?

“You two really don’t look like you need company,” Zack said easily.

Erika laughed and tapped the table. “Don’t be like that. Sit down. Join us. And while you’re at it, you should get Anna to join us here too.”

“She’s busy,” Zack said, not sitting down. “And actually, that reminds me. I forgot something Mom asked me to handle. Since you two are obviously having a good time, I’ll just—”

“Sit down,” Glenn ordered quietly, in a firm manner that was absolutely Town Guard. “We need to talk about Leopold, that Skirmisher who’s been stalking you. I looked into him further, and he’s not who he says he is. There’s some things you need to know. I think you might actually be in danger.”

Zack took a moment to size his old friend up. Was Glenn telling the truth? Glenn looked like he was telling the truth. He still looked nervous, but nothing in his words or tone suggested he was lying about a danger to Zack ... at least as he perceived it.

Had Glenn found out Leo was a Blazer? Had he found out something worse, like the fact that Leo had been the one cracking open those Demon crystals all over Grassea? Come to think of it ... if Leo had released that Rakshasha himself and then pretended to fight it, that would have been a perfect way to gain Zack’s trust. His head spun with all these new possibilities.

Zack glanced behind him at the doors, but there was still no sign of Leo. He debated but a moment before looking back to Glenn. He didn’t trust Glenn to tell him everything, if Glenn thought there was something he didn’t need to know, but he did trust Glenn to look out for him.

He knew Glenn would never intentionally harm him. Yet given Glenn was now a Town Guard, he might foolishly do something he thought was good. Could he take that risk?

“Zack, please,” Erika said quietly. “Glenn’s right. You really are in danger, and we really do need to talk to you about Leopold. We wouldn’t lie to you about this.”

Erika’s vote of confidence decided him. Zack leaned close. “Not in the tavern.”

“Out the back, under the eaves,” Glenn agreed. “Go. We’ll wait a bit then join you.”

Zack nodded, waved like they’d just finished chatting, and headed for the back of the tavern. Sadie Wintershade offered only a rueful raised eyebrow as Zack slipped off the main floor into her storeroom. If anything went missing, she’d come for him, but she knew he knew that.

Zack slipped out of The Mead Beast through the back door and into the narrow alley between the tavern and the row of houses behind it. A wooden overhang sheltered the barrels and crates outside from the downpour, though water still bounced off the cobblestones. Thanks to the deluge and chill no one else was back here, which was a refreshing change.

On most nights there was a chance one could run into a couple that couldn’t wait to get back to a room (or simply couldn’t afford one). Yet as amusing as that might be, Zack didn’t have time for it tonight. And as hot as making out in the rain might be, Grassea’s rain was cold. Any thrill offered by the sight of wet skin would soon be overwhelmed by all the shivering.

Zack waited for a full five minutes as no one else emerged. He was almost ready to leave when the door opened and Erika slipped out, followed almost immediately by Glenn. Zack was relieved to see them both, and more than a little impatient to learn what they’d uncovered about Leo. What if the man showed up in the tavern while they were all out back here? What if he left?

As Erika approached, her smile grew surprisingly sultry. “I have a confession. I actually wasn’t entirely honest with you. You see ... I had an ulterior motive for sneaking you out the back tonight.”

Even as Zack’s flight instincts reared up, everything stopped as Erika reached to the button at the top of her shirt. She unbuttoned it. Then, she unbuttoned the next button. Zack’s brain slowed.

“What?” he added.

“I wanted to show you something.” Erika’s eyes glistened with mischief as her fingers worked the buttons further down her finely-threaded shirt. “Something I just learned how to make. Have you ever heard of a [Noblewoman’s Corset]?”

Zack had. He’d heard all the rumors, and he’d always imagined just how amazing a sight one might be. He was now simultaneously intrigued, confused, and disoriented. “But why—”

The click of a cuff snapping on his wrist from behind was his only warning. Zack yelped and tried to pull free only to find his feet rooted firmly to the cobblestones. Then the other cuff clicked home, and Glenn walked him over to the wall beside The Mead Beast with little effort as Erika, tragically enough, skillfully buttoned up her shirt.

Boobs. His only weakness. He’d been played.

Zack looked back at the [Lawgiver Cuffs] now locked on his wrists, the worried and pensive look on Glenn’s face, and the simultaneously amused and regretful look on Erika’s. The way he’d just been ensnared was, he admitted, quite masterful. The question was ... why?

Zack forced a smile he didn’t feel. “Not what I had in mind for tonight, but sure. I’ll Consent.”

“Shut up and just listen to me,” Glenn said, with his voice pitched just high enough to be heard over the clamor of the rainstorm. “Leo’s a Blazer.”

Zack’s bravado faded as he accepted that he’d chosen to act too late. “I knew it.” And Leo had just convinced Glenn to arrest him. Which meant Anna would be arrested next. He couldn’t let that happen, but ... how could he stop it?

Zack tested his cuffs and found them both utterly comfortable and utterly impossible to remove. Were all the rumors about [Lawgiver Cuffs] true?

[-Shadow Walk-]

Nothing happened. Zack’s Skill didn’t help him at all. He truly was trapped, not only physically but in terms of his Skills as well.

