“Your worst nightmare.”

I watched as the so-called vampire jabbed a finger into his forehead before pulling out the bullet In his brain.

“What is this... Metal?” The vampire looked at the object in his hand. “Fascinating.”

I watched as the bullet wound in his forehead began to close itself.

I get it now.

Vampires must have some other weak point. I just need to find it using my vision.

The answer lit up like a lightbulb in my brain, and I cracked a little smile, but it faded quickly. I needed to keep up the facade of being shocked.

“What... What are you going to do to me?” I asked the vampire.

I didn’t even let the creature answer before narrowing my eyes.

There was one point on his body that stuck out like a sore thumb.

His heart.

That’s their weak point.

Before I had chance to do anything else, the door to the council room flew open and Bryd stepped into the room, sword raised.

“Look out! Behind you!” I yelled to the vampire mockingly, before doing a quickdraw, and firing a bullet into the back of the vampire, who had naively turned around.

Bryd’s sword swiftly cut into the vampire’s neck, severing its head in one smooth motion.

The now disembodied head of the vampire opened its eyes wide, before it hit the ground. Its eyelids snapped shut.

There was an audible wheeze escaping from the windpipe of the vampire’s torso, as it fell over limp.

Bryd took a single second to admire his kill, before putting up his shield in defense, and positioned himself to face me.

I lifted an eyebrow, questioning his motives. I then flipped the cylinder of my revolver out and removed the two spent cartridges. 10 bullets remaining.

“What kind of sorcery is that?” I heard Bryd say from behind his shield.

Should I tell him the truth?

“Gunpowder.”

“Drop your wand now!” He ordered from behind the shield.

“Sorry pardner, no can do.” I told the knight plainly. These guns were a gift from johnny. No way was I letting them get confiscated by some random village knight.

That was the last drop in Bryd’s cup.

He began running at me, with his sword held high. I predicted his moves; He would go for a downward chop.

I simply took a step to the side and gave the knight a good shove on his back.

He fell on his face.

I decided to use this opportunity to book it toward the exit door. I didn’t want to kill Bryd. He was a nice man. I would, however, blow out the torch on my way out of the room, leaving Bryd in the pitch-black room.

The moment I stepped out of the Council room, I suddenly found myself back at the black orb I'd placed my hands on earlier.

“Well done.” I immediately recognized the voice of Fredric.

Was... Was all that a test?

I removed my hands from the black orb.

“What did you... What did you do to me?” I asked the council.

“We tested your mind in a combat situation. In combat, your intentions are clear, and your mind is focused. In this state, we can more easily invade your... thoughts.

“So, what did you learn?”

There was a brief silence, as if they were debating whether to tell me or not.

“You’re extraordinarily special. You’re the first person in around 2000 years to be able to control time. In addition to this, you displayed an ability to detect weak points in your enemies.”

I was perplexed. Did this mean I wasn’t special? other people have also had the ability to slow down time and detect weak points?

“Well, that certainly is something.”

The four mages were all busy scribbling words on some papyrus.

“We’ve all come to the unanimous agreement that you should become the new overseer of the council.”

...

What?

I couldn’t be an overseer. I’m a hired gun, not some old fart who has nothing better to do than evaluate newcomers to the city.

“Excuse me, but I'll have to decline your offer.”

I wasn’t a Council member. Hell, I hadn’t even held a political document. How was I supposed to be worthy of a placement among these people?

The four all stopped writing, as if they’d become paralyzed by my words.

“You... You reject the position of Council member?” Edna asked with a clear shake in her voice.

“That’s right.”

“This... This has never happened before. The position as Council member overseeing the great kingdom of Avylon is every person’s dream. Why... Why would you reject such great power?”

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

I twitched an eye at what I heard. Not only was my stay in this world temporary, but I'd never been a fan of politics. I could never see myself in such a great position of power and responsibility.

“Guess I'm just a little bit insane then.” I tipped my hat at the four people, before taking a step toward the exit.

“Before I go, could you teach me this translation spell you’ve been using so far? Being able to converse with people will definitely come in handy.”

The four looked at each other before nodding in agreement.

“You can have the scroll.” Fredric said with a small amount of regret in his voice.

“If you ever change your mind about politics, you know where to find us, Overseer.”

I slightly cringed at the title he gave me. “Faron is fine.” I told them and grabbed the scroll.

“Until next time, gentlemen.” I dramatically spun around, causing my cape to flutter wildly in the wind as I stepped toward the door leading out of the room.

I pulled the door open and greeted Bryd on my way out. He’d been standing guard outside the door this entire time.

“Overseer.” Bryd gave a slight bow.

“Please. Call me Faron.”

I yanked my bowie knife out of the table from earlier.

Well, I guess this is as good as time as any to read the scroll they gave me.

Oh.

It’s all in Avylonnian.

I pinched the bridge on my nose and awkwardly went over to Bryd, asking him to translate the text.

It’d been a few hours since that whole business at the mage’s guild. I took a swig of the ale in my hand.

I’d decided to find an inn to wait out the rest of the time I had before the professor supposedly would bring me back to the future. I really hope it works as intended, and I don’t get stuck here forever.

To my relief, the bullets I lost in my duel with the vampire illusion were still in my guns, so I didn’t need to worry about running out any time soon. For clarification I still had 6 bullets in both my guns.

With the help of Bryd I'd been able to decipher the scroll of translation, much to my relief. It’d be a pain trying to order a drink without knowing the language these guys speak.

