Three New Instructors, and the Shopkeeper Wasn't One of Them

After the six-wheeled vehicle left, Bibi Dong did not depart immediately.

She had two hall attendants carry a long wooden crate from the vehicle. When the lid opened, there were no gold-lacquered plaques or Papal Hall ceremonial emblems inside—only twelve red-and-white padded posts, six stop lines, and a stack of flattened lesson cards.

Xia Che glanced at it. "The shop can't fit that."

"It isn't for you," Bibi Dong said.

Hu Liena, Xie Yue, and Yan all looked up at once.

"Starting next month, the Martial Arena will hold a Basic Partnering Class every ten days," she continued. "The three of you will take turns."

Yan asked first, "After daily training?"

"It will replace one indoor theory lesson."

Xie Yue calculated the time. "How many people each session?"

"You decide."

Hu Liena flipped open the lesson cards. The first page covered waiting and responding, the second pathways and turning, and the third drinking water and resting. The content all came from the classes they had helped with at the shop. There was no requirement to demonstrate soul skills, nor any record of wins or losses.

"Do partners have to attend?" she asked.

"No," Bibi Dong said. "They can come if they wish, or stay at their residence if they need rest."

Yan lowered his head to look at Magby.

The little one had just completed its final follow-up examination today. Its drinking, eating, and spirits were close to normal, and it had already finished the half-day rest period on its record. Indeedee had allowed it to resume brief activity. On the first day, it could only walk one circuit around the padded posts and was not to test fire.

When Magby heard about classes, it first touched its training wristband.

"I'll go by myself this time," Yan said. "You stay nearby and watch."

It thought for a moment, then nodded.

Bibi Dong placed three slender wooden plaques on the table. The front of each read Rotating Instructor, while the back bore an empty water bowl.

Yue Guan picked one up. "A teaching plaque personally decided by Your Holiness, and it's this plain?"

"It's for the training room, not the main hall," Bibi Dong said.

"It should at least have a gold border."

Ghost took the plaque from his hand and placed it back before Hu Liena. "The water bowl is more useful than a gold border."

Flabébé sat in its blue flower, staring at the empty water bowl as well. Yue Guan had to admit that if the whole plaque were painted gold, it truly would not be convenient to record water-changing times on the back.

Xia Che closed the wooden crate. "Done delivering things?"

"There's still you," Bibi Dong said.

He opened the crate again, as though it might still be hiding another shopkeeper inside.

"I intend to give you an external consultant plaque. Go to the Martial Arena once a month to observe a class and point out anything unsuitable."

"When?"

"In the morning."

"Not going."

The two hall attendants both looked at him.

Yue Guan set down his teacup. "Your Holiness hasn't finished."

"I can't get up in the morning."

"We can move the time to the afternoon," Bibi Dong said.

"There are people at the shop."

"Once a month."

"Even once, there are people."

Bibi Dong watched him for a moment. "You were awake when you saved the vehicle yesterday."

"The vehicle was too loud."

Absol lifted its eyes toward Xia Che, seeming to assess how serious he was.

Xia Che leaned back in his chair. "The three of them can teach. If there's anything wrong with the training room, have them come back and ask."

Hu Liena looked at her teacher. "We can inspect the venue first."

Bibi Dong did not take out the consultant plaque again. "Go now."

That afternoon, the group arrived at the Martial Arena.

The planned classroom was on the east side of the main arena. It was three times larger than the shop's training room, with whole slabs of bluestone flooring. Weapon racks stood on either side, and several heavy shields hung on the walls.

The instructor in charge of the venue was pleased. "It can hold twenty people."

Hu Liena walked to the center and clapped her hands. The echo struck the stone walls, and Eevee's ears immediately flattened backward.

"Too loud," she said.

Xie Yue circled around the weapon racks. The passageways looked spacious, but once someone carrying a long object turned around, the shield edges and rack legs would become obstacles.

"Move all the weapons out first."

The venue instructor froze. "This is the Martial Arena."

"This class doesn't train with weapons."

Yan crouched and ran his fingers across the bluestone floor. "It'll be slippery after water is spilled."

Magby also stretched out a foot and stepped on it. It did not run, merely turned slowly once on the stone surface, its feet making a faint scraping sound.

It turned to Yan and shook its head.

"It doesn't like it either," Yan said.

"There's another lounge next door," the venue instructor said.

The lounge had old wooden flooring, windows that could be opened, no weapons along the walls, and only several movable benches. It was not as broad as the main arena, but it could comfortably accommodate six people.

Hu Liena had Eevee walk around the room once. Eevee first sniffed the corners. Its tail did not tuck, nor was it startled by echoes.

Xie Yue moved two benches to the outer room, clearing a complete passageway.

Yan placed a water bowl beneath the window. Magby walked over and touched it. The water surface remained still, and no draft blew directly through the window crack onto the bowl.

"This one," the three said in turn.

