Kalistra's Accumen

Maisen dragged my hand for another block before she finally released me. However, she kept her hard-charging pace and I tried my best to keep up with her.

When we came within sight of the two stone statues marking the entrance to the dojo, I became anxious. After all, it was the first time I was returning to the school since I left for quarantine yesterday afternoon. It was the site of my greatest triumph (so far) as a swordsman when I had defeated Ebenthal, the wererat leader, in mortal combat inside a tunnel right under the dojo. I took a deep breath and slowly walked past the two inanimate guardians and the heavy door left open by my companion.

"What took you so long?" Maisen smirked as she belatedly closed the door behind me.

I ignored the wisecrack as I looked around the courtyard. I saw that the big hole in the middle of the yard was being filled with a combination of rocks and dirt; commoners were shuffling the material from a huge pile of rocks and dirt onto wheel barrels and bringing them into the underground. "Why are we filling the tunnels manually?" I wondered aloud.

"How else are we going to do it cheaply?" someone blurted from my left.

Recognizing the light feminine voice, I turned and saw Kalistra!

She rolled her large, pale green eyes at me and her whiskers twitched.

My eyes immediately ascended from her eyes to the cat girl's forehead. Yup, she still had the scar of the cross on her forehead. The petite girl had received the wound when I pressed my truth stone against Kalistra's head in order to remove her berserker condition during the wererat invasion of the dojo.

Kalistra's eyes narrowed when she saw where I was looking and hissed at me. Without warning, she jabbed a claw into my right shoulder—at the very spot that Ebenthal had stabbed me on the street a few days earlier.

"Augh!" I blurted out loud in pain. I mentally pushed aside the pop-up, relegating it to the large stack of notifications that I will need to read through shortly. As I massaged the wounded area with my left hand, Kalistra pouted, "Stop being a baby! Just be glad that I didn't instant-kill you."

The Watch captain had observed our interaction with amusement. Finally, she raised her hand to interrupt us. "The Grandmaster had mentioned that he taught Lawrence two sword techniques prior to Lawrence's participation in the Were-Hunt. That means our dojo's most famous pupil had leveled up a few times and raised his health too. I doubt you can instant-kill him now." She wagged an index finger at the heir to the dojo.

Kalistra's eyes glowed at the challenge. "Care to make a bet?" she growled menacingly.

Maisen held her hand up to her chin as if she was carefully considering the wager. "I would if I wasn't the Captain of the Watch and Lawrence wasn't under my command at the moment," she shrugged. "And since he is officially a member of the Church of Britannia, the church wouldn't look too kindly if you kill one of their own," she reminded the cat girl.

In response, Kalistra turned her face sharply away from me and sulked.

Suddenly, Kalistro appeared among us. "Kalistra, didn't you want to say something else to your savior?" her father prodded gently.

Maisen and I were taken aback by the Grandmaster's presence. It was as if he had appeared out of thin air! He managed to sneak up on us like a leopard on the prowl while masking any hint of his approach. We immediately bowed deeply to him.

Kalistro nodded slightly. "Well?" he asked again.

"Thank you for saving me," Kalistra mumbled while keeping her face away from my direction.

"I'm sorry you were scarred as a result," I replied.

Playing the role of peacemaker, Maisen patted our backs gently. "Better to be scarred than dead, right?" she grinned.

"Exactly," Kalistro agreed. "You fought bravely against the were-pack, Kalistra, and you should not be ashamed of the scar. It's a badge of Honor."

At the unexpected praise from her father, Kalistra finally turned to face me. She looked at me shyly while her tail dangled in the air. Feeling generous, she decided to answer my original question. "You asked about using the town folk to manually fill the holes under our dojo. Grandmaster gave me the responsibility to decide how to deal with the underground lair, and I made the decision to use manual labor for two reasons. First, the were-pack caused a lot of damage to both merchandise and the push carts in the marketplace, and many merchants had lost their livelihoods as a result. Therefore, I made a conscious effort to hire them for this project and help them rebuild their lives with the coinage earned from the work. Second, while it would be faster to hire an Earth Mage to fill up the tunnels, it would also be extremely expensive to do so. Frankly, I'm not confident that our coffers will cover the bill, especially if the underground tunnels are as extensive as some of the Watchmen have suggested. The job may require several mages and the coins we pay them will be spent elsewhere rather than recirculated back in Tregome. In the end, I thought to hire the town people to work for us was the better choice," she explained her decision at length.

I listened carefully to Kalistra's explanation and I couldn't find any fault with it. While the hole in the courtyard would be filled faster if the work was done by a few mages, taking longer to complete the task wasn't detrimental to the dojo. It was an inconvenience to the pupils at best. But offering to help those adversely affected by the were-pack invasion in this manner would generate an immense amount of goodwill from the commoners. It was a surprisingly enlightened decision from this cat girl and very well thought out. Honestly, I didn't think Kalistra had it in her to think so deeply on what was essentially a business decision.

Kalistra must have noticed the dubious look on my face because she hissed at me. "I'm not just good with a sword, you know," she growled. "I am also smart," the cat girl preened proudly at her rather self-serving pronouncement.

Dang! How did she know what I was thinking? I quickly offered my open palms in defense. "I was thinking that you have great business acumen. If I ever decide to start a business or trade in town, I know who to ask for advice," I said.

Kalistro cleared his throat loudly. "Why are you two here?" the cat man asked helpfully to change the direction of the topic. "How may I help the Watch and the Church?" he surmised.

Maisen and I exchanged guilty glances before the captain spoke up. "Bishop Canterbury seeks permission to borrow your student this afternoon to patrol the streets of Tregome," she announced.

The cat man looked at us for a moment to consider the request and its hidden meaning. Kalistro uncovered it in just a few seconds. "His Eminence is afraid that there may be some wererats remaining in town," he said quietly.

His daughter's eyes gleamed at the possibility. Her tail started whipping back and forth in excitement. Apparently, her bloodlust wasn't sated from yesterday's fighting.

Kalistro reached out and put his hand on her shoulder to calm his daughter. "Kalistra, you don't want to risk transforming into a berserker while in town and have our friends and neighbors think that you turned into a monster," he cautioned her.

The daughter's ears flattened at his words. Kalistra realized that the already skittish commoners would treat her as a pariah if they ever knew her secret. "Yes, papa," she pouted while turning her head.

The father studied Kalistra for a moment and sighed. Kalistro turned his attention back to his former pupil. "The bishop is wise to be cautious. The wererats are devious and it is possible that Ebenthal ordered some of his pack to remain hidden within Tregome and secretly try to turn our good people to regrow their pack. Very well. I give permission for Lawrence to join your patrol," the Grandmaster agreed.

Maisen bowed deeply.

The cat man then turned to face me. "Lawrence, we have some important matters to discuss. Whenever you're finished patrolling with The Watch today, I want you to come back to the dojo," he ordered.

"Yes, Grandmaster." I bowed deeply.

"I will personally escort him back to the dojo," Maisen reassured the Kalistro.

Suddenly, a sharp knock on the door interrupted our conversation.

Maisen quickly walked over to the heavy doors and opened them. Standing in front of her were Sankryn and Giudot. She noted, with approval, that the two men were wearing light chain mail armor, rather than their heavy and clunky bronze mail. The captain turned her head back to me. "Lawrence, it's time."

I offered the Grandmaster and the Master a quick bow and hurried over to rejoin The Watch.