Chapter 20. Guilt

With the sun peeking through his blinds and the sound of laughing children, Ken slowly woke from his slumber. When he tried to turn and get off his bed, he realized there was an arm hugging him around the waist and turning his head, he saw the peaceful sleeping face of Genesis.

Turning to face Genesis, Ken gently pinched one of her cheeks until her face started to twitch.

"Good morning, Ken." Genesis whispered softly with a smile.

"Why can't you girls make it easier for me to focus on my studies. You do realize it benefits you if I get stronger, right?" Ken sighed deeply.

"What if one day you have to fight this super beautiful girl? This is just training to build up your tolerance for cute girls." Genesis suggested with a smirk.

"Why would I ever fight a beautiful girl? If it's in the tournament, I won't have to go easy anyways since everyone is protected."

Choose to pretend she couldn't hear his rebuttal, the pair got out of bed and got ready for the day. After shooing Genesis out of his room, Ken took a quick shower, got dressed and headed down to the living room for breakfast.

Greeted warmly by his siblings, Ken was almost done with breakfast before Genesis finally showed up.

"Do all girls take forever to get ready or is it just you? How early do you have to get up to be ready for classes?" Ken wondered as Genesis sat next to him for breakfast.

After finishing his food, Ken joined his mother in the field to tend to the crops while Genesis stayed in the kitchen to finish up her meal.

"Ken. Are you and Genesis going to get married? What about Emma?" While Ken was helping on the field, Gwen showed up with a concerned look.

"Marriage? I really haven't thought about that even though I am at that age aren't I. After getting selected for the academy, I'm mostly just focused on my studies right now." Ken answered truthfully.

"I can tell she really likes you and that girl we saw in the mirror at the tournament too. Emma looked pretty sad when she saw how close the beastman girl is with you."

"You know Gwen, before I left for the academy, I never looked at Emma any different from the rest of you. Even when you put it like this, I don't know if she actually sees me as anything more than her brother."

"Ken, I know you are too smart to pretend that Emma doesn't have feelings for you. If you don't feel that way about her, then you need to tell her straight so you don't hurt her any longer."

"Look at how much you have grown so quickly, Gwen. It's not really a lie that I never looked at Emma that way, it's more because of our situation, I couldn't allow myself to think about it.

What sort of life could I have offered her? Up until I got accepted to the academy, I just wanted to escape. Don't tell anyone else this but my original plan was to leave and go travel the world and live off the land after I failed the selection and just disappear like our older siblings did when they turned 15.

I was exhausted from the burden, I wanted to escape, to run away, to be free. But when I saw how much you all struggled like I and Emma did when our old siblings left and what Emma had to do to support the family while I was living my life selfishly, eating great food, learning from the greatest professors and flirting with cute girls.

I don't know what to feel right now. I feel guilty, I feel sorry for you all because I'm such a terrible brother and I feel the worst for Emma and not sure how I should even face her anymore." Ken answered while deep in thought reflecting on all of the decisions he had made.

"Don't be too hard on yourself, Ken. You are the best older brother and even if you had left and never came back, you would still be the best for everything you have done for us.

You have nothing to be guilty of, you were much younger than I am when you and Emma had to try and do everything for the family and there is nothing wrong with you wanting to enjoy your life.

Just don't hurt Emma, that's the only worry I have. You are her world and if you don't have feelings for her, you really need to let her know as soon as you can.

And it's fine for you to flirt with cute girls but don't toy with their feelings either. You have to be responsible for your actions so if you don't like a girl, you shouldn't be flirting with her."

"You know Gwen, I thought I grew a lot from my experiences at the academy. But it seems to me that with us gone and you been the oldest at home, you really had to grow up fast.

I am glad you came and talked to me, Gwen. I was feeling confused and not sure how to feel and honestly, I didn't think any of you are old enough to understand my struggles.

