Lanarot looked up to her brother and her mother, before her eyes fell to her nieces and nephews. It was so different here. She knew of her baba, pointing up at the man and calling his name, before climbing on top of his lap, but she barely recognised the other Iyrmen around. She looked around, barely recognising the other faces, but she did recognise the symbol of her family which was tattooed on their foreheads, and were sewn onto their clothing.

Sonarot and Lanarot had decided to spent the night at the family estate, since Adam had decided to stay with Jirot. He had slept beside her that night, letting the girl hold his finger until morning.

‘The shadow is gone,’ Sonarot thought, smiling as she ate food, sharing some of it with her daughter.

“Why are you always trying to wear the food, you silly girl,” Adam admonished, puffing out his cheeks towards his daughter. She giggled up at him and opened her mouth for the mashed fruit, before Adam placed down some soft vegetables for her to pick up and eat.

Jirot and Jarot were only four months old, and yet they were already so big. Well, they were small, even compared to the other newborns, but they had grown almost as big as them. No longer were they pear sized, now they were around the size of melons.

‘Why do I always compare them to fruit?’ Adam thought. ‘No, isn’t that normal? Well, they’re much cuter than fruit.’

“You are definitely my brother’s grandson,” Tarot said, sipping his morning wine.

Adam tensed up, and was about to joke, before catching himself. There were other Rot family members about, not just those who typically stayed within this estate. “I wouldn’t dare to suggest such a thing.”

“It is a shame we have caused you become so shy,” Tarot said, sighing. “One day, we will earn the right from you.”

“What right will you earn from me?”

“The right to be your family.”

Adam was about to respond, but paused. Were they really family? He had a pair of siblings, and an Aunt. One might even say he was related to the old man, but what about the rest of them? Adam sighed in response, saying no more, unable to think of more.

Tarot chuckled, noting how quiet Adam had become. He finished his morning wine, before he and his wife left. Sarot and Mulrot remained within the estate, as expected of them. Many other Rot family members came by to relax in the main estate, speaking with the elderly Rot family members, as well as the other adults.

“Papa,” Lanarot called, pointing to Adam, before hugging his leg. “Up!”

“You want to fly?”

“Fai,” the girl said, pointing up at the sky.

“We can fly when we go back to the estate, okay?” Adam said, lifting her up, before kissing her cheek. “Look, your niece and nephew are crawling everywhere. They’re growing up so fast.” Adam carried her around, distracting her from the fact he had refused to fly her around the place, not wanting to upset the other Iyrmen.

“You should not work this month,” Jarot said.

“Yeah, Elder Zijin said the same thing…” Adam sighed. “I suppose I’ll have to take the month off.”

“You should spend time with your family,” Jarot said. “Come here every morning, and you may leave every noon. There are many who wish to hear your tale. The extended families should also listen to what you have done.”

“I suppose I should,” Adam said, understanding what Jarot was trying to do. The Iyr was a place of stories, and Adam had quite the stories under his belt. He could earn some favour from the Iyrmen by speaking of his tales, and they may accept him after some time. ‘I can’t ignore the extended family estates. Half of the votes are within the extended estates.’ Adam leaned back, sighing again. ‘Politics.’

Eventually he returned back to the shared family estate, where some of the family members of the extended family estates were looking after the children, bringing their own. Adam had noted that they had started to do it recently, though he had seen some of the mothers around previously.

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“My chonky little Cousin,” Adam called, peeking down at Gurot. “Why are you so chonky? You’ll grow big and strong, just like Jurot wants.” Adam looked to the others. “Fine. You can grow big and strong, but Kavgak, you must stay small in return.”

“Kavgak big,” Taygak said, narrowing her eyes at Adam.

“Taygak, how can you do this to me?” Adam frowned. “Fine, then Tavgak must stay small.”

“No, Tavgak will be strong,” Raygak said. “I will be stronger, but she will be strong.”

“Hmmm. Then what about…” Adam thought about who he could tease, before realising the one he could tease happily. “Inakan must stay cute and small forever. Look, she is already so small and cute, so she must stay like this.” Inakan was Amokan’s sister, and had no sibling to defend her.

Damokan and Kalokan stared up at Adam, their eyes filled with judgement. The pressure of the twins caused Adam to retreat.

