Victoria added ingredients to a soup she was making, cutting some of them, mashing seeds into bits, and stirring as they boiled. The smell flew out right of the dark pot and found itself almost knocking on the triangular doors to the various rooms around the hut. "Jyuzou, Morio!" she raised her voice. "The food's almost ready!"

"Morio isn't home!" Jyuzou yelled back.

"Huh." Victoria turned around, sitting up on the table. "Can't you go find him for me? I don't want it to go cold."

Jyuzou sighed, put down the red book and looked at its cover and title. 'Wonder Flora.', written and signed by Martin Baron. He looked at the scribbles in his journal, detailing the things he found around Mistwick.

Shimori was full of different plants and flowers that he didn't see, however. Preemptively, he left a few empty pages in the middle, even though he wasn't sure if they'd be filled. He could try and recreate what was in the Wonder Flora, but where would be the fun in that? He fixed his glasses and eventually stood up.

The Morian stepped out of the room he shared with Morio and moved towards the door, lazily putting on his usual purple coat. As he reached for the doorknob, Morio flung the door open.

"Jyuzou! I got an idea!" Morio yelled out.

Victoria stuck her head out. "Save it for later, then! You have to eat dinner!"

"Huh?" Jyuzou raised a brow.

"Let's compete on who collects the most jile-wood for the ceremony!" Morio jumped up. "As we did once last year!"

"Um. I-" Jyuzou scratched his head.

"Did you not hear me, Morio?" Victoria squinted her eyes, crossing her arms.

"Ah, sorry! Of course, Mrs Victoria! We will eat first! Come on, Jyuzou!" Morio pushed him towards the round table.

"Morio," Jyuzou whispered, sitting down. "Aren't the younger ones supposed to take care of that? You're still on about that every time, even when everyone else said otherwise..."

"Didn't you want to win? Come on, Jyuzou! It'll be fun, pinky promise!" Morio shook his head, as Victoria put down two wooden bowls in front of the boys and one on the other side of the table. She sat down and breathed out, stretching her arms.

"In a fight, I at least have a chance to discover a new flower because of your ridiculous antics," Jyuzou asked. "I don't know what's so fun about collecting jile-wood."

"Why do you have to be so negative? I'm trying to make things work out for your stupid plant thing, glassy idiot!"

Victoria rolled her eyes. "So much work," she muttered, digging in.

Jyuzou sighed. "I'll pass, thank you very much."

The three began eating in relative silence. After a while, however, halfway through Morio's meal, he tapped Jyuzou's elbow twice, annoying him.

"What?!" he uttered, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Please!" Morio said, with some of the soup still in his mouth, and stuffing in more with a spoon.

"No," Jyuzou stated. "I still have to finish my entry on the Stem flower."

"It will be fun!"

"Grow up already, won't you?" Jyuzou asked, and Morio's expression immediately shifted, from a prominent smile to a rather confused frown. "Only kids would be f-foolish enough to enjoy physical labour."

"Jyuzou," Victoria growled, putting both of her hands on the table.

"But." Morio wanted to say something but simply looked down. "Like good old times..?"

"Good old fun and stuff... why can't you act your role for once? You're setting out to the damned Demonear exam tomorrow, and you barely have anything to prove for that? Even an ounce of s-seriousness, damn it!"

"What's so bad about that, though?" Morio asked. "Mr Bancho said it'd be a nice thing f-for me to ask you and-"

"Ugh!" Jyuzou turned to the side. "You think Mr Bancho can solve all of your problems? You can't even do basic things without asking others for help! You wanna become a Demonear with that?"

"Jyuzou. Enough." Victoria stated, in a serious tone.

Morio stared at him for a longer second, gasping. His eyes shrunk, and his expression shifted into a thick frown.

"You know it too, Victoria!" Jyuzou raised his voice. "That's just how he-"

Suddenly, the white-haired Morian stood up, and the empty bowl fell to the ground. He quickly opened the door, stepped out and shut it.

Jyuzou folded his arms with a loud sigh, rolling his eyes.

"Jyuzou! Damn it!" Victoria yelled out, smashing the table with her fist. "What's with you today?"

The boy ground his teeth.

