Pawel was thinking about this because the difference in their current situation could not be starker. Last night, like the night before it, Zofiya slept with her back to him as far removed as their partition would permit. It was an exceedingly light punishment considering what he did, but it stung all the same.

According to the Law, he would have been expected to marry that girl from the Temple and pay her family the bride price, money he did not have, so he would likely be sentenced to a term with a Punitive Company until he could pay his debt. She was not a girl of much rank, so the debt would not be that hard to clear at his level, but that was hardly the point. Satisfying the Law would not even begin to be enough to satisfy Zofiya, to heal the breach of trust between them. If not for the fact that the children needed both of them, she really might have left him. After nearly fifteen years of being together, that would have been a hell of a way to end things.

Pawel sat up and gave himself a good punch to the face to get himself back into sorts. Nothing he could do would be enough, but he would have to find a way to square things with the girl and with Zofiya as best he could. For the time being, though, he needed to focus on the immediate task before him. If all went well, they could be out of Axios by tomorrow. Getting away from the city would be an important step toward improving things.

The chow bell rang from downstairs to signal that the mess hall was open for breakfast. While the Guild Hall was not all that crowded at the moment, it was always a good idea to get chow sooner rather than later. Also, it was important to maintain discipline. Pawel was pretty sure he had heard that there was some saying about "early to bed and early to rise", and except for the relative few people who worked at night, it was a good policy to have. Back in the real world, Pawel had his day job and the children had school, so this was not so much of a change in their daily rhythm. Surely that would help blunt the shock of their current circumstances.

Pawel reached over to give Zofiya's shoulder a little shake, telling her, "Come on, Zosia. Let's get the kids up."

Pawel counted himself fortunate that she did not react more negatively, but she was trying to maintain the appearance of normalcy for the children like she said. He folded up his blanket and then went over to the children's partition and nudged Fedor with his foot, saying, "Rise an' shine, kids. Come on. Let's head down an' get some chow."

The children did not exactly spring up full of energy and Pawel and Zofiya had to prod them along to get up and head down. Keeping track of their own children was more than enough for them, but they had agreed to take responsibility for the other new Rookies as well, so Pawel and Zofiya went around to make sure they were up as well.

Pawel had not quite gotten to remembering their names, but he had learned enough about them to tell them apart. There were four boys and three girls. Unlike Pawel and Zofiya's children, they were divided by sex, but four boys in one petition was a little too crowded, especially since one of them was rather big for his age.

The boy groaned. He did not sound convinced. Pawel gave him a light kick to get him in gear.

Pawel then remembered that Americans did not typically have second breakfast and for many of them, their only point of reference on it was that one Lord of the Rings movie.

Pawel held up his Contract of Mentorship and said, "Ever since I agreed to take a hundred denarii a day to babysit you."

Pawel finally got the four boys herded to join their children and Zofiya with the three other girls downstairs in the mess hall. Breakfast was just a bowl of porridge—pease porridge today—and half of a little loaf of brown bread. It was not much, but it would be enough to get them to midday. Also, for a free meal, you did not have much room to complain. If you want to eat hearty, you have to be ready to pay for it, and starting out, you do not have much leeway with your finances.

Speaking of finances, the morning visit to the Royal Bank would be an opportunity to consider their money situation and what they could do about it. Neither the hundred denarii they were given to start with nor the per diem from the Guild for mentoring would be enough to get them properly kitted out for ranging. They could take the conventional route of scrimping and saving as the children got stronger bit by bit, they could try to find themselves a patron among the Nobles, or there was a third option Pawel was none too eager to consider. As much as he did not like the idea of being beholden to some nobleman, the thought of throwing himself on the tender mercies of the Bank was even worse.

As Pawel was thinking on all these problems he was going to have to deal with, he could not even remember them finishing breakfast or the Guild representative coming to escort them to the Bank. Before he knew it, they were all standing there in the lobby as a well-dressed member of the Bank staff flanked by a couple assistants came out to meet them.

Claus then took notice of Pawel and Zofiya.

Before he and Zofiya were escorted off, Pawel said to the children, "Alright, kids, this may not seem like the most int'restin' thin', but pay attention. It's important. An' no takin' out any damn loans."

Recalling a particular bad experience of his own, Pawel said, "Yeah, well, tell that to the four heavies you people sent to distress me of my gear when I was late on my payments."

