Chương 1238: Interlude: The Sibling's Duties

The rays of noon fell upon the Iyr. It was the first day of the third month, so the rays held a greater warmth within him, the prelude for the next season. Amokan had waited until noon for his task since his sister held the most energy around noon, though crashed a few hours later, at the perfect time for their return.

The Iyrman led his sister through the tunnels of the Iyr, passing from one place to the next, with Inakan asking a thousand questions along the way, until she was too tired to walk beside her brother, who picked her up and carried her, allowing her to regain her strength to ask another thousand questions. They finally came across tunnels which had been etched with letters. K. He made his way through that tunnel, finding the first tunnel marked with another letter, A.

He made his way through that tunnel, until he stopped.

"Which letter is N?" Amokan asked.

"Papa, you said no more questions!" Inakan declared, the girl crossing her arms, glaring at her elder brother.

"You asked too many, but now I asked one, so you may ask another."

"It is that one!" Inakan pointed towards the letter, which she had often written, sometimes the right way round.

"Nnn! Nuh! En!"

"K. A. N. Do you know what it spells?"

"Kan!" Inakan replied almost instantly.

"I know because I write it every morning with daddy!"

"I saw," Amokan said, clutching his sister a little tighter.

"You write so well."

"You must be so troubled because I am so cute and smart, but it is okay," Inakan assured, reaching up to pet her brother's head.

"Even if I am cute and smart, I will not leave you behind." Amokan smiled slightly, shaking his head, before leaning in to nuzzle against the girl's cheek.

"Knowing mercy is a virtue."

"Yes! I am so merciful!" Amokan led the girl through the last tunnel, approaching the large wall. It was plain save for the forty slots within. Amokan reached into his pocket and began to slip his coins into ten of the slots one by one, not caring if Inakan saw, the girl most likely not going to remember, and even if she did, she was a Kan.

"Father said he took you here last year. Do you remember?"

"No?"

"You must remember that this is a secret. You can tell no one about the family vault. Those who know, know, but even if they know, you still cannot speak of it."

"Okay!" The wall shuddered and fell, revealing the large room within, full of crates, pouches, weapons, mostly greatswords, and all manner of other treasures. They were all illuminated by small gems, which sparked to life as the door opened. The room was easily a hundred steps from side to side, and fifty steps deep, with another doorway ahead leading to another room.

"This is our family's vault," Amokan said, carrying Inakan within, his eyes glancing around to see how neatly everything had been laid out, and how clean it was.

"Cousin Izyakan must have cleaned before she left to the Front Iyr."

"Kaza Izyakan is working hard," Inakan said, nodding her head.

"She cannot feed me peaches because she is working."

"I will feed you peaches when we return," Amokan promised. Inakan smiled wide, wrapping her arms around her brother's thick neck.

"You are the best, papa." Amokan smiled wider, before heading towards a particular pouch which sat upon the shelf. It was a typical pouch, but Amokan stepped towards it with a particular intent. He grabbed the pouch and sat down, Inakan sitting upon his lap, and he undid the knot, pulling the pouch open to reveal the particular treasures within.

"Gems!" the girl said, without her brother pulling them out. She could see the gems clearly with her glasses, even though they were barely dimly lit within the pouch.

"Yes," Amokan pulled out a gem, holding it up for the girl.

"What is this?"

"Tiger eye," the girl replied, noting the swirls of oranges, browns, greens, and blues.

"They are worth ten gold!"

"Who taught you that?"

"Jarot teach me."

"You must call him dado Jarot."

"Not dado, you silly boy! Nephew Jarot!"

"Ah!" Amokan ruffled the girl's hair.

"I am sorry. That is right, he and his sister know their gems."

"Kaza Jaygak teached them."

"Yes, cousin Jaygak learnt how to deal with silver and gold and gems."

"Jaygak is so smart! I want to be as smart and strong as Jaygak too!" Amokan raised his brows, smiling slightly, though his smile quickly dropped.

"It will be difficult for you."

"I know. It is because I am born so small." Amokan could feel the wave of sickness fill him. He pulled the girl closer to his chest, planting a firm kiss on the top of her head.

