Somewhere very far away but not that far at all, the System watched as the knot she had spent so much time loosening finally started untying itself, one convolution at a time. It wouldn’t be untied overnight, of course. But it would be untangled sooner than Arthur could have imagined, she was sure. He was on track. Sooner or later, that rope would be available to re-tie in ways he chose.


    —


    “Why does Arthur look stupid?” Lily asked when Arthur walked back. “He’s all happy-woozy.”


    “She probably kissed him,” Milo offered.


    “Nope, I thought of that. This is something different.” Lily went up and poked him. “Why aren’t you tense?”


    “Oh. I’m not going to stay in the capital,” Arthur said.


    Milo and Lily whipped their heads around to look at each other, then back at Arthur.


    “Just like that?” Milo said. “You’ve been stressing about this for a week.”


    “He didn’t get that he doesn’t have to do things he’d hate,” Mizu explained. “I’m not joking. He wasn’t just being Arthur. I didn’t get it until he told me I had to stay in Coldbrook so I wouldn’t suffer.”


    “Wait, you were going to give up Mizu?” Lily moved forward to punch Arthur in the leg. “You have to tell me this stuff! I’m supposed to keep you safe!”


    “I thought you knew!” Arthur swayed out of the way of her tiny angry fist. “I didn’t look happy about it, right?”


    “Arthur, just because…” Milo rubbed his temples. “You looking unhappy about a decision or something hard isn’t that abnormal for you. We were all thinking you were fighting over two paths that looked mostly right to you. But you were thinking of taking the exact wrong path?”


    “It was a little bit of a nightmare,” Arthur said. “I get it, now, I think. Mizu explained it again.”


    “Well, thank the gods for her.”


    “Yeah, except now I have to figure out how to tell the council. They seemed to have their hearts pretty set on it, besides Pomm.”


    “Oh, that’s easy,” Lily said. “I’ll handle it.”


    “Just like that? It seems like it should be… harder.”


    “Just like that. Just watch.”


    —


    “We call this meeting to order,” Jaiko said. “And I’m pleased to say that Arthur brought us sandwiches.”


    “It felt like the least I could do.” Arthur put down a large bag of food he had picked up at a local stand on his way over. “You all have spent a lot of time on me this week.”


    “We have to spend time on someone,” Neppo said. “And you make tea. I figured we were about even. This pushes you over the top.”


    “Yes.” Pomm reached forward and grabbed a wrapped meal out of the bag. “You are a very good person.”


    With Lily momentarily distracted by available calories, Arthur was on his own for a bit. He made some tea, as was normal for him, then joined in the banter as everyone in the room re-energized thanks to the food and the break. As important as these people might have been, they at least didn’t seem to have jam-packed schedules. They were the most relaxed ruling council Arthur could have imagined, and he had once been in a tether ball league.


    When things finally got started, they went into gear pretty fast.


    “Well, Arthur, it’s the last day. After this, depending on what you choose, we can get down to the actual practical planning of things. Is that understood?” Jaiko said, brushing some sauce off her face in a distinctly unofficial, almost undignified way.


    “I think I got it,” Arthur said. “Is there an order to all this, or anything?”


    “Unfortunately, yes,” Neppo said. “We present the options from the other day, and you turn them down one by one until we get to your choice. It’s a procedural thing Jaiko won’t let us drop.”If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    “It’s important,” Pomm said. “Jaiko says so.”


    “Yes, she does, but she won’t explain why.”


    “I do, you just don’t listen,” Jaiko said. “Now stop gumming up the conversation. Arthur, your first option was moving here. You’d live in a house provided by the local government, you’d have a workshop equipped and paid for by us, plus access to the best majicka-supplementation we could give.”


    “And a bunch of other stuff that would take too long to talk about,” Skal said. “The capital would take an interest in your leveling and class progression, which would mean a lot of support in various ways that are harder to quantify.”


    “Right. It’s a pretty valuable package, all things considered. I wrote down what I could here.” Jaiko handed over a sheet of paper, complete with a few headlined, bullet-pointed lists of benefits. Arthur looked it over and almost whistled. It was quite a bit. He imagined that if he had been a world-saving dungeon raider, it would have been impossible to turn down.


    But here, it’s not, he thought, thankfully.


    “I’m afraid I’m not going with that one.” Lily nodded in approval as Arthur refused the option. Her mouth was too full for a more audible response. Neppo looked very pleased as well, almost to the point of an elbow-pump of joy, though Arthur had no idea why. “What’s next?”


