Naiov checked his pocket watch. Ten minutes late. He gritted his teeth. This scenario was giving him flashbacks to his days at Starsons, when Alton was always the one to show up last to the captain’s meetings. Vincent was usually the one to drag him in. Unsurprisingly, both were absent.

“Hey!” Luca stood up next to Naiov and waved his hand. “Over here!”

Alton strolled in as though he was the absolute center of attention. He brushed his hair off to the side before he waved back. “Sorry! I thought I had time for a trim before you showed up.” He took a seat at the opposite side of the table and shook his hair.

Preening. Naiov narrowed his eyes. He was always preening.

“Afternoon,” greeted Vincent as he took a seat next to Alton. This earned him a glare from the squire, but Vincent didn’t care. There wasn’t anywhere else to sit.

Naiov continued to glare at Alton. Now the squire had taken out a compact mirror so he could continue to nitpick his hair. He caught Naiov staring and flashed him an innocent grin.

Getting angry at him would be a waste of time. Naiov raised his hand to get the waitress’s attention. “Two red teas!”

“And a glass of the house special,” added Alton.

“It’s hardly the afternoon,” grumbled Vincent.

Now Alton was the one sighing with annoyance. The whole reason why he had shown up at all was that Naiov had returned from his mission earlier today and Luca insisted on going out to Tilrey. This was supposed to be a boy’s day for Starsons’ alumni. What sort of boy’s day doesn’t start with a little drinking?

Naiov wasn’t going to protest Alton's drinking. He tended to be a miserable drunk, and that was amusing to watch at times. “Did Cully not want to come?”

“Alton didn’t invite him,” replied Vincent.

“Don’t make me sound like that bad guy,” spat Alton. “He’d only get upset if we start talking about school.” He then waved a hand. “And he’s too busy trying to convince Vex to give in to his dark nature.” And Alton was going to ignore it so that he wouldn’t have to take responsibility for whatever monstrosity they made this time.

Naiov glanced off to the side. “Can we not bring up anything having to do with dark natures?” He had honestly spent enough time with Amalfrieda. She had provided him with enough angst to last him a good while.

Luca clasped his hands together as a waiter set down two cups and a glass of snow-white liquor. “We’re ready for the lunch set now.” He continued to smile sweetly until the waiter turned around. “... Why couldn’t they have an eastern restaurant here?”

They were in a tavern run by a Clay Region family. It was known for its relaxed atmosphere and large family-style meals. Since the menus were set dishes, everything could be made in bulk and sold at affordable prices, thus it had become popular with travelers passing through.

“I can’t even remember the last time I used chopsticks,” muttered Naiov.

“I still don’t know how to use chopsticks,” replied Alton.

Luca frowned to himself. “Look how proud this blue blood is. Never learned to use anything other than the silver spoon he was born with.”

Alton tilted his head. “It’s a perfectly usable spoon.” He picked up the glass of strange white liquid and sipped it. It had a strong licorice flavor to it.

Vincent could see that hunger was making Luca irritated and didn’t want to watch him and Alton have another lunchtime argument. “Do you have your post yet?” He looked over to Naiov.

What was once a light-hearted yet annoying event had suddenly become heavy. “Ah, well,” whispered Naiov. “There weren’t any openings in the barrier fortification squads. I had applied for environmental preservation, as Sir Pegasus had suggested, but Lady Till informed me today that my request has been denied.”

Vincent dropped a single sugar cube into his tea and began to stir it. “Has Sir Pegasus offered you a position within his squad?”

“No,” grumbled Naiov. But the knight had been quick to offer Trenchall a spot. “They sent a letter saying that I’ll be assigned a squad when I report to my station.” He was likely going to be tossed into whichever squad needed a warm body.

Alton had seen Till try again and again to get Braytons’ alumni safe posts within the war, but she failed more often than succeeded. The war had drawn to a standstill, with neither side gaining an advantage for the other. They were only sticking soldiers where they were needed and didn’t give a damn about talent or titles.

Luca grinned widely as the food was set down in front of them. Finally. He immediately broke off a piece of cauliflower and dipped it into the roasted onion hummus. “What did you want to do after this?” The tense nature of the conversation had gone completely over his head. Only satisfying his hunger mattered.

