The archaeologist huffs and would fold his arms if his wrists were not tied in front of him. "I am a scholar, sir. I was merely doing my job and researching the nearby ruins. I had no idea that the ruins had been infested with those little creatures and my digging disturbed them. The locals accuse me of causing the destruction of their pastures intentionally, but I assure you I am a historian, not a beastmaster. I had no more control over the situation than they did."

Zarius remains standing, but does wander back to the opposing wall and leans against it while listening to the explanation from the researcher and also keeping an eye out for any signs of Eirynor. 

"Did you at least manage to complete your research?" he asks. 

"Despite the interruptions, yes. However, the locals confiscated all my belongings including my research journal. I fear they will either burn my life's work or the guards will seize it as evidence to use against me in whatever court I find myself in. If I am even lucky enough to get the chance to defend myself that is." He huffs again, clearly not a particularly optimistic individual. 

Zarius hardly cared if the man got a fair trial or not, but the knowledge that his research was complete was good news. Now it was just a matter of getting his hands on it without raising any suspicion from Leandros. 

"It would be a shame for your work to be destroyed or locked away over what seems to be an honest accident. Though I do not believe we are in any position to intervene legally. The farmers will certainly demand compensation at the very least."

"Yes, well, that will not be coming from me. All my savings are tied up in funding my research," he sighs. "The best I can hope for at this point is that I am able to send my research off to the Golden Consortium while spending gods know how long working off the damages with menial labor."

Zarius looks at Leandros. "That might be something we can assist with." He looks back at the archaeologist. "Has anyone read your notes?"

"Gods, no." The researcher scoffs. "These simple folk can't make heads or tails of my research."

Perfect.

"Then they would not know fakes from real ones. We could replace your notes with something else and deliver the real ones to the Consortium."

The archaeologist gawks at the offer then looks to Leandros, unsure of if the knight would be okay with such trickery. Zarius was equally curious to see how Leandros would respond to the idea. Time to put the knight's morals to the test. Would he choose the law above all else, or would he choose to help someone caught up in a bad situation.

"I doubt things will get that serious, there's no need to hand over your notes or forge them. I am sure you will be able to leave here with said research and a promise to never return." Leandros would aim for neither blind adherence to the law or a blatant disregard for it. Justice was not found holding to either extreme in his mind.

"Still, damage was done to farms whether or not that was intended is irrelevant. I aggre your work can bring in good amounts of coin, some of which I am sure can be sent back here as reparations." The knight does lean over to start undoing the ropes that bind the man and hold him in place.

"But let us not fool ourselves," he smiles and laughs softly as the rope is tossed aside. "Your help on the farm would likely do more damage than good. Thankfully the ground has not quite softened enough for planting, so it is not as if you have ruined a crop. It also removes the risks of being caught if someone were to discover any trickery."

The knight does not look towards Zarius, but it is very obvious that line was directed at him. Leandros stands up and sets the chair back, motioning for the man to follow. "Come, tell me your name and let us sort this out amongst the farmers."

Zarius rolls his eyes. He didn't appreciate the jab at him, but he could respect Leandros' logic.

The fellblood follows after the archaeologist and Leandros, though he glances over his shoulder before passing through the threshold of the front door. He just catches sight of the lid of the chest opening back up and a journal slipping into some invisible veil before the lid is closed once more. Zarius' tail flicks and he closes the door behind him to give Eirynor the best chance of slipping through the back door unnoticed. 

He keeps back as Leandros and the archaeologist confront the farmers who are less than enthused to see that Leandros freed the researcher. It takes quite a bit of de-escalation from Leandros, but eventually with his efforts and the explanation and apology from the researcher, they do manage to quell the farmers' anger for the time being. At least enough for them to be a bit more amicable to letting the researcher go with the promise that he wouldn't come back and would compensate the people for the damages. 

Eirynor eventually rejoins the rest of Zarius' group, no longer invisible but acting like he was not missing during the round up of the geonids. 

Once there's a moment when Leandros is free, Zarius approaches him. "Well, seems like everything worked out."

He considers bidding farewell there and then, they got what they needed after all and the sooner his group disappeared the less likely they would be confronted about the stolen research. But there was one thing Zarius couldn't leave without.

He looks at the knight with a serious expression and he lowers his voice. "I still expect an answer from our earlier conversation."

It is in those tense conversations where Apogee comes in to save her husband. While he had the size and experience to fell nearly any monster, at this moment it was his wife who was better at handling people. She had the social grace needed to smooth over some of the rougher edges of the agreement and at least get everyone on the same page.

When it is all said and done he does breathe a sigh of relief, placing a kiss to the top of Apogee's head. "Thank you dear, that would likely have gone poorly without you."

"It usually does~"

After the little exchange, Leandros turns his bright smile towards Zarius, "And that was? It has been a long day and you've seen I am not the mindful one in this paring so it's slipped my mind."

Zarius' eyes sharpen. "Do not pretend you do not remember. And do not take me for a fool. I will ask again."

