The Pope Arrived, and There Was Still Only One Little Stool

The afternoon basic class was still fifteen minutes from starting, yet five people were already seated in the waiting area.

A-Li sat at the very back, holding Lillipup's basket. A-Zhuo had brought a short-handled umbrella and was lowering his head to retie its strap. Yue Guan and Ghost each occupied a stool, while the remaining girl from the pastry shop held a paper packet containing empty pastry boxes for practice.

Only one low stool remained by the wall.

Two Papal Hall attendants entered first. They saw the stool, then Yue Guan drinking tea beside it. They exchanged a glance, and one of them turned to fetch a chair. "What are you moving chairs for?" Yue Guan asked.

"Her Holiness will be here shortly." "So?"

The attendant did not dare ask Yue Guan to give up his seat and merely shifted his gaze toward A-Zhuo. A-Zhuo hugged his short umbrella tighter, already preparing to stand.

Pancham pressed down on his knee first, then pointed at the number five tag in his hand. A-Zhuo sat back down.

The footsteps outside stopped, and Bibi Dong entered with Absol. She was not wearing an elaborate ceremonial gown, only a light cape over her purple dress. Even so, her presence made the already narrow shop entrance seem narrower.

An attendant said quietly, "Your Holiness, I will fetch a seat." Bibi Dong glanced at the wall. "There is one here."

That low stool reached only halfway up her calf.

The shop fell silent for two breaths. "Can't you sit on it?" Xia Che asked from behind the counter.

Bibi Dong walked over and sat down. "I can."

Absol did not take a stool. It lay at her feet, its long tail curling around the stool leg, its curved horn facing the outer side of the aisle.

The two attendants had no choice but to stand outside. Pancham opened the door wider for them and set two cups of water beside the threshold.

"The teacher has not arrived yet?" Bibi Dong asked. Hu Liena poked her head out from the training room. "He is inside setting up the soft posts."

When she recognized the people by the wall, she paused. "The teacher will be ready soon." "At the usual time," Bibi Dong said.

Hu Liena answered and returned inside. Yan's lowered voice soon came from the training room. "Why did Her Holiness come today?" Xie Yue said, "Speak any louder, and the people outside can answer you."

Silence immediately fell inside.

Yue Guan lifted his teacup. "If Your Holiness wishes to watch the training, I can give up my spot." "What is your number?" Bibi Dong asked.

"I do not have one."

"Then continue drinking tea."

Yue Guan looked at the empty cup in his hand.

Ghost poured him a little more, sparing him the trouble of finding something else to do.

After the previous class left, Pancham admitted people according to their numbers. A-Li was number one, the pastry shop girl was number two, and A-Zhuo was number five. Numbers three and four had not arrived, so number six was brought in early.

Bibi Dong looked at the number six tag she had just received. "I am last in line?"

"You arrived last," Xia Che said.

A-Zhuo tried to stand again. "I can come another time."

"You already made an appointment yesterday," Bibi Dong said blandly. "Go in."

A-Zhuo looked at Xia Che.

"Number five," Xia Che reminded him.

Only then did he hug his short umbrella and cross the white line.

Including Hu Liena, Xie Yue, and Yan, there were already six people in the training room. Bibi Dong stopped outside and did not squeeze her way in.

Hu Liena looked somewhat troubled. "All three exercises today require us to demonstrate."

Bibi Dong placed the number six tag back into Pancham's paw. "I will watch from outside."

"Watching takes up space too," Yue Guan kindly reminded her.

Xia Che raised his eyes. "Outside does not count. Just do not stick your head inside."

Yue Guan remembered that he had said yesterday that he only wanted to watch as well. At last, he understood that he had lost because he had still wanted to stand by the wall.

Lucario came out from the back courtyard carrying an old stool and placed it outside the white line. It sat by the window itself, leaving the better position near the doorway open.

Bibi Dong looked at it, then at the old stool.

"There is one extra today," Ghost said.

"That one is his." Bibi Dong did not sit.

Lucario raised a paw and made a welcoming gesture toward the old stool.

Only then did Bibi Dong sit down. That old stool was just as low, but its surface had been worn smooth and level. It was more suitable for sitting a long time than the newer stool.

Absol lay down at her side. It and Lucario exchanged a glance through the doorframe, then each looked away.

"Is it guarding the door again today?" Hu Liena asked from inside.

"No one told it to guard it," Xia Che said.

Lucario had heard someone push the low stool back against the wall in the back courtyard. It had also heard someone lingering at the doorway without sitting down. That was why it had brought the stool over itself.

Now that the person was seated, it paused by the window for a moment before getting up and heading back.

"Not watching the lesson?" Yan asked.

Lucario shook its head.

As it passed the long table, it made sure that the blue-rimmed food bowl was still there, then returned alone to Quiet Courtyard. Lending its old stool to someone and whether it wished to remain in the training room today were two different matters.