"I know he's different than you, but that's no reason to act all mighty about yourself!" Victoria said, standing up.

"He's just not ready for it all!" Jyuzou answered, huffing.

"Why don't you show him the ropes, then?" she asked, standing up and putting the two bowls into some water. "If you're all so smart and... knowledgable." she breathed out.

"What?"

"I know how children behave, and most importantly, I know you, Jyuzou." she looked out the window, sighing. "You're a child too."

"I just want him to grow up, nothing else. For e-everyone's sake." Jyuzou said, scratching his nose.

Instinctively, he reached out for the wooden spoon on the side, and when it reached his fingers, a small splinter found itself permeating through his skin.

"Ow... ow..." he cried out. "It hurts..!"

"Oh, Shin." Victoria shook her head, quickly wrapping a small cloth around Jyuzou's finger, as he kept weeping. "You're not much more mature than him, you know?" she continued.

"Hey! I-It's a s-serious wound!"

"Sure."

So, over this little argument, Morio spent these next few hours swinging his stone sword against the trees around Mistwick, instead of doing what Bancho asked him to. After a while, Victoria went out to search for him, but when their eyes met, even for a moment, Morio jolted elsewhere. After a few times, she gave up and went back to prepare food for the ceremony, catching up with Bancho, and telling him all about their rather insignificant quarrel.

The sun finally set, the fires were lit up and the ceremony has begun, without as big of a blast as last year's. Fewer people danced, played on the guitars and showed up, to begin with, despite what Bancho entailed. The night lights were not reflected as strongly on the surface of the river, but the few devoted Morians still managed to share a small smile and have a chat about recent events.

Morio sat near the fire, with his back pressed against a thicker snowdrift near a bush. Bancho glanced at him from time to time, before returning to the stories he was to tell the other children.

Jyuzou eventually dragged himself out of the house, after a small nap under the book's pages and a few thoughts circulating back and forth. He treaded through the thick snow and stopped only when his finger hurt again.

"Stupid wound," Jyuzou muttered, grinding his teeth. He looked at the cloth, as it got tainted in fresh blood, atop the one that dried out. He began walking again before a sound came from the front.

He swore he saw something in the deep shadows behind a few of the huts leading towards the ceremony.

The Morian stepped back, fearful.

"H-Hello?" he raised his voice, glancing out from the side. Nothing responded. Uneased, he gulped, before almost feeling a strange breath going down his neck.

Eventually, though, he ground his teeth, and moved forward, with nothing halting his tread. He convinced himself that it must've been his imagination and the result of just waking up from a small nap.

He shook his head and continued through.

***

After a while and a few of the cheers Morio managed to hush out, Bancho sat right next to the Morian, staring at the same fire. He didn't add a word and reached for something in his pocket. "I heard from Victoria. You okay, Morio?"

"You're not Mama. Why do you care for me so much?"

"Why shouldn't I? A friend cares for a friend, I'd say." he cleared his throat. "Especially in that Demonear world. You don't expect to be there all by yourself."

Morio opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

Bancho shrugged and eventually put the unearthed thaduk near his mouth.

A light melody flew out of its pipes and filled the entire area with a clear sound. Morians put down their guitars, the others stopped dancing, and everyone focused on the calm moment.

Bancho closed his eyes, sinking into the music, and Morio breathed out, curiously. The piece he played was one that he learnt, titled 'Grandfather Shin'.

The colours of the sky shined brighter than before. Green, blue, turning into red at times, illuminating the snowy lands. Morians around town who heard the tune stopped for a moment and gazed up, feeling a strange blessing passing through their bodies. One, signifying a peace that already existed, combined with a mellow sadness of the things that were going to come, or leave, for that matter.

After three minutes, Bancho stopped, putting the thaduk back into his pocket. The Morians simply shared a smile.

"Consider this a song I played for the last ceremony before you leave," Bancho said, putting his hand on Morio's shoulder.

"Thank you," Morio said, grinning a little.

The guitars sounded again, and Morians gathered around the fire, dancing. Some threw their Metho seeds into the passing river which flew from the Whiteburn and Blackpond Mountains, with the melody still ringing in their ears.

