The sky was on fire with hues of crimson below the setting sun as it bathed Dragonspire Village in its warm light. "Cleaning the ancestral hall has been easier than I thought," Renji reflected as he cleaned up the place. He allocated an hour to do it, but he completed the job in fifteen minutes. Aerthos measured time precisely: twelve months in a year, with thirty days in a month, and twenty-four hours in a day. Nobles would have grandfather clocks to keep accurate time, and really rich ones would possess highly intricate wristwatches. "The ancestral hall gets cleaned every month. In that short span of time, it's not so dirty. I've still got nearly an hour before training starts. What should I do? " Bored, Renji looked around. The Reshin manor, that had stood for five millennia, had its front courtyard well-maintained daily.
The back courtyard, much older and larger, was allowed to grow wild with grass and green lichen overtaking the floors and walls.
"Heeeeey…" Renji's eyes sparkled as he gazed around at the forgotten rear courtyard. "This area hasn't been touched in over a hundred years. There could be valuables left behind!" His heart started racing at the thought. "If I find something of value and give it to Father, he will surely be happy."
Renji's attitude was that of determination as he entered another dilapidated room adjacent to the ancestral hall, holding a sturdy wooden stick to guide his way. With the stick, he could sweep away cobwebs and maybe a little see ahead of him.
The bad smell welcomed him to the room. Cobwebs hung thick everywhere, and spiders moved about. Decorated curtains and furnishings were begrimed. "If these curtains were in better condition, they might be worth a fortune," Renji thought with a sigh. He continued the search, brushing cobwebs aside and checking the floor, cabinets, and walls for hidden compartments.
Renji remembered from his readings that most of them had hidden levers or passages behind ordinary walls. So he taped the walls and then listened intently. Of course, though searching was exciting, he didn't know that probably his father, grandfather, and other seniors must have searched these rooms ages ago. Eight years old, Renji's view of things was rather narrow compared to wise elders.
"Nothing in this room. Moving on…" Renji exited the first room to move onto the next. The back courtyard had many rooms. The front courtyard, housing Renji's living quarters, consisted of only a third of the manor. The back courtyard was huge. Renji figured that it would take him an entire day to search everything there.
Everything in these rooms is ruined. There's nothing of value," Renji said, leaving one more empty room. He looked up at the sky.
"Eh, it's almost time for training. I've got about fifteen minutes left." Renji's gaze fell upon a particularly large room. "I'll check that one last big room. I'll spend ten minutes searching. If I don't find anything, I'll head to training." Resolute, Renji raced toward the large room. This space was much grander than even the main hall in the front courtyard.
Renji, entering, carefully surveyed the interior area. "This must have been the main dining hall of our Reshin clan long ago," he judged from the remnants of opulent decorations and furniture. "I shall begin my search on the floor." He bent his head, surveying every part of the room.
Whenever he saw something interesting, he tapped it with his stick. If it sounded of stone, he passed by. The sun was now almost overhead; he began to hurry. "Now to check the walls and curtains. This is my last hope." Renji scowled around at everything in sight. "I hope the clan elders have left something behind for me. Even the smallest item would be a find.
He looked at the walls and peeped behind the tattered curtains. On those old walls, there were several rotten-wood cabinets with numerous drawers over them. Renji opened each of them and found nothing but dust. "Alas!" said Renji, who looked disappointed after opening the last drawer, "After all this searching, I didn't find any valuable items; I am just covered with sweat and dust."
Renji looked around one last time in the room before he prepared to leave. "Hmph. I'm off." Irritated, he swung his stick at a cabinet in his way, wanting to vent frustration after searching futilely for an hour. "Thud!" The stick struck the cabinet already weakened by age and pests. With a groan, the cabinet began to collapse.
Renji, quite used to this kind of situation, dodged. The cabinet, right behind him, came crashing down to the floor, shattering into pieces and raising more dust. Among the dust and rubble, a black ring was exposed and rolled out of the cabinet's wooden framework. "Ew, ew!" Renji coughed at the sudden dust cloud as he tried to move himself out of the way. "Well, suck! Now I'm all dirty just in time for training. I should shower and change fast." He waved his arm toward himself, trying to clear the dust, before he exited the ancient room, feeling the urge to get cleaned up before embarking on his next mission.