☀️ Arselia and Akonia

— Regarding the budget, tomorrow, inform Aria how much gold you believe is necessary to replenish it; she will allocate the required amount to you. As for Gloria, we will handle it this way... Let this be Carneol's first assignment. Find the murderer and bring him to me – alive or dead. I forbid you from cooperating with the Guard on this matter. Now, what else was there?... Ah, you mentioned Evgeny Kripov? I personally am not acquainted with him, but I have heard a few things. I know that he is an excommunicated heresiarch from the Church of Arselia, so if your relationship with the Church is important to you, you should avoid getting close to him.

Don't worry, Kripov can't stand me, so the Church won't have any objections.
— I understand you... Thank you for the valuable advice and for allowing us to proceed with the task; your trust is extremely flattering to us, — Ayko was genuinely pleased that they might be able to demonstrate their squad's capabilities so soon. — If you permit, may I inquire about the reasons why we are not allowed to cooperate with the Guard? Are they directly related to the tragedy that occurred, or are they dictated solely by more general considerations?

For now, Ayko has resolved the last question for herself as follows:
- The Guard may be incompetent or covering up for the perpetrator (however, the very fact of such activity automatically makes them unworthy of trust in anything)
- Her Highness wants to create a completely competitive structure to the Guard in order to increase overall efficiency through competition
- Her Highness simply wants to test them in a maximally isolated environment and, at the same time, instill independence
- Not to mention the fact that Her Highness sponsors not the Guard, but specifically their squad

Nevertheless, if Princess Naria had other considerations in addition to the last two reasons, the gnome would like to know about them for the future in order to avoid making a mistake.