The words Master Ronin said before they arrived at the mansion still lingered in his mind. After all, how could someone accept such a revelation easily? To overthrow the king? That meant Si was planning a rebellion.
However, Arthur didn't feel any loyalty to the kingdom or the Union. After all, what had the Union given him except watch Everlasting Stream rob him and label his father a thief?
He still remembers how Si and he had agreed to mutually help each other in their goals. Si would help Arthur find his father as Arthur would help Si overthrow his father. Somehow, it felt befitting. Like two pieces of a puzzle that fit together.
"Our earlier conversation is a secret," Master Ronin said matter-of-factly. "Well, except for the others in Si's team."
They walked into the mansion. It was still a mess; the way Arthur had left it. Master Ronin frowned as he avoided the clumps of herbs and clothes on the ground like avoiding a plague. They reached a room where several people waited there.
"Si, are you smoking again?" The moment Master Ronin opened the door, the acidic scent of cigarettes assailed their noses. Si was sitting holding a cigarette that he butted out the moment he saw Master Ronin.
"Ah, no, no. It's just an old habit to smoke when I'm nervous." Si tried to wave the smoke away as he sent a sign to Reece to open the window. When Arthur saw this, he smiled involuntarily. He remembered that the first time he met Sier, he was smoking as well.
"Mm," Master Ronin gave Si a displeased look before sitting on one of the couches, right opposite Si. When Arthur was able to see everyone in the room, there were two people he hadn't met before.
There was Reece with his eye-catching pink hair, Ivy waving at Arthur to sit next to her, Vihan drinking from a bottle, and two other people Arthur didn't recognize. One of them was a masked person with a sword on his waist and the other was a pale and frail-looking young man who looked like he's about to die at any second.
"Welcome, Arthur." Si grinned at him when he entered. Arthur wasn't that good at socializing in a group and simply nodded back.
"Our meeting should have been after your contest, but things took a sudden turn. These people, like I told you before, are my family." Si grinned and gestured toward the others. Arthur could feel how proud they were when Si said the word family.
Ivy was giddy with joy, Reece smiling shyly for the first time, the dead-looking person hiding his mouth behind his knees as he hugged them, and the standing masked person's back straightening up.
They were all proud and happy about being a part of this, it seems. This fact made Arthur let down his guard a little around them. He looked at Si, the person who was responsible for gathering these people and pondered.
Si has already told him that their meeting wasn't a coincidence. It means he had used his ability to foresee and scout every person in this room to make them a part of a self-created family. Arthur was a part of it as well, and it made him feel slightly flattered.
"Nice to meet you, everyone." Arthur scanned the room and nodded with a sincere smile. Reece tried to come forward and hug him but Ivy kicked him away. The dead-looking person nodded back at him and the masked person gave him a thumbs up.
"We have a name," Si said and Arthur turned to him. "It's not the best of names, but it describes us perfectly. There are other members who you have yet to meet, but I think it's time for you to join us." Si paused and Arthur looked at him in the eyes.
"We are Mistletoe1," Si grinned and his teeth shone in the light. "We are the discarded, the broken, and the unwanted. Yet, we will slay even the Gods if we need to. There's no law to hold us back, nothing to guide us but our benefit. We're not saints nor villains, and we won't help or kill others needlessly. You can do whatever you want, but you can never betray this family." Si extended his hand.
"Will you join us, Arthur?"
Looking at Sier's face and then hand, Arthur needed but a moment to think about this. He was also discarded by the world. The days he spent digging through the dirt and looking for any piece of artifact would forever be imprinted in his mind. As others felt love and made friendships, he was worried about what to eat that day. He missed his father, his mother's happiness, and his brother's childishness.
"Please take care of me, everyone." He shook Sier's hand and grinned back at him. This was the first real backing he'd have. A group of people who would always help him out. For that, he was willing to help them back as well.
"Great." Si nodded. "With this, we've finally had a runes master in the team. Everyone, you might not know this, but Arthur is a champion candidate in the Runes Apprentice's Cup. That's why," Arthur could see greed in Si's eyes for a second. "Don't hesitate to ask him for artificial artifacts, hehe."
For a second, Arthur could see nothing but a bleak future of endless requests. However, he'd finally have a place to unleash his ability.
After everyone welcomed him, a meeting happened to discuss what they were to do regarding the current situation. In brief, the Ilios Empire was attacking the south-eastern border. As for the Iron Dome, now called Calamity Spider by the media, was making its way to their eastern border.
Arthur also got to know the name of the two new people. The masked person was Li and the tired-looking one was Zas. He didn't know how their personalities were or their abilities, as they jumped into the discussion right away.
As he listened to their discussion, Arthur realized that this wasn't a meeting about how to help the kingdom – an obvious thing that he had missed to consider – but to plan how to benefit from this calamity.
They were planning to rob the palace during the confusion. Arthur had to take double glances at everyone nodding at this suggestion and giving some plans and ideas on how it could be achieved.
"What do you think, Arthur?" Si turned to him when he saw that Arthur was quiet. Being stared at by everyone, anticipating their answer, Arthur didn't know how to react. After all, he never planned a robbery before.
However, he wasn't staggered by morals at this. He didn't think it was wrong, as he has already seen how extravagant the palace was. He also didn't like the king himself, who had labeled his father a thief and tried to read his mind by force.
"For personal reasons, I need to stop the Calamity Spiders." He could sense some disappointment from the others, as they probably thought he was trying to act heroically. However, Arthur didn't know how to explain this. "In return, I can create a network of eavesdropping artifacts inside the palace. I simply need to gain access to a warehouse of items that would be shipped to the palace."
Everyone's eyes brightened when they heard this. After all, who could achieve such a feat? They could probably buy some of these in the black market, but how would they get them to the palace without being found them? If they were able to inscribe such runes on the palace's items themselves, it would be a perfect spying system.
"However, Si should already be able to do this." Arthur hesitated as he looked at Sier, who had this ability already.
"No! It's perfect. This way we won't have to rely on Sier's ability." Ivy shot up from her chair as she grabbed Arthur. It seems that as Si said, using his ability too much would result in losing himself.
"I can also create a communication channel this way. I just need several rings for each person… or an earring or something."
Arthur continued and the crowd's zeal was apparent. Arthur didn't know if this was because it was useful, since he doubted that they didn't have an alternative, or if his ability opened new possibilities for them. After all, artifacts were not that common.
"Why do you want to stop the Calamity Spider, Arthur?" Si, the only person silent until now and composed, asked him suddenly.
Arthur stared back at him and he realized that Si was testing him. He wanted to see if Arthur was someone who would risk himself for others without receiving anything in return. He didn't know what sort of reaction would Si have if Arthur was such a person.
Thinking about it, Arthur was doing it for both reasons. He wanted to keep his legacy and stop the calamity spider from destroying the kingdom. After all, he was not a heartless person. However, he wouldn't do this if he didn't know he had a chance at it. That's why his legacy gave him this quest because he could finish it somehow.
"Well," Arthur stared at Si. "Wouldn't it be great if we controlled the Calamity Spider ourselves?" This was a notion he harbored ever since his ability proved to be useful in decoding the Iron Dome's defenses. If he could control the Iron Dome after decoding it all, wouldn't he be safe from the outside world?
"It would be the perfect fortress for Mistletoe." Arthur grinned.