ACT I • SCENA 11
TEMPORARY DEVELOPMENTS, PART 2
----------------------------------------
[GUILDMASTER]: Well. With that, it's time for a break.
ANNESSA: There's just the regulatory assignments left. Keep it up and we can be through with the whole thing in less than an hour.
The Guildmaster
image [https://i.imgur.com/iOtVQ2G.jpeg] Annessa
image [https://i.imgur.com/PyIhOwq.jpeg]
[GUILDMASTER]: Sure, but given how many mistakes I made on that last one, you wouldn't want to see the results if I did. Besides, it's smart to take a quick break every now and then. My father always said taking off a third of an hour on the bell was the best way to keep his intensity up, especially if he was working on something that demanded his full attention.
ANNESSA: Well, if you want…
[GUILDMASTER]: How about that third of an hour, then? Which, if I had to guess, would be—
You reach toward one of the candles on the desk, trying to gauge where to notch it.
ANNESSA: We have a clock.
[GUILDMASTER]: Oh. Right!
It's in the entrance hall on the ground floor.
The both of you now in a sprightly mood, you quickly close up the guild office behind you before making your way down the stairs.
[GUILDMASTER]: Whatever happens, I'm looking forward to seeing what this place is like in a few months.
ANNESSA: I can't tell you how much it means to us to have other people here, other voices… other warm spirits…
[GUILDMASTER]:
> —<1> It's plain enough to see, heh.
>
> ANNESSA: I'm sorry if we're that obvious, but nine years is a long time…
>
> [GUILDMASTER]: It's fine, it's rubbing off on me as well, believe me. Makes me want to keep it all going.
>
> ----------------------------------------
> —<2> And other people who'll benefit from your work.
>
> ANNESSA: I—Yes, that really is true, isn't it… I'd never thought of it that way, but after we… lost everyone… all these years with just us few remaining staff, it was like most of my skills didn't even matter…
>
> [GUILDMASTER]: I imagine it feels much the same for Varant and the other trainers.
>
> ANNESSA: Probably more so…
>
> ----------------------------------------
> —<3> Well, on the other hand, I can't tell you how much it motivates me to see how eager you and the other staff have been.
>
> ANNESSA: Well, I think I can speak for all of us when I say that you'll have plenty more motivation to come.
>
> [GUILDMASTER]: I believe it.
>
> ----------------------------------------
The Chamber bell chimes in the distance, its gravitas piercing even the walls of the guildhouse.
ANNESSA: The seventh bell—today the adventurers will be doing their first formal lessons. The newest ones wanted to join as well, so Tami…
You reach the ground floor just in time to see Maya enter timidly through the front door. Before she notices you, Ethi approaches her from the direction of the staircase on the other side of the hall.
Maya
image [https://i.imgur.com/qbv7Cot.jpeg] Ethi
image [https://i.imgur.com/vAEo47W.jpeg]
Maya is stuck staring at the master Elementalist in a combination of shock and admiration, as if she was just gifted a glimpse of the gap in knowledge and ability between them.
Ethi approaches her directly, her eyes never leaving Maya's, but her gaze all-seeing. She stops in front of her new disciple for a long moment, and Maya seems to have been carved in the pose she entered in. Finally, Ethi seems satisfied with what she sees.
ETHI: Greetings, young magus. You may call me Instructor Ethi.
MAYA: G—Greetings! Instructor Ethi!
ETHI: I'm told you're quite talented when it comes to fire magic, but somewhat lacking in discipline. Is this accurate?
MAYA: I—I suppose it is, Instructor Ethi!
ETHI: Very well. We'll begin at once. Guildmaster, Annessa, please keep the third floor clear for the time being—this young one will need as much focus as she can get.
Then she turns back to the nearly-petrified Maya.
ETHI: Follow me to the study upstairs—and please, be comfortable.
MAYA: Yes, Instructor Ethi!
Maya looks anything but comfortable as she tries to keep up with Ethi's graceful but expedient pace, and the two disappear up the stairs opposite you and Annessa.
[GUILDMASTER]: I'd be rather tempted to sit in on that session, if not for Ethi's request…
ANNESSA: I hope everything will be okay with her. To be suspended from the Sun Lodge—she must have done something serious…
[GUILDMASTER]: We'd have taken her with or without Magda's recommendation I'm sure. But both Magda and Ethi seem confident with the situation, so we shouldn't spend any energy fretting about it.
Annessa nods.
