PART V - A SINGLE SIMPLE QUESTION
“With me, Recruit,” Xera ordered, walking through the inset door into the next room, which was presumably their office. As they passed, Callie briefly stopped to look at the map, running her own fingers lightly over the blue flag indicating where the camp was, and then continuing along the map to touch the capital, Imor. This close, she could see the three individual cities surrounding the central Nexus where the two rivers converged, before heading south towards what Callie assumed was the desert and the Great Oasis, based on Shul’an’s descriptions of home.
The sound of Xera clearing their throat from the next room shook Callie out of her explorations. “Sorry,” she said as she entered the Commandant’s office. “I got distracted by the map.”
“Close the door please,” Xera said.
“Okay,” Callie replied, doing so. Xera’s office was simple and sparsely decorated. The wall to her right was lined with shelves, upon which sat a few books along with other items of likely sentimental value. Several pieces of cloth were rolled up and stacked on the shelf. Maps maybe? A few chairs lined up against the wall next to the door, including an Ogre-sized one. Like the ones around the conference table, they sported steps for the shorter races to use to be seated at an appropriate height.
Xera’s desk was an unremarkable piece of furniture, with a few items strewn across it, primarily parchment pages, upon which could be seen what looked like writing. Behind the desk was a wall with two normal-sized doors, and hanging on the wall was mounted a pair of crossed swords. Below the swords was a display of several medals, and Callie recognized two Heartstone Stars like Pixyl’s, one of them sporting a blue jewel instead of red, as well as another with the Bronze Sword. There were gaps in the display, next to the red Heartstone and also the Bronze sword, as if something was missing. Callie also saw two additional medals, but each with a silver sword embossed on the dark metal, instead of bronze.
Xera was looking out the window on the left wall, staring off into the woods, seeming lost in thought. They turned, seeing Callie reviewing the display of medals. “I gave two of mine to Pixyl, yesterday. I’ll get replacements ordered in time. They aren’t the kind of medals we keep in a training camp, after all. The Legate contributed the one for his Majesty.”
Xera smiled and crossed to their desk. Sitting, Xera said, “I won’t keep you long, Recruit. You may remain standing.”
“Okay,” Callie said once again, now even more nervous than before.
“I have just a single simple question for you, for now at least,” the Commandant said, looking up slightly at the Gnome. “Did you come to us because you knew you had information we would not want our superiors to know? The information regarding Juniper, as well as what you’ve overheard, could be quite rewarding if passed to the right people.”
Callie wasn’t sure whether she should be insulted or angry at the Commandant’s implication, and ultimately settled on both. “Commandant,” Callie said with a cool tone, trying to keep any hint of emotion out of her words, “I came to you because Juniper said you are a good person, and because of all the other reasons. I’m not a narc, and I would never resort to blackmail!”
Xera studied Callie for a long moment. “I believe you. I’m not sure what a ‘narc’ is, but I can gather its meaning. Thank you for your honesty. You may go. Please send in the Scryer.”
“That’s it? That’s all you wanted to ask me? You could have asked that when I was under Truthseeking, unless you have that skill, too.”
“Yes, I could have,” Xera said, “and I do not possess the skill. I wished to see your reaction without others around, and your anger at the implication told me you were being quite truthful.”
“Okay,” Callie responded hesitantly, drawing the word out, not sure what to make of Xera’s line of reasoning. “Have a good night, then,” she finally added.
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“You as well.”
As Callie turned, her eyes once again caught the parchments laid out across Xera’s desk. “Commandant, if that’s not something top secret, may I see that? I’m curious about something.”
“This?” Xera said, gesturing to the pages. “It’s nothing important.”
Xera handed a page to Callie, who looked it over. She was curious if she’d be able to read the writing, since apparently everyone spoke English here. To her surprise, she was able to decipher the words, but the marks on the page were very obviously not the letters she was used to back home. It was as if something in her head translated the markings into something her head recognized almost as if overlaid on the actual writing. It was a very odd sensation. “This is a requisition form. For bundles of fruits and nuts. Right?””
“Are you able to read it?”
“Uh huh. It’s not any letters I’ve seen before now, but I know what it says.”
“So somehow, you arrived with the knowledge of how to read?”
Callie shrugged, “I guess so? Why would you need sacks of fruit and nuts? Can’t Pama just magic up whatever food is needed?”
Xera chuffed, as if surprised Callie even asked the question, before remembering her lack of knowledge. “Summoned items don’t maintain form very long without a Preservation spell. With something as complex as food, it lasts only a few hours; perhaps eight or so for someone of Pama’s expertise. Long enough to derive nutrition from it, but not when you need preserved meals for the field. That’s why mealtimes are so specific, so everyone has time to digest what they eat. Preservation might give you a few days, but it’s easier to just work with real food for travel rations and such.”
“Good to know.” As Callie pondered that new information. It suddenly made her wonder what happened to the summoned food that she had eaten. Did it just disappear out of her gut when the summoning time ran out? Did the nutrition she absorbed do the same? No, nutrition had to be legit or everyone would starve.
Just as Callie reached for the door to leave, Xera said, “Thank you, by the way.”
“For what?”
“For trusting us. It means a lot to me to hear that, and to see how important the little things were to building that trust.”
“Thank you, too,” Callie replied. “For believing what I told you, that is. And for believing in me, too.”
“I look forward to seeing you excel. Good night, Recruit. Please close the door behind you, and send in the Scryer,” Xera said as a dismissal.
Callie reached for the door, but once again stopped, the word ‘trust’ sticking in her mind. She turned back to Xera. “Commandant, just one more thing. Are you and the Legate working with the Paladin recruit, Koda, on anything?”
Xera looked up, her eyes slightly narrowing. “Why would you ask that?”
“He mentioned it, and then asked me to do something for him. I guess I wanted to see if he was telling the truth.”
“What did he ask you to do?”
Callie frowned, but then decided to just let it out. “He said he was interested in the anomalies, curious about the three of us that is. He wanted me to report back to him if we encounter anything ‘odd’ in training, because he thinks what we learn could lead to new tactics or something. Maybe it was just the way he asked, but it felt like he was asking me to spy for him.”
The Commandant drummed their fingers on the desk, looking hard at Callie. After a long moment of awkwardness, Xera sighed, shrugged and said, “Well, if he deemed fit to tell you, it’s too late now. Yes, we are working with him. He’s going through the program as a recruit, to both learn training techniques, and report back to us on how we might change things.”
“Okay,” Callie said. “Thanks. That makes me feel a little better, at least. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. It’s a really good idea, actually.”
As Callie turned to try to leave again, Xera called out. “Recruit, I do feel his request was genuinely made, perhaps just poorly implied or worded. I don’t see any harm in providing that information to him, but maybe you could provide the same to Master Trainer Thorn? He really is quite intrigued by the four of you, including the Goblin from last term.”
“Yeah, I can do that.”
“Thank you, recruit. Have a good night.”
Callie walked out of Xera’s office, lightly closing the door. Yulayla had been pacing, waiting for her turn to talk to the Commandant, and looked up in worry seeing the Gnome entering the room.
“How is Xera’s mood?” the Elf asked quietly.
“It seems fine,” Callie said with a shrug.
“Good. Hopefully she doesn’t want me to get my mind wiped. I have questions I want to ask you at some point. I’m so curious to know more about your class void.”
“Okay. Well, they’re waiting, so have a good night.”
“You as well,” the Scryer said, swallowing hard, before crossing the rest of the room and knocking lightly on Xera’s door.