“Well that was weird.” Daler said while they went back to sleep.
“Yeah... Though, that doesn’t actually surprises me that much. It did say it was going to help us. Or, well, help Finn and Laura at least. I really don’t want to get on your bad side now.” Tris said jokingly.
“Well, me neither.” (Finn)
“““...””” (the other three)
The next day, they woke up to see an energetic dad running around, stopping only to greet them then running toward the kitchen.
“Did you improve your cooking skills?” Finn asked, half laughing.
“Very funny, I only forgot one thing this time!” He shouted from far away.
“You only have one thing cooking!” tsukkomied Finn.
“I didn’t hear a thing!”
Suddenly, they heard someone knocking on the door.
When the group opened it, they were surprised to see the same noble that came here last night.
“Hey, can I enter? I think you are about to eat breakfast, right?” She asked smiling.
“...” (Finn)
“......” (her)
““““.........”””” (the four)
“...Please?”
The four opened the passage, a defeated look on their faces.
When Finn’s dad came back with breakfast for everyone, he was astonished to see a Noble in his house, surrounded by the four commoners that were Finn’s companion.
He froze in surprise, and it wasn’t until Finn looked at him insistently that the noble told him to be at ease to unfreeze him.
“...Sorry for the meal, it may be burnt a bit.” he said stiffly (even though he was ordered to act at ease around the noble, he couldn’t do it).
They started eating, then, once she finished her plate, the noble started the conversation:
“Well, considering it started burning, it is surprisingly tasty. And the good kind of tasty.”
“... Thank you.”
“Well, that aside, let me present myself. My name is Atsi, a noble. I started investigating your wife’s disappearance, at the request of someone I have a lot of respect to. Who also happen to have ties with Finn. Also, Finn, you decide what you want to tell your father about this.
“But anyway, it appears that your mother’s disappearance is due to a kidnapping by another noble. I have only come here to warn you, do not obey Guramis nor Aftalis, until this matter is solved or if they are determined not guilty, except if you determined by yourself that their order is reasonable.”1When changing paragraph, if the speaker doesn’t change, then the first paragraph doesn’t end with a ”. Otherwise there is a ”. The next paragraph always starts with a “, indicating someone is speaking. This is the first occurrence of multiple-consecutive-paragraphs-one-speaker happening by the way.
“... Understood.”
“Well then, I will be taking my leave. You do not have to accompany me to the front door, I know the path.” She said as she bowed to the five of them (that froze a bit in surprise), then left the room, presumably leaving to go back to her home.
“... Finn, what was that about a ‘common acquaintance’?”
“... Umm, well, you see, when I was traveling I met someth– *cough cough* – sorry, someone that coincidentally knows Nobles and such. Though, I’m pretty sure you don’t really want to now anymore...”
“... Okay. For now, I’ll trust you. But you’ll have to promise me to tell me more later.”
“Fine, fine.”
Later, Atsi’s fear was proven valid as Guramis came in and ordered the five to follow him.
But given Atsi’s order, they all declined and asked for the reason instead.
“Why aren’t you obeying me? Are you defying me?”
“No, we are sorry, but we have been ordered not to obey you and another Noble...”
“And who is it?”
“““““...””””” (Finn’s dad + the four adventurers)
“... Alright, fine, if you don’t want to tell me, then I’ll tel you why you need to follow me. That’s because I want to talk about Frey’s kidn–*ahem*, disappearance.”
“... How do you know she was kidnapped?” (Finn)
“Huh? When did I say kidnapped?”
“You said ‘Frey’s kidn–’ before catching yourself. So, that means you are the one who kidnapped her. And now you want us to follow you so you can dispose us, right?”
“... No, it’s not–”
“Hey, how is it going over there?” A bright voice suddenly interrupted Guramis, and when they turned toward the owner of that voice, they recognized Atsi.
“What are you doing here?” (Guramis)
“Well, I could ask you the same thing you know? I am just investigating a certain kidnapping. You know which one, do you not?” (Atsi)
“No, I d–” (Guramis)
“Nuh-huh, you know which one. I have the proof, you know.” She said, suddenly turning serious. “Now will you calmly follow me, or will you try and escape through force?”
“Why would I follow you! I committed no wrong!” Guramis said, mostly orienting his speech toward the onlookers that are gathered around the commotion.
“Well, do you want me to list the 1,204 provable crimes you have made? In there, there are 10 worthy of death sentence, and 2 worthy of eternal torture, you know.” At these words, Guralis paled, and tried to accuse her of lying.
But, as she started listing the crimes he did sorted by increasing order of treason, along with (minimal to be faster) evidences for each of them, it became obvious to the onlookers that this noble2So yeah, first retcon, nobles ‘exist’ in the mind of the common people, but those are only fallen Nobles. However, a majority of people will never encounter a fallen noble, since treasons are rarely dealt in front of the public’s eyes. has fallen from his place, and dispersed to warn everyone about this, including higher-ranked Nobles.
Then, seeing as he is a lost cause, he started trying to slander Atsi, but given his lack of evidence it became obvious he was just trying to bring her down with him, which didn’t work.
As Atsi started the 100th crime, some normal guards arrived, and as they listened to Guramis’ and Atsi’s speeches, they understood Guramis truly fell from his position.
Some other guards arrived, those working under the King of the city, to take away Guramis as Atis started enunciating the 140th crime.
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