002: Return
002: Return
Ember had considered jumping out of the window, but, on second thought, he decided to take the more civil route and make his way back down the stairs. It wasn't that he feared the height; he could easily have made the leap or climbed down by scaling the wall. However, he would appear more of a thief if anyone noticed him. It was broad daylight, and he was unsure what he would say if someone spotted him.
It did not take him long to realise it would be best to simply walk out like a normal person, as if nothing had happened. On his way, a couple of attendants asked if he needed anything, but Ember waved them off and kept walking; no one stopped him to ask further questions. There were dozens of people in the lobby, mostly Ascendant crowds, but they seemed to keep to themselves, ignoring him completely.
Finally, after stepping out under the open sky, he let out a heavy breath and sauntered off, choosing a direction at random.
Before returning to the camp, he decided to go on a shopping spree since he was unlikely to get an opportunity later. The first thing he did was exchange half his beast cores for iron crowns. Ascendant exchanges always ran on a straightforward conversion rate, so there was no room for haggling or getting scammed. After getting himself a total of 920 iron crowns, Ember rushed from shop to shop looking for gifts for his siblings and mother.
He didn't go for anything too expensive. Even after the exchange, his wealth was barely enough to get something useful for Rain, while his two little toddlers were too young to need anything extravagant. He mostly bought dresses for everyone, a size or two larger for his siblings, thinking they might have grown taller by now.
He knew it was a silly thought, but Ember felt as though he hadn't seen them in a long, long time, despite the whole expedition spanning no more than a month.
After finally treating himself to some fresh-baked goods from a bakery, Ember decided to head back to his group. As far as he knew, the official end date of the expedition was still a couple of days off, so there should still be people at their camp outside the hunting zone.
It appeared the instructors had already gathered up all the academy's prospects. The camp looked as packed as when they had first arrived, only a little worse for wear. The plebes trained, splitting into groups, a great many of them were spread across the expanse, busy with idle talk. None of them seemed to notice his arrival, but Ember did have to provide his academy ID to enter, which proved to be of no inconvenience.