As Victoria mashed seeds into bits, stirring as they boiled, the soup's smell flew out of the dark pot and almost knocked 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, sitting up on the table. "Can't you go find him for me? I don't want it to go cold."

Jyuzou sighed, putting down the red book and glancing at its cover.

'Wonder Flora, ' written and signed by Martin Baron.

He looked at the scribbles in his journal, detailing what he found around Mistwick. After all, Shimori was full of plants and flowers he had yet to see. He left a few empty pages in the middle, even though he wasn't sure if they'd be filled. Moving away from those thoughts, he finally fixed his glasses and stood up.

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

"Jyuzou! I got an idea!"

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

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." 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, yanking his hand.

"Aren't the younger ones supposed to take care of that?" Jyuzou whispered, sitting down.

"Come on, Jyuzou! It'll be fun, pinky promise!" Morio shook his head as Victoria put three wooden bowls down. She breathed out, stretching her arms, finally taking a seat opposite to the boys.

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

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, and then some, before the other retaliated.

"What?!"

"Please!" Morio said, with 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.

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

Morio wanted to say something, but looked down. "But it'd be like good old times."

"You're setting out for the damned Demonear exam, and you barely have anything to prove your b-brawn."

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

"You think Mr Bancho can solve all of your problems? You wanna become all so strong with that?"

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

Morio stared at him for a longer second, gasping. His eyes shrank, 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. He flung open the door, leaving with a loud thud.

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

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

The boy ground his teeth.

"Just because he's not like you doesn't mean you get to act all high and mighty about yourself."

"He's just not ready!"

"Why don't you show him the ropes, then?" she asked, washing the bowls clean. "If you're all so smart and... knowledgeable."

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

"Oh, Shin." Victoria shook her head, wrapping some small cloth around his finger, as he kept weeping. "You're not much more mature than him, you know?"

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

***

Afterwards, Morio spent the next few hours swinging his stone sword against the trees of Mistwick, instead of doing what Bancho asked him to.

Victoria went out to search for him, but when their eyes met, even for a moment, Morio jolted elsewhere. She gave up without much of a fight and went back to prepare food for the ceremony, catching up with Bancho to tell him about their insignificant quarrel.

After the sunset, fires were lit up, and the ceremony began, without as big a blast as last year's. Fewer people showed up, despite what Bancho entailed. The night lights didn't reflect off the surrounding rivers as strongly, but the few devoted Morians still managed to share a smile and chat about recent events, placed either on cut logs or piling blankets atop the thick snow.

Morio eventually wound up near the fire, with his back pressed against a thicker snowdrift. Bancho glanced at him from time to time, before returning to the stories he was to tell.

Jyuzou eventually dragged himself out of the house as well, after a small nap and a few thoughts circulating back and forth. He trudged through and stopped only when his finger ached again.

"Stupid wound," He muttered, grinding his teeth. The Morian trod again before a sound alerted him.

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

"H-Hello?" he raised his voice, glancing from the side. Nothing responded. Uneased, he gulped before feeling a strange surge of stress moving down his neck.

Eventually, though, he moved forward. He convinced himself that it must've been his imagination and perhaps some of the words he haphazardly uttered.

After a few cheers, Morio managed to hush out. Bancho sat next to the Morian, staring at the same fire, reaching for something in his pocket. "You okay, Morio?"

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

"Do I have to be family to care?" he cleared his throat. "You don't expect to be there all by yourself. Especially in that Demonear world."

Morio opened his mouth. He wanted to spout and repeat Jyuzou's words, but nothing came out.

Bancho shrugged and put the unearthed thaduk in his mouth.

A light melody flew out of its pipes and filled the area with a clear sound, 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 had learnt, titled 'Grandfather Shin'.

The colours of the sky shone brighter than before. Green, blue, turning into red at times, illuminating the snowy lands. Morians around town who heard the tune 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 minutes, Bancho stopped, putting the instrument back into his pocket. The Morians 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,"

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 his chair, now taken by one of the rather mischievous young Morians.

Morio stared at him for a while before something strange overcame him. He felt a slight headache, combined with dizziness and a blur to his gaze. His grip around the emblem strengthened.

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.

Then, a loud noise came right from the top 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.

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

The older Morian shushed him before turning to the Morians.

"Ice wolves," he answered. "Must've found themselves lost in the Uvo Forest."

"Really?" a Morian mother asked, as her son hid behind her thick robes. "At the end of Yule?"

"Not the first time we've seen these," he chuckled. "Certainly not the last."

Even though a few doubts rose here and there, the melodies were resumed.

The old Morian nodded to the others, mentioning that he'd check on the commotion. However, grasping Morio's hand, their steps led to nothing of the sort.

"Where are we going?" Morio asked.

Sooner or later, they arrived at Bancho's tree house. The other opened the door, almost pushing the white-haired inside. Morio flung his coat off, throwing it onto the bed, watching as Bancho ascended the stairs without answering his earlier question.

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

Bancho peeked his head out from above, signalling with his hand to follow. Morio gulped before nodding, quickly running up.

The old Morian stepped out to a balcony area, lighting a pillar-like 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, above the hill, where the river went through.

He breathed out before rubbing the sweat off his face. "Sit down, please."

"What's happening?" the boy asked, with a frown. "You said it was an ice wolf."

"Ice wolves don't howl, Morio," he added. "If it were Jyuzou here, he'd panic."

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

"It was a demon."

"A..." Morio blinked. "A d-demon?"

"I'm afraid so."

Morio shook his head, putting his hands on his face. "W-We have to go back there and tell the Morians to hide!"

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

"But... Mama..." he looked into Bancho's eyes, which seemed to wander all over the place, dismissively. "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 frosty winds arrived, moving through the thick leaves of the mentioned copses.

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

The younger one gulped.

"Mama wasn't afraid of anything,"

"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.

"What?"

Bancho closed his eyes before moving back. "This isn't a conversation we should be having on the balcony."