Ch 178.
“Are you going to come with me or refuse?” Matt’s puppet asked, his tone steady but edged with urgency.
“I already said that I wasn’t going with you, but please tell Peter to come visit me—”
“No,” Matt’s puppet interrupted sharply, cutting off Matt’s mother mid-sentence. “I’m not bringing Peter here just so you can give up and die after seeing him one last time. We might not see eye to eye, but you’re still my mother, and that matters to me.”
“I thought you weren’t really my son?” she pressed, her voice laced with skepticism. “You’re just some—”
“Something that, while separate from him, shares every experience he has. Don’t ask me to explain how it works, but we share all memories. Even if I were destroyed, he would inherit all the memories I had up until my last moment.”
“Can you even die?” she challenged, her brow furrowing.
“This body can,” Matt’s puppet replied, his expression hardening. “And if the main body dies, it’s likely that all of us like me will perish as well. Even then, I’m not entirely sure.”
“If you share all of his experiences, then why don’t you think you are him?” Maya interjected, her curiosity evident.
“Maya, I am not talking to you right now,” Matt’s puppet retorted, irritation creeping into its voice. “Also, get those with you to restrain Penelope; she’s going to help us get past the gate.”
“You’d be better off talking with her,” Matt’s mother countered, her tone defiant. “Who knows, maybe she could be the one to finally—”
“Just stop!” Matt’s puppet snapped, cutting her off again.
“What? I want a few grandchildren if you want me to come with you,” Matt’s mother said, a hint of mischief in her voice.
Matt’s puppet recognized the tactic; she was deliberately pushing his buttons, knowing it would provoke him. Worse yet, she understood that if she made her desire for grandchildren a condition for joining him, he might just abandon the idea of taking her along altogether. With a resigned shrug, he turned away, the weight of their exchange heavy on his shoulders as he began to walk away.
“Don’t you dare walk away from me!” Matt’s mother shouted, her voice sharp and piercing, a tone that would have sent young Matt scurrying to his room in fear. Now, however, it merely prompted an exasperated sigh from his puppet, which noted that others had already begun to approach Penelope, attempting to persuade her to allow them to bind her. “I’m talking to you!” she pressed, her eyes narrowing.
“No, you’re treating me like I’m still a five-year-old, speaking at me instead of to me. Bye, Mom. I hope you find what you’re looking for when you die, because I can leave knowing that I tried, and that will have to be enough.”
“I am your mother!” she insisted, her voice rising with indignation.
“So?” Matt’s puppet shot back, unimpressed.
“So, so! So, that means you should be listening to me and—”
“I did listen, for 18 years. But I decided that wasn’t how I wanted to live, so I left. As far as I’m concerned, coming here and offering you a place to live along with access to the resources you need to grow is already more than enough to settle any obligations—”
“Go to hell! How dare you talk about settling your obligations when you never even bothered to show up! If you cared about us, you would have been here to take care of us when we needed help. Even if it would have irritated me to see you wasting your life, you could have lived here instead of running away!”
“I never ran! I lived my life the way I wanted to. You just never accepted that anyone could choose to live like that.”
Matt’s mother stormed toward him, her fury palpable, and before he could fully grasp her intent, she slapped him across the face. To an outside observer, it might appear that she was attempting to jolt Matt’s puppet into understanding, but anyone familiar with their history would recognize it as merely the latest escalation in her long series of reprimands. This time, however, Matt’s puppet stood not as a child confined to her household and her rules, but as an independent entity shaped by his own experiences. He responded in a voice stripped of warmth, “Goodbye, good luck with everything.” After delivering his terse farewell, he turned his back on her piercing shouts, striding purposefully toward Penelope. With a single, commanding glance, he quelled any lingering defiance she had against being restrained. He effortlessly hoisted her over his shoulder, and together with the group, they moved toward the front gate, drawing the attention of several onlookers.
Upon arriving at the gate, another member of the five leaders who governed the settlement, along with four counselors, awaited them. Noticing their presence, Matt’s puppet let Penelope tumble to the ground as he stepped forward, his tone firm. “I’m not in the mood right now, so move aside and let those who want to leave with me do so without any unnecessary harm.” While anxiety rippled through the crowd, the man Matt’s puppet recognized as the other leader erupted into laughter. Unlike Penelope, this man lacked bulk; he was thin and frail-looking, yet an aura of latent power surrounded him, suggesting he was a spellcaster like Greg. Without uttering a word, the man unleashed a bolt of electricity aimed directly at Matt’s puppet. Sensing the imminent danger to those behind him, Matt’s puppet didn’t even attempt to dodge; instead, he charged straight into the attack. Though he only managed a few steps before the strike hit him, it was enough to catch the man off guard.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Unfortunately, for the man, he had caught Matt’s puppet at the worst possible moment. With unrestrained ferocity, Matt’s puppet launched forward, even as two more spells struck him with brutal force. He drove his blade-like arm deep into the man’s gut, a visceral motion that echoed the intensity of their conflict. In that instant, he retaliated, sending back most of the pain and damage from each attack, leaving the man gasping and clutching at his wounds in desperation. The sight only fueled Matt’s puppet’s anger; it underscored the weakness of those tasked with defending the settlement. Deep down, he understood he couldn’t expect much from them, yet their earlier bravado felt like a cruel joke now, especially when faced with a diminished version of himself.
“Trash, that is what you are. Now, is there anyone else who wants to stop us?”
An oppressive silence fell over the crowd, stretching on until a woman stationed at the gate finally broke it. “Can we come with you?”
