On the way back to the town, Adam remained on high alert. He was still fresh for a fight, but the sense of dread from the anxiety of death loomed like a shadow over him. ‘I need to gain more experience,’ he thought, though quickly shook his head to throw the heads away. 

Once they cleared the forest, Jurot’s steady back leading the group of three, they breathed in and sighed in relief. 

They approached the gates, where a pair of guards greeted them. “Isn’t that the Iyrman and the cheeky young man?”

“I think it is. What are you lot doing out here?” The guards tilted their heads and then their bodies slightly, seeing the top boar on the palanquin, which was pinned by the roof to the dead boar under it. 

“We were working today,” Adam said.

“Working? Today? Didn’t you work yesterday?”

“That’s right, we did.”

“So you worked again today?”

“That’s right.”

“…” The guards looked between one another. “Why?”

“So we can earn money.”

“Didn’t you earn any yesterday.” The guard’s tone was curious as he stared at Adam.

“We did.” Adam nodded in response. 

“Did you spend it?”

“I didn’t spend much.”

“Then why did you work today?”

“So we could have more money to spend.”

“Aren’t you an adventurer?”

“Yes.” Adam nodded once again.

“Oh, you must be saving up for better equipment.”

“Something like that.” The heavily armoured half elf chuckled. ‘Is it really that weird to work daily?’

The guards nodded between one another. “Makes sense I say,” one said.

“Since you didn’t spend much coin, do you have the fee to enter?” the other guard asked.

Adam turned back to the cousins. “Do we pay for you too?”

“If you want us to carry the boars back to the guild.” Remy smiled wide.

“A cheap price to pay.”

Currency
7CP -> 4CP

“Either way, 

Their boots struck the stone floor, but was drowned out by the noisiness of the town. As they made their way the Adventurer’s Guild, a few people glanced in their general direction, seeing the bloodies boars within the palanquin. The sight of a heavily armoured adventurer wasn’t new, but the man jangling through the town stood beside a towering an Iyrman, causing a few to peer at him with keen eyes. 

The Adventurer’s Guild welcome them with its open doors, warmth, and the cold stare of adventurers glancing Adam’s way. ‘Oh, right.’ 

“Welcome back,” Emma said, looking to the porters behind Adam and Jurot. “Did you hunt well today?”

“Very,” Adam replied back with a nod of his head, his armour jangling.

“Heave!”

“Ho!”

Remy and Jeremy placed the palanquin down before them, stepping aside. 

“Seems like I have a lot of appraising to do,” Emma said with a true smile, not a practised smile which she was used to. It was always fun to have work to do. There was only so much writing she enjoyed, and seeing so many words caused her eyes to spiral.

The porters carried the boars around back, with Jurot and Adam arriving once the last boar had been placed down. Two boars lay on the large stone slab with the other two on the floor nearby. Emma went about the checks as she had done so previously, nodding to herself now and again. She blinked a few times, settling her thoughts. 

“They’re wonderful boars,” she said. “Sixteen gold coins, quite a tidy sum for boar hunting. We will part out some meat for you as well.”

Adam whistled, smiling. “Sixteen gold, huh? That’s quite the pretty penny.” Adam looked to Jurot and rubbed the man’s elbow with his own. “Think about how many jam buns we can buy.”

Jurot nodded.

“What did you say the pay was?” Adam asked, looking at the cousins who were definitely not twins.

“Eight silver coins each,” Remy said.

“Sounds good to me. We’ll take it off from the total?” Adam said, looking to Jurot, who nodded once more.

They followed Emma around to the front once again, where she handed them their coins. She piled the eight silver coins separately for each of the porters, which came out to the same amount as the guild’s cut. She also stamped their tags, which were already beginning to fill out. 

