Delivering the most powerful slash she has ever done since her daughter's capture, Maya unconsciously sends the Fire Genasi tumbling to the ground. Upon realising what she has done, she suddenly comes to her senses and realises what she might've put him through by accident; And with it, the demonic nature that has temporarily flooded her soul quickly vanishes, leaving her motherly, almost helpless persona behind. Now panicking, her blood red claws immediately revert to white whilst they retract into her fingers before she leans down to check his pulse.

He's still alive, it seems. She breathes a sigh of relief after confirming that she didn't go overboard in taking her first life by accident. Rising up again, she begins whipping her head in all directions as she scans the entire environment around her in another flurry of panic, wondering why on earth was she so caught up in this conflict when it could've been easily avoided... Why did it even start anyways? And why... was her son, Shugo and Mira... she's now questioning why is she even getting so unnerved for nothing... and then as she glances at Renar again, a realisation hits in.

Right. She needs answers. That's why she's so stressed out. What on earth have her son, Shugo and Mira been up to whilst she was praying? She immediately goes to her son and slaps him out of spite, though she had reverted back to her normal state and thus didn't use her full strength to actually even bruise him this time. Turning to Shugo and the crouching Mira, she wanted to do the same thing too for dragging her, Liivi and Alek into this mess, but realises that she might sour relationships if she does so. As such, she lowers her trembling fists before glaring at both boys plus the second queen with her furious expression still intact:

"What... happened?!"

Mira

Breathing a sigh of relief now that those bandits have been neutralized, Mira's ethereal clock suddenly vanishes from behind her, leaving herself in her tattered royal green dress. Taking a quick glance to the Triton, her face quickly furrows into an expression of unamusement. "And now you plead for your comrade? Whilst these people behind me have done so much more than me to undo the pettiness you've committed behind everyone's backs?" The fact that the aquan woman even had the nerve to address that her fire genasi wants to head to university to study at a time like this... Mira can't tell if this ploy is just another excuse to be set free so they can reenact something similar to this. As the daughter of a duchess, she's been trained to detect even an ounce of bribery under the tone of their voices. "Pfft. I'm not gonna take any of you to jail, unless if someone else considers otherwise. But... if that not-so-psychotic fire boy over there had already voiced this to us before we fought, things could've gone differently. When I overheard your complaints behind that alleyway, I was considering on helping you two to achieve your dreams instead of going through this drama. But now that we've had this fight, I've begun to regret what I just said..." (Insight: 8)

Rummaging through her purse, she attempts to recall if she indeed stowed away a rope in her luxurious carry on. "Does anyone have two sets of ropes I can use?" She asks before she hops closer to the trio and temporarily immobilize them. But if anyone does hand a rope to her, she'll gladly accept it without hesitation. "You had the nerve to mind control the daughter of a duchess, though. Whose own comrade you selfishly tried to free had me kidnapped behind your backs. If it weren't for the laws of Lancea, I would have done unspeakable things to you by now." She then proceeds to help tie the trio up in absolute disgust on her face, but she separates the satyr and the triton from the fire genasi; If anyone else joins her, she nods to them with a frown on her face, though it's clear she means to thank them. "Me, Shugo and Renar heard your entire plan in the alleyway, so don't try to resist. Anything you three say from now on can and will be used against you in the upcoming court of law." After this attack, it's pretty clear that her role in being a witness will spike to unspeakable heights for her. Is this what her mother must deal with when she's dealing with political matters? If so, she may have just been struck by the delusion of reality for the first time.

She remains silent whilst she takes a moment to glance at Shugo and Renar, the two boys that have indeed handled the situation far better than her, whilst they cool down and keep their distance. And then she gazes at Liivi and Maya's feral states. The blood red claws on the latter, the former's feline eyes glowing in fury... she only saw Liivi smashing the satyr with her brute strength and not Maya unleashing her demonic rage on the Fire Genasi, but still, it was a little nerve-wracking for someone like her. There's a lot riding on her mind now that she has gotten a taste of her first actual conflict unlike the petty ones at the cave and at Paulis, so she's a little lost for words. After slipping slightly on the ropes, she panics and refocuses back on tying them up before turning to anyone who's assisting her... for now. And then she hears Maya slapping Renar for absolutely no reason at all and jolts.

"WOAH! Maya, chill! There's no need for you to do that! It wasn't even his fault! Let's just..." She freezes a little when the disguised fox woman redirects her glare at her. "L-l-let's just peacefully resolve this matter... then once we head back to the shop... I-I-I explain what actually happened!" She lowers her voice a little... "Think of the judge we saved, Maya."

