‘Why is he doing so much for them?’ Lucy thought, eating her meal silently. She stared at her fried meat, poking at it, before slowly chewing it. ‘He’s going to risk his life not just for a sorcerer, but for them all? What is he thinking? He’s already risked his life for me, but we’re friends. These kids, they’re just…’ Lucy looked out to the children, who were listening intently to the Iyrmen’s tales.

Brittany clutched at her deadwood bow, sitting awkwardly at the table. Once the Iyrmen appeared, her want to tell them her stories disappeared into a puff of smoke. Her eyes fell to Nirot, who informed the children of how she had defeated a giant python by herself.

Fred sat opposite Brittany, sipping at his milk. “Why didn’t you join us?”

“No reason,” Brittany replied.

Fred gave her a look, which she ignored, deciding to keep to herself. His eyes fell to the Iyrmen too, who had taken away his spotlight.

The children were delighted to hear of the Iyrmen’s tales, who were loud in a quiet kind of way, understanding how to tell their tales without disrupting others, though the children hadn’t yet learnt such courtesy. Yet, no one had come to bother them, partly because of Adam’s payment, and partly because there were so many Iyrmen about.

Everyone knew Iyrmen were crazy.

Cobra eyed up the Iyrmen. Each of them were powerful, there was no doubt, each holding a bronze tag, revealing them to be Experts. She had already known that, since Adam had informed her of that, while she had missed the bronze tags while being in awe of them. Nirot’s tale of facing the giant python herself had caused Cobra’s heart to stir, a slightly envy seeping into her.

Everyone knew Iyrmen told the truth.

While she could barely believe Fred and the others, it was a completely different matter with the Iyrmen. Even so, she couldn’t help but think that they were still in a terrible position. Then her eyes fell to Laygak, one of the devilkin who wore full plate armour. ‘He should be able to fight well since he wears full plate, but the others might struggle.’

Her eyes fell to Naqokan, who relaxed to the side, ready to entertain the children when it was her turn, and then the sleeping horcish Iyrman, Uwajin. The pair wielded great blades, blades which could cut her clean in half. ‘They would do well too.’

Then she thought about the two Iyrmen who had left with Adam and the others, who apparently had some unfinished business within the city. One of them held the same tattoos as Kitool, an Executive of the business, meaning he was probably pretty tough, and the last? The last was a young man who was built like Nobby, and seemed equally meek. Yet, he didn’t seem to hold the same aura as the others. He didn’t seem to be related to the Executives either. ‘He’ll probably struggle too.’

Bavin marched alongside the others, the five marching through the city roads and alleys, slipping through this way and that. They gathered some attention, though not very much. One was a young man who wore a scarf over his head, but that wasn’t too out of the ordinary, but the four Iyrmen around him certainly brought some eyes upon them. He wasn’t entirely sure why he had come with them, but Adam had brought him along.

‘I am Bavin.’

They spotted a group of guards, five strong, stepping out from a particular alley, and Adam paused, veering off into an alley. He spent a few moments within the alley, raising his brows towards the Iyrmen, before they continued along their path, until they came to a gruesome sight.

Adam blinked, staring at the dead forms of the homeless folk all around them, and the tracks of boots which headed out in every way through the blood.

“What the hell?” Adam’s voice was a shocked whisper, almost trembling.

“The guards killed them,” Jurot said, eyeing up the tracks, recalling the bits of blood across the guard’s attire.

“…” Adam glanced around, not finding the appearance of Moons or the rest of his goons. Suddenly, he felt a chill run through his back. ‘Why did I come here anyway?’ He thought of the boy who had guided him here and had his tongue cut out immediately afterwards. ‘I would have taken his tongue, but… no, I wasn’t going to kill them, I’m better than that.’

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Jurot placed a hand on Adam’s shoulder, having watched his brother cover his eyes with a hand, falling into terrible thoughts. “We should leave.”

“Yeah.”

Jurot led the group out, the silence following them like a creeping silence. They were some ways away from the blood, so didn’t need to worry about trekking blood through the area, though they did avoid the blood on the floor.

“We need to buy another cart, or a carriage, maybe two,” Adam said. “Let’s head to the guild and grab our horses.”

“Okay.”

The group returned to the guild, though Adam didn’t step within those walls. ‘I don’t want to deal with Jaygak today…’

Unfortunately, Jaygak was currently tending to the wolves. “What are you doing here?”