Claus tightened his jaw at this and furrowed his brow, saying, "That's a serious accusation, sir, and it would demand serious action. When did this happen?"

Upon hearing this, Claus shrugged.

While they had been talking, apparently that assistant Radwin had gone out and brought back the woman Claus had mentioned, because she was there now, stepping in to say, "I believe I can help with that." She extended her hand to Pawel. "Marguerithe Kleinfelder."

Pawel accepted her hand and said, "Pawel Adamowicz." He then nodded to Zofiya. "Zofiya Valadko."

Zofiya shook the woman's hand next.

Pawel told the children, "Alright, kids, we gotta deal with some grownup business. Behave till we get back. Behave when we get back, too."

He chuckled to himself and ignored the fact that almost everyone in the vicinity rolled their eyes. He and Zofiya then followed Marguerithe to her office, which was just a short way from the counters where the tellers worked. She had an assistant of her own waiting inside, who she promptly told, "Giacomo, could you fetch the files on two closed accounts? A Pawel Adamowicz and a Zofiya Valadko." She then asked Pawel and Zofiya, "When were the accounts closed?"

Pawel glanced at her but did not say anything. If Marguerithe noticed anything about the atmosphere between them, she did not make it obvious and continued on like nothing had happened, which from her perspective may have been true.

Well, that was that then. After a few awkward moments of silence passed between them, Marguerithe elected to speak up to better pass the time.

Ever the dedicated employee, Marguerithe did not let Pawel's lack of enthusiasm deter her and moved a Level Scale to the edge of her desk toward Pawel and Zofiya.

The Bank used Adventurers' level to determine the grade of their accounts. Account level determined not just your credit line but also the vault space allotted to you, which was important when you started to accumulate treasures and assorted tools of the trade. The Guild had more complex measuring tools, but the basic Level Scale was more than enough for the Bank's purposes.

Once Pawel was measured, Marguerithe then said to Zofiya, "And now you, ma'am."

Zofiya placed her hand on the Level Scale and Marguerithe adjusted her spectacles as she checked the results.

The Royal Bank was established specifically to cater to Adventurers, Pawel knew, but it still seemed surprising when an NPC outside the Guild actually understood how the mechanics worked for them. The state of Atrophy would set in after three months without defeating something around your own level, and once you you were in a state of Atrophy, you would proceed to lose a level every three months after that. In other words, if you did not play the Game, the very power World grants you will be stripped away little by little. It was not much of a problem if you were done playing, but Pawel and Zofiya were back in the mix again. They needed to not only ward off any further decline but to get back into the fighting shape they were in before, but for the time being, their priority was the children. They could not very well be running off to the Jotunheim to hunt Giants in the hills and leave the children to fend for themselves. Not to mention that in starter gear, taking on anything close to their level would be madness.

To answer Marguerithe's question, Pawel said, "Prolly since we closed the accounts."

Pawel shrugged.

Pawel and Zofiya then sat there quietly while Marguerithe worked on some of the preliminary paperwork until her assistant returned with the files.

After what Pawel had told the children, it would look bad if he were to take out a loan the first thing after he got his own account, but when it came to getting the necessary supplies for the brood they were responsible for, a mere two hundred denarii per day was hardly enough. It was exactly what had been on his mind ever since he took up Iberico on the offer to mentor the Rookies. Was it right for him to let his bad history with the Bank hold him back?

Pawel sighed.

As the issue had turned to how they were going to take care of their children, Zofiya once again set aside her anger at him and focused more on what was more important to her.

Pawel did not have a good answer, scratching his head as he said, "Times like this, I wish we had Jun here."

Marguerithe nodded.

That would have to do for the time being. If Pawel remembered correctly, a Grade B account had a credit line of 100,000 denarii. Multiply that times two and there was a lot you could get, but the problem would be paying back what they owed. The earnings from their quests would be rather meager until they made it out to the Kingsea, but if they could make enough to cover their daily expenses, then the money from the Guild might be enough to cover it. Pawel could feel a headache coming on the more he thought about it, but was it so much different than what they had gone through for the past six years struggling to make ends meet and keeping their little family together? Yes, it was. As bad as things could be sometimes on Earth, the World was far less forgiving, and he was having to make do with one of his legs cut out from under him. He would be willing to take whatever fury he had coming to him from Jun in exchange for her support right about now, but he would do just as well to wish for gold coins to fall from the sky.