Tim led them to the school and through an old metal gate that had seen better days. It felt simultaneously familiar and completely foreign to Damien as they walked past the short buildings and entered a tiny square room at the edge of the campus.

Mrs. Hubbard sat at a table, hunched over a stack of papers. An old quill rested on the table beside a splotch of ink, and her head was in her hands. She jerked up right as they entered, adjusting her glasses and pushing the hair out of her tired face. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t expecting company. I see you’ve met Damien, Tim.”

“He’s going to help me kill Joey,” Tim proclaimed.

“I absolutely am not,” Damien said sharply as Mrs. Hubbard’s eyes widened. “Tim let me know there was something going on with the school, and I wanted to find out what it was myself.”

The elderly teacher frowned and let out a slow sigh. She stood and walked around the desk to kneel before Tim. “Honey, please go home for today. I’m sure Damien will find some time to hang out with you later, but the grown-ups have to talk for a little now.”

Tim nodded empathetically. “Right. No witnesses so you can have dena – dehna – how do you say it?”

“Deniability?” Sylph provided.

“Yeah,” Tim said. “That.”

“That is absolutely not the case,” Mrs. Hubbard said.

“Yeah,” Tim repeated, giving her an exaggerated wink that was really more of a blink. “I didn’t hear anything.”

He darted out of the door, pulling it shut behind him. Mrs. Hubbard sighed again and ran a hand through her hair. “I’m sorry about him. He’s gotten a little excitable as of late. He’s a good kid at heart.”

“I gathered,” Damien said, hiding the grin tugging at his lips. “Could you tell me a little bit about what’s going on? Tim said that Mayor Shindal is trying to shut the school down. Why would he do that?”

“Hold on, Damien,” Mrs. Hubbard said, crossing her arms as a flicker of steel passed through her features. “You haven’t introduced me to your friend. I know I taught you more than just runes, and I’m pretty sure manners was covered in my class.”

“Whoops, sorry,” Damien said, rubbing the back of his head. “This is Sylph. She’s my roommate at Blackmist. She’s visiting for the week.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Sylph,” Mrs. Hubbard said, inclining her head. Sylph returned the gesture. “I’m sorry that you’ve gotten wrapped up in my mess. Damien should have known better than to drag you into this.”

“It’s quite alright,” Sylph said with a small grin. “We’ve dealt with a lot worse. Education is important.”

“If only everyone shared that opinion,” Mrs. Hubbard said, chewing her lower lip. “Mayor Shindal wants to phase out a large portion of the Rune Crafting classes, I’m afraid. He’s set on hiring Joey as a teacher, but Joey doesn’t know any Rune Crafting – and he refuses to learn it. I’m about ready for retirement, so I would have been happy to pass on enough knowledge for Joey to continue the school without me, but…”

She shrugged helplessly. “The kid will barely talk to me. It’s as if he’s trying to be antagonistic. He interrupts my classes and undermines my authority with the kids. He used to be such a nice lad. I don’t know what’s gotten into him.”

“My mom mentioned something about Shindal trying to set Joey up as the next mayor and taking funds from the school for his own properties. Could this have something to do with it?” Damien wondered.

“I really don’t know, I’m afraid,” Mrs. Hubbard said. “Honestly, I shouldn’t be bringing you into this at all. You’re still in college, Damien. Problems like these should be left to the adults. There are still a few years for you to run around and have fun before you have to deal with the underbelly of the world. You should enjoy them.”

Damien exchanged a glance before bursting into laughter. Mrs. Hubbard blinked.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Hubbard,” Damien said, composing himself. “Sylph and I have been involved in some pretty intense after school activities with our professors. We’ve both fought for our lives more times than I can count. Something like this isn’t even on our danger charts.”

“Is there anything we could do to get some pressure off you?” Sylph asked. “Surely the mayor needs to be able to prove that Rune classes aren’t useful, right? This isn’t a dictatorship.”

