When the three of us left the building, crossed the street, and reached the sidewalk, Van held out his arm to stop me from moving forward.

I turned toward him with a blank expression, figuring that the paladin wanted to say something else that he couldn't say in front of Captain Maisen. When Van was released into my custody, I noticed that he tried to avoid looking at her. I assumed that there may even be some bad blood between the two. Which wouldn't surprise me at all considering their personalities: Van was like a hard-charging bull while Maisen was a prankster at heart. But given her higher authority as the Captain of the Watch, he probably suffered many indignations from her while he was in her custody.

Van looked directly into my eyes and said, "I thank you for your lenience, Brother Mulligan. I recognize that you are a nobleman and I committed a grievous crime against the kingdom by attacking you. You could have ordered my public execution but instead chose to give me mercy. Again, I humbly thank you from the bottom of my heart and I will do my best to protect you in place of Kalistra." The paladin bowed deeply from the waist.

I held his right shoulder and squeezed gently. "All is forgiven, Van. I understand your personality quite well and I can only hope that you will exert better control of your temper in the future," I said.

Van raised his head and said, "I will!"

Bila touched my arm to draw my attention. "Um, Master, what do you mean by having Van 'protect you in place of Kalistra?' Are you planning to fire her?" The cat girl was aghast at the notion and she couldn't understand why I would do such a thing. Did Kalistra upset me in some way? Or did I make a decision to keep only one cat girl in my entourage?

Since I was a high-ranking member of the Church, Bila recognized that my association with demi-humans could serve as obstacles to my elevation within the Church hierarchy. And if so, I may eventually dismiss Bila, too. Thus, she was very concerned about my treatment of Kalistra as it was a precursor to her own fate.

I patted Bila gently on the head. "Did you forget that Kalistra was the Heir to the Butterfly School of Swordsmanship?" I asked.

"No!"

"Well, if the headmaster has passed away, then the heir will naturally be elevated to the position of the headmaster," I reminded her.

"Ah!" Bila's bright, feline eyes widened in understanding why I had to replace Kalistra with Van. "I apologize, Lord Mulligan. I didn't realize she's now the headmaster of the school. Of course, her elevation to that position has turned keeping her job as your bodyguard impossible to maintain because it is considered beneath the Dignity and Honor of a headmaster."

I raised my left hand and pinched my thumb and forefinger closely but not touching each other. "Close but not quite. The school has officially recognized me as their Liege and they support my candidate for kingship. Thus, it is not beneath her as headmaster to remain as my bodyguard. In fact, it would be considered an Honor for her to do so."

"Then why is she leaving your service?"

"Because her dojo has been destroyed during the fight with Hleandros, and the headmaster has to personally oversee the reconstruction of the dojo. Also, her physical presence is needed for the sake of morale of the pupils. With the passing of the late Kalistro, there will undoubtedly be questions regarding Kalistra's abilities to take over as the successor. She needs time to gather support and recognization as the next headmaster of the famous dojo. Indeed, I suspect that some would prefer Master Gurgne to take over the headmaster position instead."

"But Gurgne is a dog man. Wouldn't the cat people that make up the majority of the students have a problem with that?" Van interjected.

I nodded. "That's one of the problems, indeed. Just for the sake of appearances, it would be problematic for a dog man to become the head of a school that was originally founded by a cat man, Kallimon, and then passed down through his lineage. The second problem is that Master Gurgne is quite advanced in his age. Even if he does take over the school, his tenure will probably be a short one. Maybe a decade, or two at most. Kalistra is young and she is expected to remain in the position of headmaster for many decades to come. Her elevation will bring stability to the school, eventually. The third problem is that if Kalistra is bypassed for the position, the pupils may infer that either she doesn't want to be headmaster, or she is found lacking and unsuitable for the position in some way. Thus, it would damage her own Reputation and Honor if she does not become the next headmaster."

"But that's too many responsibilities on her shoulders!" the cat girl protested.