Glenn’s deception he could understand. Glenn was just doing his job. It was Erika’s part in this that actually stung a little. He’d always thought the two of them had a better relationship than this. Still, helping Anna had to be his priority right now. It was time to come clean with everything.

“Anna might be a fugitive, but she’s not a bad person,” Zack said. “Alan’s a fugitive as well, but neither of them truly did anything wrong. They’ve both been framed by her brother.”

“And how do you know that?” Glenn asked calmly.

“Her brother’s an ass worse than Coleman,” Zack said. “He wants to keep Anna prisoner and seize her inheritance, money that’s hers by right and which her brother stole with the help of the Church of Celes. She fled Aquarine with Alan, who’s actually her cousin, to escape from her brother, and in response, he sicced the Blazers on her. Worst, he sent bounty hunters with Demons after her.”

“Those Shaitan,” Glenn said. “And the Rakshasa?”

“That’s right,” Zack agreed. “Remember the day you saved us outside town beside Jenny Ambersun? That was the day I helped Anna Level out in the woods. Someone shattered Demon crystals and unleashed those Shaitan on us with the goal of paralyzing her and killing me.”

“Why paralyze her?” Glenn asked.

“So the Adventurer who released those Demons could rescue her,” Zack said. “Loophole. He’d pick her up and carry her back to her brother, who’d throw her in prison and likely let me die.”

Glenn didn’t look convinced. “You only have Anna’s word on that.”

“And I’ll take her word any day of the week,” Zack said evenly. “When those Shaitan came for us, she could have run and saved herself. I even tried to make her run. She didn’t. She came for me, even knowing that she’d likely be caught and taken back to her brother.”

Glenn’s hard expression didn’t waver. “Yet you still escaped.”

“Only because Anna is incredible,” Zack said, which was close enough to the truth to avoid mentioning Xiva’s crystal. “She risked her life for me back when we barely knew each other. And now, I do know her. We’ve been together three months, and she’s never once given me cause to doubt her good intentions. How long were you with Becka before you decided you’d trust her with anything?”

Glenn’s brow furrowed. “Those situations aren’t exactly comparable. Becka grew up with us in Wolfpine, while Anna—”

“Is all alone,” Zack interrupted, “with an ass of a brother sending other asses after her who are perfectly willing to unleash Demons on lowbies. I don’t know how you feel about a person who would do that, but me? If I had to choose who’s the villain in this scenario, I’m going with Anna’s brother.”

“Leo informed me Anna stole her money from Frostford.”

“That’s certainly what her brother told the Blazers,” Zack agreed, as the reasons the Blazers were after Anna finally made sense to him. “Maybe he even faked some documents to make it look true. But it’s her inheritance, not the town’s, and it’s her life to live, not her brother’s. If you help that Blazer arrest her, you’re sending Anna back to a ruthless Politician who literally tried to kill me yesterday.”

Glenn sighed. “You can’t know that for certain.”

“I know what Demon crystals are, and I know Rakshashas don’t spawn in Grassea.” Zack once against futilely tested his cuffs. “And if Anna’s brother’s willing to do something like that, you have to question just how much else he’s willing to do. Especially with all this money involved.”

“Gods,” Glenn said quietly. “You were supposed to talk me out of this.”

Zack, once again, found himself confused. “Of what?”

“Being a helpfully heroic idiot,” Glenn said.

“Though you’re a very cute heroic idiot,” Erika added with a smile.

Glenn smiled back her way, yet it was obvious he remained conflicted. “I believe you, Zack. I might even believe Anna. Which means you two are going to make my new job incredibly complicated.”

Zack stared as Glenn snapped off the [Lawgiver Cuffs], freeing him once more. Glenn wouldn’t do that unless he actually believed Zack’s story, which meant ... no. Was he actually...

“You’re going to help me save Anna?” Zack asked in disbelief.

“I’m going to make sure neither she or her cousin leaves Wolfpine with anyone until we get all this straightened out,” Glenn said evenly. “No one is going with the Blazers until we’ve verified all the information we’ve been given, especially what Leo’s been told. Anna certainly isn’t going back to this brother of hers until we’re absolutely certain she wasn’t framed and won’t be harmed.”

“Six Hells,” Zack said. “You go up against the Blazers like this, you’re going to get arrested by your own Town Guards. Can that even happen?”

“Let’s hope we don’t find out,” Glenn said. “Yet given all I’ve recently learned about Anna—”

“I filled him in,” Erika interjected.

“—I wouldn’t feel right simply letting the Blazers take her back to her brother will all these unknowns,” Glenn finished. “Unfortunately, their trap is already sprung. At Leo’s behest, my father contacted Jenny Ambersun in Lakebrooke via phantom correspondence. Jenny will be here by tomorrow morning. Before she arrives I need the truth from everyone, including Anna.”

Zack felt a fresh hint of unease. “Does that mean you’re going to arrest her?”

“Not if she comes willingly to tell me her side of this. I want to hear everything from her, but first, we need to get her and her cousin somewhere safe. Somewhere Leo can’t find them. They’re at your house right now, correct?”

“Which Leo is probably watching right now.” Zack inwardly cursed himself for suggesting they head back to his house instead of hiding out somewhere. “So how do we get them out?”

Glenn glanced Erika’s way. “Would you be up for a little subterfuge? It’s for a good cause.”

Erika’s smile grew absolutely eager. “Oh, absolutely yes.”