Elder Gold waited at the carriage for the half elf, who brought all of his children. Her eyes fell down to the items in the children’s hands. Hydra scales, strips of cloth, and even small rings of copper.

Konarot stumbled up first, holding out her hands, in which lay a single hydra scale. “Thank you, Elder Gold.” Her tail swayed lightly behind her.

Elder Gold dropped to a knee, reaching out to hold the girl’s wrist, brushing along it with her thumb, plucking the hydra scale from her hand. “You are welcome, Konarot.”

The girl bowed her head lightly, flushing slightly, before she retreated back to her father, hugging his leg.

‘My kid! She’s too cute!’ Adam almost gave in to his daughter, but remained standing tall and firm. “Kirot, Karot.”

Kirot and Karot each handed over their own gifts silently, each accepting a ruffle of their hair from the Great Elder. It was then Adam inhaled deeply. He waited, watching as the tiny goblin girl stood tall and firm.

“Elder Gol!” Jirot declared. “Look, is so shiny!” Jirot held out her ring to the Great Elder.

“It is,” Elder Gold said, plucking it from her fingers, feeling the warmth of the child who had clutched it so dearly. She brushed the girl’s cheek, causing her to close her eyes and smile, enjoying the wrinkled hand of the older woman.

“Shiny,” Jarot said, holding up the cloth for the Great Elder.

“Salifi Gold?”

The boy nodded his head, smiling shyly.

Elder Gold paused a moment, before reaching up to the back of his head, rubbing along the back of his skull tenderly. She took the cloth from his fingers, but continued to rub his head, not allowing him to leave. “You are well behaved, not like your greatfather.”

Little Jarot flushed, before he finally ran back to his father, clutching at his leg. He peeked out from his father’s leg to see Elder Gold was staring at the gifts she had received from the children.

“Jirot,” Adam whispered.

Jirot blinked, and Adam nodded his head, causing her to return a nod of her own head.

“No, you smelly girl, the gifts!”

“Oop!” Jirot gasped. “Waiting! Waiting!” Jirot said, holding up her hand to the Iyrmen. “Waiting!” She reached into her pockets and charged towards the aides, holding up both of her hands, each clutching a gift. One a ribbon, the other a hydra scale. “Good job, good job, okay?”

“Okay,” the aides replied, each accepting their gifts from the girl, before the rest of the children handed over their gifts to the aides too.

“Say thank you properly now,” Adam said, bowing his head lightly.

“Thank you,” the children each said, their words mostly following one another, though Jirot had taken in a breath to shout a moment later.

‘He really is a father,’ Elder Gold thought as the carriage rolling out of the fort, taking the Great Elder and her aides, led by her magical steed. She eyed up the gifts from the children, each no doubt gifted to them by their own father, and perhaps their uncle. The hydra scales were no doubt from the hydras their father had slain that year, the cloth from the time he fought in the tournament, the copper ring, probably from the other world he had been allowed to visit.

“He’s more dangerous than I expected,” an aide said, staring down at her gifts. The Iyrman, one of the Iyrmen who were tusked, reached up to tie some of the gifts into her thick hair.

The other aide chuckled, placing his gifts within his tunic. “At least he is raising his children well.”

“It is good that their mother is so wise.”

The male aide’s laughter filled the carriage.

Elder Gold rubbed her fingers along the gifts the youngest of the triplets had passed along. Kirot had handed her a small bit of hydra leather, while the boy had handed her a bracelet formed of string.

‘Should we kill the mercenaries?’

Vasera eyed up Shaool, who sat with three of the other older Iyrmen who had appeared. ‘They say she’s a Paragon.’ Her eyes then fell to Marmak, who was drinking with the one known as Bilal, the pair relaxing together in the corner, Marmak speaking of his tale.

Yet, the most troublesome Iyrman was not within her sights.

“Hmph!” Jarot grumbled, holding Larot close to his chest. “How could they take my greatchildren from me?”

“It was only a few days,” Gangak said, pouring him a warm glass of milk.

“A few days? I am so old, how many days do I have?” Jarot held the glass of milk to Larot’s lips, who pulled his head away. “You see! When did Larot refuse to drink milk from my hands?”

“Always.”

“You see? Have I forgotten he does not drink from my hands? This is unacceptable.” Jarot sipped the milk. “Did I even drink warm milk?”

“Your grandson is fool enough for the both of you.”

“He should kill more nobles so that he can wear the title of fool as proudly as I.”

Gangak shook her head lightly, her eyes darting to the side, towards the squealing child who rushed towards her. She hoisted Jirot up within her arms, while little Jarot waited to be hoisted up.

“You would steal them from me even now?”

“You do not have enough arms to hold all three.”

“Even with his one arm of mine, I can hold them all!”

“Nano! I give Elder Gold my ring!” Jirot said, almost shouting the words.

