"The fuck are you even saying?" an incensed blacksmith stormed into the office like a tempest. He had some soot in his face and wore a forging apron, but it was undoubtedly their tower master. It seemed like he came straight from the workshop.
"Seth? What are you doing here?" Leana cried out, half surprised, half shocked.
"I heard Cade was here and wanted to listen in on your conversation before I had mine with her. Didn't expect to find a wimp trying to run- I mean, a fragile soul seeking salvation here. Why the heck are you trying to leave? What makes you think I would allow that?"
The rakshasi had jumped from the couch in shock, but the blacksmith was already all up in her face, his finger drilling into her collarbone with every word, like a woodpecker hammering away at her.
"B-but, it's driving me crazy. If this keeps going, I will really do something, and when I'm still part of Minas Mar, it will-" she suddenly tasted ash and sweat when a gauntlet was unceremoniously shoved in her face.
Grasping her face to shut her up, the Tower Master also forced her to look up, directly into his bluish gray eyes. His gaze was intense. Leana had frozen at the side, looking at the unfolding catastrophe with eyes and mouth wide open.
"Then why in the world would you be the one leaving?" his voice was clear and calm, not showing a sign of his earlier anger. The sentence snuck into her ears and made a nest in her brain wrinkles. Why was she the one running away?
"After all that, you are still too nice. Why can't you be a little more petty?" he asked. Cade swallowed. She was too nice? She had beaten them close to death; that was nice? The bard seemed to have read her question from her eyes.
"You said it yourself. Why would that scum deserve a happy end? If you simply run away, they will get their happy end and you will become a tragic figure, running around world history and wallow in self-pity forever," the blacksmith said resolutely.
"But what am I supposed to do then? I can't just kill them, and beating them up is not enough!" she whimpered helplessly, pulling his hand from her face. The Tower Master put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close.
Their cheeks almost touching, Seth's hand waved in the air, as if to wipe something away and reveal the view of a whole new world.
"Let me introduce you to a realm far beyond your meager imagination. We are Minas Mar. We literally own the whole place, now. We are the decision makers. Do you get what I'm saying, Cade? Why would you leave if we can just throw those guys out? Banish them from Minas Mar, easy peasy."
It was a glimpse into the world of power abuse, whimsy, and pettiness.
" We can also go further and punish them. Or both? Would you like both? They just did what they had to do to survive. Since they survived, it's time they paid for the decisions they made, no? There are so many options you have as a member of Minas Mar that don't involve giving them an easy death," the demonic bard kept whispering his dark temptations into her ears.
"R-Really?" she asked. Was it really okay to go this far for her? She was not really a member of Minas Mar, after all. She just kinda slipped in following Leana. Could she ask the guild to go this far as an auxiliary member at best?
" Of course. Imagine it! We can make them a public example and you can do whatever you want with them behind closed doors..." he left what exactly she could do to her own imagination. However, Cade started to feel uncomfortable with the direction this was going.
She was more surprised that the bard didn't hesitate for a moment to go this far for her. She couldn't quite describe what she felt, but it was warm. A realization hit her in this moment. It was she who had always kept her distance.
Trying not to be a burden was just a convenient excuse to try to run away from this connection and her problems. She was a burned child. Trust in the wrong people had taken away what little she had left in the world. It was easier to go solo.
Or it should have been, but her heart ached facing two people who seemed to genuinely care. Could she abandon this in exchange for a life in solitude and silence? She remembered the times when she was alone, obsessed with revenge, obsessed with running as far away as she could, and where did it bring her?
When she thought of what came after, she would simply run from Minas Mar; it became excessively clear to her that she actually didn't wish for that. As much as it stressed her and caused anxiety, she actually wanted to try to trust again.
With clear eyes, she looked at Lean. She would never be able to substitute the people she lost. She looked at Seth, who gleefully suggested punishments for the people who wronged her. They could fill the hole in her heart, but maybe they could make the rest of her existence more than suffering. Maybe it would become bearable. Maybe... she could even find some small happiness?
"No, I just don't want to see them ever again. Make an example out of them. Banish them from Minas Mar..." the rakshasi finally said resolutely.
She finally acknowledged that she was part of Minas Mar and intended to accept the benefits that came with it. Like a princess who worried about her and a Tower Master who readily offered her gruesome revenge against now-civilians.
"Good, how about we strip them of their equipment and run them out of town naked, would that be a good example?" the demonic voice suggested happily.
"And I will accept the Sky Dragon armor," she added. The act of the seducer was immediately gone when Cade mentioned the armor.
"Pfft, nope. First, Leana has to convince everyone else to agree," the Tower Master said straightforwardly.
"What? You still insist on that?" Leana exclaimed. Since Seth so readily supported Cade in taking her revenge and staying a member, she had expected that requirement to be voided.
"Obviously, I insist on it. Just because I agree that I will make one for her, doesn't mean everyone else suddenly lost their claim. You have to secure the material by making everyone else agree," he said with a shrug. " And no matter whether you succeed or not, Cade has to formally join one of the Field Teams," he added another requirement.
"No more moping around in Little Gamma. You will stay here with everyone else and go on missions with other members. You will also join our operation on the Cloud Continent in this manner," the blacksmith added more requirements.
Cade had just decided to take the plunge, and it seemed like the Tower Master had no intention to allow her to reconsider this decision. No slow approach, no careful getting acquainted, she would be directly thrust into interacting and working with the people of Minas Mar.
He left her no choice, and somehow, she was happy he didn't.