The tavern had gradually filled with the low buzz of dwarven versation as it became clear the excitement was over for the night. Ptes cttered, tankards thudded on tables, and ughter erupted sporadically around the room at the antics of two younger, red-bearded dwarves who had made their way behind the ter to begin distributing drinks to those who had not quite hit their limits for the night. Krion had been about to say something, as he had only ever seen Ordran w in The Hearth & Ember, but a shout from Vuldrin for the duo to keep track of who owes what for the dwarven owner put him more at ease.

  After their friends had left for the evening, Krion remained sitting with Hatsu their table. He hadn’t po lihis te, but staying seemed easier than leaving. The tavern was loud and bustling, Krion and Hatsune were practically ignored by the dwarves by that point, and their table had been the perfect pce to avoid thinking too deeply.

  Yet the truth was, he had been thinking after he no longer had his friends around to distract him. The duel had been ruthless, brutal even. The message he o send had been clear and unpromising. But the part that g him was one simple fact: he didn’t care. Not about the fight or the life extinguished.

  Hatsune leaned ba her chair, one arm drapped casually over the backrest, watg him with a knowing expression. She hadn’t pressed him, not even after the others had said their goodnights a. To be ho, he appreciated that. He wasn’t sure what he would have said.

  Krion looked around the room again, a slight smile ing to his face as the pair of dwarves behind the bar began tossing a bottle of whiskey bad forth while Vuldrin angrily made his way over to them. That old dwarf really could yell. The smile faded when he realized he still hadn’t seen Ordraurn from… whatever he was doing in his kit. It was a bit unusual that he hadn’t returned yet, especially since Ordran had previously made it a point to collect their ptes and wish them a good night. But the kit door remained firmly shut.

  Krio out a long breath, deg that it was te enough and that they should get going back to Banor. After grabbing his new books, he pulled a few s from those that he had found in the Dungeon, leaving them oable. “That should cover it.”

  Hatsune nodded, moving to stand as he did, only pausing to grab the loot from the Dungeon she had been carrying sihey left the Infirmary. “He probably got caught up with something,” she said, following his st gowards the kit.

  “You’re probably right,” Krion said, the scrape of his chair against the floor as he tucked it bader the table loud, even amidst the din. “Let’s get going. I’m feeling a bit tired.”

  After making their way betweeables, the dwarves still rger trying to avoid making eye tact with him, they stepped into the cool night air. The street was quiet, as he had expected it would be. Krion and Hatsune walked side by side down the quiet street, heading in the dire of his… home? The word fit better thaernatives. He didn’t kly how long he had left at the Imperial Academy, but he would likely be staying there until then. He had to admit, a bit more ing and a few more people around to make it feel a bit less empty, and it would certainly feel like a home.

  “You’re quiet,” Hatsune observed a few minutes into their walk.

  “Just thinking,” he said, attention still fixed ahead.

  “About the duel?”

  He nodded. “Yeah. Among other things.”

  “Did you want to talk about it?”

  “About the duel?” Krion asked, turning his attention more fully to the Leporine. She was still watg him as they walked, a slight look of on her face, though her ears shifted with every sound that came from the darkness. Always o. “Proteg me from myself, now?”

  “If that makes it more likely for you to share what is on your mind, sure.”

  There was a quiet invitation ione, ge persistent, him a ce to unburden himself. Her presence was steady, warm, and without judgment. That mattered more than he wao admit. She waited patiently as he looked at her.

  “I was ruthless,” Krion admitted. “I wao send a message, and I did.” He shook his head. “But it’s not that part that bothers me. It’s that… I don’t care that I killed him. Even now, I feel nothing about it.”

  His Leporine bodyguard reached out, gently grabbing his arm and pulling him to a stop. “And you are thinking, what? That feeling that way makes you a monster?”

  “No, not really,” Krion said holy. “But shouldn’t I care?”

  Hatsune didn’t respond at first, a plicated look on her face. The silence lingered long enough that Krion was about to break it himself when she seemed to e to some decision.

  “My grandfather oold me a story…” she said before trailing off. The Leporine looked around, ears flig around again. Whatever sound she heard apparently did not happen again, as they turned ba.

  “What kind of story?” he prodded, intrigued about any new information she volunteered from before arriving at the Imperial Academy.

  “A lesson,” she said, as they began walking again. “It happened when our pro—home was uhreat from a man aigashi, a self-styled warlord who had carved out a reputation for cruelty and ambition. His followers had ravaged the region surrounding where my family lived aually set their sights on our home. After a long summer of fighting, my grandfather and his allies finally ered Taigashi and his remaining supporters at the base of the Red Jade Falls. They were outnumbered, exhausted, and without supplies. Defeat was iable.”

