Mash cleared his throat as the group remained silent. A gust of wind rustling the leaves was audible in the strange silence. They had stood upon his command but seemed paralyzed. It almost seemed like they would’ve felt more comfortable kneeling. He thought back on the conversation and decided to change his approach.

“Let’s try this again. I am Mash. Not a prince or anything. Also, I’m human. Mostly…” He paused taking a second to think before continuing. “You can take the monster’s hide. I just need the meat. Also, why did you think I was a prince?”

He let the question linger at the end, hoping that his offer of the monster’s hide would loosen their lips. The oldest biggest man stood at the front, and he took a small step forward. His hand slowly fell to a hand axe that hung loosely on his belt. The wrinkles around his face deepened as he tried to meet Mash’s eyes. The man’s eyes narrowed slightly as he examined Mash carefully. He spoke then, his voice revealing the trepidation he obviously still felt.

“You know the language of rule. Only the lord and his children may speak the language openly. And your strength is surely a sign of your glorious blood.”

Mash held a hand up to stop the man. He didn’t like where the conversation was headed and needed an explanation. Mash was about to say that he wasn’t speaking this ‘language of rule’ but froze. The item to communicate across languages wouldn’t work without mana, would it? He had assumed that it was the item that let him understand these people. That was clearly not the case, which made this prince all the more interesting.

“Let’s go with the assumption that I am not one of these princes. Who are they? Who is this lord?”

Mash’s curiosity bled into his question. The man’s face went white, and his eyes darted to the forest around him. He was afraid before but now it was far worse. The man’s hands slammed together in what would’ve been a clap. They stayed together, and he held them up to the sky in what was an obvious prayer.

“Forgive me, my lord. I had not meant to invoke your language with one who should not be speaking it.”

The man’s voice was deeper than Mash’s own, but the way it quivered made him seem like a small child. Mash resisted the urge to smack the older and tried to speak calmly.

“I don’t think anyone is listening. Please tell me about this lord. I feel like it's important considering he speaks the same language as me.”

“I cannot. Unless you are somehow related to the lord?”

The man sounded almost desperate with the question. It was almost like he needed Mash to claim that he was related, even if it was a lie. Well, there was no reason not to, as far as he understood or cared. There might be some implications to the claim if he ever got to meet this lord, but that was already his plan, so this just seemed beneficial. This lord would probably understand either way.

“Let’s go with that. My guess is that this lord of yours and I come from the same place. Now, can you please just answer my question?”

The older man let out a long breath before speaking.

“The Lord is the one who watches over this world. He who has given us everything. Who has granted us the ability to grow and fight with monsters such as that.”

The man gestured toward the boar. Priscilla could already see where this was going and so could he. Mash interrupted the man having heard what he needed. This lord was either a god or the world owner. Either way, that person would probably have a way to get him to another world. It wouldn’t really matter which world either, so long as he could use his skills it shouldn’t matter. The trial was secondary in his mind. He could always try that again. Until he found one that was straightforward and could be done quickly. This trial hadn’t given him any direction and felt like it would waste a lot of time. He didn’t know how much time he had, but he imagined spending days here wouldn’t do anyone any good.

“Where can I find them? And does this lord have magic? Like shooting fire from his hands or something.”

Mash didn’t really mind interrupting the man. He already knew that it would be better for them if he got through this conversation as quickly as possible.

“The lord resides in the holy mountain of Temur Fall. There is little the lord cannot do. Like you the lord has strength far beyond me. Although, in truth, I know little of the lord’s stories beyond his physical might.”

That wasn’t a relief to hear. In his jump earlier, Mash hadn’t seen any dungeon portals or any traces of how his own journey to this world. Not wanting to dwell on that possibility, he urged the man on.

“Can we talk somewhere else? I really just need some food, water, and a way to carry them. Also, a map. If your village has that you can take the whole beast there, and I will even kill some more on the way.”

The man clearly didn’t like that response. His frown grew deeper, and the lines on his face became more pronounced. He replied with the old voice of a wizened sage. But he didn't seem that much older than Mash's own father.

“I do not believe it would be wise to bring you to the village. Regardless of how much food and fur you can offer us.”

