‘…’

Adam’s eyes glanced aside, avoiding the look the children were giving him, though noted the way the other Hopes and Rays were looking at him with shock and awe. They were not blind as to what had happened, nor were they deaf to what Vonda was doing.

‘Damn it. Damn it!’ Wraith dropped at Adam’s side, the young half elf reaching up to his helmet. He paused for a moment, before pulling off his helmet with a beaming smile. “Oh dear! It took so much out of me to do that one blow, I don’t think I can keep fighting at full strength! Wow, the First Hope really is so…” Adam grinned, gritting his teeth, “strong!”

Vonda let out a sigh of relief. She was glad Adam was Adam, otherwise this really would have turned out terrible for the order. “Thank you, Adam. We will consider this a draw, as promised.”

“I don’t need the-,” Adam began, before shutting his mouth. “No, consider this my loss. We’ll hand over the four thousand gold before we leave.”

“You don’t need to-,” Vonda began, watching as Adam turned, revealing a face that was barely contained, one that was ready to burst.

Adam marched back to his companions, dropping down beside them, before beginning to unstrap his amour, his eyes shut tight.

Adam’s rage and annoyance weighed heavily in the air, pinning the silence.

Moments passed.

Adam let out a sigh, and he opened his eyes. The eyes were very Adam like. They had been full of rage and annoyance, but now they were filled with something even more dangerous.

They were filled with playfulness.

“I’m sorry, Jaygak, Laygak,” Adam began, before a small smile appeared on his lips. “I wasn’t able to beat him in one strike.”

Victory!
XP Gained: +1500
XP: 12 800 -> 14 300

The silence remained in the air.

Jaygak coughed, before the cough turned into full blown laughter, the Iyrmen joining in the symphony. Of course, it was only the Iyrmen who dared to laugh at the shame of the Order of Life’s Rose within their own temple, though Dunes let out a soft sigh, hiding his smirk by sipping his cup.

Adam had stepped back so much recently, but he wasn’t going to step back without at least having the last laugh in the situation.

You may keep your pride, but only after I’ve trampled upon it.

The Hopes’ eyes remained focused on Adam, while the Rays stared at the First Hope, who had still to speak, while his blade was still pointed forward. It was still shaking slightly. His eyes remained focused on Adam too, though his blade was unfocused, his hands clasped around the hilt of his blade, unable to loosen without dropping it. His entire body was still currently rocking after the aftermath of such a terrible, a blow which Adam hadn’t even looked at him, and yet had been so sure would have struck him.

“Adam, will yo-,” Vonda began.

“Manager Vonda, would you kindly check on the children and make sure they’re okay?” Adam asked, interrupting her. Though he looked her way, his eyes were firmly shut, and the strained smile informed Vonda of everything she needed to know. “Please inform the order that we are quite tired, and so if they wish to speak, we may speak in the morning.”

“…” Vonda felt a chill run through her. “Okay.”

Once she was gone, Adam opened his eyes, catching Jaygak’s eyes. He could see the questioning look in her eyes, and though she wanted to joke, she could still see the tension on Adam’s face.

“I’m sorry, Jaygak.”

“Why are you sorry?”

“I wasn’t able to win?”

“We Iyrmen are not blind,” Jaygak said. “Words say you have lost, the bruises say you have won.”

“Cousin Adam…” Laygak called, leaning in slightly. “Would you have won?”

Adam thought for a moment, thinking about the abilities he still had yet to use in the battle. He caught Laygak’s eyes. A wide smile encroached across Adam’s face.

Mother Priest watched as Vonda went to check on the children. Her thought remained to all the things she had learnt about in relation to the United Kindom, though mostly about one of its Executives. Vonda had informed her of the various abilities Adam held, abilities she hadn’t seen from the half elf yet, the bout ending too quickly.

‘If the bout continued, we could have learnt more…’ Then her eyes fell to the First Hope, who had finally healed himself, with the other Rays healing him. ‘At what cost?’

The First Hope was exactly as his title suggested. He brought hope where the others could not. The Second Hope would be unable to bring as much hope as the First Hope, for she was slightly weaker, and the expectation was that in a fight to the death, the First Hope would be able to bring more hope before he passed.

However, if the First Hope lost to some random boy who had only just begun making a name for himself, what would happen to the rest of the order? What would the people across the land think? What would happen to their position in the world? The Order of Life’s Rose was needed to make sure death would not engulf the lands. If they lost their respect, if they lost their power, they would be unable to stand against the various forces who threatened to undo their good work, many of which they were allied with.

The life of one half elf against the potential life of all those who would die if the order lost its place in the world…

She was glad that the young half elf had chosen to step back. Even if he did throw a tantrum, they could still salvage the situation. She wanted to speak with the young man, but remained still. The way he acted was quite ridiculous, showing such obvious disregard for the order, and yet he still stepped back, apparently for the sake of the children.

‘Please inform the order that we are quite tired, and so if they wish to speak, we may speak in the morning.’

