by Charles Dean
“She has,” Alexander agreed, nodding. “That she has.”
“So, white or black this round?” Lee asked, sitting down at the board and placing bottle to the side of the board.
“You were there too, though, right?” Alexander asked as he put down the black pawns. “And white.”
“I was.” Lee shrugged nonchalantly and casually took a sip of vodka. “For Masha’s sake, I’m glad that I was there.”
“Just for Masha’s sake?” Alexander chuckled to himself as he finished arranging the last piece and picked up his glass as well. “I’m sure it was just for her sake.”
“Of course.” Lee frowned as he took another sip, and this time, Alexander also took a long sip with him.
“Did you have to kill anyone?” Alexander’s next question came up as he made his first move, D2 to D4.
“A few people. It was unavoidable. I should probably go to the police and report it, but given the circumstances, I think I can afford to wait and claim that I felt my life was still under duress.”
Alexander nodded. “I know people at the department. I’ll take care of that for you.”
“Thanks, it’ll save me a trip,” Lee answered without questioning why Alexander would have such pull in a police department.
“So, it really doesn’t bother you at all?” Alexander pressed.
“What doesn’t bother me?” Lee asked, casually moving his knight from G8 to F6.
“Killing. You killed a few people from what Olga told me as we walked in, yet you don’t seem to be bothered at all. You said that, given what Masha just went through, it only makes sense that she would be this shaken up. But you’re not,” Alexander, said, finally spelling out the issue that Lee knew he had danced around earlier as he moved his pawn from C2 to C4.
Lee picked up his glass and sat back in his chair so that he could study Alexander. He wasn’t sure how honest he wanted to be about his emotional state, and he wasn’t certain what he had to gain or lose from going either way, but he knew this was the type of answer that his future relationship with both Alexander and Masha might hinge upon.
Honesty, Lee finally decided. If I lose anything, I’ll do it honestly, “No, no, I’m not,” Lee said as he moved his pawn from E7 to E5.
“Because you’ve killed before.” Alexander pushed the conversation a little as he took Lee’s pawn on E5 with his pawn on D4. “More than once, given how calm you are right now.”
Lee felt glad he picked the honest approach, but he wasn’t sure how to answer this. Well, even if I say ‘yes,’ there aren’t bodies in this world to point to me. There wasn’t really a tangible risk by owning up to the blood-soaked history in the other world that had made him so at home when surrounded by death, so he just went for it. “Yeah,” he said as he sipped his drink. Then, just to see how much it would phase Alexander, he gave out a rough estimate of the numbers. “I’ve probably killed . . . maybe a few hundred people,” he answered, leaning back and making sure to not take his eyes off of Alexander. “I stopped counting at a certain point, to be honest, somewhere after the first forty or fifty.”
Alexander’s left eye twitched, but to his credit, there was no other visible sign of agitation. The older man also took a deep breath, but he did it slowly enough to not be noticed by anyone who wasn’t watching very closely for it. “I see,” he said, looking down at the board in front of them. “And the nature of these kills?” His hand moved toward the corner of the table.
Lee wondered why he’d put his hand there. A panic button maybe? Is he worried that I’m a serial killer? Is he making sure that he has a way out if I decide to attack? That’s good, old man. Your paranoia is good. Prepare for the worst. Lee moved his knight from F6 to G4. “You could say self-defense, but that wasn’t always the case. I suppose the best way to put it is that I killed side by side with others, as if I were in the military. But I wasn’t in the military.” Lee didn’t know how to describe being an adventuring cult leader in a strange medieval competition to someone in the modern world, but that seemed to be a close proximity of what he was after.
“Like a hitman for a gang? Or the mafia?” Alexander moved his hand from where Lee had assumed the panic button might have been back to the chessboard. He even smiled as he moved his bishop from C1 to F4. “Was it a past criminal activity, or are you still a member? I wouldn’t normally pry into a man’s personal business, but you are dating my daughter, and I need to know if you’re going to be an added risk to her.”
