>>6322100
“First, he’s not an apprentice. Second, Tell that to the Lord Inquisitor. He said you were such a success, he's going to shackle more unfortunate souls to me.”

“My success was born from my own abilities.” You state that you are not willing to give the current town drunk a compliment.

“That's what I've been telling him!”

“Wait, Sir? You really did teach Her Royal Highness?” Siegvald inquires.

“Huh, wait, dude, you didn't believe me?! Douchebag.

“I would have thought it'd have been a rather large rumor at least.”

“I- er, sorry?” he says with the kind of expression someone in one of Marie’s books would make, “I’m usually not in places where the news or rumors regularly flow.”

“Could’ve at least have taken my word for it..”

You nod you did notice that most reports involving this Inquisitor were from rural parts of the country, “Right, the case of the possessed child was rather recent, and Halfwater is quite away from things.”

Siegvald's eyes widen in shock, “You know about that?”

Again, you nod but don't elaborate. It's better for you if he constructed an elaborate caricature of you in his head than to admit you’ve been reading the Inquisition’s reports as homework. “I've actually been curious about that case. Though I suppose my question applies to Asher as well. How does the Inquisition handle children who are suspected of being Strangers?”

Asher's eyes dart to a far corner of the garden, “Damn, Lorina. Fucked up thing to ask without any warning.”

“Siegvald, your mission involved one, did it not?”

“Y-yeah, but it was pretty obvious she was possessed by the time I got there. By then, the elder in her body turned the house into the scene of a massacre. Some of the local clergy even got caught up in the mess when they tried to perform an exorcism for a ghost instead of a Stranger.” He shudders as he speaks, “I tried not to harm her too much since the Stranger used the fact she was still, well, inside her body against us, but-”

“There’s no need to go any further. That’s all I wanted to know, thank you.” You say, as it is probably best you don’t force a man to relive his recent blood-soaked past. You’ve learned this is a sore topic for some people, though you’re not exactly sure why. You’ve seen people explode in front of your eyes and you have turned out fine.

He takes a deep breath, “No, it's fine. I was able to use some of the scattered blood and parts he left around, along with the pantry's salt, to complete a purifying ritual. But should I not have had the knowledge to- well…” He trails off.

“His next best move would have been to kill the child, taking the Stranger along with her.” Asher finishes. “You've already been told all the freedoms we have with dealing with nobility before, right? The same privileges apply when dealing with all manner of people. Sure, most of us aren't heartless monsters or bloodthirsty maniacs, well, at least one of us isn't.”

“Thank you.”