Renar

When Okaa-san delivered the most brutal claw slash to the fire genasi's face, my eyes widen in horror. That monstrous slash, that display of power... It was as if she had become some terrible yokai that I hadn't known at all. It's as if she isn't adopting a persona like my real mother. I really hope Okaa-san didn't kill him... I shudder.  I'm also wondering whilst my indifferent stare remains unchanged whilst I analyze them in silence, if that fire guy does want to go to uni, why choose the most unoptimal time to enact something stupid like this? Working for someone that we're aiming to prevent from enacting a full-scale war on this planet is... something I'd rather not go through in my opinion but is actually on everyone else's stressful schedule right now? I couldn't help but shake my head at their situation; Whilst I do feel bad for them, there's absolutely no chance that I'll be able to help them. Not in a time like this when they've done something that completely the opposite to justice. In fact, I have a lot of brutal things I want to spit out as them I as I close my eyes for a bit...

Empathy's not my strong suit... Fools who work for someone hideous don't deserve a second chance... You wanna plead with your life, plead to someone else... Listen, I was once in your situation too, so how are we different... Maybe find something that can get you out of this misery yourself if you want to live a better life... I wanted to spit at them, but I had this gut feeling that rubbing salt on the wound will only exacerbate things. Opening my eyes back to the real world and staring at them unsympathetically, I take a massive breath whilst I slightly lower Inazuma to waist height without relaxing my grip on my right hand... "If Rixi was here... he would have wanted you..." I then choked on my words last minute as I turn my head away and refused to do anything further, besides hold my glowing yellow Inazuma tightly in my paws until I can confirm that the combat is over. That was close. I felt as if I told her Rixian wanted her dead... just because she's one of his targets... I would've jeopardized myself again... And then I felt something struck me hard in the face as I recoil suddenly.

"GAH!" Was that Okaa-san who just slapped me out of the blue?! My eyes widen in both anger and confusion. WHAT WAS THAT FOR?! AGAIN?! I turn to Okaa-san infuriated; Inazuma suddenly glows even brighter as I do so. "Look... n-now's not the time to explain this matter! Can we just resolve this first then move somewhere quiet before we spill the beans, please?!" 

Liivi swiftly moves over towards Mira, though certainly not as fast as she is capable of. Her sword still drawn, she seems prepared to strike against Norvalda.  But she doesn't make the strike.  Letting her fury calm, she grabs the rope from her pack, offering to help Mira with the trio restrained. "We should take care of these three, but someone should check on Shugo to see how he is doing inside the church." She says this loudly, hoping one of the others might go check. 

The tabaxi is a bit shocked to hear Norvalda's pleas. 'How...  how is she even worried about her companion going to college at this moment, when they were the ones out here committing crimes?'  At least, she assumes that's what was happening given the situation and Mira's comments. 

As she continues to try to help Mira with those they have defeated, she catches sight of the interactions between Maya and Renar. 'Always something with those two,' she thinks. But she does agree with both Mira and Renar. "Yes, now is not the time for discussion. Let's round these folks up. Perhaps we can find some peace in the church?" she suggests.  

Alex grimaces a bit when Valijs mentions the safety of civilians coming first, having to remind himself once again that those people out there chose to take the action they did rather than searching for guards or simply standing by. "I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing," he says finally, looking down at the judge again. "Wouldn't that make our trial questionable if we do win? I mean... if anyone tries to counter the ruling?" He isn't sure how the legal process is going to work, but it just feels wrong to have a biased judge, and now how can this goblin be anything but? 

Shugo squints down at the now pleading criminal. She clearly cares a lot for her comrade, but thinking back to what they did to Pelmeni lady any bit of sympathy he would have had for them is gone. "If he wanted to lead a proper life, he shouldn't have gotten mixed up with Cezars, and he should have considers his actions before permanently crippling civilians." He talks in a stern voice that grows angry towards then end. The fact that these kids even thought they could live a normal life after committing such deeds is beyond him. He would have forgiven them for kidnapping...probably...so long as they didn't hurt anyone, but not after they hurt Jamna.

He nods to Mira and will help her tie them up. Hopefully none of this comes back to bite them. He really doesn't want Mira and Liivi tangled up in this court stuff but at this point that seems inevitable.

