Around noon, a satisfied Neups returned to find the men who had reported to the Grand Theater that morning filling Gene’s room. Everyone seemed excited. Pushing through them, Neups saw Gene lying in bed.
His eyes were open.
“Captain!”
Gene tried to turn his head, then grimaced.
“Ow…”
Neups clung to the bed and sniffled. By the look of them, the other men had already been moved to their hearts’ content and calmed down. Behind him, Hal spoke mockingly.
“You took your time getting here.”
“I saved the captain!”
Neups sprang up with a shout. The men’s eyes widened, then chuckles spread among them. Hal laughed too.
“Oh, really? Did you have a sword fight with the goddess of death in a dream?”
“Look at this!”
Neups thrust up his forearm. Tattoos densely covered it. The wounds left by the tattooing had not yet healed, and traces of blood remained here and there. Terry leaned close to read them and frowned.
“What does it say?”
“You can’t read it, can you? It’s Ipnish. Undi Arve Oriya Benta. It means Shadowhawk, may you live long. I just had it done at the temple of Kersil.”
“Ip… what?”
At Terry’s question, Hal spoke.
“Ipnish? The ancient language? Why tattoo it in Ipnish? Who’s supposed to read it?”
“Who do you think? A god. A god would speak Ipnish, wouldn’t they?”
At the absurdity, Hal began laughing so hard he clutched his stomach. Beside him, Ashabel tilted his head.
“If the gods use Ipnish, how do they understand the prayers we say every day?”
Waving his forearm, Neups shouted,
“Well, a god would speak all sorts of languages, but they’d grant wishes in their own language first! Why? Because they’re easier to understand! And with this much tattooing, they’ll grant mine first if only to stop the noise!”
Listening beside them, Gene sighed.
“Yes. Thank you. But when I… laugh, my shoulder rather hurts.”
After that, Neups was transformed from Neups the Nuisance into Neups the Tattooed. He was pleased with the nickname himself.
Rosa’s party, Snowden, and the librarian Setilla had arrived early in the morning. Only Jamalik, Gayar, Hal, Onil, and Master Temena, who had been watching over Gene, had seen them. They alone had witnessed the mysterious closing of Gene’s shoulder wound. Afterward, the group returned the staff to the library, then went back to the masons’ house and collapsed into sleep. Only Nana and Huka returned with them.
Gene woke late in the morning, around the time the men arrived. He wanted to go and see Rosa’s group as soon as he had heard what happened, but Master Temena ordered him to remain lying down for at least three days. He even insisted that Gene be carried on the stretcher when they returned to the masons’ house that afternoon. Gene protested, embarrassed as ever, but to no avail.
When at last they carried him home that afternoon, Gene could not hide his discomfort.
“Why don’t you put a blanket over me, as though I were dead?”
Master Temena glared.
“What? How many people risked their lives to save you, and that’s what you have to say?”
And so Gene returned to his lodgings with a vivid appreciation of how many people in Delphinad had wished for his recovery. People offered strange foods, drinks, and snacks they had brought as nourishment. Young women left flowers on his stretcher and fled. Others comforted him over his misfortune or urged him not to lose heart. There were so many of them. Receiving the sympathy of all Delphinad like a small child whose mother had died, Gene felt he had never endured such torture in his life. Eventually, unable to bear any more, he pretended to sleep. Even then, seeing him grimace, the men giggled quietly.
The party commonly known as the Ayanad Detachment was reunited with Gene that evening. Hanbun was absent. He had gone home immediately after returning the staff to the library. He wanted to see Gene recovered more than anyone, but meant to obey Gene’s order not to come to his lodgings.
Gene was still lying in bed. He wanted to drink, but the men, under Master Temena’s strict orders, prowled around the bed as though ready to eat him. Besides, Harat kept bringing food and putting it on the nearby table, then looking as though he might vomit if Gene did not eat. It was difficult even to lie down when he felt so queasy.
Looking at the three people gathered around his bed, Gene spoke.
“I’m sorry to greet you lying down. I owe you a debt I can never forget. I’ll repay it all my life.”
As Tahyang approached, Gene held out his right hand, and Tahyang his left. They gripped tightly. They omitted the shoulder patting. Tahyang spoke.
“Brother, I’m glad you live.”
“You too.”
When Tahyang stepped back, Luke approached with a grin.
“Well, there’s something I’d like to say.”
“Anything.”
“I’ve felt terribly sorry all this time for causing trouble when we first met, Captain. Could this perhaps settle our account… Oh, may I call you by your name?”
Gene burst out laughing, then winced.
“Of course. I prefer it too.”
“Yes! Now I’m friends with both the Shadowhawk’s swords.”
Luke stepped back too, and Gene’s gaze settled on Rosa. She spoke.
“You still look unwell.”
“I’ll be better soon.”
“After receiving so much loving attention?”
An interested expression came over Gene’s face, but with his friends present it would be awkward to continue the joke. Rosa soon changed the subject too.
“There’s something you should know. We received a librarian’s help in this…”
Luke took over.
“She gave us special assistance to thank you for returning that book last time.”
After hearing about Idraphon V’s staff and Setilla, Gene looked uncomfortable.
“Such tremendous kindness. That leaves me rather in her debt.”
“You could devote yourself to retrieving overdue books for her. Rid the library of every last borrower who doesn’t return them.”
Rosa shook her head at Luke, himself a long-term offender, as he said it.
“Your reputation’s become too soft lately. I don’t think it would work. If you went to retrieve one, they might ask you to sign their back.”
It was in Ayanad that they had first seen people collecting signatures on their backs. But after the atmosphere of today’s stretcher procession, there was no guarantee nothing stranger would happen. Luke chuckled.
“Then sign it and bring the book back. A truly peaceful solution.”
They did not mention Snowden. He had warned them not to say they had met him. Considering what Hippolyte had said, that warning made sense. Some of the men had seen him, but merely assumed he was a librarian’s companion.
“But since I had the chance, I asked the librarian something I’ve wondered about for a while.”
At Rosa’s words, Gene asked,
“Sing?”
Rosa nodded. Gene’s brow creased. In the end, he had failed to defeat Nikephoros. Whether it had been a fair duel was only a matter of the contest’s rules. In terms of their underlying strength, Nikephoros was plainly stronger. What was the power Gene had been unable to overcome? Where had it come from, when Nikephoros had not possessed it in his defeat by Garon? And they were targeting Rosa and Nana. The duel might be over, but their fight with the general was not.
“The librarian said Sing was the name of an ancient kingdom. One that existed about three thousand years ago.”
“Where?”
“Here. Before Delphinad existed.”
Delphinad had flourished into such a huge city that it was difficult to imagine a time when it had not stood there. Three thousand years was unimaginably distant. Gene recalled learning in his history lessons that a great natural disaster separated the Faceless Age from the Age of Princes, leaving few remnants of the earlier civilization. That was why it was called the Faceless Age.
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