Bancho stood up, heading towards the chair he always sat on, now taken by one of the rather mischievous young Morians.

Morio stared at him for a while, before a strange feeling overcame him. He felt a slight headache, combined with dizziness and a blur to his gaze.

Bancho snickered at a joke or two told by the Morians, but his eyes eventually drifted back to the white-haired, a few metres away.

Morio ground his teeth, putting his hand on his forehead and Bancho furrowed his brows, attentively.

Then, a loud noise came right from the upside of the river. It resembled a high-pitched howl, followed by something being slashed through. Every Morian present turned their heads towards the nearby hill, spotting nothing in particular.

Chatter quickly ensued, the melodies quieted down, and even Jyuzou, who found himself only a few huts away, turned in concern.

Bancho slowly walked up to Morio and helped him stand up.

"Follow me," he whispered.

"Ah." Morio shook his head, breathing in. "W-What was that noise?" he whispered.

Bancho shushed him, as the few other Morians began to nervously ask questions. A few came to an answer that one of those ice wolves must've found themselves lost in the Uvo Forest, and even though a few doubts rose here and there, the melodies were resumed.

The old Morian nodded to the others, mentioning that he'd go check on the commotion from the outside. However, grasping Morio's hand, the steps they took led to nothing but the nearby Uvo Forest.

"Where are we going, Mr Bancho?" Morio kept asking, but he didn't answer. Each road they took seemed to point towards only one conclusion.

Finally, they arrived at Bancho's tree house. The others quickly opened the door, almost pushing Morio inside and then closing it from the inside. Morio put down his coat, threw it onto the bed, and walked up the stairs.

"Mr Bancho! Mr Bancho?!" Morio yelled. "D-Did I do something wrong? Why did we leave?"

"Morio, come upstairs." Bancho peeked his head out from above. Morio gulped, before nodding, and quickly running up.

The old Morian stepped out to a balcony area, blowing out the candle that stood on the table. Putting his hands on the thick logs serving as railings, he stared past the hills and meadows, and focused on a thick forest, right above the hill the river went through.

He breathed out, before sitting down and rubbing the sweat off his face. "Sit down please." he pointed, as Morio took the opposite seat, putting his hands to the side.

"What's happening?" he quickly asked, with a frown. "Wasn't that just an ice wolf?"

"If it was Jyuzou here, he'd panic a little more. Ice wolves don't howl, Morio" he breathed in.

"Ah." Morio breathed in, with his eyes shrinking.

Bancho breathed out, nervously searching for a seed inside one of his pockets. Putting it on the small tray next to the candle, he lit up its end, before glancing right at Morio.

"It was a demon."

"A..." Morio blinked. "A d-demon?" he asked, terrified.

"I'm afraid so." Bancho glanced down.

"Oh, no." Morio shook his head, putting his hands on his face. "W-We have to go back there and tell the Morians to hide! Mr Bancho!"

"Morio, shh. I don't want to cause a stir. It won't attack us, I'm sure of it."

The young Morian gulped. "But Mama..." he looked into Bancho's eyes, which seemed to wander all over the place. "She's still because of that demon! This can't happen to anyone else!"

Bancho pressed his finger against Morio's mouth. He listened in on the sounds of the ceremony and then focused on the distant Uvo Forest.

The sounds of the frosty winds soon arrived, combined with the same snow moving through the thick leaves of the mentioned copses.

"For all the years I've lived, I made sure to keep the town of Mistwick as safe as I possibly could," Bancho uttered. "It was that one chance I had. Demons don't attack people who don't have any fear they could exploit. If everyone here convinced themselves that something like this could've happened again, Mistwick would lose that certain flare." he stood up, looking at Mistwick from above. "I want to keep it that way. There's no other place in Errarion like this, Morio."

"Mama wasn't afraid of anything," Morio muttered.

Bancho turned to Morio. "She didn't have to be afraid, Morio."

"Then, what else?"

"Exactly the answer I've been seeking for the past year." Bancho shook his head. "Yet, to no avail."

"What?"

Bancho closed his eyes, before moving back. "This isn't a conversation we should be having on the balcony." Bancho stepped inside, closing the door and signalling for Morio to come.