He blinks in surprise at Maya's sudden outburst. Hadn't it been obvious? He had been hauling around a wounded judge after all, clearly they'd been trying to help right? Maybe she doesn't think that way, being from another planet and all.

"We...can explain after going to the church. I agree with Liivi, we should check on Alex and the Judge." He grimaces, thinking about how he accidentally wounded her.

Well, this fight is over.

You can clearly tell that the fire genasi's words are genuine. She kneels down and looks at the ground in defeat. But then, she catches a Freudian slip in Mira's dialogue.

"Did you say you are going to break a Lancean law?" She's dead serious, "And you call yourself a daughter of a duchess if you do that, it won't be just you that will have to suffer, but your entire family too, you're going to bring a disgrace to your entire family. But fine, I'll admit, we did something wrong too, we were just following orders." Saying 'I'm going to break the rule' can have major consequences, this is an extremely serious topic no one likes to joke about.

You tied them up, and they didn't resist—two of them are unconscious, anyway. After a while, the guard arrives and escorts them to the nearest prison cell.

And with that, you head back to the church.

Valijs opens the door for the rest of you to come inside, he's now in his full suit of armour, blue accents and all. "This must be your friends, then." He gives Alex a smile, "They seem like a nice folk, too bad they're all caught up in... this..." He guestures.

He frowns, as best as his snake face can, "It's just... the Church cannot get involved with the law or politics, God had commanded us to do that. There isn't much that I can help with, but if you really want to talk with people who might work at the court, you should head to Madura Fortress. That's where the nobles here live, they might be able to look into your case."

"If you need to chat among yourself or if you have any more questions, just tell me."

Heeding everyone's relaxing postures as a sign that the battle is over, Maya breathes a sigh of relief, but she isn't really happy about the current situation; Seeing this unnecessary bloodshed when she least imagined it... When the Yuan-ti invites everyone inside, the disguised kitsune tenses again; Her frustrated glance catching the sight of her son tensing up too ever since that incident at Waterdeep. But seeing that he's apparently on Alek's side, she controls herself and thinks about how her son might feel if she loses it instead. Speaking of which, when the trio that separated from her, Liivi and Alek are finally inside, she turns back to them, her slender arms crossed and shut eyes furrowing in frustration as she once again, demands for answers to this conflict. Though she does apparently want to correct something as she breathes and relaxes her shoulders a little underneath her black hooded cloak.

"Okay... wasn't... specific. I... want know why. Not how. ; Ok, I wasn't specific. I want to know why. Not how." She corrects Shugo, Renar and Mira. She doesn't want to know what happened. She wants to know why. There was no way her son would even dare to get involved in all of this. Not ever since he solidified his position amongst the Wildland Shifters. When they finish clarifying, her heart sinks to the bottom of her stomach after processing why they endangered themselves. "My... gosh... You know... how much... I worry... you all?! ; Oh my gosh, you know how much I've been worrying for you all?!" She whines and finally drops her aggressive exterior before hugging Mira first, then Shugo (for the first time) for their bravery. "Don'to... scare... me... that! What if... you die?! Or... lock... up?! ; Don't scare me like that! What if you all died or got locked up?!" When breaking free from Shugo's grasp, she turns to hug her son like the good times, but instantly catches him leaving. Maya sighs in defeat. After all of this time she wonders if her son is even feeling even an ounce of happiness since his time in the Neverwinter Jungle. She turns to Valjis slowly, but tensely. "He like this... all time don't worry... him; He's like this all the time. Don't worry about him." She huffs in an attempt to vent off the excess anger that still churns in her ancient soul. She's getting ready to move on from all of this too and maybe avoid something like this until this dreaded trial is over, but something tells her not to leave just yet. Maybe there's something that the rest my ask that she needs to know. That her son needs to know as well.

Alex grimaces, "So... does that mean I shouldn't involve myself with..." he glances at Mira. "Uh... elections?" He hadn't thought about that rule, and now he feels pretty guilty. Does this mean he can't support his friend? As a paladin is he allowed to actively support someone running for queen---and help their campaign even?

He nods slowly, "Thanks, we'll head there now if everyone is ready..." He lifts his hands, palms upwards before adding, "...but first, does anyone need healing?"

After whatever anyone's responses are, he looks to his mentor, "Should we leave the judge here.... uh... would you happen to know her name?" He looks around the room before shaking his head and returning to his original question, "Should we leave her here or should we take her with us? Is there an apothecary somewhere we should take her to?" 

