Free Otherlife Dreams: The Selfless Hero Trilogy by William D. Arand

and collect my bounty.
    Runner eased himself around the corner and began to walk towards the entryway.His actions were slow and cautious. He wanted to observe and scout first. Reckless aggression had its place, but it was not here.
    Approaching the entry door carefully he checked for guards, yet found none. Peeking in through the doorway he scanned the interior.
    Stalls lined both sides of the stable. Early morning light filtered in from above through rotten boards. Each stall had been converted into a cage and more than three fourths of those were full of people. Starting here, he could begin to depopulate the fort. It was defensible, out of the way, and lightly guarded.
    Must be the pantry. Except instead canned goods we’ve got livestock, waiting for slaughter.
    Two red names floated clearly in the middle of the room. Both were named Orc Guard, their level both set to eighteen. Every other name in the room was Green and ranged from Merchant to Priest.
    Rationally working through what the scene meant, it made since. Villager twelve had said they left them alone and would trade on occasion. Clearly the Orcs were picking up travelers, merchants, adventurers, but nothing local. Better to not anger or panic the local wildlife after all. Especially when there was this much easy game walking the roads nearby.
    They definitely weren’t his goal, but he figured he could earn some easy experience for freeing them. So long as it wasn’t a “Free ten slaves” quest, that would just make that eleventh one weird. Sorry, quota’s all full, can’t free you. Enjoy being a late night snack.
    Waiting for a bit he saw no change in their patrols or habits, they were simple NPCs placed to protect an easy experience grab. They’d walk close enough to the middle to confirm all prisoners accounted for, and return to their original post. This was closer to the entryway but not in it, thankfully. Confident there would be no change after he departed, he made his way back to Hannah.
    Returning to where he left her, he unsuccessfully tried to find her. Realizing how stupid this was, he knew why he couldn’t find her.
    Frustrated, he dropped his Stealth and looked around. Almost immediately, she appeared off to his side, stepping out from behind a tree trunk.
    “Yeah, no, that’s not going to work. If you’re not in my party, I can’t see you. Trouble is, you’re an NPC, so you can’t join my party,” Runner explained, Hannah tilted her head to one side.
    “I’m getting used to you just spouting absolute bullshit, but it doesn’t mean I actually understand you any better. I feel like I’m getting tired of you saying NPC, too. You’ve called me that several times, and it’s starting to sound degrading.”
    “Right. Ok. To simplify, I couldn’t see you while you were stealthed, and vice versa. That won’t work if we go into that open dungeon back there,” Runner said, throwing a thumb over his shoulder to indicate the Orcs. “Which means either I have to talk aloud, which will break my Stealth, and you’d have to be in range to hear it. Which leaves it to me to solo them, which I honestly doubt as possible considering I’m still in nub gear. I could hold your hand, but that’d only work up to a point. I can’t even guarantee that’d it’d not break stealth either. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure holding your hand is an enjoyable experience, I just don’t think it’d work here.”
    Frowning, Runner stared up into the sky thinking quietly. “Damnable music, I appreciate the artistry, but not right now. In need of some silence.”
    With a harrumph, Runner mentally silenced the music with the mute option. The last musical notes faded to nothing and silence reigned supreme. No solutions had come to him working within the rule set of a player. Runner tried considering the problem from a strictly systematic point of view instead.
    NPCs aren’t allowed to be a part of the party. They can be followers but that’s different. Is