I feel so much better now! I do need your advice on something though. What if there are more than one girl and I liked them all? I don't want to hurt any of them, but I can't help but want to be with them. What should I do in this case?" Ken asked, impressed that his 12-year-old sister had matured up so much in the few months that they were apart.

"Well, be upfront and tell them straight how you feel. If they are fine with you being a ladies' man and are crazy enough to want to compete for your affection than let those crazy ladies be, I guess. I definitely want a man who would only have his eyes on me though." Gwen said confidently.

"You are years away from having a boyfriend! But once you do find the right man, he will be one lucky guy to have such an amazing girl!" Feeling a sense of relief and suddenly felt refreshed, Ken suddenly picked up the shocked Gwen and swung her around laughing before running home back with her chasing behind screaming.

When Ken got back to the house, Genesis was already patiently waiting and greeted him with a smile. After giving his siblings some instructions on what he wanted for them to prepare for the party. Ken grabbed Genesis and the two set out happily to the capital city of Miodod.

After the pair walked onto the main road, Ken stopped an incoming horse drawn carriage and the pair reached the city gates in under one hour compared to the 5-hour trek Ken had to walk months ago for his selection.

When the pair reached the city gates, Ken paid for the ride and the two got in line at the checkpoint. Since today is just a regular Monday, traffic was low, and the checkpoint was loosely guarded compared to when Ken was last here for the selection.

Unlike the suspicious looks he got months ago; the guards instantly recognized him from the tournament and the good words he said about the kingdom. During Lucia's interview with Ken, to honor his words for the money he received back during the selection. Ken included some very positive remarks for the kingdom, mostly out of obligation.

While Ken had already forgotten the lip service he provided during the tournament, for this medium sized kingdom, to have its name spoken in a positive light in front of the entire world had most of the citizens looking at this human boy in a different light.

After a quick and painless check, Ken and Genesis were welcomed into the city walls.

"What do you think Genesis? How does the capital of Miodod compare to Feirvenn?"

While the two walked around, Genesis surveyed the city and after about 10 minutes she provided Ken with a summary of her thoughts.

"It's much smaller for sure but then again, the capital city of Feirvenn is in the top 10 in both size and population. The race diversity here is also pretty much non-existent as well. Other than us two, I don't think I have seen a single person that's not a beastman.

In large cities like the capital of Feirvenn, Yelwraek, Darrumburgh and the other in the top 10. It's common to have people of different races due to the job opportunities and the influence those kingdoms have.

Even when most races don't get along well, you have a large human settlement in the capital of Yelwraek just like we have a lot of elves, beastman and lizardman in Feirvenn."

Ken listened attentively as Genesis explained while the two strolled along the stone paved streets looking for the shop Emma was working at.

Since they weren't provided with much information other than that according to Gwen, Emma is working at a clothing shop in the main shopping district. The two wandered around aimlessly looking for the shopping district but it was mostly because Genesis just wanted to spend some alone time with Ken.

Every time Ken wanted to ask for directions, Genesis would pull him away wanting to see if they could do it without any help. But eventually, after an hour of just wandering the streets, Genesis finally gave in, and Ken approached a group of beastman who were walking in front of them to ask for directions.

Getting recognized again, the group gladly offered Ken the direction and how he could navigate easily to reach the shopping district. After thanking the group for their help, Ken and Genesis headed to the shopping district. With simple yet precise directions, the pair reached the shopping district in no time at all and with how unique Emma looked, it didn't take much asking before someone pointed Ken to the right shop.

"Welcome! What can we do for you today?" Emma asked when she heard footsteps coming into the shop.

"I think I will need a formal suit for banquets, a dress for a rather tall beastman girl would be nice and one Emma packed to take home please." Ken answered with a smirk on his face.

The moment she heard his voice, Emma already knew who it was and just as Ken finished talking, he got tackle hugged by the young woman with so much force that he had to enhance his strength to prevent her from knocking him over.

Hearing the commotion, the shop owner rushed out from the back to see what was happening and was greeted by Ken with Emma tightly clenched to him refusing to let go.