Quest Complete
Boar Hunting

XP Gained
+100XP
200XP -> 300XP

Stamps Gained
+1
4 -> 5

Currency Gained
+6GP +4SP
19GP, 8SP -> 25GP, 12SP

Adam could feel his pockets grow heavy. The feeling caused his lips to twitch into a smile, and he could barely help himself from humming. “Make sure you two come back tomorrow,” Adam said. “I think, considering your hard work, I’ll offer you a gold piece each. What say you, Jurot? Do you think they deserve it?”

“If you believe they are worth so much, then I will agree,” Jurot said simply.

“I think so.”

“Yes, sir!” The pair stood up straighter, having not expected a raise from the half elf. Usually Porters would be paid whatever they asked for, and one gold coin was double their typical wage. They had done well with their javelins during the fights, but they still weren’t expected to assist any further than they had done.

‘He’s a generous psychopath, isn’t he?’

‘Seems like it.’

Adam gave them a thumbs up. “Alright, lets head to the bakery for some dessert. Come along, Remy, Jeremy.”

“Yes, sir!” The pair followed Adam and Jurot out, heading towards the bakery. 

As they approached the bakery, Jurot stepped in to find another pair of men there speaking with Pam. He stared at their backs, which caused the men to glance back to see the Iyrman.

“Oh, by Lady Elaveil!” A man brought a hand to his chest, as though he had been struck by Jurot’s piercing gaze. “I didn’t expect an Iyrman behind me today.”

“Looks like you’ll be having good fortune today,” the other man said. 

Adam remained silent, watching the men try to butter up Jurot. Jurot remained still like a statue, staring at the pair of men. The men glanced between the large Iyrman and the adventurer, seeing their Copper Rank tags. Even if they were Copper Rank adventurers, the pair were heavily armed in comparison to the everyday men before them. 

“…”

“…”

The silent cold swept through the pair of men. “Well, I guess we should be leaving now,” they said, grabbing their bags and quickly fleeing. They shuffled past the Iyrman and the heavily armoured half elf. 

‘Damn, I would have pissed my pants if Jurot looked at me like that randomly.’

Jurot stepped forward, looking at the bread on offer. 

“Welcome,” Pam said, smiling at them. “I see you’ve returned. Did you hunt well?”

“Yes,” Jurot replied simply.

“Four boars,” Adam said.

“Four boars?” Pam asked. “Four? How?”

“The porters were a great help,” Adam said, motioning his head to the porters. “We’ve come to order some jam buns for them too.”

“I’m glad you’ve come back safe. I hope you were paid a lot!” Pam giggled cheekily towards them.

‘How terrifying,’ Jurot through. ‘I can feel her giggle strike my chest! It’s deadlier than any spear I’ve seen.’

Adam looked to Jurot, seeing how the man turned slightly flush in the bakery. Adam’s smile widened, his eyes sparkling with mischief. “Since we’ll be getting a cut of meat soon, I’ll have Jurot send some meat along to you. It’s only because of your wonderful bread that we’ve been able to hunt so well, isn’t that right?” Adam glanced back to the cousins.

‘Wait, is he trying to…’

‘…’

“That’s right!” The pair nodded their head, flexing their well developed muscles towards Pam. 

“They say Red Oak was built with bread and wood!” Remy declared.

“They tried to build it with only wood, but it was harder to eat!”

“That’s what they say!”  

“I’ve never heard that,” Jurot replied back. “What story is this from?”

The cousins blinked towards Jurot. They turned to Adam, each of them placing a hand on Adam’s shoulder knowingly.

‘This Iyrman will be hard work.’

‘Good luck.’

‘Thank you.’

“…” Jurot stared at them.

“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” Pam said, smiling nervously. “It’s our pleasure that you order from us.”

“We insist,” Adam said. “Jurot, you’ll swing by with some meat later, right?”

“If Pam doesn’t want it, then I won’t.”

“Jurot,” Adam said, leaning in closer to Jurot’s face. “You’ll bring the meat, right?”

“If Pam doesn’t want it, then I won’t.”

There was a bolt of electricity between their eyes, two predators staring into one another’s eyes. 

