Luke examined the strange trio, one by one. The young woman with scars and an eyepatch, desperately trying to convince him nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. The strangely calm, soft-spoken young man, going along with it. An imposing, though somewhat loutish young man with fiery red hair, so far quiet, but vaguely smug. As for the man that he just soaked in water, the soldier found it perfectly feasible to disregard him - he probably was of no importance, for the moment.

Trying to throw him off their scent, were they? But Luke knew what he saw. Someone without his experience might have been fooled. He still was not sure of the details, by any means - who started it and which of those three was an alchemist - and whether any of them weren't, in fact. But alchemy happened here, most certainly, and no likelier candidates were anywhere to be seen. Their appearance was already a hint, and the fact that they tried to make up some unlikely story about chemicals all but sealed it.

Perhaps they could be baited into spilling the beans? Or at least put off balance, to make it harder for them to keep their secret.

"That is some [i]talent[/i] you have there, Roy." Luke responded finally, his voice dry and gravelly. "What brings a... chemist to a godforsaken place like this? You'd think there would be plenty of room for people like you in places in Central. It'd be safer, too," he added, finally glancing at the their victim/attacker again.