Mira

"Okay, you all. You can relax. It's over." Mira calls out to the rest as their weapons (and claws) blaze under the sunlight. But then a terrible realization kicks in when the Triton calls her out for one fatal sentence she spitefully remarked. "Shoot..." She suddenly realises her slip up with her silver tongue and bites it painfully. Nonetheless, she declines to respond to the matter as she finishes the job with Shugo and Liivi's help before rising back on her feet. "I didn't mean what I said, but you now know how easy it is to convey the wrong message with words, I hope." And with that, she hops into the church for a brief moment of sanctuary, before gaing up at the beautiful glass panels that line the sacred place. 

After tensions have cooled down inside the church, Mira warmly greets Valijs with a courtesy. "So you must be Alek's mentor? I'm Mira Laurits. Its an honour to be by his side. And yeah, my apologies for what happened earlier." She majestically announces. Turning to Alek after hearing that there's a chance that he might, she does give him an eyebrow, but nonetheless furrows back into a warm smile. "One step at a time, Alek. Worst case scenario, I'll figure a loophole for you when the moment arrives. You have been one of my most faithful allies since my rescue and I'd be gutted if you weren't part of the late game. No way in Lancean terms I'd allow your isolation." 

Once done, she does attempt to lighten the mood by herself, starting with Shugo. "Hey..." She nervously stutters whilst her paws compress sheepishly. "I... About earlier... that... I-I-I mean... what you did to me... t... thanks. I appreciate it... to the bottom of my heart." She sounds kind of vague right now, but she wants to tell Shugo about his decision to snap her out of her mind control during the battle. She turns to Liivi next, but is suddenly reminded of Maya's intimidating frown for someone so beautiful. In a desperate attempt to quell her mean look, she faces away from the tabaxi for a moment as she joins Renar in explaining the scenario that unfolded.

"Look, Maya... we can assure you that this wasn't never even part of our plan. So here's what went down from us trio's experience..." Mira gently reassures as she explains along with Renar. "... That... and t-that was what happened. In fact, I wasn't even part of this entire schematic. Everything that you just saw, it was all Shugo and Renar. I couldn't really do much to help..." There was a hint of subtlety, a voice of defeat and regret in what she said. And then Maya suddenly glomps her into a massive hug whilst blurting out her worries of her getting locked up or dying. "WAH! Maya! You think we'd let ourselves- Mmh Ok fine... thank you..." She sighs in defeats as she gives up breaking free from her tight grasp and embraces back. When finished, she glances at Shugo and laughs at his reaction when it's his turn to be hugged. "Aw what's wrong? don't tell me you're worried sick about her aren't you?" Her smile then fades at another thought; Unlike the previous battles though, this one hit her hard, like reality is trying to convey a message to her. And then she notices Renar leaving before everyone else as usual...

"Renar... can't you at least... stay for a light chatter? No? Sigh... fine..." She calls out irritated, having given up on trying to include Renar as part of the team outside of battle situations. in fact, with Shugo, Renar and Maya's case done, there's only two more people she hasn't talked, or at least, express her concerns to. If they are willing, she will pull up a light banter with them for the remainder of the time, starting with Liivi who appears to be the closest to her in terms of distance.

Renar

Without skipping a heartbeat, I slowly put inazuma back in its sheath when I can finally confirm the coast is clear; The electric sparks it makes ceases to exist upon being neatly tucked whilst my bladesinger image combo vanishes into thin air. I then overhear that Aquan that Rixi would've killed if he was here I scoff in response. "Anyone can casually proclaim that to someone's face; Your stupid acquaintance said so before he wreaked havoc on an innocent lady we barely protected a couple of days back." 

Whilst the rest are busy walking back and talking to that...  wait... I suddenly halt in my tracks just past the entrance, not even taking a moment to enjoy the fact that we've barely avoided another crisis; That snake-appearance too familiar... A Yuan-Ti... I recognise it well. My muscles tense again and my eyes furrow in suspicion when I recall the assault of an army of this race during the siege in Waterdeep as my train of thought suddenly breaks. Wait... Honkini desu ka?! (本気にですか, Are you serious?!)What is a hostile-looking race doing here running a church?!  Not wanting to meet his gaze in case I suddenly lose control and attack him, I turn towards a somewhat agitated Okaa-san upon entering the church for reasons unknown to me and explained everything that happened along with Shugo and Mira-san; She wants to know why, even as I do my best to avoid my mother's furious face and pray she doesn't unleash her wrath on me.