“Well, yes. He can make small changes, but he needs half the town council for any major changes,” Mrs. Hubbard said. “But he’s got nearly half of them on his side already. One or two votes would be enough to sway him.”

“So if we were to convince the council that he’s an idiot or that Rune Crafting is clearly important, you’d be fine?” Damien asked.

“I suppose,” Mrs. Hubbard said. “But how could you do that? As much as I love the kids, I don’t have any exemplary students as of late. There just isn’t much interest in Rune Crafting. The mayor does pay a fair amount for me to do other work. It might just be time for things to move on.”.

“Maybe, but maybe not,” Damien said, tapping a finger on his leg. “We’ll look into things a bit without stepping on any toes. I hate to see such an important class fade away just because nobody respects how useful Rune Carving can be.”

He and Sylph bid farewell to Mrs. Hubbard and headed out into Ardenford.

“Is there really anything we can do?” Sylph asked as they headed towards a large house that overlooked the the town. “Aside from making him disappear, of course. Actually, that wouldn’t be too hard.”

“Let’s avoid that for now,” Damien said, choosing his words carefully. After what Sylph had told him about her past, a few things about some of her suggestions made more sense. “We may just be able to talk some sense into Mayor Shindal. After all, I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere without Rune Crafting. Henry wouldn’t have ever bonded with me.”

“You can’t exactly show someone Henry,” Sylph pointed out. “I’ll follow your lead, though. I don’t want to get you in trouble in your town.”

Damien nodded appreciatively, and they reached the mayor’s house a few minutes later. He approached the large wooden door and knocked before stepping back. A few moments later, an elderly butler pulled it open.

“Mayor Shindal just got back from his town hall meeting,” the man said. “If you’re looking for him, you’ll have to wait a little.”

“We don’t mind waiting,” Damien said, digging around for the butler’s name.

“You may wait inside, then,” the man said, stepping aside and gesturing for them to enter.

Henry mentally pulled the memory of the man’s name up. “Thank you, Mr. Jones.”

He and Sylph headed into the large building. Mr. Jones closed the door gently behind them and led them over to a long wooden table with a dozen red cushioned seats along it. They sat down near the end and a light blinked on automatically above them.

“I’ll get some snacks for you both,” Mr. Jones said. A door opened itself for him, revealing a kitchen for a few moments before it shut in his wake.

“There sure are a lot of runes here,” Sylph muttered. “Automatic lights and doors? Seems a bit excessive.”

“It isn’t that hard if you’ve got a Rune Crafter on retainer,” Damien whispered back. “Or a lot of money. From what it sounds like, he’s got the latter and is working on getting the former.”

Mr. Jones came out of the kitchen a few minutes later bearing a tray piled high with cheese, crackers, and fruit. He set it down in front of them and inclined his head. “I’ve informed Mayor Shindal that you’ve come back from college to visit. He should be down to meet you in a few minutes.”

“He was in the kitchen?” Damien asked.

“No, there is communication between every room in the house,” Mr. Jones said with a small smile. “Mayor Shindal has been improving the town with magic. It makes many tasks much easier.”

“He’s done more than just his house?”

“He’s begun it,” Mr. Jones said, rubbing his beard. “The work he’s having done is very intricate. I don’t know the full extent of it. I’m sure he’d be happy to tell you, though. It’s all he’s spoken of recently.”

A door on the other end of the room opened and Mayor Shindal entered the dining room. He’d aged a fair bit since Damien had last seen him. His cheeks sagged slightly and lines of stress built up beneath his eyes. The mayor had put on more than a few pounds and his graying hairline had started to recede.

He walked over to the table and pulled out a chair across from Damien and Sylph, sitting down with and snagging a grape. Mr. Jones made his escape through the kitchen door before the mayor could start talking.

