Mash sat across from his brother. He didn’t cry or anything, oddly he hadn’t really felt like doing that despite all of the things that had overwhelmed him. He spoke firmly and told Arthur and Luna of everything, both the mistakes and what he decided to do afterward. They hadn’t said anything so far, both of them just sat around him and waited for him to finish. He was done now and let them know as much.
“Well, any advice?”
He had already apologized profusely for his lies and didn’t want to repeat himself too many times. His brother didn’t want his apologies, and Mash could tell that Arthur was growing more annoyed when he tried. Arthur spoke first.
“I’m glad you told me, but you shouldn’t blame yourself. While I trusted you, I couldn’t just change how the kingdom operated on your word alone. Nobody here did anything hasty. So, I don’t want to hear anything about you apologizing to someone.”
His brother paused and just stared at Mash. The intensity in his gaze made Mash nod his head involuntarily. It was hard to disagree when his brother got that serious. His sister had a sympathetic smile on her face, and Mash wondered how many times she had done something to earn it too. Luna was very impulsive. She never did things as severe as Mash, but she had purchased many things without thinking twice. His brother wasn’t done and started after Mash’s nod.
“Now for advice. I will say you need to figure out what you want to be. I don’t mean anything specific, but you have too many responsibilities, either live up to them or pass them on. Looking over an entire world is going to be a lot of work. It’s not something you can do with a flimsy mindset.”
Luna interjected and spoke loud enough to stop Arthur.
“It is just how things work. My class made me important, and now yours did too. It sucks, but he’s right. You need to start figuring your shit out. If you leveled slower or didn’t get such a huge class then it wouldn’t matter, but now, it’s unavoidable.”
Mash was only somewhat surprised to hear his sister mention responsibility, but he remembered how much effort she had put into learning how to heal with his mother. Luna understood how to balance her life. She indulged when she was free, but she kept to her beliefs and worked respectfully. Arthur was similar, but he tended to be more reserved in his free time as well. To Mash, his brother was always this mass of near-perfect control. He wasn’t the type to make the same mistakes that Mash did. That was why Mash was paying so much attention. He wanted to emulate him even a little bit.
“So, because I grew quickly, I have to be responsible. How am I even supposed to respond to that?”
Mash wasn’t feeling sad at the moment, rather he felt some hope. It sounded like both his siblings had experience with what he was going through, even if the scale was different. They had become special with their classes but went beyond just that; they were both responsible for other people. Luna was basically a saint; her next advancement was approaching too. His brother was around twenty levels higher than Mash and was a hero. Also, he was engaged to a princess now too. Responsibility was not something foreign to him. His brother didn’t smile, but his unchanging expression reassured Mash.
“There isn’t any easy solution, but you follow what others have done. For better or worse, you’re basically a king. I know this might bore you, but I suggest you read a book on the kingdom’s history. Learn some of the reasoning behind the laws that the king set up. Establish some of them in your own world. That should work for that. As for your own personal issues, I suggest you keep talking about them. Either with me or Luna.”
Mash could agree with that, and to that end, he summoned another of Priscilla’s bodies. He left it with Arthur and wondered what would happen if he released all of them.
[One of my bodies must remain with you, but that is all that is needed.]
At the same time the body of Priscilla that was with his sister rejoined with him temporarily, before returning to his sister again. That would deal with the excess mana that the body had, and would let Priscilla make another body or two to compensate for the ones he had just given away.
“That sounds like a plan, but what about right now?”
Luna responded first, her words sounded more like a personal desire than actual advice.
“You should stick around and take a break.”
She probably didn’t want him to go into another dungeon, but he didn’t know if he could actually stay within the city. He wasn’t as worried about his fate, but about Jill and Luke. Well, mainly Jill. If her class ever got discovered, then it would cause a problem. With his luck that was bound to happen, so they would just spend as little time as possible within the city itself. Still, they could teleport back regularly so it should be possible to come back every night. He didn’t mention his thoughts directly. Arthur picked up after Luna, his expression turning into one of determination.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
“With all of what has been said, there is still something I must say. Mash you are an adventurer, for better or worse, that means you will wind up in more fights. Both with monsters and people. You can’t do those things with so much consideration, it will cause you or your friends to wind up dead. It’s why get into situations like with this Jeral fellow. If someone comes to you for a fight, then you need to go all out. If that leads to their death, then it was a consequence of their decision. All you need to do is avoid starting the fight yourself.”
