‘By the Divine, they’re back?’ the Commander thought, feeling the glare of the Vice Commander of the Floral Sun’s eye.

The woman stepped out of the cart. She was thick, mostly with muscle, with dark eyes and dark hair, freshly cut by her daughter, the baker. Upon her forehead was the same tattoo that caused the Vice Commander’s eye to throb. She wore the Iyrman’s furs, carried a shield upon her back, and an axe at her side. Most importantly was the small pouch she held within her hand, holding it up to the Commander.

“Greetings, Iyrman.”

“Greetings, Commander.”

The Commander stepped forward towards the Iyrman, leaving his guards behind him, though felt a figure follow him. He opened up the pouch, noting all the gold and silver coins within, for the people and the carriages.

“Are you his daughter?” the Vice Commander asked.

“Yes.”

Esme slowly bowed her head, her eye meeting the young Iyrmen’s she had met earlier. She walked between the carriages and reached down to her amulet, which glowed gently. “Why have you brought the demons?”

“They wished to come,” Sonarot replied casually.

“What is your justification?”

“What justification do we need?”

“For us not to draw our blades, you will need appropriate justification.”

“We would not wish for justification to refuse such fun,” Sonarot stated, flashing the smile of an Iyrman, filled with arrogance and delight.

“You might be his daughter, but you are still a girl compared to me.”

“We must be on our way,” an Iyrman said, his voice low. He sat upon the driver’s seat of the cart, his arms crossed. He was old, with greyish skin, tusks, a thick beard, braided, and shoulder length hair. Upon his back he wore a greatsword, which had been gifted to him recently. His granddaughter, who was sleeping peacefully, sat upright upon hearing his voice, blinking away the sleepiness.

Sonarot bowed her head lightly, flashing a polite smile to the Vice Commander, before returning back to the cart.

“What if I must insist?” Esme reached down to her blade, the members of her Order reaching down for their blades too, waiting for her command.

“If you must insist, then you must insist,” the Iyrman said, slowly standing, stretching out his muscles before hopping down.

The other driver sighed, dropping down from his cart, before approaching the Iyrman. He placed a hand on his shoulder, stating something clearly, though in the Iyr’s tongue. The bearded Iyrman closed his eyes, falling into thought for a moment. He replied with a statement in their tongue.

“Speak openly, Iyrmen.”

“Koyah, wishes to take your other eye, but I have refused,” the bearded Iyrman replied simply.

Sir Esme remained silent for a long moment, staring at the pair of Iyrmen. Her forehead pulse. “You must know who I am.”

“Sir Esme. Vice Commander of Floral Sun.”

“Since you already know who I am, who are you?”

“I am Rajin, the Bearded Dragon.”

“Who?”

Rajin remained silent, his eyes falling upon the Commander, who stared up at the Iyrman questioningly.

“Rajin is more well known in the North,” Koyah explained, doing his absolute best to remain silent.

‘If I haven’t heard of him, then he must…’ The Commander closed his eyes. ‘Bearded Dragon?’ The name seemed familiar, and as he continued to wrack his mind, he had the strange suspicion he had read about the name recently.

“The Bearded Dragon is the reason why Count Westmoon is still alive,” called a voice from the carriage, the young Iyrman smiling innocently. She had red skin, horns, and a mischievous smile upon her face.

‘Ah!’ The Commander blinked. ‘That Bearded Dragon!’ “I have heard there was some trouble last year.”

“Trouble?” Rajin reached up to scratch his beard. “I did fight Gentle Heart, or was it Majestic Blade?” Rajin spoke as though he wasn’t sure which of the warriors he had almost killed. “I would have liked to have faced them both, but I had to keep Mad Dog from killing the Count.”

Uwajin stared at her grandfather, who rarely spoke so much, especially not with so much strength in his voice, that was to say, at a normal volume.

“You speak so arrogantly,” Sir Esme said.

“What is so arrogant about defeating a pair of Masters?”

