The child fidgeted in the scratchy sackcloth, an expression of displeasure clearly present on his face. But, he endured because he knew that he couldn't walk around naked. He didn't know why exactly, but he subconsciously knew some common etiquette, such as clothing oneself. His memories were blank with not even a name. The only thing that he had was knowledge of unknown origin.

As the 8-year-old child dwelt in his thoughts, using all of his brainpower to try to recover his lost memories, the young male next to him had busied himself. The dirty bathwater was dumped and the bathing tools were stored away for later use. Grumbling to himself, the young male proceeded back into the Inn. Suddenly beset with a need to do excess work, the young male was extremely displeased with his situation. He had been working for the Inn as a trash boy for a short 3 months, but no day was like the next. But even with the number of situations that he had been in, he hadn't expected to see a corpse rise from the dead.

The day before, he had done the usual and dumped the trash, but on the way out, he had tripped on something. Standing up and brushing the dust off his clothes, he started muttering and cursing to himself. He was determined to find out the one who played a prank on him today. The other two boys that worked there with him loved to play pranks on him. As they had worked there longer than him, albeit by a few months, they made sure to give him "special treatment" as it was due to their "precious Junior". But, to his surprise, he found that the item that he had tripped over was actually an unconscious 8-year-old boy.

Clothed in delicate, expensive clothing, the likes that the young male had never seen before. Even the clothing he saw on the minor Nobles that would sometimes frequent the Inn could not compare. In front of him, lay, what seemed to him, a wealthy Young Master. In fright, the young male quickly placed the basket to the side before bringing the child into the Inn and placing him on the wooden floor of the inn's storage room, away from foot traffic.

"Boss! Boss! You've got to see this!"

The young male knocked frantically on the door of the Boss Innkeeper's office. After a few seconds, he heard the scraping of wood on wood, that of a chair moving, and moved back waiting for the innkeeper to come out. Opening the door, the young male was met with a full head of brown hair that was attached to the head of a man looking about 30 years of age. The man with a face strained with fatigue stared down at the young male in front of him.

"What is it, boy?"

The smell of alcohol reeked from the man and intensified as the man continued to speak. Eventually, the young male gathered the courage to respond to the man.

"B-Boss, I-I have something important to tell you."

With an eyebrow raised, the man stared at the young male doubtfully.

"You've never called me before. Is this really important enough to warrant me coming out?"

The innkeeper grumbled as if he had been disturbed in the middle of doing something important. The young male quickly responded, seeing the innkeeper's displeasure.

"I-I assure you, it is!"

Inwardly, he harbored negative thoughts. If I've never called you before, then obviously the one time I call you would be important! He felt aggrieved; if he didn't desperately need the money, he wouldn't work in this filthy place. Even though he wasn't well off, his family wouldn't starve if he didn't work. But, he had aspirations to become an official. He had studied when he could and wanted to try his hand at civil affairs. Although he wasn't completely confident, he was reasonably certain that he could pass the Imperial exam. He wasn't content with being a frog in the well and the Imperial examination was his only chance.

While the young man reconsidered his life's choices and contemplated the future, the innkeeper quickly grew impatient. 

"Alright, boy! Stop daydreaming and wasting my time! Lead the way."

Shaking the young male awake and turning him around, he waited for the boy to take the lead. Waking from his stupor, the young male quickly nodded before stumbling his way through the Inn towards the storage room with the Innkeeper on his tail. Pointing to the child, the young male spoke up.

"Boss Innkeeper, I found just found this child on the ground out in the back. His clothing is rather strange and expensive looking. I think he might be the child of some high-ranking noble."

Troubled, the Innkeeper started to take the situation more seriously. Squatting next to the child, he picked the child up and sit him up against the wooden shelving. Seeing no reaction, his brows wrinkled up with worry.

"Boy, take care of the child. I'll go fetch the Doctor to see if he can do anything. Stay here. If he wakes up, talk to him."

The young male nodded and moved to the side. Moving past the young male, the Innkeeper opened the door and dashed out the Inn. Sitting down next to the child, the young male stared at him and sighed.

"You grew up surrounded by wealth… I envy you. I wish I could just spend my time studying, but I have to work to even start studying. Anyways, I hope you don't mind, but I'll start studying since I have free time right now."

Saying so, he pulled out a weathered leather-bound booklet and started to recite the contents to himself.

"Let a ruler base his government upon virtuous principles…" [1]

Reading out loud to the child, the young male occupied his time mulling over the words and sharing the results of the contemplation with his unresponsive partner. After a while, he closed the book and stared at the child. Then, he sat down next to the child and stared straight ahead, his head on his knees.

"You know… it's nice to have someone that just listens for once… I hope you're alright. The doctor should be back soon."

As he finished his sentence, the door burst open with the Doctor and the Innkeeper entering shortly after. Scanning the room, the Doctor walked briskly up to the child as he spotted the unmoving figure in the corner of the storage room.

Getting on one knee, the Doctor raised one of the child's arms and put two fingers on his wrist feeling for a pulse. His brows creased and a disturbed expression settled on his face. Setting the child's head into an upright position, the Doctor placed two fingers on the child's neck.

Author's Note:

[1] From Book 2 of the Analects of Confucius