"True," I agreed. "This is why I am taking the initiative now and replacing her with Van as my second bodyguard. This would be one less responsibility for her to deal with. Kalistra won't have to feel guilty about staying behind when I leave Tregome. Besides, it will take time for her to rebuild the dojo and I can't afford to wait in town for her to be able to come with me on my journey."

"Once we leave Tregome, we will continue to seek the Ph'laen Ruins?" Van asked.

"Yes. I already arranged for Bishop Canterbury to cast Recall and transport us back to Southampton. From there, Councilor Delkon will cast Gate to link us directly to the Magic Guild branch in London," I revealed.

The two were quite impressed with me. Neither wanted to travel on the road more than necessary.

I raised my hand. "I have a question for you, Van. How did you arrive in Tregome so quickly?"

"We actually discovered that you were missing during the night. Lady Musa appeared and she said the three of you have been teleported to Tregome to face a dire threat to Kalistra's dojo. She asked me to protect the town and its residents. Then she magically transported me to the Church," Van recalled.

"If you were in Tregome while we were fighting Hleandros, then why didn't you join the fight? We could have used another fighter," Bila remarked.

The paladin sighed deeply. "When I stepped out of the Church building, the captain of the local watch was in the Public Square. She had set up a command center out in the open and mobilizing the Watchmen. When she saw me, I was conscripted to assist in putting out the fires in various parts of town."

"I found out from the other Watchmen that a dragon had shown up at the dojo and that there only a few of you fighting it. I argued with the captain and explained that I was a paladin and my rightful place was to fight the red dragon. However, she rebuffed me and said that this was a matter to be resolved by the dojo first. IF you guys lost and the dragon left the dojo, THEN the Watch could intervene. She said it was a matter of Honor and the dojo has to be given the first shot at putting down the dragon. Obviously, I disagreed," he recalled.

I was flabberghasted by Maisen's refusal to send reinforcements to assist the dojo in fighting the dragon. Yet, I understood her reasoning. She had probably received explicit instruction from Bishop Canterbury to stay out of the fight. Her hands were tied. "I don't blame you for being angry," I said. "But don't blame Captain Maisen either. I suspect she was ordered to keep the Watchmen out of the fight."

Van stared at me for a moment and considered my words. "Yes, you could be right. I don't know the bishop very well, but he is known in the Brotherhood to be a strong advocate for Tregome and its well-being. If he ordered the Watch to stand aside, then he must have a very good reason to do so."

Bila interrupted again. "If you weren't allowed to join the fight against the dragon anyway, then why did you attack Lord Mulligan this morning at the inn?" she asked. It just didn't make any sense to her.

The paladin looked away. "I was very jealous of him. When I was a young child, I had two goals when I grew up: to become a white knight to protect the kingdom and to fight an evil dragon. I was extremely upset at being denied the chance to fulfill my second dream, and I took it out on him. I apologize again, Brother Mulligan." Van bowed deeply.

I clucked my tongue loudly. "Maybe I should have set a longer servitude for you. 4 weeks doesn't sound long enough, now that I've heard your explanation for what happened." I took a deep breath and redirected the conversation. "What happened to Rijana and the others?" I asked.

Van shook his head. "I have no clue. Lady Musa has no authority over them and therefore, I was the only person the goddess teleported with her magic," he explained.

I winced at his response. I was hoping they were teleported to Tregome along with him. But I guessed Gaea felt otherwise. I clapped my hands. "Let's head over to The Noble Lady to pay the damages you owe, Van." I turned and headed eastward. We walked several blocks, pushing through the crowd in the process, and reached the front door of the inn a few exhausting minutes later. I opened the door and saw another unfamiliar worker at the reception desk. This time, it was a teenage boy approximately fifteen or sixteen years of age.

The worker saw us approach and bowed deeply. "Are you here for breakfast or to rent a guest room?" he asked.

I looked at his caption and his name read, "Bron." "Neither," I answered. "We need to talk to Vern for a moment. Bron, please tell him it's Lord Mulligan."

"Yes, milord!" The boy bowed deeply and ran into the common room. A moment later, he returned to the lobby with Vern.

