“I hope you enjoy the shield, and I wanted to speak to you about full plate,” Adam said, pouring the Priest a cup of tea. “I know you’re a follower of, uh…”

“Lady Tempest,” Mork replied, sipping the hot tea, feeling it almost burn his lips. His skin was pale like snow, his chestnut hair tied into a bun. He wore his brother’s breast plate over chain, which required a little adjusting with an extra layer of clothes, but otherwise fit him quite well. Dangling over his chest was an amulet stamped with a lightning bolt, and half a cloud towards Mork’s left. He carried two blades at his side, one more familiar to Adam, for he was the one to forge and enchant it, while the other was a shorter blade.

“You’d think after all these years I’d get better at remembering names, especially of the Divine.” Adam chuckled, sipping the tea, and though it was hot, Adam only felt a gentle warmth from it.

“They are the first names I learnt, like most children,” Mork replied, a glint in his eyes speaking more than his words, but he didn’t dare to pry further.

“I wasn’t born around these parts, if that wasn’t obvious,” Adam replied, smiling slightly. “Still, I know my basic manners. We were planning on forging some full plate for you, since the symbol of the business will be front and centre, I wanted to ask you if you’re comfortable with that, or if there are any modifications we can make that would make it more comfortable for you.”

Mork continued to sip his tea in thought. It wasn’t every day that someone told you they were going to make you full plate, armour worth over a thousand gold, and depending on the smith, sometimes reaching up to ten thousand gold. There was the small issue of the symbol, since he was a follower of Lady Tempest, and having someone else’s symbol so prominently displayed was rather awkward.

“How prominent?”

“Well, about as prominent as the others,” Adam admitted.

‘The lines are engraved with exquisite detail, but if I were to wear such, it would not be right,’ Mork thought, sipping his tea. “The armour, it would be mine?”

“It will be lent to you for a period of time. After a decade, it will be yours, though I’m sure we’ll gift it to you quicker. With the Reavers coming, and with how hard you’ll need to work, we will reduce the time required.”

“What of the blade?”

“It’ll be yours after an additional ten years of service, but, again, you’ll probably get it before the twenty years are up. I mean, a Basic Enhanced weapon after ten years of service, with what we pay you is nice, but, I don’t think I can buy your loyalty through full plate, a Greater Shield, and a Basic Enhanced blade.”

“If you are trying to buy my loyalty, you are very good at it,” Mork joked, flashing a wide smile and the pair chuckled together.

“Let me know about the armour whenever you’re free, and I’ll let the smith know, and we can figure something out.”

“If the smith is able to engrave the lines with a lighter touch, it would be acceptable,” Mork said, finishing the tea.

“Alright, we can do that,” Adam replied with a quick nod, before pouring the Priest more tea. “How is the shrine to Lady Tempest? Do you have everything you need? Is there a particular material she would like, or any particular designs?”

“The shrine is acceptable,” Mork replied, smiling politely.

“After a few years I’ll see about converting something to a proper temple, and build Lady Tempest something worthy of your hard work, but for now, please accept the shrine. We’ve set aside some donations for the good Lady, and after a few years, we’ll send them to a proper temple. If you’d like, I’ll let you choose which temples can accept the gold until we finally make our own proper temple, and…”

Mork watched as the half elf fell silent, his eyes looking through space into his mind.

‘And what? Is the business going to have its own congregation for Lady Tempest?’ Adam furrowed his brows, before reaching into his robe, taking out his book, jotting down his notes, before slipping it back into his robe. “I’ll… figure something out. If you have any ideas, please, let me know.”

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“Thank you for your concern, Executive. I will advise in whatever way I can.”

“As always, appreciate the good work, Brother Mork. No, Father Mork?”

“I have been gifted Third Gate spells, you may refer to me as Father, though I am not officially ordained as a Father by my temple. It would be best for me to gain such in a few years time, when they view me as old enough.”

“You have to be a certain age?”

“No, but they would refuse on the grounds of my youth,” the Priest replied, shrugging his shoulders.

“Ah, well, I guess that kind of makes sense. Some people will feel jealous about others gaining magical items quicker than…” Adam’s eyes fell to the side at Mork’s side. ‘Wait…’

It wasn’t long until Adam spoke his worries to his Aunt, who had expected the half elf to come and speak about the matter of the shields, not about the weapons.

