As the days passed, Adam completed a few tasks he had written in his book. 

‘I already got Dunes and Taygak something yesterday, but what about the other kids? I haven’t brought them anything. Isn’t Asorot’s birthday soon too? Then what about our adorable Damokan and Kalokan? Churot’s birthday isn’t that much later either…” 

Adam worried little of his own children’s birthdays, already knowing what he would get them, certain he would be back in the Iyr by then. 

‘Obviously I’ll give them all my love, isn’t that the best gift?’ 

‘How many magical items does he intend to give away?’ Kitool thought, surveying Adam’s face. 

Adam stared at a smithy, noting all the wooden tags hung up to the side, orders which had been placed that day. ‘Are they enjoying the festival?’ Adam then realised he noted many of the shops had closed up for the day, though as he made his way through the town, the noisiness of the festival vaguely all about him, he found the market was still open.

‘Phew.’

While Adam was exploring the market stalls for gifts, the children under the business’ protection moved about in small groups, each guarded by a handful of the business’ warriors and a Ray. One older Iyrman, two teen Iyrmen, one farmer, each joined by a Ray. There was also a snake triplet in each group, though they were still considered under the business’ protection. Even though they were there to look after the group, Adam had told them the business would handle any issue which arose. 

‘After all, a Ray will be escorting you.’

Unfortunately for the group, their plan had backfired. Rather than people leaving them be, many came to congratulate the Rays. The Rays each smiled, though annoyed they were being bossed around by the business’ Executive, though with the Hope informing them they should listen, since they were spreading their influence to the commonfolk, it wasn’t all bad after all.

The children remained blissfully aware as they spent their coppers and silvers, their elder siblings holding onto their gold. The children were split in groups of six, save for one group.

“You want the cup?” Fred asked.

George nodded his head. 

“How much for the cup.”

“Five copper.”

George threw a look towards Fred, as though having no idea cups could cost that much. ‘It’s daylight robbery! How can they do that?’ 

“Is there any chance you can let it go for four copper?”

“I’m not running a charity here, young man.”

“No, I suppose not,” Fred said, rubbing George’s head. “I know. I always thought East Port was expensive, I had no idea Life River was the same.” Fred quickly pulled his hand away, realising he was there to protect George, not be his elder brother. ‘I’m meant to be the youngest…’

“Won’t find any cups as cheap as mine.” 

“There are plenty of cups out there,” Fred said. “Let’s find one that’s worth five copper. There are some that pattern their cups.”

George glanced up towards Fred. ‘Never understood why they’s always patternin’ their cups…’

Alex eyed up a wooden block print with the patterns of waves. It was a silver piece, but with some ink, couldn’t it make a lot of patterns? He could also use it to make designs on all kinds of items, from pictures to clothes. 

“…” Nobby said nothing as Alex bought a wooden block for a silver piece, the boy’s eyes so bright. He showed off the block to Nobby, who remained silent, unsure of what to say.

Cobra eyed up the large young man, wondering how strong he really was. She hadn’t seen him fight much yet, but the others said he was one of the strongest, between the Executives and the younger Iyrmen, who themselves were Experts. He was huge, yes, but his eyes seemed far too innocent, unlike the eyes of the Iyrmen which gleamed so eagerly at death.

‘He must be strong if they’ve left him with Alex as his personal guard.’ Then her eyes went to Uwajin, who seemed seconds away from sleeping constantly. ‘Is she okay?’

Once the children returned back to the inn, Adam greeted them with a beaming smile. “Did you all have fun spending your coin?”

“Yes, mister boss,” the children replied, taking the cue from Nobby. 

Adam let out a satisfied sigh. ‘Yeah, that should definitely be my codename!’ “Did you enjoy yourself, George?”

The boy hid behind Fred, staring at Adam with shock and awe within his eyes still. He had seen Adam fight the Hopes, and though the other children may have been struck by his words, George understood. Not only was Adam fighting the Hopes, he had almost beaten both of them, and only stepped back because Vonda asked. 

‘Scary!’

‘This kid, he wounded me more than either of the Hopes and he’s looking at me like I’m a monster… isn’t he scarier?’ Adam continued to smile, chuckling lightly, before he allowed the children to go chat between one another. 

“He misses his children,” Jurot said.

“We’ll make our way back soon.”

“We will bring back many stories.”

“Yes…” Jurot thought about his most impressive tale. He clashed with the Marshal of the East, so his tale was decent. 

Jaygak thought about what little she had done, though it was fairly decent. She did get to clash with Sir Olivia. 

Kitool managed to kill a knight, perhaps two, causing trouble for Adam and the others. Her tale was not bad either. 

