Arin spoke.
He did so evenly, laying out the sequence of events as he and the younger tower magician had agreed upon.
The strange slumber. The initial lack of clear signs. The decision to remain in the village despite the risks, which had ultimately led to them falling into it too.
Siel took up the part about how he'd made use of his talent to allow for their escape from the dream. He also spoke of tracking the young maid's – Lana's – whereabouts, to her grave.
He then described their investigation, the summoning of healers and volunteers, and their goal of saving everyone.
Arin finally spoke about re-entering the dream, and his eventual realization that matters might be developing into something far more dangerous than initially believed.
Neither he nor Siel lied, except by omission. They'd been very careful to not mention the distortion at all up until that point.
Arin was also careful to keep his tone cool, and somewhat detached.
As he spoke, lady Ilyra simply listened without interrupting. Her expression was unreadable. The only movement came from the official with the paper, who would occasionally make a note, or exchange small nods with another colleague.
When he finally reached the part where Grif hindered their escape and confirmed the existence of the distortion, he slowed slightly, choosing his next words with particular care.
'At that point,' he said, 'I realized the most important thing was the immediate destruction of the source. A single moment of delay might've forced things to spiral out of control.'
Lady Ilyra finally spoke then.
'Was there not enough time to make a report?'
'No.'
'But enough time to fly the girl out of the village to take care of things?'
'Hm. Had that not been done, there might've been other things hindering prompt action.'
'Oh?' The lady didn't emote much. She seemed to be cut from the same cloth as the original owner of Arin's body. He did, however, notice the lines running down the corners of her mouth deepen.
'Explain, tower magician Rin.'
Arin didn't hesitate.
'The trouble came from the source of the distortion. The girl. Young lady Elara. The headman wasn't the only one to have been fond of her.'
'The old maid, by your own admission, was in no position to stop you.'
'No. But others, who'd known her in life, might've been.'
'Was she that beloved?'
'By enough, that someone might've tried stopping us, even if to only demand answers. A potential delay we couldn't afford.'
'Not only was she known around Silvershade as the head family's child, but also for her efforts with her talent,' Siel chimed in from the side. 'We'd learned that the young lady would often freely make use of her dreamweaving and dreamwalking magic to help alleviate certain kinds of pain in some people. She'd been learning to do so from her mother, prior to her untimely demise.'
Arin nodded mutely.
Based on what they'd heard, lady Elina had been highly regarded all across Silvershade, as someone who would help soothe and alleviate the pain of individuals through the use of her talent. She would enter dreams and shape them in a way that would help people come to terms with painful losses, or deal with any terrible experiences that they might've had.
The way he saw it, she'd been pretty much the equivalent of a therapist of some kind, from back in his own world.
Apparently, Elara's likability hadn't come from from just her external, angelic visage. Having gotten to 'know' her, he'd already figured out that the real young lady had been a kind-hearted and giving person. On top of that, it seems the girl - who had inherited her mother's talent - had also been freely helping all those who'd sought such aid around her, from a very young age.
And while the residents of Silvershade had mainly known of her as the daughter of their village head, it wasn't wrong to say that a small number had also seen her as a benefactor, having been on the receiving end of her kindness over the few years that she had been around and active.
Therefore, it wasn't wrong to say that a volunteer from a surrounding settlement - intimately familiar with the affairs or people of Silvershade, or an early-awakening villager, might have interfered with the killing of... uh, destruction... of the distortion.
'Hm...'
Lady Ilyra lifted her head slightly to look at the official with the glowing paper. The man paused for a moment, looking down at something he'd written, before nodding. Before Arin could relax, however, the middle-aged lady turned her gaze back to them, and said, 'I am not convinced.'