With the holidays ending I found myself returned to school, which was a mixed bag. I liked my school and my friends, and being around them, but on the other hand there was the scheduling. At the end of every day I was exhausted, broken, and ready to fall into my bed only to have to wake up and do it again the next day.

Professor Killic, who I'd met on my first trip here met me after class one day.

“How are you finding your second year Percival?” he asked kindly, sometimes we still talked like this when we had free moments.

“Busy, though at least I'm now only in exercises for three years instead of four.” I answered with a smile.

“Ha! The advantages of getting to your second year my young friend, though you do seem to have a knack for finding all kinds of things to work on. How are you liking your new class, metalworking was it?” Sir Kendrick, the knight sent to make sure I was being well trained had pulled through there, getting me somewhere I could work, if I ever found the moment.

“Yes, I must say that I'm quite excited for it, though Professor Turner has only covered safety so far.”

“An important subject before we start any large undertaking.”

“Perhaps, but when almost every lesson boils down to keeping your limbs and clothes well clear of the sharp spinning and or hot bits it does get a bit repetitive.”

“Many spinning things in Professor Turner's class then?” he said with a joking smile.

I groaned, the joke had been done absolutely to death mostly by the professor himself, who thought it was absolutely hilarious. “More than a few, though that's to be expected.”

“Ah well, though I didn't pull you aside to talk about other classes so much as my own,” he said with a pointed look.

There was some truth in it, I wasn't doing nearly as well as I should. Every day I struggled to find moments to do this or that, never truly able to give as much attention to any one subject as I should. That was hardly an excuse though, was it?

“I'm guessing you didn't like my last essay?”

“Like it? I liked where you were going with it, but the delivery was far below what I know you're capable of, and while I'd have found it acceptable for another student you know better.”

“I, uh,” I could make excuses, dissemble, but I didn't want to. “Sorry sir, I should've put more effort into it.”

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He gave me a complicated look. “Percival, I'm not sure if it's my place to say it, but you may be spreading yourself too thin.”

I had to wait to respond until after I'd finished laughing. “Oh I agree, but I'm not sure where I can stop there professor. I somehow doubt Headmaster Logan will allow me to attend fewer combat classes.”

“You could drop either your new course or stop working on creating magical items,” he said, looking over at me hopefully. “I hate to say, but neither of those are really that important to men of your stature.”

“No,” I bristled. “Well, I may stop the one after learning the basics, but I'm still working on the first level of my core, and that I won't compromise. As for the metalworking, I enjoy that more than almost anything else, and I'm good at it.”

“Well, will you at least take a bit of time to rest? We've a weekend off coming up, and you clearly need a bit of rest. In fact, I know of a lovely little town a short ride away called Bamblebrook, perfect place for an afternoon off.”

“Sir,” I said with a sigh. “I was planning on doing your next essay that day.”

Normally I'd have shoved that into an evening, but I was avoiding going to Exion proper since I knew the local goblin population almost certainly had a lookout going for me. Until I was ready to get armed up again and prepped for a battle I was keeping a bit back. Sure, I could've asked my grandfather to loan me a couple of guards, and he would've, but I wanted to be even more ready than I had last time.

“Come by my office the day before and give it to me verbally, we'll discuss your thoughts and counterarguments to them. It'll take less time and show me you know what I'm trying to teach.”

“That... certainly sir, thank you.” I wasn't going to turn that down, I could come up with the major points in minutes rather than hours, and I'd always enjoyed talking things over more than writing draft after draft of them.

He wrote me a few notes down, the little village he'd suggested, along with what I'd be speaking on. We weren't supposed to get the latter for another few days, but having the extra time to run through my thoughts would be a massive help. Extending the papers towards me he fixed me with a hard glare.

“Take my suggestion and rest, even if you decide to go somewhere else you need to take the day off. I'm giving you a chance here Percival, and if I should find you've wasted it I'll be quite unhappy.”

“Have no worries on that account professor,” I assured him, as if I'd shoot myself in the foot by ignoring his kindness. I knew full well that if I did I wouldn't be getting another opportunity like this.

That evening I tried to invite my friends, but none of them were up for it. Each and every one had something else they wanted to do rather than join me on our one day off for a relaxing afternoon in a local village. That was disappointing, particularly with Lucas, who wanted to go to a bloody sword tournament of all things, but there was nothing to do about it.

Bamblebrook Village was only an hour by carriage away, even if one took their time they could leave in the morning, spend the day wandering about, and be back before it got too late. Hiring a carriage for the day of was no great issue either, so I had my plan in hand.

Even Professor Killic's assignment went swimmingly, since he was asking for nothing more complex than a discussion on supply and demand in a wartime economy and the ways one might meet their needs. It wasn't my favorite thing, but I pointed out a few of the more successful things that had been done during the world wars, with victory gardens to supplement food rather than lawns or the like and using rationing schedules. I surely hoped that we'd never need to do such things, but one never knew where the world would go. The professor at least seemed pleased with my suggestions, though pointed out that some of them would really only help the most with morale.

When the day arrived I woke up as early as I possibly could, took my cane and good clothes, and hopped into my ride. Streets passed at speed, with us missing the small amount of traffic around the school on such days and hardly seeing another on the road as we passed through the pre-dawn darkness.

Bit by bit the sky lightened, showing hedges and little stone walls around fields of grain, some hardy crop that grew through the cold winter. Tiny cozy cottages sprung up here and there, well back from the road and on hillocks that dotted the countryside, homes for those who lived here, worked here.

As the sun rose we crested a hill, crossing into a little valley with the village spread out beneath. A small ribbon of water wound down and through the town, which must have at some point been much larger. The walls were small, but sufficient, and you could see where there'd once been houses, but now were open lots, instead planted with vibrant flower gardens and little fountains. It looked idyllic and homey, somewhere one could curl up with an old book and a cup of tea and just wile the day away. I smiled as we rolled towards the little settlement, sure that Killic had given me just the right place.