The townsfolk left a wide berth as the heavily armed figures stepped through the rge tral road of the town, making their way towards the markets. The figure who wore the turban around his head, and ears, was surrounded by children, who were in turn surrounded by Iyrmen. Some of the Iyrmen wore full pte, even during the noonval sun, while others wore their typical furs, but more importantly, carried ons that hung far too fortably for a town.

  Shameless. Fearless.

  These were the words which came to the townsfolk, who ko stay away from the group, allowing them to walk through the town as though they ow, though they prayed within their hearts for the guards.

  “Tell me…” the fellow wearing the turban, and the purple breastpte, began. “What is it that you want? Daddy will buy you the world is he has to.”

  “Food,” Jirot said, pointing to the stall to one side, the smell causing the girl to almost drool.

  “How wise is my daughter? Why do you he world when you have food?” Adam said, with all the seriousness he could muster, before pg down a gold for the cook. “One for each of us.”

  “Alright,” the cook said, his eyes dartiween the Iyrmen, praying they would move on quickly from his stall.

  Adam bite into the meat, frowning slightly, before using his magic to fvour the meat. Aieat filled the air, as Jirot waited expetly.

  “Please, daddy, please.”

  Adam smiled, fv the meat with his magic, doing so for all his children at once, before doing the same for all the Iyrmen.

  Gangak had eaten first, to check if the meat roperly cooked, and since she raised no pints, the other Iyrmen allowed the children to eat. None of the children noticed just how much the Iyrmen were looking out for them, from cheg the food, to noting the people who wore ons, to the people who didn’t wear ons but perhaps had them hidden, even to ting steps towards the exits, and the quickest route back to the inn.

  They also didn’t notice their father going still for moment at a time, while an owl flew up ahead, nding on nearby roofs every so often.

  “Where should we go ?” Adam asked, wiping his children’s faces with his damp cloth, ing it with his tribsp;

  “Mmmm…” Jirot thought. “Babo house?”

  “We ’t go to babo’s house, that’s too far away?”

  “Why?”

  “We’re in Red Oak now, smelly girl, not the Iyr.”

  “Nano house?”

  “That’s also too far.”

  Jirot blinked, furrowing her brows. She had never heard this reason to refuse before. “Far away?”

  “Yes. Remember? We had to take the carriage all the way here. It’s going to take so many days to get back. Plus, why do you want to go back?”

  “I see nano.”

  “How about this? Why don’t we go buy nano a gift and then whe back we’ll give it to her?”

  “Daddy!” Jirot gasped.

  “Yes?”

  “You are so smart?”

  “…” Adam blinked. ‘How much Health do I have left?’

  Health: 91

  ‘Only 19?’ Adam thought.

  Health: 91

  ‘I ’t believe she did that much damage to me with oence.’

  Health: 91

  ‘Of course she did, since she’s my daughter,’ Adam thought proudly, feeling the ache within his heart.

  Rajin held onto Mad Dog’s shoulder, feeling how hard the Iyrman was shaking, doing his absolute best not to burst out in ughter. He evehe Mad Dog’s body tense up, feeling the fsh of hot red rage to stop himself from ughing.

  “You should not waste yer like this,” Rajin whispered.

  “Ha? Do you-,”

  “Jarot,” Rajin said, his voice stern. “Do not fet.”

  “…” Jarot slowly nodded his head, even the Mad Dog having to surrender when it came to this specific matter.

  “Wow!” Jirot gasped, with little Jarot’s mouth also agape. “Look daddy! Look!”

  “What am I looking at?”

  “Wow! Look daddy, is yellow!” Jirot poiowards the bundles of cloth. “Is red, and is blue, and is green, and look! Is purple! So many colours, daddy!”

  “Yeah?” Adam smiled. “You know, mummy is from East Port, which has so many more colours!”

  “Ooh!” the twins cooed, their eyes wide.

