Can you help me out? part 1

"U-Umm. You are not serious about running away, right? I-I would have to report you if you try."

Oh god, that kid was still here.

My plan to run away from this place was entirely dependent on this kid and his dismissal.

As the second protagonist of this novel, there was no way I would be able to overcome his ability.

There was too much disparity between our powers. And I was not foolish enough to believe myself above the law of this novel.

"No, I won't run away. You can leave me alone if you want to."

I desperately wanted the teen to leave me alone. But luck was never a strong factor in my life.

And the teen decided he did not want to leave me alone.

"I don't believe you. You have no idea what those goons would do to me if you managed to escape."

The teen had legitimate concerns. And I did feel bad for egging him toward his doom.

But he would survive since he was the protagonist. The world would not allow him to die.

Not that I would die either.

My earlier failed attempts at suicide had told me everything I needed to know about this new world.

But like every cloud, this one had a silver lining as well.

Unlike my boring and ordinary world, this world has magic. The novel had made it pretty clear that magic was an unlimited resource here.

It could be used to achieve anything. Even end the world or bring people back to life.

So chances were if I tried hard and learned I would be able to kill myself on my terms.

"So you will not leave me alone?"

I asked since I had to make sure. And as I had expected, Cain nodded at my question.

Well, if he was not going to leave, he might as well become an accomplice. It would not change the story much and it would not cause problems for me.

"Look, I'll apologize in advance for what I am about to do."

Cain looked confused. It was good for me that his confusion caused his reflexes to slow down.

Otherwise, there was no what I would have been able to get past him and toward the door.

"H-Hey, wait a second. Don't do this to me."

The kid sounded distressed. It would have made a stronger man feel pity and stop at the tone.

But didn't I tell you beforehand that I was not a good guy? I did feel bad about what would happen to Cain if we were found out, but it was not nearly enough to stop my actions.

My body was a mess. It protested again my every move. But this soreness was something I had long gotten used to.

Even if my body heal all my wounds, it could not restore the energy it took to heal them. It left me with a significant drawback as a parting gift.

"Come back and sit down. How are you even standing with all the blood you've lost? Are you even human?"

I was quite sure I need to be human. But am I still human in this life? I had no idea and frankly speaking, I did not care as well.

As long as I could stay free and die at my one will, I did not care about anything else.

"Hey kid, get up. I need the chair beneath you."

Cain almost jumped at the address. I was not sure if it was the hoarseness in my voice or the blankness of my expression that was making him that jumpy.

But whatever it was, he better get over it. He was making things difficult for me.

"No. You can't have this chair. I won't allow you to escape this place."

I had to give it to him. Cain had the protagonist's troublesome aura down to a T. It almost felt like an artform when he did things like that.

Too bad for him I could be just as stubborn. And unlike the protagonist characters, I knew how to get down and dirty to get what I want.

Cain certainly did not expect me to shove him out of his chair. I could read that in his expression.

But too bad for him, I did not care about what he wanted.

"You are too short to reach the window when with the added height advantage. Besides, those bastards sealed the window with magic. We can't escape this place."

I felt frustrated at the futile attempt. There were only a couple of inches between my hand and the window sill. But despite my best efforts to jump, I could not reach it at all.

But I did not want to give up here as well. Giving up would mean that I failed. It would mean turning away from my freedom.

"Hey Cain, help me out here. Don't you want to teach these people a lesson?"

From what little I know of Cain's character, he was a good and just person. He would never stand for such actions to take place.

But then again, this part of the protagonist pair was still a kid for now. I could not hold him accountable for his circumstances.

"Of course, I want to leave this place. But I can't leave this group. Not till I get my pendant back."

Ah, things made much more sense to me now. Cain held one thing dearly to his heart throughout the novel's duration. It was the pendent his mother had left him at her death bed.

There were a lot of paragraphs that declared its importance to the plot. As such, I knew that Cain would not bulge as long as he did not have that pendant with him.

But there was still something I did not understand in this story.

"You are much more powerful than all those people combined outside. Why are you cowering beneath their feet?"

As the protagonist, Cain held unlimited potential. All he needed was to snap his wrist and he would win his pendant back.

