The air was still as Jurot loomed over the defeated knight, his heart pounding within his chest, his entire body aching from the fight. They hadn’t been fighting to the death, but it had felt like it with how heavy their blows were.

‘Are you trying to get us killed, Jurot?’ Adam thought, inhaling deeply. His eyes fell to Marcia, who stared at the pair, her eyes wide. The silence in the air was only broken by the pair of heavy breaths.

“It was a good fight,” Jurot said, sheathing Phantom, his chest still rising and falling with effort. His body was hot, slick with sweat, which seeped into his robes. Jurot wore the furs he typically wore when Iyrmen stepped out onto Aldland, dressed like savages, though he had also decided to wear his typical Iyr clothing underneath, since he was also representing the United Kindom.

It was a strange feeling for Jurot to feel his sweat against his clothing when coming against Aldishmen, a feeling he had only known when going against other Iyrmen.

Of course.

There are strong Aldishmen, too.

“It was a great bout,” Sir Karen confirmed, standing up tall, bowing her head lightly, before returning to the commander’s side. “Forgive me, my lady.”

“What is there to forgive? It was a good fight, as the Iyrman said.” Lady Marcia’s heart pounded wildly in her chest. Did the young Iyrman really just face one of their seasoned warriors, beat them, and then beat one of the top ten strongest warriors in the entire minor fort, her own guard? A minor fort which had been reinforced with a group like the Whirlwind Arrows?

Adam’s eyes met Jurot’s, and the young man spoke in the Iyrmen’s tongue. “You didn’t use Phantom or Mighty Roar?”

Jurot stepped beside Adam, crossing his arms as he stood, still like a statue. Though he still wielded a magical shield and magical axe, he had faced an Expert and then a Master, back to back, with the Expert wielding a blade that was at least a Greater weapon. He had managed to defeat them both, all without using the active effects of either item, even though it was the active effects which made them truly deadly.

A shadow of a smile appeared on Jurot’s face.

‘Damn, just how strong is he?’ Adam thought. ‘Even without using Phantom properly?’

Though the soldiers of the minor fort were taken aback, there was a buzz of excitement from one group. Unfortunately for the soldiers, it was the buzz of excitement which often surrounded the Iyrmen when they were eager to fight.

‘It’s not like I can stop them now,’ Adam thought, feeling the intense aura emanating from the Iyrmen around him.

“I will fight next,” Naqokan said.

Jaygak opened her mouth to speak up, but paused. ‘No. Not yet.’

The soldiers glanced between one another. The young woman was confident, that was for certain, but she was younger than Jurot by a couple of years at least. Jurot had already gone up against those older than him, but it was still a little shameless for them to send someone much older to the likes of her.

“Are you an Expert too?” Lady Marcia asked, cracking a joke to try and lighten the mood. “We can send an Expert to face you if you wish.”

“Yes,” Naqokan replied.

“Are you certain?” Marcia asked, before feeling something tingle at the back of her mind.

“Yes.”

“What Naqokan means to say is that she is an Expert, and she would like to face an Expert in battle,” Adam said, smiling innocently.

“Yes.”

“…” Marcia eyed up the group. ‘Did he say she was an Expert?’ Her eyes snapped back to Naqokan, who wielded a large greatsword. The young woman seemed barely to be twenty, no, perhaps even younger, but she was considered an Expert?

Adam thought for a moment. ‘Didn’t we mention we were Experts?’

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“My companions are all Experts,” Vonda stated, smiling politely towards the group.

Lady Marcia’s eyes fell across to Sir Vonda, their eyes meeting for a long moment. ‘They’re all Experts?’

‘We probably shouldn’t be so free with that kind of information,’ Adam thought. ‘No. If Sir Vonda thinks it’s a good idea to mention it, then it must be.’

“You are all Experts?” Marcia asked, her eyes darting between them all, taking in the sight of the nearby wolves, before they settled upon the Aswadians. “Are you all Experts too, friends from Aswadasad?”

“Yes,” Dunes confirmed. “I have been blessed with Third Gate spells from Lady Arya, and my companions are also Experts in their own fields.”

Marcia’s eyes fell to the devilkin woman with a gem embedded within her forehead. As far as she knew, the devilkin was a noblewoman, though had yet to invoke her privilege among them. ‘She must be a mage, no doubt a sorcerer.’ Her eyes fell to the two heavily armoured Aswadians, a human and devilkin. ‘Guardians, perhaps?’

“We’re sorry to cause such a bother,” Adam said, chuckling lightly. “I assure you, we don’t mean to cause any trouble. If it’s awkward to continue sparring, we can end it here.”

