Never Skip Leg Day

Kyle learned quickly that running from a witch wasn't a smart idea.

The fireballs flying past his head as he ran out of Trunsit were proof of that. But selling off rings and amulets given to him by a goddess seemed like a worse one. So there he went.

“You – stupid – idiot!” Abagail shouted as they kept running further down the road out of town. “Give me those jewels and maybe I won’t pin your burnt husk to my new front door!”

Kyle was surprised he was still running as fast as he was. In his old life he sat in an office eight hours a day. He’d had a gym membership for two years and only gone in to start ill-fated New Years’ resolutions. Working the fields must’ve helped with cardio.

The fireballs slowed down in tempo until finally Abagail was on her knees. Gasping for breath, she fell to the ground. “You… clever farm monkey! How’d you know… to tire me out like that?!”

Kyle shrugged. “I didn’t.” He had no idea how magic worked in this world, especially if it wasn’t based on anything from his old life.

“You… are the worst…”

Kyle’s relief was short-lived. The main road out of Trunsit ran through the narrowest part of the nearby forest. It was filled with dangerous animals but they tended to stay away from the road. No, what worried Kyle was something else rustling in the nearby bushes.

That something bounded out holding a knife. Then more somethings rolled out holding their own knives.

Bandits.

He remembered being warned about a band of them camped somewhere in the woods, about not getting caught with that satchel of coin if he came across them. Thankfully, they never seemed to bother with peasants. They preferred townsfolk.

Kyle’s eyes looked back to the wheezing Abagail, who he knew might still have the money he gave.

“What’ve we got here?” asked the first one. He was about Kyle’s size, except he wore dark leather and a padded jacket.

The next two were string beans of men, one with his own knife. The other held a crude bow, an arrow nocked and ready fire at Abagail. “Looks like the local witch, all tuckered out. Plus one of the local peasants.”

“They never have anything good. The witch though?” The first bandit regarded her with interest. “That’s the second gal we’ve found who could fetch a good ransom.”

The one with the bow looked like he’d considered pointing it at Kyle. “What about the peasant? Good target practice?”

“No. They’ve never got anything worth it. You.” The leader snapped his fingers and pointed at Kyle. “Leave.”

He could walk away from this and no one would ever know.

“Well.” Kyle heard his own voice spoken to him. “We’d know.”

He looked between the two and saw his own spitting image. Or rather, a spitting image in a dark suit with matching slacks, a blue striped tie, and a white collared shirt.

“And we both know we’d never live it down.”

This day was getting madder by the moment. Reincarnation, goddesses, explosions, bandits, but having a conversation with himself was a step too far for Kyle.

“Cat got our tongue?” The suited Kyle stepped past the two bandits, neither of whom noticed him. "We’re not really considering leaving her at their mercy.”

The real Kyle made a mental note that calling him ‘Office Kyle’ might help him distance himself from… himself. “No, but we're unarmed.”

The bandits all looked at where Kyle was looking, none understanding what was going on.

Office Kyle chuckled. “True. But we’ve read stories like this before. We don’t get reincarnated without some kind of crazy power given to us by whoever brought us into that other world.”

But he’d didn’t want to die again to check if said crazy power involved cheating death.

“The ring, genius.” Office Kyle rolled his eyes. “Use the ring.”

And what was the ring supposed to do? Shoot fireballs at the bandits?

“Look,” the lead bandit groaned. “I don’t know what your deal is, but we’re bein’ real nice by offering to – GAAAH!” He dove out of the way as a fireball flew into where he’d just been standing.

Kyle stared at the diamond ring on his right hand. The gem had a subtle glow to it. Had he just –

“How’d he get his hands on one of those?!” The bandit leader shouted. “I thought only nobles had them!”

The two string-bean bandits looked at each other in disbelief.

“What’re you two waiting for? Kill him!”

Kyle panicked and dove to the ground, an arrow whizzing just past him. When his hands hit the ground, the earth beneath the bowman’s feet suddenly swole up and knocked him off balance into a nearby tree.

The other string bean bandit charged in with his knife.

From Kyle’s right hand, the earth began to turn to ice and spread. Soon the bandit was slipping and sliding, tumbling over himself and going off in the wrong direction.

With those two seemingly taken out Kyle got to his feet and looked at the diamond ring on his right hand. Magic. He’d been casting magic.

Kyle turned to face the third and final bandit, only to find he was already within arm’s reach. He felt an intense pain in his gut and his breath went still.

The last bandit had plunged his knife into Kyle’s stomach.

With what strength Kyle could muster he tried to punch the bandit in the face. But the pain was overwhelming. The bandit easily dodged, pulling his knife free from Kyle and kicked him right where he’d just been stabbed. Kyle fell onto the ice he’d made and slid for several feet.

So, this was how he died a second time. Bleeding out from a stab wound, his killer towering over him on what dry earth he could find. He felt cold and his vision began to fade.

This would the end of a very short isekai.