“Oh dear, oh dear,” Adam said, hugging both Kit’a and Jay’a, his arms wrapped around each of their heads, which lay atop his shoulders. He nuzzled against their necks, rubbing his cheek against their ears. “You two worked so hard. I’ll be sure you get fed as much hydra meat as you want, though don’t eat too much, your tummies will get upset, okay?”

The pair barked adoringly towards Adam, licking against his face and neck, causing him to cringe slightly, but he let it slide. He ruffled their furs and let them be to relax before making his way to the awakened wolves. The wolves seemed not quite as rough as Adam had recalled.

‘Did they heal the wolves?’ “I see you’re all looking well.”

“The priest, Vonda, healed us,” Sky replied.

“Manager Vonda,” Adam corrected, reaching over to brush Sky’s neck gently. “You all did such a great job. If you need any more healing, let me know, I’ll make sure to top you up. Also, I’ll let the Iyrmen know to separate some meat for you to one side.”

“Thank you,” Sky replied, watching as Adam went to brush the fur of the other wolves, petting their heads gently.

‘I should spend more time with the wolves. They’ve worked pretty hard, I should figure out another way to reward them. What would an awakened wolf like?’

Adam left the wolves be, double checking on his companions, glancing around to find them all busy. Korin was in the middle of heating up the slabs of metal he had brought to grill food, Julia assisting him. The children had begun to trust Julia around the food, though every so often there were suspicious eyes towards the young woman.

Korin held his hand above the grill, his eyes closed as he felt the heat of the fire slip around the metal slabs. “Do you believe Manager Vonda would like the hydra meat?”

“I doubt it,” Adam replied. “It is full of death.”

“What meat is not full of death?”

“Fair, but… I think just set her up with whatever delicious food you can. We should have some dried fruit from Life River, make sure you add more of that. I’ll offer her a berry for when she eats.”

Adam wasn’t sure how the fast was going to affect the priest and her ability to fight. ‘I guess I’ll need to work harder to make sure she doesn’t have to step forward to fight.’

“Mister Adam, are we gunna get some scales?” the ginger girl asked, her hazel eyes staring up towards him expectantly.

“Of course, Ginny.”

The girl’s eyes beamed. “Are they gonna generate?”

“Are they going to what?”

“When, you, the scale, it’s gunna generate?”

“Like trolls,” a young boy with dark hair and dark eyes asked, his hair cut short in a bob.

“Ah,” Adam replied, slowly nodding his head. “No, they won’t regenerate.”

“If they generate, we can have more scales?” Ginny asked.

“That’s right, but we had to kill them quickly so we could eat.”

“Oh yeah.” The girl nodded in understanding.

‘These kids are so adorable,’ Adam thought.

“Mister Adam!” a boy shouted towards Adam, though he was already quite loud.

“Yes, Daryl?”

“Tomorrow, when I grow up, I’m gunna fight hydras too.”

“Perhaps not tomorrow, but when you grow up, I’ll make sure you train hard so you can fight hydras.”

“Am I gunna learn how to fight like you?”

“Hmmm,” Adam raised his brows towards he boy. “Perhaps? You can learn to fight like me, or maybe you can learn to fight like Executive Jurot, or Executive Kitool, or maybe even Executive Jaygak?”

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“I’m gunna be an Executive too,” the boy said, inhaling deeply as he stood taller and wider, his fists clenched out beside him.

“You’ll have to work extra hard to become an Executive,” Adam said. “You’ve got to be strong, smart, and wise.”

“I’m smart!” The boy help up his hand. “I am so good at listening and talkin’.”

“You are rather good at talking, that’s for sure.” Adam chuckled. The boy’s voice carried some ways, and the other children began to bother Adam, before being hushed by Shannon and Gilbert.

“I’m sorry about the children,” Cobra said. “They’re still excited about the hydras.”

“It is what it is.”

“Viper, Python and I, we’ll fight on behalf of the business. The children, they should learn a trade.”

“They’ll all learn trades, and the basic ability to defend themselves. Whether or not they want to become warriors, it’s up to them.”

“We’ll work hard enough so they don’t need to fight. They won’t become warriors or guards.”

“You won’t let them?”

“I won’t.”

A small smile appeared on Adam’s face. He glanced towards the sky, staring up at the blue which was slowly darkening. “I have six children.”

Cobra slowly nodded, having heard about Adam’s children more times than she could count at this point. Somehow, the half elf talked about them daily, and in a way that certainly shamed him.