Suddenly, my thoughts were interrupted by the doors of the inn opening loudly.

“I’m looking for the so-called Overseer.” The woman at the door remarked.

‘I’m not paid enough for this to be my problem’. I thought before returning my attention to my mug of ale.

The rest of the inn seemed to agree with my thoughts, as everyone resumed their previous activities.

The woman at the entrance did not like being ignored.

She pulled out a huge battleax and slammed it into the floor of the Inn, cracking multiple floorboards. “Overseer! Step forward or I'll kill every person in this establishment!”

That was the last straw.

I got up from my seat and put both my hands on my belt.

“Do you really want this mug to be the last one you see?” I questioned the fat lady.

“Outside. Now.” She ordered.

The woman had positioned us right outside the inn. The scene looked like your average Mexican standoff.

It suddenly occurred to me that I had an unfair advantage in speed when it came to my weaponry. She’d have to either throw something at me or spend time winding back the string of a bow or crossbow.

“I’ll tell you once more lady, just walk away. Whatever you hope to accomplish isn’t worth risking your life.”

She only snuffed and pulled out a long spear from behind her back.

“On the count of three, we’ll both launch our attacks. Whoever’s left standing gets all the possessions of the loser. Deal?”

I smirked, knowing there was no way I'd lose this battle.

“Deal.”

A spindly looking man stepped out from behind the lady, and pointed three fingers into the air, signalling the countdown had begun.

I moved my hand to my gun holsters.

“Three!”

There was a soft breeze in the air, shifting my hat so that it blocked the man from my view but it didn’t block my line of sight to the enemy in front of me.

“Two!”

I pulled the hammer of my revolvers back in anticipation.

“One!”

I could see the lady beginning to sweat. I think she understood she’d made a terrible mistake asking to duel me.

“Go!”

The woman began winding her arm back and was about to throw the spear.

My hands were already moving on their own, grabbing my guns out of their holsters.

She had now finished winding, and the spear was flying on its way toward me.

If you’d been a bystander watching this fight from the sidelines, you’d see a spear fly toward the face of some caped stranger, followed by a single, almost light-fast projectile flying toward the spear thrower.

I was barely able to move my head out of the way of the incoming spear.

The lady might have been dressed up in full plate armor, but that didn’t stop my impeccable aim from finding a weakness.

The armor of her helmet was slightly dented on one side of the head.

One millisecond later, the very same helmet was drenched in a nice, red paint as the dent became a deadly spike shooting into the lady’s forehead.

The spear which had made a deep cut into my shoulder flew past my head, jabbing into the ground behind me.

“Fine duel, miss.”

I’d gone back inside the inn after the strange duel I had with the lady. Of course, I had gone over her gear as permitted by the rules of our duel.

I wrapped some bandage around my wounded shoulder. Luckily it didn’t hit anything vital. Just a flesh wound.

The backpack I'd spotted on her back earlier was revealed to be enchanted with a terribly expensive spell making its carrying capacity practically endless, while remaining as light as a feather. It had a big branding on it, it read ‘Mo’or dee’. I’m guessing that was the name of the lady.

Inside the bag I found a large assortment of weapons, all enchanted to be incredibly sharp. This lady must have been a big-shot bounty hunter of some sort, being able to afford all these incredibly expensive enchantments.

I also found a scroll inside the bag, but I had no idea what it was as the letters making up its name were constantly moving and changing. I theorized that it was because I was using the translation spell to read it, and I hadn’t heard the words spoken out loud yet. Because of this I didn’t know the translation in English and couldn’t read the name.

Regardless, there was still around 17 hours before the doctor would bring me back to my time.

I decided to rent a room for the night and stashed all my things away inside the “mo’or bag” as I'd come to call it, before tucking it under my bed.

One last thing I need to do before I go to sleep.

I’d thought it’d be a good idea to write down personal notes. I went down to the inn, and asked the shopkeeper if he sold any books.

He looked slightly annoyed, but once he saw who I was, he put on a bright smile. I could tell it was sincere.

“Well if it isn’t the hero who saved my establishment! Thank you for getting rid of Mo’or, she’s been nothing but trouble to me. Always barging in and stealing whatever she feels like before leaving again.”

The man took a deep sigh.

“I sure won’t miss her. Some people are better 6 feet under, if you catch my drift.”

I lightly chuckled.

“So about the book?”

“Oh, but of course! Anything for you Mr... I didn’t catch your name?”

“It’s Faron. Faron M. Dick.”

“Ah! Pleasure to meet you Faron.” The man stretched out a hand. “Name’s Jeffery. If you’re interested, this inn often gets bounty posters put up on the bounty board there. If you’re in the lookout for cash, I'd look there.” The man pointed toward the board on the wall before placing a book on the counter.

“And there’s your book. Have a good night, Faron!”

“Thank you.” I grabbed the book and walked back to my room.

He seems like a decent feller.

I placed the book on a table and started jotting down some notes.

The kingdom of Avylon

Mythical creatures:

Vampires. These guys have insane regenerative properties. Their weak points are their hearts, and dealing sufficient damage to the organ will be fatal to the vampire.

Feeling like I'd written down the most important information, I closed the book and stashed it away in the mo’or bag.

I laid my back down on the bed and enjoyed the feeling of a feathered mattress up against my back. I’m used to lying on a hard wooden bed, so this was a nice change of pace.

“Good night john-” I began, before remembering where I was.

“I miss you, friend.”