Chương 1253: [1170] - Y06.070 - The Start of Noonval IV

"Do you want to come along too?" Adam asked, while the half dragon sipped away at his clay bottle, eyeing up the half elf who had approached him.

"You're heading to Aswaba…" Bael paused, trying to recall what the modern name was, especially since it had split into two.

"Aswadasad?"

"Yeah."

"Did you not already let me go?" Bael sipped his wine, keeping Adam's gaze within his own. What he didn't do was hide the wide grin upon his face, as one might when they were pretending to be coy.

"I was just wondering, since there's probably going to be some decent fighting sooner or later."

"Do you think I will leave for just that much?"

"I thought you were a crazy battle maniac, but you're actually an onion with layers, are you?" Adam replied, wincing at his cringe.

"That was bad, even for me."

"Does it make it better if you recognise such?"

"Alright, alright, don't bully me," Adam replied, returning a coy smile back to the half dragon.

"So, what do you want?"

"A lot of drinks, and for a weapon as good as the one you used to cut off that brat's head."

"The brat?"

"The Grand Commander."

"Bael…" Adam did his best to keep his face completely neutral, his eyes burning as he tried not to laugh.

"Well, I guess I can figure something out for you from the Enchanter." Bael smiled knowingly, bowing his head.

"That's good enough for me."

"While we're out, the business will be paying for things, moderately."

"Moderately for you, or moderately for me?"

"Moderately for me," Adam stated.

"How cheap!"

"I prefer the term frugal, if you don't mind."

"Ah!" Bael waved his hand in the air.

"I don't want to speak about stuff like that. Words are words, and we both know what you mean."

"Do we?"

"Are you someone who throws out piles a gold?"

"I'm someone who gifts magical weapons like Iyrmen hand out death."

"They hand out more death than you hand out such weapons," Bael said, before the thought flashed within his mind.

"You aren't quite that cheap."

"Oh yeah?"

"I've only seen one other person toss away a Legendary Enhanced weapon so easily."

"Yeah? Who?" Bael let out a pained sigh, feeling his chest close in upon his heart.

"An old fool of a…"

"You must have loved them a lot."

"Like how Jirot was your favourite, I was his."

"Jirot isn't my favourite!" Adam replied.

"I love all my children equally, some more equal than others!"

"At least you admit it. Otherwise I would have…" Bael paused, glancing around towards the Iyrmen who kept an eye upon him.

"That's not true. I love them all equally, though… it's a little hard to show it to Larot, since he's some kind of Demon Lord whose reincarnated."

"Is he a reincarnated Demon Lord?" Bael asked, feeling something was off with the boy, though he wasn't sure entirely what.

"If he is…"

"If he is?" Adam asked, almost innocently. A moment passed and Bael waved his hand, dismissing the heaviness around Adam, feeling his hair stand on end.

"If I was going to do something, I would have killed Lucy and Mara." This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"You think you can?"

"I can, but I might not be able to survive," the fellow admitted.

"Why would you go after them anyway? They haven't done anything to you."

"Promises were made. Those promises need to be kept. Luckily, I didn't make any of those promises, so you don't need to worry about me!"

"If anyone else had made a joke like this, I would have been annoyed, but you came to die with me, so I'll let it slide."

"Give me another life for keeping your secrets too," Bael said, peeking up at the half elf, sipping at his wine.

"Are they my secrets or the Iyr's secrets?" Adam replied. Bael smirked slightly, bowing his head, allowing the half elf to leave.

'If we're travelling through Aswadasad, I might be able to meet that old lady.' Adam could still feel Bael's gaze upon his back as he stepped away.

'I wonder why he feels so familiar. There's no way he's Bandlor, but… I mean, maybe an aspect of him, or something?' Bael continued to hold the half elf within his sight, looking back through to another time. He recalled the stone walls of the Stone Giant's Kingdom, the Emperor blasting his way through the ceiling, his ominous laughter echoing through the halls.

"The King is under attack!" shouted one of the bodyguards, though as she drew her giant maul, a blast of lightning flung her out.

"Get out here, you bit-," the old man shouted, though upon seeing the figure sitting upon the throne, he blinked.

"Who are you?"

"Your Grace, I am-,""Blast 'em, you old geezer! It's an imposter!" Bael exclaimed, pointing at the man upon the throne of marble.

