Chapter 29: Chapter 28 – The Logic of Mana

The Logic of Mana

 

It had been a few days since the incident with the thugs. Gisele had come by and talked to her about what had happened, but Sloane did not want to think about it. Especially the puking that came later. Despite what some people may think or say, killing someone wasn’t as easy as it seemed. It shouldn’t be easy. Anyone that said otherwise was lying to themselves. With that thought, would she have resolved the situation any differently? No, I can’t say that I would. While she may have felt bad about the act after it all ended, she didn’t regret having done it. Those men wanted to kidnap her for whatever reason. She defended herself. End of story.

However, she was unhappy about how she handled the situation, namely how she ran off alone, leaving Ismeld and Maud behind. She needed to stay in control and assess situations better. Especially now that she knew that were several actors looking to take advantage of her and other humans. Sloane would get over how the situation ended. Still, she couldn’t argue with the results. She thought of the man they had let go. The knights wouldn’t kill someone in cold blood. Why would I? I’m not some mobster.  She would handle any repercussions for that decision as it arrived. That’s a future Sloane problem. There was no need to dwell on the topic. What’s done was done. Next time, she wouldn’t stumble over her thoughts and would react appropriately.

Sloane remained free to continue her search, which now included people within the city. She needed to find out if Gwyn had been there in Thirdghyll and more about the humans that currently were. Or shit, if Gwyn is here now. She took a deep breath and got back to work.

While the knights had been off doing their own tasks, Sloane had delved into her crafting. She had messed with the rings and tested their limits. The knights were all testing them in their spare time, and it seemed most didn’t have the reaction that she and Gisele had before. After that distraction, she pivoted to other ideas. Her watch had many things that needed to be explored and researched. She had drawn the overall schematic of the watch itself and was going over it again. Looking at the sketch of the board, she considered the various functions again.

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