Mash didn’t tell Whitney about his own world, or the worlds he had changed or ruined through sharing his ideas. He did tell her what he understood and how he came to those conclusions. She participated as a sounding board and interjected her own beliefs. Mash was a little surprised to see how much her personality differed from his initial impression of her. Although that had been skewed by her attempting to separate his head from his body. He realized part of her openness was because she wanted some information too. Both on his mark and on how he got his class. She was desperate whenever it came around to discussing that. It wasn’t hard to figure out that she didn’t want to be human anymore.

That was strange to him, but she probably had her reasons. He gave some of it away as it wasn’t a huge secret. Though he did speak fairly vaguely not revealing what exactly he had eaten for it. On the other hand, she talked a lot about the marks and what she believed or learned about them. She didn’t give up on how exactly she came across her information. Either way, he was eager to learn what he could.

She had explained that it was probably more of a game than anything else. Perhaps an attempt to create more individuals that were at their level. Mash didn’t give the second theory much likelihood, but the first seemed somewhat correct. The snake at least had given him a mark for entertainment. Although the World Carrier had given him a mark to block the snake. Mash couldn’t believe it had been done without some other purpose in mind. A power struggle between the two would make sense.

The other theory she had was a little more interesting. She believed that the marks were one of the only ways for something that powerful to gain more power. That there was some relation between their relative power and the marks they had given out seemed reasonable. Then came the obvious question of how and why, since Mash technically owned a world himself, he wondered if he could do it too. He would look more closely at his marks later. Maybe he could copy it or something. It was something to do for later. For now, he needed to get out of the conversation.

Whitney was nice and talking to her wasn’t boring, but it was annoying. She liked being dramatic, and that grew cumbersome quickly. Especially when he was genuinely interested in the subject. Also, the others were looking for him now. Whitney was in the middle of asking another question about the origin of his class, and he cut in rudely now that he had an excuse.

“I need to go; the others are looking for me. I don’t think we will see each other soon, so goodbye.”

She paused in her question, and her gaze washed over him. Her eyes narrowed in obvious suspicion, but she didn’t push him.

“Oh, I don’t know about that. I think I’ll come to visit soon enough. And I think you should try and level as fast as you can.”

Her words were accompanied by a not-so-subtle smirk. She didn’t give him the time to come up with a witty response and disappeared with the same speed as earlier. It was an excessively dramatic exit, which he thought fit her perfectly. He didn’t give her words that much credence though since he was already planning on leveling quickly either way. Plus, he couldn’t imagine that she would go out of her way to meet him.

Mash didn’t have to try very hard to find the others since Priscilla could lead him there easily. He wondered if she told the others where he was.

[No.]

The response came as soon as he thought about the question. It was a little bit surprising to hear that she didn’t tell the others, but it wasn’t really relevant either. He would probably tell them, but he wasn’t planning on doing anything with the information just yet.

It didn’t take long to meet up with the others. They were just standing around the portal waiting for all the people to go through. Mash noticed the General was with them, and her head snapped towards him when he came into sight. He didn’t try to run again. This wasn’t something he could avoid any longer. Also, the General gave him a look that told him not to try.

“Has Whitney left?”

Mash was going to apologize for avoiding her earlier, but the General’s question blocked it. He paused and nodded after considering what Whitney had said.

“I think so, at least as far as I could tell.”

She nodded and spoke to the entire group. Arthur kept looking at him though, and Mash felt like he was nervous or concerned. He naturally grew tense because of it. The general’s words came out flatly.

“I need to tell you about your new status within the kingdom. While it is just you Mash, your whole group will have to deal with it. First, you need to understand that public opinion and the official declaration are very different. Your brother insisted that we reveal as much of the truth as the king would allow. Which has basically turned you into a hero even without the class for it. Although there is also the official declaration that you are a terrorist. A king killer again accepting that you lack the class for it as well.”

Mash heard the words but didn’t really understand them.

“What does that actually mean?”

He didn’t mean to sound like he was angry or alarmed, but it came out that way. He was just confused by the duplicitous explanation. She didn’t react to his tone though and responded normally.