After finishing our crudely explained situation, I batted my eyes apprehensively. "...So, yeah... that's uh... that's basically what happened. But just imagine if we hadn't stepped in and our captive is freed. Imagine what he could've done to worsen our position. We couldn't just stand there, Maya-san. We needed to do something." I then turn to Mira-san after hearing a bit of her pessimism. "Don't be ridiculous, Mira-san. If anything, you had the hardest task out of us three, and you executed that bit a lot better than I anticipated. Your vortex warps were the game changers for my plan." I reassure as best as I could underneath my gloomy exterior. And even Shugo probably deserves a bit of my respect for keeping up with me during the chase. "Sigh... good thing we made it out alive in one piece, right? I owe you a lot." I attempted to joke, even though I was unable to even grin for a moment. When Okaa-san suddenly hugs Shugo and Mira though, I did my best to remain indifferent as she also complains to them about us three dying or locked up in the process. Tch. Okaa-san, bakanakoto shinaide ne. Watashitachi wa anata ga omotte iru yori mo tafudesu, tokuni watashi wa. (お母さん、バカなことしないでね。私たちはあなたが思っているよりもタフです、特に私は。 Don't be ridiculous mother. We're tougher than you think, especially me.) I couldn't help but scoff in my head as her affection suddenly makes me want to leave.

Even as I conclude, I feel pretty riled up still too, possibly due to the Yuan-Ti and our past experiences with that race. We're both not here to cause trouble, but if this is already stressing us out, we need to leave, even if he claims that he's on our side. And seeing that I've got nothing to discuss, I decided to swiftly head out of the holy building to clear my thoughts and head back to the shop. Surely enough time has elapsed for that lady to return as I swiftly exited and sigh once more with a defeated frown, wishing I could relax knowing that the chaos is finally coming to an end...

"If there's nothing else left, I'm out of here."

Shugo squints at Mira taking a moment to realize what she was thanking him for. He rubs the back of his neck, he'd thrown that dart at her mostly on impulse. "Oh, uh. No problem. I'm sure you'd have done the same for me."

He gasps as Maya suddenly rushes over and squeezes the air from his lungs. What the- Why? He weakly pats her on the back before she releases him allowing him to fill his lungs with air once more. That woman, she must be bipolar or something. He chuckles slightly shaking his head, then winces at his wounds. Ugh, he's going to be sore tomorrow.

He glances at Renar, still unable to tell what the shifter really thinks about him...or anyone in the group aside from Maya for that matter.

When the group enters the somewhat thrashed church, Shugo grimaces. However, he smiles at Alex's mentor and gives him a polite bow. "Shugo Suzuki, pleasure to meet you." He says.

Liivi is a bit confused with the fire genasi's accusations against Mira. She's about to step forward to say something, but Mira seems to explain herself in stride, so she stays quiet.  Later as Mira thanks Shugo for the way she snapped him out of the spell, she can't help but join in the praise.  "That was very quick thinking Shugo. A very smart move."  She then adds, "Everyone worked admirably together out there really. But we should probably get that lady who was kidnapped back to Madura Fortress as Valijs recommended."  

Still mostly listening, she then watches as Renar quickly slips out of the church after helping with explanation of what had happened.  She slips out after him. "Going somewhere?  Do you not like churches?"  She has no idea if that's why he left - she honestly has no idea at all what might have pushed him to leave. 'Though he does pretty much run off and pout every chance he gets,' she thinks. "You will be coming with the group to Madura Fortress, won't you?" Her question was rather mundane, but she hoped maybe it would spark a conversation. In any case, she really didn't want to leave any of the group wandering off alone seeing the danger they'd already run into here in the city. 

And so, the group departs for Madura Fortress.

Across the greyish-blue river is the Madura Fortress, the two-layered trenches that surround the fort are filled to the brim with rainwater. Besides the drawbridge which leads into the fortress are two trebuchets on display. Its wood is mouldy and rotten from not being used for a long time. They intentionally show broken and worn-down siege weapons, because that's a sign that a country has been at peace for a long time.

Walking inside, you see many soldiers training in the courtyard, some are sharpening their spears, and others are engaged in a mock fight. In another section, another group of soldiers are training their mounts, both regular like horses and exotic like griffons.

Eventually, you arrive at the main barracks, right beside the stable where they trained all the mounts from earlier. One of the officers, an elf in his 50s equivalent, approaches you.