  She paused, gng over at Krion to make sure he was still listening to her story. Like he could focus on anything else at the moment. Her voice, soft but ced with pain, held all his attention.

  “Taigashi dropped his bde and k before my grandfather, sweariy. He cimed that all he wanted was a future for his people, those who had followed him. He offered an alliance if my grandfather would spare him. My grandfather, believing there was a ce to end the bloodshed and build somethier, accepted. He graaigashi and his men clemency, them nd and trade rights.”

  Krion’s brow furrowed. “That sounds… hopeful.”

  “It was,” Hatsune agreed, her voice darkening. “For a time. Taigashi sent emissaries bearing gifts, and trade flourished. People began to rebuild, thinking the worst was behind them.”

  “But it wasn’t,” Krion guessed grimly.

  “No.” Hatsune’s voice turned cold. “Taigashi never inteo keep his word. He used the time my grandfather’s mercy bought to secretly rebuild his forces. Wheruck again, it was swift and brutal. Vilges were burned, hundreds sughtered, and every single raider pardourned against us.” She shook her head, mentally pushing some memory away, then tinued, her voice back to normal. “My grandfather’s decision cost his us dearly — lives lost, homes destroyed, and trust shattered. Mercy had beeended with the hope of building a future where both sides could grow strether, but instead, it invited ruin.” She paused, looking at him. “My grandfather regretted sparing him. And he did not give Taigashi another ce he defeated him again. Not because he didn’t believe in mercy, but because he had learned a harsh truth—mercy, while noble, be a luxury that enemies will exploit as weakness. And weakness invites ruin.”

  They returo walking in silence, Krion turning Hatsune’s story over in his mind. It was a lesson he knew he couldn’t afford to ighe duel he had fought earlier resurfaced in his mind — the quick, ruthless way that he had e. Yes, while mercy had its pce, in an Academy filled with ambition, with deceit, and with enemies around gathering around him and his friends, he would likely have to send more than a few more messages to get his point across: if you e after me or mine, you will not walk away.

  No. Thinking on it further, there was no way the death of a single bodyguard was going to be anywhere close to enough. From everything he had experienced so far, many ss at the Academy had no issue sending their bodyguards to die. He might well have to strike a bit closer to home. Perhaps his enemies would leave them alone ohey learhat they, themselves, were not safe from his wrath?

  He looked over at Hatsune again, his thoughts firming as he thought of her and the other friends that he had made since arriving at the Academy. He could ehe violehe harshness, the darkness, as long as those who mattered to him were not ed by it. The Academy could, no, would be cruel and unfiving, but if he could protect them, maybe that would be enough.

  Krion’s thoughts finally settled as they tinued dow main road toward Banor. Hatsune had been quiet, giving him time to digest the story she had shared with him. He gnced sideways at her, admiring how the moonlight brushed her silver-gray hair, making it shimmer. Her ears flicked slightly, sensing his attention, but she kept her gaze forward and around them. He was curious to know a bit more about her family, but he held off asking about them. It was te, and, as much as he wao learn more about Hatsuonight he o focus on

  Finally, they came to the dead-end street that held Banor. Empty as always, Hatsune did not hesitate to step in front of him to open the door, heading inside first. Much like he expected, the manor had not been disturbed sihey had left it. Making their way through the dark corridors, eg steps across the stone floor following him, Krion again reflected on the need for more than a few improvements to make the manor more like a home. Thankfully, he had some s of Serviow, so perhaps arip to the Hall of Bonds would lead him to someohat could help him with what he had in mind. Then there was the Mark of Bonds. Given how much time he spent with Hatsune, and the fact that he wanted protectors that would plement each other’s skill sets, he’d have to think carefully on how to use it. Perhaps the ing weekend he would have time to take care of both.

  They eventually made their way to the bedroom they’d been sharing. It was the work of only a moment to get a small fire going in the hearth to light the room. He ehe pleasa for a moment as Hatsuopped before the dresser to pce the bracers and the pouch that held the ring in front of the mirror. Leaning over, she set the old greatsword Krion had found against the wall.

  Krion looked at the loot of the Dungeon, eyes lingering on the pouch that held the ring in particur. “We should probably figure out if those are ented — or cursed.”

  Hatsune blinked up at him, her expression curious. “Cursed?”