“It means formally you would be treated as any criminal. Banned from any of the major cities, guilds, and similar establishments. However, your unofficial status as a hero would likely mean that you would receive the opposite treatment anywhere within the kingdom.”

Again, Mash found that these words didn’t equate to much. It sounded like nothing really changed for him. The General wasn’t done with the explanation either.

“Mostly, you will be treated as a hero. Famous for saving an entire kingdom from an evil king. However, the kingdom can’t formally protect you if the north attempts to capture you. If they choose to send assassins and the like, we can do little. It also means you can’t rely on us for much aid like you did today. All of this is only for the benefit of peace, so if war breaks out naturally all of these policies will fall apart.”

Mash didn’t think much of the comments. If anything, he was most bothered by the fame. He didn’t want to be treated like a hero. Red was more concerned, although not about him as she responded to something else.

“War with the north? You make it sound like that is a possibility?”

“It is considering that we are going to enter a war with another kingdom soon. The north could easily use it as an opportunity to join. We would be forced to fight on two fronts and any other kingdom might also join in that situation.”

The General didn’t seem to mind sharing this information with them, and he knew why. Now, they would be involved in the war regardless of what started it because they created this situation. Mash especially felt like he owed them that much.

“Do we have no allies? What did we do?”

Jill spoke as if she couldn’t trust the General. Mash nodded along to her questions.

“We have established peace between all of the major kingdoms, but peace is a fragile thing for us. Every kingdom is on a timeline. When the king dies the kingdom will either need to quickly fill the spot with someone of around the same level or just collapse and fall to another kingdom. Our kingdom has been lucky to have rulers rise through strength. However, we are currently without someone who could replace the king. The other kingdoms know this which is why they wouldn’t ignore it if an opportunity presented itself.”

The general stopped, but his brother didn’t let it end there.

“Also, no we are not the most well-liked kingdom. We are harsh on certain classes and groups that the other kingdoms openly support. The slavers you encountered are one such example. The current king especially has many enemies. And that is not your fault Mash. Despite what the general claims, none of you are obligated to fight if a war starts. We would’ve helped with this situation, either way, not to mention that several individuals over level 100 have joined our kingdom now.”

Arthur’s words didn’t match the General’s expression, but his glare stopped her from saying anything. Mash understood what his brother meant, but he still felt responsible for the whole thing. If war did come, he would do his part.

They talked a little more after that. The General and his brother argued a little about the war and some stuff related to all the new people. Mash and the rest left the two to their discussion and talked about what to do next. He told them that they couldn’t visit Timor anymore. Which left them with few other options. There weren’t that many high leveled monster zones within the kingdom. There were a couple of dungeons, but if a war started while they were in a dungeon, it would be a problem. Especially if there was a lot of alteration to the flow of time. They could still go so long as they made the right preparations. Jill’s ability to teleport and Mash’s ability to make exits made it so that they could enter and exit as they pleased.

A plan slowly came together when he told them what Whitney had said. They would enter a dungeon without seriously trying to complete it. Instead, they would just go to gain levels as quickly as possible. That way they wouldn’t really be losing out on anything by leaving and re-entering. It would probably need to be a monster or labyrinth dungeon for their plan to work, as those tended to reset upon re-entry.

They stood apart from the rest of the people as the final person entered the portal. Lisa approached them, as they approached the portal. She had a fake smile on. He could recognize it now that he had seen her real smile. Lisa seemed to realize what she was doing and shook the smile off her face. When she spoke, her voice carried her hesitation.

“I heard what you were talking about, and can I go with you guys?”

Mash was going to ask why but was cut off by Red, who accepted her without question.

“Of course, we would be happy to get someone at your level. But don’t you want to rest for a few days?”

Red didn’t hesitate at all. Lisa released an obviously held breath. She had been tensed, and Mash knew that him just asking her why would’ve been bad. Although he didn’t understand it either. He would’ve expected her to want to live peacefully now that she was free and safe. She shook her head slowly as she responded.

“No, I want to level and get rid of this class.”

She smiled slightly as Red nodded, and Jill hugged her. Mash and Luke nodded too. Now they just needed to figure out where they wanted to go. Mash was especially eager as he was close to his next advancement.