His brother was going full lecture mode, and Mash felt the need to interrupt.
“Wait, you make it sound like I’m going to need to kill people.”
His abrupt and blunt words left everyone without anything to say. All three of them just sat around the table and traded glances with one another. After a minute of that, his brother sighed before answering. The way his brother was glancing at Luna, told him that she wouldn’t like her response.
“Yes, you likely will need to. Mash, even if you avoid every fight, you can, people will come to find you. You have to realize what it means to be above level 100. People will try and kill you. Many nobles will try and capture you. Foreign nations use them as a commodity and hunt them like a grand trophy.”
That was something that Mash hadn’t considered. He knew that there were only a few ways to get to level 100 but didn’t make the connection. Red’s own advancement was done like that. Naturally, people would attempt to do the same thing as her family. Luna obviously didn’t like the sound of that, as now both of her siblings would be involved in more dangerous situations. His brother’s words did make him think about what he should do next. He planned on talking with the others about it but didn’t know what to try. Arthur had a suggestion though.
“I think you should go to the northern mountains. There aren’t any people there, and the monsters are around level 100. You should be able to teleport back easily, and we can keep in contact through Priscilla.”
His sister's eyebrows creased, and he glared at Arthur.
“He literally just came back, and you want him to leave? Didn’t you just say that people would be hunting him?”
Luna rarely got truly angry. Now was one of the moments. Arthur quickly shook his head in response. He did it so quickly that it almost seemed like he was scared of her.
“Let me finish. He is free to stay as long as he wants, but he can’t be here for more than a week straight. Nobody knows he’s here yet, but that will change. If he keeps moving and teleports regularly it will protect more than just himself. His friends would be targeted all the same, and we can keep in touch through Priscilla. And he needs to get stronger.”
Mash wasn’t sure if he was right but thought that it was as good a plan as any. Although he would still bring it up with the others. He knew that Jill and Luke wanted to visit their families, and it sounded like they would need to stick together for the time being. Actually, he didn’t think many would try and kill Luke if they found out he was a demigod. Killing sacred classes like that was taboo everywhere.
“Can we get the others? I think we can talk about the rest with them, but yeah, I’ll try and stick to your advice.”
That marked the end of their family discussion, as they were moving on to something that would affect the others. Mash was tempted to tell his siblings about their classes, but he knew better than to reveal other secrets. It wasn’t hard to find the others. They were sitting around a dining table and enjoying a fulfilling meal. They hadn’t had the chance for that in a while. Mash sat down beside Luke and started eating as well. He would leave the explanation to Arthur.
The food was good. It was a kind of stewed meat that was served with mashed potato. It was something he would expect from an inn, but he guessed that his siblings just preferred the simpler foods. They shared similar tastes which made a lot of sense. The food was hot and spicy and extremely heavily seasoned. It was quite good at helping him relax after that conversation.
His brother had moved to tell the others of what they discussed. His sister had joined him in eating and was just listening. It was going pretty smoothly. They didn’t really oppose the plan and just said that they would visit their family first. The end of the conversation happened when Luke let the secret out.
“I have a demi-god class. Would people really hurt us?”
Arthur froze, and Luna almost spit out her food. She was startled though and hit the table with her knee. It caused a mess, but she managed to avoid vomiting.
“What? Mash, you said.”
She was angry, but he decided to just act like he hadn’t noticed. He continued eating, shoveling spoonsful of the stew and potatoes into his mouth. Mash had mixed the potatoes into the stew and was able to eat everything mixed together. It was messy, but he preferred eating like this. He used to eat with more neatness, but his classes had changed that about him. Luna grabbed his shoulders and started shaking him with each word.
“You said it wasn’t you.”
His brother was thinking deeply. Even if he wasn’t making any obvious gestures, his eyes were definitely appraising Luke differently now. Then his gaze drifted toward the rest of the group as if he was waiting for one of them to out themselves. Mash just kept eating his food. The truth was revealed as Jill shrugged her shoulders when Arthur turned towards her. Mash felt his sister’s grip tighten and shaking grew more insistent. She made it a lot harder to act oblivious. His brother's gaze ended on Mash, and he regretted bringing the conversation out here. Arthur didn’t turn his head, but he spoke to the whole table.
“I guess, we should adjust our plans. And I would like to see what your classes are like.”