‘More,’ Jurot thought, thinking about his younger sister, and the, now, six children who would gaze up at him as their uncle.

‘Hey, Bell?’

[Yes?]

‘Make sure you’re splitting the XP between everyone in the party, except for the Rays and Hope.’

[Okay.]

‘Thank you.’

Adam had all but forgotten Bell until he realised that he was gaining far too much XP from his recent bouts, realising they had been only split between him rather with his entire party. ‘Is he telling me I need to save up XP for something? I have so much though…’

The festival continued, with the groups being sent out with the children, sometimes all the children staying together, sometimes moving away in their small group. The Iyrmen and the farmers each enjoyed the festival once the children were done. 

‘I guess it’s mostly just dancing and such,’ Adam thought, listening to the music, while the people all moved through the roads together, sometimes marching forward in unison. 

He watched as the various Hopes and Rays rode their steeds through the town, along with the local guardsmen, for watching just a handful of heavily armoured warriors wasn’t quite so impressive, but dozens of them? Even if they weren’t all members of Life’s Rose, what did that matter?

‘I should have beaten them up,’ Adam thought, feeling the flush of alcohol run through him. 

Dunes sat beside him, watching the parade with Adam atop the flat roof of the inn, sipping his wine lightly. “The might the order displays is impressive. The entire town is theirs.”

“Yeah,” Adam replied. “Is your order the same?”

“We have our mountain, we have the nearby villages, but we do not have a town like this. The temple was set within the mountains for its most devout, those who can live within the dangerous mountains, not the commoners who wish not to freeze in nightval.”

“Commoners…” Adam said, letting the word fill the air. “Dunes, am I a commoner?”

“I suppose you are, in a sense.”

“Good.”

“You’re an Executive Commoner?” Dunes joked.

“You’ve got jokes now, do you, Dunes?”

Dunes smiled. “Perhaps you are a commoner, perhaps you are not. I have heard you say your children are more like Princes and Princesses…”

“They are, in my heart.”

“Were you once a noble?”

“You’re asking something too dangerous.”

“I will not pry into your secrets, then” Dunes replied. “Dangerous or not, I can wait.”

“If they were only my secrets, I’d tell you,” Adam said. “You’ve earned that much, my friend.”

“If you say it is that way, then I can only feel happy.”

“…” Adam remained looking out at the festival. “Dunes, if I ever become like that, make sure you keep me grounded.”

“Like what?”

“A filthy noble.”

“If you become a noble, I fear for the world.”

“Yeah.”

“I will assist you when I can, and stop you when I must.”

“Thank you.”

“What are friends for?” Dunes poured the wine in for the half elf, sipping it alongside him. “I had a friend by the name of Ahmed. We grew up together, he was taught by Kal Samira, Kal Samra’s younger sister. We used to fight all the time, though the order made sure to punish us heavily if we ever struck each other’s heads. Body? It was fine, they would heal the wounds of the body, but to strike one’s head, it may rattle the brain, so we must be careful. We would fight and then we would laugh. He said one day he would ride a dragon and blot out the skies with his name.”

“Sounded like a funny guy,” Adam said, noting how Dunes had used past tense.

“Kal Samira, along with other order members, left on a journey. After they missed their deadline by three days. The order sent a few members to scout ahead, those who returned for aid later. Their bodies were found, having been struck by greywyrms, creatures which had long been considered dead across the land. They were brought back to the temple in a hurry. By the time they returned, they had been dead for eleven days.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Eleven days, Adam,” Dunes said. “If it is within one minute, it is a Third Gate spell. If it is ten days, it is a Fifth Gate spell. Eleven days is one too many.”

“I’m sorry.”

Dunes remained silent for a long while. “There is a Second Gate spell which can delay such a limit.”

“Yeah,” Adam replied, slowly nodding his head. 

“When Kal Samira was brought back to life, there was a deep grief which fell across our temple. In their haste, they had forgotten to cast the spell upon some of the younger priests.”

“That’s terrible.”

“Adam, when I saw you fight the Hopes, I thought, ah, so it would have been the same here too.”

“What do you mean?”

“Even in our temple, though we have sworn our oaths, to the Gods and the people, there are politics. Kal Samira held great power and influence, and often clashed with some of the other Elder Priests.”

“…”

“I dared to think, but I did not dare to ask.” Dunes fell silent, sipping his wine slowly.

“I hate politics, Dunes.”

Dunes nodded his head. 

“I’ll crush it in the business.”

“Adam. There are two things which are true in life.”

“Death and taxes?”

“What are taxes if not politics?”

“…”

---

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He's right.