Adam stared at the night sky, staring at the vaguely familiar sight. The stars in the other world had been so different he had almost forgotten what the stars of this world looked like. ‘Staring sombrely into the night sky… who am I, Lucy?’

Jurot stood nearby, keeping an eye on his brother. Adam was leaned up against a wall, staring at the night sky. Adam had his arms crossed, having chosen the position after awkwardly shifting his hands about.

“Jurot, I stopped counting after a hundred,” the young half elf whispered.

Jurot remained silent, his eyes still glued to his brother.

“I don’t think I reached a thousand, but there were definitely more than a hundred. It might sound bad, but when it was the nobles, I didn’t mind as much. I still didn’t like to do it, but I didn’t feel that guilty over them. Still, there were a lot of commoners. A lot of them. Most of them, actually. Farmers and cooks, probably forced into fighting. I just had to give a word. I just had to wave my hand. That was it. It was so… easy. I killed them like they were, they were those birdcats, remember?”

“Yes.”

Adam slowly nodded his head. “I’m lucky, Jurot. I think about that a lot. I died twice, but I was revived both times. I… I found you both times. Your family looked after me both times.”

“Our family.”

Adam’s lips twitched for a moment, but they remained a frown. “I was gifted a lot of great abilities. I was gifted a lot of great children, some of them technically sharing the same blood as me, apparently, but as far as I’m aware, I didn’t sleep with a dragon. Not yet, anyway.” Adam shook his head, his lips having formed a smile by the time he mentioned his children. “I’ve had such great luck and I went around killing the most unlucky people around. It’s a little… it’s a lot bad, you know?”

Jurot bowed his head as he fell into thought. “No. I do not.”

Adam glanced towards his brother, who had been born within the Iyr. It was, as Adam would have politely described it, a communist death cult. They worshipped one god above all, Baktu, or as he was commonly known across the land, Lord Sozain, the God of Death.

“For most people, death is permanent. They won’t be lucky enough to find a God of Chaos, who doesn’t exist any more, to save them twice. They won’t be lucky enough to have some idiot with a diamond worth more than their entire life’s earnings to save them. Three hundred gold, Jurot. That’s the worth of a person’s life if you want to bring them back. More if you take too long. If you want to kill a man? That doesn’t cost anything.”

“Death is a part of life.”

“What right do I have to impart death?”

“You are chosen by Baktu.”

“…” Adam reached down to his amulet, rubbing along it. “I only picked him because I wanted some abilities.”

“He also chose you.”

“I don’t think either of us made a bad choice. I’m, well, me, and he’s the same god who protected me from the Lord of Order. I suppose I should thank Strom too, since he ended up killing the Champion of Order too.”

“…”

“Do you…” Adam paused for a long moment. “Lanarot won’t remember him.”

“She is too young.” The flashes of Jurot’s first memories struck him. It was raining that day.

“If I died in the other world, would she remember me? Would they remember me? Konarot, Kirot, Karot? Jirot, Jarot? They’re smart, too smart, but they’re still young.”

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“I do not know.”

“If I died, what would you have told them? Would you have told them that I killed a bunch of people? I’d be dead, so I guess my opinion doesn’t matter, but I wouldn’t want them knowing that. I’d want them to know that I loved them very much. I wouldn’t mind if they knew I was an idiot, but a killer?” Adam shook his head. “I’m no Iyrman, Jurot.”

“You are my brother, Adam.”

“Yeah.”

“If you cannot kill, I will.”

“Does that make me any better?” Adam frowned. “It’ll make me feel better, but the sin is still on me. Does a king get off scot free because his servants killed?”

“You are no king, and I am not your servant.”

“Don’t turn it back around like that,” Adam’s eyes snapped to Jurot, who remained as composed as ever. “That’s not what I meant.”

“You were a duke, and I am your brother,” Jurot said, and while Adam was thinking, he added, “Was I also a prince?”