  “I’ll take you there one day,” Adam said, before realising what he said. ‘Damn it…’

  The mert frowned, ahe fellow mentiohe city’s was an unspoken rule not to mention such a pce right in front of them. ‘What? You think I’m a rich city boy?’

  “Should we buy some cloth for nano?” Adam asked.

  “Yes! I buy it!” Jirot said, throwing up her fist.

  “How you buy it when…” Adam paused. ‘Hold on, isn’t she even richer than me?’ “Yes, but all you want, since daddy will pay for it.”

  ‘Daddy?’ the mert owner, a young Aldishman with slightly tan skin and a small hat, thought. ‘Does he have a horcish wife?’

  “I buying it! I buy it for nano!” Jirot said.

  “I buy for nano too,” little Jarot said.

  “I buy for mummy?” Karot asked, staring up at the half elf.

  “Of course you ,” Adam said, reag down to the boy’s long hair, rubbing it gently, before realising that sometimes the silver peeked through the illusion. ‘Oops.’

  ‘His hair is too long,’ Shagek thought, noting the silver.

  “How much for each bundle?”

  “Ten gold.”

  “Alright, the’s each buy one bundle, okay?” Adam said.

  “Okay,” Jirot said.

  “Are you also looking for clothing for your children?” the mert asked. “My brother sells clothes oher side.”

  “Clothing?” Adam asked. “Well, they already have a lot of clothes, so…”

  The mert watched as Adam froze in poting the calcutions the young man in puthral was making. It wasn’t a calcution for , but rather a calcution only a doting father could make.

  “Where is your brother’s stall?” Adam asked, doing his best to tain himself.

  “It is behind my own.” The mert pointed backwards with his thumb. For a moment, Bloodbde’s eyes he silver rings the mert wore, but seeing the arkings, he dismissed the thought.

  “The’s…” Adam gnced down at his children, who were noting all the rolls, reag out to grab the cloth with their hands, though the mert remained silent, noting the number of Iyrmen about, and also the fact their ons were not ordinary in the slightest.

  “Blue is for nano,” Jirot said. “Purple is for nana, and daddy. Red for nano, and babo, and papo.”

  “Green is for daddy,” little Jarot said.

  “Yellow,” Karot said, holding up the buhin his arms, his invisible tail brushing the dust on the floor.

  “Wow, all my favourite colours,” Adam said, who had hated the creen until the sed year of this current life. “If you , could you cut out ses of all the bundles my children touched, and then also price up all the buhey’ve picked?”

  ‘Didn’t he say only one for each child?’ the mert thought. “Of course! Where should I sent them to?”

  “The Wiseman’s Oak,” Otkan said.

  “Of course,” the mert replied. ‘iseman’s Oak?’

  After the bundles were sorted, and Adam pced down the gems, the mert measuring them quickly uhe watchful Iyr of the Iyrmen, they quickly circled around to the clothing mert, who looked like an older version of the mert, but with a faint scar across his eye.

  “I heard you had the good stuff,” Adam said, standing with his arms crossed.

  The mert wasn’t sure who was more terrifying, the weirdo in the purple, or the savage Iyrmen who smelt of death. “I have clothing?”

  “You know, today, I’ve got nothing but time, and gold in my pocket to burn.” Adam leaned in. “So show me all the styles that you have. I don’t know anything about clothing, but I want to see it all.”

  “Yes, of course, I will find the designs and sizes and colours which match all the children.”

  Tarukan gnced down, feeling the boy’s hand squeeze his hand tighter. He hadn’t ever seen the boy with su expression before. Normally he was stone cold, or held disdain whenever his father behaved poorly, but this time… it was quite fear, but more like… he’d rather take a sword through the eye.

  ‘Kill me,’ Larot thought. ‘Kill me now, you bastard.’

  Adam had finally uood his mother. Indeed, as a child he had cursed at his mother deep within his heart for what she had forced him to do. Except now, now he uood. Of course, his mother was a genius.

