The children’s noisiness filled the inn, sitting in the er with their siblings, and several of the business members. They jabbed away at Fred, Nobby, and Joedly toug the magical items they possessed, from the two bdes to the shield.

  “S’only a shield,” a child said.

  “Magical shields are rarer than magical swords,” Fred said, his eyes falling to Nobby, who was currently being poked and prodded by the children’s tiny fingers like little daggers against his iron skin.

  “Who wants’ah magical shield?” another child added dismissively.

  “Magical shields are more important than magical ons,” Fred said. “Magical shields make it so that magical swords ’t hit you, then how good a magical sword be if it ’t hit you?”

  The child narrowed their eyes, before slowly nodding their head, uanding the logic of the statement. “ shields go on fire?”

  “I haven’t seen a fire shield, but I have seen a thunder shield.”

  “A thunder shield? Like the storm?”

  “Yes.”

  “Ooooh!” the child’s eyes beamed up at Fred.

  “Executive Jurot has a thunder shield, it’s called Mighty Roar.”

  “Oooh!” the children all replied.

  “Does your sword have a name?” a child asked.

  “It’s called Lifebde.”

  “Why’s it called that?”

  “It heal me, like a priest , but I don’t need a priest.”

  “Ooooh,” the child replied.

  “Do you like to get hit?”

  “No.”

  “So why do you o heal?”

  “It’s because sometimes I get hit through my armour and it hurts so I need my sword to heal me.”

  “If you hadda magical shield then you wouldn’t a heal.”

  Fred smiled. “That’s right.”

  Brittany watched the children swarm the trio of men, though Nobby was struggling to reply, only responding in one word answers. The childreually instead grabbed at his arms and nestead, kept at bay by their elder siblings.

  One of the inn’s workers stepped up towards the group in the er, only to find Adam stepping up to meet them, the young man smiling towards them.

  “The other patrons are finding it difficult to enjoy themselves while there is so muoise ing from the er,” the worker informed, smiling politely in that sort of way. They would have been a little mgressive, if it wasn’t for the fact they were quite heavily armed.

  “Oh yeah?” Adam replied, tilting his head slightly as his neck pulsed. “Well, why don’t you tell them-,”

  Dunes silenced Adam by pg a hand on his shoulder, noting how tense Adam was, the euation weighing heavily upon him no doubt. “ologise for the he children have had quite a rough time retly, and we’re trying to rid their worries. I uand it’s quite noisy, but if you’d inform the other patrons that their food and drink shall be pensated for by the United Kindom, our business, I hope they’ll be more uanding of our predit.”

  “To pensate for all the patrons, it will cost quite the ,” the worker said.

  Adam exhaled lightly. “How much gold would it cost?”

  “I will go speak with the keep,” the worker said, gently bowing their head, before quickly scampering away.

  The inn keep, a woman who wore her wrinkles as well as she wore her robes, and her silver pixie cut, approached the group. “I heard you wao pay for the other patrons?”

  “Their meals and drinks,” Adam firmed. “How much gold would that cost?”

  The woman eyed up the young man, noting the scarf around his head. Her eyes then fell across the rest of the group, seeing the Iyrman, the Sister, and the Aswadians. “It will cost ten gold, and you will o buy a bottle of our perry.”

  “Okay.”

  “Twenty gold.”

  “Take thirty for the invenience,” Adam replied, back letting out a soft sigh of relief. Dealing with things using gold was so easy, and he was more than happy to spend a few gold pieces to smooth things over. ‘Hopefully they don’t bother us while we’re here, otherwise I’ll really give it to them.’

  Adam felt a tug at his side, before noting Nobby beside him, and then he gnced down to see Alex staring up at him expetly. “Yes?”

  “I want to talk to you, alone, mister.”

  “Alone?”

  Alex nodded.

  “Alright,” Adam said, waiting for the boy to move, only to realise he was the adult. Adam motioned a hand to Nobby, before he guided the boy up to one of the rooms they had rented. “What is it?”

  “Those knights… they came for me,” the boy said.

  Adam bowed his head lightly, waiting for the boy to tinue.

  “They’re… they’re really strong. They’re not gonna to stop. They’re gonna e for me. If they e, then they might hurt everyone. I don’t want them to hurt no one, so I should go with them.”

