'Who the hell is this guy?' Adam thought, narrowing his eyes at the finely adorned figure wearing full plate. However, he did note the silver medallion worn against his chest, which pinned the long cloak he wore, which had been almost unseen due to how similar the colour was to the plate armour.

"Marshal Black," Sir Olivia called, eyeing up the figure. 'A Hope and now the Marshal of East Port? The Marquise surely trusts me the most when I have to face both a Hope and a Marshal.' The knight stifled a sigh, the kind of sigh of someone who was about to have extreme difficulty completing their task.

"I heard a commotion around these parts," the Marshal said, before bowing his head towards the Hope. "An honour to meet you, Hope."

"Good evening, Marshal," the Hope replied. 'What has the boy done to bring even the Duchess to cause him trouble?'

The Marshal glanced between the entire group, the knights on one side, already impressive in their own right due to their connection with the Marquise, against the Hope and her Rays, who were even more prestigious. 'Damn it.' He then glanced towards the heavily armoured man in puthral, who was nowhere near as prestigious as either of them, and yet caused the most trouble.

'Is it a different Marshal the other one? Should I beat him up, or should I save him for Jurot? No, I'll let Jurot deal with him, otherwise I'll get in trouble.' Adam’s lips twitched slightly.

"I'd like to ask you, with the authority granted to me by the Duchess, to disperse at once,” the Marshall stated.

"What do you mean to suggest?" The Hope replied, her eyes falling across the Marshal.

"I mean to suggest that the Marquise and the grand Order of Life's Rose, who I have nothing but respect for, should settle this properly, outside of the looks of the commonfolk, that's all."

'He talks like me,' Adam thought. 'Is he from another world too?'

"The Marshal is right," the Hope said, eyeing up the the knight once more. "The letter should arrive at the Marquise's estate soon."

Sir Olivia inhaled deeply. "Of course. I hope the misunderstanding can be resolved."

"Yes," Hope Willow replied, before watching the knight turn and leave. "Mother's blessings upon you, Sir Seahill."

The knight paused. She turned, placing a hand over her heart, bowing her head lightly. "Mother's blessings upon you, Hope." The knight turned and left, feeling the gaze of the commonfolk and the Hope upon her back as she left.

'The Sister was a Ray? Impossible...' She vaguely recalled the conversation she had with the young woman earlier that month when they first met. 'Did she know she was going to become a Ray? Was she groomed into the position? I'll need to report to the Marquise.' Seahill felt a sigh leave her lips. She had failed her Marquise thrice in such a quick span. 'Was the Marshal's appearance coincidence? I shouldn't think so, not when it comes to the Duchess.'

"Sir Seahill," Adam called out, causing the others to glance his way. "I would appreciate it if the trouble on the road begins next month."

The knight stopped, shifting her body to face him. "..."

"Ray Vonda is still fasting, and it feels like bad luck if I were to kill during the fast."

The knight refused to refused to reply, setting off once more.

Marshal Black let out a long sigh. 'The Hope doesn't seem to have taken any offence by me stepping in.'

"It is a pleasure to formally meet you, Marshal Black."

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, Hope," the Marshal replied, awkwardly. The Marshal pulled off his helmet, revealing his half greyed hair, his deep set wrinkled, with scars of old.

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

"Oh! Stone Sword!" Adam blinked, as though he had been slapped in the face. 'Right, didn't they mention he had been promoted?'

"Marshal Stone Sword," he corrected.

"If I have to call you Marshal, you have to call me Executive."

"Mine's a title given to me by the Duchess."

"Mine's a title beaten into the... it was given to me by the Enchanter."

Stone Sword smiled, nodding his head slowly. "I heard, was informed, that you were in a bit of trouble, spot of trouble."

"Are you okay, Marshal?"

"I'm getting used to the way I should be talking."

"Yeah," Adam replied, letting out a sigh. "Yeah." He gave the Marshal a knowing, tired look. 'Wasting our damn time because they like to talk so uppity.'

'I know,' the Marshal's eyes replied. "I’ve, I have been informed I should escort you so you don't get into trouble."

"The Marshal's going to escort us too?"

"The Duchess wants to make sure that no more situations arise during the travel."

'So she's going to babysit us on the way too? Well... it's not like it's a bad idea to take him along with us.' "It's a great relief to hear you're accompanying us too. A Hope and a Marshal? That'll keep us out of trouble, or at the very least, I'll think twice before causing any myself."