“You did?” Gangak replied, placing a finger upon the girl’s lip.

“Yes,” the girl whispered. “I give shiny ring.”

“What a kind child you are.”

“Is not all my shiny ring, just a little shiny, I still have my shiny shiny ring,” the girl whispered, placing a finger on her lips. “You cannot say, okay?”

“I will not say,” Gangak assured, causing the girl to smirk, her cackling easing the air.

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Little Jarot rested his head against his nano’s shoulder, sucking his thumb. He stared at her deep red skin, noting all the familiar scars upon her neck. He stared at them long and hard, noting the contrast of the scars against the rest of her skin, and even how parts of her neck were darker than other parts, like those which were then hidden away by the rest of her attire.

“Nano, you must read story,” Jirot said, narrowing her eyes as though daring her nano to refuse.

“Okay.”

The older Jarot inhaled deeply, but he glanced to the side. ‘Since she has said you must read the story, you must.’ Deep within his heart he had wanted to read them a story, but since it was Gangak, he did not complain. After all, after himself, Gangak was the one who loved the pair the most. Indeed, it had to be after him, for he wouldn’t accept the fact she loved them as much as he did.

As the next morning came, the fort was far more lively, with all the new children from the Iyr, as well as their elder siblings, from Nirot to Naqokan, to their parents, some of whom held the title of Director, now within the business.

‘I should head to the Front Iyr to enchant,’ Adam thought over breakfast, feeding his youngest son a bowl of porridge. The boy turned his head. “If you don’t eat from my hand, I’ll kiss your face all over.” He didn’t even move his hand as Larot opened his mouth and sucked the porridge off the spoon, slowly chewing before swallowing.

‘…’

‘Yeah, that’s what I thought.’ Adam glanced around towards the rest of the businessfolk, who kept mostly to themselves, eating with their families, and the other businessfolk. Elsie ate with Ray Vonda, who had taken Jirot and Jarot with her to eat with the East Portians.

Once Dunes was done with the morning exercises, Adam thought to approach one of the distant Rot family members, wanting to know why they had come to the business. From what he saw, they mostly remained within the fort, but sometimes they followed him, or his children. However, he stopped as a figure approached him.

“Rick?”

“Executive,” Rick called, reaching up to scratch his beard, which had grown in for a short while. He glanced to the side for a moment, before he stretched out his neck. “May we speak to the side?”

‘May we?’ “Of course.” Adam followed Rick out a short ways.

“We appreciate all you’ve done for us, truly. I was hoping to ask about the matter with our parents…”

“The matter with your parents?”

“We spoke previously about whether they could join the business.”

“Oh, oh yes,” Adam replied, vaguely recalling the conversation. “Do you remember what I said?”

“You said you would allow them to stay if they were to sometimes work.”

“Right, yeah, sounds good.”

“It… is fine?”

“Yeah. We’ve got… do we have enough space?”

“We do.”

“Yep, sounds good. Double check with…” Adam paused, wondering who the best person to ask was. “Manager Dunes? Ask him if we really do have enough rooms for all the parents. Ask any of the others if they want their parents to come join the business first, then calculate how many there are, and then speak to Manager Dunes. If we don’t have enough space, you can let me know, I’ll make a deal with the Iyrmen to see if we can’t expand the fort, or if we couldn’t… I don’t know, use the Iyr’s side to create more housing.”

“Thank you.”

“Any time.” Adam nodded his head, allowing Rick to excuse himself. A smile remained firmly glued to the half elf’s lips as he approached the Iyrmen, who were gathered together while the businessfolk went about their business.

“What’s wrong?” Jaygak asked.

“What do you mean what’s wrong? I’m happy.”

“Why?”

“It feels good knowing that I’m trusted.”

“Isn’t that normal?”

“Normal? To trust me?”

“Yes?”

“Is it?”

Jaygak blinked at Adam’s words. “Are you happy or are you sad?”

“I’m happy that my workers trust me. It means I’m doing a good job, and that I’m not utter scum.”

Lucy furrowed her brows towards the half elf. “Why would you be scum?”

“You know, when someone becomes rich, they become evil.”

“I was rich, but I wasn’t evil.”

Adam reached over to hoist Lanarot up, bringing her close to his chest, planting a firm kiss on her forehead. “Lanababy, do you hear that? Lucy is saying your papa is a liar!”

Lanarot gasped towards Lucy, almost dropping her bread. “Why?”

Lucy sat up taller. “I didn’t say that!”

Lanarot looked towards her mother, her face contorting slightly, but Adam quickly brought a flat bread to her mouth, stopping her from complaining.

“That’s not fair!” Lucy frowned. “I’m going to tell Jirot.”

“Forgive me, just this once,” Adam said, peppering his sister with kisses, brushing her hair behind her ear. “I need to figure out when we can go get the parents of the rest of the businessfolk. We already brought over Ted and Annie, but the rest of them want to bring their parents over.”

