“At least let me say goodbye to my kids before you kill me,” Adam said, sipping the tea lightly, sitting opposite the Chief in his gazebo, in the centre of his estate.

“I will not kill you today,” Chief Iromin assured, his voice smooth and reassuring. He sipped his tea too, noting the smirk upon the half elf’s face.

“I gathered as much since Jurot didn’t come along.” Adam placed the cup on the table, not spending the effort to judge the Chief’s face.

Iromin raised a finger, before it was joined with the rest of his hand, as though about to slap the half elf. He waited a few moments. “You wished to speak with me.”

“Yeah,” Adam replied, shuffling awkwardly in his seat to try and get comfortable, but the bench, though covered with a large plush blanket pulled taut, was still far too rigid. After unsuccessfully finding a comfortable spot to calm himself, the half elf inhaled. “I first want to say, thank you. For everything.”

Iromin bowed his head lightly, allowing the half elf to continue.

“In my first life, excuse me, my second life, I managed to survive about a year. I didn’t get to see Lanarot grow up. Now she… her lungs know no bounds when it comes to her sheer… want for blood and death.” Adam reached up to hold the bridge of his nose, rubbing it gently. “My poor Lanababy is growing up well, even if she’s been corrupted by the Iyr.”

“…”

“I made a promise that I wasn’t going to be cringe as much, but that only lasted for nightval,” Adam admitted. “Still, I probably should mature. First, let me be cringe a little more, Chief.”

Iromin bowed his head once more, sipping his tea, waiting for Adam to complete his rant.

“In this life, I’ve done more than my first two lives. I mean, other than the, well, the thing, I have done so much more. I’ve made a business. I’ve made a friend of a giant Prince, though this time it’s fire and not ice. There’s a story about a song of ice and fire, but that’s a story for another time.”

‘Is he speaking of the story with the throne?’ Iromin thought.

“I’m a married man. Well, I was a father before I was a married man, but…” Adam leaned back upon his seat, closing his eyes. “If I retire now, I’ll be satisfied. I have everything I would want, everything I would need.”

“Do you?” Iromin asked, as though he didn’t know the answer.

Adam smiled slightly. “No. I’m just lying to myself. I’ve made promises I need to keep. Promises from my past life, promises from this life. In order to complete those dreams, I need to mature, and I need to pick some fights I probably shouldn’t pick.”

Iromin narrowed his eyes slightly.

“I owe the Iyr so much. You’ve protected me and my family. Even though it’s your duty to look after Lanarot, you’ve done so much in looking after my children too. With Jirot and Jarot, when I found them in the dirt. Hell, I didn’t even know my triplets existed until their granduncle found them. Then there’s Larot, who, just like my first five, just sort of popped up into my life. Now Virot, the first child I knew was coming, and my seventh.” Adam fell silent, unsure of how to continue. “Thank you.”

“It is not the Iyr you should thank, but those you call your aunts and uncles,” Iromin replied.

“Yeah, but ultimately it’s the Iyr which allows it.”

“They have broken no rules, so we will not stop them. It is up to the the families of how they treat you and your children. If in the eyes of the Rot, Kan, Ool, Gak families, and even the other families which have accepted your children, view your children as one of their own, we cannot stop them.”

‘Eh?’ Adam stared into Iromin’s eyes. “What do you mean?”

“As long as no rules are broken, and they are able to justify any transgressions, we cannot stop them.”

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“We?”

“The Great Elders, Minor Elders, or any other.”

Adam narrowed his eyes at the Great Elder. He was certain that in terms of individual executive power, Iromin was second, only to Elder Story. Sometimes, the other Great Elders, in their own domain, outranked the Chief, but the Chief was considered the greatest even in the nearby lands. ‘Not only you, but any of the others can’t?’ “What about if all of you joined together?”

Iromin paused, wondering how Adam managed to ask the right question. “If we all come together to ask, the matter must be serious. Never, in the history of the Iyr, has such a moment come to pass, and I pray it will not come to pass forever.” Iromin closed his eyes, thinking of the consequences of such an action. Surely, if it came to pass, and the families refused to comply, they would need to be purged.