"I wouldn't dare suggest I'm quite like the Hope," the Marshal said, bowing his head. "I don't think I'd be able to clash with the Seventh Hope."

Adam was glad he was wearing his helmet, which was becoming more useful with every passing moment. "Well..." Adam inhaled and exhaled. "I'm growing up, aren't I, Fourth Hope?"

"It appears to be so." Willow's eyes appeared as though she knew what trouble Adam wanted to cause, glad he had kept his mouth shut.

"I'm sure the other Executives will be glad to hear that Marshal Stone Sword has joined us."

Stone Sword followed Adam to the temple, where the children had settled well, each eating quietly, though the buzz of excitement filled them all. 'Are they the future Executives?'

"Good evening, children."

"Good evening, mister Adam," the children replied.

'I should teach them how to properly respond...' Adam cleared his throat. "I've got a special person beside me. Does anyone know who he is?"

The children glanced towards the heavily armoured warrior beside Adam, noting how old he was. He had removed his helmet, and had handed over his blade to the priests, not wanting to disrespect any of the good priestly folk.

"He's a knight," Gales said, narrowing his eyes slightly. His dark hair was long, covering most of his ears.

“Or, or, or, he might work for a knight or noble,” Derrik added, his messy dark hair much shorter.

‘He’s the Marshal of East Port,’ George thought, noting the badge on his cloak. ‘That was…’

“You’re not far off,” Adam admitted. “This is Marshal Black, also known as Stone Sword.”

“Stone Sword’s got a Stone Sword, but he don’t,” Gale said.

“He left it to pay respect,” Poppy said.

Gale slowly nodded, the logic too sound.

“I heard you had some children, but… isn’t this too many?” the Marshal asked.

“They’re not my kids.”

“They’re not? I thought you were causing trouble because of them?”

“I’m not causing trouble because of them, but…” Adam cleared his throat. “It’s not like we’re in any trouble. The children are going to get to the business safe and sound, ain’t that right?”

“Yeah,” Copper said. “We’re gonna get to the business safely.”

“Safely, safely,” Max added, sitting beside Julia.

“I’ve ‘urd of you,” Jack said. “You’re strong, ain’t you?”

“I’m not quite as strong as the Fourth Hope, but I am quite strong.”

“Are you stronger than mister Adam?”

“I suppose I am.”

“Mister Adam’s strong. He fought the Seventh Hope.”

“Yeah, he beat the Seventh Hope, can you?”

“He…” The Marshal, Fisher Black, turned to face Adam. “You beat the Seventh Hope?”

“I was quite fortunate,” Adam replied, flashing a gentle smile.

Black raised his brow. He thought back to Adam’s fights the previous year. ‘Was it like that?’ It wasn’t out of the realm of possibility for someone like Adam to beat the Seventh Hope, especially with that axe of his.

“Mister Stone Sword, did you beat up a dragon?”

“Yeah, I ‘urd you foht a dragon, and you, and you didn’t run aways.”

“I came across a dragon once, but I never fought it,” Black replied, noting the way one of the children stared up at him. He sat beside a young man who wore a chain shirt, and carried a blade at his side. ‘He’s carrying weapons within a temple?’ Then he glanced towards the large form of Nobby, who carried an axe at his side. ‘At least he’s not wearing armour…’

‘Stone Sword!’ George thought. ‘It’s really Stone Sword!’

George pulled on Fred’s leg, pointing towards Stone Sword excitedly, before trying to speak up, only to hear the noises he made, quickly silencing himself. ‘…’

“What is it?”

“…” George remained silent, unsure of how he can tell Fred that he once helped Stone Sword out before. He had personally ported for the old man a few years back when he was a walker. ‘He probably don’t remember me.’

Some time later, the Iyrmen returned, noting the appearance of the Marshal. They made to swarm him, but instead formed a wall around the children, partly to listen to his stories, but partly to watch over the children.

‘Now that I think about it, I don’t know the kid’s name…’ Adam rubbed the side of his neck awkwardly. ‘It won’t be too hard to figure it out though.’

“The Duchess has sent the Marshal to escort us?” Jurot asked.

“Apparently.”

“Okay.”

“…” Adam glanced towards Jurot. ‘Is that a good or bad one?’