As the late afternoon sun beat against the land, the guards blew the horns, and the carriage rolled into the open gates of the fort, veering off to the side. Out of the first carriage, the heavily armoured Iyrman stepped out, wearing a greatsword upon her back. The symbol of Baktu proudly displayed upon her armour.

‘Damn, what is she doing here?’ Adam thought, staring at the Great Elder.

‘…’ Bilal had spent a moment focused on the Great Elder, but his eyes were swiftly drawn away by a particular figure. The Iyrman was unarmoured, adorned in the Iyr’s furs, and he also wore a greatsword upon his back. At first, he thought it was just a coincidence, but when their eyes met, Bilal understood it was no simple coincidence.

Adam’s attention quickly fell upon the group of children, wearing the tunics of the Iyr, each standing proudly beside their mother or father. Each of the children glanced around the fort for a moment, but upon seeing the familiar faces, they smiled.

“Papa!” Lanarot called, charging forward towards Jurot, who dropped to a knee to embrace his sister. “You are back!”

“I have returned,” Jurot assured, hugging her until she melted within his arms.

Adam waited patiently, his entire body tense, until Jaygak and Kitool had also hugged their own siblings and cousins. ‘Hold on…’ Adam dropped to a knee and picked up the tiny girl, who smiled brightly towards the half elf.

“Kaza!”

“Inakan!” Adam embraced her tight, swaying from side to side. ‘Since a Kan hasn’t returned, I’m sure it’s okay if I hug them first!’ “Minakan, you too, where do you think you’re going without hugging kaza?”

Minakan glanced up towards Adam, blinking a few times, before turning to ignore him once more, her eyes glued to the fort. Unfortunately for her, Adam lifted her up to embrace her too.

“Hmph!” growled out an Iyrman.

“Babo!” Jirot squealed, before charging towards her greatfather, almost tackling him as he quickly caught her, hoisting her up, before hoisting his greatson up too.

“You had this old man sitting in a carriage for all this time in order to come visit you?” Jarot blew raspberries into their necks. “You should just stay with me!”

“You should hand them to me and greet the rest of your greatchildren,” Gangak said, holding out her hands.

“You should have remained so that I may dote on them more.”

“I missed them too, my precious greatchildren.”

“Are they yours?”

“Are they not?”

Jarot frowned, clicking his teeth, surrendering his greatchildren to her, before he reached down to ruffle the silver hair of his eldest greatchildren. “I should have kept my youngest greatson at the least! Where is he?”

“Good job on your mission,” Adam said, greeting the returned Silver Fate Squad.

“It was little trouble,” Naqokan assured.

“I’m sure it was since you’re all so sensible, except maybe Laygak,” Adam said.

“Laygak was most sensible of all.”

“How bad was it that Jaygak’s cousin is considered the most sensible?”

Laygak smiled. “My sensibility is like a large oak.”

“What does that mean?” Adam asked.

“Large oaks are most sensible,” Jurot agreed.

‘Damn wood nerds.’

Once the children were greeted, like a carousel of joy, they were finally free to join the central fire, which burned gently as the scent of the food wafted through the air. The pair remained completely fixated upon each other’s eyes. The strong and mighty Iyrman, opposite the strong and mighty Aswadian.

“Do you understand?” Marmak asked.

“I do.” Bilal replied, feeling the intense pressure the Iyrman was giving off. ‘He has grown so much more powerful since we last met.’

Marmak’s grin painted his lips. “I heard you had a hard time in Aswadasad.”

“Not quite as difficult as you.”

“Let us share a drink to the hard times we endured.”

Bilal nodded, understanding he wasn’t able to refuse, as the pair stepped away. His shoulder pulsed, the ache of their history filling his body. ‘I did not expect them to call the Butcher.’

Elder Gold’s eyes fell to Marmak for a moment, before she approached the Prince. “We welcome your return, Lord Morkarai.”

“I apologise for returning so abruptly.”

“It is our honour you have chosen to return.”

“The honour is mine to be hosted upon the Iyr’s lands once more.”

Elder Gold smiled, bowing her head lightly, before her eyes fell to the fool of a half elf who was still causing so much trouble. “Executive Adam, let us speak.”

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

‘Uh oh,’ Adam thought, frowning slightly. He let Lanarot down, the girl whimpering quietly, pouting up at her brother. “Yeah?”

Elder Gold led Adam through the business’ fort, the little girl oblivious to the confrontation between her brother and the Great Elder, while Adam was oblivious to the other confrontation within the business. A pair of the Great Elder’s aides followed her as they made their way to the inner area, which was only meant for the Executives and Managers of the business, but Adam wasn’t in the business of getting himself killed.

While the Great Elder whisked Adam away, there was another pair exchanging their own glares.

“You must be Kitool’s grandaunt,” Vasera said, feeling the pain return against her collar, while the pressure of the older woman weighed upon her shoulders.

“I am,” Shaool replied, her eyes sternly glued to the half dragon mercenary.

Vasera’s throat grew dry as moments passed. Her heart pounded wildly within her chest, and her hands grew clammy. She slowly bowed her head. “You won’t need to pay me any mind.”

“I pray that is the case,” Shaool replied.

“Baba,” Konarot called, patting the seat beside her.

“Are you well?” Tonagek asked, sitting beside her, reaching up to pet her head.

“Yes,” the girl replied, while her siblings all greeted their baba too.

In the inner section of the fort, the guard on the wall stepped away, allowing the aide to take their place. Adam poured tea for the Great Elder, the remaining aide, and himself, dropping down opposite the Great Elder.

“As always, a pleasure to see you, Elder Gold.”

Elder Gold sipped her tea for a long moment, far too slowly for Adam’s liking. “It is good to see you have all returned safely.”