“I thought we were going to the arcade,” replied Naiov.

Luca scoffed. “Yeah, but you have to make it sound like it’s their idea, otherwise they won’t want to go.” Years of experience dealing with Alton and Vincent had taught him that much.

And Alton would’ve played directly into Luca’s hands had it been his idea, but… Did He want to go to an arcade? He had heard that it had opened up recently. It was really popular with the passing soldiers. Gideon had gone with a group of first-years and said he had fun, but...

“Isn’t that the sort of place you’d go to on a date?” He scratched at the back of his head. “Going with a group of single guys seems… Sad?”

Luca frowned again. His gaze drifted over to Vincent. The paladin was zoning out. He had one hand cuffed over his ear and hadn’t been paying attention to them for a while now. “You want to see what’s at the arcade, right? … Uh, Vincent?”

“... Hm?” Vincent realized that their meal had arrived. “Apologies. I’ll start eating now.”

“Arcade,” weakly whimpered Luca. “We should go…”

Naiov started to arrange side dishes over his bowl of rice. A pit of lamb, a few pickled peppers, a smidge of chickpeas. “Don’t stress about it, Luca. We’re still going to go.” He stabbed a spoon into the bowl and began to viciously stir everything together. If it ate it this way, it would remind him of his mother’s home cooking.

Vincent winced and placed his palm to his ear again. “... Did the barracks have any guests today?”

Luca was still pouting, looking small in his seat as he held his teacup with both hands. “Doctor Blu didn’t mention anyone other than Naiov and that witch coming back.”

“Right, you didn’t get a chance to hear. Amalfrieda is filling out her graduation paperwork and leaving today.” Naiov stared down at the bowl. It looked like his mother’s cooking but it didn’t smell like it. “Doctor Protea is picking her up later today. His wagon might be delayed though, so it could take a day or two.”

“... Doctor Protea?” Luca’s face was slapped with visible confusion.

Naiov shrugged. “Cadaver transporter. What was the term? Mart’s Mercy?” They were an order of clerics who nobles hired to transport corpses across Lustro. “All she’d be doing is riding back and forth with a wagon full of dead people... But I suppose it’s better than fighting in the war.

“But she wouldn’t have a way to preserve a cadaver,” muttered Luca.

Alton rested his chin on his palm. He wasn’t good with spicy food or anything that left a strong aftertaste. “Mart’s Mercy is just another term for the palace’s secret police.”

The belittlement on Luca’s face spread. “The secret police is just a rumor.” He put a hand to his chest and clutched at his robes. “They already have knights in every corner of Lustro to deal with any of the crown’s troubles.”

“They’re real,” replied Alton. “Only the clerics do corpse transportation. They have other members that do other tasks. I spent a few weeks with one when I was a kid. He’d try to keep me entertained by telling me stories about heads he brought to the king.” That member was Laurent Aconite. He used Mart’s Mercy as cover to transport Alton from Fogbloom to Carapace after he was exiled.

Luca took a long sip of his tea before he set his cup down. He then glanced at Naiov. “Have you met him before? Doctor Protea? It seems weird that she wouldn’t fill out her graduation paperwork before she left on her mission with you.”

“Yeah, it was pretty sudden. She ran into him when we made a brief stop in a village. Maybe two weeks ago? I only saw him saying goodbye to her when I went to pick her up in a tavern, so it’s hard for me to pinpoint exactly when it was.” Naiov slapped a spoonful of hot pepper sauce onto his food. “Are you interested in becoming an assassin?”

“No, I was… Just wondering if it was related to something I saw in Mareth.” Luca shook his head and put on a grin. “This is a lot of food! We’re going to be here all day if you don’t start eating!”

They carried on with the meal. Naiov attempted to start up a conversation every now and again, but both Luca and Vincent were giving one word replies while Alton had gone back to checking out his hair. He was debating whether or not he should get his ears pierced. This cut would look better if he had something shiny to go with it.

The meal was eventually finished and the group paid off their tab before heading off to the arcade. A large notice had been hung up next to the door; elementalists were no longer allowed to participate in games that offered prizes. Naiov folded his arms. Should they still try to go in? Neither Luca or Vincent had noticed the sign or the fact that they had reached their destination.