"I can't. If I fight back then I am afraid that I will kill them. I don't want to be called a killer."

Ah, so that was it. Cain was still in his pure stages of life where life held meaning to him. But then again, Cain had never lost that innocence throughout his life.

"So you're afraid? Then, if I promise you to get your pendant back will you let me escape?"

I was serious about my offer. I would get that pendant back if it meant I would also get my freedom. But Cain did not seem to think so.

The kid looked conflicted about his actions. It was agonizing to see the conflict. There was hope in his expression but crushing defeat as well.

"B-But how could you promise that? You're even younger than me and your magic is non-existing. There is no way you would be able to take all those people on by yourself."

Cain sounded worried for me.

"I can handle myself. The best-case scenario would be if I die out there. That way they cannot blame you for my death and I get to go out helping you. What do you say?"

It was a nice offer. The kid could even make the excuse of being overpowered by me and he would get away with a light slap on his wrist.

"You are insane and suicidal. There is no way I can allow you out of my sight."

My beautiful imaginary plans crumbled in front of my eyes. The teen was serious about keeping me confided in my room for the time being.

"You won't be able to keep me here forever kid."

I knew that to be the truth in my bones. My rescue would be initiated at any time and I would be taken back to my empire.

I knew that much because my character was present in the novel's main events. As such, it was only logical to think that I had been saved early on in my capacity and would incur no lasting trauma.

"I want to believe you. I do but I know I can not. You are just a kid-"

Cain was speaking but my attention was diverted by the sound of footsteps outside the room.

Someone was standing outside the room and I readied myself. If Cain would not let me out, then I would have to let myself out of this place.

And for that, I would need to knock the guard out and steal his key.

"I am here with food. You brats better be grateful for my service or-"

The guard never finished his sentence. I had knocked him over and hit him where it hurt the most.

It was sufficient to say that the guard would be out of consciousness for a long time to come. He may never even recover from the wound that I had inflicted on him.

"You are going to come with me? I don't have enough patience to sit back and babysit you."

Cain looked stunned at what had happened in front of him. I could see the disbelief shining in his eyes.

"Are you just going to stand there and not move? I can just leave you here if you want me to."

My words must have woken him up. The teen jumped up quickly with a panicked expression. It was his time to decide whether he wanted freedom or not.

It did not matter much to me.

It was not like I was going to meet Cain again in the future. As far as I had read the novel, there had been no interaction between Cain and Lawrance.

They had never even been mentioned in each other's company.

Cain had all but graduated by the time I would be old enough to join the academy. And even then, Lawrence was too much of an odd cannon.

And I had plans for my future. Plans that did not include going to the academy or interacting with the main cast.

And if I was lucky, I would be dead by the time the main storyline unfolded itself. Lawrence DeCapti would be old news and no one would mourn my death.

But that all would only happen once I leave this place.

"Hey wait. You are seriously leaving this place? Don't you fear your death?"

My death? I would welcome it if I could die here. But I already knew I would not be killed by these low lives.

Not when they wanted to save me and present my body to collect the reward from the crown.

"I-Is the offer to retrieve my pendant still on the table?"

The kid was trying to stall me. I knew that much from the nervous body language. But I decided to humor the kid.

I was about to decline when it struck me.

There was one existence that could overcome the logic of any novel world - a protagonist's plot armor. I would die if the protagonist decided to kill me? This was the best way to ensure my death if everything else failed.

This world had two protagonists, Cain, and the crown prince. Among them, Cain was the secondary but 'main' protagonist. The crown prince was more of a 'grey' character and could be classified as an anti-hero.

Besides, Lawrence was related to the crown prince. The novel had not detailed the relationship between the two brothers, but I was not going to risk getting him suspicious.

No, Cain would be a better choice to end my life. The only thing he needed to do was to get stronger and then kill me.

I already knew that Cain will grow stronger by the day, but will he be able to overcome my curse?

"Prince Lawrance?"

I had not realized how close Cain had gotten to me until he placed his hand on my arm. My body tensed as soon as it felt the touch and I had to actively try and surpass my flinching motion.

