Chương 1288: [1204] - Y06.104 - Trouble in Their Hearts IV

Konarot groaned as she awoke, sitting upright, her tail swaying behind her. She blinked, for her mother had stepped out, and the lack of her scent woke the girl. She rolled over to the side, onto all fours, and leapt up, her tail balancing her as she gathered her bearings that morning. Kirot jolted awake, rolling over to the side, reaching out to wake her younger brother, who rubbed his eyes and cuddled against her chest as he awoke from his slumber.

The triplets walked around the courtyard once, waving at the adults, and once they completed a lap, they turned and completed another, greetings the adults once more.

"Working hard?" Turot asked, ready to begin his workout that morning.

"Hardly working?" Asorot added, and the brothers smiled as the triplets cackled and chuckled, before joining them in their workout.

"Daddy coming home?" Konarot asked, panting after her workout, quenching her thirst. Though it was said that working out would fill her with energy during noonval, she was pretty sure it only made her more tired, but the best time to nap was right at noon, so she forced herself to remain alert, as alert as she could while the wicked sun bore upon her pale skin and her silver scales.

"He will return later," Turot replied, ruffling the girl's silver hair. He smiled, beaming down at his niece, who was so well behaved, his heart filling with the dessert that was a child's adorableness.

"Kaka! Papa!" called a tiny green storm, who posed as the second workout for her aunts and uncles, for her chaos always limbered them up. Asorot smiled as Jirot and Jarot kissed their elder siblings.

'I need to work hard today!' As dawn welcomed those of the Iyr, it had already welcomed those further east, especially the Priest who had requested a basin politely, the other Priest who wanted to feel water against his pale skin to soothe him in the noonval heat, and the last Priest, who wanted to bathe the most, since he was he.

"The next time we meet, I'll allow you to choose the future of our relationship," Adam said, offering his forearm to Sir Harold. The older man clasped the half elf's forearm, slowly bowing his head, and kept an eye upon the carriages which made their way southward to the city.

The half elf had caused no trouble, and his brother had confirmed that the gift would still make its way towards them, and had even offered another chest of silver, easily holding another fifty gold, which would be gone by the time he blinked since running an Order was expensive business, but such coin was always welcome. However, he couldn't think of the coin at the moment, for there were already various Vice Commanders making plays towards his position.

'Surrounded by vipers, and yet I'm looking out towards outsiders…' Sir Harold thought, recalling the half elf's words.

'My, my, my, how complicated all this politicking is.' The half elf had spoken far too openly about matters that should remain in the dark, but even he felt relieved for it to be spoken in the air.

"Damn it!" Adam complained within the carriage.

"Just you wait, Dunes! One day the United Kindom will blot out the sky!" Dunes wondered when the half elf would finally burst once they were out of the walls, but to think he would do it after a whole hour? Adam had certainly grown.

"One day! We'll be so powerful! Then I won't have to bow my head to some stupid Grand Commander!" Adam tensed up and flexed, feeling the rage fill him.

"I should have beaten him up even harder! Why did I end it too quickly? I should have made him as red as my shield! That punk! How dare he not realise how merciful I was! He didn't even say thank you to me!" Tanagek narrowed his eyes slightly, growing more confused, since he had been informed that Jarot hadn't slept with an elf before, and yet Adam was undoubtedly his grandson.

"One day! Ranya, she'll be able to walk to Gold Port and the King himself will greet her! Just you wait!" Adam snarled. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"She does not need that!" Dunes snapped back at the half elf, finding himself unable to join in the fun.

"What do you mean? Since she's my niece, she needs to make at least a King bow his head! If nothing else, at least a Duke or a Duchess!"

"Why does she need such to bow their heads?"

"Even if there's no need, they should do it!" Adam felt the heat of rage fill him once more, the sparks and embers growing into an inferno.

"Damn it! Jonn! If anyone bullies you, make sure you get me justification to fight again! I need to beat at least three or four more! I need the XP! This time I'll split it with even more people! I need a hundred more to level it out." Jonn wasn't sure what Adam was talking about exactly, and as his eyes met Jurot's, he understood he shouldn't take Adam's words too seriously. Since the half elf said to listen to Jurot as much as himself, then he'd heed the warning in the Iyrman's eyes.

"Adam…" Jurot called.

"Yeah?" Adam huffed.