“Jaygak, please,” Adam replied, rubbing the side of his neck. “We need to deal with this matter properly.”

Jaygak smirked, though said no more. She could see the stress on Adam’s face, ageing him almost decades that day. She threw a look to Jurot, who nodded his head, before they took the warhorses away to procure the carriages.

“Adam, I will go find assistance,” Jurot said. “How much will the business spend on protection?”

“Let’s say… five thousand, but we can stretch that to six. No, let’s say nine thousand.” Adam had wanted to keep some coin for his enchanting, but he could always assist the Iyr and earn as much. They needed the money to make their way through the land, paying the various fees along the way, but everything outside of that could be used to make sure the children were protected.

“Okay,” Jurot replied, giving no indication about how ridiculous Adam’s words had been. He made his way through the city roads, going off to find a particular inn near the docks.

‘I should probably get all my preparations in order too,’ Adam thought, slipping into the guild for a short while, allowing Kitool to deal with the carriages.

Omen: 14, 20

‘…’ Brittany stared at the young half elf, who was almost completely adorned in his full plate armour, with a large smile across his face. The smile was not the kind of smile to trick the children into thinking everything was fine, but a smile that was more genuine, and though there was still some light stress across Adam’s face, he certainly was in a much better mood.

Cobra settled the children into the wagons Kitool had brought, each larger than the carriages that were on offer, and provided some comfort for the children, though they had brought extra blankets along.

“We apologise for the inconvenience,” Adam said, bowing his head lightly to the woman. “We were unprepared to take so many VIPs in one go. We will make sure to note this negligence.”

“…” Cobra wasn’t sure how to reply to how formal Adam had become from the day before. “It’s fine…”

“We have brought fresh food for the children, and we’ve also brought treats for them to enjoy on their journey today, though they will not remain fresh for the entire journey to Life River. Thankfully, we eat well along the journey, so every evening you can expect delicious meals, not quite to the quality of an inn, but I am certain they will not be as terrible as typical rations.”

“Right…” Cobra still wasn’t sure what Adam was up to.

“I have assigned Jonn and Brittany to the first wagon, and Charley and Ivy to the second.”

“Okay…”

“There is also a cask for young Max if he feels the need to throw up, and I will clean it with my magic whenever you call.”

“Okay…” Cobra was feeling more unsettled by Adam’s words with each passing moment. However, the half elf had created a patrol to watch over the children over the night, assigning all the Iyrmen, while also assigning a… Cobra looked up towards the owl which sat atop the wagon which was going to be pulled by Adam’s warhorse.

Adam smiled, before leaving them be, going off to meet the other folk of the business. Cobra eyed up the other adventurers who had appeared. One of them was an Iyrman who wore full plate armour, and was seemingly the elder cousin of the other Iyrman who wore full plate.

‘They had another Executive? The others are all Bronze Rank too, does that mean they’re all Experts?’ There were eight more Experts who had randomly joined the party, something which had also happened the previous day, though the others had been all Iyrmen. No, not all Iyrmen, there were those two too…

“Why can’t I sit in the wagon?” Lucy grumbled.

“I need you out here,” Adam replied. “Even though I’m feeling lucky today, I want everyone on guard. Plus, aren’t you going to ride your wolf?”

“I wanted to show off to the children too! They should know of how amazing I am! They’ll be so scared if I don’t.”

“Nirot’s already shown off, or do you intend to outshine the Iyrman?” Adam asked, raising his brow towards her.

Lucy fell silent, grumbling quietly, before going off to her wolf, brushing their fur gently. “Can you believe it? It’s utterly ridiculous.”

“Yes,” Mighty replied.

“Wouldn’t I make the best boss?”

“Yes.”

“That’s right…”

‘I believe you would make the best boss too,’ Mara thought, though she remained silent, brushing Wolfy’s fur gently.

Dunes assisted in the preparations, before catching Vonda’s eyes. The young woman revealed more of her nerves now that the children were out of sight.

“Have you completed your morning prayers?” Dunes asked.

“I have…” Vonda let out a long sigh. She had to prepare the kind of spells she preferred not to prepare. “Let us hope they are not needed.”

Dunes looked up towards the sky. A small smile appeared on his face. “You may hope, Sister Vonda, but I am a man who follows Lady Arya.”

Vonda’s lips formed the smallest of smiles.