“They shouldn’t have cheated at skeeball,” said Alton.

Naiov shook his head. “I’m not interested in winning any prizes. What am I going to do with a giant stuffed rabbit?”

“Give it to someone you’re on a date with,” muttered Alton under his breath. “Hey, Luca! You still wanna go inside?” Luca whispered something to himself. “Luca? … Luca!”

“Eh?” Luca glanced up at the two.

“Naiov can’t win you a bunny. You still want to go inside?” Alton put a hand on his hip and raised an eyebrow.

Vincent spoke up before Luca could reply. “I would like to take the opportunity to check on Flower. Is it possible to cut our visit short?

They couldn’t keep their horses at Volo Refuge, meaning that both Alton and Vincent had to travel back every Satyrday to see how they were doing. Since they weren’t planning on going back to the refuge until tomorrow, Alton didn’t care what they did. He did, however, want to spend more time with Bibi if that was possible.

“I wouldn’t mind going back,” said Alton.

There wasn’t a point in going back to the barracks. Naiov scowled at all of them. “There isn’t anything relaxing to do at the barracks.” Then again, Luca was teetering on useless. Vincent wasn’t paying attention at all and Alton didn’t want to be here at all. Naiov was better off hanging out in the library by himself. “... Right. I’ll go get the cart.”

Luca had borrowed the governess cart that Gwyn had been fond of using. It was small enough to park anywhere, only required a single mule, and was big enough to fit all of them. While Luca concentrated on steering, Naiov attempted to strike up a conversation with Vincent and Alton. Alton immediately shut down the conversation by saying that nothing interesting had happened and chose to enjoy the rest of the ride in complete silence.

A different type of cart was waiting for them at the barracks. It was painted black and covered in ragged white and gray ribbons. One side had a dragon skeleton painted on it, while the other had a prayer to Mart meticulously written in elegant script. Two bells hung on either side of the back. Each bell was decorated with engravings of bones and flowers.

Its owner was pacing back and forth next to the cart. He wore robes befitting a cleric, but the top half of his face was covered in a leather dragon mask. A set of branches held up his hair on either side of his head. They were similar to the antlers that Mart had.

Protea paused when he noticed the group and waved at Luca. Luca gave a small, courteous nod back before pulling on the reins. The mule immediately sped up. He didn’t slow down their pace until they were close to the stable door.

Alton jumped down first. He wanted to get the mule unhitched from the cart before going inside. “Did you end up meeting him?” Luca had joined to help and Alton felt curious.

“Yeah… In Mareth,” muttered Luca. “There were reports of fugitives in the area and we were asked to help search all wagons and carriages crossing into the Violet Region. He passed through then.”

Naiov hopped off the cart. “Amalfrieda and I were pursuing the group. We had been told to go south and stop them from entering the Clay Region, but it turned out that they had chosen to flee north instead. They thought they could lay low until the searches stopped.” He helped Luca steady the cart while Alton led the freed mule away. “You’re going to get off, Vincent?”

Vincent let out a weak groan as he stood up. He clambered over the side of the governess cart and promptly fell face first into the dirt. His body became still as his breathing became shallow.

“... Uh, Luca?” Alton looked over to the cleric.

Luca shook his head. “He wanted to talk, because we’re both clerics and all, but there was a, uhm…” He hesitated for a moment before continuing. “It was enough to leave an impression, but I’m fine now… I’m fine.” He was saying that to reassure himself more so than to convince Alton.

Alton stared at him like he was crazy.

“I’m fine!” Exclaimed Luca. “... Why are both of you staring at me like that.” Alton and Naiov moved in unison as they pointed at Vincent. “... Eh?!” Luca let go of his end of the cart and rushed over to Vincent’s side.

The cart tilted forward as the pulling bars drifted to the ground. Alton steadied the mule so that it wouldn’t be startled. “Is he alright?” He called out over his shoulder.

“He’s going into shock. Naiov, get Doctor Blu. I’ll also need a stretcher.” Luca clasped his hand on the side of Vincent’s neck and closed his eyes. “I’m going to stabilize him until Doctor Blu can help with a diagnosis.”

As Naiov ran off, Alton joined Luca. He immediately noticed that Vincent’s bracer was sparking. It was like he was trying to channel his golem, but it wasn’t working. Alton hesitated for a moment before he moved to take off the item. Surprisingly, the spurts of mana coming off of it didn’t sting him.