As much as she wanted to speak with him, Vonda had informed her that Adam spoke the truth. Even when Adam stepped back, he was particular about his words. Indeed, Adam could not fight at full strength any more, for he had already spent much of his strength, but that did not mean he couldn’t defeat the First Hope. He asked them not to bother him for the evening and night, no doubt because he was teetering on the edge.

Adam compromised. Adam did not compromise because he didn’t have the strength not to compromise, though it is what some may believe, Adam compromised because the level heads around him asked him to. Most of the time, that level head was Vonda, as evident from what the Mother Priest had seen, but…

Was Adam the type to interrupt Vonda’s words?

Mother Priest thought about the tear within their relationship.

Vonda had managed to stop Adam. Vonda. She had somehow managed to overrule even the authority of the other Executive, one who Adam held close to his heart, even to the point of family. The consequences of such had begun to fracture Adam’s faith in Vonda, the only link they had to the United Kindom.

Mother Priest’s eyes fell to the children Vonda was currently soothing.

“No, the order and Adam are not fighting,” Vonda assured. “Adam’s family are Iyrmen, and Iyrmen love to fight. Adam wanted to bring back a story for his children.”

“But…” Poppy glanced past Vonda towards the Iyrmen. “The Executive…”

Vonda listened intently to the words of the little girl. Her smile did not falter even from the shock of the words. ‘…’

“Sister Vonda, didn’t I already tell you I didn’t want to be bothered by the order?” Adam replied, his cold eyes falling onto Vonda.

“Executive Adam, there is an issue with the children.”

Adam’s eyes went from cold to apprehensive, before he stood up. “What kind of issue?”

“They heard the words of the Executive, and…” Vonda explained the situation to Adam and Jaygak.

“I knew it was your fault,” Adam said, letting out a huff. “Obviously I don’t cause issues for the children.”

“…” Jaygak wasn’t sure if she could deny his words at the moment.

“I’ll go deal with it.” Adam stretched out his neck, trying to think of a way to smooth things over.

The children watched as Adam walked over, with Jaygak right behind him, the young Iyrman glancing aside awkwardly.

“Are you all well?” Adam asked.

The children mumbled quietly in response, and Adam could feel his heart taking damage.

“I hope you’re all enjoying your time at the order. Executive Jaygak here, she had something she wanted to say to you.” Adam elbowed her side. “Isn’t that right, Executive.”

“I wanted to say that…” The expectant eyes stabbed like tiny needles into Jaygak. “I don’t think the people of East Aldish are awful people. I was only talking about the nobles who hurt my family, and the nobles who were trying to hurt you.”

“You said lots of bad things,” Alex said. “They weren’t nice.”

“I was a little angry because the Seventh Hope said bad things about my family. You would be angry if they said bad things about your family, wouldn’t you?”

“No, I’d be scared,” Alex replied. “I’m too weak to be angry.”

Jaygak threw a glance to Adam, who had also been slapped by the boy’s words. “Are you weak?”

“Yes.”

“Even if you’re weak, you’re all members of our business, and your Managers and Executives are all strong.” Jaygak smiled. “So if someone says bad things about you or your family, you can come and speak with us, and we will deal with them.”

“Are you going to fight?”

“If they want to fight, we’ll fight.”

“And win,” Adam added.

“You didn’t beat the First Hope,” Oliver said, narrowing his eyes, pouting.

“Haha!” Adam laughed awkwardly. “That’s because I needed to rest, and that time, I didn’t ask you for help did I? If you pray for me, next time I’ll definitely win! Isn’t that right, Executive Jaygak.”

“Certainly,” Jaygak replied. “Executive Adam isn’t very smart, but he’s an Executive because he’s so strong.”

“Miss Executive, why are you an Executive?” Poppy asked.

“I have the best horns.”

Poppy blinked. She looked to the other children, before they glanced over to the others. It was certainly true she had the best horns out of all the Executives.

“I like Miss Lucy’s horns,” Oliver said.

“Do you like mine?”

Oliver looked up at Jaygak, before looking to Adam. He then pulled back to Julia, shaking his head lightly.

Jaygak huffed, glancing aside. “Everyone has their own tastes.”

“Haha,” Adam laughed, slapping Jaygak’s back a little too hard. “Well, I think I agree with Oliver, Manager Lucy’s horns do look so good.”

“I like Miss Mara’s horns more,” another child said, before the conversation allowed Adam and Jaygak to slip away.

“I can’t believe you’re causing this much trouble for the children,” Adam said, tutting. “You really need to think about your actions, don’t you know they have consequences?”

“I’m going to tell Taygak.”

“I’ll forgive you just this once!”

As night fell, the groups were all taken away, with Adam leaving some of the Iyrmen with the children, just in case, while they were given their own rooms. The group weren’t asked for their donation, meanwhile the Hopes and Rays all had to rest with the knowledge that some random guy had come into their order and caused so much trouble.

They had to do something.

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It's always Jaygak's fault!