Adam felt a cold trickle of sweat run down the side of his forehead. ‘I wish I hadn’t heard that.’ “Well, either way, I want to say thank you. I realised that I’ll keep causing trouble. Again and again. I’ll do my best, but I know me, I’ll probably do something dumb, and due to Fate, I’m sure something will happen, since it’s me we’re talking about. That’s why… I don’t want to drag the Iyr down with me. I’ve come to ask for us to reconsider the business’ relationship with the Iyr, in terms of how many guards you send.”

“That is a matter for Elder Gold.”

“I also want to apologise, I realised I forgot to hand over a Greater Enhanced weapon as part of last year’s payment.”

“You handed over two.”

“I did?”

“To the Jin family.”

Adam furrowed his brows. “That’s not part of the deal.”

“It was considered so.”

“No. That was a thank you from me to the Jin family. That wasn’t business, that was personal, Chief.”

“What of the glave?”

“That’s…” Adam thought for a long moment. “That also doesn’t count. That was personal too. Personal matters and business matters are separate.”

Iromin slowly bowed his head. Since Adam was going this far to benefit the Iyr, then he could only accept the favour.

“I… also have been thinking about my children. Though they might be children of the Rot family, I can’t help but think their relationship with the Iyr is really awkward. They…” Adam swallowed, clearing his throat as he felt his throat constrict and his eyes burn for a moment. “I know that they adore the Iyr, and their family, but I think it’s best for them to grow up in the business.”

Iromin leaned back, causing Adam to pause. The Chief’s eyes judged Adam, taking the half elf within his sights. “Adam?”

“Yes?”

“Are you truly Adam?”

Adam smiled out of confusion. “Of course I’m Adam, who else would I be?”

“Are you telling me you are truly the Adam that I know?”

“What’s with the jokes?”

“Do you think I’m joking?”

“Well, I mean, yeah?”

Iromin reached beneath the table, and held out a small vial filled with a clear liquid, save for a black spot. “Drink it.”

“Okay,” Adam replied, undoing the cork, before shooting back the drink, tasting the bitterness. As he swallowed it down, he felt the liquid invade through his body. He blinked as a shape blurred in front of him.

Health: 112 -> 105

“Do not resist,” Iromin said calmly, as a trickle of blood slipped down the side of Adam’s neck while the Chief kept a knife to him.

Constitution Save:

Voluntary failure!

Once the liquid invaded through him, his body tensing up repeatedly, before the feeling passed. Adam panted for the air, wincing slightly at the dagger against his neck. The Chief pulled back, staring deep into Adam’s eyes.

“What was all that?”

“I needed to confirm you were not an imposter.”

“Why would you think that?”

“You would never put your children in danger.”

Adam reached placed his hand down on the table. “I… know that it’s a mistake, but… if anything happens to the Iyr because I made a mistake, it’ll end up worse for them. I’m close with the Rot family, and the other families, and though I’d lay my life down for the Iyr, I want you to be able to toss me away if you need to survive. If my children are in danger, I know the Iyr will take good care of them, and if something happens to me, I know the Iyr will look after them. Whether it’s the Rot family, or whether it’s the Iyr itself, I have that much faith in you.”

“What made you change your mind?”

“I realised I’ve leaned on the Iyr far too much recently. It’s made me cocky and arrogant. I’ve been busy picking so many fights, I mean, I haven’t been picking them, but you know how the nobles are.” Adam raised his brows. “There’s a reason Jaygak and I get along, even though I don’t have horns.”

‘It truly is Adam if he is willing to joke even now.’

“The Iyrmen can get away with it in Aldland, but I can’t. I keep flirting with death, and my brother, Jaygak, Kitool, they’ve been on the edge with me, ready and willing to fight. I didn’t want anything to happen to them before, even though it didn’t seem like it, but now? What…” Adam paused for a moment. “Chief, what do I tell Damrot if something happens to Jurot?”

“…”

“What…” Adam shook his head, covering his eyes, rubbing his pulsing temples. “Chief, what will Jurot have to tell my children, if something happens to me, because I was an idiot? What will I say to them, if something happens to their aunts and uncles, because they ended up risking their lives because I did something stupid? I can face down all kinds of threats, but I can’t deal with the children. Even now, I’m afraid of what to tell my kids when I tell them I want to raise them in the fort. I’m sure it’ll be fine, they’ll still have some of their family around, but…”

“I understand.”

“Thank you, Chief. For everything. For all that you’ve done. For me. For my family.”

Iromin bowed his head, but remained silent. He thought for a moment and realised that Adam being able to surprise him like this meant it must really be Adam.