The orc saw us and his eyes narrowed. He folded his thick forearms across his chest. "Yes?" his voice rumbled.

Van looked him in the eyes and said, "I apologize for damaging your property this morning. Here are the 45 silver pieces that I owe you." The paladin handed a sack of coins and then bowed deeply.

Vern took the sack without a word. He turned toward me and said, "Amelica is busy with her shift right now. You'll have to come back later if you wish to speak with her."

"Okay, I will," I replied and nodded. With our business concluded, I turned around and left the inn. I had to admit that I was disappointed that I wasn't able to see Amelica.

Bila noticed my depressed facial expression and said, "Cheer up, master! You will get to see your girlfriend before you leave town."

"I hope so," I replied weakly.

I activated my Navigation Sense and used it to lead me back to the dojo. It was in the southern part of Tregome, a poorer section in fact. It was where the animal people lived and the Watch patrolled this area less frequently than the northern half of town. Kallimon was a founder of both the dojo and Tregome and he chose to locate his dojo in the southern area so that his pupils provided protection for the town residents.

When we arrived at the dojo, I saw tremendous progress made in clearing out the debris and I was extremely impressed by the diligence of the students in performing this task. "Navigation sense SUCCESSFUL. +25 XP." I cleared the in-game message and entered the dojo through a broken section of the wall. To my delight, I saw that Rijana was speaking to Kalistra! And standing behind her were Bjoukia and Bjoukin. I jogged over to them. They were standing near the small pond where Mof, the electric catfish, resided.

The elf siblings heard my approach and waved at me.

Bjoukia had a frown on her face. "You should have waited for us to arrive before fighting the dragon," she complained.

Her brother elbowed her in the rib. "Knock it off, sister. This is not the time to make jokes."

She stuck out her tongue at him. The beautiful elf maiden looked at me with her clear blue eyes. "I see you're not injured. Just how powerful was the dragon, anyway?" she asked.

"According to Bane, Hleandros had 1,500 Health," I answered while trying to listen to Rjiana's conversation with Kalistra.

"It is important that you hand the dragon's carcass over to Gaea," Rijana said. "Our goddess can raise earth elementals to help you rebuild the dojo as payment, in addition to coins and other valuable items."

The headmaster of the dojo raised her paw. She was dressed in a black robe to mourn the passing of her father. "I appreciate your interest and I will consider your offer. But now is a time for mourning and it is improper for me to conduct business. Once my father's funeral is held, then we can negotiate a proper price for the dragon's carcass."

Rijana bowed deeply. "In that case, we will stay and attend the funeral."

"Thank you," the cat girl replied with a slight nod.

Seeing the conversation was finished, I stepped forward. "Headmaster, I have delivered a report of this incident involving Hleandros to the bishop. He, too, has expressed interest on behalf of the Church to acquire the dragon's body," I reported.

Kalistra's face was neutral. "As I told Rijana, I will consider the bishop's offer after the funeral," she answered. "In the meantime, please help your fellow students clean up the debris."

I bowed deeply. "Yes, Headmaster!" I turned to face Bila and Van. "Please help me."

"Yes, master," Bila replied.

"Yes, Brother Mulligan," Van said.

The three of us picked up the rubble along the western wall of the compound and put them in the closest wheelbarrow that was empty. Once the cart was full, we pushed it over to a wagon in the courtyard and emptied the barrow. With the three of us working together, we were able to lift the loaded barrow and dump the contents onto the back of the wagon. Then we returned to load more stones into the wheelbarrow.

Two hours into this laborious task, the sun was suddenly covered by thick, dark clouds. The abrupt shift from day to night startled us and we looked up at the black sky. Purely on instinct, I triggered my Magic Sense and Spirit Sense. The response left me stunned as I realized that the clouds were magical in nature. Moreover, I sensed many blood red auras approaching the dojo. Also, there was another strong, evil aura hidden within the clouds. I ignored the pop-up messages and yelled out at the top of my lungs: "WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!"