Chapter 1084 (1/2)
The walk toward Commander Terith’s camp was illuminating. Probably one-fourth of her own camp was lightly damaged, but Terith had clearly borne the brunt of the fallout from the bombardment. Entire swaths of the previously pristine rows of tents had been razed to the ground. Wounded sat in huddles around fires, talking to each other in quiet voices.
Perhaps most interesting was the strange array Iellaya paused briefly by right outside of Terith’s tent. It had been completely annihilated in the bombardment; if anything, it seemed like quite a bit of the firepower was concentrated here. It was clear that an Aether formation had been built in that area, but Lady Iellaya couldn’t fathom what it was. That area was not her forte.
Then she raised her chin and walked into the tent to meet Commander Terith. He was, annoyingly, sitting in his desk as though he had been waiting for her. She took a seat opposite him and did her best to keep her posture stiff.
To pass the time, Lady Iellaya folded her hands across her lap as she sat perfectly facing Commander Terith. Because she understood that she held the power here, Iellaya felt no desire to end the silence; better to give the stickler Terith space for him to make his own decisions as to how he should deal with Iellaya.
He doesn’t seem like the type to forget aid freely given, but he also is the type to take offense at the smallest thing. The less I speak, the less chance I give him to change his mind.
But also the silence gave Iellaya the perfect opportunity to examine Terith himself. Although he did well to cover it up with his sizable armor he was wearing, Iellaya could tell how strained and wounded he was. His spine was bent forward, ever so slightly, underneath the weight of the stress that he had been handling the past few days. Which, for this Commander, was extremely telling.
Their victory over the Nether had come by Terith’s hands, but it seemed that it hadn’t come without cost.
“...thank you,” Commander Terith finally said to break the silence. “Both for your assistance when they opened the Nether Gate for the bombardment, and also for allowing one of your subordinates to accompany the expedition. He performed his duty admirably, earning terrible wounds in order to bring his commanding officer back safely. Such dedication to duty… well, perhaps I misjudged him as just an image. I won’t make that mistake again.”
Lady Iellaya smiled. An image? Who- ah, somehow the Ghosthound was involved in this as well… He certainly has a nose for trouble.
Her eyes twitched as the implications of that rolled over her. Which means that he proceeded into the Nether Gatekeeper’s base and made it back alive. While lugging whatever officer of Terith’s was with him. And he recovered in time to aid in the base’s defense. Abiodun is perhaps right. It is not enough to just say that he’s strong for an image.
Randidly Ghosthound is becoming legitimately strong.
Aloud, Iellaya said. “We are allies; it is my duty to come to your aid. I’m sure any Commander would do the same.”
Terith snorted and leaned back in his chair. He brought his hands up across his knees in a strange mirroring of Iellaya’s own position. “Let’s not insult each other’s intelligence; despite the fact that I had two neighbors, only one Commander came to my aid. The silence to my other side will not be forgotten or forgiven.”
Reaching out, Commander Terith grabbed a pile of papers and straightened them. Then he carefully set them back down before he continued to speak. “Also, there is no need to act so coy. I disdain the political games that you are playing because our full attention should be on our battle against Nether, but I will not let that stop me from repaying this favor.”
For the first time in several weeks, Iellaya released a genuine smile. “You mean-”
Commander Terith stood sharply up from his desk and walked over to Iellaya. On his way, he picked up the pile of papers that he had previously adjusted and handed them over to her. For several seconds, Iellaya paused to scan the thick papers. The page in front of her was covered in a record of all the communications that Lord Miln had sent and received for the past several weeks. As she skimmed through, it seemed that the entire year had been accounted for.
Lady Iellaya was also shocked to note that several unusual names had been highlighted extremely precisely, likely by Commander Terith himself. Did you really just get up this morning and do some light research…?
Iellaya raised her gaze from the papers. “These are…”
“I’m sure you are aware that Lord Miln embezzled an extremely large amount of Aether this year.” Commander Terith said shortly. “I figured that I could repay my favor by tracing this vanished Aether; it would serve as the leverage you need. However… I encountered something extremely strange. The actors at play here… they are so far beyond me that I dared not dig further than this. And I warn you to cease digging too deeply as well.”
This gave Iellaya pause. She skimmed through the names that Commander Terith had noted in Miln’s communication. Then she looked up at Terith with a frown. “...I don’t recognize any of these names.”
Commander Terith chuckled. “How much do you know about those who seek the pinnacle of the Nexus, Lady Iellaya? You were born in the Sixth Cohort, were you not?”
After she nodded slowly, Commander Terith continued to speak. “And, let us be frank, you use the benefits of citizenship that you hope to seize to bind potential to your cause. But you should know that is only one use for citizenship coins that the System carefully spreads. The most fashionable use currently, but a relatively shallow one.