Chương 1325: [1241] - Y06.141 - Respecting Elders IV

"Yeah, I am really lucky," Adam admitted after telling the story of what he and Jurot had managed to do, from dealing with Balrog the Bane and finding the Awakened Forest, all the way to winning a tournament and killing the Vice Commander of the Order of the Thousand Hunts. Zabir's eyes met Dunes as Adam nibbled on the dates, distracted by the delicious fruit, and Dunes bowed his head, confirming the half elf's words to be true.

'Is this the birth of a legend?' Yasha eyed up her grandfather, wondering if he really believed the half elf's words, which were undoubtedly fantasies, wishing to entice her grandfather to join them, as well as herself, the Flaming Spear Wyrm. She winced at the thought of her epithet, though glanced aside to the half elf chewing on the date, who had come up with a much better epithet.

"Ah, speaking of which, I have a spar with someone later today that you might be interested in," Adam offered, trying to covet the pair to his business, since hiring someone temporarily to help John was awkward, or rather, Adam just wanted to spend some more gold.

"He uses a spear too!"

"Oho?" Zabir raised his brows in delight.

"Where is this spar?"

"At the inn near the docks," Adam replied.

"We should hold the spar within a temple of the Lady," Dunes said.

"It would be best."

"Alright," Adam replied, as though it were truly that simple.

"I'll let Ashuk know and if he agrees, we'll head to the temple."

'Ashuk,' Zabir thought, certain he recalled the name.

"It would be best, for you will be able to fight out of the sight of others, and under the guidance of Lady Arya."

"You don't have to convince me," Adam replied, chuckling lightly.

"Zabir," Jurot called.

"How strong are you?" Zabir tried to recall the words.

"Expert and Master, in middle." Jurot nodded his head.

"Adam, will you translate his tale to me?"

"Sure!" Zabir spoke his tale, though it was as one might have expected. He joined the army, managed to gain some experience, went on to mercenary work, finding a boy and adopting him, and transitioned to joining the guard force.

"I could have earned more elsewhere, but I joined the Arisian Guard. Some called me a fool, for I should have joined the guard force of a noble, and perhaps I would have been knighted, Kal Zabir is wonderful to say, but…" Zabir let out a soft sigh that said more than anyone needed to know.

"They treated me well, though, and my son was taught with the benefits of such a life. He joined the army, found Yasha, adopted her as his own, and the next assignment…"

'Oh?' Adam raised his brows, smiling slightly, only for his smile to drop when he realised that his son had died.

'How is it that I always manage to find cute guys like you?'

"I only wish I had worked harder, for now my granddaughter is bothered because I did not make such a name for myself." Zabir let out a short sigh.

"I don't know, I think she's doing pretty well for herself. You should have seen the way she told off the Wild Cobra Sword guy! Plus, they call her the Flaming Spear Dragon! Isn't that an amazing name?"

"Her epithet is Flaming Spear Wyrm."

"Oh?" Adam replied, having forgotten he had rewritten the epithet within his mind.

"Flaming Spear Dragon sounds so much better though." This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"That is the point," Dunes replied, frowning slightly.

"Flaming Spear Wyrm is a title used to put her in her place. Yes, she has risen, but she is still a worm." Adam frowned slightly, noting how annoyed the young woman had become, sipping her water angrily.

"So what? We'll just raise her into a proper dragon! Isn't this meeting Fate? This year I've been so lucky, finding both John and Yasha! Let's do it! Let's cause a little bit of trouble! Just a little bit! Just this once!" Dunes could see how much the half elf missed his children if he was acting this much of a fool, but even he couldn't help but think of the same.

'Lady Arya, are you sending them to Adam for a reason?'

"It is not so easy to leave my home," Zabir said.

"I do not speak Aldish well, and my granddaughter, she does not speak it well either."

"We'll teach you, you don't have to worry! Our business is currently in the process of teaching everyone Aldish and Aswadic, since the two will be useful languages to know, we're planning on working in both Aldland and Aswadasad.

