“What did you just say?” Sir Harvey’s eyes widened as he stared at the Half Elf.

“I said you are smoking some good shit if you think I’m stupid enough to fall for your bullshit,” Adam said. “I did leave while a Dragon was nearby, leaving behind the rest of my party, and taking along those who were tasked with escorting me. You were left behind with Sir Merrick, Sir Enna, Sir Frederick, and Sir Dorian, though I understand why, perhaps, you could have felt that you had no one who could properly defend you considering some of the company you keep beside you.”

Adam’s eyes were twitching as he glared at the High Alchemist, who was shaking with utter fury towards the Half Elf.

“How dare you!”

“Vice Master Paul!” Adam shouted, clenching his fists so tight that the knuckles cracked, and he inhaled deeply. “The White Dragon, which apparently was threatening the High Alchemist, was slain, was it not?”

“Yes,” Paul said.

“Just who was it that landed the killing blow onto the creature?” Adam asked.

“It was either you or Lanban,” Paul said.

“It was Adam,” Lanban said. “It was dead before my maul struck it.”

Aizaban nodded. “I saw it too.”

Sir Harvey remained silent, understanding that, within his anger, he had slipped up.

“Aha!” Adam said, pointing at Sir Harvey. “So not only did he state that I was the one to disrupt the group cohesion, when it was in fact the Knight he had brought along, but he dared to claim I abandoned him when he was under threat of a dragon, and claimed so after I slew it.” Adam stopped pointing, partly because it was quite rude, but secondly, it was to form a fist to stop his rage.

“If you had left it at punishing me and not my party, I would have left the matter be, but now that we’ve come this far, I’m going to have to bury this matter here once and for all,” Adam said. “Vice Master Paul, have you witnessed the matters so far? Do you see how the High Alchemist of Red Oak has created numerous situations in order to cancel the contract against my good party?”

Paul threw a look to Sir Harvey, swallowing slightly. “Right.”

“I would call him a liar and cheat to his face, but that would be aggravating, wouldn’t it?” Adam said, only to gasp, and then his eyes fell to Sir Dorian. “No, it can’t be aggravating, because it would be the truth. I am ever so glad that Sir Dorian has opened my mind into accepting such a view, and he is absolutely correct that Sir Harvey, High Alchemist of Red Oak, is a liar and a cheat, and that he can’t be aggravated because it is the truth, a truth which we have all heard today.”

“A liar and a cheat?” Sir Harvey’s throat closed up, and he threw out a hand towards Adam. “How dare you! I want his head!”

The Knights around Sir Harvey quickly drew their weapons, causing the Iyrmen to quickly step closer, drawing their weapons, wild grins on their faces. Paul raised a hand, standing between the two groups.

Unfortunately for the Vice Master, near the High Alchemist were also three other Iyrmen, and a Priest. Though they were far weaker than the Knights, and with he and Lanban taking a blow, the fight would be far more even.

Except Aizaban, who was quite a powerful Priest of Wahtu, was still ready and eager to fight, no doubt with nearly all her spells, and what powerful spells they were.

‘Gods damn it.’

“How dare I?” Adam undid his gauntlet and slammed it into the ground, purely to release part of his anger. “I dare quite easily, oh High Alchemist! I hope that the Adventurer’s Guild will be able to deal with the situation, protecting my innocent name in this matter.” Adam’s eyes fell to Paul, glad that he had come along. ‘Wasn’t it you who wanted to come along, oh dear Vice Master?’

“I understand,” Vice Master Paul said.

“Do you? I want it known that not only did Sir Harvey bring along someone who threatened one of his escorts, but when the very same escort went to slay the Dragon which had threatened the High Alchemist, he tried this utter bull-“ Adam coughed, clearing his throat. “I mean, he found it dissatisfactory. If he wishes to slander my name, it would be quite easy, what with his position, so I hope the Adventurer’s Guild will take the appropriate measures.”

Adam, who was only a Copper Rank Adventurer, was asking for a lot. Of course, he understood the politics of the situation.

First, the Adventurer’s Guild had quite some influence, and remained somewhat independent from the country, or at least, that’s what Adam assumed. Of course, they had certain responsibilities, but Adam was pretty sure that the Adventurer’s Guild worked together, whereas Sir Harvey only had the forces of Red Oak.

Secondly, the Adventurer’s Guild in Red Oak was quite close with the Iyrmen, and even considering Sir Merrick’s remarks, Adam realised that he held the Iyrmen in decent enough regard, so this situation was far more complicated than the High Alchemist could deal with.

This was under the assumption that the High Alchemist held a certain level of influence. The High Alchemist seemed to also be a Noble title, but it probably wasn’t quite as high as something like actual Nobility, that of Barons and such, so Adam could assume it was closer to the title of Knight, which held quite a bit of influence, but not enough to deal with the Adventurer’s Guild.

‘Well, maybe a High Alchemist is higher?’ Adam thought for a moment, but quickly pushed it away.

Thirdly, Adam had revealed so many abilities to the Adventurer’s Guild, and he’d be someone they would want to invest in. He utilised his blade and magic as good as any Iyrman, except he was great with both, and not decent at both. They probably realised his magic was more potent than those who typically wielded both blade and magic.

