Mara could not have been more embarrassed at what was happening. Only shortly after she had parted ways with her antagonist, somebody seemed to have taken it upon themselves to defend her honour. While she imagined his heart was in the right place, or at least she hoped so, this was not what she wanted. She had wanted to go mostly unnoticed, and now brawls were starting for her sake. People were going to talk about this. They were going to talk about it and ask why it happened, and the best source of information was her. Now her family situation was doubtlessly about to be the crowning gossip of the group. She wondered if it wouldn't have been better to just assault the man herself. That way, she could have gotten some catharsis before this all became a big incident.

Just as expected, somebody inquired into the issue as she passed them by. They were probably just concerned, but Mara deeply wished they just hadn't asked. One might think the logical thing to do in this situation was not to tell the whole truth, but Mara just wasn't that type of person. Someone had asked, and she was going to answer, wholeheartedly and truthfully. [b]"I would hazard a guess that he is, or is related to, one of the victims of the embezzlement scandal my father confessed to perpetrating."[/b] She told him flatly. It might sound like she didn't bat an eyelid at saying so plainly, but her heart shook as she spoke the words. It would not be unexpected for someone to know what she was talking about just from saying that. It was a good nine years ago, but it was a fairly high profile military scandal. It had been discovered that someone was stealing funds meant to pay soldiers stationed in remote regions of Gallia. Before a full investigation could be launched, her father, Kieran Samaria, had publicly confessed to perpetrating the scheme and plead guilty before the court. It had been a huge embarrassment to the military, and they had jumped at the opportunity to divert attention from their failure to see the problem by painting her father as a villain. [b]"Please, do not make an issue out of this. I do not wish for this to become more of a problem than it already is."[/b] She asked of the tank commander. She did not enjoy being harassed in the slightest, but aside from not wishing to make even more of a scene, the truth was that this man had a legitimate grievance. Multiple soldiers, all of low rank and generally from poor backgrounds, had suffered due to being severely underpaid. It was only fair that they were angry, even if neither Mara nor, as she believed, her father were truly responsible. At the end of the day, she just wanted it to buried, so she might move on.

[@DeadDrop] [@Conscripts]