Jarot held Larot to his bare chest, rising and falling with every breath. While his arm held the tiny boy, his hand c the back of his head. He could feel the warmth of the boy’s cheek against his skin, the soft breath tig his chest. The shade swallowed them both, so even as the te afternoon su down onto the Iyr, the pair were still cool.

  “It is time to feed him,” Mulrot’s voice called from nearby.

  Jarot exhaled. He did not wish to surrehe boy, but si was time for feeding, he couldn’t refuse. “You must eat well, Larot.” Jarot brushed the back of the boy’s head gently, before allowing his wife to take the boy from his arm, the woman carefully stealing him away.

  While Jarot huffed and puffed in annoyance, Konarot pyed with her siblings nearby, with Jirot rushing around with the ball, little Jarot following after her. Kirot handed a small sack of lentils to her brother, ted the sack, walked to the spot, before handing it back to his elder sister, who carried it to the spot. Konarot acted as a third for both pairs, alternatiweewins and the triplets.

  “Silly boy,” Lanarot said, kissing Gurot’s forehead before she pulled his head to her chest, brushing the boy’s hair. “No tripping when walking, okay?”

  “Okay,” the boy replied, embrag his cousin.

  “Good boy.” Lanarot pat the boy’s head, before letting him waddle away to his grandmother. She stood tall, g her hands behind her back, keeping a on the younger children, before finally rushing off to one of her aunts who called the children to drink water.

  “Not here, not here,” the bird tweeted to Konarot, who was sipping away at her water.

  The young girl frowned. “Okay.”

  “Okay, okay,” the bird said, before flying up away.

  Konarot frowned deeper, her eyes narrowing slightly, her entire body growing chilly. ‘Daddy! You are not back!’

  “Konarot,” called a familiar voice, before she turo find Tonagek, who was carrying a rge boy against his chest with one arm, carrying a basket with his free hand. “Would you like to py dragon chess?”

  “Okay,” the girl replied.

  “Dragon chess?” Jarot asked, watg the pair settle to one side. “What is the need on chess? She should run to be healthy.”

  “She must train her mind as well as her body,” Tonagek replied.

  Jarot huffed, but upon seeing how Konarot g the pieces to their proper pces, he relented. “I will allow it, but only because my greatdaughter is so smart.”

  “…” Tonagek began to set up his own board, while his son remained by his side, clutg his shirt. Daared up at Jarot, the old one armed and one legged man, before shyly hiding his face away at his father’s side.

  “Danagek, yrowing well,” Jarot said, causing the boy to twitch slightly upon hearing his name. “He is as big as my Gurot.”

  “He is bigger,” Tonagek replied.

  Jarot inhaled deeply, narrowing his eyes at the young punk trying to pick a fight with him. ‘Since my greatdaughter is here, I will show him mercy.’

  Tonagek wondered if he should mention his grandfather, but seeing as the old man was being o him, he decided against teasing him any more, instead allowing him to watch the young girl py dragon chess.

  “The General’s opening?” Jarot asked.

  “The General Asad opening,” Tonagek firmed.

  “The Slumbering Cw is best for Konarot,” Jarot said. “It is our way.”

  “Yes,” Tonagek firmed.

  Jarot was fairly certain this was the opening Rajin liked to py, though the pair hadn’t pyed dragon chess for a long while. ‘I should invite him so we drink.’ His eyes fell to the children all around him. ‘It is not good to drink so much around the children.’

  As though he was summoned, a familiar face appeared withiended family estate. An older, orcish Iyrman, tall and thin, though well muscled, with a greatswainst his back. He pulled along a rickshaw full of gourds, each which had thin rope eg the cork and base, with small casks yih the gourds.

  “Rajin,” Jarot called, surprised to see the old man. “Yrowing your beard again?”

  Rajin, who had begun growing a long goatee, bowed his head. He grabbed a gourd from the rickshaw before taking his pce opposite the old man, with the pair of youngsters between them.

  Konarot looked up at the old Iyrman, blinking towards him, slowly pulling back towards her greatfather.

  “Do not shirk away from him, my greatdaughter,” Jarot said, pg a hand on the girl’s head, rubbing it gently. “It is yreatuncle, Rajin.”

  Konarot stared up at him, blinking again.

  “Hello,” Rajin said, his voice small, barely allowing them to hear him.

  “Hello,” the girl replied.

  “Rajin is the Family Elder of the Jin family,” Jarot expined. “You have met him a few times, but it has been some time.”