Lee looked down at the board. Greedy, greedy, Lee thought as he watched Alexander fall into his trap. He had learned how to make sacrifices a while ago, and by giving up a pawn and pressuring the old man into trying to defend his advantage, he had begun the workings of a familiar trap. He then chuckled at the fact that, as intense as the topic and nature of this conversation was, he was more interested in the chess game. The competition world had stripped him of his ability to sweat the Lilliputian details in this world, and even some of the more Brobdingnagian ones.
“You could say it was something like that and that I haven’t worked a day of that job since I’ve been in this town.” Lee shrugged and moved his knight from B8 to C6. He already knew exactly how Alexander would respond, moving his own knight from G1 to F3.
“So, you aren’t working an illicit career while dating my daughter?” Alexander pressed the question to be more specific, likely thinking he had found a way to prevent Lee from twisting his words to avoid the truth as he moved his knight in exactly the fashion Lee anticipated.
Unfortunately for Alexander, he had left plenty of room for Lee to tailor his answer so that he didn’t have to be honest. The other world, the competition world, was in a completely different dimension, so its events didn’t overlap at any point when he was in this world. “I’m not,” Lee answered, maneuvering his bishop from F8 to B4. “I just want a quiet life while I’m here, one where I can enjoy good food with good friends. And, if it’s not rude of me to say, given our relationship, to spend quality time with a beautiful lady. I want to relax and avoid stress.”
“Hmm . . .” Alexander scratched his chin and then moved his knight from B1 to D2 as he blocked the check. “You must have been very good at what you did: either a real survivor or a real killer.”
Lee shrugged as he moved his queen from D8 to E7. It put Alexander in a situation where there were more pieces threatening his pawn on E5 than he had to defend it. Lee did this to make Alexander think his whole strategy revolved around restoring the piece advantage and to force him to try and apply pressure elsewhere--something he knew the old man would do. Alexander was usually reliable in that regard. “I’m sure there are many others who were and are better than I am in that world,” Lee said. The word ‘world’ for him was literal. He was referring to another world altogether, but he knew that Alexander would take it as a reference to the underground society.
Alexander did exactly what Lee thought he would, moving his pawn from A2 to A3 and threatening Lee’s bishop on B4. “I don’t know if I’ve ever heard of those numbers from someone before in these parts of the States,” Alexander said, “nor have I ever heard of you before. But, I’ve been around enough to know a liar, and I can tell you’re not lying either.”
“Who knows?” Lee didn’t bother saying more to convince Alexander one way or the other as he used his knight on G4 to take the pawn on E5.
“I know,” Alexander responded matter-of-factly as he fell into the final part of Lee’s trap. He used his pawn from A3 to take Lee’s bishop on B4. “It honestly explains all the languages you speak that your friends don’t know about, the way you carry yourself and how meek and small you keep your presence around your coworkers. My guess is that you’re used to covering up your presence and hiding who you are, making yourself seem like you’re not a threat.”
Is that what you believe? Given the information Alexander had, this was a very logical conclusion. So, to him, I’m the most elite hitman from some random mafia organization. Lee chu
ckled at the thought and decided to try and de-escalate the conversation as he stared at the board. The outcome of the match was already certain to Lee, but he didn’t feel like making his next move just yet. “Maybe.”
“And if that's the case, then are you actually happy right now?” Alexander asked. “Of all of the men I’ve . . . heard of in your previous line of work, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of one retiring.”
Lee sighed. Am I? No. Not really. How could I be? Even when I’m with one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever met, my thoughts are stuck bouncing between what I want to do in the other world, what I’ve lost in the other world and what I’ve done in the other world. They’re rarely ever here. A frown fell across his face. The worst part about the situation was that this event, which should have shaken him and infuriated him for breaking his vacation from violence, had just left him hungrier for more.