“What did Chi call it again?” Alton shook his head. “Dammit, I can’t remember.” He tried to crack the bracer open. Rust had crudded up the latches and joints. The item wasn’t going to budge. “Hey, Luca? Do what you can to keep him alive, but be prepared to pull up a shield if this thing explodes.”

“Explodes?” Luca glanced his way.

“Something about this area makes mist charge items explode,” muttered Alton. He was attempting to pop open the latch with a knife. “We had Chi’s sister come out last year to fix them so they’d stop doing that, but I guess it must’ve been temporary.”

Luca lifted his hand off Vincent’s neck. “Last year? As in last autumn?” Alton nodded. A crack popped through the air as he got the last latch open. “I wasn’t here last year!”

“... Oh right.” The hinges were also rusted. Alton yanked hard on the bracer, trying to force it open. Blood started to pour out from underneath the item. An unnatural amount of blood. He immediately clamped both his hands on top of the bracer in a vague attempt to stop the bleeding. “... Uh, Luca?”

Luca grasped onto Vincent’s hand and began to channel healing magic up his arm. “I think his bracer has fused to his arm? I can barely tell where the metal stops and the flesh begins. His skin layer is completely gone.”

Alton positioned Luca between himself and Vincent. He retrieved his letter and began to furiously type into it. “I’m going to tell Chi to head back to the barracks.”

“Maybe it’s some sort of metal poisoning? That’s why he’s going into shock? ” Luca lifted up Vincent’s arm and began to examine his elbow joint.

“... You’re not going to cut off his arm,” spat back Alton. His letter buzzed. “Chi can be here in fifteen minutes.” His tone shifted to disdain. “... And it’ll take Vex maybe a half-hour.”

“Fifteen minutes and then whatever Chi has to do to get this off… I’m not able to keep him alive for that long.” Luca bent Vincent’s arm again. He could see where the joints met and where he would have to sever the tendon.

“You’re not cutting off his arm,” repeated Alton. He then pointed at Blu, who was running over. “Doctor Blu will be able to handle it, so put his arm down already!”

Blu was holding a rag in her hands. She rushed over, dropped to her knees, and began to suffocate Vincent with it. He began to weakly struggle, but Blu refused to budge. “Hold his limbs.” Luca’s jaw had dropped. “Dammit, Luca! Hold him still!”

“What is that?” Asked Alton as he pointed to the rag. He felt like he should be panicking, but he honestly didn’t know a thing about medicine. Maybe this was completely normal?

“Chloroform,” hastily replied Blu. She lifted the rag and breathed a sigh of relief. It hadn’t taken long to kick in at all. “Naiov is coming with a stretcher. Alton, get the mule inside the stable and then help us move him to the infirmary.”

Alton stood up and nudged Vincent with the tip of his boot. He did seem… Peaceful. Almost deadlike? That wasn’t reassuring. “Chi is on his way to remove the bracer.”

“That’s nice,” muttered Blu as she stood up. She dusted off her skirt. “I don’t believe it will do much, but that is nice.”

Vincent was loaded onto a stretcher and taken to the infirmary. Beat was also present. He was organizing the mess of threads that Blu had left behind when she rushed out earlier. Blu had been working on some embroidery before Naiov showed up.

“How is he?” Beat helped place Vincent on the bed. He then picked up and examined the bracer. Blood was still oozing out from underneath it.

“It seems to have worked,” Blu replied.

“... I have my doubts,” he muttered back.

Luca placed his palm against Vincent’s neck. His vitals were weak, but they had stabilized. “Chi is coming to check on his bracer.” He was confused. Why did Beat know what was going on? “Why do you think this happened?”

“Whatever it is, we just have to hope that a blacksmith can help.” Blu frowned to herself. “You lot do realize that we have our own resident blacksmith, hmm? You shouldn’t force Chi to do everything. Why not let Alton stay here with Vincent while you two fetch Ida Knut and help carry any supplies he may need.”

Luca was so used to the Cully family handling blood iron problems in Carapace that he didn’t think to ask anyone other than Chi for help. “Yeah…” He should probably ask Ira Knut if the thing about mist charge items exploding was true.