    “Next is the intermediate option. We set you up in some kind of commerce town, take advantage of the shipping, and give you a bit more independence. You equip your own shop, make use of the majicka supplementation we can send you, but also get the benefit of your goods getting where they are going a little quicker. It’s not as impressive a list of help, but might suit you a little better.”


    “I knew you’d pick this one.” Neppo looked at Pomm triumphantly. “The coins are mine.”


    Neppo’s happiness was immediately crushed as Arthur refused that option, too. “I’m not taking that one, either. I’m sorry, by the way. I know it could have done a lot to help with a lot of problems.”


    Jaiko raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Really? Then home to Coldbrook? You seemed to be really considering the other options. I thought you’d probably move.”


    “How’d you know?” Neppo interrupted, chucking a medium-sized, heavy-looking bag at Pomm in defeat. “I know you knew somehow, you bear jerk. But how? Barely anybody turns down the capital.”


    “He was miserable,” Pomm said. “You could see it if you watched closer.”


    “He wasn’t! He wanted to know all the options!”


    “No, Pomm’s right. Arthur doesn’t understand things very well,” Lily said. “The whole idea of moving away from Coldbrook made him miserable. He doesn’t understand optional as a concept very well.”


    “Were you really that sad, boy?” Skal said. “You should have said something.”


    “It has been explained to me several times now that I should have. I’m sorry. My world had a different concept of obligation than this one.”


    “Plus, he’s just weird,” Lily chimed in.


    “True. But yeah. If we care about me being where I think I belong in terms of my class path, then I’m supposed to be in Coldbrook.” Arthur looked around the room, feeling guilty and a bit apprehensive of how they were about to react. “Sorry. It’s just the only place I can see myself living. At least for now.”


    “Oh. Well, good,” Jaiko said. “That’s resolved then.”


    Arthur almost spat out his tea. “Really? It’s that easy? Even with all the good I could do here?”


    “Arthur, you are on a path none of us can predict. You’ve already come an alarmingly long way just by doing what you want to do.” Skal sipped his tea sedately. “I’m a little bit embarrassed I didn’t notice how little you wanted to do this, but not that we know, there’s no question. You should stay on your path.”


    Pomm nodded. “There’s plenty of time to grow. And to do even more good.”


    “He’s right.” Jaiko said. “Whatever plans we had will just have to wait, or be something different in the future. The system is a lot of things, but it’s not stingy. If you really feel there’s only one place you can be happy, she’ll reward you for being there. I’ve been along live enough to learn at least that much. You don’t owe anyone any more than that.”


    “Well, be that as it may, I do have some plans for Coldbrook. And for me, and making the tea. I still think we can get a lot done.”


    “Oh, really?” Neppo said. “Do tell.”


    Arthur had worked on alternatives with his friends for a few hours the night before, looking for ways he could be helpful without being miserable. And there really were quite a few. The first was an exchange program of sorts. If Corbin’s general stealthed weirdness had taught them anything that trip, it was that the system seemed to reward odd situations and travel in the pursuit of interesting work.


    “So you are saying we should send you majicka reservoir people, to help you there?” Jaiko rubbed her chin. “It might just be worth it, if it comes with a few achievements.”


    “It would be more odd if it didn’t,” Skal said. “It’s the edge of the world, a new exchange program, and a lot of time on the road. Picking up a few achievements should be almost a given if we pick people who have spent most of their lives in the capital.”


    “It would be good for them, too. Get them some experience,” Pomm said.


    “And I’ll come back here a few weeks a year,” Arthur said. It wasn’t even a sacrifice. Once he realized he didn’t have to be in the capital full-time, the beauty and activity of the place looked very different. He wouldn’t mind visiting the capital, spending a few weeks working, and taking in all the food and fun there was to have here. Mizu and Lily had already agreed to go with him any time he visited, and he suspected there would be others who would want to tag along most times as well. “I’ll work full days pumping out Portable Arthur to build up a sort of stock for you. We can actually get started this trip if you want. I have at least a few days before we were supposed to go back.”


    “Hmm,” Jaiko said. “It might be a little rushed to get all the pieces in place, but I think we could handle a bit of production on this trip. Do you know a good source for tea within the city?”


    “The best,” Arthur said. “I think literally. I met a blendmaster a few days before I met all of you. He should be able to help.”


    “Well, then,” Jaiko said. “I’m glad this could end on a good note. Arthur Teamaster of Coldbrook, you are released from these discussions. Go and be happy. You deserve it.”