Chương 1255: [1172] - Y06.072 - The First Rain of Noonval I

Jasmine's eyes fell to the boy, who was roughly half her age, with his beautiful sun kissed hair, those clear blue eyes, like the clear skies of noonval above. The woman wondered why the Iyr had asked her to watch over the boy, and though she had her own assumptions, she decided against assuming much more since it was far too dangerous. Wazool stared at the flickering flames, though his eyes did not look into the light, but the darkness of his past. The flames. The steel. The blood.

'Now, I am shackled in the Iyr, like a beast,' Wazool thought, the teen letting out a low sigh. He thought of his home, the large stone walls, the warmth of the fire, the sweet taste of the desserts he would sneak out of the pantry. Jasmine could see a familiar sight upon his face, for his face was the same as hers. She glanced aside towards her companion, Siten, who was still covered from head to heel, hidden from the world.

Siten bowed his head towards the woman, the woman returning a bow of her head, before she returned back to her thoughts. No. Unfortunately for him, he was not like her. Adam dropped beside Bilal, shaking the Aswadian's forearm.

"How's the Front Iyr treating you?"

"The Iyr treats us well."

"Yeah. Did you finish the…" Adam asked, accepting the piece of paper from the Aswadian, his eyes scanning across the paper.

"What's an uthur?"

"It is a type of fragrance. Brother Dunes will know."

"Yeah? Alright." Adam continued to read the paper, finding what he might have expected, but Bilal had added a number of prefixes, or symbols, which Adam did not recognise, which made sense since it was addressed to Dunes. Adam then noted the number.

"Isn't this pretty much all your money?"

"It is close. It is my duty to watch over the children. It is the least expected of me."

"Well, we're matching everything you're going to spend, so that's a lot of money." Adam whistled, trying to calculate how much the business was going to spend. Thankfully, most of the workers hadn't spent all their coin, otherwise it would have been a major issue.

"I can spend less, if it pleases you."

"No, no." Adam glanced aside towards the Aswadian children, who were eating peacefully together. He glanced aside to the other children, Elisa and the others.

'If they're sitting apart from one another like this, they'll end up thinking they're different…'

"I will watch over them," Bilal stated firmly, his eyes pressing upon the half elf, who was thinking far too deeply about the children.

"Me too."

"It is not your duty."

"You're the one who asked me to make sure they were okay, so what are you talking about, buddy?" Adam fired back, full of confusion.

"That was not what I was speaking of," Bilal replied calmly, noting how offended the half elf was.

"Yeah, well, so far I'm doing a pretty good job, so let me keep doing what I'm doing. If you keep this up, they'll feel like they're different than the other children, and they'll grow up being prejudiced against each other."

"They are different."

"They are children of the business. The same as Elisa, the same as Anne, the same as any of the other children around."

"They are different, so you have promised."

"Yeah, they're different in that way, but they're not different in the other way," Adam said, realising how stupid he sounded.

"You know what I mean."

"I know."

"Alright, so, in the way that they are the same, they should mingle with the other children. In the way that they are different, they will have certain freedoms that I have promised, and the business will keep." If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"…"

"Anyway, for the sake of these children, who are different, but the same, I will treat them different, but the same. I will personally make sure that for every gold you want to spend, there will be two gold on offer."

"Why?"

"The other children have two parents who are paid for each of them, while our adorable Alya and Asya…" Adam called out to them, wiggling his fingers, the girls blinking up at him, smiling shyly up towards the half elf.

"Are you two okay? Is Uncle Bilal being mean to you? If he is, I'll beat him up, okay?" Bilal's eyes fell upon the half elf. He would have dismissed the words, for he was no slouch, but considering the madness he had seen over the last few years he had known Adam, he was uncertain if he could defeat the fool of a father. Could he have defeated the Grand Commander of High Garden? Kal Yamas of High Garden?

"So that's why I'll be sure they're taken care of."

"What of the siblings? They only possess six elders among themselves, and there are many children, another with Elisa."

"Oh… yeah. I guess you're right about that. We pay the trio pretty well, but with the other three, they're on a pretty typical wage…" Adam rubbed his chin.