ANNESSA: Agreed. But let's make use of that break you suggested.
She points to the clock. You're not used to telling time by the minute, but the seventh bell should ring at two in the evening, which makes this easy.
ANNESSA: Let's be back upstairs in twenty minutes then. I'll be in my room if you don't see me.
She goes back up the stairs and you're left to spend the next twenty minutes as you see fit.
⋯
[ This marks the start of a player exploration phase. You can end the phase as early as you see fit by interacting with the door to Annessa's room on the second floor of the guildhouse; otherwise, after you have viewed at least two events, she will be waiting for you in front of the door to the guild office. ]
Right, time to stretch your legs a bit. Your first thought is to see what kind of lessons the adventurers would be getting today, so you set your feet toward the doors to the training yard.
— Training Yard —
You emerge into the early afternoon light to find all five of this morning's recruits clustered in the middle of the yard, as well as Marlond and Ruvi.
Marlond
image [https://i.imgur.com/O2Jt9wB.jpeg] Ruvi
image [https://i.imgur.com/wcFhfeS.jpeg]
The newest adventurers are all facing Ruvi, and she's simultaneously flattered by the attention and flustered by their nonstop questions. You get a glance from Marlond, but the others haven't noticed you and you prefer it that way; you move to the rear end of the yard, near the storage sheds.
Tami enters the training yard from the front courtyard. With smooth, silent steps, she approaches the cluster of standing adventurers as she scours them each with her emerald-green eyes.
Tami
image [https://i.imgur.com/EwNtL41.jpeg]
She stops a few meters away, her gaze meeting with Marlond's. They each appraise the other for the space of almost four seconds, their eyes ranging from head to toe and back again. Their faces are both impassive, as if this is normal behavior or even a common greeting.
Then she turns to the group as a whole. All at once the others seem to notice her, as if her presence were a lantern she'd just set alight.
TAMI: My name is Tami, master Ranger trainer. Archery courses have long been a part of basic training here at the Mayika Adventurer Guild. Don't underestimate their usefulness even if you have already chosen another class; they're an opportunity to grow your dexterity and perception, and to discover talents you might not otherwise know you have. It's also important to help you understand your teammates in the future, that you can work and fight alongside them that much better. After all, an adventurer's greatest strength is their party, and the party is only as strong as its teamwork.
She's a confident lecturer, and has no problem holding the adventurers' attention. She continues with a brief run-down of her goals for today's session and what exercises they'll be performing. Then she directs them to set up targets and shooting lanes using supplies from the shed, and reviews a number of safety measures.
Soon enough she has them each take up one of the guild's stock bows and begin to string it.
Marlond begins to do the same, but stops when Tami turns to him.
TAMI: Your name?
MARLOND: Marlond.
TAMI: What do you need to help you train today?
MARLOND: Dense brush and a difficult target.
TAMI: Hm. As a hunter, that's exactly what you're used to, and therefore exactly what you don't need right now. Everything you used as a hunter, you will need as an adventurer—the discerning eye, the patient shot… dancing fingers, deft steps and an unfailing sense of direction. But you'll also need so much more.
Marlond looks thoughtful.
TAMI: You'll need to fight multiple enemies at once, sometimes while under fire from multiple more. You'll need to urgently discover the weaknesses of enemies you've never even heard of. And none of your worthier targets will be more than pricked by your strongest shots. You'll have to exploit every opportunity—or no, every second of every opportunity—if you want to help your party succeed. If you want to help them survive.
Marlond wears his usual stoic face, but his attention—which is usually divided by his ever-present alertness of his surroundings—is focused entirely on Tami.
TAMI: And that's the hardest part, for you especially I think—learning how to work within the party format used by adventurers for a millennium. A format that really is the most effective that I know of for the task.
Marlond nods, and he looks genuinely grateful for her knowledge.
Tami thinks for a second or so, her lips pressed together and head tilted just slightly.
TAMI: Live training is what you want right now, even if it starts with only pitiable monsters. But for sessions like today, I have an idea—let me speak to Annessa about it… now, actually. In the meantime, could you watch over the others here as they train?
MARLOND: …I don't know how to teach, Miss Tami.
He looks decidedly uncomfortable.
TAMI: That's excellent! Because this is the perfect place to start. Please watch your comrades as they follow my instructions. Move from one to the other, pointing out what they could do better. Focus on one thing at a time, don't overwhelm them. Because you're clearly self-trained, please focus on the principles—the reason behind what they're doing, not just the specific techniques you use.
