Collusion

"Aiden!? You should have told us if you were back...!" exclaimed Allyson, her eyes widening to their limits when she saw him emerge from the stairs connecting to the dining hall.

"It was late, and I was exhausted..." excused Will, his right brow rising as Allyson approached, raised his arms in turn, and began inspecting him for any sign of injury. Once she was finished, she slugged him in his left arm, frowning as she asserted, "That's a terrible excuse, and you know it..."

"Could the two of you not flirt right in front of me? You're making me jealous..." remarked Angil, approaching with a faint smile. He and Allyson had been eating breakfast and sharing a drink, so while he was grateful to Will for saving his life, he was moderately annoyed at the interruption.

"Oh, come on, Angil...you know we're not like that..." responded Allyson, looking uncharacteristically sheepish as she alternated her gaze between him and Will. As ludicrous as it sounded, Angil faceplanting into her chest and using the last bit of his strength to squeeze her butt had left a lasting impression on her. She still felt he was a womanizing jerk and a scoundrel, but the anguish and regret she experienced when holding his cold, lifeless body was such that she had nearly slept with him out of obligation...

"How are you holding up...?" asked Will, his gaze lowering to the scar in the center of Angil's chest, vaguely resembling a compass rose with four larger prongs and four smaller prongs separating them.

Touching said scar, Angil jokingly responded, "I'm definitely holding. Just don't go telling me I owe you a debt of tens of millions of Astra, and I'll be fine..."

"Just be sure to pay it forward if you ever find yourself in a position to help someone else..." stated Will, frowning. He had no problem with people feeling indebted to him and trying to repay him of their own accord, but it annoyed him when people concluded his motivations were backed by the expectation of repayment...

"I'll do that..." responded Angil, his smile cramping as he could tell he had offended Will but wasn't entirely sure how or why...

...

"So, what happened after we separated...?" asked Will, seated at the bar with Allyson and Angil, enjoying a tall glass of chilled, citrus-flavored juice while waiting for his food to arrive.

"The threat of intelligent Saighba'an isn't something that can be ignored, so the Guild officially closed off the Dungeon and requested aid from the Royal Capital," explained Allyson. "In the meantime, we were asked to sit tight since whoever they dispatch would want to speak with us."

"And what did the Raksha have to say about this...?" asked Will, directing the question at Angil.

"Time, as they say, is money," replied Angil, shrugging as he elaborated, "I explained the situation to Rasa, but that only made her want to leave even more. And she's not the only one. With a situation this big, it's pretty much a given that the Inquisitors from the Solais Society will be dispatched."

'That could be troublesome...' thought Will, recalling what he knew of the Solais Society. They were essentially the auditing arm of the Royal Family, and their leader was the Solstice Star, the title given to the most powerful Brave, the wielder of the Hero King Callum's Godsealing Sword, Claimh na Leone. Put simply, they were the Kingdom of Astralis's intranational police force, charged with rooting out corruption, eradicating cults, and dealing with anomalous threats, particularly those that may have something to do with Plænər...

"Do you have something to hide from the Solais Society?" asked Allyson, noticing Will's brows furrow.

"Who doesn't...?" responded Will, shaking his head before assuring, "But it's nothing serious. When the Inquisitors question you, you shouldn't try to hide anything from them. Just tell them what you know and try to avoid being baited into speculating. Based on what I know, they have a habit of coaxing people into false confessions and then using them as scapegoats to protect the Kingdom's interests..."

"That's pretty common knowledge," appended Angil. "But if it comes to it, are you okay with us telling them that you basically brought me back from the dead? I don't plan on mentioning it, but those bastards can be pretty persistent if you try and sidestep details..."

Shrugging, Will responded, "Like I said, just tell them what you know. You don't need to complicate things for yourselves by trying to protect secrets that aren't yours to keep."

"You say that like we're not friends..." muttered Allyson, looking conflicted and a little hurt.

Exhaling faintly from his nose, Will calmly explained, "It's not like that at all; it's a matter of accountability. I may not think things through at times, but I always act with the understanding my actions have consequences. And when they come, I face them directly."

With the first platter of his food arriving, Will smiled broadly, thanked the proprietor's wife, and happily dug in while Allyson and Angil looked at him with expressions of awe and disregard. Allyson found his views novel and noble, while Angil, having mingled with brigands, scoundrels, and general neerdowells for much of his life, found such sentiments painfully naive. As it was the principal reason he was alive, however, he chose not to think of Will as a complete fool...

...

[Two Days Later]

*tok* *tok* *tok*

"Aiden, mind if we have a chat...?" asked the voice of Aelius, prompting Ohta, who was eyeing Will performing pushups from the bed, to audibly click his tongue before disappearing into his shadow.

Pushing himself to his feet like a lever rising, Will made his way over to the door, casually opening it to reveal Aelius and Kris, the latter standing with crossed arms and his usual serious expression.

