Return of the Runebound Professor
Chapter 252: Haunting

“Vermil!” Brayden exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”

“I was about to ask you the exact same question,” Noah said, letting out a disbelieving laugh. “I’m glad you’re doing well. Why are you in Dawnforge?”

“Business for Father,” Brayden replied, sheathing his sword and hiking up the hill toward them. He clapped Noah on the shoulder when he arrived, nearly sending him straight through the ground with the force of the friendly gesture. “I came because he thought Janice might have some difficulty with the locals. What are you doing here yourself?”

“Summer vacation,” Noah replied, nodding to Moxie and Lee. “We came out to get some relaxation and work on our Runes.”

“How did escorting Janice turn into hunting spiders?” Lee asked.

“Some damn cat monster stole my lunch,” Brayden said, rubbing the back of his head. “Janice made it for me, so I didn’t want to let it go. I chased the stupid thing out here, and then a bunch of huge spiders started popping up as soon as I got close to the cat. I had to finish them off to make sure random passersby didn’t get attacked. That was the last of them.”

That… no way. We were just talking about how we needed to find Brayden to hopefully get a Rune from him. Now he just randomly pops up? There’s something going on with this cat.

Noah’s brow furrowed in concentration. The cat had first shown up in Arbitage. It hadn’t really done anything there other than sit on his chest.

Then its energy had appeared with the creepy frost monster – right when Noah had decided he needed to get his hands on an ice-based Rune. It had popped up again when they’d gotten attacked by the strange, goopy vine thing, then had appeared just in time to squish the would-be assassins.

Now it had appeared with Brayden.

Holy shit. I think Lee was right. The cat is actually trying to help us. Or maybe it’s just messing with us? I’m not sure what the goop monster thing was about, but the rest of the times we’ve met it, we’ve actually benefited.

“Is something wrong?” Brayden asked.

“Sorry. I got lost in thought.” Noah copied Brayden’s greeting and clapped the large man on the shoulder – or at least, he did his best to. It felt like he was a child asking a parent to pick him up because of Brayden’s height, but the thought was there. “How have you been?”

“Busy,” Brayden grimaced. “Father has been making a lot of movements. I haven’t seen him this active in a long time.”

“Anything that we should be concerned about?” Moxie asked.

Brayden glanced at her. “You, perhaps. The Torrins have been a thorn in Father’s side for a long time – he and Evergreen go way back. Even though Father isn’t the head of the Linwick family, he still has more than enough unsettled trouble with Evergreen. It’s a good thing he’s not the head, or things would be much worse.”

“That’s… concerning,” Noah said. “Do you think he’s planning something big?”

“He’s always planning something big. I don’t think he plans to plunge into all out war, though. The other noble houses wouldn’t allow it. Never mind that, though,” Brayden said with a shake of his head. “I’ve been on business for far too long. It’s good to see you all again. Even you, Torrin.”

Noah actually returned the sentiment. Of all the people he’d interacted with outside his immediate circle, Brayden was one of the few that wasn’t a raging asshole in one way or another.

“We were actually hoping to meet you!” Lee said. “Can you Imbue a little bit of one of your Runes? I want to learn Space magic. I can pay you with snacks!”

“Hold on, Lee,” Noah said, laughing. “Let the work wait for a moment.”

Noah’s smile faltered.

Brayden still believes that I’m Vermil. Sure, he almost certainly thinks that the demon Vermil summoned is, at least to some degree, bouncing around, but he probably still thinks that I’m actually Vermil at heart.

“You look displeased,” Brayden said, his large face furrowing. “Did something happen?”

I don’t think I can ask Brayden for something when I’m masquerading as his brother. If he was an asshole then I wouldn’t think twice about it, but he’s done nothing but help us.

“Vermil?” Brayden grabbed Noah’s shoulders. “What is it? Did Father do something already?”

I’m not Vermil, damn it. It’s such a damn stupid thing to tell him, but I can’t keep lying to this poor guy. He deserves better.

Noah glanced at Moxie out of the corner of his eyes. He didn’t need to say anything. She knew him well enough to know what he was thinking, and she inclined her head slightly in approval. Just from that small motion, Noah knew that she’d support whatever choice he made.

A portion of the weight lifted from his shoulders. Not all of it, but some of it. Noah sighed. He carefully pushed Brayden’s hands off his shoulders.

“I think I need to speak with you,” Noah said.

Brayden frowned. “We’re already speaking. Do you mean alone?”

“No, not that. I trust Moxie and Lee completely.” Noah paused for a moment, then clenched his hands and pushed through. “I haven’t been entirely honest with you.”

“Nobody that works with Father is fully honest,” Brayden chuckled. “That’s what has you up in knots?”

“Brayden, listen to me. Everything you think about me is wrong,” Noah said. “I’m not who you think I am.”

Brayden rolled his eyes and took a step back, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “Come on, Vermil. Father already told me. You think I’m that dense?”

“He did?” Noah blinked.

“Yeah. I mean, you told me yourself as well. You’ve got the demon locked up in you. That’s what made you change, right? Must be an interesting demon. Either way, I don’t care. You’re happier than you used to be, and that’s what matters.”