"The late Queen passed away ten years ago!" the King quickly replied as the crackle of lightning filled the air, not sure if the Emperor would blast him, but since it was him, there was a small chance he might have really done it.

"Dead? Ten years ago?" The Emperor looked down at Bael.

"I knew it was your fault!"

"What did I do?" Bael replied in shock, though already swinging a fist at the Emperor.

"You, watch over this brat, I'll be back in a week or two." The Emperor tossed Bael to one side, before flying away. The confusion in the room was heavy as Bael, with arms crossed, eyed up the warriors all around. Surrounded, the progeny of such a great figure could easily be taken hostage, at least, that was what a few of the guards thought. The King, on the other hand, realised his life was suspended in the air, ready to be cut down should the child be harmed.

"Hey, you!" Bael shouted at the King with an annoyed expression.

"Yes, Your Grace?"

"Sorry about your mother."

"Thank you, Your Grace."

"I'll make sure the old man doesn't kill you," Bael promised, nodding at the King. Bael had caused such a mess for the Stone Giants, but, somehow, it was all worth it as the Emperor returned and pulled Bael away, half killing several of the guards who Bael had pointed out.

"Old man! Why did you leave such fine weapons to them?"

"I promised the old bit-, lady I would."

"Didn't she stab you in the back?"

"She stabbed me through the front."

"So why'd you give them all those weapons?"

"I was meant to hand them over when she passed."

"Gramps…"

"I know. I'm amazing, aren't I?"

"You're an idiot." Bael recalled how much it hurt when he crashed into the statue, the closest he had come to death.

'You aren't as strong as the old man, so you can't go around causing a mess like that.'

'Who am I meant to hand out all these items to?' Adam thought, counting how many items he had made. He had switched from making too many rings, since they took too long, whereas the cloaks provided as much, and yet took less time.

'How come the rings are considered better even thought there are so many magical rings? Is it because they're easier to keep on than cloaks?'

"You are worrying already?" Jurot asked, noting the way his brother concentrated on the wall, holding his chin as his daughter did when playing dragonchess.

"I'm just thinking about what we have, how we're transporting it all, and just how many damn chests of silver do we need? They're so heavy!"

"It is best to carry such chests."

"Why couldn't we-, I know, I know! Gold looks like it doesn't hold enough, and we can give a bunch of silver so they feel good about themselves…" Adam huffed to himself.

"At least they aren't coppers, those coins are bigger than they have any right to be."

"They are worth less, so they are bigger to keep their worth."

"Yeah, yeah. At least gold coins are tiny too, even if they're a little heavy…" Adam scratched his neck.

"Carrying all these magical items… I guess since I'm about to hand half of them out, it should be fine."

"We will have three carriages?"

"Yeah."

"That is enough…"

"We might have, what, about seven people in each one? I think that's right, since we'll be taking Jonn, Brittany, Jane, and Nobby."

"Brittany and Jane?"

"Jane should come along since Mork and Tork are coming along, and I promised Brittany adventure, so…" Adam sighed loudly, staring up at the evening sky.

"I forgot to tell her, didn't I?"

"Okay."

"Damn it. I should go tell her first."

"Okay."

"Brittany," Adam called a moment later, having found her near instantly thanks to the businessfolk remaining together.

"Do you want to come along to Aswadasad with us?"

"Me?" Brittany asked, furrowing her brows questioningly at the half elf.

"You said you wanted adventure."

"Is it not too dangerous?"

"Well, you know, it's always dangerous. You'll be in the least danger since you'll be pretty far back."

"Oh… I wish to go too."

"Alright. Prepare yourself. Take whatever you remember and anything you forget or need, we'll pick up on the road since we've given you such short notice. If you need anything, let Kitool or I know, and we'll write it down in our books, and we'll keep track of how much everything cost." Adam's eyes darted around, the half elf leaning in.

"You don't really have to worry about paying much, we'll just use the business funds for the most part, alright?"

"Okay?" Brittany bowed her head lightly.

'How much coin should I bring? It is not as though…' Brittany's mind fell silent. Eh? Brittany tried to recall how much money she made. She was on the Lead's rate, even though she did not hold the title. She glanced aside to Cobra and the others who had managed to take the role of Lead, though they had joined after her. However, she had been earning for a long while, and outside of a couple of instances when she spent some of the coin, she had been earning the Lead rate for about a year with no chance to spend it.

'Am I… rich?'