Hana gave a concerned glance to Wheel and Uban. She hadn't seen Wheel go down, but he was lying there, clutching a flask. She didn't fully understand Wheel's power, but she'd never seen him knocked down by anything. She knew Uban's power was impressive, and she wondered what they'd discover next. She tutted, and turned back to the boy hiding at the bottom of the barrel. And she'd been doing so well! Remembering Berlin's instructions, she crossly said, "If you don't wash the dirt off of you, the liniment won't work. Come on now."

---

Wheel groaned again, and sat up, taking another swig from the flask. He made sure not to show it, but he was worried. The curse should have let him brush off the shock, but it hadn't. Was it because it knew that it wasn't a real fight? Was it angry with him? The headache was gone, at least. If there was a lesson here, Wheel couldn't figure it out. He wasn't injured, so the curse had protected him. Standing up, he tried to weakly joke, "I didn't know we rationed the rum."