>>5689419You consider making a simple money offer, but you come up with a better deal.
Hearing the word "gift", the noble gives you his full attention.
You propose a mutually beneficial association between the two of you. If the dwarven hideout is found, you get to keep their relics, while he gets to keep everything else. And if there is no such place, he will have the things you confiscated anyway.
Your arguments, added to your new confidence in social situations, make the nobleman agree to let you choose five relics from all the found when the search finish.
Continuing talking with him, Derth expresses sympathy for what you had to go through these days and seems quite happy with how you handled the situation.
The cordial conversation is cut short by a shrill cry from a girl.
Fearing the worst, you run to the waterhole where you last saw Vaan.
There you find her, being examined like a farm animal by one of the heretics' and traitors' worst nightmares made flesh, a Black Nail.
They were a legend before the fall of the Gray Mountain, a force of invisible assassins tasked with protecting the kingdom from the shadows. It is unknown if they were created based on the legend or if they already existed and just continued to serve the crown, even when it changed hands.
Not that it matters much, now that you have one in front of you.
The short spear in your back becomes heavy, but you manage to have the good sense not to attack.
You were standing at the gates of the fortress, that means she either walked past you without you seeing her or jumped the stone wall to enter. Neither option are good omens that you can win any kind of showdown with the assassin.
After a few more seconds of pressing her fingers into Vaan, she lets her go. Immediately the girl runs to hide behind you.
"Didn't I tell you not to scare people just because you feel like it?" Derth asks behind you, rhetorically it seems.
For a second you fear that the nobleman will die where he is standing, but the woman doesn't seem to care.
"I already got all the information I wanted on the girl, I just wanted to check something..." She replies, her voice monotone.
"What exactly?" Derth smiles at him. "How much does an infant scream?"
"The girl has potential for magic, very good I would say." Reveal the woman, much to the astonishment and surprise of you and the nobleman. "She'll make a good recruit for the temple."
You try to say something, but before you can collect your thoughts, Derth raises his voice.
"No. You already took that child I found." He seems quite irritated. "Cities need more battle mages than ever. You can take the next one."
"That boy did not have half the potential of this girl, besides that the bone structure of this one is much better." She answers coldly.
