Fanilly simply gave Tiral a nod. She perfectly understood the desire to rest after that... failure of a mission. Had those soldiers at the fort all died in vain? They hadn't been able to find the reason for their deaths, the shard of Angroron. At the very least, she was somewhat distracted from her concerns when Sult used a particularly violent maneuver on what appeared to be a visiting member of nobility. And yet, the noble didn't appear too displeased by this at all, somehow, instead... ah, he was a relative, that was the only thing that explained any of his behavior. But for what purpose had he chosen to visit the Iron Roses?

It was around then that she realized the Akitsushiman rabbit had decided to hide behind her. She wasn't entirely sure why, but perhaps her current mindset had caused her to miss something that had happened. Ah, she was being inattentive, wasn't she... taking a deep breath, Fanilly tried to focus on the present. There were undoubtedly matters she had to attend to, and she still had to dispense her lecture to Gillian and Klaus at the very least.

... But... speaking with her former mentor, somehow, seemed to take priority in her mind.

"... An entire fort of soldiers was killed, and they were replaced, all for the sake of smuggling a shard of that evil sword Angroron that the magi had secretly been holding out of the city for a purpose we haven't even begun to guess at," Fanilly said, with a heavy sigh, "And we failed to find its trail. I failed. All we know is that it's associated with some remains of Phoran Cal's rebellion..."

She trailed off. Discussing the mission had of course brought what she felt to be her failures to the forefront, and the small blonde girl's eyes were downcast for several moments.

... But she had to push through. There was a face she did not recognize... no, multiple faces, one of whom was a rather [i]large[/i] face. There were matters she had to attend to.

Clearing her throat, Fanilly straightened.

"Those who came here to join this order, please be patient just a few moments longer," she began. While their intent was of great importance, as any who would join the Iron Rose Knights was, the concerns of a Noble who had allotted time to come here took priority. After all, they had less time to talk then a new knight perhaps would. "I would like to speak with Lord... Sunfield."

It was hardly a difficult guess.

[hr]

The old man, took a deep breath, placing aside his sewing equipment. Many skilled magi never allowed themselves to advance to such an elderly appearance, but for whatever reason Agenon Albrenton had.

"Ah, Tyaethe Radistirin, Lady Paladin of the Moon Goddess," he said, giving her a warm smile, "... I should have known that this day would be coming, sooner or later."

He laughed to himself. "I suppose you might doubt my motives, but I hope to make you understand, at least. I truly believed that the shard of Angroron was best kept a secret... and I hardly anticipated some of the faculty would believe it could be used."

He let out a sigh, his expression becoming somewhat colder.

"Such a thing cannot be used by man, nor any living thing under the Moon and Sun. And yet, before I knew it, the progress made to destroy it had taken a darker turn, and some wished to wield it instead."

His warm smile returned.

"And a foolish old man didn't realize what he must do until it was gone," he continued, "... And I suppose, keeping secrets is a hard habit to shake. I believed that if we told others of the shard, some would attempt to take it. But that outcome occurred even without anyone else knowing about it."