“I don’t know,” Adam said. “I think she accepts my children as her own, and even if she doesn’t, she acts like it.”

The mood within the air completely shifted while the nobles spoke to the half elf, learning more and more about him, who had seemed to have no sense of self preservation as he continued to reveal his intimate details.

“Either way, she’s too cute. How can she do this to me? Our little Virot, she is so adorable, and now… my brother, isn’t he too cute too?” Adam asked, shifting the conversation over towards the young Iyrman, who had dared to shirk the Paragon in the room. “He’s come to win the tournament, all for his son. Isn’t that so adorable? He’s so strong, handsome, smart, and not just that, but his family are all terrifying. From Mad Dog, to even those stronger than Mad Dog, and that only includes all the Rot family members.”

“Are there others he is related to?”

“Yeah, he’s related to quite a few monsters,” the half elf replied, leaning back, crossing his arms as he fell into thought.

“Like who?” the raven faced noble asked.

“Like…” Adam frowned. “No, no, that’s too dangerous for me to speak about. I don’t even want to think about it. Mad Dog, he’s scary enough, that old man could probably clash with most of the greatest Aldishmen, I’d even bet on him, but in the Iyr, they have people who will keep the old man in check. Like Kitool, Steel Kick, or whatever the Aldish called her, her grandaunt is one of the Ten Paragons of the Iyr.”

The shock swam through the group like a wave.

“The Ten Paragons are not all Paragons,” the Grand Commander said. “They only call it so.”

“I don’t want to correct you in front of everyone, but it’s the One Hundred Paragons who are not all Paragons,” Adam said, glancing towards the older Aldishman. “The Ten Paragons of the Iyr are all Paragons.”

“Is that so?”

“That’s just what I know, and what I have heard, but perhaps the Iyrmen, who speak true almost all the time, maybe they’re lying about this to cause Aldland to hesitate from invading.” Adam shrugged his shoulders.

“So many Paragons would cause the King to pause, but not for long, for even a hundred Paragons can be killed.”

“Yep,” Adam said. “Paragons are easier to kill than one might expect.”

“…” Sir James Greatwood narrowed his eyes towards the smirking half elf, who winked towards the Grand Duchess. ‘This young man wishes for death.’

“The Iyr is pretty scary, just like Aldland, but I call it my home, for now,” Adam said. “The Enchanter provides so many benefits, one of them protecting me from light conspiracies and politics, and the other is the chance to explore Aldland, meet the various nobles, to fight figures I could only dream of fighting, and, perhaps most importantly, the pay, it’s pretty good, but the magical weapons? They’re some of the best.”

“What of your wolves?” the raven faced noble asked.

“My wolves?”

“Did the Enchanter gift them to you?”

“No, we gathered them during our journey,” Adam explained.

“Are they for sale?”

“Unfortunately not. They belong to…” Adam paused. “The Iyrmen?”

“The Iyrmen?”

“I think so?”

Eventually, having thoroughly bullied the half elf, the nobles dismissed him, and Adam returned back to inform the group what happened.

‘Did he do it on purpose?’ Jaygak thought. Adam had definitely made plenty of mistakes, but some of what he revealed was technically common knowledge, and he had essentially just confirmed it, or displayed that he was merely a fool who believed all the words he had heard. Except, Adam had also sprinkled a few extra details here and there, and though perhaps it did cause the nobles to grow more cautious of the Iyr, it also made them more cautious of Adam in turn. Jaygak thought more and more upon Adam’s words.

Adam was dumb. Sometimes, it was accidental. Sometimes, it was purposeful.

‘Adam, do you understand by revealing this to me, the Iyr will know sometimes it truly is an act, and that we will be more cautious of you?’ Jaygak thought. ‘Am I… part of that plan?’

“Seems the Grand Duchess wants to meet with us again,” Adam said, checking the note the servant brought over during lunch. “All of us, apparently. She says she hopes we haven’t eaten too much.” Adam glanced across their dinner, which he had paid for from a percentage of a percentage of his winnings.

As they approached the area, Adam noted that the guard presence remained the same, even though he was bringing Jurot and Kitool along, as well as the pair of demons, who had remained rather quiet during their stay in the North. Lucy and Mara remained under the Grand Duchess’ protection, sitting along with a few merchants the old woman was close with, acting as though they were an attraction rather than people, which was better than the alternative.

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“Off with your boots!” The Grand Duchess stated.

‘Gross.’ Lucy winced as she removed her boots, and was glad she had gotten into the habit of taking daily baths, just like Adam.

The Grand Duchess was still flanked by only the pair of knights, each Adam had estimated to be Masters, before Jurot revealed that Sir Wick was actually closer to a Paragon than he was a Grandmaster, and the other unnamed knight, Sir Grover, was also fairly similarly powerful, for he was someone who had lived after coming face to face with Sharukan, Otkan’s father.

‘Damn, Sharukan?’ Adam thought, eyeing up the other knight. ‘He must be older too, and…’ Adam spotted the blade ont he wall, and then the glave that the figure wielded.

‘He wields the glave which once belonged to the Bak family,’ had said.

‘Who?’

‘Vibak and Bibak are known as the Twin Sun and Moon Dragons, and both have gained Gold Rank. They will soon achieve Paragon status and will take their place among the Ten Paragons.’

‘Jurot, I really am in the wrong genre.’