"I was informed by the guards about the incident in the city today... it is the first time in four thousand years that something like that happened." He snaps his fingers, and a bunch of soldiers come to pick up the unconscious goblin judge from you. "However, there is something more important than this: what's your status report on the People's Army? Can you give us some information about their members? What's their race, name, and appearance?"

This might be your chance to snitch on your former friends, if you can even call them that in the first place. By the way, there might be a familiar face waiting for you at the stables.

Renar

Before I can turn tails and head back to the shop to get straight to the point, I halt in my tracks just as the door half-closed when Liivi-san addresses me. Now they want to divert to a random fortress instead? I wanted to protest, but I suddenly became tongue-tied as the worst possible moment... "Sigh I wa- I- I-I meant... uh- ok sure... we'll go there..." I stutter. I only left because... well, I assumed we'd just head back to the shop first then we head there... whatever. Without even thinking about it, I trailed behind last in line as per usual, whilst maintaining a low profile.

Arriving there, I cocked my head to the side. "First time in 4 thousand years?" I reply confused. Surely this has been a common act of pettiness for some time in this messed-up place? And yet they're asking for info on the people's bakas... "We encountered them in a skirmish, but they instantly backed down despite not wanting to surrender." I bluntly explain, only to have a myriad of stares in my direction. Nani? You want to go in detail?! Why- Ugh fine... Shutting my eyes, I flashback to that traitor that helped Stupid Rixi kidnap the future queen of this wretched planet...

"One of these idiots is a traitor. He was responsible for kidnapping this helpless puffball..." I explain, gesturing to Mira-san... only for her to give me a punch that wasn't even worth my weight. I scoff in response as I carried on. "Other than that he rarely speaks a word. Every time you meet his gaze, it shows he's clearly lost in his own mind..." Just like me when I'm at my calmest or when I'm with Yuri... "...That's all I can gather about him. As for the rest..." I lower my head down with my right paw on my chin after recalling the rest of the goons that I was hanging out with before we battled Stupid Rixi for a second time... 

There's that massive leader who appears to be dicing with death; The lack of fear in him is prominent. There's Veno too... he shares his love for astrology with Tenebris... And gave me the location of their main base... Stuckavas... I know because I wrote it down in my spellbook, the one book that I don't allow anyone but the shifters to peek into. There were two ladies that forced me into my shyness when I made eye contact with them. I know their names, but I don't have any other info I can relate to. I glance back up to see if Alek and Shugo have anything else to offer; none of the ladies are familiar with them so it's only us boys that need to pick up the details. However, I wasn't sure if I should just ramble about it or hold my tongue and save it for later...

After a few minutes elapsing in my head, I decided to seal up the rest of my knowledge on them as I bit my lip and whispered something else instead even though I cannot find her at the moment.

"The owlbear..." 

Mira

Mira doesn't say much, but is surprised that the group is now turning tails to the fortress instead of the shop; She assumes that's why Renar even decided to leave early. She gives one more courtesy to Valijs. "Thank you, Valijs. I know this meeting was short lived, but I pray that we can meet again soon." Arriving at the fortress, Mira awaits the guards as they ask her and the team about... the people's...

Wait... People's Army? She turns to the rest in confusion and shock especially when Renar pathetically call her a puffball and punches his elbow in response. "Jerk!" She scowls. She didn't think her new allies would have collaborated with an army she and her mother dread to meet despite knowing of their supposed 'good deeds'. "Wait... you actually met their forces face-to-face?" She asks dumbfounded. She had only met the silent druid because he was responsible for kidnapping her, but the rest? She needs to know more, because if she was to meet them all on her own, she'd be in no position to negotiate. And then she hears Renar whisper...

"Wait... what? Owlbear?!" Mira gasps in shock. She has heard of these creatures, but has never seen one in person.

Liivi is a bit uncertain as the elf comes over to the group and starts asking so many questions. "We really just came to make sure this goblin judge was taken care of. It's really unfortunate she was injured. I believe she is supposed to preside over a case this afternoon that involves my friends here."  She generally waves a paw towards the others here besides Mira. "Those who attacked the judge and tried to attack us have been taken into custody. I would think you could see for yourself who they are and even question them."  

'I'm not quite sure what to say about the People's Army,' she thinks. 'I should probably just let the others talk about such things. Mira seems upset about it. And I missed out on whatever this meeting might have been.'  

