The boy watched with disdain in his eyes as the ebony carriage pulled up beside him and opened it’s doors to reveal a young, lithe girl. A pure white shawl covered her body and complimented the purple robes that hugged against her still developing body. Stitched over her left breast was the symbol of a black dragon, matching the one boldly set onto the carriage doors. Behind the girl the silhouette of a man appeared. His face was partially obscured by the darkness of the carriage interior and further hidden behind the window curtain but the boy could sense waves of invisible power coming off of his body.

'At last you’ve arrived.’ Mark mused with glee and rubbed the ring on his finger as the pair descended onto the ground.

The man took stock of his surroundings and Mark could see his eyes glitter as they passed over his body, “Marie, why did you stop here?”

The girl shuddered as a cool breeze passed by and brought the shawl closer to her body. Her eyes passed by Mark curiously but he was immediately forgotten as she spotted a brightly coloured shop a few meters away.

“Uncle told me about a dessert shop I need to visit...” She pointed at the shop and began sprinting towards it as her robe billowed around her, “Here it is!”

The man watched her with amusement, “Your uncle huh? I should have known if I didn’t do it someone would.”

‘So this is the guy whose life I’ll be ruining’ Mark turned to look at the man and was surprised to see the man staring back at him.

“Hello there.” The man greeted Mark amicably and lifted his hand in a wave.

Mark waved back, feeling a small tremor run across his spine as waves of pressure seemed to roll off the man and smother him.

The man walked over to Mark and shifted his attention towards the figure disappearing through the dessert shop door, “Do you know who that girl is?”

“No sir.” Mark replied diligently, but a hint of suspicion crossed his features as the man began to speak.

‘What is this guy doing?’

“She’s the young lady of the Black Dragon Clan. A mysterious and powerful clan that rules this land from the shadows. She’s renowned as a genius in magic studies that is only seen once in a thousand years and from her features she will grow up to be an incredible beauty.” The man gestured wildly to emphasize his point but his eyes were calmly scanning Mark from head to toe, “Thousands of boys chase her for her hand in marriage but it has been decided by our families that she will be my bride come this spring.”

The man stopped and Mark nodded along with his words.

“That is very good sir." He made sure to put emphasis one every word, "I hope your marriage is a happy one.” Mark grinned at the man and lifted his thumbs up in a gesture of friendliness.

“Excuse me?” A look of shock crossed the man’s face, “What do you mean by that?”

Mark flashed the man a grin, “I mean no sarcasm good sir. I sincerely wish you and your bride a happy marriage. From what you’ve said you are getting a one in a million girl. I can hardly imagine the power of your good self and the family behind you.”

“You don’t feel the least bit resentful against me?” The man’s arms flopped to his side and he looked lost, “Or do you feel angry? Clearly I’m too old for this girl. She probably deserves someone much better and younger, like you.”

Mark slapped his hands together and the man jumped up, “Why I wouldn’t dare think something like that. In fact, I admire you sir. Love knows no boundaries and to proceed with this wedding even while acknowledging that your ages are so far apart and that it may cause resentment is a testament to your great strength of character.”

“What? No it’s not.” The man shook his head and took a step back, “Even without looking at how young and pretty she is, a genius that comes every thousand years is clearly too good for me. Don’t you feel like she would be better suited for someone more powerful than me. She is destined for prodigious heights after all. Only a genius that could transcend the heavens might come close to being a proper husband for her.” The man’s eyes pierced through Mark as though hinting at something.

Mark looked around himself and then at the sky and the ground, “I see no such genius around here good sir.” He innocently remarked, “and I again find myself awed with your humility. I can feel your power from here and as an ordinary person I am unable to resist even your presence. I am sure you are a genius of similar talents to your future wife. A truly humble man like you shouldn’t worry about what others might think. Ultimately it is about her happiness as well as yours and I’m sure your hearts will make the right decision.”

The man resisted the urge to slap himself in the head and Mark could see beads of sweat running down his head, “You’re right. I am truly talented, some would even call me a genius. Did I mention I’m the young lord of the nearby manor? I have treated many young ladies cruelly in the past. Doesn’t that make you angry? Or maybe make you want to overthrow me and my family? And then take this girl from my evil clutches and go off merrily into the sunset? Hell, we don’t even have to fight. I’ve already made all the preparations to break off the marriage. If a person, any person, came into the scene at the wrong time it’s possible that the entire marriage may be called off.”

“Look sir,” Mark shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t want to marry your fiance. Deal with it.”

