The group walked into the city hall together to receive their mission instructions from the lieutenant.
The secretary behind the desk looked up as they entered and immediately said, "The lieutenant just left with someone."
Achie frowned and asked irritatedly, "When will he be back?"
She hesitated. "Sometime around noon… or maybe tomorrow. I can't say for sure."
"If we have to wait another day, it will be a problem," Noor muttered. "We don't have enough money left for another night's stay."
Sol started grinned mischievously. "Guess we'll all have to sleep in one room then."
"Yeah, that's not happening," Noor shot back.
"So what do we do now?" Axel asked, glancing at the others. Everyone fell silent, all trying to come up with a solution.
The secretary then leaned forward. "You could take on some small jobs for the townspeople. We've got plenty of requests here."
All four of them looked at her with sparkling eyes and folded hands, as if she was a guardian angel who had just descended to save them.
She placed a small stack of papers on the counter and the group eagerly started flipping through them.
In the end, Axel chose to help a graveyard keeper, Achie picked a moving job for a local boutique and Noor took a task at an orphanage that required two people.
Which led to Sol immediately volunteering to join her.
They thanked the woman and left the town hall, agreeing to meet back there in the evening when they collected their rewards. Then everyone split up.
Axel eventually stopped a passerby to ask where the city's graveyard was.
"Which one?" the man replied.
Axel then asked, confused. "What do you mean, which one? There's more than one?"
The man nodded grimly. "More than two hundred, actually. Too many died protecting this city."
Axel handed him the job request from the city hall. The man read it and gave him directions to the right graveyard.
He then thanked the man and walked off.
And here I thought I could visit the graves of Hector and Elaine's old comrades to pay my respects… Guess that's impossible to find them with this many graves.
When he reached the iron gates of the right graveyard, he stepped inside.
Rows of graves stretched before him, some were made out of polished marble and others worn stone.
Farther ahead, a small hut stood among the graves.
Axel walked towards it and just as he lifted his hand to knock, the door swung open and an old man stepped out.
The man noticed him and offered a warm greeting. "I'm the graveyard keeper. What brings you here, son?"
Axel showed him the request form. The old man smiled, "wait here" he said while going inside the hut.
After a while he came back out with a handful of candles. "I'm glad someone came to help." placing the candles in Axel's hands.
"So… what exactly do I need to do?" Axel asked.
Puzzled, the keeper stared at him for a moment. It led to an awkward silence until Axel broke it.
"I'm not from around here. I'm new to Vardane."
The man nodded. "Ah, I see. Well, today's the second day of the Festival of Silence. A time to honor those who died both inside and outside the walls, defending this city a part of the empire.
We light candles on their graves as a sign of remembrance."
"I get it," Axel said while nodding. Then he turned around and began.
He started lighting candles one by one and after a while, a faint sound caught his attention.
Turning his head toward the sound and he slowly began walking in its direction.
As he got closer, he realized it was whistling… but not just any whistling. It carried a soft melody, almost like a lullaby drifting through the quiet graveyard.
Following the sound, he finally reached its source and saw someone digging in a grave.When he stepped closer and looked down, his eyes widened out of surprise.
It was the same blond boy he'd helped during the cooking competition.
"Our chef prodigy is also a graveyard keeper?" Axel said with a grin.
The boy flinched, looking up in shock. "You're that mister who helped me yesterday!"
Axel nodded and reached down his hand to offer getting him out the grave. The boy grabbed it and Axel helped him climb out.
Brushing dirt from his clothes, the boy smiled. "My name's Aiden. Nice to see you again."
"Axel," he replied. "Didn't expect to run into you here. What are you doing?"
Aiden hesitated and suddenly seemed nervous.
"Is this your side job? Trying to make some extra money?" Axel guessed.
Aiden nodded quickly. "Yeah. But please, don't tell anyone."
Suprised, Axel raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"
"I'm from the orphanage," Aiden admitted quietly. "We're not allowed to work, but I need the money to buy ingredients for the competition.
I can't use the orphanage's food, and I already spent everything I had on the first round. The finals are tomorrow and I need to buy more."
Axel stared at him, trying to process all that information at once.
Aiden waved a hand in front of his face. "Hey… you're still there?"
Axel finally snapped back, realizing he only caught the part where Aiden mentioned making it to the next round.
"Congrats, kid" he said with a small grin. "I'd help you out with money, but I'm kind of in the same boat."
He paused, then added, "But I'll be there at the finals to cheer you on."
That's when he realized… he still had a lot of candles left to light. So they shook hands and Axel walked back to the other side of the graveyard to finish lighting the remaining candles.
Meanwhile, Professor Stoker stood in front of a small house and knocked on the door.
An older man with a bald head and rough stubble opened it. "What do you want?"
"I'd like to ask about contributing to the orphanage," the professor replied politely.
The man frowned, glancing past him and seeing the professor's guard standing down the street.
"If that's the case, you'll have to speak with the orphanage directly," he muttered as he started closing the door.
But professor Stoker slid his foot into the doorway and spoke with a lowered voice.
"It's about the secret room from the old orphanage... The one you used to run, Mr. Wolfs."
The two men stared at each other in silence. Then the old man stepped aside, letting the professor in and shut the door behind them.