“Obviously they won’t grow up,” Adam continued, slowly nodding his head as though he truly believed it. “They won’t grow up to become warriors, they won’t grow up to be like me, like Jurot, like Kitool, like Jaygak. They’ll stay small and cute forever. They’ll be taught smithing, alchemy, enchanting, whatever. They’ll stay at the business, safe and sound.”

Cobra noted the way Adam’s lower lip trembled, and for a moment she swore she saw something upon Adam’s face she had never seen before. It was the kind of darkness only a father’s worry could bring.

Adam continued to face the sky, but his eyes dropped towards the woman at his side, barely able to see her, before his eyes fell down to the earth. “You know… maybe little Jarot, maybe he wants to become a Rage Dancer, like his babo. Damn Iyrmen, of course they’ll corrupt him. So one day he’ll come up to me, he’ll tell me how he wants to train…”

Adam fell silent.

It was a long silence.

It was the kind of silence that was not uncomfortable, but it was the kind of silence that caused the air to grow cold.

“I won’t ever be strong enough to deny his dreams like that.”

“…”

“If he wants to train with his babo and his uncle, I can’t stop that. I won’t be able to stop him from leaving the Iyr, the business. He shouldn’t, since the world will be cruel to him, but I won’t be able to stop him. In a world which will be so cruel to him, and has monsters that even his father can’t protect him from. Even though I know that… I won’t be able to deny him.”

“You’re his father, but I’m their sister.”

“Their well being is your primary goal, but once they’re adults, that’s it. You can give your advice, but you shouldn’t stop them, especially not for something like that. If they’re about to drown themselves, sure, but…” Adam inhaled deeply. ‘Sending goblins into the world…’

“I don’t know if my thoughts are right,” Adam admitted. “I love my children, and I want them to be safe, as any father would, but… I have to make sure they know I want the best for them. If I tell them they can’t live their dream, then their faith in me is going shatter.”

Just saying the words caused Adam to wince, and he could already imagine the countless scenarios in how it could go wrong. The flash of anger struck him in the heart, but it was fear which twisted the knife.

“They have to know I respect them, and that I’ll always respect them, that they can come to me for anything. They should never be afraid to come and speak with me, and perhaps that will avoid more trouble than if they keep something quiet and I don’t know they’re going to do something dangerous because they were too afraid of telling me…” Adam inhaled again, a pained breath. “If I know, then I can at least make preparations.”

“…” Cobra stared at the father, who was facing the sky, his eyes shut tight. He had tried to place reason, logic, within his feelings, emotions. However, she could hear something even darker within his words. It was about a darkness only he knew.

“I heard… that you’ve fought a bunch of monsters.”

“Yeah?”

“Fred, he mentioned that you all faced hydras and trolls before. He said… he said he didn’t fear hydras, but he feared the monsters you came across.”

“Yes.”

“What kind of monsters?”

“The kind of monsters you shouldn’t worry about.”

“I have to worry about them.”

Adam let out a humoured sigh. “Leave that kind of thing to us Executives.”

“I’ll train hard so that I can fight them.”

“Cobra,” Adam called, his eyes slowly falling across the young woman, whose face was like stone, her eyes stern and ready. ‘…’ “How many years do you think it’ll take you to train to beat the Ancient Gold Dragon which guards the capital?”

“What?”

“How many years?”

“…” Cobra furrowed her brows. “It’s impossible.”

“It’s almost impossible.”

“It’s not almost impossible, it’s impossible. Lady Jaeryael, she’s…” Cobra couldn’t form the words to even state how powerful she was.

“Do you think she’s the strongest being in the world?”

“She must be, or maybe… maybe she’s one of a few.”

“Right.”

“…”

Adam noted the expectant eyes of the young woman. “We’ll train you to be strong. My brother wants to reach Diamond Rank at the Adventurer’s Guild, and the other Executives will become Paragons. If you want to be that strong too, then just work hard, and we’ll naturally get there over time. You’re considered an Expert, so the next step is Master. Until then, don’t even think about anything greater.”

“Are you saying you’ve come across someone as strong as Lady Jaeryael?”

“I’m saying we’ve come across multiple,” Adam replied, simply. A small smile appeared on Adam’s face when he saw the look on Cobra’s face.

It was that kind of look.

“I’ll work hard,” Cobra said, her voice trembling. “I’ll work hard, and they’ll trade within the business.”

Adam smiled slightly. “My kids will never grow up.”