****

“Look sir,” The boy shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t want to marry your fiance. Deal with it.”

‘What the hell is this kids problem. Take the damn girl.’

Ryan almost chocked on his own spit as waves of emotion threatened to break out onto his face. Waves of perspiration trickled down his neck and back and took a step back into the carriage, sparing a single glance at the dessert house where Marie was no doubt gorging herself on sweet delicacies. The boy was snickering as he watched Ryan sit down and close the door behind him.

‘Relax. Gather your thoughts.’ Ryan rubbed his fingers on his temple as he attempted to make sense of the situation, ‘Start from the beginning.’

The world of Cognoscenti was a wonderful place. Filled with magic, monsters and adventures as far as the eye could see. It was a place where the strong ruled and the powerful benefited. That wasn’t the only thing that Ryan had discovered since his arrival. Unfair and unjust, these words were synonymous with being weak. Those without power were oppressed and those that were weak were playthings of the beings that ruled over them. It was a common sight in the world and nobody within it questioned this way of life at all.

But Ryan wasn’t from this world.

Ryan Oswald, the son of a lord in Cognoscenti that abused his power to get women, kill off enemies and inflict hatred wherever he walked. That despicable person had died drunk off his face and in his place Ryan Oswald, son of an accountant and serial daydreamer that had died at the same time on the planet Earth had taken over his body. It was a pleasant life although Ryan had only discovered the life his body's previous owner had lived afterward and tried hard to correct it by being as nice as possible while hiding the fact that he was not the same man that everything thought he was.

Then a seer his father had hired to tell his fortune had told him a ‘protagonist’ was coming to get him.

His father had immediately ordered the seer executed for speaking in gibberish but Ryan had pleaded with him to spare her and let her go back to her home. That was because the prophecy had been in English. His native tongue. But none of the others in the world could understand the words.

It was at this moment that Ryan realized he was in a lot of danger. In the stories he’d read on Earth it was a common trope that when a protagonist arrived they would immediately encounter a young lord and astonishingly talented and beautiful girl and then proceed to completely destroy that young lords life. If he was lucky then in the best case scenario his family would die and he would be crippled for life, lamenting how he had thought himself so talented only to not see the powerful genius that he had insulted.

So Ryan had devised a plan to avoid all that mess and live a happy and fruitful life as a young lord.

First of all he had alienated himself from his future wife by admitting to his and her family that he was clearly too incompetent to match his talents. Surprisingly this had been the easiest part of the entire plan because the girl was simply too talented in controlling magic. She was a prodigy not only to her own clan but to this entire country. It also helped a lot that she was only fourteen and he had zero interest in her physically. He had seen that age wasn’t considered much of a barrier in this world but considering the fact that his bodies previous owner had murdered people in cold blood and been praised for it he didn’t consider this much of a consolation. He had long ago decided that no matter what the rules of this world he would follow his own principles and values forged by his time on Earth. It was simply in his nature to be kind to people and avoid harm.

So in accordance with what he remembered from stories he had proceeded to be incredibly nice to his future fiance. He had already made it clear to her that he intended not to marry her because of their age difference and due to his lack of talent. In fact, he even intended to stay her friend once the protagonist came onto the scene because if they stayed on good terms this would benefit him greatly and nobody would be harmed or have their clans annihilated in the process. If his plan worked correctly then eventually an instigating event would begin where the young lord and lady meet the protagonist, causing the protagonist to meet his future wife and develop a hatred for the young lord that was courting her.

Ryan was a simple man. He intended to shove the wife onto the protagonist and avoid the hatred that came with being the young lord.

Whenever he asked himself if this was a cowardly thing to do he simply shook his head and thought that it was just good sense.

He would continue to live a happy life and Marie would marry the most powerful being in the universe and the person who was destined to be her true love.

‘So why the hell isn’t he taking the bait?’ Ryan scowled.

He had known from the moment that Marie had requested the carriage to be stopped in the middle of a poor town’s market place that this was probably the event where they would meet the protagonist. Sure enough there was a young boy that some would consider handsome standing in the middle of the street staring at them and rubbing a ring on his finger. The ring was a dead giveaway to Ryan, the boy probably had a senior magician or equally powerful entity’s consciousness and memories in there.

Ryan clapped his hands as an idea floated into his head, ‘Oh, he probably just hasn’t seen enough of her yet. Love isn’t a rushed thing after all. Even protagonists probably don’t fall in love at first sight.’

He laughed at himself and immediately exited the carriage to face the bemused young boy again.

