The transfer to his brother went surprisingly well. It was actually made easier by some of the new news that he had shared with Mash. The biggest thing was that he had been properly engaged to Princess Amara. Hearing that surprised Mash, but he guessed that they were closer than he had assumed. His brother had been in the capital for years, and he didn’t really know when he and the princess had met. Mash had been given an invitation, but the wedding wasn’t going to be for another year and a half. Apparently, there was a lot to prepare when someone was marrying a member of the royal family.

The news had gone over well with the twins as it only added to the protection his brother could provide. Plus, it meant that sticking to Arthur would probably lead to more opportunities for their people. Honestly, it was good timing as well as a happy occasion in general.

Mash was glad for his brother, but he was also afraid of returning to the capital that soon. Maybe he could just show up for the ceremony itself and nothing else. Hopefully, he could get some insight into his fate, or Jill’s teleportation abilities could improve. Either would make him feel more comfortable with returning to the city.

His brother even had some new information to offer. Apparently, more dungeons had been popping up as of late, and it had been with surprising frequency. He had marked down two locations and asked Mash and his friends if they wanted to investigate them. They had tried sending their higher-level people to almost every new dungeon that they found, and the two that he pointed out hadn’t been open to someone at that level. Arthur expected that Mash and his friends would be able to enter but wasn’t certain. A big part of why he was asking was because of Priscilla’s ability to relay information. The kingdom was offering large rewards for any information on the new dungeons.

That was usually the case as new dungeons tended to be good for treasures and levels. Most kingdoms were defined by the dungeons within their territory. The group had no protest to investigating the two his brother had wanted, and the closest was only three days away. Its location was perfect too, as there was a village they could stop at for the night. The village was called Logginton. It was a good direction to head and would take him further from the capital.

With a destination in mind, the four of them had left Arthur to deal with the large group of people. Mash was curious to see what would come of it, but he was also relieved to not have to worry about them anymore. The four of them continued to the town on foot. They had entered a discussion on how they should change their fighting style with Jill. Normally, they kept what they had been doing with Mash and Jill working together most of the time. That was foolish now, and they would be much stronger if they all fought together. Jill’s mobility would let all of them fight much more efficiently. Her teleportation skill used mana to teleport others, but it was still very effective.

As for the rest of them, they were more than capable as individual fighters. Jill was too, but her strength truly came through when she took on a supporting position. Plus, she would be able to take advantage of more openings if the three of them acted as distractions. The style had already proven itself.

The journey to the village was uneventful, and they spent most of the time chatting about what presents they could get for his brother’s wedding. How would they even come up with something fitting a royal wedding? None of them had experience in such a grand situation, even Red seemed troubled by the implications. The topic had gotten around to Mash’s own situation and what his status would be once his brother married into the royal family. Through some odd technicalities, Mash would end up in line for the throne. Although the chance of him actually inheriting it was unlikely. However, Red explained that he would be more likely to see classes titled with king or lord. Essentially it would be a class that gave him the right to inherit the throne.

Mash dismissed those classes immediately. His long-term plans currently involved getting strong enough to break free of everything. Lordship was not something he wanted to worry about. Plus, he enjoyed exploring dungeons and wouldn’t stop exploring them. If he could master his mental abilities then he would be able to communicate regardless of what kind of creature he spoke to. That would be incredibly useful in learning things in another world.

Communication had been something that confused him and the others. They discussed it at length during the journey. The people they had saved from the dungeon were able to speak Lingesh fluently. That was the most common language in this kingdom, and he wondered if the ruler of this world had forced those of the other to speak in it. That or there was translation skill of some kind imparted to them. Mash didn’t know which of those realities sounded more believable.

Honestly, after learning about gifts and the idea of getting skills related to interests rather than power, he hoped to receive a class related to dungeons somehow. Getting a skill to let him hope worlds or communicate with anyone would be extremely nice. Its use might be limited, but it was still something he hoped for. According to Luke that was common among the beastmen communities, and some of the most respected people among them were musicians or artists. That only made Mash a bit more disappointed about his own experience in beastmen territory. He would go back eventually, and the contract was almost up.

The trip came to an end as Jill spotted the first of her threads. She spoke quickly, explaining what she saw.

“I see something, and judging by the number of threads, I think it’s the village.”

