By mid-afternoon, most of the villagers had already woken up. There was a soft buzz of conversation in the air, albeit mostly from the volunteers sharing information.
And while most recovering residents of Silvershade seemed to be too shocked to do anything beyond listen, there were a few louder, confused, demanding, and even grieving voices punctuating through the otherwise level buzz.
Arin ignored them as best as he could.
He didn't have the courage to face them.
'Has everything else been dealt with?' he asked of sir Veylor, who hadn't been able to stop smiling since his family members and traveling companion had awoken. His drawn face was stretched almost unnaturally tight with his delight.
'Yes, yes, of course,' he answered. 'And as for the promised compensation, the healers and volunteers have already received all that they were promised. For that, I must thank you, sir Siel,' he added, inclining his head at the younger tower magician. 'Those tools of yours alone made up most of what called so many people to come to our aid. In all my life, I can never repay your kindness.'
As Siel waved the grinning man's thanks away, Arin asked, 'Is there anything more we might do here, then?'
'Ah...' Sir Veylor shook his head. 'Truly, I hadn't even thought you'd still be here after the resolution of your assignment. You have no obligation.'
Arin shrugged wordlessly at that.
He himself had seen it as common courtesy to help out wherever he could, but he also understood that that wasn't how things were done here.
Take, for instance, those officials.
Once they'd cleared up the 'misunderstanding' regarding the reported distortion, they had collected whatever (and whoever) they'd meant to, before leaving as swiftly as they'd arrived.
They had not spared a moment of concern for the health of the recovering villagers, nor for acknowledging the efforts of the gathered volunteers.
Even the magistrate himself had offered no assistance with the logistics of getting the village up and going again.
Where Arin came from, such officials would have had to face some criticism for doing such a half-assed job. And while there wouldn't necessarily have been any consequences, the villagers would at least have had some complaints.
But here, it was clear to see that the people didn't have any such expectations from them in the first place.
...
Oh well, that's just the way things were.
Anyway, he'd never been interested in administrative or public affairs, much to the vexation of his civically-engaged older sister.
That hadn't changed since coming here.
Siel, at least, seemed not to have minded sticking around a while longer. But now that there truly was nothing left for them to do, there wasn't any point in remaining there any longer.
With the whole of the headman's immediate family gone, the village was now leaderless. However, Sir Veylor had already decisively left his post in the city, choosing instead to take complete charge of keeping things running around the place.
And seeing how the man had done his best for the villagers even while they'd all still been asleep - at a time when there'd been no answers, nor any end in sight - Arin had a feeling that Silvershade was in good hands.
It was time to leave.
...
'While we'd be grateful if you could give us a few more days to get things moving, so that we might prepare a celebration in your name,' sir Veylor had said, 'I understand why you steadfastly refuse. The life of a tower magician is a busy one, after all.'
'And so, I can only give you my thanks once again. I hope that you'll come by again, at a time when we might offer better hospitality.'
...
Thankfully, the man had also agreed to letting them leave without fanfare.
...
As he and Siel made for the village gates, Arin suddenly turned to the younger tower magician and asked, 'Are you content with how things ended here?'
The boy didn't answer immediately.
'...Content with... how things ended... Yes. I am,' he said at last. 'I'd never dared to imagine all those people could be saved. Alone, I would've reported the matter the moment I realized the truth, and everyone...'
'It was only possible because the... curse... was underdeveloped when we first encountered it,' Arin said. 'Had it been anything like the recorded ones -'
'We wouldn't be here anymore,' the boy laughed. 'Well, I wouldn't. I have a hard time imagining you suffering defeat, senior brother Rin.'
Arin exhaled softly.
Oh, if only the kid knew...
'On that note,' Siel continued, 'what was the - the curse - like, at the fullness of its might? You never did elaborate on that.'
Arin cleared his throat. 'It... It had started to directly kill everything in its vicinity. By then, we were thankfully far away enough from anything other than trees, and I dealt with it just before it could reach me.'
'Remarkable,' the boy sighed. 'Of course you did. And that is the part that I am not content with.'
'This was supposed to be my assignment. You had only accompanied me to keep things in check. But I - the moment I realized the magnitude of what we were facing - drew back like a damned coward. I left everything to you. I failed.'
'I have only given you cause for disappointment.'