“You have cleared a great many worries I’ve had about my fiance and life. I should introduce myself, my name is Ryan. Ryan Oswald.” Ryan cleared his throat as he thought about what to say next, and decided to stroke the boy’s ego a bit, if the boy was hiding his powers then it would feel good to him if he was praised, “I sense that you are very powerful on the inside. It is so rare to meet a young person talented in magic like you are, and so wise too. Would you like to come to my father’s mansion and dine with my fiance and I? I am sure if you get to know us better it would benefit us all.”

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

‘Ryan one, protagonist zero.’ Ryan smiled at his own genius.

It was obvious that once the protagonist and Marie became acquainted that love would blossom between them and he would immediately try to confront Ryan to take away Marie to live a better life as his wife.

And instead of fighting Ryan intended with his full might to push her away and live his life in peace, wishing them a happy marriage.

“No thank you. I have to work at my family's dessert shop and won’t have time to attend a diner with sir and his future wife. Thank you for the praise, however, I am quite content with my life of being a powerless being in the grand scheme of things.”

‘Say what?’

****

“No thank you. I have to work at the bakery and won’t have time to attend a diner with sir and his wife. Thank you for the praise, however, I am quite content with my life of being a powerless being in the grand scheme of things.”

‘Haa, so that’s your angle is it?’ Mark glowered at the sky with anger but kept a smile on his face while facing Ryan.

He wasn’t a person that had been born in this world.

Mark had been an ordinary citizen in his previous life on another world called Earth. Reading books and going through his studies had been the highlight of his life and it had been a good one, with loving parents that provided everything for him but still bred in him a good moral compass, the need for self-discipline and common sense.

So he had been incredibly shocked when he was hit by a car in front of his parents and died.

He wasn’t resentful at this development. He had lived a good life and even felt that being spoiled so badly by his parents had caused himself to be a burden to them. They would definitely be sad at his passing but he knew they still had his brother and they were strong willed enough that he hoped they could overcome this tragedy to live good lives. But instead of going to heaven he had ended up inside this strange world where people were rumored to practice magic.

He had been reborn as the son of a dessert shop owner.

He had taken to his new life easily enough. After the initial shock of dying and discovering he was in another world he had decided to live a peaceful life like he had in his previous life. He had no real ambitions and in a town where a dessert shop was considered a place of luxury it wasn’t a bad thing to learn the trade and inherit this shop from his new parents.

‘Then you had to turn up.’ Mark unconsciously rubbed the ring that had stuck itself onto his finger years ago.

When he was four years old he had been playing in the nearby field with some of the other kids and enjoying life in general when he had tripped over and fell onto the grass. In front of him was a ring glowing bright red with magical symbols spinning around it in beautiful patterns.

He had immediately walked past it and gone onto playing with the children. He had determined from the moment he arrived to live a normal life and because he had already experienced childhood once he knew this would be the only time he could throw sand at people, dig up dirt and act like a kid before he grew up and enjoying life naively became a shameful act.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t recognized the ring. He had read enough stories to know that it probably had some old man inside it that could make him an amazing magician or something equally powerful. He simply didn’t want to live that kind of life. He knew that if he took up the ring it would probably lead to him getting into a lot of fights. He might even lose his family and the friends he had grown up with because destiny decided that he needed motivation to continue his quest. He wasn’t willing to endanger the lives of toddlers and adults who would have otherwise led a good life if he didn’t pick up the ring.

Then the ring had slammed into his back and flew onto his finger, adjusting itself so that he couldn’t take it off.

‘So this is he. I sense no magics manipulating our actions or being enacted nearby. And yet it has all occurred as you have said.’ A kind elderly voice transmitted into Mark’s mind.

When the ring had attached itself to Mark’s finger all those years ago the old man within it had promised him all the power he could ever want if he promised in return to destroy the enemies that had ambushed him and caused his physical body to be destroyed.

Why live your life with hatred? If I kill your enemies there will simply be even more people hurting within their hearts and this will cause more death, destruction and misery in an endless cycle. You were a crotchety and lonely old man that pursued power selfishly but look how far it has gotten you. I will show you true happiness, live with me a few years and I will how you what it feels like to have a friend.

Mark had decided to negotiate with him instead.

It had taken years but Mark had finally convinced the old man to see the beauty that he had missed in his quest for power. Seven years ago the elderly man had broken down crying inside his ring and admitted that his entire life had been empty, but Mark had assured him that by simply realizing this fact his life would now improve and continue to. The old man had even chastised his old self’s dream of vengeance when the town had been rocked by a murder. The old man had seen first hand how deeply a small and tight-knit community could be affected and how he had helped spread fear, anger and hate during his life without realizing it.