Pam stared at the two of them, wondering what they were up to. ‘They won’t fight, will they? Oh dear…’

Adam relented. “Then I’ll just bring some meat around later. We can trade some bread for the meat.”

“Meat is far more expensive.”

“Just take it as our gratitude then.”

“…” Pam wasn’t sure if she should. They were rough adventurers, though. “Well, if Jurot is going to bring it, then maybe…”

Jurot’s head snapped around to stare at her. “I’ll definitely bring it!”

“O-oh?” Pam straightened up under his intense gaze and tone of voice. She blinked at him confused. 

“I will definitely bring it.”

“Okay…” 

Adam smiled. “Then let’s order a lot of bread to go with the meat too! Four jam buns, and four of your best loaves.”

“All of our loaves are the best,” Pam said quickly, though she quickly stepped to the side to grab four hot loaves from nearby. It was light, soft and airy, and was patterned atop with light and dark stripes. 

“What’s that?” Adam asked, staring down at it. 

“Red tiger loaves,” she said.

“They don’t look very red.”

“Wait until you open it!” She smiled. “They are two silver pieces each.”

Adam whistled. “Must be some good bread.”

“You asked for our best loaves.”

“You said all your loaves were the best?”

“These are the best of the best!” Pam declared, crossing her arms like Jurot.

‘They must be the best,’ Adam thought, seeing as though she had taken the Jurot stance.

‘They must be the best,’ Jurot thought, seeing as though she had taken the Imrat stance.

“Then we’ll take four of them!” Adam said. “We’ll go halves this time.”

“I will pay,” Jurot said, placing down six silver coins. “Four jam buns, four red tiger loaves.”

Pam smiled wider. “Thank you for shopping here!”

Jurot nodded his head, unable to say anything to her beaming smile. ‘S-scary.’

Adam felt his soul fill with the romance in the air. ‘I’m full.’ 

They enjoyed their jam buns in the fresh air, which tasted even sweeter to Adam who had seen the romance blooming. He turned to see Remy and Jeremy keeping their jam buns in the thin parchment. “You’re not going to eat it?”

“We’ll save it for our wives.”

‘If they knew we ate tarts and jam buns without them…’ The pair exchanged a look between one another.

“Hmm.” Adam stared up at both of them. “You two are manly. Don’t worry about it, those jam buns are for you.” He held out two silver coins for them. “Why don’t you buy some more for your family?”

Currency
12SP -> 10SP

“W-we can’t do that.”

“Take it as a tip for today’s hard work. I want you to make sure your wives are happy. Happy wife, happy life. Happy life, happy strife.”

“Strife?”

“Strife, as in, work.”

“Right.”

“I wanted it to rhyme.”

“Right.” 

“I understand that it was terrible, but I wanted to do it anyway.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“No,” Adam said, licking his lips, “but I had to say it anyway.”

“…”

‘Hey, do you see what I’m seeing?’

‘Yeah.’

‘…’

‘Do you think he’s going to work us hard tomorrow?

‘He might.’

‘Let’s follow him for a while before we judge him.’

‘If he’s a good guy, let’s cling closely.’

Adam said his goodbyes, putting his helmet on properly to hide his identity again. He set Jurot away first to take the meat, before he went to have a bath in peace. He sighed as he sunk in the heat. 

“There’s so many things to be done. Not just Sonarot and Lanarot, but everyone else too. Freya’s still dormant, probably. Entalia…” He sighed deeper, rubbing his face. “Who would have thought I would be missing you teasing me so much?”

[Everyone you’re missing is a woman.]

“What are you trying to say?” Adam grumbled at Bell. “What about Joti, huh?” He sighed again, sinking deeper into the bath. “I’ve made a few promises, and though they were in my last life…” His heart sank deeper than he did. 

‘Freya’s still going to be all alone.’

He frowned.

He had no reason why he should help them. The people he knew are gone, but the memories of them were still set deep within his heart.