Chương 1251: [1168] - Y06.068 - The Start of Noonval II

The girl glared at the large gates, which fell beneath the platform, the statues beyond the walls almost as large as the gates themselves. They were thick, heavy, opened by the Iyrmen's might. She had seen it that morning, the strong arms and backs of the Iyr, which forced the doors open to allow her father to leave.

'Daddy is outside,' Jirot thought.

'The walls are so small outside. They are no good. No good!' The girl's heart weighed heavy at the thought of her father leaving the comfort and safety of the Iyr.

'It is so dangerous daddy.' The girl's mind wandered towards the other walls of the Iyr, but none had left with her father. No, that wasn't quite right. There were many walls who had left with her father, even if two would not adventure with him.

'Since kako is going, it is okay,' the girl thought, though she wiped her face, still overwhelmed by the stress of her troublesome father. She thought about her papos and kakos who had gone with her father, for while her papos and kakos protect her father, who protects her papos and kakos?

'Mummy is not going, so daddy cannot lose.' As the girl worried for her father, her twin brother, babo, and nano, each waited for her. Since she had asked so politely to stay, the older Iyrmen decided to stay with her.

"Okay?" the one armed Jarot asked.

"Okay," Gangak replied.

"Do you wish to go?"

"No."

"No one will criticise you."

"I will." Jarot let out a light grunt, for the woman's eyes were not upon the gate, longing for adventure, but towards her greatdaughter, longing for her attention. Jarot had brought up the topic a few times, to cut away at the forest of regret binding at the woman's heart, but she refused. He had seen the spark of curiosity burn to life within her eyes, but it burned brighter as she saw the young Taygak within her new set of full plate, her new shield, and her new sword, each magical, and each gifted by a Ray.

'Life's Rose must be proud they had claimed such titles.' Gangak stared at the little girl, who stood with her arms tied behind her back, her amber eyes glued to the gates.

'Why do you trouble me with how cute you are, my Jigak? Is it because you are your father's daughter? Your sister's sister? Your aunt's niece?' The older Iyrman continued to stare out towards her greatdaughter, who remained so focused upon the gates, with no clue to how important this was for her families.

'You are growing up too quickly, my Jigak. You should remain within my bosom for years to come.'

"Babo…" little Jarot called, the boy hugging his grandfather's side, the large arm swallowing the boy whole.

"My Jarot, my Jarot!" Jarot held his greatson close to his chest, rubbing along the boy's tiny side.

"Babo…" Little Jarot held his greatfather, burying his head into his greatfather's neck, embracing him tightly.

"Daddy is going to be safe?"

"Safe?" The old man grumbled to himself quietly.

"Your father is always in danger since he is my grandson." The boy pouted, hiding his head further against his greatfather's neck, causing the old man to shake with laughter.

"Jarot, my Jarot! Your father has promised to return, so you must wait. Since he has promised, he will return, yes?" The old man continued to chuckle while his greatson cuddled up within his chest. The boy's timidness was unlike his sister, who was so confident, most of the time. His greatson, named after him due to politics, but it was the old man's greatest source of pride to have such a boy sharing his name.

"Your father has gone to Aswadasad. He will bring back much salt, spices, and many other foods, for his pouches and chests weigh heavy, not in silver, but gold. When your father returns, you must eat the foods he has brought, for he has bought them for you, my Jarot." If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Little Jarot sniffled.

"You must reward your father who returns home safely," the old man said, pulling his greatson in closer, sharing his warmth with the boy, planting a firm kiss upon his soft cheek, which was still far too thin for his liking.

"Okay, babo…" Little Jarot's voice was so light, but the words he spoke were not.

"You do not need to worry of your father, my Jarot. My grandsons are each as powerful as I was at their age, and I-," the old man said, before he was interrupted.

"More powerful," Gangak corrected, raising her brows towards the one armed old man.

"I caused great trouble for the land, but I am here before you, my boy!" Jarot rocked the little boy, nuzzling against his ear, showering the boy in his affection.

"Your father will return," Gangak assured, a reassuring smile upon her lips.

