Despite the sun’s best efforts, the cold wind made the students of Phoenix shudder as they left the confines of their transport. It was still early in the afternoon, but the winter clouds had greyed and were rolling in with an ominous warning of a frosty night.

The man standing before them wore clothes that Yuuji knew well, as his cassock was neat and fit with a clerical collar. He was old and wrinkled, but he had an approachable smile and he seemed quite able in his movements.

“Hello everyone, I am Reverend Thomas, and I’d like to welcome you to our little village of Marlbourne. It isn’t much, but we make do with what we have here, and we appreciate you coming all this way for our sakes.”

Conrad approached the man and began to discuss the minutia of their stay, before returning with a pensive expression.

“The situation is a little… complicated. For tonight we’ll just be settling in before it gets dark, and you’ll be split into three groups to stay in the vicarage, the nearby public house, and a local guest house respectively.”

He scratched his cheek as he watched the students quickly look around to locate their nearby friends, and sighed lightly.

“For the sake of time and to avoid any arguments, I’m assigning you randomly.”

Everyone let out a collective groan and resigned themselves to their fate.

******

Yuuji looked around with interest as he entered through the front door of the building. The layout wasn’t too different to what he had been used to when living in the church previously, and he smiled at the familiarity. The smooth stone walls seemed cold and bare from the outside, but the thick, sturdy surfaces gave the interior a cosy feeling, and the house had been well-insulated to stave off the surrounding chill.

The vicarage he was assigned to was a surprisingly large building, and he was taken aback when he learned that Reverend Thomas didn’t actually live there himself, but had instead moved out and lived alone in a small room in the church - similar to his own past situation.

“I have a connection! Ah-! It’s gone! No… it’s back!”

Ji-Hye was waving her phone around desperately, as her mood swung violently back and forth depending on the level of internet access she had.

“Humu. This must be a challenge by the dark ones to test my vigilance. I’ve long come to terms with the light, a place such as this will not harm me!”

Strolling through the door as if she owned the place came Claire, likely secretly delighted that she had been selected for the one location that arguably had a spiritual background out of the three. Yuuji did silently wonder whether she’d find some mysterious point about the pub or guest house if she was told to stay there instead, but he decided some things were best not knowing.

“The three bedrooms are all upstairs. I hope you two girls don’t mind sharing a room, these houses don’t have a whole lot of space after all.”
“Myself and Ji-Hye? I have no issue tolerating her presence within mine abode.”
“Which room? Over here? Two bars!? One bar!?”
“...Thank you for your hospitality, Reverend Thomas. They’ll be fine in a room together I’m sure.”
“Hoho, it’ll be nice to have some liveliness back in this place. Make yourselves at home.”

The old man smiled as he watched the two hopeless girls mutter total nonsense, and Yuuji felt his face cramp slightly in secondhand embarrassment. Ji-Hye’s behaviour he was used to, but having to deal with Claire as well would throw another spanner in the works, and he felt his chance at a peaceful rest slowly dripping away.

Though, there was one more thing he hadn’t expected.

“I am grateful, Mr Thomas. Thank you for lending us your home.”
“To imagine, little Gale all grown up. If only your parents could see you now.”
“It’s nice to be back, even for just a while.”

Gale gave a polite bow, and Reverend Thomas smiled in return. There was a hint of sadness in his eyes as he looked at her, but he quickly excused himself to allow the four of them to settle in properly.

At first, Yuuji had expected Gale to have her own sleeping arrangements separate from the Phoenix students, but once they arrived in the village she was warmly greeted by the residents, who welcomed her back home. After seeing the old man off, she turned to Yuuji, who wore an inquisitive look on his face.

“I wasn’t born in Marlbourne, but in a small hamlet not far from here. I don’t have many memories of before the Cataclysm so I don’t know what it was like, but my home was abandoned when the surrounding areas all joined together here, and from the remnants of so many different lives, Marlbourne was created.”

It was a common story among his peers.

The Cataclysm had thrown the world into disarray, so for many their life before was almost nonexistent once the dust had settled, and they had been reborn into new people. Those that survived formed new relationships, new families, new communities - and did their best to move on from what was lost.

“It seems you’re well loved here.”
“Marlbourne is my memory of everything sweet and pure. The moment I heard it was in trouble I knew I couldn’t sit back, even if it is strange for a Premiere Knight to respond to such a task.”

Premiere Knight.