  The old one armed Jarot had no idea Adam could dare to threaten someone like that before. Not only had Adam forced the mert to dress the children in all the designs, his eyes falling to the little demon boy wearing a yellow frilly dress, but he had forced the mert to let them try on all manner of colours. At least two hours had passed with Adam dressing his children in all the styles he could, each of the Iyrmen assisting the children from behind the curtains.

  Ohey were dressed, Adam would huff, tensing up.

  “That’s right.”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Certainly.”

  “How it not be so?”

  Eventually, Adam fell back to the tried and true, “okay,” while nodding.

  Even now, the Iyrmen couldn’t tell him to hurry up, since he looked like he’d be willing to fight any of them at any moment. Indeed, how could they stop him, not when he was eating the most delicious dessert of all, that of his children being so adorable?

  “Daddy, toilet,” Jirot finally said, daring to finally speak up. She had wao leave a while ago, but her father had given off the same aura as her grandmother, so she dared not to say anything.

  “Okay,” Adam said, allowing Gangak to take the girl away to deal with her needs.

  “Are you ready to order, dear t?”

  “How much?” Adam asked, still standing tall, his arms crossed.

  “Excuse me?”

  “How much for the clothes,” Adam replied, his voice stern and low.

  “How many do you wish to prefer.”

  “Everything,” Adam said, his eyes slowly turning to meet the mert’s gaze.

  “Everything?” the mert asked, feeling a chill down his spine.

  “Everything they wore,” Adam said, his eyes still holding a vicious gre, as though daring the mert to deny him. “I’ll just buy everything they wore, and everything that you own in their sizes.”

  The mert blinked. ‘What?’

  “We will buy everything they wore,” Jarot said, pg a hand on Adam’s shoulder to try and stop him from going overboard.

  “No,” Adam said, tensing up, leaning back slightly as he gred at the old man. “I’ll buy everything in their size.”

  Jarot grinned wildly, the way he normally would. “The childreill growing.”

  “No, they’ll stay small and cute forever.”

  “There is o waste yold today,” Jarot warned, daring his grandson to speak up. “There are many days for the outing.”

  “Wasting gold?”

  “Will you spend it all?”

  “…” Adam tio gre, tilting his head slightly. Except, the old man did have a point. If Adam spent this much today, that meant he wouldn’t be able to spoil them as much ter. “At least for the twins.”

  “They…” Jarot paused, realising that sometimes Adam could be as smart as he was dumb. “Okay.”

  ‘Are they crazy? The price would be in the hundreds of gold!’ The mert’s eyes darted between their equipment, and evehral breastpte. ‘They’re rich, but even so!’

  It was a short while ter that the mert stared down at the gems within his hands. He blinked in bewilderment. His clothing typically sold for a few silver to a few gold each, sometimes a noble would e by and procure several pieces, and they would generally spend a few tens of gold, with a few gold as a bonus. Yet, somehow, he had earned hundreds of gold in a single order, several weeks worth of great fortune in a span of a few hours.

  ‘Is he a child of Lord Musa?’

  “Old man…” Adam gred at the Iyrman ohey were back at the inn. “Do you know what I spent about half a thousand gold on?”

  “Clothes?” Jarot replied. He wasn’t sure anyone in the world had spent as mu clothes in a single go for their children, save perhaps royalty.

  “It is for the joy,” Gangak said, as though it were obvious.

  “Grandaunt is right,” Adam said. “Do you know how much joy it brought me to bully my children like that? I got to force my children to wear such cute clothes, even my little Larot!”

  Sonarot raised her brows slightly, her eyes beaming. ‘I should have goh them.’

  Adam caught her eyes, and he slowly nodded his head. ‘Don’t worry, we bully them even more.’

  It was that day when Sonarot realised she had never been happier proteg Adam from the Iyr. Of course, since he made the promise, she o return the favour.

  “Adam, you should also apany the other children,” Sonarot said, sipping her milk, not realising the storm which had begun.

  The most terrifying thing happe chapter.