Thanks for the chapter, Sanjog_Rai.
two spineless nobles. "MONEY!"
"wait.. we want to do this peacefully."
"MOOONEY!"
".... that is why we are failing... it is your fault."
"MOOOONEY!"
i hate how some nobles are just money grabbing assholes who are willing to sell their children for a penny.
Such people exist in the modern day--and the mentality is the same even among those who aren't among the moneyed: for a little power--whether to get it or, especially, to
keep it--they'll steep themselves in any kind of depravity.
The funny thing about Frockhart is that his daughter's intention represented a wise course of action: Fergus knew that his reputation would be hurt by the hero party's action and subsequent decline--but it's Fergus himself that's choosing to continue association with the hero party through his sponsorship. Fergus' inevitable loss of face (the party caused what could have resulted in a massacre) from refusing to sever a diseased branch from his tree would almost as inevitably impact Frockhart simply by association with such a disgraced name. I wouldn't put it past Fergus, once things get real ugly, to try making a scapegoat of Frockhart: Frockhart is perfectly positioned for it because he's a sycophant--and such people are loathed by everyone, even the people who use them; Frockhart's daughter is a member of that party, and thus creates the opportunity. She might have seen
this part coming (if not just the guilt by association that she's already suffering), if not just the general harm to her family's standing.
Simply put, Fergus is going to be dragged down by a thoroughly incompetent (with an exception that's only a member in the official sense) hero party, and Frockhart is going to dragged down by Fergus. Well, that's if his daughter stays with the hero party; I suspect she won't.