Apprentices were slowly trickling back to their rooms when Kan returned to First Stage housing with Luya. The damage in the wall and the floor had been patched up with talismans, and the blood had been cleaned off. Kan recognized a few familiar faces in the hallway, but he didn’t see the wounded boy from earlier.

“Some of the injured are still at the infirmary,” Luya said when she noticed Kan searching. “Oyen only treats the worst ones. The rest are with other healers.”

Kan felt a slight relief. “Oyen is quite young for how skilled he is,” he remarked as he stretched out his right hand and flexed his wrist. The pain was completely gone now. With the cleansing spell Luya added before they left the infirmary, he could hardly believe there had been a deep cut there mere hours ago.

“He learned from the best and is very talented. Judging from what he’s already capable of at Second Stage, he’ll become one of the best healers ever known once he reaches Master.” Luya paused. “Why didn’t you run, Kan? You knew you stood no chance against Nish in that state. You should’ve waited for help.”

As she spoke, they passed one of the injured boy’s friends sweeping up teacup shards by his door. The young apprentice shrank back when he saw Kan and quickly closed the door shut.

Kan’s steps slowed. The boy’s cry came back to his ears. It was you! He came for you!

He had brought this nightmare upon all the innocent people in the building. How could he run?

Luya didn’t press further. “All First Stage classes are canceled for the next five days,” she changed the subject when they stopped outside Kan’s room, “to let everyone clean up and recover. What do you plan to do for the break?”

“Five days?” Kan was unprepared for the news. Five days without sword practice and without classes?

“I think part of it is for the masters as well. They don’t have much time to spare for teaching with everything that’s happening. The Seer found some issues with an Artifact that Master Meizo brought back a couple of days ago. Since Grand Master Saiyon is also away for an Artifact, they are concerned for his safety and might need to send reinforcements. That will interrupt the regular order of the Temples for a while.”

Kan wondered what the issue might be with the Artifact. If it was able to draw demons to them in the woods, could it be related to the incident in the morning?

“They keep us apprentices busy too,” Luya continued. “A group is assigned to go to the town at the foot of the mountains to help repair the damage. I heard it has to do with Nish’s gang. Such trouble makers!”

That caught Kan’s attention. “Are they still looking for more people to join?”

“You want to go?” Luya asked in surprise.

Kan nodded. He felt a responsibility to help deal with the aftermath; after all, he had a part in causing the damage.

“It’ll be a tedious task …” Luya began to argue. Then a smile crossed her face as if she just remembered something. “But my brother is leading the group. I’m sure he’ll be excited to have you.”

* * *

Kan eyed the man walking in front of him as their small team descended the mountains the next day. Luya’s brother Heiro, Fourth Stage apprentice from the Temple of Phoenix, was the exemplar of Northern warriors with his broad shoulders and sharp jawline. He and his small-framed little sister didn’t look alike at all.

“Once we arrive, get to your post immediately,” Heiro said. They were close enough to town that they could see the smoke rising from chimneys. “No dawdling. We’re only here for a few days, and there’s a lot to do.”

A murmur rose from the back of the group. “I can already smell the wine from here,” a young man behind Kan whispered. “I’m not going anywhere else before I get my fair share of it.”

“I’m not going anywhere else before I get my fair share of Nana,” another voice said. “I would’ve just bought her indenture if I weren’t living at the Temples.”

“You say the same for all of them at the House of Flowers,” the first apprentice replied. “So be glad that you live at the Temples, otherwise you’ll end up with ten wives busy trying to kill each other and no more money to spend on new girls.”

The two chuckled. Kan turned his attention away, trying to muffle their voices with the sound of maple leaves crunching under his feet.

They arrived in town soon afterward. Heiro left the group to meet with the council and assess the damages. The two young men exchanged a furtive glance between them, then quickly disappeared into the market crowd. Kan clutched a notebook and headed to the first house at the town’s eastern edge. His assignment was to tally household losses in the eastern quarter.

He knocked on the door. It creaked open as a hunched old man appeared behind the threshold, squinting for a moment against the midday sunlight.

“Good day, elder,” Kan greeted and recited the standard line given by Heiro, “the Temples have sent me to gather a report on your losses during the fight between two apprentices four days ago. We sincerely apologize for the trouble and will compensate you the best we can. Was anyone in your house injured?”

“No,” the old man wheezed. “Nobody lives in this house anymore.”

Kan was taken aback by the odd answer, though he continued, assuming the man had excluded himself in the count, “Any loss of livestock?”

“Oh, yes. A cow died, and two chickens flew away.”

Kan hesitated while writing down the notes. There was no farmland in this town, and dairy wasn’t a prominent part of the Northern diet. Why would anyone own a cow? “I’m sorry to hear that,” he said, “was the cow in the market square when this happened?”

“It was on the farm,” a sudden grin cracked the old man’s wizened face, “there was no market square back then … How time flies.”

Kan couldn’t help but stare at the man. He was unnaturally thin, almost all skin over a skeleton, and the too-high cheekbones made his deep-set eyes look like dry wells dug into ragged cliff edges. Despite his age and flimsy shape, however, those eyes were clear and sharp under the sun. He didn’t look like someone who had lost his mind.

“Any damage to your house or equipment?” Kan resumed with the last question.

“It doesn’t matter. Nobody lives here anymore.” The old man’s grin crumbled into a sorrowful smile. “I buried them at the graveyard by the big oak tree. Will you visit them, child? They haven’t met any new friends in four hundred years.”

The old man closed the door before Kan could reply.