We look after ours extremely well, in fact, I'm trying to seduce John and his companions to join us, and John's with us in order to see how insane I am while we travel in Aswadasad, and it's only been a few weeks, but I think he's already on board, so why don't you join us and travel with us, and make up your mind once we come back to Arisa? I'll pay you…" Adam paused, realising he was spending way too much gold.

"I'll pay you… sixty gold for each month." Zabir sat up straighter, reaching up to press down his collar, suddenly far more alert.

"How can I refuse? Sixty gold?" Dunes nodded as Zabir met his eyes once more, the older man flashing a wide smile, clapping his hands together, chuckling wildly.

"I will speak to the administration and tell them I will be busy for a few months, if you can pay me one month first, I will go speak with them and…" Zabir made a motion with his fingers which Adam understood to mean he would grease the wheels of bureaucracy.

"I'll pay you both the first month upfront," Adam assured, flashing a wide smile.

"Jurot, if you will."

"…"

"Sorry, uh, sixty gold," Adam said. Jurot reached into his cloak, and this time used his ring to summon the gems, revealing a gem worth ten and another worth fifty, a tiger eye, which was a favourite among Iyrmen, and an onyx. Zabir's brows raised in surprise, only to recall the young man was an Iyrman, so did not question how Jurot possessed the gems, nor their authenticity.

"Let me tell you all about the business!" Adam filled with such a joy as he explained the business to the pair, in great detail, at the very least, its benefits. Zabir listened intently, and the offer was pretty good, though he received similar from being a Mulazim.

He earned about as much coin and received about as many benefits, although eventually he realised something that had slipped him by, and that was that he didn't need to pay taxes, and he would be provided with a great deal of items, including weaponry, some of which would be magical.

"You said you would gift a magical weapon?" Zabir asked.

"That's right! Usually, it's for those who have worked with us for a while, but I'd be happy to hand over at least a Basic weapon, and since the Reavers are about, I will send word to craft a pair of spears that are at least Basic Enhanced that we will lend to you for the period they're around, and potentially gift them to you upon a quicker time scale."

Zabir remained silent, fairly certain Adam didn't say what he said, since he was essentially stating he would gift them spears worth roughly a thousand gold, and then lend out, and potentially gift another magical spear worth at least two thousand gold.

"Oh, I should go send word to Ashuk about the spar and everything," Adam said.

"Kizwolima, did you enjoy the fruit?"

"Yes!" Kizwolima replied, her hands and mouth covered in flakes of deep burgundy from the dates, the girl eagerly snatching another fruit.

'I want to adopt you so badly, Kizwolima, but your parents would be so sad, so I'll just be your mentor for now, okay?' Adam sniffled slightly, since how could there be such an adorable daughter that wasn't his?

"I miss Monarot, my daughter, so much." Jurot was pretty sure how Adam came to that thought, purely to tease him, but decided to let it go, since the half elf was currently in that kind of mood.

'Ashuk, you should be careful…'

"Should we go get some lunch together?" Adam offered.

"I'm going to be chatting with Ashuk for a little while before we have our little spar." Zabir led the kids to his neighbour, asking the guard family to watch over them, sliding them a gold coin, though they refused it, until he finally bore upon them that he was going to be working soon, and will ask them to watch over the goats for some time too. As they made their way through the roads of Arisa, they bumped into a familiar face.

"Well, well, well, they'll let anyone in here, won't they?" Adam said, reaching out to shake the waterman's forearm.

"It is still early," Ashuk said, shaking the half elf's forearm.

"Are you wishing to be beaten now?"

"I was thinking about treating you before beating you," Adam replied. Zabir furrowed his brows, glancing aside towards his granddaughter, whose expression mirrored his own, denoting that they really were grandfather and granddaughter, for certainly the inasir was Ashuk the Spear, and those around him were others of the Windy Warhawk.

'Eh?'