The rest of the patrol went without incident. After leaving the armory, Laura and I swiftly walked around the perimeter and checked over the stairs and the outer walls. With no other issues than the ones I mentioned when examining the layout. After the quick tour of the fort, I turn to Laura and say,
"Thank you for coming with me. I'll be heading towards the gate to help with the night shift now so you should head on over to the keep. I'm sure that your friends want to see you and you should also get something to eat. I saw smoke come from the chimney earlier, so I imagine they are cooking a meal for everyone." [Shin]
"What about you? When will you be eating?" [Laura]
"I have some things in my pack, so I'll be fine. You don't have to stick around considering I'll be probably helping all night so that means no sleep." [Shin]
"That's no fair! Everyone here needs sleep, especially after a day like that. Why are you forced to work all night without getting anything out of it? The walls won't fall overnight so you should just be able to sleep if you want." [Laura]
"I wish I could, but there is a good reason why I have to do this." [Shin]
"And what would that be?" [Laura]
"I promised Ms. Garcia that I would help. I can't go back on my promise with her." [Shin]
"I see… Well in that case, I should help too." [Laura]
"Huh? No. You don't need to do that, you should go relax and try to get some sleep." [Shin]
"While you work out here all night? I wont be able to sleep with a clean conscience if I can rest while others can't. You don't know the people who you're working with right? I can be there and help. That way you'll have someone who you know." [Laura]
{She does make a good point. If she's there, I can rely on her more than some random people I don't know.}
"You make a good point. If you wouldn't mind, could you come and help? I would appreciate having someone I can trust." [Shin]
"You…Trust me?" [Laura]
"You did save me back there when I was about to fight those guys. You could have run away, yet you saved me so yes… I do trust you a little right now." [Shin]
"I-I see. We better hurry up if we are to make it to the gate by nightfall." [Laura]
"Yes, lets hurry." [Shin]
When the gate comes into view, a group of people can be seen in a huddle on the right-hand side next to the guard house. Standing in front of the group is an impatient looking Ms. Garcia who, while crossing her arms, seems to be quite upset about something.
"Hello Shin, I'm glad you could make it. These people have been waiting since sunset for you, yet you keep them waiting." [Ms. Garcia]
"Hey, you're the one who said "nightfall" when you specified the time. It seems it's your fault for getting them here early. " [Shin]
"You're normally earlier to everything, yet you were late. Were you having fun on your date you two? Huh?" [Ms. Garcia]
"Okay, you can tell me what's wrong. Obviously, you're mad at something. You can take it out on me because I don't' really mind, but don't you dare take It out on anybody else. You should know better. By the way, I was dealing with a situation you told me to take care of so that's why I'm late. " [Shin]
"You're right. I apologize you two… I've just been unable to deal with the rest of the students and staff." [Ms. Garcia]
"What do you mean? What's wrong with them?" [Shin]
"Friction between students and teachers seem to be rising really fast. At first, I thought it was due to the stress and uncertainty of the situation, but now I am not so sure. Since I talked to you earlier, there have been 10 fights between teachers and students, and I don't even know how many between students. I was able to stop most of them before they escalated too far due to my Titles and Skills, however, we have at least 5 students who were injured by other students and are currently receiving treatment by people who have the healer Skills." [Ms. Garcia]
"It's probably not just the students either, is it?" [Shin]
"No, I found two teachers trying to force themselves upon female students. I have two female teachers watching over them in a cell we found in the basement. That's not it either. Many teachers have lost their commitment and figure that they should ignore their students and go their own way. A group of 5 left the gate earlier claiming that they would rather stay outside than with what they referred to as "liabilities"." [Ms. Garcia]
"So, you left the gate open hoping they would return?" [Shin]
"Yes, everything has been happening too fast and we need people to stay together. I was hoping they would come back and bring unity to their class." [Ms. Garcia]
"I'm sorry that you have hope for them, but we both know that's not happening. Seeing how they abandoned us, I don't see them ever turning a new leaf and coming back." [Shin]
"But…" [Ms. Garcia]
Not even bothering to finish her sentence, Ms. Garcia gazes towards the gate, as if hoping to see their forms in the twilight.
"Look, you asked me to take control of night watch, so I plan on doing that tonight and keeping the people safe for tonight. What I say goes. End of story. Now shut the gate." [Shin]
"What if…" [Ms. Garcia]
"Close the gate." [Shin]
"…Fine" [Ms. Garcia]
Although reluctantly, Ms. Garcia heads over to the guard station to close the gate. As the gate begins to slowly close and darkness rapidly approaches, I begin hoping that the night goes without incident.
"I have a feeling that this'll be a long night." [Shin]