Blu sat back down in her chair and picked up her quilting supplies. She absentmindedly began to stitch at her current project. “... Do you remember Sir Trewarne?”

Alton glanced to the infirmary door. Blu had asked her question so quietly that neither Luca nor Naiov had heard her. He chose to wait until after Luca closed the door before replying.

“I know of him.” Trewarne was a hunting instructor here, but he left for the war with the other knights last spring. Zaniyah was part of his unit during their Carapace mission.

“Dalkirk sent me a letter recently about Sir Trewarne’s war squad.” Blu didn’t look up from her work. She was absentmindedly stitching away as she spoke. “There was a girl from Carapace that he was taking care of. An intriguing looking child who was born with stripes on her skin.”

“Katya,” replied Alton.

He hadn’t the chance to talk to her last year, but Zaniyah had frequently mentioned her. Zaniyah had suspected that she was Eatha in human form, much like Felix was Mart. They hadn’t the chance to confirm it. Felix didn’t see her in Carapace and Alton’s contacts informed him that she left the city that spring, right around the same time the knights passed through on their way to the war.

“Was that it?” Blu looked up at him. Alton shrugged. “I suppose it doesn’t matter. She ran away from the squad or something. It was as if she vanished into thin air.” She shook her head and tsked her tongue. “Sir Trewarne was blamed, of course. He insisted that she was good enough to fight tainted beasts, but she also wasn’t a registered soldier.

And because it wasn’t a soldier who had abandoned her post, Trewarne wasn’t punished by his superiors.” Blu tilted her head and bit onto her bottom lip as she navigated a particularly difficult stitch. “Dalkirk did it think it strange that one of the Mart’s Mercy wagons passed through the night before she disappeared. At least, that’s what he wrote to me.

The cleric stirred up a bit of trouble, as he had shown up at the wrong camp and refused to take back a noble who had died.” She lowered her voice. “Poor Katya though… I’m certain her brother was quite upset about her disappearance. I do hope they figure out what happened.”

She was talking in a vague manner. Why? Alton struggled to understand. Katya disappearing wasn’t something that Blu would be concerned about… So what if it wasn’t Blu that he was trying to message? Dalkirk was a master of secrets when it came to Braytons. He would’ve known about Beat and Iath, thus he might know something about Katya and Eatha. Which meant that there was one of two possibilities.

The first was that a would-be successfully had eaten Eatha. There were no priestesses at the barracks after Tish had been expelled. Testing a priestess’ ability to cast magic would be the fastest way to test this theory. However, Alton assumed that Blu was implying that his second theory was the cause of her speaking in code.

Doctor Protea, the member of Mart’s Mercy currently at Braytons, was a man who was hunting down gods. Blu had given Beat that information and had only succeeded in pissing Iath off. Alton’s eyes darted to Vincent, who was still sleeping. That could be the reason why Vincent, a Paladin, was now having trouble.

Blu’s strange way of talking was not only a way of informing Alton of what was happening but a way of testing him. She wanted to know exactly how much he knew without testing him. It wouldn’t do well to outright state what Beat’s nature was, but it also made sense for Alton to know. Zaniyah had dated him for a little bit, and she was Alton’s best friend.

The sudden thought of Zaniyah being his best friend made Alton question his life choices.

Then again, why warn Alton about Iath? He certainly couldn’t do anything about Iath raging about. No one could. This had to be a game of information. Protea would know anything that Amalfrieda would know, and she hadn’t been around for anything important in their lives. In fact, out of all of them, the one she could possibly have the most information on was Veximarl.

“Luca mentioned that the same doctor passed through Mareth around two weeks ago.” That was enough time to go to Fogbloom and come back. Luca wasn’t the type to mention it unless something memorable had happened. Was there something wrong with the corpse?

Blu’s hands tightened about her work. She shook her head and set it off to the side. “... He had mentioned that to me as well.”

She appeared regretful. He shouldn’t further mention the doctor. Alton pulled his letter out of his pocket. Chickadee showing up to help wouldn’t be a problem, but Veximarl needed to stay away. Not that Alton cared what happened to Veximarl or what didn’t, he just didn’t want to be caught in the middle of another one of the necromancer’s problems.