Naqokan’s head snapped towards Adam, her eyes glaring at the half elf, though she said no words.

“Don’t worry,” Adam said. “I’ll let you have a spar next time.” Upon feeling Naqokan’s frustrations push down against his shoulders, Adam smiled. “I’ll let you pick who you want to spar between the Executives. If Jurot, Jaygak, or Kitool won’t spar with you, I will.”

“Okay,” Naqokan replied, and as quickly as the excitement had filled the air, it had disappeared.

“Will you spar us too?” Nirot asked. “We all wished to spar here.”

“Is that true?” Adam asked. “You all wanted to spar?”

“Yes,” came the response from the Iyrmen, and thankfully, none of the farmers or porters.

“It looks like we Executives need to work hard,” Adam joked, flashing a smile towards his companions.

“If we refuse to fight them, you will need to fight them all,” Jaygak joked.

“You’d refuse to spar with your own cousins? Jaygak, how can you do something like that?” Adam shook his head. “This is why I’m their favourite cousin.”

“Amokan is my favourite cousin,” Naqokan said.

“Jurot is my favourite cousin,” Nirot said.

“Kitool is my favourite cousin,” Faool said.

“Kavgak is my favourite cousin,” Laygak said.

“Ram-,” Uwajin began before her eyes fell to Laygak, along with the other Iyrmen’s eyes.

“Cousin Kavgak gifted me a stick,” Laygak said, noting the questioning eyes. “It was a good stick.”

“If all of you were as wise as Laygak, I wouldn’t have you worry about you,” Adam said, slowly nodding his head.

“Did you said you were Executives?” Lady Marcia asked, only familiar with the word in a particular sense, though it was doubtful any of them were some of the greatest judges in the land.

“That’s right. We four are Executives, and some of my companions here, like Sir Vonda, are Managers. We work for the Enchanter, as part of our business, the United Kindom. They create magical weapons, and we deal with the trading aspect of it.”

‘An enchanter?’ Lady Marcia thought, her lips pulled taut. “I do not believe I have heard of this enchanter.”

“We’re still in the process of getting our name out there for the world to hear, but right now the Enchanter has mostly only made us magical weapons,” Adam said, motioning a hand to generally to the Iyrmen beside him, and then to his axe. “One of the reasons why we were able to face against the likes of the members of the various orders and such was because we, too, were gifted with great magical items. Although some of the members here don’t possess any, those with the rank of Executives, like Jurot and I, each have Greater Enhanced weapons, while Manager Vonda has a Basic Enhanced mace.” As Adam spoke, he realise how little he cared for the terms created by the land. ‘I should change them to something easier to say.’

“Are you heading to East Port for such business.”

“No, we have other business in East Port,” Adam said.

“We also have official business in East Port,” Jaygak said, raising her voice slightly. “It would not be wise to shirk the Duchess after her gifts.”

Adam furrowed his brows for a moment in thought. ‘Oh. Right.’ “This is why she’s an Executive.”

“Yes,” Jaygak replied, realising any other answer would have just fallen into Adam’s ploy.

“…”

“Though, what a shame,” Adam said, glancing around at the soldiers. “My companions were so excited for a spar, but-,”

Marcia stared at Adam, who slapped his upper thigh, and winced as though it hurt him through his armour.

“I want to thank you for the honour and the story you have gifted to my brother,” Adam said, bowing his head lightly.

‘What is he doing?’

“Are you also Mad Dog’s grandson?”

“Whose grandson?” Adam replied, almost subconsciously. “My brother is my brother, my children are his nephews and nieces, and his grandfather is their greatfather.”

Sir Katherine tried to keep track of the family relations. “Does that mean Mad Dog isn’t your grandfather?”

“He…” Adam inhaled deeply. “He’s the first one I, Adam Fateson, lost to. I’ve lost a few times since then, but he was the first.”

“You fought against Mad Dog?”

“If that’s what you call it,” Adam said. “That old man, with one arm, and carrying an everyday axe, beat me up so badly even though I wielded Dunes’ Sword. That sword is so amazing, it’s still considered one of the best made by the Enchanter. Isn’t that right, Manager Dunes?”

“It is,” Dunes replied, feeling Amira’s gaze beside him. He understood why he was getting such a gaze, since Adam already considered him one of business’ highest ranking members, even though he was also a member of an order. ‘We will discuss it later.’

Lucy remained deathly silent, glad Adam was an idiot. The more he acted up, the less attention she, a demon surrounded by hundreds of people who wanted to kill her, would gather. ‘I just want a bath.’