The next day Kai set off to see Trica. Andre had opted to join him and Akane for the outing. Even a few days later, things were still getting back to normal for everyone after the devastation of the earthquake.
Stores and houses with missing windows or broken glass could be seen as he entered the more run-down part of the city. There hadn’t been any broken windows at the academy, proving the higher quality material had survived the natural disaster. Rubble and glass littered the ground. He imagined thieves were having a field day with the open access into some of these stores. Not that a pane of glass would deter determined thieves when magic was involved. It went without saying that the city officials were probably less in a hurry to clean up this area compared to the wealthier sections. Overall, the people seemed in good spirits.
As normal, Kai got lost in the poorly designed city layout. His sense of direction wasn’t the greatest, but he had also only visited the Kamalash Inn and Tavern once and had come from a different direction. Andre wasn’t much help since this was a part of the city he hadn’t yet visited.
“Why are we heading to this inn again?” Andre asked Kai.
“I want to send a message to my family; I haven’t sent them anything in months.”
He had received two letters from his family that had mysteriously been delivered to his room. Inside the letters, his mother had written that the family missed him, that they were thinking of him every day, and asked how he was doing. Though they had been about ordinary home events, they had warmed his heart to read. Now he felt like a horrible son because he had been so caught up in everything going on for the last few months that he had forgotten to reply. He gulped thinking about his mother. He was honestly surprised she hadn’t tried visiting him yet because he hadn’t sent any mail back home. His mother could be... a little overbearing at times.
Andre appeared confused. “I’m still at a loss. Why aren’t you using a normal courier service?”
He was beginning to regret bringing Andre with him today. He had always been discreet and mysterious about his home and origins for obvious reasons. But as far as he understood, Trica didn’t know about his home either. He wasn’t really sure how she would get a letter home for him, but he was just doing what his father had instructed him to do.
After 20 seconds, Kai realized he had yet to answer Andre. “I don’t know. It’s an obscure, out-of-the-way village, I don’t think it’s a place the couriers deliver.”
Andre looked more puzzled than before.
Two minutes later they found the Inn and Tavern. It looked so old and rickety from the outside, just as he remembered but even more so now with all its windows broken.
Andre tugged on his sleeve. “Kai, are you sure this is the place?”
“Yea, this is it. Why?”
“I just have a feeling I’m more likely to get stabbed and robbed than make it back home unmolested all of a sudden.”
“You’ll be fine. Probably... I told you to wear your worst clothes.”
“What are you talking about. These are my worst clothes!”
Kai rolled his eyes. Andre’s worst clothes were still many times better than his best. Not that he minded. The difference between normal hemp material and illustrious or exotic material had no difference in his mind. A shirt was a shirt. The functions were the same no matter what type you wore. Whereas armor was different because armor had different functions and levels of protection depending on its material.
Walking into the Inn and Tavern, Kai was assaulted by the stench of beer. It was an hour or two until lunch would begin in full. The bar and eating area had a few occupants here and there, some already nursing drinks so early in the morning. Andre received the odd looks, that were making him uncomfortable.
At the counter was a young boy with auburn hair that Kai recognized as the boy who took their bovines into the stables when he had first visited nearly five months ago. The boy’s eyes screamed with boredom. “How can I help you?” He mumbled.
“I am here to see Trica.”
“Trica!” He yelled suddenly. “You have debt collectors here.”
“What?!” Came a cry from the backroom. A curtain dividing the two rooms parted. Trica’s head popped out, her eyes scanning back and forth until they landed on Kai. She came into view completely, wiping flour off her hands against her apron.
The self-satisfied smirk the boy was sporting vanished as Trica smacked him in the back of the head, powdery flour caused his hair to turn white.
“That’s for messing with me,” she said to the now white-haired boy.
Kai watched on amused now that someone else was on the receiving end of Trica’s mischief and pranks.
Jerking her head back, she said, “go clean yourself up. You look pale.”
The white-haired boy slumped his shoulders and disappeared behind the curtain muttering something Kai heard as, “child labor.”
“Excuse him, my great-nephew. He suffers from a deplorable case of boredom. Unfortunately, I have the joy of babysitting him when his parents are working,” she said.
Her face told Kai it looked like anything but a joy.
“So, the prodigal son returns...” she shook her head. “Five months Kai. Five bloody months.”
“Sorry. I’ve… been busy,” he said lamely.
“Don’t apologize to me. It’s your mother that has been worried. Gosh, even Garren had the foresight to send a letter once a month, placating her.”
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He grimaced. His mother had an overprotective side and constantly worried about her children. No doubt Kai had made her worry even more by not sending any mail back.
“I’ll do better. I have a letter for the family here.” He pulled out a sealed envelope from his pocket.
Swiping the envelope from his hands she said, “good. Hopefully, it’s not too late. Do you two want to stay for lunch? It’s on me”
Teleporting onto the counter, Akane looked excited at the prospect of a free lunch. Flinching back, Andre yelped. He had never seen Akane teleport before.
Something akin to fear passed through Trica’s eyes. “Never mind. I can’t afford to feed you two and one of those damned foxes.”
----------------------------------------
After their visit to Trica’s and lunch elsewhere, Kai and Andre split up. While Andre headed over to shop. Kai opted to return to the academy.
His history professor, Mr. Dravenport, was sitting on one of the campus benches along the path. He seemed engaged in reading an old, tattered book until he peered above the pages and took note of Kai.
Nodding to the man, Kai reminded silent as he passed.
“Kai, do you have a moment to chat?” The old croaky voice called out to him.
“Sure, professor.”
“Sorry to take some time out of your day, especially on this wonderous rare sunny day,” Mr. Dravenport’s lips twitched with humor.