"If you wish to grow more powerful, you need to bully cousin Adam so he will spoil you with great magical items. Then you can fight when you wish."

"No, no, no! Papa, I am too cute and troublesome, if I am strong too, it is unfair for everyone!" Inakan sighed, as though burdened by perfection.

"I must give everyone else a chance." This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Did cousin Adam teach you this?" Amokan asked.

"Yes. He said I might be more troublesome than Jirot. It is because I am so amazing." Amokan chuckled lightly, pulling the girl even closer to his chest. He nuzzled against the top of her head gently, before rubbing his cheek against hers.

"You are so amazing, my sister."

"I cannot apologise for that." Amokan's laughter filled the vault, pulling Inakan even closer to his chest, the pair embracing tightly. Amokan could feel the weight of the title that was an older brother as they embraced. He had understood it long ago, but now, with Inakan within his arms, the girl tightly embracing him, showering him in equal affection, he understood to a greater degree.

"Do you know who brought these gems?" Amokan asked, revealing the rest of the gems to the girl, from the favourites used by the Iyr, obsidian, each worth ten gold, and onyx, each worth fifty, along with all the other cheaper gems, such as azurite, malachite, and so many others.

"Hmm…" Inakan stared at the gems.

"Kaza Jaygak?"

"No."

"Kaza Adam?" Amokan wasn't sure how he felt that the girl had picked the half elf even before her other cousins, but it made sense, since the half elf spent so much time with the children.

"No. It was me. I travelled all through the land and adventured with Timojin. We fought many creatures and turned our silver and gold into these gems to bring back to the Iyr."

"Wow!"

"We brought many more, but we gave half to the Iyr, and this half, it was for our family."

"You are so amazing, papa! Good job!" Inakan reached up to brush her brother's hair gently.

"You worked so hard so you must rest hard, okay?"

"I am resting, I am resting," Amokan promised, still holding his sister. He put away the gems, before opening the crates, revealing the silver coins and gold coins within, allowing the girl to pick a coin of each, slipping another to replace the one she had taken.

"All these silver coins, all these gold coins, they were earned by Iyrmen of old. Some of these, father earned. Some of these, grandmother earned. Some of these earned by their fathers and grandmothers, and mothers and grandfathers, and their parents and grandparents before them."

"Wow! They are so old!" Inakan gasped.

"Everything in the Iyr is so old! It is so amazing!"

'Hmm?' Amokan thought.

"Why is it amazing?"

"It means the Iyr has a long hairytim!"

"Heritage?"

"Ope!" Inakan reached up to her head, wiping her face.

"Hairytaj."

"Who taught you this?"

"Kaza Adam!"

"How should I feel that Adam is teaching you all these things even though it should be me, your brother?"

"You snooze you lose!" Inakan cackled at her brother, recalling what Adam had taught her to say when she was confronted by these words.

"…" Inakan continued to cackle, before grabbing her brother's head, hugging it tight.

"Even so! Papa, I love you the most! You are an Iyrman, and kaza Adam…" Inakan tried to recall what Adam had said, but the half elf had stayed silent for a long while.

"Kaza Adam loves you too," Amokan assured, causing the girl to remember the words, which were those words too.

"Yes! I am so lucky!" Amokan let out a sigh, though he couldn't help but smile.

'It seems I was worrying for no reason?'

"What are those?" Inakan asked, pointing towards the various silver and gold objects.

"These are currency from other countries that are sometimes used. They are worth different sums of silver and gold. The beht from Aswadasad, the fida from Western Confederacy."

"They are different?" Inakan asked, slightly confused, since they both looked like silver flowers, the centre heavy, with the lighter petals flowing out at an angle.

"Aswadasad and the Western Confederacy share the same roots, and though much of their customs, and even their currencies, are the same, they like to pretend they are different. This, the golden dragon, comes from further east, beyond even the Empire that has invaded the Confederacy. I do not recall the name of the currency, but it is worth a hundred gold." Inakan gasped.

