Mash was sitting alone in the gardens now. Knowing that he could trust his friends, that they would stick with him despite his fate, troubled him. Since he knew it to be true, it felt like he was more responsible for what happened to them. Though the only person who had been home when he returned had been his brother, the other three having gone out for something. Arthur’s obvious concern about his odd behavior upon returning from the guild had only weighed on him more. He tried grilling Mash and his friends for all the details, and had gotten the gist of the story, Jill even told him about the prophecy Ravnica had given them. Blessedly, she kept out the bit about the item.

That had been a detail they decided on before returning home. The story they told his brother was that the guild leader was interested in the item, so they sold it to her for some gold and the items from the vault. Plus, it let them get on her good side, which would be useful for their time there. It wasn’t a lie, but a gentle stroll around the truth. Although, his brother probably figured out what they were doing, but chose to remain silent knowing he couldn’t force it out of them. At least that was one concern abated for now.

Night had fallen, but there was no moon out yet. Or maybe it was hidden behind some building. The surrounding buildings were tall enough that they peaked over the walls of his brother’s place. It was surprisingly quiet, the only thing he heard was Priscilla’s voice. He was trying to split his mind, so he had a small wooden creation in his hand for Priscilla to try and control. Neither of them had any ideas on how to accomplish it, so he just left his mind open for Priscilla to try and figure something out. He had no doubts that she was the expert in this department, and his attempts to try something had blocked her own preparations. All that was happening was they were swapping who had control of his body. It wasn’t working, but they were able to switch faster now, and he was able to focus on his thoughts.

Did he want to subject his friends to his path? His immediate answer was that he should leave the choice to them, or to treat them like he did his family. That felt weird though. Despite having been separated from his siblings for a while now, it was still easier to share his burdens with them. He was running around in circles with his thoughts and was saved by Priscilla.

“Just ask them and decide afterwards. You should be focusing on the task at hand!”

She was irritated with his lack of care and effort, or maybe just because they weren’t making any progress. Despite her tone, she did sound correct. Dwelling by himself like this, would only cause him more problems. For now, he would do what Priscilla said, and focus on his training.

He tried to think about what it was like to multitask; try to imagine he was doing something similar. He also tried switching control rapidly, trying to let Priscilla cling to his creations as she did so. That also seemed futile, it was like trying to move all his limbs separately. It felt like he was going about it wrong and thought about what else he could do. Having spent the better part of an hour with the practice, he was interrupted when he felt Jill teleport within his range.

“There you are! Why is it that none of the servants knew where you were? It shouldn’t be that hard to find the literal monster of the house.”

Her sarcasm was laid on thickly, though there was a grain of truth to what she said. The servants tended to avoid him, so he might actually be the hardest person to find in the house.

“What’s up? Are the others back already?”

“What? No, how would I know before you anyways? You can literally see the front gate from here?”

“So, what did you want to talk about? And please stop using the word literal.”

She winced at his remark, though he meant it as a joke. His tone was being affected by Priscilla’s irritation, and he had to take a second to separate their minds. It seemed like their training had made the connection stronger, and he wondered if it would weaken or remain as it was now.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound like a brat. But, are you feeling alright? You looked pretty shaken up.”

Despite his conversation with Priscilla earlier, he was finding it hard to find the words. he didn’t know how to share his concerns with them and was unconsciously planning on asking his siblings first. Thankfully, Jill didn’t let the silence stretch too long, continuing before it became too unnatural.

“Look, you do realize the situation our group is in, right? Each of us is carrying our fair share of baggage. So, I can guess what your worried about. Trust me when I say this, but none of us expected anything different from being in a team with you. Come on, give us a little more credit than that, I mean just take half a second to consider what you look like, and what your abilities are. That is not even mentioning that you’re LITERALLY carrying a monster within your body.”

Enunciating the word literally, Jill sprouted a wide grin. Surprisingly, he felt pleased to have his thoughts being read like a book, finding himself sharing her expression.

“I was that obvious, huh.”

“Yeah, everyone, your brother included figured it out. You should be glad that your terrible at hiding your thoughts. As soon as you left, we were trying to figure out how to broach the topic. But we ultimately decided that you were probably going to overthink it, and that we should just talk to you. Arthur told us that you tended to do that.”

Mash realized he had been doing exactly that, right up until Priscilla had stopped him. Although, he didn’t know why his brother would think that. Mash wasn’t like that when he was a kid. At least, he didn’t think that he was.

“Thanks, I think I needed to hear that. Let’s go find the others, I have some things I want to tell you guys about. Especially if we plan on sticking together.”

Feeling genuinely thankful, he was glad that it was Jill, in particular, who found him. She had somehow managed to make the discussion feel more casual, and he knew that the conversation would have been much more serious with the others. It might have been because of her merchant background, but she always felt like a friend, despite her tendency to insult him. She nodded, but asked what he was going to talk about, though he never got the opportunity to answer. He saw Luna and the Princesses returning and tabled the discussion for another time.