"Oh! You are Ken! I saw you during the tournament and Emma is always talking about you." The shop owner commented.

"Sorry ma'am, I am grateful that you have provided Emma with this job, but she will be resigning today." Ken apologized.

Not questioning him or asking for answers, Emma quickly apologized for having to quit on such short notice. Thankfully, the shop owner was an understanding lady and didn't make too much of a fuss over the sudden loss of her employee. And the fact that Ken ordered a formal suit and 2 dresses definitely helped with the overall mood.

After providing the shop owner with the details, Ken left the deposit, advised that they wouldn't need it to be finished for at least 3 weeks and left the shop with Emma still clinging onto him.

"Are you going to introduce me to your girlfriend, Ken?" Emma asked while giving Genesis side glances.

"This is Genesis, she is from the kingdom of Feirvenn. One of the largest kingdoms in the world and she will be living with us until it's time to go back to the academy in 4 weeks."

Before Emma could ask any more questions, Ken told her to save them for later and asked her to take them to grab some lunch and then to the market where he wanted to pick up enough food for the party for later that day.

During their lunch, Emma grilled Ken for answers while Genesis sat by Ken and just enjoyed the food. Not going into too many details, Ken explained that he has got enough money so that the family won't need to worry about food ever again and that it will just get better from here on out.

In the short time during lunch, Emma was also able to force Ken to name every girl at the academy that he is friendly with, and she was definitely not happy to learn that Ken is friendly with so many girls.

After enjoying a rather quick lunch, the three headed to the market where Ken decided to buy a whole pig for the village to roast, over a hundred pounds of rice, fresh in season vegetables and all sort of seasonal fruits that ended up costing almost a whole ounce of gold. With a carriage full of goods, the three ended their trip to the capital and made the return trip to the quaint little village.

"Ken, where did you get that much money from? You are not doing anything crazy at the school are you?" Emma asked while still in shock that Ken had enough money to pay for this much food.

"He is selling his blood as food to this evil vampire. One day, he was turning pale from losing so much blood." Genesis commented.

"Don't listen to her lies! Alice is amazing and I am sure you will like her when you meet her next month." Ken replied quickly before Emma could freak out while giving the smug Genesis a nudge in the ribs.

"What do you mean by meeting her?" Emma asked in confusion.

"Oh yea, I still haven't told you yet. But I saw a request at the academy, they are hiring people for general work like cleaning, working in the kitchen and other things.

The pay is much better than anything you could get here, and I got a staff to modify my teleport artifact to take an extra person with me to the academy for a job interview.

Of course, if you don't want to go, it's perfectly fine but if you would like to come to the academy with me next semester than I have already got the permission to bring you."

So happy that she couldn't express her feelings, Emma stayed quiet for the rest of the trip while clinging to Ken firmly. The trio arrived at the village center sometime mid-afternoon where Kate, Gwen and many other villagers were already gathered and setting things up. After greeting everyone, Ken and the rest got to work prepping for the feast.

It didn't take long for the air to be filled with the aroma of the roasting pig, the grilling vegetables, the steaming rice, the boiling noodle and baking bread. As the sun began to set, the entire village had gathered, and the feast was under way.

Thanking the whole village for their years of support, Ken commenced the feast with a toast. With the village mostly comprised of the elderly and children, the feast was filled with happy chatty villagers and joyous children, the atmosphere between the banquet at the academy and this feast was night and day.

As the evening filled with fun conversations and endless laughter moved along. The party came to a natural end when the children all began to dose off and families started to call it a night. Eventually, with all of the leftover food divided out amongst the families and the area cleaned off, everyone thanked Ken for the feast and returned home satisfied.

From being happy to see his family to feeling guilty about their living conditions, Ken went through various emotions in the last few days. But with Emma now back and none of his siblings blaming him for his selfish behavior, the emotional roller-coaster Ken was on had reached its destination for now with him remaining intact and possibly grew even stronger.