Rick awaited. Noted how Adam was thinking so deeply about the matter. ‘It is important…’

‘He wants to tell his wife about last year?’ Adam thought, thinking deeply. ‘He must have already told her about everything, but he’s asking for permission? What happened last year that he needs to ask for permission about? I mean… we did the outbreak, right? No, was that the year before? We definitely went to the tournament. We hunted a bunch before that. Then after the tournament, we went to help out Amira. Is he talking about the Black Rats? Or is he talking about…’

Adam shut his eyes tight. He thought a deeper moment. ‘Oh. Right.’ “Why do you need to tell her about that?”

“My wife is in two thoughts about remaining.”

“Why is that?”

“I did not speak to her about all which the business entailed…” Rick sighed. “I did not tell her about your children.”

“That’s the first thing you should have told her,” Adam replied, sitting upright. “It’s all I ever go on about, you should have told her how adorable they are.”

Rick remained silent for a long moment. “Goblins have a different reputation within the land. Demons too.”

Adam sat there awkwardly for a moment. “It’s not like they’ll…” ‘No, they’ll be spending some time at the fort. I can’t just stick them in the Iyr all the time, not when I’m not an Iyrman…’ “I see.”

“She can see reason. If I tell her about the meeting with Lady Ulaveil, her heart would not cloud her mind. I know it’s dangerous, and I do not wish to put her into trouble, but I wish for my children to live a better life than I, and I believe you are their best chance.”

Adam paused for a long moment, simmering in Rick’s believe in him. ‘How can I convince her without letting her know about that?’ “I’d like to think of it for some time, if you don’t mind. I’ll think of a way to convince her without the mention of you know what.”

“Thank you, Executive.”

Adam nodded, dismissing the fellow with his nod. Adam sighed, crossing his arms behind his back. He felt a sickness course through him, but he pushed it away. ‘Relax. It’s not the first time. It won’t be the last. Once they’re used to the children, they won’t hold those kinds of views. If Jirot causes them trouble, it’ll only escalate their prejudice, though.’

The silence allowed Adam to wallow within his thoughts.

‘Should I just leave my children at the shared estate? I can’t do that. They need to exposed to one another so they can grow comfortable…’ Adam ran a hand through his hair, tickling the back of his neck gently.

‘Fuck.’ Adam tensed up and reached out for something, but he clenched his fist, stopping himself from the outburst of frustration. ‘Damn it! Seriously? Why do I have to deal with this when I’m offering them so much? Damn it!’

Adam stepped out of the building, feeling the cool wind against his hot face. He let out a breath, watching as the vapour trailed upwards, before his ears were tickled by the sounds of laughter in the distance. Adam made his way towards the group which had gathered together to eat, all the workers and the visitors gathered around the fire.

He stopped, the cool wind against his face. Jirot and Jarot giggled and squealed beside Vonda, while Karot leaned in and smiled shyly sometimes. Konarot and Kirot chatted away between one another. Sonarot held Larot, while the boy held his bottle, drinking it with his eyes closed, the warmth of the milk coaxing him to sleep. He inhaled deeply, closing his eyes, his mind blank for just a moment.

‘I should do that first.’ He opened his eyes and met Jurot’s eyes, who had been tearing bits of flat bread for the girl. Adam motioned with his head, and Jurot excused himself.

“Psst,” Fred whispered, holding out the dried apricots.

George raised his brows, holding up his plate for the rain of dried fruit to fall upon his plate, before the pair picked them up one by one to eat. George chewed long and slow, tasting bursts of flavour across what little of his tongue remained.

“Not quite like dried apricots from home, but they’re alright,” Fred whispered, a small, sad smile upon his face.

George, who had eaten such little dried fruit, did not care they were not like the dried fruit of Fred’s home. Beggars couldn’t be choosers, after all.

“George,” Poppy called, carefully walking over towards the boy while holding a bowl of cut fruit. “Fruit.”