  “You never know,” Krion said, but when her expression didn’t ge, he eborated. “I pyed a few too many games bay homeworld, where cool loot turned out to be cursed. Rings that bound themselves to your soul, or bracers that drained your blood once you put them on. That sort of thing.”

  Hatsune gave a soft ugh, though he noticed she did step away from the items she had just set down. “I didn’t realize your world’s games were so intense.”

  “Do you know if there’s a way to identify items like these?”

  “I’m irely sure,” she admitted, standing up and heading over to her couch. “But I do know that item identification is a rare ability, usually tied to specific csses. It’s not something just anyone do.”

  Krion frowhat made things more plicated. If she was right, and he had no doubt that she was, he couldn’t just learn the ability himself. Unless he picked a css that allowed for it. “So, we’d need someoh that ability to check these out?”

  “Probably,” Hatsune firmed. “Or maybe there’s a tool or ritual we could find to use. I’m sure that we could look into it ter in the Archives.”

  Hatsuretched her arms above her head, her usual grace softened by fatigue that had beore apparent after she had ehe manor. “Long day,” she murmured.

  “Very long,” Krion agreed as he stepped over to his side table to set the books down on it, o the Assessment Orb he had been given. Popping his back, he turo find Hatsune looking at him hesitantly, cheeks faintly tinged pink.

  “I’ll, um, get ready for bed first…?” she asked.

  Krion offered a polite nod and turned his back without hesitation, fag the side table he had just set his new books on. The soft k of armor being unfastened was soon followed by it bei aside. He was acutely aware of Hatsune behind him and the rustle of fabric that soon followed as she finished getting ready for bed.

  “All done.”

  Krion turned around, finding her already led beh the thiforter on the couch, her silvery-grey hair fanned out around her. She looked smaller somehow, her usual fident presence softened by the weariness of the day.

  “You know,” he said, sitting down on his bed to begin taking off his boots, “if you keep sleeping in here, I think we o get you a real bed. That couch ’t be fortable.”

  Her ears flicked as she stared at him, surprised. “I sleep fine.”

  Krion raised an eyebrow as he flexed his now-free toes. “You say that, but I saw the way you stretched your back after that first night sleeping there. I’m pretty sure that couch has a greater ce of hurting you than most of my enemies.”

  “Our enemies,” she said firmly, then softly ughed, despite trying to stay serious. “It’s not that bad.”

  Krion leaned ba his bed, propping himself up on his elbows with a pyful grin. “You’re too polite to pin. But seriously, if yoing to keep staying here, we should get a proper bed for you.”

  Her expression faltered, shyness creeping in again as she fidgeted with the covers around her. “I… didn’t want to impose.”

  Krion’s smile softened. “You’re not imposing. I like having you here,” he admitted. He hesitated, choosing his words carefully. “Besides, I think I’ve been sleepier knowing my bodyguard is close by.”

  Hatsune’s cheeks went slightly pink again. “Oh…” she murmured, reag up to brush a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m gd that my being here helps make you feel safe.”

  “It’s just the truth,” Krion said sincerely. “So, what do you think? Real bed?”

  Her ears flicked again as she gave a nod. “Maybe. If you’re sure.”

  “Absolutely, the room is big enough for it,” Krion affirmed, sitting back up. “We’ll pie out together. Something big enough that you actually stretch out. With some real sheets and covers too.”

  That earned him anh. “Alright,” she agreed, her eyes gleaming with amusement. “But no filly bas.”

  Krion chuckled iurn. “Deal. No frills, just fort.”

  He leaned over, setting his boots to the side of the bed, and reached for the book on the history of House Bcksword. Thie in hand, he settled onto the edge of the mattress, looking down at the cover. His pulse quied — irely from excitement at finally learning a bit more about his family, but also from a bit of u what he might find. Still, there was n back. He had e to the Imperial Academy, setting aside Kus to embrace his identity as Krion Bcksword. If he was going to carry the name, he o uand everything about it.

  “You’re staying up to read that?” Hatsune asked from the couch.

  “Yeah. I o,” Krion admitted. “There’s too much I don’t know about too many things otherwise. The biggest being the retionship House Bcksword, and by extension myself, has with the other ss at this Academy. I have to start pieg it together.”

  “I won’t argue with you—” she said, a yawn interrupting her, “—but try not to stay up too te. Good night, Krion.”

  “Good night, Hatsune,” he said, still staring down at the book in his hands.

  As her breathing evened out and the room settled into silence, Krion opehe book and began to read.

  I hope you all ehis test chapter! Che ime to learn more about Krion's family!

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