"You all look like you've gone through a lot," said Li as he watched everyone stream in.
"That would be an understatent," said ld as she ca up to Li's table and found only three more seats.
She remained standing, letting Triple Threat pass by her and take up the seats.
Sylvie rushed next to Li. "You're fine? Thank the gods," she said with a relieved sigh. "I thought with all that has happened, perhaps you had sensed sothing wrong, ventured out and then found yourself in trouble."
Li raised a brow and pulled out the chair next to him. "Trouble? Sit down and tell what happened."
Triple Threat took up the remaining seats around the table, and as they talked about what had happened, Li gauged their expressions. Sylvie and Jeanne were concerned, likely wondering about the strange events that they had witnessed at the mansion. Azhar, though, looked knowingly at Li, and it was evident that the bowman could piece together that Li was the spirit.
As Li tried to scrutinize ld's expression, he found that once again, he could not. There was a proverb that he rembered about eyes being the windows to the soul, and that felt particularly true here. With the blindfold covering her eyes, ld's expression was hard to divine, not to ntion that she herself had been trained to maintain as neutral a face as she could regardless of the situation.
"That's…quite odd, to say the least," said Li as he nodded several tis, pretending to be taking in new information. "It's quite worrying that a spirit of that caliber was roaming around Riviera this whole ti."
"I thought you had known," said Sylvie. "You always seem to have a sharp sense for danger even when it has not fully manifested. I worried that you had moved on your own to face a spirit of that strength."
"No, not at all," said Li. "As a herbalist and healer, I can sense the flow of energy in the world around and sort of tell when sothing is off. Tonight, I did feel there was sothing wrong which is why I had to head back to the farm to check on Old Thane and send my assistant here instead. Still, to think that the situation was as strange as this?"
Sylvie cast a montary glance at Iona, her lips pursed in minor annoyance, but only for a re instant before she regained her regular composure.
"And Old Thane?" said Jeanne. "Is he well?"
Li nodded. "He is. Snoring as loud as ever."
"Then he's definitely alive and kickin'," said Azhar.
"I see," said ld. "That explains your absence."
Li could not tell from her voice whether she doubted him. "And I'm noticing an absence on your end. Thunderstrike hasn't recovered from the attack?"
"Sadly, no," said ld.
"More like happily," quipped Azhar, though he quickly coughed and settled back into listening when ld did not react to him at all.
"Thunderstrike suffered grievous wounds. He will have to be sent to the nearest hero healer, but as Riviera lies far from such resources, there is so doubt as to whether he will survive," said ld.
"Well, I'm sorry to hear that," said Li, trying to keep his voice as steady as possible.
ld paused. "There is no need to feel pity for him. Heroes understand that their lives are constantly on the line, that we face risks at every waking mont. He understood the risks, willingly played with them, and was burned as a result. That is the simple truth of it."
"Quite a cold philosophy you have there," said Li.
"Cold and realistic often lie close together," said ld.
"That, I would agree with." Li eyed the doors of the Flagon. "And the squadrons of knights by the door? Is that a realistic number to bring here? Right in the heart of the city? It seems to that this whole ordeal is largely over. Chevrette is dead and his sins are corroborated by that spirit."
"Speak so sense to her," said Azhar. "She's still thinkin' to round up the beastwon. It ain't right."
"There is also no reason for this," said Jeanne to ld. "These won have suffered enough, and Chevrette has already passed, his soul to be judged by the gods."
"It's not simply a matter of him dying," said Sylvie.
"Precisely so," agreed ld. "There is the matter of his family na. All that falls under that once gilden na, his vast estate, his many businesses, the bank itself – all of that stands on trial here also. A true verdict must be reached against him to determine by law where those assets go."
"But a true verdict has already been decided," said Li. "And what does it matter what happens to Chevrette's assets? If I rember the law correctly, if he's condemned, doesn't the crown seize everything? Wouldn't that be to your benefit?"
"Justice does not seek monetary reward, though yes, you are correct in that regard," said ld. "However, that is not a path I wish to truly go down. A full condemnation would strip the Chevrette na entirely from the records and cast the late lord's daughter into poverty and holessness. But beyond that, it is a matter of principle.
This investigation must be settled through the proper channels, with proper witnesses and a proper trial where evidence is laid bare and considered thoroughly under the scrutiny of lawpseakers."
"Even if that ans, as you say, Chevrette's daughter will suffer?" said Li. He actually did understand where ld was coming from. The law should be blind and enforced uniformly and at a rigid standard for everyone.
Too often, that did not happen in his past life, leading to so many corporations and authorities flouting any law when convenient. Li was not heartless either, and he would have Count Alexei take care of Ella Chevrette as no daughter should suffer from the sins of a father whose sins she knew nothing about. It was suffering enough that Ella would have her world turned upside down at the thought of a father she thought loving and caring be accused as one of the worst evils in the city.
At the sa ti, Li could not let her keep her family na and estate. Without condemning Chevrette and breaking up all his business ventures, the farrs would still be bound to their contracts, and settling that would take even more ti.
"Justice cannot discriminate, unfortunately," said ld. "Proper testimonies must be produced before court."
"And the spirit's words aren't testimony enough?" said Li.
ld put a gloved hand to her back, where splinters from the Howling Ursine's descent had embedded. The wounds had been cleaned and patched over with bandages, but the bandages themselves still stood as reminders of the incident.
"I certainly would not wish to anger the spirit, but alas, taking the word of but one spirit, a spirit of tenuous ntion in any historical record, that we cannot even question would not prove beyond reasonable doubt Chevrette's guilt."
"You'd be more comfortable with real live witnesses you can talk to is what you're saying?" said Li. "Is that how you want to justify imprisoning these beastwon?"
ld was quick to respond. "It is not imprisonnt. Simply temporary detainnt."
"Don't sll a difference there," said Azhar.
"I can guarantee their safety and release after we have questioned them enough," said ld.
"What about the language barrier?" asked Li. "The logistics of securing all of them without having them suffer? The knights here can't handle their strength, either. You'd have to bring in more heroes or a much stronger force."
"There are Arcana scholars that know the tongues of the north. I will send for one. And the divine magic that the beastfolk rely upon will be severely dampened in the presence of anti-magic material."
"Only anti-magic stone walls I know are the ones in the dungeons," snorted Azhar.
"And That could take days to arrange," said Li. "Maybe weeks considering travel. You want to keep them locked up that long? How are you even sure you can even get them to the cells in the first place? What if they do escape?"
ld sighed. "I agree the situation is not optimal, but I attempt to use what I have at hand. At the least, I can guarantee I will personally oversee their detainnt such that no harm falls to them."
Li stood up and walked behind ld. "How about we reach a compromise?"
"What would you propose?" said ld.
"You need testimonies you can write down and produce in a court, right? Then how about I give you witnesses, human witnesses far easier to work with than beastwon that will literally fight you tooth and nail every step of the way. Witnesses enough to land a guilty verdict on Chevrette beyond any doubt, and in exchange, you let these beastwon go?
"I could order you to hand them over now by the authority vested within through the crown," said ld.
"And I could refuse," said Li simply, allowing her to determine what the consequences would be if she pushed her authority.
ld thought for several seconds – the first ti she had ever spent an extended period of ti thinking before speaking. "Very well. The night has been ssy enough. Let us settle this smoothly."
Li walked out the Flagon doors and, illuminated under the lantern light of the entrance, waved his hand – the signal for Alexei's n to co.
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