So there was another place for them to go. Did the council not realize that they'd come away unscathed, that their hopes to either thwart Phantom Lord or lose the ones they'd sent as bait in the process, had not come to fruition? Aki was sure they didn't expect this. So now they were floundering, avoiding any confrontation. She had a sinking feeling that they Rune Knights who now had first-hand knowledge of the sneaky ways of the council, were going to be dealt with one way or another, it was only a matter of when. They were either going to be bribed or threatened, to keep shut and not share the story of their exploits with the others. If that failed, Aki wouldn't put it past the council to either act on the threat or just get rid of them altogether.

She was actually happy with the new task they'd been given. The festival would give her a chance to take some countermeasures. The spring even held in Orchidia was going to attract a lot of people, people meant witnesses, witnesses meant any covet attempts to deal with their groups was going to become a lot more difficult. Akira wondered if this meant she'd have to curb her urges to take the late nights walk... Maybe this was just a distraction. An attempt at pacification. This had to be the bribe... She'd take it, for now. There was no use complaining, the system was too set in stone. All Aki could do, was hope that other Knights did not fall prey to such tactics.

If she really pushed, could the group milk it for what it was worth? Would another promotion follow? The cogs in her mind whirred, as the two trudged their way down to Orchidia. Curse the trains for being out of order... This was probably the worst time for the railway company to throw up their hands, a lot of people were headed to Orchidia for sure. At least the respite from the daily struggles, in the form of natural beauty, fresh air and socializing may assuage their annoyance at the long travel. Alas, Aki didn't mind so much, she was in no rush to try and go keep enthusiastic nitwits in line, the walk to the town, gave her time to think and reconsider her options. On principle, she wanted to leave the Knights, but that'd not amount to much...

A soft, fresh voice of optimism, that visited Aki's conscience so rarely, whispered... It requested her to consider staying, to slowly work her way up the system and make a change. Perhaps it was the influence of her blonde teammate, maybe the scarlet-haired Knight had rubbed off on her... She didn't really know. All she did was take one step after another, as the traveled in silence. Neither were willing to share their thoughts on what happened just yet, it was perhaps for the best that they both reserved judgment and processed the incident. It would be a pity if they ended up venting the natural frustration they felt, on each other...

517/360
~Exit~