Kai arched a brow at the bad joke. “Yes. You don’t see light like this very often,” he deadpanned. There was a sigh in his heart as he stared up at the enchanted lights. Sometimes he wished there was a weather setting for the enchantments above. It was boring to have sunny weather every day.
“Please take a seat.” He gently patted his closed book against the bench seat next to him.
Sitting, Kai’s mind began spinning. He had no idea what this was about. In fact, he wasn’t even aware that the professor knew his name.
“You’re not in any trouble Mr. Kai. In fact, it’s the opposite,” he said, seeing Kai’s obvious tension.
“I owe you an apology for what happened to you on your expedition a few days ago,” Mr. Dravenport solemnly stated. “You see… it’s my fault you ended up in group 2 and by extension suffered so much during your trips.”
Attention fully on the withered old man. Kai remained silent from shock, while he digested the information the professor had just relayed.
“I happened to witness your little interaction with Jason on the first day of classes. Call it being nosey, but I intervened by manipulating the roster of the expedition groups. I ended up placing you, Jason, and his two friends all in the same group. You were never supposed to be in group 2, but in group 1 with Lady Ashley and Prince Nicolas.”
Kai gawked at the news. His mind spun as his emotions passed from annoyance, then anger at all the unnecessary trouble he had gone through. Even though everything had worked out for him in the end, the danger he had faced was too much to ask someone in the Foundation realm to handle. If he had been in group 1, he would have never had to fight the grove panther with that troubled group or have his group ambushed by the bear.
“Why?” he asked bewildered.
“If you can believe it, it’s because I wanted Jason to start to learn and respect those, he considers beneath him. An old friend asked me to look after him and help guide him. What better way, to teach him some humility than to become rivals with a so-called commoner with potential?”
“You should have been safe. At least in the first trip,” Mr. Dravenport cast his eyes down into his lap. “Believe it or not, it’s still in debate among the nobility if the decision of the headmistress was the correct one or not. Her reasons or so she claimed were for the greater good, that coddling the students would only impede the development of the kingdom and its future leaders. Only real danger could make the students grow and want to train harder. I’m sure she thought she was doing the right thing because of the delicate situation with the kingdom participating in war,” he spat. “If I had known she would make such a decision right before the first expedition I would have done everything in my power to stop it.”
“Then why not just take the students on more expeditions?” Kai asked. It seemed like a simple idea. If it was levels or dangers that were lacking, simply taking the students on more expeditions would fix that.
“It’s not that simple. There is a delicate balance around these parts. Only a few areas have monsters that new students would be capable of fighting. And those monsters have suffered from overhunting in these last few decades. Other possible expedition sites are much farther away, making trips take days instead of hours. Now with the purge of the forest complete, we have one less place to bring students.”
“I understand now,” Kai said. Assuming Mr. Dravenport was telling the truth, the wizened man had no ill intentions towards Kai. He was just a piece of a board that the man maneuvered to suit his needs. Kai had just been unlucky to be in a group where such bad encounters took place.
Wait. How did the bears make it into the forest undetected? “How did the bears enter the forest? I thought all expedition sites were scouted out beforehand?”
“They are days before. An ash warden has been dispatched to investigate why a group of Earth Spike Bears would suddenly move out of the mountains and into the forest.”
“I’m sure this has already been considered but is it possible someone lured them there to kill a specific student?”
“If you are referring to Prince Nicolas or another student, then anything is possible. It’s doubtful that someone would try to kill the prince, as there would be nothing to gain by doing so.”
There was a minute of silence as students passed by the two on the bench. During that time Kai looked at the spine of the book in his professor’s hands. It wasn’t one he recognized which was no surprise since he didn’t read a lot.
During the silence, Kai realized this was his best opportunity to ask a question that had been haunting him for 16 years. A question that only a man who had lived nearly 1300 years could answer.
“I have a question if you wouldn’t mind, sir.”
“I think after everything that has happened; you have the right to ask quite a few questions.”
Breaking eye contact, he asked, “I was wondering…” he inhaled a deep breath of humid air. “If you knew of a human named Lucian Bishop?”
Kai felt restless as he waited for the professor to answer. Each second, no, each millisecond that passed felt like an eternity as he watched the professor’s mouth finally open.
“How nostalgic.” Mr. Dravenport’s eyes were unfocused. “That’s a name I haven’t heard in nearly a hundred years. What do you want to know?” he asked.
Kai’s body went cold. 100 years? That meant Lucian might be alive. He shoved his hands into his pockets as he felt them start shaking.
“What do you know about him? Where is he? How strong is he?” Kai belted out quickly.
Calm down, Kai. You need to get a grip.
Mr. Dravenport gave him a serious look of consideration. He looked like he wanted to say something but thought better of it. His fingers tapped along the spine of the book. “Lucian Bishop is a legend of the human race. Hero, savior, and leader, he helped humanity advance further than almost anyone else. I don’t know exactly what you are looking for. After all, the man has lived as long as me and has accomplished much during that time. We could sit here and spend days discussing his accomplishments.”
“Th-then he still lives to this day?” he stuttered. His heart pounded fiercely in his chest.
Mr. Dravenport merely shrugged. “I don’t know. He seems to have fallen from the limelight in the last few hundred years. I haven’t heard any news about the man in a long time. Whether he is alive or is dead, I’m afraid I can’t tell you.”
Lucian… a hero? What kind of hero kills his best friend for no good reason? His chest beat hard, as his mind spun with questions and thoughts of the past. He heard a muffled, “Kai. Kai.”
Blinking, he turned to his professor, who had moved closer to him and had a look of concern on his face.
“I’m sorry, professor. I have to go.” Abruptly standing, he started walking away. His heart rate started returning to normal, but his mind still spun.
Lucian if you are still out there. Then one day, I’ll find you and force you to tell me why you betrayed me.