Mark had even recounted to the man how he was from another world and what possible scenarios would occur to try and draw him into the world and away from his peaceful life.

The classic scenario of the young lord and beautiful lady appearing had of course come up in conversation from time to time. Mark had long ago heard of the young lord and his antics and had guessed that at some point they might meet each other. But Mark had no intention to ruin some young persons life and kill his entire family. Even if the young lord was snarky or involved in illegal activities it was simply an unfortunate fact that in this world these things were commonplace. He could try to be a hero but he was not the kind of person that liked to fight, instead, he was a firm advocate of reformation and rehabilitation. He also believed in proportionate response and felt no immediate urge to completely cripple this man or steal his wife simply because he had been insulted at some point in time.

‘He’s acting a lot weirder than I thought he would,’ Mark sent a thought back into the ring in response to the old man, ‘if the world really is manipulating him to appear here and insult me, don’t you think it’s trying a little too hard? The man has done more explaining as to why he deserves to be punished than actually doing anything bad.’

“Well… Wait a second” Ryan turned his head towards the dessert shop and frowned, “Hasn’t Marie been in there for a long time?”

As soon as he spoke a crash resounded in the air.

It had originated from the dessert shop.

“Stop struggling little missy. Come and play with your uncles over here.”

****

“Stop struggling little missy. Come and play with your uncles over here.”

A gruff voice wafted out of the dessert shop and Ryan’s smile turned into a grimace.

‘This is the perfect time to let the hero go in and save the day.’ Ryan looked Mark.

This was the typical protagonist saves the day scene. A group of belligerent men surround a young lady in a shop and try to force her to do unseemly things in an alleyway. Even though she was a talent that was only seen once in a thousand years that didn’t mean that Marie was completely safe. She wasn’t used to confrontation and had led a sheltered life. She could be panicking and unable to properly concentrate on casting a spell or the thugs could have hurt her, or held her arms down so that she couldn’t access the magic materials hidden on her person necessary to cast magic.

It was essentially the protagonists dream scenario.

‘Damn it. I don’t want to take the risk that Marie will get hurt.’

Ryan immediately ran towards the store and took out a small pouch from underneath his robe and undid the top string.

A kitten’s head popped up from the opening and mewled at him with big round eyes.

Ryan ignored the kitten’s adorable figure and took out a small vial of white liquid that had been placed in the pouch and took off the cork, “Freya, answer my summons. Detain those that would harm my friends and family.”

Magical energy swirled around his hands and he poured the milk into the kittens mouth. This caused it to cough vigorously and shoot him a dirty look.

“Mortal.” The kitten spoke with a deep voice, “I do not appreciate you choking my minions with your offerings. They are my servants and you will treat them with the respect they deserve.”

Ryan didn’t respond as he rushed into the dessert shop and was immediately met with the sight of three old men surrounding Marie from all sides. It wasn’t close enough to present a physical threat yet but it was clear that the panicked young girl had no way to exit the formation.

The kitten purred and licked the pouch that covered it’s body, “You called me to fight those things? You insult me wizard.”

“I’ll give your cat some extra food and let it sleep on my bed tonight. Now do it. And remember, no killing.”

“A cat is not given a bed. It takes the bed.” The kitten’s eyes glowed red as it spoke and then it jumped out of the pouch, landing on the floor.

The man closest to Ryan turned as Ryan spoke and grinned, “Well, well, well, looks like we have an onlooker. I’m sure we’re both reasonable men. This is none of your business. Leave- AH”

The man let out a pained scream as a long lines of blood appeared on his legs, his shoddy pants shredded with claw marks. Behind him the kitten licked its paws. Without a single sound it had slashed the man’s legs and penetrated the formation, resting down next to Marie. The man fell down and Ryan winced as he saw that the damage in the man’s leg was a lot more than superficial.

“Damn it Freya. No crippling.” Ryan chastised the kitten.

It looked up at him with a disgusted expression on its face, “I tire of your constant orders. But very well.”

The kitten disappeared and the other two men fell with screams as cuts appeared over their faces, arms and legs. None of them were deep enough to cripple the men but they were clearly in incredible pain.

Ryan winces, ‘Poor guys.’

Then he remembered what they were trying to do and his heart solidified.

‘It appears that the protagonists presence is a lot more harmful than I thought.’ Ryan shuddered.