“Alexander,” Lee began, restoring his smile as he picked up his knight on E5 and held it in his hand a moment, “sometimes, the lifestyle we want is not the one we should pursue. It’s just as you taught me: If we want to achieve our goals, then we must always focus on the end result and not get caught up chasing temporary wins.” When he finished speaking, he placed the knight down on D3.
Alexander was the one to frown this time as he looked down at the board. It was checkmate. He had gone for the quick wins, the pawn advantage and the bishop capture, and he had inevitably lost the entire match. His moves mirrored how he had gone for information in this conversation, but he had only given up knowledge about himself in the process. Even if Lee wasn’t being helped at the moment by his impressive Intelligence stat, he could have seen the pattern in the older man’s words. Alexander had, in trying to learn something from Lee, given away much more than he was comfortable with.
“So,” Alexander said, picking up his glass, “you are taking the uncomfortable route now to ensure the better later. I can respect that. I can respect that a lot, but it won’t be easy.” He took a healthy swallow of his drink. “That type of choice is never easy.”
“A good life was never meant to be easy,” Lee said, pushing himself up from his set. “Shall we go have some brunch? I’m sure the girls are waiting on us.”
“Indeed.” Alexander also stood up, and the two men moved locations. Their match hadn’t lasted that long, but it had given them both something to think about. Lee suspected that Alexander was now trying to figure out what to do about the checkered past he imagined Lee had, while Lee was thinking about a hunger the meal he was about to eat would never fill.
No one had likely said anything to Masha’s mother, but Lee could tell something was off. The entire brunch the devoted matriarch just smiled on and continued to play the part of a good host, serving them delicious omelets stuffed with vegetables and ham, but something struck Lee as odd about her demeanor. It was as if her behavior was that of a robot repeating an action rather than a person as she went about mechanically following the list of actions and dialogue prompts that were expected of her, but without the random expressions of honest emotion that usually shone through her polished exterior.
Lee was tempted to stay behind and play another game of chess with Alexander after the meal, but the way Masha looked at him told him that she needed some attention, someone to comfort her after what happened, and so the two of them left early.
Alexander was naturally reluctant to let Masha out of his sight after what happened, but he quickly crumbled when she gave him puppy-dog eyes. Masha might have thought it was just her skills at begging, but Lee suspected that it could have also been because of their conversation earlier. Perhaps Alexander felt much more comfortable with Masha in his hands than before.
Lee and Masha spent the rest of the day in his apartment snuggled up and watching silly shows while eating popcorn, drinking beer, and talking about which character they liked or hated on the television show. It was everything bland and boring that Lee had come to expect from life in this reality, and it only made the call from Augustus as he was about to go to sleep that much more of a relief.
“You’re about ready to head back, aren’t you?” Augustus asked from the other end. Based on the depth and timbre of his voice, Lee knew that Augustus was in the shape of a giant bear at the moment. It was hard for Lee to take the drunken god seriously as he imagined the giant grizzly form Augustus seemed to favor holding the tiny smartphone Lee had given him.
“Yeah, I think--” Lee was about to agree and head over to the other world when he caught Masha wagging her tail seductively at him while giving him a come-hither look from the other room. “I think I might need to wait until the next morning,” he finished his sentence, deciding that, as boring as this world was, there was at least one thing he loved in it.
He had been worried about Masha’s mental state after all she had gone through, but since she was waving that beautiful callipygian backside at him, he didn’t feel it would be right to pass it up.
“Tomorrow morning, then? Should I set everything up to send you back tomorrow morning?”
“Yeah, but after I’ve had brunch,” Lee agreed, closing his phone and going to enjoy one more night on Earth as he tried to put off several thoughts that were creeping through his head, namely: why exactly did Alexander let Masha come home with him after what he had revealed?