Adam’s thoughts quickly fell away to Jurot’s question. “I don’t know. How does it work here?”

“They would hold the rank below that of a duke, a marquis, and would be heir apparent unless there was a child born to the duke.”

“Oh.”

“I am an Iyrman, Adam.”

“Yeah.”

“I understand why Sir Vonda does not wish to kill, for she prays to Mahtu above all others, but I do not understand why you do not kill when you follow Baktu.”

“I guess I’m not evil?”

“Do you believe me to be evil?”

Adam winced as though he had slapped across the face. “No. I…” Adam furrowed his brows. “I don’t think you’re evil, but I guess you do have no qualms with killing?” Adam hadn’t thought about it previously, the fact his brother didn’t mind killing in a fight. “I don’t know. I don’t think you’re bad.”

“I have killed many.”

“Yeah, but they were all beasts.”

“Is killing beasts different?”

“Yes?”

“Why?”

“They’re beasts, not people.”

“You have killed a dragon too.”

“Yeah but they’re… higher beings, so I guess I can see the justification behind it? Especially since it was self defence, well, the second time. The first time was to make sure Princess Mina was okay.”

“If a beast kills a person, is the beast evil?”

“No, they’re a beast.”

Jurot remained silent in thought. “Mahtu believes life to be sacred. Even within her believers, there are some who take lives to eat. Some do not take the lives of animals, but take the lives of fish. Some do not even take the lives of fish. Mahtu breathes life into all, but we take such lives.”

Adam tapped his bicep with his fingers, thinking on his brother’s words.

“When I die, I will enjoy my time in paradise.”

“You believe in an afterlife?”

“…” Jurot blinked. “Yes?”

“Why did you reply like that?”

“You sound as if you do not believe in the afterlife.”

“Well, I haven’t seen anything that suggests it exists.”

“It does exist.”

“How do you know?”

“Baktu watches over it.”

“Yeah, well…” Adam fell silent. He furrowed his brows, his face twitching in thought. “There’s an afterlife?”

“Yes.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Adam blinked. He looked up towards the sky, the twinkling stars, the streaks of colour all across the dark sky. “Oh. Right. Gods. They exist in this world. So does magic.” Adam blinked again before he threw a look towards Jurot, though his face was still full of confusion, having not thought of the obvious connections between the world and how it was so different to his first life.

Jurot remained silent as Adam continued to think. He had heard of Adam’s first life, where there were giant carriages of steel which could fly the masses without magic, at a pace which could cross the entirety of Aldland in hours rather than days.

“Jurot, I think, after pretending to be an idiot for so long, I’ve actually become stupid.”

“You think too much of your children and not enough of the world.”

“So… you know how Sa-, I mean, granduncle Sarot died, does that mean he’ll be in the afterlife? Paradise?”

“He will enjoy his time reliving his wonderful memories and he will fight and hunt creatures which are not native to this realm.”

“I mean, will he really exist? With a body and all?”

“Yes.”

“Can people travel to the afterlife without dying?”

“Yes.”

“Oh.”

“The afterlife is another realm, like ours. It has its own rules, like the rules of the previous worlds we have explored. Baktu administers the realm, and so do his many guards.”

“Oh.” Adam blinked as he continued to think. “How strong are the guards of Baktu?”

“Most are stronger than the Night Lords we faced.”

“Damn…” Adam blinked again. “I feel a little bit better knowing that death isn’t the end of someone’s existence, but it still feels bad.”

“Adam?”

“Yes?”

“Would you kill me to protect your children?”

“What?”

“Would you kill me to protect your children?”

“Why are you asking something like that?” Adam frowned, feeling his body heat up, partly from the shock of the question, and partly because of the answer.

“You must answer.”

“I don’t want to.”

“You must.”

“…” Adam caught Jurot’s eyes, which stared deep into his eyes expectantly. “Of course I would.”

Jurot nodded. “I would do the same.”

“I would never hurt my children.”

“I know.”