"You are utterly insane!" shouted Lissa. "What were you thinking! If there had been an assassin around, or even a simple farmer with a grudge, you could have been wounded, killed! If I ever catch you doing that again I will flail you alive!" The Paladin was outraged, her usually stern face red with anger.

Glissandi brought her hands up in defense. "The girl was dying! And we're still close to the Order's territories, the chances of anyone being after me already is practically nonexistent!" The Priestess obviously disagreed with Lissa's assessment, fully believing herself in the right.

Lissa grabbed the Priestess's gown with both hands and pulled the younger woman up, who immediately abandoned any priestly behaviour and started squealing. "You told me to treat you like a student, and one of the first lessons is that you COMMUNICATE with your unit!" the Paladin raged, shaking the Priestess as if she was a rag doll. "In any unknown situation where you are not blessedly certain of your surroundings you don't rush out of the circle!" Lissa was vaguely aware of the twins laughing only to have their amusement be cut short by a ringing blow to the head. Good. At least the Knight remained reliable and composed.

Lissa returned her attention to the Priestess just in time to see the scared expression fade and turn into determination. A moment later the Paladin was blasted backwards through the common room in the inn by a magical blast, crashing into a table and reducing it to firewood. Glissandi fell to the ground, her eyes blazing gold as magic coursed through her. As the Paladin slowly got up from the broken table, the Priestess regained her composure. "I am not a Warrior!" she hissed. "I had no way of knowing what is common sense to you. And if you dare manhandle me like that again it will be you who will be flailed alive!"

The twins started laughing again, but Glissandi's glare shut them up even before Trista could cuff them around their ears again.

Lissa shook her head, clearing her vision. She approached Glissandi slowly, differently. She moved like a panther approaching a prey, and the Paladin could tell the Priestess noticed from how the woman recoiled, suddenly a lot less sure of herself. Good, the Paladin thought. "Then that is a mistake I will rectify when we set off again." Lissa grinned at the Priestess, and the older woman knew it was a feral expression. The Priestess wanted to pretend that she was in the right, did she? That she had no way of knowing what was common sense to Warriors? Then Lissa would make sure that she'd make sure she would never get to use that excuse again. From the way Glissandi paled, it was clear the message had arrived.

A knock on the door interrupted the argument, and within a moment the Knight and Paladin stood in front of the Priestess, hands on their swords, while the Squires took up position behind her. The earlier argument was forgotten.

"Enter without fear, if you serve the Light," Glissandi announced. The door opened and a short, broad man entered, holding a brightly coloured hat in his hands. Behind the man where two soldiers clad in leather armour, each armed with a cudgel and a small knife, but not wielding either of the weapons. Obviously guardsmen.

"Priestess, I'm mayor Kristof. Please allow me to thank you and the Lord for saving the life of the girl. If there is anything I can provide you and your party with, you have but to ask, and if it is within my ability I will see to it immediately."

Glissandi gave the man a warm smile. She couldn't shrug off the exhaustion anymore, but years of training let her at least masquerade it. "I thank you for your kind words, mayor." She tilted her head slightly, making a pretense of considering his offer. There were plenty of things that she needed from him. Information first of all. That curse had been nothing to sneeze at, it was powerful and well hidden, not something a novice could cast. And not something to be placed on someone for no reason at all. It hinted at Darkness lurking below the Light and it was her sworn duty to drive it out of its hiding place and eradicate it.

"Mayor Kristof, I would like you to compensate the owner of the inn for the duration of our stay. We will be staying at this place, and as long as the threat remains we will not tolerate others to enter. As such, I would also like to request for a solid guard to be set around this location at all times. I will leave the finer details of that detail to Paladin Lissa," she said, gesturing to the Paladin, who accepted her task with a small nod.

"For the rest, I would like for Nassi and her brother to be brought here as well. I will need to question them, and them staying with us will make it less likely for them to be targeted again." The mayor nodded and tried to respond, but Glissandi cut him off with a sharp gesture. "In addition to that, I would like for the captain of the guard, whoever is in charge of the judiciary system of the town and holds the ledgers of all criminal activities recorded and the person in charge of the orphanage to be brought here as well. I will need their assistance if we are to root this Darkness out quickly."

The mayor opened his mouth and closed it again, obviously dumbfounded by the list of requests. He looked like a fish. Glissandi hid her annoyance at the man's inability to just do as he was told.

"Rooting out Darkness, Priestess?" the man asked, sounding increasingly nervous.

Glissandi's annoyance shot up a few notches. Was the man actually that incompetent that he wasn't even aware that a healing that took an entire night meant something major was happening? Lord above, she hoped that the others she'd have to cooperate with would be more alert than this dull witted man.

"A curse of that level indicates at highly capable..." she trailed off, thinking of what word to use to instill the necessary speed in him without frightening him out of his wits. "Miscreants that have abandoned the Lord. Nassi is a capable girl with great magical promise," she explained, bowing her head slightly. "I would rather not waste time, mayor. Lest they expand their range of targets to, say, higher placed officials in order to cause chaos to obscure their trail." The mayor paled at that and Glissandi grinned in satisfaction.

"As you say, as you say Priestess, I'll do as you say with the most urgent haste! Men, with me!" the man explained, rushing out of the inn with a surprising amount of speed.

"Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out," Mina muttered, earning herself another whack around the ears.

"A fair conclusion Priestess." Lissa remarked. "Trista, secure the inn. Place wards where ever you see fit and tell me when you're done. Mina, Mira, do another tour of the building. I want every inch of this place ingrained in your memories. Then take care of the horses, we'll be staying here longer than expected. And I expect a full inventory on everything in here. You know the drill on that. Go!" she commanded. Trista was already heading upstairs, and the twins bolted off, eager to be on their task.

Glissandi was impressed with the speed that the Warriors presented, then failed to stifle a loud yawn. "Thank you, Lissa. If you don't mind, I will grab as much sleep as I can now. That healing took a lot out of me. On top of that horse riding." She threw the Paladin a weak smile, exhaustion finally settling in now that she was left alone with people whom she didn't need to pretend with. "And you were right, I think I could make use of a few lessons in Warrior's common sense."

Lissa paused mid-stride and turned to Glissandi, a surprised expression on her face. Clearly the Paladin had not expected to see the Priestess actually agree with her on that.

"Just..." the Priestess began, making her way up the stairs, "no more manhandling."