Though Matt’s puppet felt an urge to turn away and abandon the idea of taking anyone along, a flicker of opportunity sparked within him. “Only if it’s a 100% evacuation; any more than the group I was already planning to take would likely result in most of those left behind meeting a grim fate.”
“That, I—I don’t know if that would be possible,” stammered the guard woman, her voice trembling. “I mean, people should be free to choose, shouldn’t they?”
“I’ll tell you what, if you…”
Matt’s puppet elaborated on how to locate Apricity’s burgeoning port town before breaking away from the group Maya had assembled. Though the night had descended, cloaking the landscape in shadows, Matt’s puppet navigated confidently, guiding them to a site a few hours beyond the town while contemplating their next steps. As the throng of over 200 individuals that had fled the settlement gathered around flickering campfires, he felt an urge to groan. They possessed merely a fraction—only one-tenth—of the supplies necessary for survival, and among them were more than 50 children, their wide eyes reflecting both fear and hope. Doubt gnawed at him; he wasn’t even certain if all their parents had managed to escape with them.
He had expected only a few dozen to follow, but it seemed that when he had decisively taken down the mage, a surge of people had rushed back to their homes, grabbing whatever supplies they could carry before sprinting after him. The number of refugees was swelling, which was why he had chosen to stop so soon after leaving; he suspected that by morning, most of the settlement would be on their way to join them. His thoughts were abruptly interrupted as Penelope, who had pursued them once she had been freed, settled across from Matt’s puppet and began to speak.
“So, what’s the plan?” Penelope pressed, her brow furrowed with determination.
“Why are you here?” Matt’s puppet shot back, its tone laced with irritation.
“Don’t be like that. With how strong you are, I’m sure that—”
“No,” Matt’s puppet interrupted, its voice firm and unyielding. “I don’t care what you want to say. If you want to stay, you’ll just do what I tell you to.”
“I’m fine with that still—”
“Nothing. I’m not here to talk, and I have no intention of getting to know any of you,” Matt’s puppet stated coldly, its eyes narrowing as he regarded her.
“That’s rather cold,” she replied, a flicker of surprise crossing her face.
“Perhaps you don’t understand—”
“I understand quite well,” Penelope asserted, fixing Matt’s puppet with an unwavering gaze. “You could have killed me or done a lot more damage. Now, the other four will see you as a threat after how you left, and they’re going to think they can take you down by working together. So, I’m here to tell you that you’ll have at least one person who can stand beside you when they show up.”
“I don’t care, and that’s what you don’t get,” Matt’s puppet retorted sharply. “This group is lacking supplies, and I suspect that so was the settlement you all seem more than happy to abandon.”
“Yeah, food was going to be a real issue in a few months. The meager supplies left in people’s pantries and the few corner shops included in our plot of land can only stretch so far. If it weren’t for the fact that we need to eat significantly less and rainwater is enough to keep us hydrated, we wouldn’t have lasted this long. So, when someone shows up talking about building new settlements like it’s nothing, people are going to start to hope.”
“I see,” Matt’s puppet muttered, its voice low and contemplative. “Make sure everyone understands that the march ahead will be grueling, but they should know that when we arrive, some food will be waiting for us. Anyone expecting a free ride will quickly find themselves shown the door. We won’t force anyone into compliance, but we can’t afford to carry dead weight either. This isn’t a world where integration is an option; if people refuse to adapt, they can at least refrain from consuming our limited resources.”
“What about those who want to care for their families but aren’t interested in leveling up?” Penelope asked, concern etching her features.
“Let them,” Matt’s puppet replied with a dismissive wave of its hand. “It’s their resources they’ll be using up.”
“I see…” Penelope responded, her brow furrowing slightly as she processed its words.
Matt’s puppet spent another hour enduring Penelope’s persistent chatter, the only reason it refrained from telling her to leave being the knowledge that others would flock to it the moment she departed. Thankfully, after an hour, most had lost interest, allowing Matt’s puppet to finally lie down and call it a day. However, when it awoke, a groan of frustration nearly escaped its lips at the sight of Penelope sleeping just a few feet away, her back turned toward it. To make matters worse, as Matt’s puppet sat up, it spotted Maya not far from its other side, also peacefully slumbering. Deciding he had reached his limit, he pulled out his waterskin and splashed some water first on Penelope, then on Maya, giving both of them a hard look as they stirred from their sleep.
“Hey, that’s no way to wake up a lady,” Penelope grumbled, her voice laced with irritation. “Really, what gives?”
“Why are you near me?” Matt’s puppet shot back before either woman could fully gather their thoughts.
“Why do you care?” Penelope retorted, arching an eyebrow. “Unless you’re worried we’ll take advantage of you while you’re asleep?”
“No, I’m concerned that you’ll give others the impression that there’s something between us,” Matt’s puppet replied sharply. “The last thing I need is more rumors swirling around.”
“Why would you care about rumors?” Maya interjected, her frustration evident as she looked at Matt’s puppet. “It’s not like anyone thinks you’d actually do anything; you don’t even have a tent. Seriously, why don’t you at least have a blanket or something?”
“I don’t need one,” Matt’s puppet stated matter-of-factly. “Even the clothing I’m wearing now is merely a reflection of what the main body donned when I was created. So, when I lie on the ground, it can mold itself into a comfortable shape for me to sleep.”
“There’s definitely something wrong with you,” Penelope muttered under her breath. “Whatever, let’s just see how many more people showed up last night.”
Matt’s puppet held back its retort, deciding to focus on the task at hand as it reviewed the updates received during its slumber. This included information relayed by the mouse-sized puppets keeping watch over Matt’s mother.