"What's up...?" asked Will, stepping aside to indicate that the duo could enter before closing the door behind them.

After a quick look around and a few habitual sniffs of the air, Aelius turned to meet Will's gaze, explaining, "We received word that the group from the Capital should be arriving today. Before they question us, there are a few things I wanted to clarify with you..."

"Ask away," said Will, taking a seat atop his bed, pulling his legs up, and sitting cross-legged with an untroubled countenance.

"I won't ask who you are...but if things go south, will your status be able to protect us...?" asked Aelius, surprising Will as he expected him to be a little more direct.

"It could," affirmed Will, nodding. "But if things came to that, you would also be implicated in other matters. So, if they ask, you can mention that I appear to have a powerful backer, but you should avoid offering any guesses about my origins or who might be supporting me. I'll handle that on my end."

"Then, about what happened in the Dungeon..." said Aelius, his expression becoming serious as he remarked, "You appeared to have at least a basic understanding of what was happening despite this being your first time in Deisceart...ordinarily, I wouldn't pry into someone else's personal matters, but if there's something big taking place behind the scenes, please tell us what you can..."

"Wouldn't it be better to ask something like that after the investigation...?" asked Will, raising his right brow and smiling as he asked, "Or is this your way of telling me we won't be traveling together from here on?"

"That depends on your answer..." responded Kris, his expression and tone firm as he revealed, "Aelius and me...we became Warriors to stand against the injustices of this world. If you're here at the behest of a Dragonsdottir, you must stand on the side of justice..."

"Mmm...that's not untrue..." affirmed Will. "But the main reasons I came to Deisceart were to hone my skills, check on the family of two colleagues, and search for someone. What we encountered in the Tomb of the Jackal King points to something major occurring behind the scenes, but I had no knowledge of it before coming here and can only speculate who might be pulling the strings."

"And who might that be...?" asked Aelius.

Shaking his head, Will asserted, "I find speculation pointless unless you have the means and motivation to act upon your suspicions. Angil nearly died, and the rest of you might have followed if Ohta hadn't been there to get you out. Feel free to think about what happened as much as you want, but the wiser course would be to focus on becoming stronger and moving forward with our original plan to seek employment in the Capital..."

"I didn't take you for a coward..." remarked Kris, furrowing his brows and frowning in disapproval.

"There is a tremendous gulf between cowardice and going out of your way to stick your nose where it doesn't belong," countered Will. "If I were a coward, I wouldn't have purposefully stayed to ensure the enemy didn't follow your retreat..."

"I just have one more question..." said Aelius, interjecting before Will and Kris could start arguing or full-on brawling.

"Go ahead," said Will, choosing not to take Kris too seriously as there was little point in getting outraged over what amounted to a misunderstanding driven by a difference in values and experiences.

"If we continue traveling together..." said Aelius, narrowing his eyes and causing Kris to snort and look away in annoyance as he asked, "Can you help us become stronger?"

Though he was taken aback by Aelius's question, Will didn't hesitate to respond, "I can definitely give you some pointers to make things a little easier in the short term, but power is something you obtain for a reason. As long as that reason remains and you earnestly seek it, your power will increase naturally..."

"Then, once we're in the clear, I would appreciate it if you had a spar with me," said Aelius, prompting Kris to offer a curt nod, indicating his personal desire for a match.

"Sure, sounds fun," responded Will, adopting an amused smile. Based on what he had seen, there wasn't much that Aelius or Kris could teach him, but regular training, even against a weaker opponent, could help prevent his skills from diminishing.

"I get the distinct impression you're looking down on us," remarked Aelius, sporting a smile of his own. He had already come to terms with the reality that Will was more powerful than them, but that didn't mean they couldn't surpass him with time. The most important thing was that they redoubled their efforts to improve as, as Will had suggested, they wouldn't be alive if he and Ohta hadn't been present. That wouldn't always be the case, so in preparation for their inevitable separation, Aelius and Kris intended to use Will as a whetstone to hone their skills as much as possible...

...

As the interviews were being conducted back at the Guild Hall, Will and the members of Silver Cat made their way over with an escort of armed soldiers before being taken into separate rooms. Will initially wasn't too concerned, but that changed slightly when he came face to face with his interrogator, a strange-looking man with glowing green eyes, gold, circle-shaped glasses, short and curly brown hair, and a peculiar, skin-tight suit that made him look like a priest and a wrestler at the same time. The base of the fabric was marble white, but it had accents of golden brown that matched the color of his hair, forming a distinctive pattern that adhered to the contours of his body and accented his muscles. It quite literally clung to his figure, but the cloth around his waist thankfully drooped, forming a kind of dress that curled into overlapping pleats near his feet.

While the man's appearance was certainly strange, it was what he said that caused Will's brows to rise slightly, a faint, contempt-filled smile playing across his lips as he asked, "William Aladfar Oirthear...may I ask what the missing Gamma Star of House Oirthear is doing in Deisceart, of all places...?"

...