She had introduced herself as such, and it was a term Yuuji was familiar with. When Britain reformed its government in the aftermath of the Cataclysm, a new branch of the Ministry of Defence was created to combat the demons, and the Premiere Knights were the highest-ranking individuals in their number. There were less than 20 across the Isles as a whole, so it was his first time meeting one, though he was well aware of their achievements from his time working with lesser-ranked demon hunters in his past.

Gale looked to be part of the Golden Generation as well, judging from her features and the way she spoke of her childhood. He couldn’t quite tell if she was older than him or not, as she carried herself with a mature air that contrasted her youthful beauty.

“I can’t help but feel a little envious.”

Yuuji smiled wryly as he thought back to his past. It was bitter and petty, but for some reason he just couldn’t bite his tongue after seeing the reception she received, and how he had always dreamed of having a home of his own to return to. He knew things had changed, but there was turbulence deep within his heart from revisiting a place he once lived, and seeing it laid out so clearly with Gale caused a discomfort he was struggling to contain.

“Of me? I’m not sure I understand, but I’m flattered nonetheless to hear that from you of all people.”
“...Have we met before?”

She seemed the type to leave quite an impression, so he felt sure it was the first time he had ever seen her, though it sounded as if she knew him well. Gale let out a soothing chuckle at his surprise, and smiled widely at him.

“Unfortunately not. But I have met plenty of trainee knights that spoke very highly of the grandson of Ishitake Shinichirou. Many even claim they owe you their lives, Reaper.”

Yuuji exhaled softly as he glanced up the stairs to check on the other two girls. Seeing that they were loudly chatting in their new room without a care in the world, he turned back.

“Here, I’m just Yuuji.”
“I see… My apologies if I’ve spoken out of line. It wasn’t my intention.”
“Some of them know, and others may have heard bits and pieces. But I decided that isn’t who I want to be anymore.”

Gale made a difficult expression for a moment, but soon nodded her head. After reaching an understanding, the two of them headed upstairs to join the others, and sort out their own sleeping arrangements.

They weren’t planning on staying for long, so nobody had brought an extensive amount of luggage, but it was still nice to get a feel for the room they’d be sleeping in while in a foreign country. After a short while, the four of them rejoined in the hallway and headed out towards the village pub for a full briefing as requested by Conrad.

******

“Ahh, looks like the last group has arrived, and with that, we’re all here. No issues in the vicarage, I assume?”
“The interne-”
“-No. No sir, everything is fine.”

Conrad rubbed his temples slightly, then decided to move on as if he hadn’t heard anything out of the ordinary, and ignored Yuuji fighting to keep Ji-Hye’s mouth shut.

The pub’s interior was rustic, mostly comprised of thick wooden beams and large chunks of stone mortared together, but the soft carpeted floor and warm lighting made it quite relaxing to be inside. It wasn’t hard to imagine groups of friends crowding around tables with drinks in hand on a busy day, but tonight they were the only ones inside the large room.

“As you know, we’re here to investigate sightings of a wraith. There’s… a slight issue that’s arisen, which will make the investigation a bit more troublesome. Gale, I don’t want to single you out, but are you aware of the situation already?”

Gale’s eyebrows furrowed, and she nodded solemnly.

“I see. To fill you all in, there seem to be villagers saying that this isn’t just an ordinary wraith, but instead it is the ghost of a young woman who passed away last year.”

An uncomfortable silence fell over the room. Demon investigations were serious business, but until this point the laid-back atmosphere of the village made it feel like the threat was nonexistent, but an eerie undertone had begun to seep through the cracks.

“This alone is problematic. But from here is where the real issue begins.”

Conrad produced a handwritten slip of paper from his pocket. He skimmed over it once more, before continuing on with his explanation.

“A rainstorm caused the river to swell, and she was swept away by the rapids. The reason they say that the wraith is her ghost is because it has only appeared on nights when it rained heavily.”

For many, they would have hoped that the man was telling them a made-up ghost story just to scare them, but the reality was not so kind. They were here to discover the truth of this very tale, and from what they had each seen in the past, it wasn’t difficult to believe.

“It isn’t forecast to rain tonight or tomorrow, but keep an eye out either way. Ghosts are still a largely unknown class of greater demon, but from what we can tell, they often have very specific agendas, and discovering these are critical to eliminating them. Information gathering will begin in full force tomorrow morning, but try to get some rest tonight and recover from your journey.”

He looked across at the faces of his students, many of whom now felt the hairs on the back of their necks on edge. With one final look at his second in command Aoi, she nodded, and he spoke calmly once again.

“That is all. You are dismissed.”