"I'll speak to Cobra about it, and I'll tell her the same."

"Thank you, Executive."

"Any time. Also, if there is anything else you need that you think of while we're out, let us know through one of the Priests. They can send word to Vonda, who can send word to Dunes or myself."

"Thank you." Adam spoke to Cobra and the others, informing them of the situation, and once he was done, he spotted a set of eyes glancing towards him. Adam motioned his head, allowing the young man to step towards him.

"Executive," Gilbert greeted.

"Gilbert, what can I do you for?"

"Excuse me?"

"How can I help you," Adam said, smiling innocently.

"Sorry, it's a… it's a somewhat common phrase from where I…"

"Right, of course. I, uh… I was just wondering if you needed an extra hand to come along. To… help with portering, that sort'uv thing." Gilbert cleared his throat.

"It's not that we don't need someone like that, but we are all booked up right now. We're at the limits of taking who we need, and also, I can't let you take Jeremy and Remy's role." Adam flashed a smile, before reaching out a hand, patting the young man's shoulder.

"Besides, the Reavers are out and about, so it'll be difficult to take too many people who we need to watch over. There's no need to rush right now, I told you, if you want to be a Master or Grandmaster, I'll definitely carry you that high."

"Right. Thank you, Executive." Gilbert bowed his head, stepping away with his head hung low. The gap seemed to widen between him and everyone else, though at least he was able to join in the training with the others.

'I might have taken you along if I had known and I could have prepared, but…' Adam watched Gilbert step aside, before finding another figure trying to catch his eye.

'Man, I'm popular today.'

"Executive," Ted said, bowing his head lightly towards the half elf.

"You're heading out to Aswadasad, I hear. Takin' Nobby…"

"That's right."

"It's just that… Anne's missing him, and her nephew, and what with the Reavers about, his mother's a little worried is all." Adam noted the look upon the man's face. He was still quite thin, though far more full from the first time they met. His hair had thinned slightly, however, and had grown even more stark white, like the snow up north. Those eyes, dark, were full of worry.

"As his parents, I understand the worry you have for him. The thing about Nobby, though, is that he's as tough as Damnation." It was long after noon when Merl approached her husband in the village, so far from the Front Iyr, the young woman carrying their son, whose cried filled the village air. Nobby plucked the boy from Merl's arms, and as he pulled the boy to his chest, the father and son pair stared into one another's eyes for a long moment, the boy squinting up at him suspiciously.

After a moment, the boy smiled shyly, no longer crying, while the trail of tears reached down to his chin, dripping against his father's shirt.

"If he doesn't wish to eat, and it's not his clothy, then it's your business," Merl said, smiling up towards her husband. Nobby nodded his head slightly, seeing the look upon her face. He wiped his son's face clean, and after a moment of the pair cuddling, he returned the boy to his mother.

Nobby followed Merl back towards the centre of the village, and as she placed her son down to play with one of his many cousins, the pair began to make their rounds, partly to hide the woman's condition, but also because of that.

"I have a bad feeling," Merl admitted.

"I can feel it in the air." Almost as if to accentuate her point, the first rain of summer began to fall, the clouds rolling in from the distance. Nobby bowed his head, and within a short few minutes, he and a handful of villagers began to make their rounds into the forest, checking upon the perimeter. Even if nothing was wrong, and even if the Iyrmen had completed the rounds an hour ago, it was a good idea to check.

"Strange," one of the villagers said.

"Don't say it," another whispered in response.

"It's too quiet," the third said, causing the other two to look at her.

"What?" Thunder rumbled in the distance, causing the three to yelp out, their voices echoing through the silent forest.

"Go back," Nobby said.

"Nobby?"

"Go back." One was about to argue, but Nobby donned his shield, and very suddenly, the other villagers who had stepped out to assist, were not quite so confident. The villagers threw glances to one another, and as quick as lightning, they bolted back towards the village. Nobby turned slightly, his shield raised slightly, his other hand free, clenched into a fist, the young man glaring into the woods. The seconds began to pass. The rain splattered off his shoulders.

His hair stood on end, the electricity running through his spine. Then, he saw it. Tall. Red. Dark. The figures numbered two.