Knights of Tezoth

— Hello, Jakob!

Stephanie's relationships with her colleagues from Guildaria were mostly warm. This was due not only to the respect earned by her father, but also by herself. She had known some of the knights since her youth, and trained side by side with others. There could be no talk of favoritism; everyone knew she gave her all and that she hadn't ended up in her position by chance. Therefore, there were no problems with subordination between her and the other knights of Guildaria; she was like family to them. At least, she wanted to think so.

— Well, you could say it's a sight you see once in a lifetime... — Although Stephanie did not lose her composure, being trapped in this cave, the girl now had doubts that she and all her comrades would be able to get out of here. She wanted to believe that sooner or later they would find a way out and escape, but hope was still faint. If only because it was unknown what calamities lay ahead.

Sensing that Jakob might have noticed her slightly depressed mood, and that the current time was not very conducive to existential conversations, she changed the subject and tone of voice:

— In general, how are you feeling right now? Any thoughts or ideas you'd like to share?

- Hmm. I feel an itch to test the local inhabitants in battle, but I have a bad feeling that we might find opponents here that we couldn't have even guessed at on the surface. I'm, you know, far from the smallest build, but I remember how that one-eyed guy talked about the Sords — they are bigger and stronger than any human! By the way, I wonder why he rejected such a generous reward and decided to stay on the surface? Perhaps he has a psychological trauma from his past experience here?

— Or he was paid many times more by those who benefit from getting rid of Lord Adalard and his best fighters on the surface, — Stephanie put forward a hypothesis. — That one-eyed guy is generally kind of strange. You know we took him and some strange young lady with us to Deus's birthday? For all the time I managed to observe him, he didn't seem to do anything wrong, but at the same time he easily wrapped our young lord around his finger. Aldelion Grimm literally hung on his every word during their conversations. Anyway, I didn't like him from the start. But who are we to argue with the lord's decisions?..