Robert stiffened as his mentor’s gaze fell on him. He didn’t know what expression he was making but it made the older man sigh. The knight straightened up and grabbed the chair behind the desk, setting it in the center of the room. He waved for Robert to sit. “I’m sorry you had to see that. It was unbecoming behavior for a knight.”

“You…must have had your reasons,” Robert said slowly. The sudden attack was unsettling but a small bit of violence wouldn’t shake his belief in his mentor.

“Reasons.” Sir Quintana undid the ties of his gauntlets, setting the pieces of armor on the table. “Her report said that she revealed her status as an agent of the crown?” Robert nodded. “She was your minder, yours and Sebas’ more than the others. An assignment she was given because she has the strength to complete it. Something she proved by killing Sebas’ attackers. For him to have died is a failure of epic proportion that points to negligence, whether intentional or not. Somewhere, someone fucked up. That is obvious.”

He rubbed his brow. “The problem is where the blame lies. Yemen, Orphelia’s father, is doing everything in his power to put that blame on anyone other than his daughter and himself. He is making…insinuations.”

“What kind?” Robert asked, offended on his mentor’s behalf.

Sir Quintana stared at him. “We’ll get to that. First, I need you to you tell me what happened from your point of view. Every detail. Start from the beginning and leave noting out.”

So, Robert told him everything, starting from the time he and his team entered the Sanctuary. How the first morning started so simply, his team taking to the air after showing Thorgood a picture of their targets. How they landed after discovering a pile of dead mamaroons. How he lost his mount, though his words came haltingly as he retold his encounter with the strange monster.

“Your report said it could be a slime.”

“I’m not sure. Lanston said the creature closely resembled one but there were also several strange characteristics. If it was a slime, he thinks it was a rare evolution.”

“Mm. And you challenged this creature for its kills?”

Robert fought the urge to hang his head. He had messed up. Sulking like a child wouldn’t make up for it and wouldn’t garner him any sympathy. “I…I initially tried to scare it off, hoping a larger predator would intimidate it. When it turned hostile, we attempted to bring it down.”

The knight rubbed his brow. “What are the three rules when it comes to monsters?”

“…never underestimate them, never chase ones that run unless you have no choice, and…never engage an unknown if you can avoid it.”

Sir Quintana sighed. “It sounds as if you broke two out of three rules at the same time.”

Robert swallowed. “Sorry, sir.”

“What were you thinking?”

He didn’t want to say that he didn’t think it would be that strong. It was a blob of ooze that didn’t even reach his waist. How was he to know that it was magic resistant and hit like a mountain? “It had Thor.”

The knight frowned. “Could you defeat a roc in single combat? Kill one in a matter of moments?”

Robert mutely shook his head.

“Then what in the abyss gave you the idea that you could defeat the creature that is capable of doing such a thing?” his mentor snapped. “The second you saw a being several times your weight and strength being wrestled down and your first spell didn’t work, you should have ran like your ass was on fire! Saints, it’s a miracle you all didn’t die right then!”

“I’m so—"

“Stop. I don’t need you to keep apologizing. Keep going, what happened next?”

Robert continued, retelling the painful march as they searched for help. He took his time recounting meeting Ethor and his team for the first time, trying his best to recall every detail. It was difficult as the future murderer of his friend hadn’t made much of an impression. They had declined to offer any aid and Robert had stopped paying attention to them, needing all his focus to keep moving despite the pain of his injuries.

He couldn’t stop the scorn from seeping into his tone as he spoke of how they sought shelter from the degenerate woman.

“Lourianne Tome,” Sir Quintana mused. “There is a lot of discussion surrounding that young woman right now. What can you tell me about her?”

Robert paused. While his first instinct was to hurl insults, he recalled Orphelia’s words about ruining someone’s reputation. He knew his mentor was a powerful man. He personally knew the king, having served directly under him as a royal knight. If Sir Quintana himself targeted the woman, her future in Harvest was basically over. He had to question if his personal dislike for her was reason enough to actively seek her destruction and if he had legitimate reason for his negative feelings.

In the end, he decided to simply tell events as they happened and let his mentor draw his own conclusions. He trusted his teacher and his judgments. If the knight saw fit to condemn the degenerate, then he could rest assured and set aside Orphelia’s words as more of her manipulations.

“She is a summoner with two succubi. I don’t know much about them except that one of them healed my wounds. She invited us to share her shelter once promised a suitable reward from Cecile.”

“So, she acts for gold.”

Robert’s mouth opened but he held back, reminding himself to stick to the facts. However, his mentor noticed. “Don’t hold back. I want to hear your impressions.”

“I don’t want to…muddy any waters.”

The knight scoffed. “You think you have the ability to twist my head, huh?”

“No! It’s just…”

“Speak, boy. I didn’t come here to listen to what you wrote on that piece of paper you sent me. I want your experience, including whatever is making you so uncomfortable when it comes to that woman. That’s an order.”

Robert felt the last of his resistance melt away. “I don’t think she is motivated by gold. It wasn’t a hard negotiation. Cecile gave her a vague promise. Merchants always want hard numbers, right?”

“Mm. Seems you paid attention to some of your lessons.”

He cleared his throat. “Yeah, well, she didn’t care. She was…flippant about letting us stay around. Like…” He thought on the proper way to frame her dismissive attitude for his team. “Her ‘kindness’ felt like someone feeding birds pieces of bread. There was no empathy behind it. It was a whim for her amusement. She barely spoke two words to us.”

“This is why I told you to speak your mind. If one simply reads the reports, Lourianne Tome is a saint. She took in an injured team with no immediate benefit to herself, healed your wounds, fed you, and sheltered you. Actions all deserving of praise. And yet, the picture you paint of the events turn it into something very different. Was she hostile toward you?”