"He has defeated one of the greatest warriors in Aldland. Those who are considered great in Aldland are also great within Aswadasad."

"Whoever dares to harm my grandson in Aswadasad, I will cut their necks with my axe!" the Mad Dog promised, almost with a snarl.

"We will send Marmak instead. Butcher Marmak is more well known in the land, it is why he is called The Butcher too."

"How greedy! He should only have one nickname!" Gangak furrowed her brows at Jarot, who had caused such a great mess in Aldland, even now Aldland was uncertain for the man had earned so many nicknames in each region of the country. Jarot's laughter echoed through the air, causing little Jirot to rush to the old man to laugh with him, forgetting her worries, and her stress, but not her silly father who caused such within her heart.

The walls of the Front Iyr welcomed the group within, Jurot, Kitool, and Dunes each greeting the supervisor and speaking with her. Meanwhile Adam settled within the estate, packing away his items to the side, before flipping open his journal to see what he needed to do.

'Oh!' Adam blinked, staring at the largest note. For once, it wasn't about spoiling his children.

'I thought I did that already.' Fred bowed his head towards the half elf, who stepped towards the group, carrying a large stack of boxes upon his back, each rather long, and were most definitely filled with those.

"Lead Fred," Adam greeted, shaking his forearm, nodding his head playfully.

"Executive," Fred replied, taking a moment to judge if the half elf was playful because he was worried, or playful because he had no worries.

"Rick and I have collected the notes as you had requested."

"Good, good. I realise I have something else I need to get done, so if you could gather everyone…" Adam glanced over his shoulder.

"It looks like everyone's here, actually."

"Since you are leaving upon the first, we gathered to greet you all."

"You didn't all have to do that, but… I do appreciate it." Adam smiled even wider, eyeing up the businessfolk who were still greeting the others.

"I trust you and Rick to take care of everything here, hold down the proverbial fort as they say. If I take everyone with me, it'll feel weird not leaving someone in management behind. You and Rick, you should be good enough for everyone to feel at ease. Some people might prefer to go to you, some to Rick, but…" Adam furrowed his brows, eyeing up the businessfolk, and then the Leads he had planned to leave behind.

He wanted to take Brittany along with him, since he had promised her adventure, and due to that, there wasn't going to be anyone in a senior position that they could rely on that was a woman.

'I need to make sure there's at least one…' Adam scratched his chin gently, his eyes scanning across the group, before coming across someone.

'Jasmine? No, no. I barely know her, even though she did me a solid. Plus, I'm meant to be looking out for her. Who am I to… oh?'

"Executive," Cobra called, nodding his head.

"Cobra, how are you doing?" Adam asked.

"It's been a while since we last spoke. Sorry about that, I've been…"

"You don't have to apologise to me, Executive. The kids, though…" Adam chuckled, nodding his head playfully, his eyes darting towards the group of children, each who excitedly buried the Iyrmen in a thousand questions.

"Look, uh… I was planning on heading out soon, and I was going to leave behind Fred and Rick. They're both uh… well, I wanted to give you the Lead position since you've been solid so far, and Amira and Vonda are elsewhere. Lucy and Mara… they're already Managers, but they're not talking to me right now since… they're you know whats and Dunes said it would be best to leave them behind."

"It would be my honour." Cobra bowed her head lightly. Lucy and Mara, each who were on the level of Jurot and Kitool, had helped the business a fair amount with their scouting, and their raw strength when they went on their suicide mission the previous year. If they weren't allowed to go to Aswadasad, Cobra was fairly certain the women would be sparring with Zirot.

"You know what to do, I'm pretty sure, so I'll leave you to it. If you need to take a break, give Viper and Python the duties, actually, yeah, I want you three all to be Leads. We'll be heading out for a while, and since everything's going to be hectic, and most of our top brass are going to be gone, we'll need at least a few to watch over the business." Cobra blinked.

"Shall I call them?"

"Yeah, you should. I should have brought more magical weapons." Adam shook his head, disappointed in himself.

'Of all the overthinking I did…' Cobra blinked again.

'More magical weapons?'