Quote Originally Posted by PhoeKun View Post
"...That's a joke, right? You're telling some sort of dragon joke right now? Or a... Watch joke, I guess? The other times I've dealt with your companions it's always been a fine. Or that one time when I was 11 your... Captain, I think? Asked me to 'lose' a shipment of spyglasses somewhere she could find it. And nobody said anything about a three strike rule on the way out! Does that mean those were bribes? Have I been bribing the Watch this whole time?"

Sweep, sweep, sweep. For as busy as she's making herself, Alina really isn't making very much progress on this whole 'clean the shrine' thing so far. She hesitates for a moment, then spins and faces Princess Adila after all. Still, she's careful not to look her in the eyes.

"Anyway that's not what I meant. This is mission over for you, right? The end of your journey? What are you going to do?"
+If you were involved in the bribery of Watch officers that is an additional charge, albeit one that can be annulled if you co-operate with the subsequent investigation,+ thought Princess Adila uncomfortably. She knew corruption happened, of course - it happened all the time and dealing with it was the major duty of the senior staff. She was reasonably certain Brill was corrupt and he'd been her partner for two years and they were friends. But damn it, it still wasn't right.

She got even more uncomfortable when Alina started asking about the future. +I promised I would restore Illumina, and that is what I'm going to do,+ she thought, and then abruptly stood up. She was trying hard not to think about why she was doing that or what would come after doing that and that vast ominous thing called the future more generally. Instead she started picking up heavy stones and hauling them into place with drilled efficiency. The Watch still did field construction and demolition drills as per the Operations Manual, the modern utility thereof was mostly in establishing fire breaks and reconstruction...