Omen: 4, 10

“Nobby, my boy!” Adam called, seeing the large figure waiting for him in the morning besides his uncles. 

“That’s Nobby?” Lucy said, licking her lips, trying to stop her drool.

Nobby noted the appearance of the Devilkin, and though he tried not to be taken aback, seeing her stare at him like he was a piece of meat, it made him look aside. 

“Stop it,” Adam said, patting her back. “He’s just a wee boy of fifteen.”

“He’s fifteen?” Lucy asked, staring at Adam. “You expect me to believe that.”

“Nobby’s sixteen now, ain’t you, Nobby?” Remy said, patting the boy’s back. 

“Yes.”

‘That means he’s fine to pluck,’ Lucy thought.

“His birthday was the ninth of the ninth,” Remy said. 

“We took him out for some drinks,” Jeremy added.

“Fella didn’t want to head to the bro-“

Jeremy slapped the table. “So, boss, what kinda work you need us for today?”

“Same work as before, I think?” Adam said, looking to Nobby. “You spoke to your pops, Nobby?”

“Yes.”

“You want to be trained by the Iyrman?”

“Yes.”

“Your parents are fine with that?”

“Yes.”

“Alright,” Adam said. “I need to go and give them their sign up fee, and I’ll confirm it with them, get that contract written up, and we can head out.”

“We should buy him an axe and a shield,” Jurot said. 

“You think he can use axes like ours?” Adam asked.

Jurot shook his head. “A smaller axe should be fine.”

“You want him up in front right away?” Remy asked.

“Don’t worry,” Adam said. “Nobby’s safe beside the three of us.”

“I don’t mean no disrespect boss, but…”

“Haven’t you heard?” Adam asked.

“Heard what?”

“The three of us are Experts.”

“Experts?” Remy gasped.

Jeremy stared at Adam, but his eyes fell to Jurot.

Jurot smiled. “Yes,” he said.

Jeremy and Remy raised their brows in surprise. “How did you manage that?”

“Have you forgotten who I am?” Adam asked. “Adam, Son of Fate. Don’t think about it too much.”

‘How did he become an Expert so quickly?’

‘The Iyrman started his journey recently…’

Jeremy and Remy could feel how heavy their purses were going to become.

‘I’ll be able to take the missus out to that nice place she wants to go too,’ Remy thought.

‘Should I buy a new table?’ Jeremy thought. ‘A nice set of chairs too? No, no, some nice plates? From the East?’

Adam could see them already calculating how to spend the gold he was going to give them. He shook his head. “Jurot, take this gold and equip Nobby with a shield and an axe. I’ll go and sort out the contract.” Adam placed down ten gold coins. “This should be fine, right?”

Jurot nodded, taking Nobby with him to a smithy nearby. 

‘Should I ask Thundersmith to make him something nice?’ Adam wondered. ‘Nah, maybe when he’s an Expert? Or when he’s finally Level Three or so?’

“Morning, Tom,” Adam called, heading to the front desk. “Mind if we have a word?”

“Is this about the contract?” Tom asked. 

Adam nodded. “Yeah.”

Tom brought out a sheet of paper, letting Adam read it.

“What do you think of the contract?” Adam asked.

“I believe it is more than fair,” Tom said. “You decided to cut the contract up until the point that Nobby becomes an Expert. Why?”

“Well, I think it’ll take a couple of years to train the lad, but I don’t know what my future will look like in that time,” Adam admitted. “Once we get there, I’ll figure the rest out with him and his parents.”

Tom nodded. “We will send the contract with a worker and have them explain the intricacies. Luckily, it is simple enough to explain, and you haven’t include any vague language, other than the time it will take for Nobby to become an Expert.”

“It’s all thanks to you,” Adam said. “It was ten gold, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’ll leave the rest to you,” Adam said, placing down an obsidian gem. 

Tom bowed his head, accepting the gem, and he folded the contract up into an envelope.

“Could I ask you to kindly break this gem?” Adam asked, placing down a tiger eye from the Iyr.

“Break the gem?”

“Into gold, I mean. Ah, actually, I need some more obsidian too.” Adam placed down another two tiger eyes. “Speaking of which, can the send money to Nobby’s parents monthly?”

“We offer the service,” Tom said. “How long do you wish to send money to them.”

“I don’t want to worry about it for a while,” Adam said. “So how about…” Adam placed down two tiger eyes gems. “How much will it cost for you to sort that out for me?”