"You should have used an axe." The half elf suddenly sat up straight.

"Jurot."

"…"

"Jurot!"

"…"

"Not like this, Jurot!" As the carriages tumbled their way towards the city, the businessfolk within reeled from Adam's ridiculousness. Brittany stared at the wall ahead, for once, her village had been considered a part of Southern Aldland, before the civil war. After the civil war, it had been swallowed into Central Aldland, but she still felt a kinship with the Honeysuckle Sword, as one might do even when there was nothing else binding two people, save a tiny connection, like their favourite colour.

'Sir Harold is strong but…' Brittany's body shuddered as she recalled the scene from five years ago. The flames engulfed her vision, as they had swallowed the half elf whole. Just like that, Adam had defeated the monstrous figure known as the Honeysuckle Sword.

'Does that mean… he's as strong as that monster too?' In her heart she knew it. Even though Adam was the kind of monster who could, within moments, defeat the likes of a Grand Commander, and yet he was still weak compared to the monster known as Shama. Her heart throbbed. Her skin grew cold, a sweat beginning to form along the surface. The chill gripped at her body as she froze in place.

"Brittany?" Nirot called. Brittany coughed in response, finding her breath hard to come by, her heart pounding heavy within her chest. Her breath came to her quickly, too quickly, and the woman's eyes began to close, her vision growing dark, but not yet swallowed by blackness.

"Is it poison?" Nirot asked, and as Brittany dropped to the side, she banged the wall, Naqokan stopping the carriage. Mork grabbed onto his holy symbol, chanting a prayer, and as his holy symbol glowed, his eyes crackled with magic, and storms appeared across the surface of his eyes as they darted around.

"I cannot detect any poison."

"Hey, hey, what's going on?" Adam called, storming onto the scene, noting Brittany gasping for air, her eyes full of alarm. He heard her panting gasps, trying to form words of an apology.

"It is not poison," Mork stated.

"Yeah," Adam said, before holding up his arms.

"We're taking a break! You guys, go cook some food. Jurot, Mork, Dunes… no, Dunes, you help cook. Kitool, you stay with me too." The others pulled away, and since Adam had said to cook food, they left to do just that.

"You alright?" Adam asked, dropping down beside Brittany, holding out a hand. She grasped at it tightly, and the half elf smiled reassuringly.

"It's going to be okay, Brittany."

"Sa!" the woman replied, unable to form the words, feeling the tightness in her chest.

"What happened?"

"I… don't… know," the woman managed, feeling the throbbing in her chest.

"What were you thinking about?" Adam asked, and the woman's eyes grew wide, flashing back to another time, and she grew colder.

"Whatever it is, it's going to be alright."

"Sha… ma," the woman managed, glancing to the side, her entire body shaking as the fear overwhelmed her.

"Yeah?" Adam held the woman's hand, allowing her to grip as tightly as she needed.

"You don't have to worry about him. He can't hurt you. He didn't last time, and I'll make sure he can't in the future." Bael remained quiet, standing near Taygak, and though most of his attention was on the surrounding area, after hearing the Emperor's name, his ears perked up.

"I owe him one, a really nice beating, don't I?" Adam joked, feeling the way Brittany clenched at his hand at the thought of the terrifying foe.

"One day, I'll be so strong, and I'll beat him properly. Since he's an Emperor, he probably hasn't been beaten properly." Bael huffed, though kept silent as he listened from afar, catching Taygak's attention as the teen glared up towards him, wondering why he was sighing so heavily.

'Just because you can beat up some children, it doesn't mean you can beat that old man,' Bael thought, though at the same time, he recalled Adam's age.

'Maybe… in a few more centuries?' Adam sat with Brittany, speaking with her calmly, no longer speaking of Shama, but talking about how much silver and gold they should spend within the cities. He allowed her to hold his hand until she had calmed down, and as though nothing had happened, they ate and continued along their way.

"I'm sorry…" Brittany said, feeling the heaviness in her chest beginning to grow once more.

"Sorry? We should be th-," Adam began, but paused, unsure if he should be that nonchalant.

"It's fine, Brittany. You don't have to worry at all. I'm just glad you weren't poisoned, otherwise I would have gone back to kill the bas-," Brittany watched as the half elf cringed.

'I've been cursing way too much…' Adam thought.