Maxim Expresses Doubt

Miscellaneous

Dawn threatened to break in the eastern sky, so Maxim bid farewell to his Warden friend and descended Mount Ōe's misty slopes. He didn't have to look for for Haures, who appeared to be waiting for him. She seemed to have avoided getting sauce on her sleeves this time and was engaged in tearing the last chunks of meat from a bone of near-comical proportions. Maxim recalled seeing a swarthy, burly oni man approaching her as he left, but judging by Haures' sly comments and a scorched patch of ground, he wouldn't be a problem. Without subtlety, the lioness suggested that Maxim should be a the tournament at dawn, since both Honda Tadakatsu and Mōri Motonari would be present as well. He agreed, but opted to first return to Ago Manor and gather a few more allies, just in case.

Alice of Spades, Ishinomori Naho, Kashirin, Kiban, Kitsuno, Tarō, and Urashima Tarō all opted to join the festivities and made ready for transportation to Shimonoseki. While he awaited his companions, Maxim called upon wizard and fellow Albionite, Mary Lyn to quell a curiosity that had been building in his mind over the past day.   First, Maxim tested the waters by asking Mary if she'd met Bedivere. The other answered in the affirmative, and was happy to paint Bedivere as a jolly, rambunctious woman with a loud voice and a love of music. That certainly matched the knight Maxim had met in the arena. Mary and Bedivere didn't always get along, but that was simply because the latter's presence always disrupted the former's focus. Still, Maxim refused to believe that a Knights of the Siege Perilous could have put up such a poor showing in combat, and voiced this to Mary.   That didn't seem to surprise her. Mary recalled that Bedivere was always the most boastful of the knights, and didn't always have the strength to back her claims up. What's more, she wondered if Maxim hadn't misunderstood something about the Knights. King Arthur Pendragon hadn't chosen his closest allies for their strength, but for their nobility and kindness, both of which Bedivere had in spades. That wasn't to say that the Siege Perilous was surrounded by weaklings. Many Knights were strong enough to match anyone Mary had met in Japan, but power wasn't the only thing that Arthur considered.   Maxim accepted this explanation, but something about it still seemed to bother him. Still, he thanked Mary for sharing the knowledge, then made ready with his allies to journey to the tournament.