Adam stared at the glave for a long while. ‘I wonder if he’d be willing to give up the glave?’

The Grand Duchess listened to the stories of the Iyr, even hearing the tales of the Baks from Jaygak, meanwhile, she thought of the reasons why she had asked them to come meet with her. She continued to listen to the stories of the Iyrmen, even as the black of the nightval evening passed towards night.

‘Damn, these biscuits are really good,’ Adam thought. ‘Shortbread is so damn delicious. I wish we had some tea, but, it’s dangerous for me to start thinking about tea. It’s not like I have a navy anyway.’

“Boy, do you understand you’ve been marked with death?”

“Everyone dies, Grand Duchess,” Adam replied with a small smirk.

“Here I thought you were a father.”

Adam frowned. “Sorry.”

“It’s too late to apologise now, you fool. You have been tasked with fighting daily in the tournament, and you should be so lucky to find none are assassins hired to deal with you.”

“Well…” Adam paused. ‘Hold on. I’m the one that can bring people back from the dead. Who the hell is going to bring me up?’ “That is quite concerning.”

“You need to learn to keep your mouth shut.”

“Yeah.” Adam reached up to his forehead, feeling it pulse.

“You are lucky I have sponsored you. I will block the small actions against you, but you should sleep with your brother beside you.”

“I’m marr-,” Adam began, before stopping himself when the woman glared at him. “Thank you, Grand Duchess. I will consider your words carefully.”

“Don’t consider them, just do it.”

“Right.” ‘I’m not strong enough to deal with the nobles yet. Maybe when I’m ten times as wealthy, and a Paragon, then I can think about messing around with them.’

“You don’t need to worry about the daily fighting,” Jaygak said. “Adam deserves to get beaten up daily, and then, when we fight, I’ll take advantage of how tired he is.”

“Very wise. He won’t learn unless it’s beaten into him.” The Grand Duchess’ eyes fell upon Jaygak for a moment. “He may be exposed to assassins.”

“The North is the North, but Aldishmen are Aldishmen,” Jaygak said. “If Adam is killed, it’s a convenient excuse for us to react.”

The Grand Duchess glared at the young woman, who spoke so openly about her political moves, the smirk on her face revealing how troublesome she was.

“Perhaps I should have been a little more at ease, but the nobles did hit a spore spot,” Adam said. “There’s only so much even I can endure, you know?”

“I should not have allowed you to go,” Jurot said. “I believed it would be fine since the Grand Duchess had invited you, and no nobles would dare to misbehave, but it seems the Blacksnow family’s name is beginning to fade with your retirement.”

“…”

“The names of nobles and we Iyrmen ebb and flow with the sands of time,” Kitool said, understanding her companions were taking too many swings at her pride. “It was enough that you put a Paragon in his place.”

The Grand Duchess understood Kitool was the wisest of them all, and she glanced towards the demons she was going to threaten, but decided to let it go. “If you understand, it’s fine.”

“I appreciate your concern, Grand Duchess.”

“If you appreciate my concern, and my ability to protect you, then you should take it easy upon Sir Roseia,” the Grand Duchess stated.

“I believe I made my intentions to win quite clear,” Adam replied, trying to calm himself.

“I did not say you had to lose against her, but you shouldn’t allow her to lose so easily. She is related to my family, and if you don’t return the favour I show you, you should forget about any business you wish to have my family, and you should sleep beside all three Iyrmen.” Her eyes then darted to the demons. “Since-,”

“Alright,” Adam said, stopping the woman from saying anything more. “Alright. I got you. Go easy on the little noble lass, as fragile as a flower she is, since she was raised in the South. I got you.”

Jurot tensed up, and Kitool’s eyes darted to the side, the pair ready to react to the knights who were also tense.

“As long as you understand.”

“I understand, alright. I understand right now I’m too weak. I don’t have any influence. Even if I can go toe to toe with a Grandmaster, no one cares. I understand that I have to let the nobles walk all over me. I understand that, right now, I can’t drink tea safely outside of the Iyr’s land. I understand that. Everything thinks I don’t know, but I do. However, there’s only so much a man can take, before he explodes. Are you going to sit here and pretend that the nobles don’t-,”

“Adam,” Jaygak said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Jaygak! How much of this-,”

“Adam,” Jaygak said, reaching up to Adam’s cheeks, holding his face. She stared into his eyes. “I know how difficult it is to endure. I know it’s worse for you, because unlike us, you can’t stand up and slay whichever nobles you feel like. That’s a good thing. Think of how much that would displease your wife.”

Adam inhaled deeply, still shaking slightly, but he let out a soft exhale. He was still tense, but the rising tension began to fall.

“The Grand Duchess hasn’t asked you to surrender the first position. If she does, you can cause a mess then, but until then, just accept whatever the nobles throw at you, and cut it down with your axe.” Jaygak pat his cheek gently. “Think about how much you can spoil your children after you win.”

“Yeah,” Adam said, slowly nodding his head. “Yeah.”

Grand Duchess Aeda realised she couldn’t ask more of the young boy now, and allowed him to leave with his companions. She understood, following the sight of his eyes, he wanted to speak of the glave, but he endured for the moment, and pulled away.

“Fine out everything you can about that boy,” the Grand Duchess said.

“Yes, Your Grace,” Sir Wick replied.