The venue instructor looked toward Bibi Dong. The main arena was more impressive, while the lounge did not even bear the Papal Hall emblem.

"Use the one they chose," Bibi Dong said.

Only six of the twelve padded posts were brought in, along with three stop lines. The remaining equipment stayed in the crate until the class size and curriculum truly required more.

"A place for twenty people, but you're only taking six?" The venue instructor still found it regrettable.

"Six for the first time," Hu Liena said. "Afterward, we'll see if we can take more."

"What if Your Holiness attends in person?"

Xie Yue glanced outside the door. "Stand outside."

The venue instructor did not dare respond.

Bibi Dong merely said evenly, "I have already sat outside the door."

Magby looked up at her. It seemed to remember that very short little stool and covered its mouth as it let out a tiny yawn.

Hu Liena did not immediately declare the venue suitable. "First, we'll run an empty class."

The three rotating instructors remained in the room, leaving exactly three student places. Bibi Dong, Yue Guan, and Ghost were each handed a temporary number card, while even the two hall attendants who had followed them could only wait in the outer room.

Yue Guan looked at his number two card. "I'm only helping test the venue."

"Number two goes in first," Hu Liena said.

"Who's number one?"

Bibi Dong had already crossed the stop line with Absol.

Yue Guan immediately followed. Flabébé sat in its lifelong companion blue flower, carrying a soft tote bag filled with pale yellow wildflowers beside it. The bag did not strike the doorframe when passing through, but its bottom dragged against the wooden floor.

Xie Yue heard the sound and crouched to inspect it. The tote's strap length suited Yue Guan carrying it over his shoulder, but once lowered, the bottom would touch the ground.

"There needs to be a place by the door for flowerpots," Yue Guan said.

"It could also hold umbrellas, medicine baskets, or tools." Xie Yue wrote the requirement down as a storage rack for long items, without carving a separate name for flowerpots.

Yue Guan felt that lacked a bit of dignity. Flabébé did not mind. Hugging its blue flower, it flew to the window and only waved to him after confirming that the light there was soft.

Ghost was number three. Duskull floated in through the crack of the door first. The room's light was gentler than the main arena's, but it still chose the darker spot against the inner wall.

Yan lowered the curtains halfway. There was still light at Flabébé's window, while Duskull's side gained more shade as well.

"One window has to be divided into two sides?" the venue instructor asked.

"They like different places," Yan said.

When it came time for the partnering exercise, Bibi Dong walked from the doorway toward the padded posts on the opposite side. Absol still walked on her right, turning around the corners to avoid the hem of her cloak. When she stopped before the temporary storage rack, it stopped with her.

Yue Guan commented from behind, "Your Holiness's group doesn't need more practice."

Hu Liena said, "Number two hasn't begun yet. Don't cross the stop line."

Yue Guan's shoe tip was pressing right on the line. He looked down, then drew it back half an inch.

Flabébé laughed beside his shoulder, making its blue flower tremble gently.

When Ghost passed the narrowest corner, Duskull floated straight through a bench backrest. Ghost himself, however, was blocked by the bench leg and could only stop to adjust his route.

"Just because it can get through doesn't mean you can," Xie Yue said.

"Move the bench another half foot outward," Ghost said.

The two of them shifted it together, and the corner finally allowed someone in long robes to pass normally.

When the first empty class was over, three changes had been added to the venue map: a storage rack by the door, curtains divided into left and right panels, and benches moved outward by half a foot. Not one of the twenty chairs the main arena instructor had prepared was brought in.

"The three instructors alone take up half the spots," Bibi Dong said, looking at the list.

"The first class will only take three groups," Hu Liena said. "Once the roles are stable, one person will lead while the other two rotate."

"Fine."

"What about the class name?" the venue instructor asked. "Should it be the Papal Hall Partnering Demonstration Class?"

Before the three could answer, Xia Che's voice came from the Rotom communicator. "Too long."

Bibi Dong looked toward the sounding device. "I thought you didn't come?"

"Rotom brought me past."

The terminal flew to Hu Liena's hand. Only the five words Basic Partnering Class remained on the screen.

"That will do," Bibi Dong said.

Yue Guan's gold-border suggestion failed to see use once again.

Before returning to the shop, Yan took Magby through its first circuit around the padded posts after recovery.

There was no timing and no fire. Magby followed his steps around the six padded posts and stopped by itself before the stop line. After finishing the route, it went to drink water, then sat on the rest mat for a full quarter hour.

Yan put away the training wristband. "That's enough for today."

Magby did not ask for a second round. It only pushed the empty water bowl toward him.

The three rotating instructor plaques were hung in the lounge. Xia Che's name did not appear on a fourth plaque.

He only wrote one sentence on the back of the venue map they had brought back: Move the water bowl beneath the window another half foot inward.

After Hu Liena finished reading it, she rolled up the map again. "Does this count as consulting?"

"Counts as passing by," Xia Che said.

Bibi Dong raised her teacup and did not expose him.