“Where?”

Luke questioned her while his eyes narrowed. He was obviously unable to see what Jill could, and he grew confused when she pointed towards some nearby trees.

“Those trees grow lavis, and I see several threads connected to them. I’m guessing that means we’re close to a settlement.”

Mash saw the golden-brown hairy fruits that she was describing. They were good, one of his favorites actually. Though the ones he ate had been preserved, and he couldn’t help himself from grabbing some of the fresh fruit. Mash held his hand out and grew a wooden limb to scoop out some fruits. He grabbed around half a dozen and handed one to Jill when she asked. Luke and Red didn’t seem to be fans of the fruit and looked at it warily. It was probably in poor taste to take some from the village, but he would pay them when they arrived. Villages actually owned most of the territory that surrounded them and taking things like fruits and vegetables were considered stealing. Most people still did it anyway, but he couldn’t justify not paying.

The fruit’s skin came off easily, and the flesh was a shade lighter than the outside. There were a few large seeds, though that was only relative to the size of the fruit. The fruit itself was small enough that it could easily fit into the palm of his hand. When he had eaten it before it had been precut, and he saw Jill tearing out perfectly shaped pieces with her fingers. Looking at the fruit more carefully, he noticed some grooves that showed where it would separate. He pulled apart a piece and popped it into his mouth.

It was sweet and surprisingly hard. He could still bite through it easily, but it had felt softer in his hand than in his mouth. The flavor was good though and he thought that the fruit had a good amount of sugar in it. After a few seconds, he had finished eating all of the fruits. The skin was thin enough that he had just ignored it after eating the first fruit. The bitterness of the skin made the sweetness of the fruit all the more pronounced. He ignored the comments that the others were making.

His eating habits had certainly changed, and he had gotten used to eating things indiscriminately. Most meals he ate were finished in their entirety. That included things like seeds, stems, and even bones. Considering all the things he had eaten, caring about things like that just seemed weird. He knew the way that he ate would probably bother most people, and he would act polite if needed, but he much preferred eating how he wanted. As he was eating, he remembered something he wanted to ask Jill.

“Jill, what do you see when you look at me?”

Ever since he heard about how she saw threads, he was curious to know exactly what that meant for his situation. Also, he wanted a better understanding of how the mark worked.

“Oh, I guess I never explained huh. Well, you look like a ball of crumpled-up yarn. It’s like you tore all the threads that were attached to you and tied them into a ball with you at the center.”

She had blushed a little at the start, but her face returned to normal as she started her explanation. Mash didn’t understand the initial reaction but was surprised to hear the information. Assuming those threads were supposed to be connected to his fate, it sounded like he was cutting his connections to other people. That wasn’t something he liked. They spent a little longer talking about what Jill saw in general.

Each person apparently had several threads attached to them. The importance of the connections would make the strings thicker. Though that was only one factor. Things like the time since the string formed would also change the thickness. Eventually, most strings dwindled away, with the exception of those connected to family or close friends. The four of them had strings that connected them. or at least they would if Mash wasn’t such a special case. They only talked a little bit more before seeing the village.

He saw the village after a few minutes and was amazed by how structured it seemed. If this place was a village, then it was horribly classified. There was a stone wall that towered over its surroundings almost as tall as a small mountain. Even from a distance, he could tell that it must have been constructed by magic. They walked slowly, taking in the walls.

They approached the gates and were surprised to see some children playing in a fenced-off park by the main gate. They were young and had probably just received their first classes. He didn’t think that was very safe, but the guards that manned the gates were both around level 100. They would be more than capable of handling any threat in the area. With how high level the guards were, he wondered if they had already explored the new dungeon. It would explain the high levels. It was well known that new dungeons usually gave people more levels, so many people would flood new ones. It was normally something the kingdom would restrict, but his brother made it sound like hundreds of dungeons had been popping up. The kingdom couldn’t manage so many.

The fact that his brother had just handed them the location of two dungeons spoke of how many must have been showing up. It probably also helped that Arthur was who he was. His brother’s position in the kingdom would probably lead to countless benefits to Mash, but he also knew that there would be plenty of annoyances. Honestly, considering how people would treat his brother, he was glad to be away from the capital. They were finally close to the main gates, and Jill stepped forward to greet the guards.