I thought for a moment that he'd self-destruct. Glad that my hunch was right that they'd bond over the mask.
Anyway~
Now his chance to:
1) regain favour and introduce his mask-making friend to the princess
2) use his eloquence to get the contract back - maybe even tell her what that group did to him. I wonder how the princess would react to that and if that would help get the appointment again.
But that guard needs some more training in patience and anger-management. He's trying too hard to protect the princess and hinders her instead. Sigh.
Looking forward to next chapter! This arc is very interesting but I get this feeling (again) that's it's becoming a bit too long. Oh! Wait. If the main scenario popped up now... maybe if he clears this military supplier contract quest, the entire mission will be finished? Though he still needs to find 3 more people form his merchant days- BUT hey, what if he needs all of his friend to clear the quest? I mean, friend #1 is great with masks, which is useful for not only Adis, but the princess. The main quest was given by the princess. So finding Adis' ex-coworkers is probably the key to completing the quest.
Now I'm really curious if I'm right.