“I don’t want them thinking that I overlooked them, you know? Besides, we have…” Adam leaned in, whispering, just in case. “Besides, we have quite a few extra weapons.”

“You wished to sell them,” Sonarot reminded him.

“Yeah, but, we have enough money for the business to survive for a few years without selling off any. It’s better to lend them to our people, just in case.”

Sonarot couldn’t help but wonder just where Adam had come from, for him to be mothering the businessfolk in this way. It was equally Iyrmanly, and equally not so at the same time.

“Rick, Jeremy, Remy. That should be enough for now, and we should still have enough to sell off, if we really need to. Might auction them off in Red Oak, just to keep things simple for us.”

“Have you forgiven them?”

“No, but, Red Oak is the closest town by quite a while, otherwise we’ll have to head to Ever Green or Eagle Wing, and they’re a little too far away for my liking. Why couldn’t you guys have more towns and villages dotted around the landscape like the good old days?” Adam sighed, rubbing his forehead. “Everything would be so much easier if these towns weren’t sixty miles away from each other, seriously.”

“It would be fortunate for us if they returned to that state of being,” Sonarot said, before noting the look on Adam’s face. She smiled, for it was a look Adam often gave, though it was one that others also gave to him.

‘Seriously, you Iyrmen are crazy.’

“If you wish to lend them the blades, you may.”

“I was thinking about Lady Jasmine and Siten too, maybe to Bael, though he likes to use his fists and… lightning?” Adam still wasn’t sure how he fought. “Theo, Thomas, Alfie, Aria, the others, I was thinking about them too.”

“I understand your wishes to lend the blades to the newly trained guards, but it is not required. They will not fight the Reavers.”

“Alright. I did feel a little weird about handing so many people those kinds of weapons, since they might start thinking they were stronger than they actually were, and get them over confident…”

“For now, spears may be best, Basic if you are worried. When they wield their spears, they will remind themselves of the dangers which lurk in battle.”

“That might be a good idea,” Adam admitted, rubbing his chin. Spears were spears. The most basic weapon of all, and a weapon which was the most humble of all. A spear would keep them in check, not for the business’ sake, but to keep them alive. ‘Even though Jurot and the others trained them, they’re still not Iyrmen. They weren’t born with the love of death, they need to live a long life, and not for a story.’

“Could the Enchanter… make these spears Basic Enhanced, perhaps… decently powerful? Nothing too powerful, but… more than just Basic?” Adam looked at his Aunt with a hopeful gaze.

“It is wise to begin with Basic, then once they have proven themselves, they may be gifted the spears when they are Experts, and lent greater, Greater or Basic Enhanced, spears.”

“We really need to come up with new words, because I’m confused half the time whenever I use basic or Basic and greater or Greater.”

“The business may be able to do so,” Sonarot said with a small smile upon her face. “The business may influence the world in greater capacities.”

“Greater or greater?” Adam joked, and as Sonarot raised her hand, Adam bowed his head out of instinct, the woman rubbing the top of his head.

“Are you still so afraid of the Iyr?” Sonarot asked.

“Yeah.”

“There is no need.”

“I’m not sure about that. I’d like to stay on the Iyr’s good side, and if I ever get in trouble with someone else, I hope the Iyr will help me, not that I expect it.”

Sonarot smiled wide. “I cannot ask you to stop causing trouble. You are Adam.”

“It’s embarrassing if you say it, Aunt.”

“What if I say it as the President?”

“As long as you don’t cut my wages.” Adam smirked slightly. “Ah, right. Speaking of enchanting great weapons, or rather, Greater Enhanced weapons, could the Enchanter enchant some soon?”

Sonarot could see it upon his face, for she knew Adam wanted to enchant some to gift to the children.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Adam said, noting the slight twitch of his Aunt’s brow, like that of a mother knowing her son was about to cause trouble. “You think I’m saying it because I want to spoil the children. Actually, I think, with the Reavers coming soon, it might be best that the others and I are equipped with such items while we travel through Aswadasad.”

“You will gift them to the children in the future,” Sonarot said, and as Adam blinked, feigning surprise, about to ask if he was so predictable, she continued. “Yes.”

“I’m going to tell Jirot you’re bullying me,” Adam said.

“Okay,” Sonarot replied, understanding even with his own children, she held the upper hand.