MARLOND: Miss Tami, I… I don't have the authority…
TAMI: Nobody should need authority to help their comrades. Don't worry about doing a poor job, Marlond—just worry about not trying.
She turns to face the small group of adventurers as a whole.
TAMI: You heard our conversation, adventurers. Know that Marlond is as skilled a hunter as I could claim to be, and his advice will be very useful! Please ask for his help if he's too shy to tell you what you're doing wrong. Because you will be doing it wrong—even you, miss Ruvi-anna.
Ruvi, in the back of the group, gives her a look that is both petulant and somewhat amused. If she were even a year younger you're sure she'd be sticking out her tongue.
Tami turns to the guildhouse door but is then reminded of your presence. She makes for you instead, giving a quick smile in greeting as she gets closer.
TAMI: Guildmaster! I thought you'd still be with Annessa.
Her voice is very different when she's not in teacher mode…
[GUILDMASTER]: We're taking a quick break.
TAMI: A break? Annessa too?
[GUILDMASTER]: Well, she'd better be. She did go to her room…
TAMI: Wow. Savron always had the hardest time convincing her to put the pen down from time to time…
[GUILDMASTER]:
> —<1> You're not really going to leave the adventurers without staff supervision, are you? Wait—You don't expect me to—
>
> TAMI: Of course not! Zoel's here, everything's fine.
>
> [GUILDMASTER]: Zoel…?
>
> You look around. No Zoel in sight.
>
> But should you really have expected there to be?
>
> TAMI: Besides, this is the perfect chance to test Marlond. It's just the sort of thing Zoel would do, so I'm sure he approves.
>
> [GUILDMASTER]: Huh. So what's your take on him?
>
> TAMI: Socially deficient. A common problem with adventurers who start as hunters. It's just… He already has such a great attitude, and I feel like he has potential, so I can't help but want to push him…
>
> [GUILDMASTER]: Well, as long as you don't run him off, okay?
>
> TAMI: Of course not! Don't worry about us, Guildmaster, we know what we're doing!—it's just been a while…
>
> [GUILDMASTER]: Mmhmm.
>
> ----------------------------------------
> —<2> How are you so confident in Marlond's skills? You didn't even know his name…
>
> TAMI: I mean, it's kind of easy to tell… The awareness, the poise… Something about a bowman's stance tells you which hand and which eye they favor. And when he picked up that bowstring, you could see just how many thousands of times he'd done it before…
>
> You guess it's something similar to how Maya could instinctively recognize Ethi as a powerful mage.
>
> [GUILDMASTER]: Well. I guess I have much to learn, myself.
>
> ----------------------------------------
> —<3> So what were you going to ask Annessa about?
>
> TAMI: Something I've been thinking about since… forever! A few things, actually. It just depends on which of them I can get you and Annessa to agree to…
>
> [GUILDMASTER]: Such as…?
>
> TAMI: Oh, I have a great idea involving new, mobile training dummies!
>
> [GUILDMASTER]: But that's not the one we would object to.
>
> TAMI: …
>
> [GUILDMASTER]: Tamiiiii. Your other idea. What is it?
>
> TAMI: Um… Live monsters in the training yard…?
>
> [GUILDMASTER]: …
>
> TAMI: You're not saying no.
>
> [GUILDMASTER]: Well, if you can convince Annessa…
>
>
> If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
>
>
> TAMI: So I have a chance!!
>
> [GUILDMASTER]: …Do you really though?
>
> TAMI: W-well… It's just… just alglots…
>
> [GUILDMASTER]: …
>
> TAMI: They'd be muzzled and harnessed! I just need them to, you know, skitter like they usually do!
>
> [GUILDMASTER]: …
>
> ----------------------------------------
—
[GUILDMASTER]: Alright, I guess I shouldn't keep you then.
TAMI: See you later then, Guildmaster!
She leaves the scene through the guildhouse doors.
You watch Marlond interact awkwardly with the other adventurers for a bit before deciding to continue your walk. You turn to the back of the guild property and make for the alley behind the guildhouse.
— Behind the Guildhouse —
With a quick step around the corner, you find Tarrian and Evylie crouching in front of one of the herb gardens, poking at something on one of its border stones.