Today's lesson was about positioning while walking alongside others.

The pastry shop girl had to carry empty boxes through the soft posts. The boxes were stacked three high, blocking her view of the ground. Whenever Lillipup walked ahead of her, she was always afraid of stepping on its tail.

A-Li first let Lillipup choose its own position.

Lillipup sniffed along both her left and right sides before finally walking beside the basket. From there, it could see A-Li's feet and was farthest from the packet of pastries.

A-Li took one step, and it followed with one step. When they reached a corner, she stopped first, and Lillipup stopped with her.

The pastry shop girl tried the same thing. She walked too slowly, and the edges of the empty boxes still swayed constantly. Lillipup looked back twice, then simply slipped behind her.

"It does not want to walk in front?" she asked.

"You have been staring at it instead of watching where you are going," A-Li said.

The girl raised her eyes, and the empty boxes became steadier instead.

A-Zhuo had already folded his short umbrella tightly. He kept its tip pointed down, but he still habitually turned sideways as he passed through the soft posts.

Xie Yue pushed the outermost soft post inward by half a foot. "Do not dodge the posts. Leave room for the partner beside you."

"What if I knock one over?"

"Set it back up."

A-Zhuo thought for a moment before finally walking through upright. The umbrella did not hit anyone, but his sleeve knocked over one of the soft posts.

Pawniard set the post upright first, then tapped A-Zhuo's elbow with its flat arm guard, reminding him to keep his arm closer in.

He passed through smoothly on the second try.

Bibi Dong watched from outside for a while. "You are only teaching them to walk?"

"Today, we are only teaching them to walk," Hu Liena answered.

"And after they learn?"

"They will keep walking tomorrow," Xia Che said.

Yan could not hold back a laugh. He quickly lowered his head under the pretense of handing water to Magby.

Hu Liena moved two soft posts aside. "Your Holiness and Absol may try outside the door."

Bibi Dong stood. Absol rose with her, but it did not move to her usual left side.

That side was too close to the doorframe, and its curved horn could easily strike the hanging number tags. It circled to her right and lightly brushed her skirt with its tail.

Bibi Dong lowered her head for a glance and switched hands to lift the edge of her cape.

The pair walked from the waiting area to the counter, then turned back. When they passed Pancham serving water, Bibi Dong stopped, and Absol stopped as well. It always kept half a step of space between them, neither bumping into her nor losing sight of what lay ahead.

"Is that it?" she asked.

"You can walk through it once more," Xia Che said.

Bibi Dong looked at him.

"You both walked very well," Xia Che added.

Absol's tail lightly touched the old stool, as if accepting the praise.

When class ended, the three students packed up their things. The pastry shop girl deliberately left her paper packet on the counter. Inside were six freshly baked soft pastries.

"For the teacher," she said.

Yan was the first to come out, walking quickly. Magby followed behind him. It caught the scent but only lifted its head once.

Normally, it would have already rushed to the counter.

Indeedee divided the pastries onto small plates and left the one closest to the charcoal stove for it. Magby sat on its cushion and touched it with its palm first, but did not eat right away.

"Not hot enough?" Yan asked.

It shook its head and pushed the pastry toward him.

Yan touched its forehead, then its palm. "It is not too hot either."

There was no movement from Quiet Courtyard. Absol lifted its face and watched Magby slowly slump against the table edge.

"Did it overdo the training today?" Hu Liena asked.

"It only walked through it a few times," Yan said. "It also helped test the water temperature this morning."

"You were the one who talked the most yesterday," Xie Yue reminded him.

"It listened too."

Yan counted over everything they had done during the past two days. Aside from accompanying two basic classes, Magby had run through the soft posts as usual in the morning and tested the temperature of three water bowls at noon. Each task had been light, but together they had left it with almost no proper afternoon nap.

Indeedee brought over the care record board. It first wrote down that Magby had eaten less today, then recorded its water intake, palm temperature, and mental state. It was neither coughing nor injured. Magby was simply so sleepy that it did not even want to roast a soft pastry.

Xia Che moved the plate of pastries farther away and replaced it with a small bowl of warm water. "Sleep first."

Magby hugged the water bowl and drank two mouthfuls before quickly burying its face in Yan's bent arm.

Only when the smell of dinner drifted from the kitchen did Lucario emerge from Quiet Courtyard again. It did not go to the doorway to inspect the lesson. It merely sat beside its old stool and accepted the blue-rimmed food bowl Indeedee handed it.

Bibi Dong did not leave immediately either. She sat back down on the low stool and looked down at it for a while. "Will there still be class tomorrow?"

"We will skip it once," Xia Che said.

Yan nodded. "That was what I was thinking too."

Magby had its eyes closed, but one hand still clutched half of his sleeve.

Indeedee covered the remaining soft pastries and stored them in the cabinet along with the next day's class tags.

Six stools were still lined up at the entrance, but tomorrow, every one of them could remain empty.