Then, there was the other thought that crept back up into his mind, one he couldn’t put out: how was Alexander already at the wall when Lee crossed over? It didn’t make sense given the size of the compound and how long the whole event took, and as he thought about it, he kept remembering the smile Alexander had on his face when he mentioned how good it was that Lee would do anything for Masha.
Chapter 2
Name: Lee
Race: Human
Class: Herald - None
Level: 26
Health: 360/360
EXP: 3001/37000
Primary Stats:
Power 36 (39)
Toughness 36 (39)
Spirit 36 (39)
Secondary Stats:
Charisma 25
Courage 20
Deceit 26
Intelligence 161 (177)
Honor 3
Faith 32721
Personal Faith 233
Skills:
Unarmed Combat Initiate Level 7
Swordplay Novice Level 8
Sneak Journeyman Level 2
Cooking Initiate Level 7
Trap Detection Initiate Level 6
Knife Combat Initiate Level 8
Mental Fortitude Initiate Level 1
Sleight of Hand Initiate Level 3
Blood Shield Initiate Level 3
Glass Smithing Initiate Level 10
Divine Skills:
Golem Sculpting Journeyman Level 1
Appreciative Drunk Novice Level 8
Nectar of the Gods Initiate Level 4
Spirit Smithing Initiate Level 3
Faith Healing
Divinity Powers:
Life in Death
Titles:
Cheat Code Fighter
The Great Deceiver
Lee awoke to the feeling of rough sheets scratching his skin and the pricking of stray pieces of straw that had snuck through the stitching, and his nose was filled with the delectable aroma of oil-frying poultry.
“Ah . . . It feels good to be back.” Lee sat up in his straw-stuffed bed and stretched out his arms. Satterfield had numerous comforts now, thanks in large part to his continuous investments, but the basic amenities of an inn outside of the food and beer--such as decent bedding--still failed to be one of them.
The empty spot in his bed was hard to ignore, and his mood soured the moment his thoughts turned to it. That spot was one that Amber had filled until recently, and it was a glaring reminder of exactly what he had lost. Sighing heavily, he shook his head and slapped his cheeks to stop himself from falling down that pit of despair.
Lee took in a second deep breath and then slowly exhal
ed. Nope. None of that. I don’t have time to mope. I have a lot to do, and wallowing in guilt and grief won’t get me anywhere. Despite knowing that, however, it was even harder to actually listen to that same advice as he got up and put on his armor. It was impossible to ignore how he felt, but the logical part of his brain told him that there was no sense in starting the day out being so negative.
Much like any other adventurer in a video game world, he never bothered with the basic fashion of everyday clothes in this reality. There was a good chance that he could be attacked at any given moment by a creature ranging from a zombie to a random slime or a raging griffin, and fashionable clothing would do little more than stop a kindly grandmother or a handsy barmaid from judging him; and, more likely, it would get him killed since it offered absolutely no protection in what had already proven to be a harsh and brutal land.
After putting on his armor, Lee stepped outside his room and into the hallway and found Ling in a chair by his door. Her cat, Weiser, curled up in her lap. She had obviously stayed up late guarding the door, and her dad had probably dropped off her cat so that she wouldn’t be alone while she did it. He felt moved by her compassion but wasn’t sure what to say or if he should wake her. The feline gave Lee a ‘don’t you do it’ look as if it could read Lee’s mind.
Yeah, don’t worry, little guy. I’ll let her get some sleep. Lee bent over, gently picked up the two of them together and carried them back into his room, where he had been sleeping only moments before, and laid them down on his bed. He glanced out the window as he turned away and realized that it was still dark outside. The familiar golden-red hue of light that preceded a sunrise was just starting to dance over the horizon, but the sun itself had yet to peek its head over the dark green treetops that lay just beneath the eastern skyline.
I guess Augustus sent me back early this morning for some reason. I wonder why that is. Lee finished tucking Ling into bed, and Weiser shifted from Ling’s lap onto one of the pillows beside her head.