Hajin swaggered into the Central Adventurers Guild while noble heirs crowded its upper balcony and rankers packed the appraisal dais. Juna kept beside his left shoulder, and Loccy carried her last candied plum beneath banners hanging from the rotunda's rail.
A young scion shoved toward the rail as their footsteps reached the open floor below him.
"Look, the frontier commoner came to face judgment," he sneered, slapping the balustrade, "Allen will take that borrowed standing off him before noon."
His companion lifted a wine cup toward the dais instead of looking at the approaching party.
"Unauthorized war against imperial houses, he should bring an apology instead of those companions."
'Bring an apology, sure, right after I bring a bucket for all your drool.'
Loccy finished her plum and folded its stone inside the wrapping rather than dropping it on the floor.