Then there was the matter of the four behind them.

“Slander of a Noble is punishable by death!” Sir Harvey growled. “Do not interrupt, Vice Master, or there will be explanations demanded of you.”

“Slander?” Adam snarled back. “Vice Master Paul, who do you feel like has been espousing slander thus far?”

Paul stood between the groups, his eyes falling onto Fate’s Golden for a moment, and then back to his wife and her, and his own, cousin. He sighed, before he caught the eyes of Sir Merrick.

‘We’re going to need to deal with this,’ Paul’s eyes said.

‘I don’t envy your position,’ Sir Merrick’s eyes replied, his blade still held within his hand, though it was not quite as eager to fight as the other Knights beside him.

“I understand that emotions are running high,” Paul said. “Let’s not have this ruin our day.” He smiled diplomatically.

Adam reached up and pat Paul’s back. “As long as the Adventurer’s Guild can explain to me the bullshit of this quest, I’m happy to leave the matter here. We took responsibility for this quest, but for some reason, I see some random people here who have joined afterwards, and one of them ruined the group cohesion, which apparently was important to the one who brought in the random person who ruined it, only to then blame me and my fellows.” Adam smiled innocently towards Paul, sending him a look.

‘Did you think I’d let you go so peacefully?’ Adam’s smile said.

“It seems as though this quest was designed to go against us. It was the Adventurer’s Guild which brought this quest. If you felt it was unfair that too many Iyrmen had joined a party, you could have just said so!" Adam didn't like the fact that Paul ran away from his question so quickly.

Adam began to chuckle light heartedly. “Next time there’s a Noble that needs to be protected, I will certainly, without fail, not bring more Iyrmen to protect them, and without a shadow of a doubt, I will definitely not fight whatever threatens them.”

Adam smiled even wider, placing a hand on Paul’s shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly. “Even someone like Jonn has more fucking integrity. Jonn knows he’s pathetic scum, running away from his problems. He doesn’t sit on his fucking high horse because of his status, he knows he’s fucking trash.”

“You dare to mock Nobility?” Sir Dorian growled, stepping forward, before Aizaban raised her shield, ready to cast a spell.

“Mock Nobility? How could it be mockery if it’s-” Adam paused. “I never mentioned Nobility, I just mentioned that Jonn is pathetic scum but has more integrity than some people. Even he followed me into danger, just so he could see the kind of person I was. He asked some pretty fair but stupid questions, but he was a decent enough fellow with enough integrity to follow through with his beliefs.”

“Do you think the Adventurer’s Guild can protect you?” Sir Harvey asked.

“I want to make it absolutely clear,” Adam said. “The people who the Adventurer’s Guild are protecting, are the bunch of you. If Vice Master Paul wasn’t here, there would be no one here who would vouch for a bunch of dead Knights and a High Alchemist.” Adam spat on the floor. “A White Dragon came and killed you all. We managed to kill the White Dragon, and as we tried to recover the bodies, a stampede appeared, and so we had to leave the bodies behind, which were then trampled and picked apart by animals.” Adam shrugged his shoulders. “We’d have enough time to make an alibi.”

“You dare to threaten my life?” Sir Harvey spat, unable to contain his rage.

“No,” Adam said. “You dared to threaten me, you fucking moron. I am not threatening you, I am merely telling you the facts of the matter. I know that those four behind us would help me, and I know that those two,” Adam said, motioning to Lanban and Aizaban, “would love to slaughter you all. I wouldn’t even raise my blade, and because I won’t, even if they find out the truth, they wouldn’t be able to punish the Iyrmen, because that’s what the treaty says, no matter what dumb fuck boy from Central Aldland who doesn’t know his history thinks.”

Sir Dorian snarled, and leapt forward, only for Paul to tackle him to the ground. Sir Frederick and Sir Enna had stepped forward, but Sir Merrick had quickly raised his blade across them to stop the pair.

“This calls for his death, Vice Master!” Sir Dorian growled. “He dared to slander me!”

“Enough!” Paul shouted.

“It’s not slander if it’s true,” Adam said.

“Enough!”

“I’m just saying, I didn’t mention any names anyway,” Adam said.

“No more, Adam!” Paul shouted, standing glaring at him like a father would do to a child who was about to do something terrible.

Adam sighed. He turned on his heel and made his way to the Dragon. “Oi, Jurot, come on. Help me find the best scales for our sister.”

Aizaban turned to her husband, catching his eye. “Is it done?”

Jurot waited for the matter to be over, also looking to Paul.

“The matter is done,” Paul said, turning to the Knights. “It ends here.”

“He has said too much,” Sir Harvey said.

“Said too much?” Paul said, drawing his sword, stepping in front of Adam.

Adam had stopped to watch what was happening, but had also grabbed his shield, and held his die tight in hand.

Tough Spirit: 1 -> 0

2D6 + 4 = 12 (2, 6)

Health: 27 -> 39

“He has called to question a fair number of issues which you have to deal with, Sir Harvey,” Paul said. “It is well within my rights to warn you, if you wish to escalate this situation, I will hold back not to kill, but the Iyrmen may not. If you are willing to accept the risks for those who will revel in your death, all without any consequences from our laws, then you can be my guest.”