2020-06-03: Due Diligence
- Cutscene: Due Diligence
- Cast: Dietrich Keil, Timotheus Lovelace
- Where: ???
- Date: June 3, 2020
- Summary: Dietrich Keil does things the proper way around.
BGM: (Nobuo Uematsu - The Gestahl Empire (arranged by Jake Bowkett)) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vJWNgeygy4
"Timotheus."
The other man's voice echoed within the confines of the magus' personal library, prompting the man so named to lift his head.
"Keil. And without notice, too. I should have expected as much." Timotheus pushed the stack of papers he had been perusing aside and rose from his disorderly table. "What brings you here? There has been no progress worth noting, of that you can be assured."
"Indeed," said the colonel, as he strode into the room. "Your work has thus far lived up to your reputation."
If looks alone were sufficient spellcraft, Dietrich Keil would have become a living, screaming inferno. But the magus does nothing except gaze at him.
"...Why do you trouble my studies, Keil? Do you have nothing better with which to busy your hands?"
Dietrich spreads his arms wide, as if to placate the irritated wizard.
"That is precisely why I have come to you, Timotheus. My scouts have pinpointed the location of my wayward daughter and her compatriots. The Black Wolves, as you may recall. It appears they retrieved quite the prize from the depths of Shae Ving. A Zeboim-era ship, to be exact. It is not a surprise that they have managed to evade us for so long."
The elder magus strokes his beard thoughtfully as Dietrich explains the matter.
"In fact, I believe your own daughter is also among them?" Dietrich adds.
This prompts a flat look from the magus. "I do not recall having a daughter."
Ever so slightly, Dietrich raises his eyebrows but says nothing more. "Very well. I will get to the point, Timotheus. I intend to field the Indigo Wolves against them. I trust you have managed them well in my absence?"
In silence, Timotheus regards the other man, then frowns. "...Do as you please," he rumbles. He waves a hand, as if to encompass the contents of the table that stands between the both of them. "Operations here vex me enough as they stand. The Viridians lost another one this week. Do you have any comprehension how far back this has set the plans?"
Dietrich appears to consider this for a moment before shaking his head. "I have every confidence you will attain our leader's aims, Timotheus," a statement of praise that only earns a withering look from the magus' single eye.
"If you are finished, then collect your men and trouble my doorstep no longer, Keil," is Timotheus' ultimatum. "Time grows short and I have much left to attend." He reaches, as if to demonstrate, for a text set to one side atop the pile on his desk: 'De Re Metallica'.
"Indeed. I shall take my leave, Timotheus," says Dietrich, before offering the disgruntled magus a crisp nod and turning to head out of the darkened library.