Aware that Renar was in fact unprepared for the whole fortress detour, Maya sighs in response. She figured that he was wanting to head back to where he started and not beat around the bush when he straight up decided to leave. She gives him a light slap in response before she leaves after giving a courtesy to Valijs despite the fact that she can't bear to gaze at him without going feral.

She remains silent at the fortress whilst she huddles near her son and Liivi, keeping her distance from the latter because of her terrifying build. Though she is indeed puzzled as to why the guards are just straight up questioning the team, event though they appeared to have done the right thing. Nani no tame ni watashitachi o hinan shite iru nodesu ka? Tadashī koto o shitakara? (何のために私たちを非難しているのですか？正しいことをしたから, You're being accusatory to us for what? For doing the right thing?) She snarls in her head whilst her sharp fangs poke out of her glossy lips for a moment before disappearing. As Liivi stood her ground she couldn't help but nod along without even  thinking twice.  Like Liivi though, she doesn't know any of the People's Army well. Though as she does flashback to the time when she first reunited with her son in disguise, she does kind of recall their members and how one of them pointed out that she's a kitsune.

Plus... she recalls something paper-like that her son had sticking out of his pockets. Doesn't her son actually have something that initially belonged to them? Because if he does...

Shugo scratches his neck when the guard addresses them, he too is surprised that a big city like this hasn't seen similar incidents in so long. When the People's Army is brought up, he frowns slightly. Despite the fact that they ditched Pelmeni lady when she was in trouble, he doesn't hate them. So far they've been the most reasonable people they've met...and...well...to be honest Shugo kinda forgot most of their names. He catches Renar's glance and shrugs, then looks over to Alex. So far the young paladin has had the best sense of justice out of the group...even if Shugo doesn't always agree with him.

He does raise an eyebrow at Renar's Owlbear comment. He can't remember coming across such a creature.

Alex hesitates, unsure if they should tell anyone about the potential attack during Elmars' wedding. As much as he is starting to dislike the bird, he also doesn't like the idea of the rebels coming in and destroying such a precious ceremony. Then again, he doesn't like either side, but also doesn't want either side to get hurt. What will happen to the people's army members if he spills the beans on them now? 

Swallowing, he nods along with what Renar is saying before adding, "What he means is, the people's army has a traitor who is working for Adelaide. We did encounter the people's army briefly..." he hesitates, not wanting to mention that they had considered siding with them for a while... since none of them seemed like bad people. "So we did get a good look at some of the members." He describes and names the people they met before saying, "I... well I'm not sure what exactly is going on... but I think they might be planning something to disrupt Elmar's wedding."

He frowns at Renar... owlbear? What is he talking about?

"Thank you for the information, this will be useful in the future. However..." The general raises a finger, "I'm disappointed that you failed to capture the People's Army for us. That was what Elmars ordered you to do and you agreed to it, but at least with your information, we will be prepared for what is to come."

He snaps his fingers to summon two soldiers to his side, "Take her to the medical ward and make sure to check on the two mercenaries too." The two soldiers salute and does what the general ordered them to do.

"Adelaide is very influential, we can't just go and arrest her without triggering a diplomatic crisis, but we might be able to solve your current problem with Cezars right now. We will appoint you a new judge, and you will get your case done by tomorrow, you will most likely win with the amount of evidence on your side."

The elf crosses his arms, "Just make sure to watch your back from now on, because every mercenary employed by Adelaide will be looking for you, especially you." He points at Mira, "You're Duchess Miranda's daughter, you're key to the Duchy right next door to where Adelaide lives. If she gets her hand on you, she'll have major advantage in the upcoming royal election." Because every duke and duchess in Kerwos is eligible to become the king or queen, which means there might be a chance Adelaide will become the next ruler, and she will rule this country with an iron fist.

"That's all I have to say, please enjoy the rest of your day, and make sure to be there at the wedding." The general salute and walks away, you still have some time to explore more of the fort.

Liivi is glad the others filled in more information to the elf.  And passed on information about the possible disruption of Elmar's wedding. Some of the comments caught her attention, but she stayed quiet until the general had left.  Once he does go, she does speak up, though she keeps her voice low. "You all agreed to help Elmars capture the folks from the People's Army?" 

She starts to look about the place. "So was his word official? The judge will be switched, and the trial won't be until tomorrow? I suppose that means we will have to find a place to stay. And given his warning, it sounds like we all ought to stick together from here on." She isn't sure what they might do around here at the fort. Though at the very least it seems like a place where they weren't likely to run into much trouble. 

