"I won't be going upstairs."
Captain Rades followed Shade into the foyer, but he did not even close the front door, leaving the equally lively Saint Derain Square outside.
With the Year-End Festival approaching, there were no noisy circus performances in the city-center square, but there were noticeably more vendors.
The captain smiled as he handed Shade his visiting gift—the bottle of red wine—before explaining in the foyer that he had returned to Tobesk because of an award ceremony:
"The battle that sealed off Sikar Mountain at the end of autumn."
The resolute-looking middle-aged captain winked at Shade. Back then, Shade had mailed him an amulet, and it had proved quite useful when he led his men in guarding their stronghold amid that night's Great Fog. It had also made this ordinary man suspect that so-called magic might truly exist in this world:
"I distinguished myself in that battle. The Church and some old friends of mine in the city helped pull some strings, which is why I qualified to return to Tobesk for the ceremony."
He said it with a smile, with none of the embarrassment Shade had seen when they first met in summer.
"That really is good news. So will you return to Middlesburg afterward? Or try to find yourself a post in Tobesk?"
Shade congratulated him as he asked. The captain shook his head regretfully:
"Staying in Tobesk isn't such a simple matter. It takes more than luck—it also takes..."
He pointed upward, and he and Shade exchanged knowing looks:
"I'll try my luck. If I can't move up any further, I'll be retiring in a few years anyway."
He shook his head again with a smile:
"No matter what happens next, I'm going to enjoy this Year-End Festival first. Who could possibly keep a long