"Why do they not use coins?"

"They do, but sometimes, there is a need for different values. The beht has a story behind it and so do the golden dragons, but usually, the nobles like to carry such items to feel important. One could carry two onyx gems, or ten obsidian gems or tiger eyes, but sometimes…" Amokan picked up the golden dragon, his hand tensing, his arms flexing.

"To pick up something heavy feels pleasant." Inakan tried to pick up the golden dragon, but the girl groaned, and even as she used both hands, she could barely lift it. Amokan helped her, holding the dragon up by its base, which made up about half of the gold, while the upper half was a long dragon which curled around as it lay atop the throne of gold, peeking an eye open.

"This one is designed not to stack, but others are often designed to stack," Amokan said, picking up a silver flower, the fida, and placed it upon the beht, which was near identical, and revealed to the girl how they could stack, turning it slightly atop the beht, so that as they continued to stack, the petals spiralled.

"Oooh!"

"I brought you here to show you all the treasures, but there are a group of treasures which may be the most important."

"The swords!" Inakan declared, pointing towards the wall of swords, with twenty greatsword, and as many other blades, most of which were longswords, while others were shortswords and daggers. Amokan chuckled.

"You are smarter than even cousin Jaygak!" Inakan giggled delightfully, the girl clutching at her brother's collar to brace herself, not that her brother would allow her to fall.

"These blades, they are the magical blades of our family. They are also Enhanced, though some are not, but they hold a greater significance." Amokan motioned towards an empty spot within the wall.

"That is where our greatest blade used to lay."

"Oooh!" Amokan smiled, recalling the name of the blade.

"There are other great weapons around, but that was our greatest weapon."

"It is gone?"

"It is not within our vault," Amokan confirmed, though he hadn't checked the rest of the vault's rooms for it. However, his father had told him it was no longer within their vault, even though he had seen it as a boy.

"Here, one of our greatest weapons used to lay."

"It is gone too?"

"Grandaunt Anakan died with it."

"Oooh! Grandaunt died in the Year of Silence!"

"Yes. She was grandmother's younger sister. Grandmother has one more sister, but she is not a Kan, she is a Rot now. We are blessed with many great warriors in our family. Grandmother's generation was certainly one of the greatest, for even her cousin, granduncle Tarukan, carries our name well."

"Yes! Our family is so amazing!"

"Our tales are among the greatest in the Iyr. Our treasures are among the greatest in the Iyr. Our weapons are among the greatest in the Iyr. Fire Song, Storm Caller, and even the Zhale, though it is the Second Zhale, and not the First Zhale, it is still a Legendary Enhanced weapon. Do you understand, Inakan? This what we have inherited, and this is what we must pass on to the next generation."

"I give it to Mokan!" Inakan promised.

"Not just Mokan, but your children, his children, and their children. I will carry it during my generation, so you do not need to worry, but when you grow older, when you are my age, and when you have children, or Mokan has children, you must teach it to them. The stories of our family, the responsibilities that come with our name, and most importantly, the love that we hold for the Iyr.

For though our tales, our treasures, and our weapons are among the greatest, it is only because of the Iyr we are able to claim such a great heritage. Do you understand?"

"I understand!" Inakan replied confidently, her eyes gleaming up at her brother. Amokan stared down at the girl, whose eyes suddenly filled with confusion and apprehension at the seriousness she saw within her elder brother's gaze. However, Amokan's eyes quickly softened and he pulled his sister in for another tight hug.

"Inakan, hold no worries within your heart. I will make sure you do not need to worry. Father and mother, they will do so too. Your older cousins, they will do so too. So do not worry, okay?"

"Okay!" Inakan held her brother's head, kissing his cheek.

"How can I worry? I am so lucky!" Amokan had so much he wished to speak with the girl about, but she had already known so much. He closed his eyes, thinking of who had dared to corrupt his sister like this, and decided to forgive the half elf. For a moment, doubt crept within his heart. If he had done this much for his family, shouldn't he return the favour?

'No,' Amokan thought.

'I must become the Chief. It is the only way to return this favour.'