บท 171: Loyalty and Survival

Although Damien sometimes felt the urge to hug Ithnan for doing such a great job, he resisted. Once, when he'd given in and hugged Ithnan, the Dragonewt had fled, disappearing for the rest of the day. Damien resolved that next time, he'd corner Ithnan somewhere with no escape before attempting it.

For now, though, Damien pushed those thoughts aside and prepared himself for another afternoon of wrestling with numbers.

...

At lunch, Damien found himself with a rare bit of free time and joined Theo for a meal.

"By the way," Theo began.

As Damien watched Zima swiftly pick up the spoon he had dropped and replace it, Theo suddenly spoke, as if recalling something.

"The loyalty of your retainers maxes out almost instantly, doesn't it?"

By "retainers," Theo seemed to mean not only Leonide and the others but especially the recently arrived Zima and the Dragonewt siblings.