“Adam, are you okay?” Sir Vonda asked.

“I’m fine,” Adam said, throwing a glance back towards the band approaching the horizon behind them.

Vonda remained silent for a long moment. “Are you certain?”

“I think so?” Adam blinked at her curiously. “Why? Do I look like there’s something wrong?”

“You just seemed tense.”

“I did?”

“Were you relaxed?”

“I think so.”

“You were rather aggressive.”

“Yeah, he was aggressive too.”

“You’re normally not quite so aggressive.”

“If he didn’t come at me with that type of energy, I wouldn’t have returned that type of energy.” Adam shrugged, as though it was truly that simple.

“You normally don’t give in to such taunts easily.”

“It wasn’t about the taunt, it was about what would have happened after the taunt,” Adam explained, throwing a look back towards the band once more. “As much as it sounds like an excuse, because, let’s be real, it is an excuse, if we rolled on our backs when he came at us with that kind of energy, then he’d think he could do whatever he wanted to us.”

“I would have stepped in,” Vonda reassured.

“Sure, but you shouldn’t have to step up just because some idiot thinks he’s something because he rides on a warhorse.”

“We were outnumbered three to one.”

“A fair fight,” the brother replied together. ‘Nice.’

“Many could have been hurt.”

“Sure, but I care more about my group than his group. The fight would have ended after the second Fireball, maybe the third. If we really needed it, I’d cast it a fourth, a fifth time if need be.”

Vonda blinked. “We are no longer in the other realm.”

“Sure, but I can still cast five pretty easily,” Adam replied, as though what he said wasn’t ridiculous.

‘Ah. Adam is Adam.’ Vonda let out a long sigh. “Many of them would have died.”

Adam tapped his amulet. “I don’t mind sending a bunch of idiots to the Lord.”

“You do mind.”

“…” Adam closed his eyes, feeling his heart slow slightly. “Yeah, you’re right. I’m sorry, Vonda, uh, Sir Vonda, I’ll try and… you know.”

“I know.” The young woman held out her hands. Adam held up his hands and she held them. “Be careful the Iyr does not corrupt you, as it has corrupted your sister.”

“It’s a terrible thing, isn’t it?”

“A terrible thing, indeed,” she replied, her eyes smiling up towards him.

“See, this is why I like you Sir Vonda. You got jokes.”

“I got jokes?”

“You got jokes.”

“Is that… good?”

“It may not be good, but it is cool.”

“Is cool not good?”

“I guess it is good.”

Omen: 3, 14

The party approached the front gates of River Hill, which were still open even that late. It revealed the inside of the town, which was built around several streams. The denizens hustled and bustled about within the town. Several guards remained on the walls of the town, and two stood eagerly at the gates. Each were adorned in scale mail, greyish, with a hint of blue. Those atop the walls carried crossbows, though they were unloaded.

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“Good afternoon,” the guard called out, before eyeing up the group. “Say, didn’t you pass by for the tournament?”

Adam tilted his head slightly. “Are you the guard that informed me about the armour shop?”

“That I was.”

“Bobby, right?”

“No,” the guard said, looking to his side. “That’s Bobby, I’m Garry.”

“You know what? I’m really impressed that I binked Bobby. I’m usually so terrible with names.”

“Binked?” Bobby asked, eyeing up the giant in puthral. “Don’t go around binking people.”

“Binked just means… uh… it means like… you know when you remember something, and you get it right? You binked it right the first time, you know?”

“Slang?” Garry asked.

“Yeah, yeah. Anyway, good to see you both. As promised, we did well in the tournament, and so we’ve come back to spend some coin in River Hill. We don’t have much time, admittedly, so I’ll order some scale mail and come fetch it another time, or I’ll arrange for it to be delivered, or something.”

“Aye, you’ve really come for some scale mail?” Garry asked, narrowing his eyes slightly.

“We did really well in the tournament,” Adam said, before motioning a hand to his companions. “Nobby here placed first for his segment, and the teen Iyrmen here placed took the next spots. I took third in my segment, and Kitool and my brother here, both took first and second place.”

“Ho! So you’re Fate’s Golden, are you?”

“That’s right.” Adam couldn’t help the smile on his face.

“Jurot the Savage and Kitool the Steel Fist? Really?” Bobby asked, eyeing up the pair.

“I am Jurot,” Jurot confirmed.

“I am Kitool,” Kitool confirmed.

“So you must be Purple Adam,” Garry said. “Made quite the coin betting on you.”

“Purple Adam?” Adam replied, frowning. “Seriously?”

“Aye, because of the armour.”