To see it in person was a lot different from imagining it. Simply being near the protagonist had caused him to experience an event that a person only ever saw in movies or books. It was Marie’s first time in this place or without an entourage accompanying her and she had been assaulted in a dessert shop.

He hadn’t even sensed or seen the old men going into the shop.

“Ah,” Marie looked in shock at the screaming men around her and cried out, “Ryan! Freya!”

She ran into Ryan’s arm and began sobbing and he gazed at her uncomfortably.

He wasn’t used to comforting a crying girl.

“Hoo. A wife truly misses her husband in times of need.” Freya licked her paws that were dripping with blood, “My task is done wizard. I have informed the guards of the young mistresses situation and they will be along shortly to apprehend these hooligans.”

“Thank you Freya.” Ryan said sincerely, “Now get back into your pouch.”

“Pweh.” Freya made a gargled noise but shook her head and jumped into the pouch, disappearing into its depths.

“That was a good thing to do. Your reputation doesn’t do you justice.”

****

“That was a good thing to do. Your reputation doesn’t do you justice.” By the time Mark reached the doorway the entire event was already over.

Ryan gazed at him with emotion and shrugged as he held the crying girl in his arms, “She’s still my friend.”

“Your fiance.” Mark corrected him, then frowned at the downed men, “I’ve never seen these people before.”

“You haven’t? Isn’t this a small town.” Ryan disentangled himself from Marie but clasped her hand in his, “That means they aren’t locals? Or are you not from around here?”

“It’s my family's shop. Of course I’m from around here.” Mark replied sarcastically, “And I’ll leave this to the authorities to handle. I think you’ve got this covered.”

‘Wait a second.’ A voice called out to Mark and he perked his head up.

‘What’s up old man?’

‘Old man? How many times do I have to tell you that it's Bruno.’ The voice replied gruffly but then his voice turned more serious, ‘I can sense traces of magical energy emanating from these men. This wasn’t a simple daylight attack. These men could only pass by the young lord and I because they were disguising themselves with magic.’

‘Magicians? But they were taken out in an instant.’ Mark shifted his gaze towards the men that had already blacked out due to the pain they were experiencing.

‘They were strong. The young lord and his spirit were far stronger.’ Bruno spoke with certainty, ‘If you had fought them at your current level of power then you would have lost. However I think that even a distraction would have provided the girl enough time to fight them off herself. She is too young and naive and was caught up in her emotions.’

Mark turned to Ryan, “They are magicians.”

“Oh?” Ryan looked at Mark cautiously and then back at the men, “I won’t ask how you knew that. I don’t particularly care. But that’s quite the accusation. Magicians don’t grow in trees.”

“Which means what?” Mark turned around and walked out of the shop, “Never mind, I need to go to the neighbours to get a mop and bucket. This is your problem, not mine.”

Ryan watched Mark walking away until he had completely disappeared and then turned to two shadows that had appeared inside the shop.

“Young master.” The shadows solidified and formed two figures, one man and one woman.

The shadow guard.

He may have been a young lord but even his family couldn’t afford to found or hire their own cadre of magic soldiers. These shadow soldiers had been sent to guard Marie on her travels by her clan. There were far more than just these two lurking in the shadows of the town.

“Why didn’t you respond when Marie was attacked?” Ryan pointed a finger at the men lying on the floor, “This is unacceptable.”

The pair faced each other with pained expressions, “The shadow guard sensed nothing. These men were hidden by powerful enchantments.”

“Don’t give me that crap.” Ryan snapped at them, “If they were that powerful then they wouldn’t have fallen so easily.”

‘They also could have killed Marie long before I could get there.’ Ryan thought, but he was afraid that saying this out loud would scare the already shaken Marie.

The shadow guard knew that as well as he did.

“They were not assassins.” The pair said in synchronization.

The woman knelt down next to one of the men and reached into his pockets where slight shimmers of magical energy were spurting from. She withdrew her hand with fingers clutching a piece of paper.

“They were messengers.”

Ryan shuddered. These old men probably hadn’t even realized they were being used as mere sacrifices to pass on a message. Someone powerful was responsible for this.

“What does it say?”

The woman unfurled the parchment to reveal delicate and beautiful handwriting.

The shadow guards frowned, “I don’t understand. What is this script?”

They glanced at Ryan but he had frozen in place.

Dear protagonist. I’ve found you. Ps: Nice ring but mine is better.

The shadow guards hadn’t recognized the letters because they were written in English.

Ryan glanced behind him towards the area Mark had left for with a dark expression on his face, ‘A new player has entered the game. And they know about Marie.’

He sighed.

Damn protagonists.