“No. Well…” Again, he had to pause to find the right words, making sure he wasn’t letting his own perceptions color his words too much. “She does not like being challenged. We were discussing sleeping arrangements. Or rather she told us where we would be sleeping. Sebas was unhappy being allocated to sleep outside the shelter and made his opinions known. She assaulted him.”

Sir Quintana perked up. “She injured him before his death?”

“Yes. I think she broke his wrist and little finger but both injuries were healed before the fight later.”

“Did you intervene?”

Robert started. “Ah, no.”

The knight’s eyes narrowed. “Why not?”

His apprentice swallowed heavily. “She moved too fast. I couldn’t track her at all. One moment, she’s lounging and the next she’s in front of him with her hand on his throat. I couldn’t have gotten between them and didn’t want to start a fight between our teams. Both Sebas and I used a lot of mana and we were all exhausted.”

“You didn’t think you could win.”

Robert flinched. “No,” he forced out.

Sir Quintana stood from his seat and laid a hand on Robert’s shoulder. “It’s a hard thing to admit one’s weakness but never shameful.”

Robert nodded sharply and his mentor stepped back. “Keep going.”

“Ah. Well, when we woke up and entered the shelter for breakfast, we witnessed Orphelia, um.” He cleared his throat, fighting a blush. A part of him felt guilty speaking of the women as he was about to. Then he thought that he barely counted Lou as a woman and Orphelia certainly wouldn’t hesitate if their positions were reversed. “I witnessed Orphelia being intimate with Lady Tome.”

Sir Quintana paused, eyes widening in shock. “That was not in the report her father shared. When you say intimate…”

He waved for Robert to elaborate. “I mean, they got physical…in a sexual way. Then Lourianne slept with their guide. She had a, ah.” He vaguely gestured toward his crotch, his blush intensifying as the memories came unbidden. “A sword sheathed between her legs,” he said finally, smiling bitterly as he recalled Sebas’ words.

“Yes, that was mentioned.” The knights face remained neutral, giving Robert no indication on how the man felt about the information and he was too embarrassed to ask. “There was no mention of Lourianne Tome in Orphelia’s report besides raising the question of her supposed fertility.” He bowed his head in thought for several long moments before turning a piercing gaze on his apprentice. “Do you know what her interest is in Lady Tome?”

“She only said that it would benefit us and the kingdom to have cordial relationships with her.”

“That isn’t wrong but this is too suspicious.” He huffed. “Continue.”

Robert swallowed. “We spent the second day at the shelter.”

“You didn’t try to complete the objective?”

He winced, hoping his mentor would let him gloss over the details. “No. Orphelia received five mamaroons from Lady Tome.”

“For what price?”

“…I was told it was a gift.”

“Mm. With her team’s points, I suppose they could spare twenty-five for a gift. Do you know how she managed to accumulate so many points?”

“I never spoke to her about it…but I have a theory.” He didn’t need prompting to know his mentor wanted him to continue. “The creature that killed Thorgood had a pile of mamaroons beside it. A pile about the same size as the pile at the back of their shelter.”

“You think that the creature abandoned its original meal after eating Thorgood and Lady Tome discovered the bodies, claiming them for herself. Reasonable. Monsters naturally seek out mana as it aides in their evolution, be it mana dense areas or mana dense food. It’s why casters are far more likely to be attacked than non-casters.” He chuckled. “That girl has the saints’ luck.”

Robert didn’t share his mirth. He tried not to feel bitter as he continued. “Once the qualifiers were over, we made to leave. That’s when Ethor and his team arrived.” The knight’s smile vanished, features coming down in a stern mask. “Ethor questioned whether we were allied. Once he confirmed we were not, he offered Lady Tome’s team fifty gold crowns to stand aside as he robbed us of our points.”

“He bought her? You are on a team with a branch member of the royal family and a Guiness daughter. Why did you not outbid him?”

“Originally, we did. Ethor realized that he couldn’t win with gold so he called Lady Tome to his side. They had a conversation. Afterwards, she announced that they would stand aside for the fifty crowns and a ‘favor’.”

“Did you inquire what this favor was?”

“No.”

“No? Is that where negotiations ended? I’m sure if all of you tried, you could match any offer this Ethor was able to make.”

“…we didn’t try.”

The knight let out a deep sigh. “I am at a loss, Bobby. This man was threatening you. You didn’t have Thorgood and you lost your sword, putting you at a disadvantage before the fight began. Then you let him negotiate away five allies that could have meant the difference between him fighting or turning around. I’ve read Orphelia’s report on the fight. She claimed that you refused to attack him?”

“With lethal force!” he hurried to explain.

“Is that supposed to make it better?! What were you thinking? Answer me!” he snapped when Robert hesitated too long.

“…I didn’t think it was a battle to the death,” the young man replied haltingly, his throat bobbing as he swallowed back his rising emotions. “He claimed to be the disciple of a knight, an acquaintance of yours. He didn’t seem threatening. I didn’t negotiate further with Lady Tome because it didn’t seem worth the price of doing business with that woman. I can only imagine what favor Ethor promised, especially now. I didn’t think that another initiate would have so much more battle experience. I didn’t think he would use lethal force. I…didn’t think the Sanctuary and the instructors would let someone be killed by another initiate. I didn’t—"

“What you’re saying,” Sir Quintana interrupted, voice stern, “is that you didn’t think at all.”

Robert flinched and lost the battle to keep his head high, dropping his gaze to the floor. He couldn’t face the clear disappointment of his teacher and his throat bobbed as he struggled not to show any more weakness by becoming emotional.