I told them all about what had happened leading up to me being kicked out of my home. About the strict upbringing I’d had, and how all my father’s hopes for me had been dashed at the Heaven’s Blessing Ceremony. Finally, I told them about how Claus was granted the sword god affinity and tried to kill me because of the grudge he bore against me.
“So you ran for the woods after you stole your parents’ stuff, huh?”
“Yeah. I know you guys were abandoned at a really young age, so this probably seems like petty motivation for revenge... But if I hadn’t tripped over backward that day, my brother would have actually killed me. Whenever I think about that, I can’t find it in myself to forgive him.”
“I...don’t actually even remember my parents, so I don’t really feel anything toward them. I can’t relate to your situation, but it makes sense to me that you’d want revenge on someone who tried to kill you,” Hester said.
“I get it. My stepdad isn’t in my life anymore, but he seriously tried to kill me too.”
“He’s the reason Ralph has that knee injury,” Hester added.
“Anyway, enough about me...” Ralph said. “I guess I can understand your motivation now. I’m still not gonna help you kill anyone, though.”
“That’s all right, as long as I can count on you for other things,” I said.
For now, I was just grateful they understood.
I knew it was a lot to take in, and just having them get it gave me some confidence that I’d made the right choice forming a party with them.
“Ooh... The dots are all connecting now. That’s why you’re fiddling around with those dead plants every night, huh? To poison your brother?”
“Uh, no? I meant it when I said I was eating them. A sword god is the kind of outrageously powerful class that only appears once every several hundred years, so I doubt I could kill him with a little poison. Even if I could, that’s not how I’d want to do it.”
“Then what is the deal with that grass?!”
“They’re performance-enhancing poisonous plants. Their effect is subtle, but I’ve realized that eating them makes me stronger.”
“I didn’t know there were plants like that... Never heard of ’em.”
“Well, yeah. Only someone who can safely ingest poison would even be able to discover them in the first place. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that I’m probably the only person in the world who’s realized the potential they hold.”
“I think this is kinda beyond me. I’ve got no clue what you’re rambling about.”
“You don’t need to understand it right now. I’m sure you’ll figure it out eventually. Anyway, let’s get back to your goals,” I said, finally returning us back to the original topic.
If they were going to help me get revenge on Claus, then it seemed only right to help them with their goals too.
“I want to become a proper mage and help out you and Ralph,” said Hester. “Is that an okay goal?”
“If you’re fine with that, then I don’t see why not? In any case, it sounds like our goals are aligned for now. Ralph, what about you?”
“I... I want to become the most powerful adventurer the world has ever seen!”
I chuckled. “That’s great. That’s the most Ralph-like goal I can imagine.”
“Don’t laugh at me!”
“I’m not, honestly. But...that means we’ve got the same goal. Are you okay with that?”
“Huh?” he asked, after a long pause.
“My brother Claus has the kind of powerful class that only shows up once every few hundred years, remember? He hasn’t made much of a name for himself yet, but I’m sure it won’t be long till that changes. He’s probably on track to be a champion or a hero.”
“You think your brother is going to be a superpowerful hero? You speak pretty highly of him, for someone you hate,” said Hester.
“Well, I guess part of it is that I want him to become superpowerful. I mean, it’s a little anticlimactic to be trying to get revenge on some B-grade adventurer, right?”
“So that’s what it’s about, huh?” Ralph chimed in.
If I was going to get revenge on Claus, then I wanted him to climb to the top first. I was staking my entire life on this, after all.
“Part of it is wishful thinking, sure, but he’s also one of only five people to ever be granted the sword god affinity throughout all of history. There’s no doubt in my mind that he’ll get the best training possible in the capital. The only way he wouldn’t climb to the top, in my opinion, is if he decided to do absolutely nothing.”
“So... That means you and I both share a goal of surpassing your brother, then?” Ralph asked.
“If he’s going to become a top-rank adventurer, then yeah. Pretty much.”
“Chris, you want revenge on your brother. And Ralph, you want to grow strong enough to surpass Chris’s brother. My goal is to help you both reach your goals. That means we all ultimately have the same goal, then, right?” Hester said.
It felt like we’d taken a pretty winding road to get to this point, but Hester was right. The three of us were all on the same page now.
A paladin who couldn’t even walk, a mage who couldn’t use magic, and a farmer whose only strength was being immune to poison... It was hard to imagine a weaker party than ours, and yet we were aiming to surpass the kind of hero that only showed up once every several generations.