“I think the talk is going to have to wait.”

The three of them noticed him and Jill, waving towards them. He started making his way towards them but stopped when Jill grabbed his arm.

“Wait seriously, do you have any idea what you have just done. You can’t just tell someone you have something big to say, and then not say it. I am not letting you drag your feet about this. We will have the time to talk once they leave.”

Speaking so fast that it was kind of hard to understand, she whispered furiously beside him. He only managed to smile awkwardly, fully aware of how he would feel in a similar situation. Instead of replying, he yelled at the approaching group.

“We got something good, and think it will be good for Niviss.”

That got their attention, Niviss somehow becoming more jumpy than normal. She might as well have run; her speed walk was probably taking more effort. Constantly throwing out questions, she made her way over. He couldn’t answer any of them, barely able to even blink by the time she asked her next question.

“What is it? An item for someone without a class? Where, how much, what-“

“Stop! Its inside. Here, let me show you.”

Jill cut her off, seeming to ignore the propriety from yesterday. She then teleported all of them, bringing them to the training grounds they used earlier. She stumbled after doing so, probably draining most of her mana.

Mash looked around, astonished by the empty training grounds. It had been completely restored; all of his wooden creations cleared away. How had his brother managed that so quickly? Arthur was sitting there meditating quietly when they suddenly appeared. His brother sprang to his feet quickly but seemed to recognize them, though he did not seem pleased by the situation. Jill apologized to him, but he waved off her concern. Arthur then sent a servant to inform Red and Luke.

They didn’t start talking about the item immediately, waiting for Luke and Red to arrive. Amara had to forcibly stop Niviss from jumping around, a mix of curiosity and excitement was making her jittery. Once the rest of the group arrived, he pulled out the item, receiving a glare from Niviss for not showing it to her earlier. Their group had decided to let Jill sell the item, expecting her to be the best at it.

“It’s a class specific growth item.”

Red shared anxious looks with Mash and Luke, and he just shrugged his shoulders. However, he didn’t know what Jill was thinking either. Having expected her to upsell the item somehow, he was a little surprised to hear her present it without embellishment. It didn’t seem to matter though, since both princesses were left with their mouths hanging open. Even the paladin looked surprised, though she gave him a glare when she met his eyes. Luna looked confused, and Arthur started explaining the situation to her.

“How much do you want?”

Being the fastest to regain her composure, Amara asked the obvious question. It wasn’t even up to debate on whether they would buy it, it was just a matter of price. Red had explained what the item meant, and how it worked, so Mash understood the princess’s quick decision.

An item like this would give someone the option for a class related to it in some way. But that was all it was, it was the chance to get ahead on a class path. The opportunity was priceless and depending on the type of item could be worth a fortune. The only item that was well known was a sword, that would immediately offer someone the young hero class. Normally a class like that wouldn’t be offered until someone was level 60 or 100. His brother was probably a candidate to receive that class at his next advancement. Nobles were essentially paying for the chance at getting such a class, so that they might have the opportunity to get more class advancements.

Mash was the one to answer Amara, surprising Jill who was ready to haggle. Red had pulled Mash and Luke aside, telling them of a different plan, something Jill probably wouldn’t agree with.

“You can have the item if you can clear Jill’s family debts.”

Watching Jill’s reaction, he spoke confidently. Red kicked him in the leg though, and hard at that.

“We decided that I would get to do that.”

Red didn’t sound angry, but the kick told another story. It had been really hard, but he accepted it. Afterall, he did steal her spotlight. Amara nodded, agreeing immediately, as if the deal was too good to be true.

“Yes, that’s fine. How much is the debt anyways and is it with the kingdom?”

“Uh, yeah it is… but… it’s just under three hundred thousand.”

Jill reluctantly gave out the information, taking awkward breaks as she replied. He couldn’t contain his reaction in the slightest, yelping slightly as he stared at her. The others, even the Princesses seemed stunned by the amount.

“What in the world? Was your father secretly a king or something?’

Luke spoke up, his widened eyes belaying his amazement. Clearing his throat to hide his girlish yelp, Mash considered what someone could even do with that much money. It was enough to build a small city if someone wanted to. There was no way this item was worth anywhere near that amount.

“That should be fine since the debt is with my family. Hmm, but I guess your mother was the enchanter. What a small world.”

There was no hesitation in Amara’s response. Though, Mash was left gaping like a fish at the amount of gold that just vanished in front of him. There must have been another reason for Amara’s acceptance, and he guessed it might be because of her relationship with his brother. That or something to do with Jill’s mysterious family. She was probably helping them out, but it still seemed ridiculous. Jill stopped her from continuing, letting them know that she would tell them about it later. Now, he was glad that they were planning on having that talk tonight. There were certainly a few questions he wanted ask.