George glanced towards the fruit, letting out a small shy smile. Poppy sat beside him and the pair began to eat together, though Poppy spent more time talking with the boy than she did eating.

“It’s so cold. I don’t like the cold. Do you think Captain Snake likes the cold? I think he doesn’t. It’s too cold.”

As the people ate their meals, warming themselves from nightval’s chill, the pair of Executives returned. Jurot held three cloth bundles, while Adam returned with one. Jurot stepped forward, towards the large fire, until he was surrounded by all the people who remained within the fort, including those of the Iyrmen who provided additional support for the business. The young Iyrman commanded respect, his mere presence silencing those around.

“Nobby,” Jurot called.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Nobby stood, feeling the gaze of his father, mother, and sister as he trekked up towards the Iyrman. The bearded young man would have been slightly taller than Jurot if he stood up straight, and he would have been wider, easily swallowing Jurot with his mass if he held such a posture, but everyone could see how Jurot’s presence dominated the young man. However, even now, Jurot wasn’t confident enough to face Nobby, whose natural talents surpassed even his own.

“Good work,” Jurot said, holding up the axe shaped bundle.

“Thank you, Executive,” Nobby replied, taking the cloth bundle. Upon Jurot’s nod, Nobby unwrapped it, revealing the axe. It was well built, so perfect in shape and form. The handle was smooth, made of Iyr oak, wrapped in hydra leather, the blade made of steel. The tingling sensation within the axe was greater than Nobby was used to.

“It is a Greater weapon.” Jurot nodded.

An excitement filled the air as the words left Jurot’s lips.

“Thank you, Executive,” Nobby replied once more, glancing towards Adam, who slowly nodded his head, before his eyes fell to little Anne, the girl’s mouth a tiny circle as she stared at the axe.

‘Greater?’ Anne thought. ‘Greater!’

A clap broke through the air. Adam continued to clap. “Good work, Nobby.” Adam raised his brows to his children.

Konarot began to clap too. “Good work, Nobby.”

Jirot and the other children joined in, followed quickly by everyone else. “Good work, Nobby.”

“Brittany,” Jurot called, causing the girl to almost jump up.

“Yes?” She blinked, feeling the gazes of so many others upon her.

“Good work,” Jurot said, holding out the pair of cloth bundles in each hand.

“Uh, thank you, Executive?” Brittany replied, creeping through the snow, her steps near silent as she shuffled her way towards the Iyrman, reaching out for a bundle of cloth. She furrowed her brows, waiting to see if Jurot would pull back the other cloth bundle, but when he didn’t, she gingerly accepted the second cloth bundle too.

“Two Basic shortswords,” Jurot explained.

Brittany raised her brows. ‘Two Basic weapons? For me?’ “Th-thank you, Executive!” Her heart fluttered and her entire body tingled. ‘Two magical weapons!’

Adam led the clapping once more. “Good work, Brittany.”

“Good work, Brittany,” came the chorus, partly drowned out by the clapping.

Brittany flushed, quickly retreating away into the corner, holding her weapons to her chest, afraid they would be taken from her. She tried to hide away from the attention of the world around her, though the shadows seemed to draw away from her.

“Fred,” called a voice, the attention now drawn away from the young woman. Adam stood, tall and firm, holding out the bundle of cloth.

Fred almost spit out the water he was sipping, quickly wiping his mouth with the back of his hand as he stood, half standing.

Adam held out the cloth bundle expectantly, and as Fred approached, he thought about what to say to the young man. He had thought of so many jokes, some of them even half decent.

He could have apologised the weapon dealt cold damage, especially in this weather.

He could have spoken about how much he appreciated Fred’s work thus far.

He could have mentioned that it was still being paid off by Fred’s hard work and it was only loaned to him.

He could have mentioned this blade was on par with the Duchess’ order, since it was an exact copy.

He could have pretended it wasn’t on par with the Duchess’ order, while winking, just so the Duchess wouldn’t feel as stiffed if word got back to her.

He could have shown off in front of his children.

