'Why am I doing this in the first place?'
Quies thought to himself, this thought echoing within the chambers of his mind. Why was he doing all of the things he was doing now? There really was no reason for him to be going on this mission, in Etris, right now.
He was starting to have second thoughts on whether going through with Valerie's objective was actually worth it.
'To be fair, it's not like I had a choice. Who knows what would've happened to me back at vigil?'
If he had stayed at the Isle of Vigil… he would most likely still be in his room, sipping on a freshly brewed cowcow bean extract. He had heard about cowcow beans by eavesdropping on locals. They say its extract keeps them awake; drinking it in the morning has become a sort of tradition. Although, he doesn't really like bitter tasting foods.
Well, he would have been sipping on cowcow bean extract at Vigil if he hadn't knocked out one of those Vigil trainees.
'They deserved it. Assholes for no reason at all…'
Even if they had foul tongues and rather short tempers, it still landed Quies in boiling water with the Vigils. Maybe, if he was attunementless, he could've argued that those little brats were instigating him, and that he reacted in self defense.
Which was still a rather thin argument, but an argument nonetheless.
Unfortunately for Quies, he was bestowed the attunement of bloodrend by his mother. An attunement which all authoritarian figures look down upon. He didn't know why there was such hatred and taboo surrounding bloodrend, though maybe it could be related to that one diver Valerie mentioned in passing. But surely there were more infamous men who used other attunements.
But that doesn't matter. Quies, having accidentally hinted at the nature of his attunement back at the Isle of Vigil, now has a massive target on his head.
'Valerie made the right choice to get me out of there quickly.'
He wasn't sure whether those rascals were able to get an accurate read on his features. Most likely, they would've labeled him as gaunt and somewhat tall with flowing brown hair and no recognizable racial markings.
Which was rather broad.
"Valerie, what was the Forge of Sin you mentioned? The fragments, to be specific."
"Yeah? The fragments are scattered across the luminants. What about them?"
"Why do the vigils value them?"
It was a fair question. The Forge of Sin and its fragments seemed to have no correlation whatsoever to their current operation. To be more precise, Quies couldn't see how such an artifact could be connected to the lord's doings.
However, if there was one thing Quies had learned over the past few days, it was that he knew much less than he thought. In fact, he could barely understand a quarter of what Valerie talked about. Prophets? Divers? The Depths? He knew none of the sort, except maybe that last one.
"Ah, it's quite simple really. Well, not really that simple if you look deeper into the issue, but simple enough to understand the basics."
Quies sighed.
'Never a straight answer…'
"To put it simply, the Lord Regent wants the Forge of Sin, or at least its fragments, for its special properties. Those special properties… I don't really know. Probably something that would help him execute his plans or whatever…"
That cleared it up a little bit. It would make sense for the Vigils to want to deny the lord regent, that thing up in the palace, access to the Forge and its fragments.
"If the Vigils and our supporting parties are able to deny that access to him, we would gain a sizable advantage."
Quies stayed silent, digesting what Valerie had said to him.
That thing up in the palace wants the Forge of Sin and its fragments to, assumingly, gain more power and solidify his foothold in the region. The Vigils want to deny him the Forge, but it isn't really their main priority currently from what Quies could tell. However, it didn't take a genius to see that tensions were hot and rising in the Etrean luminant. There would most likely be a war in the near future.
A war which he, to tell the truth, didn't want to be a part of.
"Are they really going to war?"
Quies asked the question bluntly. There was no need to sugar coat the topic or beat around the bush. He was sure Valerie knew what he was thinking with the way she worded things.
"Not yet… which is why the securement of the Forge is near the bottom of the priority list. However, if you are able to at least secure a single fragment, the Vigils could see you as a valuable asset."
He didn't want to take part in this conflict at all. He hoped that this conflict wouldn't arrive until a few decades in the future, or maybe even simmer down. However, the longer and deeper he thought into this issue, the more impossible the latter seemed to be.
At least there wasn't anything major happening right now. This investigation into the identity of the thing in the palace would be quick.
"Who said I want to fight in this war?"
Valerie responded with a grim expression on her face.
"The choice isn't whether you want to or not, Quies. The choice is whether you want to be with the Vigils or with Etris. Even that dilemma has a predetermined choice."