"Is everything alright?"

I could feel the protagonists' magic fighting against my curse. Cain's grip was tight against my arm and it was beginning to hurt.

But there was no wound. The protagonist was just not strong enough to defeat me. But he was my only chance at a fulfilling death.

"Everything is alright. Let's go and find your pendant next."

Cain nodded with hesitation. He looked concerned for me but it was a foolish emotion he was wasting.

Nothing was going to come out of caring for me anyway. It was not like I could even die by ordinary means.

But of course, Cain did not know of this. The poor guy was trying his best to understand me.

And it was at this moment that I knew what I had to do. I had to make the curse weaker so that the protagonist's plot armor could kill me.

This was my only chance for salvation. And the only way I would be free of the timer on top of my head.

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8 years, 1 month, and 14 days remaining.....

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"So you have a plan to get my pendant back for me? How are we going to achieve this?"

I had to stop myself from turning around and holding Cain in place. The teen was getting ahead of himself. He needed to calm down and give me time to think.

"Have you been with these people for long? Wha do you know about them?"

I lacked vital knowledge. My edge of knowing the novel did not help me in this situation. Low-level fodder such as these scums were never introduced in the original novel. These were usually dealt with by the time protagonists arrived on the scene.

"Know? Do you mean their strengths and weaknesses? I'm sorry but I am no help in this regard."

Cain did sound sorry. And I could not really fault him for not knowing the opponent as well as he should.

But since this was out of option, I had to move on to another approach.

"Forget about their strengths and weaknesses. Do you know their rotation schedule? How long is the one bringing our food supposed to stay inside for?"

I was worried about being found out. It would not be a far stretch for someone to take their companion's lack of presence as a concern and come check things out.

If that did happen, then we were going to be in big trouble. I had not done anything to hide or disguise the body lying on the ground.

"Schedule? Oh, they're pretty lax about that thing. I don't even this that person was supposed to give us dinner tonight. He usually goes to gamble at this time of the night."

Finally, a stroke of good luck. It meant that I had time to pull strings and make my absence count.

"So no one would come to check up on us till tomorrow?"

I had to make sure.

"They should not. I disabled the alarm once we stepped out. I don't think they will realize that we are missing till morning."

I wanted to hit myself for forgetting such a crucial detail. Of course, the bandits were not foolish enough to leave me with another child without any precaution in place.

It was wise of Cain to disable the alarm or I would have been in trouble.

It was times like these that made me realize just how much different it was to live in a novel than to read one. A small detail like these were generally not included in the grand scheme of things.

Mostly, they would be explained if they were used as an element. Otherwise, it was all taken for granted by the author.

How was I, someone who had just arrived in this world, to know that there was a magical alarm system in place?

"So we have a few hours to make our move. By the way, do you know where we are currently?"

Much could happen in a few hours. With the knowledge of cheats available in this world and the protagonist's golden finger, I was sure I could cook up something good.

"We are near the golden forest. The bandit boss did not want to venture too close to the forest because it can get dangerous there."

Golden forest? It was perfect. It was a known location in the novel.

And as named and known locations tend to do, it too had a cheat available inside it. They could retrieve the cheat and come back by the morning.

"Golden forest? Perfect. Follow along with me and watch your step."

I was not sure if the thing I was looking for would be available in the forest right now. The cheat was only available after a long time in the novel.

Would have a difference of 4 change things by a lot? I could not imagine it being any different.

"Hey, I know you are suicidal but this is too much. I don't think we should enter the forest like this."

I kept on walking despite Cain's protest. The teen had no choice but to follow along. Staying back would be a sure way to get himself killed if he was found.

The nice thing about Golden Forest was that it had a reputation for being a cruel and unjust place. No one wanted to even come close to it.

It had fierce beasts guarding its treasure and even forever plants guarding its existence. No one returned alive from there.

But only a reader like me would know that the forest was not as scary as it was made out to be. It was all an illusion and anyone who entered died due to their own misconceptions.

And it was all thanks to the small egg lying in the center of the forest. The small egg housed enough energy to be able to sustain this forest's illusion for generations.

And what else could that egg be but a dragon's?