  Konarot bli the older man, who seemed vaguely familiar. He seemed to give off a meek vibe, so she sat properly once more.

  ‘General Asad’s opening,’ Rajin thought, watg as the girl began to py against her granduncle.

  “Have you e to admire my greatdaughter’s abilities?” Jarot asked, his eyes glued to Rajin.

  Rajin held up the gourd for Jarot, who refused it, before noting the green base of the gourd, accepting it. “It has been some time.”

  “It has,” Jarot firmed, wearing the gourd around his neck like an amulet. “Have you been busy?”

  “Mnn,” Rajin replied affirmatively. “Timojin is adventuring well.”

  “Top ten is not so bad,” Jarot teased, causing Rajin’s eyes to fall against him once more.

  “It was not his time,” Rajin replied simply. The older Iyrman stared down at the board once more, listening to the way Tonagek was teag the young girl. Eventually, the girl lost, huffing quietly as she pouted up at her baba. Rajin pced a hand on her head, feeling how cold she was being. “You py well.”

  Konarot twitched as she felt his hand on her head, her eyes snapping up towards him. She didn’t notice how furious her greatfather had bee for the Family Elder to steal away his ability to dote on his greatdaughter.

  While the extended family estate filled with muests, anroup were about to have their own fateful enter.

  Adam was hit by ah sweet smell. It was flowery st which permeated throughout the entire guild. The interior of the guild was also quite rge, and there were a number of adventurers rexing together, pying with cards and dice, or just eating together, or drinking tea.

  The group made their way to the ter where an older man was currently sitting, reading a book. His hair was freshly shaved, a gentle beard dotting his fao doubt having shaved it a week ago. He gheir way as they made for the ter.

  “Hey Barks,” Adam called. “How are you doing?”

  “Well, and yourself?” Barks replied, eyeing the group up. If it wasn’t for the purple armour, he would have surely had some difficulty. He g their tags, steel, which was certainly not what they wore previously, otherwise he would have recalled them.

  It was then he recalled who they were.

  “Not too bad,” Adam admitted. “Didn’t kill any gryphons this time, so we’re in the clear, I think.”

  “The King might have had an issue with that if you did,” Barks stated, the memories flooding bato his mind. He remembered how the group had goo meet the King before he was a King, but the retired King’s Bde.

  “Yeah, well, I don’t think I want to go around spending so many diamonds to make it even,” Adam joked, gng aside to Jurot, whose had turned and was staring at the figures in the er. ‘Oh dear.’

  One figure was a familiar face, an older man in his early fifties, wearing a breastpte and carrying a bde at his side. There was a sharp scar across his face, from the top of his eye to the bottom of his .

  Jurot walked over to the group, his eyes taking in the sight of the ures, before his shadow loomed over the old man.

  “What are you-,” the older man said, before squinting his eyes at Jurot. “Iyrman, no, you’re not just any Iyrman. We’ve met before, haven’t we?”

  “Yes,” Jurot replied. “You are Vandal, ion to the Dal family.”

  “Aren’t you a… Row?”

  “Jurot, yes,” Jurot replied, shaking the adventurer’s forearm.

  “Sorry about that,” Vandal said, his eyes falling down to the steel tag around the Iyrman’s neck. “Say… were you steel rank previously?”

  “No.”

  “I would have remembered you if that was the case,” the adventurer said. “When did we meet?”

  “Three years ago.”

  “What rank were you then?”

  “Bronze,” Jurot stated.

  “You must have been w hard to bee steel so quickly,” Vandal said, uo hide his surprise.

  “You’re pretty young for a steel rank adventurer,” a figure from beside Vandal said. “Though, you Iyrmen were always queer like that.”

  “Yes,” Jurot said, his eyes falling to the half elf sitting beside the older man.

  She was a bronze skinned half elf, with long wavy red hair, deep green eyes, with a lean build. She wore a breastpte made of fmedarksteel and carried a bde at her side. She was no doubt a Sansant, but the fs in her right ear gave away her true identity. She was not just any Sansant, but one who carried a particur title and role within the family.

  Aor.

  “It is an honour to meet you,” Jurot said.

  “It’s an honour to meet you too, Iyrman,” the half elf said, reag out a hand to csp his forearm, though she remained sitting casually.

  Jurot held her gaze, w if she had e for Adam.

  Everything is fine, he says as the fire rages behind him.