Incline 42: Grand-Guard Inerish

"Two unfamiliar faces? We're getting popular, aren't we?" one of the attendants of this hall joked. Yet, no one laughed or smiled because they could not. The steam in this place suppressed all emotion. And it was telling when a shrine to Apahthein existed in this place.

"Don't mind me, I'm here to observe for now." I explain as I crossed my legs and pulled the towel up. And I really wish I could laugh in this place, because Nin was being hounded over his filthy attire. The steam made it all the easier for him to just ignore the requests as well.

"Anyway, who wishes to put forth a topic for discussion?" the soft-bodied man at the podium asked. Several people rise up to offer their options. But, all turned to Nin when he followed along with them. If people were aware of what was under those blood-stained bandages, however, was a different question.

"Yes, put forth your topic." the Ensurer of Apathy told him before he tapped a metal piece.

"Right... Uh, doing the right thing even when others tell you it is wrong." Nin says with what came off as nervousness at first. But, I soon saw signs of anger when he reached the end. Of course, however, I was only seeing this all from his physical actions.

You couldn't get angry in here. Or be saddened by the topic. No past trauma would dictate your actions here. In fact, the Ensurer at the head of this assembly was purely a symbolic thing since this emotion-suppressing tech was made.

"Would you care to elaborate for the assembly?" the Ensurer asked him.

"The woman I love was attacked by Smiling Jhurack. She is not dead, unlike most others. But, everyone I know has tried to dissuade me from going after him."

"And they'd be right to, vigilantism is illegal." someone pointed out.

"Yes, I am aware, but the point remains that this criminal has been active for thirty years. How can that continue to hold weight?"

"Because it would interfere with how the government kept the people safe." I answer. But, to be entirely honest, I wish my employers hadn't been so rigid. This might've all been dealt with should I have been allowed to call in mercenaries or something. Witches with terrifying reputations!

Maybe we could've caught Smiling Jhurack before he became strong enough to beat a Worm Rider...

"But you haven't kept them safe, the woman I love is lying in a hospital bed because of their failure." Nin retorts back with as he advances to the centre of the floor. A behaviour that caught the eye of many as that meant he was particularly passionate about the subject. But, how could he not be? This Larishazza Sl'Ayiysab was his flame after all.

However, this behaviour made the Ensurer actually do his job for what must've been the first time in a long time. A revolutionary moment in this institution's history, I am sure. Yet, what Nin's words conveyed struck a chord for me. Even with this emotion suppressing steam.

"Yet, your actions would still interfere with their plans. You'd do more harm than good. As with all vigilantes throughout these past thirty years." I tell him, which would be quite the humorous thing once I left here. He was the key player in my upcoming operation, after all.

"Then they need to step aside." Nin boldly told us all which caused quite the uproar. For this kind of place, anyway.

"Are, are you able to elaborate on that?"

"Smiling Jhurack has made it personal. His behaviour has shown nothing but a desire to make this personal. I am not the one getting in the way of the government who has shown me nothing but malice. They are getting in my way." he told them with a clenched fist.

"Such arrogance would only make the situation worse." someone argued.

"How could you make it worse? From what I have heard, your daughters, sisters, mothers and lovers have been preyed on without fail for thirty years. Thirty. The situation is as worse as it ever could be. A different approach is clearly needed."

"And do you have the skills to improve the situation? Recent and blurry as the details are, a powerful witch from the Grand-Kingdom of Ibenerocco failed to beat this man."

"Hear, hear! An unskilled, rage-driven man would never best him!"

"Do you not see the blood that stains me? The deep cuts that have torn my outfit apart?" Nin asks them as the steam slightly washed said bloody outfit.

"Yes, we remarked about it when you came in."

"Then, if you all can see it, you know that I have survived my last encounter with him! Be it by his own wish or another reason. I can go on to fight another night, I can learn what that Worm Rider could not."

"It was a Worm Rider?" someone repeated before the discussion started to get out of hand. Dozens of smaller discussions erupted and it was clear Nin felt this endeavour to be pointless. So, I decided to get up and follow him as what was likely to be a den of rumours rapidly formed.

"Do you really think you could defeat him?" I asked him as we started to enter the still steam-affected changing rooms.

"I don't know, but I can't leave her like that." he answers as he turns to me. If I could, I might've smiled at that determination. That willingness to forsake his own body for something else.

"And if you can't save her?"

"We will meet each other again in the misty world before Undwote finds us." he tells me before he turns and leaves. I would've liked to question him some more. But, now that he was getting closer to the exit, the steam was becoming less effective. That sense of bloodthirst would only get in the way.

Eventually, after pondering what he had said, I started to dry myself off. I then redressed myself and left the building. Pulling out a communication device once I was outside. And, with a determined glare, I started the device up.

"This is Grand-Guard Inerish, I require pick up at the detailed location."