Chapter 33. The Greater Good
Adom smiled as Bob materialized in the empty classroom. The old leprechaun's white beard was neatly trimmed now, his new emerald coat adorned with golden threads that caught the lamplight. Even his boots gleamed, polished to mirror shine.
"You clean up nice, Bob. Business must be good."
"Aye, and you've put on some proper muscle since I last saw you." Bob circled him once, nodding in approval. "About time too. You were skinny as a twig."
"Wait, really?" Adom flexed his arm, squinting at it. "You can tell?"
"Course I can tell. Who do you think I am?" Bob snorted, reaching up to pat Adom's head. "Still got that smart head on your shoulders though. Good lad."
"These boots are incredible," Adom said, gesturing at Bob's footwear. "Drake leather?"
Bob's chest puffed up. "Finest craftsmanship north of the Silver Mountains. Tell you what - I'll make you a pair once you grow into them proper." He eyed Adom's current shoes with clear disapproval. "Can't have you running around in those shabby things."
"They're not that bad-"
"They're an insult to me professional pride is what they are." Bob shook his head, then looked up at Adom with narrowed eyes. "Now, what sort of trouble have you gotten yourself into this time?"
Adom told Bob everything.
Well... almost everything.
He started with his first time in the undertow - the pickpocket who became an ally, the vampire who nearly killed him, the fight that followed. Bob's eyebrows climbed higher with each detail, his fingers drumming against his knee as he perched on a nearby desk.
The story spilled out faster after that. The Children of the Moon's shipment, the explosion, the way the criminal underground erupted into chaos. Bob's drumming fingers went still when Adom described the aftermath - how the Children had responded by hiring someone who could go toe-to-toe with Star Knights.
Throughout the telling, Bob's face shifted between emotions like clouds across the sun. He scowled at the mention of the vampire, nodded grimly at the description of the fight, and actually grinned when Adom detailed how he'd blown up the shipment. But that grin vanished when Adom explained about Gale, replaced by something harder.
When Adom finally finished, silence filled the classroom. Bob stared at the floor for a long moment, then looked up at Adom.
Bob sighed, running a hand through his beard. "A Star Knight's no joke, lad. Then again, you did take down a sphinx."
"The sphinx underestimated me," Adom said. "This one won't make the same mistake."
"Smart one." Bob nodded, then straightened. "So, you want me to take a message to your father?"
Adom pulled out the sealed letter. "If possible. At the Twin Peaks."
"The Twin Peaks? Border of the Empire?" Bob scratched his chin. "No problem. I'll be there by tomorrow morning. Give it to Commander... Sylla, was it? Tall fellow, blue eyes like yours, got that scar running across his right eye?"
"That's him."
"Aye." Bob tucked the letter into his coat. "I'll head out now, get there faster." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a four-leafed clover, holding it out to Adom. "Here. Enchanted for luck."
Adom stared at the clover. As a mage, he found the concept of luck magic rather absurd - probability was a mathematical constant, not something you could bend with a plant, enchanted or otherwise. Even accounting for magical theory, 'luck' was too vague a concept to properly channel energy through.
Still, he took the clover from Bob's hand. The old leprechaun had saved his life too many times to refuse such a gift, dubious magical theory aside.