Noah felt like his stomach was twisting itself into knots. He bit his lower lip, then let out a sigh.

“Brayden, that’s not it either.”

“What? You don’t have a demon in you? But I thought–”

“I’m not Vermil.”

Brayden froze. Confusion passed over his features. “What?”

“Vermil is dead. He died trying to summon the demon,” Noah said. Shame nipped at the back of his mind, but he ignored it. He owed Brayden this much. Going through life, puppeting Vermil’s body around his brother – there were lines that even he couldn’t keep crossing.

“You – you’re the demon?” Brayden asked, his features unreadable.

Noah’s teeth grit. He was more than aware that every single word that came out of his mouth had the potential of going straight to Father. He technically wasn’t the demon, but lying to Brayden again just felt… wrong.

“I’m… something more. Not the demon that Vermil was trying to summon. I just got pulled into things on accident,” Noah said, choosing his words carefully. “I never got to meet Vermil. He was dead – poisoned before I took over his body.”

Brayden’s expression didn’t even budge. He was like a statue, and it was several seconds before he spoke again. “Poisoned? How?”

Noah looked to the healing potion at his waist. “Karina. His healing potion was trapped, but it didn’t even matter. Father had things stacked against Vermil. He was meant to die on this mission. He just got unlucky enough to get killed by Karina first.”

Brayden swallowed. His large eyes twitched slightly and his hands clenched at his sides. For a moment, it looked like he was going to cry.

He didn’t.

“I had my suspicions,” Brayden said finally. Every word that came from his mouth was measured and flat – devoid of the typical dry humor or amusement that usually tinged his voice. “Vermil was never as outgoing as you. I thought he’d just changed.”

“I’m sorry,” Noah said. “At first, I had no choice but to deceive you. I needed to protect my students – and myself. Getting to Father was the only way to do that. I didn’t mind lying to that bastard, but I couldn’t keep lying to you.”

“Is there anything of Vermil left?”

“No. He’s gone. All that remains is my body.”

Brayden drew in a deep breath and let it out, a slight tremble in it. “I see. I suppose it should have been obvious, but I wanted to believe.”

Noah wasn’t sure what to say to that. Any words that came out of his mouth felt like they would just be cheap – condolences from the man that had been deceiving Brayden since the start.

What made him feel even worse was that Noah would have done it all again. No matter how he felt, survival had taken priority.

“I won’t tell Father. I’ll keep this to myself,” Brayden said finally. “He was the one that killed Vermil. Him and Karina. And maybe Vermil deserved it.”

Noah opened his mouth, but Brayden continued before he could speak.

“But I don’t care. They killed my brother. They–” Brayden cut his words off and drew another ragged breath, his brow tightening. “Damn it. I hate this family. Who are you, really?”

“My real name is Noah.”

Brayden nodded. He took a step back, then placed a hand on the hilt of his sword. For a moment, Noah thought that he was going to draw it. Instead, a glimmer of purple energy enveloped Brayden’s body.

Then he vanished with a pop. There was no goodbye. No anger, no sadness. Just… nothing. Noah stared at the spot where Brayden had been standing. Technically, the conversation had gone well.

Brayden had promised not to tell anybody the truth. But, despite that, Noah almost felt sick.

“I think it was for the best,” Moxie said.

“Aren’t you supposed to point out how stupid it was to share that?” Noah asked. “We might have just made another enemy.”

“I think there are times when being honest can be worth the damage it does. For what it’s worth, I think you did the right thing. If someone had replaced Emily, I’d want to know.” Sᴇaʀch* Thᴇ NʘvᴇlFire.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

Noah grunted. “Yeah. I suppose so.”

“It’s better to get rid of false hope,” Lee said, her tone more serious than it had been in a long time. “Even if Vermil was a terrible guy, letting Brayden mourn for his brother is the right thing to do.”

Noah let out a curt, sarcastic laugh. “Yeah. I guess so.”

“We’ll just make money and get a Space Rune some other way. I think I’d rather have one that feels like I deserve it,” Lee said. “Let’s go turn this job in and get dinner.”

“Did we get enough monsters?” Noah asked.

Moxie paused for a moment, then grimaced. “No. I don’t think so.”

“Do you think the two of you could go get the rest?” Noah asked. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to sit for a bit and think.”

Moxie and Lee both nodded, and Noah sat down on a rock.

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Moxie said. She nudged Noah with the tip of her shoe. “Don’t do something dumb, okay?”

“I won’t,” Noah promised. “Already did that, I think.”

Moxie gave him a small smile. She and Lee turned and jogged off in search of more rock monsters. Noah waited until they’d put some distance between themselves and him, then pulled his sleeve back.

He ran his fingers along the imbuement of his violin on his forearm. The air condensed and the instrument materialized in his hands. Noah placed the bow against the strings and pulled it across, in a long, slow note.

Almost as if it could sense his desires, the sound that emerged was quiet – loud enough for only him to hear. The bow danced as Noah started to play, his emotions turning into song. He lost track of time as the music spilled forth.

Noah was so concentrated on the act of playing itself that he barely even noticed the music that he created.

But, if he’d been paying attention, he would have realized that, for the first time since he’d gotten the violin, its haunting song sounded just the way he wanted it to.

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