“Do they all live in Red Oak?” Lucy asked.

“I think so.”

“Should we go pick them up?” Lucy then noted the pout on Adam’s lips. “We could take the children…”

“We… could?” Adam glanced towards Sonarot questioningly.

“We did not expect to take them so far out of the Iyr,” Sonarot admitted. “I can send word to Elder Zijin, and the Family Elders. They will inform the Great Elders, who may delay the outing.”

“Delay? Not deny?”

“The Great Elders cannot deny our freedoms so easily.”

Adam blinked. ‘I really should figure out how the Iyr works.’ “So… we could take the kids out?”

“Yes.”

“My kids too?”

“We cannot?”

“I mean… you know.”

“Since they are my grandchildren, I can take them out,” Sonarot replied, as though it was really as simple as that.

“Right…” Adam still wasn’t sure how his children’s relationship worked in the Iyr, and more than anything, he really didn’t want to find out. “I’ll let the others know that we might be going out, then. How long will that be?”

“A few days.”

“A few days…” Adam narrowed his eyes. ‘Damn. If only I could enchant at the fort.’

“There is still the matter of the business with the Countess,” Sonarot said.

“Yeah.”

Sonarot smiled. “Let us take a walk.”

“Okay?”

Adam followed the Director to the inner area of the fort, where a young Iyrman was walking across the northern most section of the fort, completing his rounds. He looked over his shoulder to the Executive and Director, nodding his head, getting a pair of nods in return. They approached Jaygak’s place, made of stone like the rest of the buildings within the inner area, before stepping within.

“Manager Dunes often sweeps the inner area,” Sonarot said, walking through the first room, which was fairly bare, a room that was part kitchen, part dining area, part living area. She stepped through to the second room. She glanced around, noting the gathering dust within the room. “He knows his limits.”

“Yeah,” Adam replied, staring at the trap door that was very obvious beside Jaygak’s bed.

“He suspected one of your children was sick,” Sonarot said.

“He did?”

“Gangak thought so. He seemed to know something.”

“When was it?”

“It was the end of the third month.”

“I think… I think that was the time I was in the… water place.”

“Did you tempt Fate?”

“Yeah.”

“It may not have been the case.”

“Yeah…”

“Larot is not sick.”

“Uncle Fakrot lost his eye.”

“A small price to pay.”

“A price he shouldn’t have had to pay.”

“Why did you tempt Fate?”

“The Prince picked a fight with me when I found out Vonda was sick… I… I was just really mad.”

“Fakrot lost his eye to help his grandnephew. It is a price any Iyrman would pay. In reality, he lost his eye to help his nephew and his grandnephew. It is an even smaller price to pay.”

“He shouldn’t have lost his eye.”

“Your grandfather has lost an arm and leg, how can Fakrot complain?”

“He should complain to me at least.”

“He is happy that you did not marry his daughters.”

“They’re just kids, but I’m not that bad, am I?”

“They are considered adults, but it is not because of you, but because of him.”

“Because of him?”

“He is a father too,” Sonarot said, before undoing the trapdoor within Jaygak’s room, the ladder falling to the ground. She climbed down first, while Adam followed after her, glancing around towards the long underground cellar, lit up by small gemstones which reacted to their presence. The cellar wall began right beside them, before the bathroom, continuing all the way to the side, stopping a short ways before Adam’s own cellar.

Adam noted all the weapons within the storage, along with the barrels of, what he presumed to be, food, and a mirror all the way to the side, covered in dust. Adam reached over towards a sword, eyeing it up. ‘She bought this in East Port a few years back.’ A small smile slipped upon his face, recalling when they went shopping for a sword together.

“Adam,” Sonarot called, holding up a small dagger, pricking her finger with it, before reaching over towards the mirror. She placed her finger against the stigma of the silver flower that lay atop the mirror, and the blood seeped into it. She held out the dagger. “Prick your finger and drip the blood into the flower.”

“Right,” Adam said, picking his finger, before placing his finger on the stigma, allowing his blood to drip against the silver flower.

Health: 91 -> 90

“Do not allow your blood to drip upon the floor, it will leave clues for others.”

Adam reached up to suck the blood out of his finger. “Right…”

She picked up the mirror and placed it against the small side wall, so it was opposite the ladder they climbed down. “Press your thumb against the mirror’s side.”

‘Why my thumb?’ Adam thought, pressing his thumb against the cool metal.

The mirror continued to reveal their bodies to them, but then the centre of the mirror began to shift in colour, as though someone brought fire against it, and the mirror continued to shift between the spectrum of colours, until it finally turned blue.

“Follow quickly,” Sonarot said, reaching into the mirror with a hand, before climbing into it with the rest of her body, disappearing into the swirling blue.

Adam blinked. ‘You could have at least warned me.’