"We still have to go back to the visit the shop too, don't we? Shall we take care of that, or is there something we need to do here?" 

Renar

I couldn't help but scoff at their unappealed remarks before they left without a trace. You're disappointed in us failing to capture them? I couldn't help but scoff to myself whilst my hidden tail wags in disgust. We're not on anyone's side, bozo. If you insist on wanting to capture those scouts, do it yourself. We have other things to handle. But then Liivi asks a question that instantly triggers my nerves. Before I can even pause to think about it, my mouth suddenly let these words run free into thin air: "Ok... just to clarify, we didn't really agree to it. That stupid bird brain pressured us into doing so. Let's just say we were... 'forced'... to go out and capture them." I reply dryly. "Me, Alek, Maya-san and Shugo-kun... we... we only banded because of our common goal of finding the artefact. That aside, we're not aligned with anyone, nor we intended to take part in this entire mess." I decided not to say anything more than that. However, recounting our relatively benign encounter with them that night, I know I didn't actually tell them all the details...

Quote from ACNSuphalak >>

Finally, something more light-hearted. He smiles at the fellow hooded person and pulls out a map, he scribbles something down and passes it to Renar, "Here, have this. Our base is located in Stučkavas, once you reach the town, head north and you'll find a ruin of a church there. Head to the right room from the road and there is a hatch under rubble, once you open it, climb down the ladder and you'll enter an old dungeon and dragon's den. Don't worry about the dragon, though, he left our base three years ago, missed that guy."

Days mean the amount of time it takes to travel from the beginning of the route to the end unless stated otherwise.

3 days in Route 701 apply both ways, so you'll get to Madura within 3 days from both Meņkalde and Stučkavas.

I forgot to write this, but it takes 2 days from Durlaururu (The starting point of Route 702) to Stučkavas.

I nod to myself before turning south. Once this stupid Madura dilemma is out of the way, we're heading to Stuckav... Stuck... whatever their base is. I can't pronounce it at all, ugh. Hearing Liivi-san suggest that we should quit it the procrastinating, I couldn't agree any less either. "You're right. Seeing that there's nothing else to discuss, I'm out of here again..." And then it hits me: That massive beast that Stupid Rixi was riding... I was wrong. My heart suddenly aches at my mistake...

It wasn't an owlbear... it was a gryphon... Oh crap...

All of a sudden, I felt a myriad of confused stares aimed at me; My cheeks turn red from this one mistake as I just looked away and tried to dash off, pretending that I was actually trying to find something else instead. "I remember now... Gryphon... sorry... I..." I facepalmed over myself. I'm an idiot... how could I be so forgetful?!

Mira

Mira scoffs when they address her and warn her as if she hasn't already gotten a taste of what the outside world is like. Geez. She doesn't say much but her rather dirty look remains even after they turn their backs towards her. How dare they tell a noble lady like her what to do! "Right. They had the nerve to say so AFTER I got kidnapped by her own fellow mercenaries whilst minding my own business down there..." She grumbles with her arms folded like the stubborn queen she is. She is also shocked when she learns that Shugo, Renar and Alek were tasked in capturing their members. She only initially learnt that the trio had only encountered them but not the capture bit, even as she does listen to Renar explaining the nitty gritty details. Her sour mood suddenly swings to one of confusion and scepticism. "Uh-huh, wait... hang on... so... you all, literally obeyed Elmars because he did what...?" She attempts to clarify, only for the hooded boy to suddenly turn tail and blush in embarrassment without even explaining. Geez what is up with him now? First he appears sour and now he's acting all embarrassed? This is probably the one person that the future queen will not be able to understand... wait...

Oh! So they encounter a gryphon. That makes so much more sense now. Her brain nearly combusted earlier from the fact that they saw an owlbear. "No way! You boys met a gryphon in person?!" She exclaims. She finds Renar's embarrassing withdrawal very amusing though. This is the first time she's seen him so vulnerable on the outside; A change of character from his usual secretive and moody demeanour. There is hope: The fact that he's beginning to soften proves that this team may just need more understanding with each other. "You know what? How about we save the poor hoodie guy's embarrassment for later, eh?" She chuckles. "I've heard of gryphons through my mother but... I've never met them in person before..." She suddenly tugs on Renar's arm and prevents him from escaping a second time. "I have one request: Y'all mind showing us ladies where this... gryphon is?"