Adam remained within the shared estate, though he spent his mornings at the extended family estate. The walk provided him with plenty of exercise. He spent much of his time with the twins. He spoke the tales of what he had done, not just to the Rot family, but also the other nearby families, all the while showing off his twins to them.

“I see you are doing better,” Mara said, having arrived at the family estate to show her face to the extended Rot family.

“How can I not be better when I have such cute children?” Adam asked, lifting up Jarot, who stared up at the woman with the pale red skin, his eyes piercing her with curiosity.

“Are your children all you think about?”

“Of course not,” Adam said, though stopping his joke in its tracks. “I think about work too.”

Mara could see he had censored himself, noting how tense he had been around the Iyrmen. He had begun to build up walls before, but he had begun building fortresses between himself and the Iyr now. She had been sent by Lucy to check up on him while they were in the middle of training with the Iyrmen, but her duties as the Demon Lord’s maid also meant she needed to deal with her liege’s worries.

Mara reached up and tickled baby Jarot’s nose, causing him to twitch, before he giggled up at her. “They are certainly cute.”

“I’m sorry, but you can’t have them,” Adam said, pulling his son back and holding him tight. “If you want them, you’ll need to go through me and the old-,” Adam stumbled over the word for a moment, “great, wizened greatfather.”

The older Jarot cringed from nearby, wondering why Adam would say something like that about him. ‘I do not like this.’ However, he couldn’t admonish Adam in front of everyone, not after what had happened. Adam was being careful, and Jarot, too, had to be careful. It was all so strange, but it was needed.

During the afternoons, Adam would assist in teaching the children, who would spend an hour a day studying, making sure they didn’t forget what they had learnt through the year. He would also play Warriors and Wanderers, with the children making new characters after their previous characters had died to the Lich which had claimed their previous characters’ treasure.

Dunes had arrived during a game, and watched intently as the children played. He was interested in hearing the mechanics of how Priests worked in the game, and paid special attention to Kitool, who was playing another Priest. Saygak, again, was playing a spellcaster, this time a Blood Mage, which Adam had spent a half hour making before the game.

“I see you’re having fun,” Dunes said as Adam packed up the game.

“As long as the children have fun, I have fun,” Adam said. “Are you having fun in the Iyr?”

“It is a wonderful place, the Iyr. I train with the Iyrmen, and I can feel myself gaining greater insights for battle. I can see why Lady Arya favours Iyrmen.”

“I mean, yeah, the Iyrmen are pretty good at war, and good for war.”

“The Iyrmen are kinder than I expected,” Dunes admitted. “They asked me to go with them to procure the herb.”

“They did?”

“I did not go,” Dunes said. “I did not wish to be a burden, and…”

Adam waited for Dunes to find his peace.

“I did not want it to be so simple.”

“You did not what to be so simple?”

“To earn your forgiveness.”

Adam tilted his head. “You wanted to earn my forgiveness? For what?”

“For… that day. When I almost killed them.”

“You don’t need to ask for my forgiveness,” Adam said, patting Dunes’ arm. “If anything, you should apologise to Vonda, for choosing to kill a living being without speaking to her.”

“If I had known back then they would have been your children, I would not have done such a thing, Adam.”

“I know.” Adam smiled. “Look, I get that you have a Goddess, the Goddess of War of all Gods, to back you up, but you’re going to need more than that to dare to try to kill my kid.”

Dunes almost refuted the claim, but decided against trying to refute how he would dare to try and kill Adam’s children. “You have such a wicked tongue, Adam.”

“I haven’t been able to use it for a bit,” Adam admitted.

Dunes sighed. “It feels awkward. You and I. Myself and your children.”

“When it came to it, you made the right choice,” Adam said.

“Only because you threatened me.”

“I think you need to give yourself more credit.” Adam pat Dunes’ back. “You did what you thought was merciful. You stopped because I asked you to, not because we were going to fight.”

“We were not going to fight, you were going to beat me.”

“Perhaps I would have, perhaps I wouldn’t have.” Adam shrugged his shoulders. “Your magic is greater than you think, and at the time, I didn’t have a magical weapon.”

“I would not bet against you.”

Rain began to fall, causing Adam to flinch, having not expected the rain. The clouds gathered quickly, and it did not take long for the Iyr to be drenched.