He stopped speaking as the woman standing behind him whispered something into his ear. Mash could hear them clearly, but he couldn’t understand a single word. He didn’t get involved either, but they seemed to come to a decision after a few moments. The man nodded to something the woman said and began to speak.

“I will take you there, but the rest of my family will go to inform the village first. We will follow after a few moments.”

Mash was a little annoyed but wasn’t going to argue.

“Will they be okay if another monster comes out? And do they want to take this one with them?”

The boy beside the leader seemed to understand some of what Mash had just said, and he licked his lips with obvious desire. Mash stepped away from the carcass, jutting his hands toward it in a ‘go ahead’ gesture. Now that he saw the whole group, he could easily tell that it was one united family. The person who had been speaking to him was the father, and the woman that kept whispering at the others was the mother. And they seemed to have two children, one boy, and one girl. Their resemblance made that obvious to him now. He really should’ve realized it earlier.

“It will be fine, and my son will collect as much as he can carry safely. And no more.”

The last part wasn’t directed at Mash, and the boy’s enthusiasm died a little. He was still smiling though and cut himself a large chunk of the monster. Big enough, that Mash thought he would struggle to carry it. It probably weighed as much as the boy himself. He had also picked a piece that still had all of its fur on, probably intending on keeping the hide too. Seeing that Mash wasn’t doing anything to stop him, the other two similarly took pieces of the beast. Mash stepped slightly to the side with the man and tried to get a more normal conversation going.

“What’s your name, and what’s this world like? Any things particularly more dangerous I should know about?”

The father grunted at that, before responding.

“Plenty. The lord is not even the strongest, there are beings in the skies and seas that can rival him. He is the lord of the land. I am Chief Aarushi. You have met my wife, Ciara. My son Rushi and my daughter Aiara.”

Mash thought about his own world and acknowledged that there were probably monsters in the seas that could rival gods. And he already knew that there were dragons among the skies. As he listened to their names, he did have another thought. His eyes glinted with greed as he asked his next question.

“Are there any special items? Or things with cool abilities like being covered in flame.”

“There are a few items with the things you describe, but they all belong to the lord. The best we have is metal such as this.”

The man drew an axe that had been strapped to his back. Its shaft was made of black wood, and the blade was red like blood. He eyed the strange weapon before asking.

“Can I?”

The man nodded and held the axe for Mash to take. Mash grabbed the weapon by the proffered handle and investigated the material. He didn’t feel any magic in it, but the metal was definitely special. The wooden handle of the weapon was covered in marks and scratches, but the blade had no blemishes. The color wasn’t even smudged anywhere. He swung it a few times, amazed at how well-balanced the weapon was. The metal was obviously heavy, but the wood easily matched it and handled the burden too. He pressed the blade against his palm. It didn’t cut immediately. He frowned and applied some extra force. The blade wasn’t sharpened all that well, but he eventually managed to get it to cut him. His blood slowly slid down his palm. It was thicker than normal and had a deeper red color than was strictly human too. The speed at which the cut healed was similarly monstrous. Mash already knew what to expect but the others didn’t, and they stared with more than a little fascination. Fear too, but mostly fascination.

“Yeah, that’s what I meant when I said I was mostly human. But I still bleed like anyone else.”

He said that knowing that Red would in fact not bleed like a normal person. Mash himself wouldn’t if he had access to his forms and magics. He kept that to himself as the family in front of him continued harvesting the creature. He went back to speak with the chief.

“This metal isn’t very sharp; don’t you think something else would be better.”

“It is a hard metal to cut. The fact that the blacksmith could get it this sharp was already more than we had thought possible. We only have a few weapons of this quality.”

The man’s words dashed his hopes of getting the metal. Well, it might actually not be that hard to get some of the metal. He just wouldn’t be able to get it in a good shape. They might have some large chunks or nuggets that he could get his hands on. They talked a little more as the rest of the family departed for their hometown.

Mash walked through the forest with Aarushi. Mash dragged three of the boar things. They were tied together by a rope. The weight was too much for the chief, but he managed it easily. Their passage left the forest in a mess though since he had to knock down more than a few trees to fit the bodies. One hand was holding the rope, but the other was holding one of the monster’s legs. He had torn it off to snack on as they walked, much to his obvious disgust of Aarushi.