‘Stop it!’ The Commander’s heart began to pound violently within his chest. ‘You damned Iyrmen, why are you making my job so difficult?’

“Aunt?” Jaygak asked, raising her brows for support, while Lucy leaned back into the cart, wanting to turn invisible.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“Okay,” Sonarot replied. “Uncle, please step back. Since my daughter is preoccupied within the business, I have taken responsibility for the demons.”

“Your daughter?”

“Ray Vonda, of Life’s Rose.”

“She is your daughter?”

“She is my daughter, as I am the daughter of the Mad Dog.”

‘What does- ah, that.’ “I did not realise you were the Ray’s mother.”

“Is that enough justification, Sir Esme?”

“I will allow you to leave in peace,” the Vice Commander stated, though her forehead continued to pulse. Though she wanted to step forward and fight, seeing the Commander tense up at the realisation of who the Bearded Dragon was, she decided to let him go. The daughter of the Mad Dog was still not good enough for her revenge anyhow.

The Iyrmen swiftly made their way away, the dusk sun at their backs as their magical steeds pulled the carts. The Commander watched the carts go, heading to Red Oak. ‘Who was the other Iyrman?’

Koyah’s carriage caught up to Rajin’s, driving beside him for a moment. “You already have a recent tale, Bearded Dragon.”

“This is a similar matter, Blessed Blade.”

“Is it?”

“I feel it so.”

“She is not yet a Grandmaster, it would not have been an appropriate tale.”

“I would defeat her quicker.”

Koyah let out a snort. “Will you cause a mess in Red Oak?”

“I am not the Mad Dog.”

Koyah’s laughter echoed in the air, drifting away to the horizon with the wind.

Jaygak leaned back in her cart, throwing a look to Uwajin, who awoke upon hearing her grandfather’s voice, but fell asleep when she could no longer hear it. ‘How many Iyrmen are active this early in dawnval?’ She thought to the driver, Koyah, who was a Grandmaster, and had joined upon their journey east on a whim. ‘If he joined us so easily, then there must be more Iyrmen out.’

Jaygak’s eyes then fell to Sonarot, who had decided to leave the business due to her joke, a joke that was funny because it was rooted in truth. Even though the root was true, and cringe, even Jaygak couldn’t help but smile upon the thought of seeing her younger siblings again. ‘How could you have corrupted me this much, Adam?’

While the President and a pair of Executives and Managers had made their way to Red Oak, Adam checked his book to see how many months he could get away with not working. He sat with the other Executives and Managers in Jurot’s personal residence, while the Leads remained at the other section of the fort.

“Although I was of two minds of allowing Jurot to test Jane, it seems she’s capable enough, and she understands just how ridiculous the Executives are,” Dunes joked, checking his notes. “It must be why she accepted such a low wage.”

“I was only joking but she accepted it just like that and now it feels too awkward to deny her sincerity,” Adam admitted, flushing slightly. “We’ll just add in something, like, like, bumping her up the list for a magical weapons. Speaking of which, I’m planning on equipping Rick and the others with some magical weapons, nothing crazy, Basic weapons.”

“Some of the new guards require equipment,” Jurot stated.

“Oh, right.” Adam checked his notes, writing down a reminder for himself. “What did you say? Four with armour, and then there’s Thomas?”

“Yes.”

“Aria, Theo, Alfie, and Arlo? So many A’s and T’s, seriously. I’m already so bad with names and then it just so happened that everyone we’re training had to be named similarly. I mean, come on, Theo and Thomas? Alfie and Arlo? Aria I can manage, since all I need to think about is a needle.”

“A needle?” Vonda asked.

“From the story.”

“With the throne?”

“That’s the one.” Adam sipped his flavoured water, which tasted like mango, the group’s favourite.

“Amira, Aria,” Dunes joked, smiling towards his wife, who rolled her eyes. “I’m glad we named her Ranya, there aren’t many with a similar name.”