Evylie
image [https://i.imgur.com/YZZQpZH.jpeg] Tarrian
Tarrian [https://i.imgur.com/9FY2AMS.jpeg]
You look around, finding nothing else of interest. The Blackguard's notice board is empty as usual and the packed dirt alley is barren of any other occupants. Besides the distant din of the city's busier districts, Tarrian's and Evylie's voices are the only things you can clearly hear.
TARRIAN: And I'm telling you, it's a big-horned bulb bug! Every child in Arkavis can tell that much!
EVYLIE: Oh come off it. I know a battlebuck beetle when I see one, and I've seen scores of them!
TARRIAN: In Geld, maybe. But this isn't Geld!
EVYLIE: This isn't Arkavis, either!
TARRIAN: Okay, but look here—Two horns, facing forward, positioned on either side of the head… Brown head and undersides… Fat body, black, with glossy wing-shield things—
EVYLIE: Shards. They're called shards! And that's exactly what a battlebuck beetle looks like!
You decide to make a full circuit around guild property, so you make your way through the alley and leave around the corner by the kitchen. As you do, the voices of the two adventurers fade away…
TARRIAN: —Wait. So… have you ever actually heard of a big-horned bulb bug?
EVYLIE: …No…
TARRIAN: Because to be perfectly honest, I have never heard of a battlebuck beetle…
EVYLIE: …You think…
TARRIAN: They're probably…
EVYLIE: …The same thing.
TARRIAN: …
EVYLIE: …Well, battlebuck beetle sounds cooler! So it's a battlebuck beetle!!
TARRIAN: Well—well… Huh. You know, I can't argue with that.
The northern guild yard features more of the same packed dirt before it transitions into the cobblestone courtyard. You poke around a bit, but there's nothing going on on this side of the guild hall. The kitchen is empty and the dormitory bare.
Though you can hear scuffling and panting around the corner to the guildhouse's front…
— Guild Courtyard —
Kani and Messen are facing off against each other, massive wooden practice swords in their hands.
Kani
image [https://i.imgur.com/evHu5iy.jpeg] Messen
image [https://i.imgur.com/iD2AFcg.jpeg]
But neither of them are swinging. They dance aggressively around each other, feigning advances and retreats, with Messen frequently halting and giving critique. They're doing footwork exercises, you realize.
Kani's face is stoic during the exercise, but she takes the opportunity to vent her frustration during one of their quick breaks.
KANI: Urgh… fighting other people is so much more complicated than fighting monsters. And how come you're barely even winded?! So unfair!!
MESSEN: I'm spending half as much energy as you. Not just in each individual movement, but in deciding which move to make.
KANI: How…
MESSEN: It's a difficult skill for me to teach; else I would emphasize it more. Perhaps it's my failing as a teacher. But I can at least demonstrate… To me, it's about optimal movements, precision, and practice. Here—precision is grace. Grace is efficiency. Efficiency is strength.
KANI: I'll never…
MESSEN: With more practice, the movements will become natural to you, as did the basic forms. Likewise, you'll instinctively know how to react to your opponent's every movement. Of course, to truly excel, you'll have to think ahead as well—something else that's difficult to teach…
Kani purses her lips in exasperation but continues to give her all to the training.
Even though they're not swinging, they've used a length of old rope to cordon off a large circle around them for safety reasons. You don't really have the opportunity to interrupt their training even if you wanted to. But you wonder if maybe the guild doesn't need a second training yard, if they're forced to set this up out here.
With a loop around the courtyard you finish your lap of the guild's environs, and you're sure your twenty minutes are about up. The pair of them are talking again as you pass by on your way to the guildhouse.
KANI: Alright… but Messen, how useful do you think all this will be for me, you know, as an adventurer?
MESSEN: Very. I'm considering adding it to core Knight training. Or rather, I've already decided upon it—But I'm still trying to… determine… how best to teach it. You could say that's the true purpose of today's exercises.
KANI: But even in the Watch I've only ever had to fight bandits twice, and none of them had greatswords. I don't think any of the other peoples use swords either…
MESSEN: It matters little what weapon they wield, or whether they wield one at all. These very exercises will help you move better, fight better when fighting any small-sized monsters and anything that attacks in packs—furloks, wulgasts—including and especially troglins. But the principles apply regardless of what you're facing. Your opponent's eyes and feet will tell you as much and more about their intentions as the way they hold their weapon.
KANI: That makes sense…
MESSEN: Over the years I've come to better understand just how true this is, for large monsters as much as anything else, and I regret that I didn't teach it to you or the others earlier… Regardless. Thank you for your help today…
You enter the guild hall's front doors and make your way up the stairs to the second floor.