The fellblood doesn't often let his anger show. The friendly smiling façade was a mask he wore as naturally as the affectionate smile Leandros shares with his wife. But he was fed up with Leandros beating around the bush. He was fed up with this knight thinking he could get away with keeping such information from the fellblood.

What nerve.

Zarius is not unaware of the tension in his body or the anger welling up deep inside him. It roils like a low burning fire just waiting to erupt into a raging inferno. He sucks in a breath through his teeth and exhales a stream of black smoke. It reeks of brimstone, of volcanic ash and char. His eyes which flicker briefly with a blue light glare at Leandros. 

"Astrid Stormstone. Was she there when Vikram fell by your sword?"

He speaks slowly, letting the words be as clear and controlled as he possibly can despite the temptation to raise his voice or hiss his irritation at the knight. 

Snow and Eirynor exchange a look from behind their employer. There's worry and uncertainty in their expressions, though they do not retreat from the confrontation. 

The smile doesn't falter and the knight's body posture does not retreat in fear from the very serious stare from Zarius. In fact, he holds on to the smile. Theobo does seem to flinch from the fellblood as he brings Byrr back around after collecting him from the stables. The halfling nervously looks between them while Gilder unsubtly puts a hand on his hip, just a hair's width away from his quiver if need be.

"And why so curious into this? And why so certain I am trying to hide something? If you're upset over Vikram's death, I've already said it was at my hand he fell. Whether she was there or not seems wholly irrelevant. So, I have to imagine that there is something else behind your asking."

Leandros turns to fully face Zarius, standing a good bit taller than him. The knight isn't necessarily trying to intimidate the man with his size, he knows a simple trick like that will fall well short with something like this, but perhaps its just a reminder that this not a problem that is wisely answered with violence.

"I know of this Astrid and I know she is a child, a good one with a good head on her shoulders, and with how quickly you turn to underhanded tactics to solve things given this is but one small event, even so knowing that I would know your true intentions with this line of questioning."

“I do not ask irrelevant questions,” Zarius states simply.

He glances past Leandros at his entourage and gauges their body language. Given what he had seen of their skills and behavior this far, he was fairly confident his own group could hold their own. Really, Leandros was the biggest threat if a conflict broke out, while Indra the storm drake was the most dangerous asset on his own side. Even if for some reason or another they could not best the knight and his group, they had plenty of ways of escaping.

But there was no need to start a fight today. Gods know that would only tarnish the Fighter’s Guild’s reputation even more than it already has been. Even if he was frustrated with the conversation, he could not let it escalate into anything that would get someone hurt.

“Miss Astrid is a remarkable child, but she can get in over her head.”

He considers what to say next. He did not owe Leandros any sort of explanation, nor did he particularly trust the man, but given his reluctance to say anything it does seem that he is looking out for Astrid in his own annoying way. Acknowledging that, the tension in his body eases and he leans back on his tail to appear less combative.

“Miss Astrid likely would not have become an adventurer at such a young age without my interference. If something happens to her, I have to take some form of responsibility.”

"And I would not accuse you of doing such." Leandros holds to the smile, the others seeming to relax back somewhat seeing a release in the tension even if it was small.

Apogee and Gilder could better see the conflict and frustration of Zarius while the knight has simply dug in his heels to stick to his principles regardless of if there is a softer way to go about it.

"As do most children, plenty of adults seem to fall victim to that as well. As I said, she has a good heart and some fine people looking after her from the sounds of it. It has been weeks, but we last spoke throwing gliders back into the ocean after a storm. If it's her safety that is your concern, she is doing well. As for anything else, I again assure you she was not responsible for Vikram's death. I do not know if she was there in the crowd or saw what happened, perhaps that is a conversation that should be had with her."

While not a tacit implication that Astrid was involved, it was at least a surprisingly subtle hint towards Zarius that at the very least Leandros was only holding back what wasn't his right to say in the first place. From what the fellblood likely heard, the event was messy in more than one way and that whatever relation Astrid had to it wasn't the knight's place to talk about.

The fellblood sighs and crosses his arms. He doesn't buy Leandros' claims for a second, but the stubborn knight wasn't worth wasting any more time on. That said, Leandros had a point, Zarius could just talk to Astrid if he managed to run into her while traveling. He was on too tight of a schedule these days to make many detours, and hearing that she is alright unfortunately puts her lower down on his list of priorities.

"Fine. Thank you for your assistance with this whole mess." He gestures past to the ruined farmland before extending a hand out to the knight. "Best of luck with whatever you are pursuing next. Perhaps we will cross paths again."

"Damn," Shael huffs and mutters under her breath, "I thought for sure they'd get into a cat fight."

Eirynor shoots the young dark elf a scolding look while Snow waves goodbye to Gilder, Apogee, and Theobo. 

After bidding farewell, Zarius turns and leads his group back down the road they came. He only glances over his shoulder to ensure they are not being followed before they disappearing over the crest of the hill.