[h2]Merilia[/h2]

This lack of recognition or acknowledgement--in Thaln, at least--was an unusual experience for the mage. In Akitsushima, she was rightly viewed as a distant foreigner and got attention for it. In Thaln, she was most of the way to being a local legend... not even being looked at was beyond the norm. 

The black-haired mage tilted her head as they continued their discussion as if nobody was there. What had possessed the Iron Roses to hire a surgeon? If it meant a lack of proper healers, then she might have to come back and train a few up. Maybe the new captain might have an idea of their current medical capability--if not, Tyaethe certainly would. If this somehow represented the knights' current limit...

All normal conversation came to a halt when some maid came over and dusted the lot of them. If it hadn't been for her projection's existence as nothing but divinations and illusions, Merilia was pretty certain that she would have sneezed from the gathered dust. Oddly, two of the three knights displayed as much response to the impromptu cleaning as an [i]actual[/i] statue and... continued to not even look in her direction.

[i]That[/i] was simply rude. The maid, however, provided a new avenue...

"I am indeed ze former knight Merilia," she said, watching the two walk off before leaning in to whisper into Nero's ear. Her exchange was short, no more than a request and some advice, before the kimono-wearing mage took one look at the door Gutta and Roskothr had left by and following. 

It was a good thing that a mere projection had no need to care about walls; moving in a straight line to appear before the two in the corridor was no work at all. Smiling slightly, the mage moved to block the pair's path and assuage her earlier curiosity:

"Does ze order 'ave no 'ealers? Going to a surgeon for pain is dangerous, non?"

[@pugbutter][@pugbutter][@AtomicNut]