“Thank you.”

“Ray Vonda is safe within our lands now,” Elder Gold said, her eyes firmly fixed to Adam’s, which flashed with anxiety. “Baktu will not claim your child while she is upon our land.”

“I’m very grateful.”

“You have returned after a great journey. Will you speak your tale to me?”

“Sure…” Adam replied, not entirely certain what the Great Elder was doing here. He spoke of his tale, leaving out few details, though keeping it as brief as he could.

Elder Gold didn’t seem to react to much of the surprises within their journey. “Your grandfather requested I speak with Lord Morkarai of his mistake.”

Adam tensed up entirely, stopping his body from reacting so predictably. “His mistake?”

“Lord Morkarai almost led to the death of his greatchild. If I do not speak with him, the old fool has stated his intention to cause a mess.”

‘He might really be my grandfather,’ Adam thought, daring not to say the word aloud. “Well, of course, but he apologised, and nothing’s going to happen anyway.”

Elder Gold noted how Adam’s entire body tensed up once more, even to the point of his hand gripping his cup harder. “Your child, and the child of your brother, shall be born safely within the Iyr.”

“Since an Iyrman is saying it, it must be true,” Adam joked, reaching up rub the side of his neck.

“You adventured for some time. Are you able to Awaken Blood Mages with the ability to enchant Basic weapons?”

“Ah, I think so. I can do about…” ‘How much?’

[11 for 11 000 XP.]

“I can do about eleven.’

‘Eleven?’ Elder Gold remained silent for a long moment. ‘Chief Iromin, how can we leave him alive?’

“Wait…” ‘Is that for Passive too?’

[No.]

‘How much is it for the passive too?’

[2 000 each.]

“Actually, it’s only four. I mean… five? Sorry, yeah, five. You mean the ability to enchant the items passively, right?”

“Yes.”

“Yeah, then it’s five.”

‘So it requires twice as much effort?’ Elder Gold thought. “Are you willing to negotiate?”

“Sure?”

“They will work for the business for five years.”

“They should work for the business for ten years, but they can spend half the time working for the Iyr,” Adam replied.

“How many weapons will they be able to enchant in a month?”

‘Bell?’

[One Basic per week.]

“They can make one Basic weapon per week.”

‘One Basic per week…’

“Although, while working here, I won’t be working them the entire time. They’ll probably work about half the time, unless we really need them to work the entire time. I want them to be able to take enough breaks to enjoy themselves.”

“We Iyrmen enjoy our work.”

“You should enjoy spending time with your family and kids too.”

“We do.”

“Yeah, then you should enjoy the time I’m giving you then. Why work for our business so hard, you should play when we give you time to play, you know? It’s not like we won’t push you to work hard when we need it, but you should work hard and play hard.”

“They will work a season for you and a season for the Iyr, for a total of ten years, with every Twilight Month free?” Elder Gold asked.

“Works for me.”

‘Twelve Basic weapons a year for the business, twenty four for the Iyr,’ Elder Gold thought. ‘Is he giving us such a benefit on purpose?’ “If they are not to work for the business, they should continue to work to help create weapons for the Iyr.”

“They should take some time off.”

“They will take time off when the Iyr allows it.”

Adam frowned. “When they work during the business, they should follow the business’ laws.”

“If they work during the season for the business, and they are not required to work during the season for the Iyr, they will not need to work.”

“Then I want it written in the contract that in a four week period, they should at least get four days off, no, eight days.”

“They may work for three of four weeks during the time in the business.”

“Three of four weeks during both times, but if it’s an emergency, they can choose to work more, but it’s an option given to them,” Adam said.

Elder Gold was about to continue when she realised what the conversation was. She, Elder Gold, was fighting against Adam in order to treat the Iyrmen worse. She pulled back, furrowing her brows curiously at the half elf. She thought long and hard about Adam’s typical deal for the other workers, then to why Adam wanted to create such a business.

“Do you have such little faith in us?” Elder Gold asked.

“It’s not that, it’s just that working too hard will burn someone out, even if it is for a good reason. Sometimes, your body needs a break, that’s true for working out, that’s true for working to make a person gold while they pay you coppers.”

“Will you pay the Iyrmen for their work too?”

“Yes?”

“You are to pay them even though you will Awaken them?”

“Yes?”

“How much?”

“Ten…” Adam paused. ‘Should I only pay them ten gold? Shouldn’t I pay them more? I mean, they will be making us a thousand gold each month, right? I can’t pay them just a percent, but then again, I am giving them the ability to enchant, and I need to make sure everyone else is taken care of.’ “Ten gold for each of the thirteen months, and I’m sure the Iyr will treat them fairly while they work for the Iyr.”

“Will you train the enchanters to become Experts?”

“Train them?” Adam asked, blinking slightly. ‘Eh?’ “I suppose… it’s not like I can’t. It’s just that…” Adam reached up to his chin and thought deeply. ‘It’ll take quite a bit of time, but… if I train them into Experts, the Iyr probably won’t be so eager to kill me if I do something stupid.’ “I can try?”

“Would it be difficult?”

“Quite difficult, unless it’s one at a time. However, they’ll be taking so much time out of the Iyr that they won’t be enchanting much, and I’m sure the Iyr can train them even better than I can. Not as quick, perhaps, but far more stable, far more… acceptable?”

“I understand.”

“I can take them out now and again if you like, but whether they’ll gain some,” Adam smiled slightly, ”Experience… or not, is up to Fate, and, chances are, we might not be able to protect them since we’re not that strong.”

“I understand.” Elder Gold bowed her head. “It is time I left.”

“Are you leaving right now?”

“Yes. I should return to the Iyr, swiftly.”

“Would you wait a few minutes before you go?”

“What do you require?”

“Just a few minutes.”