— Guildhouse, 2F —
You briefly consider returning to your room for a proper break, but there's really nothing in there other than the bed, wardrobe, and a small wooden table and chair for taking meals. Did Savron really spend nothing on luxuries for himself? It is a nice bed though…
So you head to the guild office, where Annessa waits in front of the door.
[ Interacting with Annessa will end the day's exploration phase. ]
⋯
[GUILDMASTER]: Thanks for waiting. I should be able to focus better now—a bit of walking always helps to steady the mind.
ANNESSA: Like I said, we're most of the way through—
Suddenly you feel a surge of power from the floor above, accompanied by a blast and then a cacophonous roar. Eyes wide, you and Annessa spin towards the staircase. An abrupt crash fills the guild hall, and within a second the roaring and the flow of mana dissipate as a gust of wind flows past you.
You take the steps three at a time and emerge onto the third floor to find the study door blown off its hinges and smashed upon the opposite wall. Through the doorway you see Maya, pleading and almost in tears, her face sweeping in horror across the utterly disheveled study. Ethi, meanwhile, is cackling with mad glee.
ETHI: Hee hee hee ha haaa!
Her usual decorum has vanished completely; her hood is thrown back, her hair and cloak are in unseemly disarray, and the grin that spreads across her face is colored with excitement, childish joy, and long-awaited satisfaction.
Maya, on the other hand, is fighting her own panic.
MAYA: I—I'm so sorry, please, I didn't mean to—I couldn't—
ETHI: Hee hee heh heh hehhh…!
MAYA: I never—please, I'm so sorry…
ETHI: Hee hee ha ha haaa…
MAYA: P—please… Instructor Ethi… Instructor Ethi, what…
Annessa arrives beside you, holding her breath as she looks at the scene.
[GUILDMASTER]:
> —<1> Um.
>
> MAYA: G—Guildmaster, I'm so sorry!
>
> ETHI: Hah hah hahhh… Ahem. Hello.
>
> ----------------------------------------
> —<2> Excuse me ladies, but could we please have an explanation?
>
> MAYA: I couldn't—I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…
>
> ETHI: Hee hee hee heeeee…
>
> [GUILDMASTER]: …
>
> ----------------------------------------
> —<3> Is everyone safe?
>
> ETHI: Hrm? Oh yes, no problems here.
>
> MAYA: Please, I'm sorry Guildmaster, I really didn't mean to…
>
> ETHI: Hah hah heh hehhh…
>
> ----------------------------------------
ANNESSA: Ethi, please… what happened here?
ETHI: Ah… Greetings, Annessa, Guildmaster. Something momentous has happened here! You see, to start off her training, I was trying to see what she was capable of…
MAYA: D—does this mean I failed the test…?
ETHI: Test? Yes, right. Well, I was trying to make you fail, so it's not so much that you failed as much as I succeeded!
MAYA: W—what…
ETHI: I've been wanting to test that out for a decade! And it worked, yes! Too bad Orlin and Savron aren't here to see how wrong they were, this has immense potential!
ANNESSA: Ethi…
MAYA: But… but you were so serious…
ETHI: Well. Nobody would ever voluntarily try to spark so much mana at once… even the ones that were capable…
MAYA: Y—you distracted me on purpose…!
ETHI: Hee hee hee…
MAYA: You—You're mean…!
ETHI: Hee hee heee…!
[GUILDMASTER]:
> —<1> So let me get this straight. This—the exploded room, the scattered papers, this door stuck in the wall—was all planned?
>
> ETHI: Well. Yes? Of course, the damage was simply incidental. Before you get mad, I made sure there was nobody else on this floor.
>
> ANNESSA: Ethi… please, explain. What was this all about?
>
> ----------------------------------------
> —<2> Can we get to the explanation already?
>
> Annessa nods in agreement, her face somber and severe.
>
> ----------------------------------------
> —<3> What exactly were you testing? And was it worth… all this mess and alarm.
>
> ETHI: Yes, yes! My apologies for disturbing you!
>
> ANNESSA: Ethi. Could you please explain from the beginning?
>
> ----------------------------------------
ETHI: I was simply trying to accomplish two things at once, you see. As you've noticed, the young magus here recognizes her error and is highly unlikely to reproduce it. Simultaneously, I have completed an experiment of sorts—tested a proof of concept—made a valuable discovery!