He could have said how much he appreciated the work and how the business rewarded those who did a good job.

Fred reached out to grab the cloth bundle, though he remained still, feeling the blade firmly gripped within Adam’s hand. “…”

Adam inhaled deeply, before he let go of the cloth bundle. “Good work, Fred.”

“Thank you, Executive.”

“It’s a Greater Enhanced sword.”

“Thank…” ‘What?’

Greater Enhanced.

George’s eyes grew wide as he stared at the bundle of cloth. ‘Greater Enhanced? Greater Enhanced!’

Fred remained silent, frozen from shock. He blinked, staring at Adam’s face. His heart began to pound heavily within his chest. ‘Greater Enhanced? Me?’

Adam placed a hand on Fred’s shoulder. “Good work, Fred.” Adam smiled, bowing his head, before pulling back.

All these gifts had been expensive. The Basic weapons cost hundreds by themselves, a Greater Enhanced weapon was a thousand. They were worth so much more, however, for if Adam had sold them to the nobles, a Basic weapon could have been bought for over a thousand, and the Duchess had paid a whole six thousand for the exact weapon Adam had gifted to Fred.

Five thousand gold in profit could have sustained the entire business and all of its employees and the children for months. It would have been enough to start Larot’s hoard too.

Adam clapped his hands, followed quickly by an energetic set of clapping from the rest of the group. Fred remained shock as he stared at Adam, unsure if he had heard it correctly. Adam raised his brows expectantly towards the young Florian.

“Th-thank you, Executive Adam!” Fred said, clutching the bundle of cloth within his hands firmly, bowing his head.

Rick remained silent as he stared at Fred, who was still frozen for a few more moments, before he finally pulled back, sitting beside the mute boy and the girl with the widest of eyes, her teeth half clamped upon the fruit. His eyes then met his wife’s, who furrowed her brows questioningly at Rick.

‘…’ Rick’s eyes then fell to Adam, who had been waiting to meet Rick’s gaze. The half elf winked, a strange smile crossing his lips.

Adam let out a soft sigh. ‘I need to upgrade them all, but I can’t do it too quickly, or they won’t appreciate it…’

“Papa, good work,” Lanarot said, patting the half elf’s leg, holding up a small bun.

Adam leaned in for the girl to feed her, the half elf pulling his sister closer to his chest, kissing her forehead. “Thank you, Little President.”

“No, I am so big now!”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Hmmm… I suppose if you say it’s true, it must be true?”

“Yes!” Lanarot smiled wide, before she was distracted by the bread Adam brought to her lips.

“Since you are our Little President, you need to do something.”

“Mmm?”

Adam held out a gold coin. “I need you to give this to Nobby’s sister.”

“Nobby kaka?”

“That’s right, his little sister, Anne.” Adam held out the coin for the girl.

Lanarot stared down at the coin for a moment. “Okay! I can do it! Papa, I can do it!” She grasped the coin with her hand, before she shuffled away.

Adam leaned back and crossed his arms. ‘This is the life.’

While Adam enjoyed his time within the fort, there was another causing a mess within the Iyr.

It was the usual suspect, of course.

“I am annoyed today, since that brat of mine has taken my greatchildren away,” Jarot growled, feeling the cool wind against his old bones, threatening to freeze him in place, though the cold would not dare to.

“…”

Jarot’s eyes narrowed towards his opponent, who was so warm within his full plate, a shield at his side covering the blade. “You should have refused.”

“I have this responsibility as the Family Elder,” the Iyrman replied.

Jarot’s lips formed a wild grin. “Do you believe you are your grandfather?”

“I am not my grandfather,” the figure said, donning his shield.

“Not even brother spoke to me so carefree.”

The Iyrman paused. He reached for his sword, feeling the magic tingle through his fingers, before he began to unsheath it. “I am not my brother,” Dogek said.

“No,” Jarot grinned, feeling the rage warm his bones. “He would not have made the mistake of refusing my greatchildren.” The old Iyrman drew his axe and leapt forward.