To Return or to Leave
"So, anyway," Serenoa announced, slightly awkwardly, "that's the plan for now. We'll head out for Hyzante as soon as we can."
Corentin sighed and rubbed his forehead before speaking up. "Er, are you quite sure about this, Lord Serenoa?"
"Well, you know, we can hardly go back on a Scales decision. Especially not after the, um... results of said decision..."
"I know I said I was grateful to be joining House Wolffort, but I can't do this." Corentin folded his arms. "You know I left Hyzante because I couldn't stand their control, right? Why would I go back to that?"
"He's got a point." Geela sighed as well. "I mean, I never had to help arrest a frustrated coworker even though I agreed with him, but I left Hyzante so I could study freely, too."
Narve suddenly stood up and slammed his hands on the table. "Yeah! And what about what they did to my grandfather? I bet they'd start erasing a whole bunch of other people from the history books, too, if we went back and helped them!"
"I have to agree," Ezana added, sounding distressed. "They almost killed me and my fiancé, and successfully killed his entire family, just because I was 'more useful' than the Goddess! I can't go back there. What if they try to kill me again?"
"Also, if she's 'more useful' than the Goddess, that says a lot about Hyzante, now that I think about it," Geela mused.
"Yeah!" Narve agreed emphatically.
Serenoa shifted uncomfortably. "Well, um..."
"Not to mention what they do to sick and injured Rosellans!" Medina cut in. "Did you forget about that already, Lord Serenoa? Er, no disrespect meant, but you did meet the guy I had to save instead of the Rosellan. So you know that's true!"
"Well, yeah, but that's fine as long as everyone else gets what they need." Roland folded his arms. "It's just a couple people for the good of the many."
The hall was silent for several long seconds. Roland didn't quite seem to understand what he'd just said, as he just huffed and rolled his eyes. The objecting Hyzantian party members all glanced at each other, then looked at Serenoa and Roland, and then back at each other.
"You know, Lady Frederica probably hasn't gotten too far yet," Geela commented. "She told me to come back here, but... I think I'll have to follow her anyway."
"A wonderful idea, Geela," Corentin said. "I'll come as well! How about the rest of you?"
Narve, Ezana, and Medina all nodded. The five of them stood up, headed towards the door, and waved and said a collective "Goodbye, everyone!" before heading out. There were several more seconds of quiet as everyone processed what had just happened.
"All right, does anyone else want to go?" Roland groaned. "Now's your chance to speak up if you think helping the most people is a bad idea."
Soon, several more people got up and left the hall, calling out, "Wait for us!" It wasn't long before Benedict, Anna, Erador, Hughette, and House Wolffort's encampment staff were the only people left in the room.
Roland huffed again. "...Well, fine, we can go to Hyzante without them."
Serenoa stared blankly at his remaining retainers. Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea after all...