"Hands under the rail!"
Brina’s voice came from somewhere.
"You two, beside me. Lift when I do."
Boots stopped on either side. Brina crouched beside Sung-Il and slid her good shoulder beneath the iron. Two Guild members took hold of the rail, one on each side of her. A third stepped in behind Sung-Il, ready to pull him clear.
"Now."
They lifted.
The gate rose so quickly that Sung-Il nearly fell sideways. Brina straightened without a grunt. The two men lifted with her, and suddenly there was enough room above his head for him to stand.
The third Guild member caught him under the arms and pulled him backward into the court. Six-Ears released his shirt and hopped out of the way.
"Hold it there," Renn’s partner called.
He pushed the iron bar through the wheel and its fixed frame. The demonstration worker brought the waiting timber beam forward, and a guild member helped him stand it beneath the gate. Brina and the other two lowered the rail onto it.
The beam held. Renn checked the locking bar before releasing the brake.
Sung-Il sat on the paving and stared at Brina.
She had lifted it as though someone had asked her to move a table.
"You could have come earlier," he said weakly.
Brina came straight over.
"I heard you from the square. They were leaving headquarters when I ran past."
She nodded toward the Guild members. One was already helping Renn sit down. Another went to the cart driver.
"Can you stand?"
"I’ve lost interest."
She and the man who had pulled him free helped him onto a crate beside the pie stall.
[STAMINA RESERVE DEPLETED]
"Yes. I was there."
Six-Ears followed him to the crate. It bumped its head against his ankle, giving him one final push, then sat on his boot. Its sides moved quickly from all the effort.
Sung-Il rubbed the rabbit’s head with the back of his hand.
"You’re terrible at lifting."
Six-Ears leaned against his ankle and closed its eyes.
"But thank you."
Brina checked his shoulders before examining the blood spreading through his palm dressings.
"The healer’s coming," the pie seller told her. "My boy went when the cart tipped."
The pie seller helped Lyra sit nearby and settled Lani back in her lap. Around them, the workers were making the entrance safe. The men at the cart lowered it once the passage was clear, and another worker checked its driver, who sat against the post with a cut on his forehead.
A Guild assistant opened a smaller staff door farther along the practice-yard wall. Mara brought the other three children through it and around into the court. Owen hurried out from behind the pie stall to join them.
Mara counted five. Then she took Lani from Lyra and held her so tightly that the girl complained about being squeezed.
"He went under it," someone said.
Sung-Il opened one eye. A man beside the delivery lane pointed toward him.
"He held it up while they got out."
"He held the brake first," Renn’s partner added. "Him and the courier man. Gave us time to get the bar."
"And Brina lifted it!"
People began clapping. Someone cheered for Lyra. Others called Brina’s name. The courier man received a slap on the shoulder that made him wince.
Sung-Il slowly straightened on his crate.
Oh. This was nice.
People were smiling at him. A woman called him brave. He had been aiming for alive, but he was happy to accept both.
He raised a bandaged hand and gave the crowd a tired smile.
"Difficult work," he murmured.
Brina looked at him.
"What? It was."
More people joined the applause. Sung-Il sat a little straighter. If anyone wanted to pay for another pie, he would accept that too.
"Wait," a man near the back said. "I know him. I watched his Guild test. He’s the fellow who reads ass movements!"
The nearest clapping stopped. A woman frowned, looking at them; the man beside her turned halfway around, realized what he was doing, and faced Sung-Il again. Someone else covered his backside with both hands.
Sung-Il lowered his raised hand.
"You watched an entire rescue and chose that introduction."
Brina pressed her lips together; she was trying not to laugh. He pointed at her.
"Don’t."
She turned toward the stall. Her shoulders moved.
"He helped save the children," the pie seller said sharply. "All of them did. Finish clapping."
Renn’s partner began again. Others followed, although several kept their backs against the shops.
Well. It was still applause anyhow; Sung-Il decided to take it.
The courier man stood beside his parcel, rubbing one wrist. Sung-Il pointed toward an empty crate.
"Sit down. You’re making me look lazy."
"I need to finish a delivery," the man said. "I’m still paying off my entry fee."
"You arrived recently?"
"Tuesday. Fell out of a wardrobe. The guards charged me anyway."
Sung-Il looked at him properly.
The guard at the city gate had mentioned that. A man falling out of a wardrobe, then being made to pay the entry fee.
"You’re that man?" This story is hosted at g.com.
The courier man lifted his parcel.
"Wait. What’s your name?"
"Tavin."
Six-Ears slipped between Sung-Il’s boots. He glanced down to keep the rabbit away from his shaking legs. When he looked up again, the courier man was gone.
There was no departing figure among the people beside the stall, No man carrying a parcel toward the steps.
Sung-Il looked behind the crates, then toward the shops and said, "Where did he go?"
Brina followed his gaze.
"Who?"
"The courier man. He was standing there."
People were still moving through the court. Someone carried a water bucket past; a Guild member called for space around the injured driver.
Sung-Il stayed seated. He could barely stand, let alone search the market. But he remembered the name.
Tavin.
Renn limped over with a Guild member’s help and sat on the next crate.
"How did you know I was about to lose my grip & my gift was unstable?" he asked.
"Your reading changed. Then your hand slipped. I didn’t know why until you told me about your hip."
"And you copied my stance?"
"Yeah, the analysis kind of helped."
"You got your weight over the handle. That helped."
"Brina’s been teaching me to stand without falling over."
"We’re still working on it," she said.
Renn offered his hand. Sung-Il shook it carefully.
"Thank you. Both of you."
A purple window opened in front of Sung-Il.
[RECTUM ANALYSIS — LEVEL INCREASED]
[LEVEL: 1 → 2]
He forgot Renn’s hand for a moment. Another panel appeared beneath the first.
[STRENGTH: 7 → 8]
[AGILITY: 6 → 7]
[VITALITY: 8 → 9]
[MAGIC: 7 → 8]