“It’s been quite some time, Damien,” Shindal said. “I was honestly a little concerned for you when you went off to Blackmist. You’d changed a lot in the years before you left, but I’m glad to see that you’ve turned out so well. We’re a bit out of the way, but I heard that you’ve done pretty well for yourself. You won a tournament, didn’t you?”

“That was Sylph, actually,” Damien said, nodding to her. “I’ve been enjoying Blackmist though.”

“You managed to place well though, right?” Shindal pressed, not addressing Sylph. “How did you match the training and skill of the noble students, though? Some of them should have already had experience in both fighting and with their companions.”

“Mrs. Hubbard’s Rune Crafting class,” Damien said, latching onto the opportunity to steer the conversation to his goal. “Most people didn’t know how to fight with runes, so that knowledge was a huge benefit.”

Shindal pursed his lips. “I see. You’ve spoken with Mrs. Hubbard, then.”

“I have,” Damien said, seeing no reason to lie. “She didn’t want me to interfere, but I don’t know why you would want to get rid of such an important class. Rune Crafting isn’t the most exciting field, but it’s very important. You clearly think so too, considering that your house is full of runes.”

“I’m well aware it’s important,” Shindal said, crossing his arms and leaning back. “And, contrary to popular opinion, I don’t want to get rid of Rune Crafting because I dislike it. The problem is that we are not getting results, and Ardenvale is not rich.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Rune Crafting requires both supplies and time,” Shindal said, ticking the points off on his fingers as he spoke. “But every year, less and less students perform in the class. We spend a significant portion of this town’s resources trying to train new Rune Crafters, but the students don’t actually go into the field. The ones that have talent for magic join a Mage College and take a more interesting career, and the ones that don’t just have no reason to bother with Rune Crafting. Mrs. Hubbard is a very talented woman, and her abilities are much more useful improving the town.”

Damien frowned, spotting the kernel of truth in the mayor’s words. He couldn’t very well argue, as he was exactly who the mayor was talking about. Damien had no plans of sticking around the town, offering Rune Crafting services to the people. Of course, his situation was a little different, but the mayor had no way to know that.

“It’s still an important subject, though,” Damien said. “If you remove it, kids won’t even have a chance to learn. It might not be the most popular field, but it’s still useful to have an understanding of it. Is the town really hemorrhaging money that badly?”

“That’s more my problem to worry about than yours,” Mayor Shindal reprimanded.

“Couldn’t you just teach the theory and keep the resources for students that are actually interested,” Sylph asked, interrupting them.

Shindal’s brow lowered. “We could, but it would still be a waste of Mrs. Hubbard’s time and money. Students that are interested in Rune Crafting can seek instruction when they go to a higher learning institution. That isn’t the concern of the town. We just need to make sure money is being spent appropriately.”

“So why’d you hire your son to be a teacher?” Damien asked. “That’s a big new expense since you’ve got to pay both him and Mrs. Hubbard, isn’t it?”

“You’re far too much like your mother,” Shindal said irritably. “I hired him because he was a good teacher that will help transition things to the new set of lessons.”

“Are you sure it isn’t because he’s your son?” Sylph asked.

“Control your mouth, young woman,” Shindal snapped. “Are you accusing me of hiring someone simply because they were related to me rather than on merit?”

“Yes.”

Shindal blinked, put off balance for a moment by her blunt answer. He gathered himself and stood up in a huff. “This isn’t the concern of children, especially ones that aren’t even from Ardenvale. If it helps you sleep at night, I have no plans of permanently relieving Mrs. Hubbard of her teaching job. Joey will fully take over for a few moments so she can bring the town up to some standards, and then she can have her usual role back. Supplies will be much more limited, but teaching won’t stop entirely. Now, it’s getting rather late. You should be getting home. Mr. Jones?”

The butler emerged from the kitchen. They rose and the butler took them out of the house. Damien cast a glance back at Shindal as they left. The mayor’s face was twisted in a mixture of annoyance and what might have been worry.