  “…” Adam reached out with a hand, gently pg it on the boy’s shoulder. “You’re a very brave boy.”

  The boy’s lip trembled lightly.

  “I know the knights are strong, they wear such grand armour, and they carry such great ons.”

  Alex bowed his head. “You ’t tell the others, they’ll want to stop it.”

  “Alex…” Adam smiled slightly. “Alex. Listen to me very carefully, okay?”

  The boy nodded.

  “The knights are strong, but we’re very strong too.”

  “The knights, they’re with the Marquise, and she’s really powerful. She’s not strong, but she’s got lots of other kinds of powers. She kill people easy, but not with a sword, but with other people’s swords. She’s going to send very strong people to get me, because she wants me.”

  “I know,” Adam said. “I asked you to listen to carefully, right? Well, we’re very strong too. Even if they’re going to send a bunch of knights after us, it’s okay, we are stronger.”

  “You ’t fight knights, they’re the w!”

  “You know Sister Vonda, right? She’s a member of Life’s Rose. Have you heard of Life’s Rose?”

  The boy stood up taller. “Of course I’ve heard of Life’s Rose. It’s the holy order, it’s really good.”

  “That’s right. The Order of Life’s Rose, it’s very strong too, isn’t it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Sister Vonda is from there, so that means they ’t attack us easily. Even if they do, they’ll be in lots of trouble. Plus, even though we’re new, we’ve got a lot of power too. I’m from a business called United Kindom, and we work for the Enter. You must have heard when I spoke to Moons, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Right. Even if the Marquise is a noble, even she doesn’t want to offend someone who makes magical items.” Adam pat the boy’s shoulders. “So don’t worry, we’re definitely going to protect you all, and nothing’s going to happen.”

  “You’re strong, but the knights are stronger.”

  “I’ve fought lots of knights, and I’ve never lost to one,” Adam assured.

  “Have you fought strong knights?”

  Adam paused. “Have you heard of the King’s Sword?”

  “Yes.”

  “His daughter fought me iour. Even though she won, she won through other power, not with her sword.” Adam’s smile was tainted by a tinge of annoyance. “But noork closely with the Duchess, so I don’t have to lose to the knights any more.”

  “You work with the Duchess?”

  “The Duchess does business with us,” Adam said, slowly nodding his head.

  “Are you going to take me to her.”

  Adam chuckled. “No, no. I’m going to make sure you stay with your brothers and sisters, so don’t worry, okay?”

  “Cobra, Julia, and the others, they’re… they’re not… we don’t have the same parents, but they’re my brothers and sisters. I… I don’t want nothing bad happening to them.”

  “You’re such a good brother, Alex.” Adam ruffled his hair. “Nothing bad is going to happen to them. Didn’t I tell you? You’re all VIPs, so I won’t let nothing bad happen to you.”

  “If something bad happens…”

  “If something bad happens, I’ll sort it out as best as I ,” Adam assured. “Plus, it’s not just the Order of Life’s Rose that’s helping us, we’ve also got another order helping us, so you don’t have to worry, okay?”

  “Okay…”

  Adam kept ruffling his hair. “Hey, Alex, what’s your dream?”

  “My dream?”

  “Yeah. When you grow up, what do you want to do?”

  “I… I’m going to grow up and be a good man.”

  “Yeah? What does that look like?”

  “I want to… I want to have moo make sure I don’t grow hungry, and I don’t want my brothers or sisters to grow hungry, and I want to buy a house so we all stay together, and I’ll use my magic to keep everyone safe, and I’m going to have all the milk for the pe, because I don’t like water in my pe.”

  Adam chuckled lightly. “That’s right, I don’t like having water in my pe either. e o’s head back, and you tell me all about your favourite foods.”

  “Okay.”

  While Adam returned with the child, he gnced around. “Where’s Manager Vonda?”

  “She said she o pray,” Dunes replied, shrugging his shoulders.

  “Do you o go pray too?”

  “I should.”

  Adam chuckled.

  While they were chatting, Vonda burned her inse, and pced an egg within the silver chalice. She ted quietly, and over the course of several mihe silver chalice swallowed the egg whole, before the inse and silver egg began to burn rapidly, disappearing into nothingness.

  “I beseech the wisdom of the Divihe young woman began. “Must blood be spilled to protect the children?”

  The taste of iron filled Vonda’s mouth.

  Oh no...