[GUILDMASTER]: So you were putting Maya through some kind of stress test and deliberately caused her to fail. Is that what caused the… well, it looks like there was some kind of explosion.
MAYA: I—I don't know… It should have been all fire, but she…
ETHI: So you saw it! What did it look like to you?
MAYA: You… You wrapped it in ice mana and then guided it around somehow.
ETHI: And the result?
MAYA: It was like a whirlwind…
ETHI: Yes! Yes!! Young magus, today you and I have created wind magic!
MAYA: …What?
[GUILDMASTER]: …What.
ETHI: The very thing the elders of the lightning lodges have sought for millennia! But it's not the domain of Venu-Veyu, and never was!
MAYA: I don't understand… When you combine fire and ice mana, they either negate each other or cause a blast if the difference is strong enough… That's the rule.
ETHI: But they were negating each other. And that was a blast.
[GUILDMASTER]: Even if you're right, I find it hard to believe that nobody else would have figured this out before…
ETHI: Oh, I'm sure many have observed the results of this same reaction before. But not on this scale, not large enough or organized enough to recognize that that blast of "force" is wind. This may have seemed a, hm, crude experiment, but I would like to assert that are relatively few mages in the world with the throughput for fire mana that this young one has, and even fewer with the combination of control, power, and reflexes to do what I just did. Namely! Not only did I extinguish a large-scale manifestation of fire before it could proliferate—and in a harmless fashion by any knowledgeable standard—but I also shaped the negation reaction into a pattern that was demonstrably wind magic! That is, a whirlwind.
[GUILDMASTER]:
> —<1> That's… wow. If I'm to believe what you're saying, it was certainly impressive enough.
>
> ETHI: Yes, yes!
>
> ANNESSA: But Ethi, we must treat this seriously. The potential for injury…
>
> ETHI: Indeed. I did make sure this floor was empty.
>
> ANNESSA: But what about you and Maya? If you'd failed…
>
> ETHI: Yes, there would have been either a fire or a proper explosion. Either would have been contained to the top floor of the guild hall, and in either case I could guarantee the survival of both of us. I understand your concern, Annessa—please believe that I'm not foolish. Overly, at least.
>
> ----------------------------------------
> —<2> That's great and all, but could I please, please get an assurance that this will never happen again?
>
> She looks you straight in the eye.
>
> ETHI: I can almost guarantee it.
>
> [GUILDMASTER]: Not good enough.
>
> ETHI: I can probably most certainly guarantee it.
>
> [GUILDMASTER]: …
>
> ANNESSA: Ethi…
>
> ETHI: I'm neither soothsayer nor fortune teller, Guildmaster. The best I can say is that I intend to make sure that it doesn't happen again.
>
> [GUILDMASTER]: …Fine.
>
> ----------------------------------------
> —<3> If it took that much mana and two people, it seems a rather impractical art…
>
> ETHI: It may well be! But that itself is part of the discovery, and it is a valuable discovery all the same!
>
> ANNESSA: Discovery or no, there was simply too much potential for injury. Ethi, we really shouldn't allow this to happen again.
>
> ETHI: Ah. Please believe at least that I did take precautions for safety—our survival, at the minimum, was certain. And as I said, this was a once-in-a-decade opportunity…
>
> ANNESSA: And I insist that it doesn't happen again, even in another decade.
>
> ETHI: I understand—I will take measures to ensure that I won't have to cause another, er, incident on this scale.
>
> ANNESSA: Thank you.
>
> ----------------------------------------
[GUILDMASTER]: Well, at least there were no injuries. But even if she technically caused it, I insist that you apologize to Maya for making her an involuntary accomplice.
ETHI: …Ah. It was rather inconsiderate of me. Please forgive my overexuberance, young mage. And though I do intend to review your every error and miscalculation, I do not hold you at fault for anything today.
MAYA: Y—Yes Instructor Ethi… Thank you…
[GUILDMASTER]: Excellent. And now, about all this mess…
With a flick of her hand Ethi makes as if to wave away your concern.
ETHI: A temporary development! A short-lived inconvenience.
Sure, maybe to somebody with more years on her than the Grand Regent of Geld has rings.
[GUILDMASTER]: Oh really? And who, exactly, was supposed to clean it up again?
She freezes.
ETHI: The Guild doesn't currently have a caretaker in its employ… does it…
You shake your head.
[GUILDMASTER]: That responsibility is currently shared among the rest of the staff. Equally.
ETHI: You are a cruel, cruel master…