“We’ve got the Savage, the Steel Fist, and… Purple.” Adam looked back at his brother. “That’s not fair. Why couldn’t they give me something cooler than Purple Adam? I could have been Adam the Axe, or, or, or…”

“Adam the Axe is pretty good,” Garry said, nodding his head. “There’s a lot of people called the Axe, though. There’s only one Purple.”

“I guess…” Adam frowned. “You know what, next time I enter a tournament, I’m going to win it. Then I’ll get a cool name, like… Adam the Invincible. Or Adam the Immortal.”

“Adam the Koro,” Jaygak added, confidently.

“What does Koro mean?” Garry asked.

“It means fool,” Adam replied. “Big talk from someone who dropped out.”

“It wasn’t my tournament to win,” Jaygak replied, simply. After having beaten up Adam, her heart had eased slightly. Though she did not have her uses, it was she who had stopped Adam from saying something unforgivable. “The next tournament I join I’ll be sure to place.”

“Not win?”

“No, I won’t be the Gak who will rise in this generation,” she replied, simply.

“…” Adam wasn’t sure if he should keep bullying her.

“Are the wolves with you?” Bobby asked.

“They are,” Adam confirmed.

“Are they going to behave?” Garry asked.

Adam looked back. “Are you?”

“Yes,” Cloud, Adam’s Awakened Wolf, replied.

“Gods!” Garry reached up to his heard. “He’s an Awakened Wolf?”

“Yeah, he is.”

The guards eyed up the wolves. “I’m not sure about that.”

“They won’t act up. If they do, we’ll compensate, and we’ll put them down.”

“Yes,” Jurot agreed.

“You’ll be keeping an eye on them?”

“We will.”

“Alright…” Garry eyed up the group. “We’re meant to tax mounts and such a certain amount. With twenty six of you, the elk being a magical steed, it should be twenty six gold. You trading any goods?”

“None,” Adam replied. “Oh, speaking of trade, we’ve got a plaque from the Duchess.”

Jurot pulled the plaque out of his inner shirt pocket, revealing it to the guard.

Garry whistled, the same as the other guards had when they first saw the plaque. “A silver plaque? From the Duchess? The Duchess of East Port?”

“That’s right.”

Garry held it, noting the stamps on the plaque, and he handed it to Bobby, who took it back to verify it. “How’d you managed to get a silver plaque.”

“We work for a business called the United Kindom, which isn’t very active right now, but it’s a business which sells magical weapons.”

“You got any magical weapons on you?”

“On us? Yeah. For trade? Not right now.”

“So no trade goods?”

“No?” Adam looked to Jurot. “I don’t think so.”

“No,” Jurot confirmed.

“Still, the silver plaque changes the fees to a silver per head, per mount, and per cart.”

“I’ll hand over three gold, since I don’t want to deal with the change.”

“Thank you.”

“How goes the war, anyhow?”

“Well, I’ve heard,” Garry replied. “We’ve pincered off the left and right side of the plains, and there’s little chance the Traitor King is going to march his army through the hills towards us.”

“Why’s that?”

“He’s not aiming to fight and take territory, he’s aiming to protect his lands,” Garry said. “Heard that Ever Green should be taken by the end of next season. Price of food’s rising a little, but the price of grain is the same as always, but that’s no surprise.”

“Why’s that?”

“You’re not from Aldland?”

“No.”

Garry slowly nodded his head. “The price of grain rarely changes in Aldland, and in Central Aldland, it’s always been the same. Across Aldland, the price of flour is subsidised by the nobles, and some flour is guaranteed at a certain price. In Central Aldland, we have the King’s Dole. It’s the only region of our great country which has it, and it’s why we’re the best.”

“Oh?”

“The King’s Dole is given out seasonally, at least. A giant sack of flour,” Garry said, holding up his hands to reveal how big the sack was, apparently as big as his torso, “given to every family. In the capital, it’s a monthly occurrence, and usually, it’s twice a season for most towns and cities in Central Aldland. Course, cause of the war, it’s been reduced to once a season again.”

Adam slowly nodded his head. “The flour that’s given out. Is it… free?”

“Aye.”

“All that flour?”

“Aye.”

Adam whistled. “Now that’s something.”

“Central Aldland can grow enough to feed all of Aldland. The subsidised flour of other regions is all flour which is grown within Central Aldland too.”

“Wow.”

“I’ve heard of Aldish soldiers dying from wounds of battle, poisons of the enemies, and disease,” Garry said, before his lips formed a small smile. “Never heard of any Aldish solder starving to death.”

“That’s pretty cool.”

“Aye,” Garry said. “It is.”