Fleeing from a burning watchpost leaves a bitter taste in the mouths of the novices, but what else can they do? A small altercation in the forest to their right proves too intriguing to ignore.

Leaving a sleeping Lance in the cart to be guarded by Quercus, Pimur and Amena sneak into the woods to seek the source of the gunshot. They find a man bleeding from a musket wound, and no gunman in sight.