“How could I ever confuse our adorable Ranya? There’s no way, no way, I say.”

“I was informed you wished to stop being a fool?” Amira asked.

“I need to be a little bit of an idiot, otherwise I’d be too perfect, and the Iyr will kill me.”

“They cannot,” Jurot said.

“They can’t?” Adam asked, peering towards his brother curiously.

Jurot remained silent for a long moment. “It would be difficult.”

“See? Not even Jurot can guarantee it.” Adam chuckled, reaching out to punch Jurot’s bicep gently. “Don’t be so down, you punk. If you threatened the Iyr, they’d kill you too.”

“I would not threaten the Iyr,” Jurot replied simply.

“You wished to stop business with Red Oak?” Amira asked.

“Since the Countess doesn’t want our business, what can I do?” Adam asked.

“How will it be replaced?”

“Well…” Adam frowned. “I mean, we can’t really do Deadwood.”

“What of Ever Green?” Vonda asked.

“Ever Green? I wasn’t thinking about it since it’s a part of Floria.”

“We should continued auctions within a town.”

“Not here?” Adam asked.

“It may bring trouble to the villagers if we auction weapons here, and nobles would find it troublesome to come, and you would be unable to squeeze the gold out of their purses,” Vonda said, smiling so innocently towards her husband.

“Do you think I don’t know you’re playing me like a fiddle?” Adam asked.

“Shall I stop?”

“No, definitely not.” Adam flushed slightly, clearing his throat. ‘Obviously you can manipulate me all you like, darling.’

“Why don’t you flirt with me like that?” Amira asked, her eyes glaring at her husband.

“It is Ray Vonda who is flirting with her husband,” Dunes replied, throwing his wife a look, a playful smirk upon his lips.

“Executive Adam, do you see the kind of husband I have? He’s lucky he’s so handsome.”

“Right, isn’t he?” Adam replied. He frowned. “Hold on. Dunes, aren’t you strong, handsome, and wise?”

“Am I?”

“You’re too perfect, so I should fire you.”

“Fire me?”

“You should be removed from the Manager position.”

“My wife is also so beautiful, strong, and wise?”

“How can you flirt while we’re in an important meeting?” Adam asked, tutting, writing down a note. “This is going to come up during your quarterly report.”

“Quarterly report?”

“Damn it. You guys have no idea how funny these jokes are.” Adam sighed. “Alright, alright, let’s stop messing around and actually do some work, yeah? Alright, so Ever Green? What about Eagle Wing? That’s about roughly as far, and it’s Aldland.”

“We should place auctions in both,” Jurot said. “Eagle Wing is close to the capital of West Aldland, and is not so far away from the capital of Aldland. Ever Green is prestigious, and though it is smaller than Red Oak, the people are wealthier, and it holds much prestige. King Merryweather is from a village close to it, and it is also close to the Florian Fort near the border to Aswadasad.”

“Aswadasad…” Adam tapped the table. “Aswadasad’s pretty far, but we should figure something out for there later.”

“We should stabilise our positions with Aldland and Floria first,” Jurot said. “Through Floria, we can make dealing with Aswadasad.”

“Oh yeah?” Adam asked.

“Floria and Aswadasad hold some tension from their generational grievances, but King Merryweather fought for them. Few Aswadians would care for revenge due to their respect of the previous King’s Sword.” Jurot glanced towards Dunes.

“I would think the Aswadians are so wise,” Dunes stated, flashing a charming smile. “Though, I have left my Order to join your business.”

“You make it sound like it was a bad idea,” Adam joked.

“I’m sure Sara and Korin will temper the Priest Commander, but I will find myself at the mercy of a club one day.”

“I’ll do my best to try and ask for leniency.”

“I will ask Jurot to assist at that time, so that you do not change the club to a blade.”

“I’m not that bad, am I?” Adam asked, before glancing between his friends and family. “Okay, don’t all of you hurry to defend me…”