Tom stared at Adam. “You needn’t worry about the cost, we will send them the money monthly until these two gems run out.”

“Now that I think about it…” Adam placed down another three obsidian. “Thirteen months in a year, right? I don’t want to think about it until then.”

Tom’s lips almost twitched into a smile. “As you wish.” He handed Adam the change from breaking his various gems, and set a note for the money to be sent to the group monthly. 

Tom recalled one section of the contract. 

‘Twenty eight days of paid vacation? How is it that his policies are greater than the Guild’s?’ 

Adam stepped out, putting up his cloak to cover his ears, heading out towards Nobby’s place, with his pouch fat and heavy with gold. 

‘Damn. I’m so rich. Am I a fat cat now? Nah, I don’t have a business. Yet.’

Adam knocked on the door for the house and waited. 

“Yes?” called a familiar voice. 

“It’s me, Adam,” Adam said. 

“Just a moment!”

Eventually the door was opened and Ted’s wife opened the door. 

“Ah, good morning, Mrs…”

“You can call me Annie.”

“Ah, a beautiful name,” Adam said. “Mind if I come inside?”

“Oh, um… please do,” she said, meekly, stepping back.

Adam stepped inside to see that the girl was peeking at him from the other room, and there was no one else around. There was some clothing which was folded neatly, and a sewing needle nearby, threat slipped through it.

“Where’s Ted?” Adam asked.

“He’s at work,” Annie replied. 

“Oh,” Adam said. “Right. Well, I won’t be keeping you then.” Adam placed down a pouch of gold. “Here’s fifty gold.”

“Fifty gold?” Annie asked, her eyes wide. She hadn’t ever seen that much coin on her table. 

“Yeah,” Adam replied, simply. 

“For what?”

“A thank you?” Adam said. “Something like that.”

“A thank you?”

“The moment Jurot laid eyes on your son, he wanted to train him,” Adam said. “He’s a big, strong lad. He’s an Iyrman’s…” Adam wasn’t sure if he should continue that sentence. “Well, you can consider it a finder’s fee or something. Or, you can consider it for what it really is.”

“What is it really?” Annie asked nervously. 

“You’re both too thin,” Adam said. “And your daughter is so small. Use the money to eat properly, and to pay for whatever the little girl needs. It’s fifty gold to keep my conscious clear.”

Annie wasn’t sure what Adam was doing. She understood what he was saying, of course, but why would he care about them this much?

“What’s her name?” Adam asked.

For a moment, Annie’s eyes flashed with terror. “Anne.”

“Is that your name little girl?” Adam asked. 

The girl had disappeared behind the frame, but she peeked out. She nodded her head slowly. 

Adam squatted down. “Come here,” Adam said. 

Annie wasn’t sure what Adam was doing, but she was aware of the pan which was nearby. ‘He’s an Expert, but if I can hit him in the back of the head.’

Anne slowly drew nearer, wearing several layers of rags, though they were quite clean. 

Adam reached into his pocket. “Hold out your hand.”

She looked to her mother, who had crept to the pan. Annie nodded her head slowly. Anne reached out with her tiny little hand.

Adam placed a gold coin in her hand. “You know what this is?”

She nodded her head.

“This is your gold coin. The gold in the bag is your parents’ gold, but this gold coin is yours. Only you’re allowed to spend it, understand?”

The girl stared at the gold coin with bright eyes. She nodded her head emphatically. 

“What do you say when someone does something nice for you?” Adam asked.

The girl looked up at Adam, a little confused.

“Manners are free, don’t you know?” Adam joked.

“Thank the kind man, Anne,” Annie said, the pan within arm’s reach.

“Thank you,” the girl said, quietly. 

Adam smiled. “Alright. I’ll come by one day to check if they stole the gold from you. If they do, I’ll give them a good talking to, okay?”

Anne nodded her head. 

“Alright, well, I should probably head back.” Adam hoisted himself up, before he turned. He noted the woman had gripped the pan, but hadn’t moved it. “I’ll leave you to your cooking.” Adam smiled, walking out. “Goodbye.”

“Goodbye,” Annie said, unsure of what happened. 

Adam whistled, feeling good about giving away so much gold. ‘Damn. This is addicting.’

It was only after Adam had returned back to the Guild that he understood what had happened and why Annie had reached for the pan.

‘I just miss being a good big brother,’ Adam thought, innocently as his heart ached.

 

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My sleep is F.