"Usher Corke, you may speak now, what happened to the 18th squad on the last mission".
Usher raised his head to face the council.
He was bowed, right knee to the ground, and the left which was upright received his resting left arm as the sole of his foot clenched to the ground firmly to avoid slipping due to lack of enough traction on the slippery tile of the floor finish in the council chamber.
Two days had passed since his encounter with Cecilia Colman which meant that he had completely recovered. His wound was now completely healed with only a little scar to indicate it was ever there, thanks to the expertise of Cecilia.
When the council heard that the only survivor of the 18th squad had finally been fully rejuvenated, they immediately sent for him.
There he was kneeling at the focal point of the concave-shaped seat pattern of the 9 members of the Sohei council with the head, Ezra Surge at the radius of the semi-circle.
The chamber was large and had high walls with a curved ceiling and a chandelier at the center that dangled every now and then when a gentle wind current manages to escape through the slightly opened high-placed windows on the walls of the chamber.
Looking from the outside, the chamber is a hemisphere at the highest point of the highest building in the whole of the temple which sits upon a mountain with a very deep valley such that the depths were vague being covered with fog and unable to be discerned. The only way up there was a wooden bridge that ran from another mount close by which could be ascended by people, being connected to the common landscape but with guards at the two ends of the bridge securing it against trespassing.
It is pertinent to note that an appearance before the council isn't something that one gets to experience every day. Most folks in the temple live their entire lives without even getting a close view of the bridge talk more of crossing it. Any attempt of the crossing would not escape the eagle eye of the guard paying attention to every of the area's nuances.
Appearing before the council was a great deal for Usher. He had only ever appeared there twice in his life, on the occasion of escorting ambassadors to and from the outer empire.
Only exceeding great honor or exceeding great trouble lands common folks in the chamber.
Still kneeled, face forward, Usher began to give a reply with his body shivering.
"My lords, we were returning from the escort of Ambassador Felix. We had traveled a long distance and decided to rest a little, so we set up a small camp before continuing our journey. When we had gotten back our strength, it was late and we began to carry our possessions. We had walked a good distance and were about to leave the forest when we were suddenly attacked by mages. Their number was much and due to the unexpectedness of the attack, we had already lost some men before we could even get a chance for a counterattack. We eventually killed all the mages except two. Then suddenly, through a chant they summoned poisonous arrows that struck us to the ground and they disappeared into the forest.
"A break outside the walls?; who is your squad leader?"; one of the council lords asked.
"Commander Heath Roger my lord".
"According to Bill 26 in the 17th section, isn't a diversion from missions outside the walls within a distance such as you traveled disallowed?; another council lord asked.
"It is disallowed and punishable also, because the vulnerability it brings not only affects our army but also puts the temple at risk" another replied.
Usher had by this time begun to shiver as it seems the tide was turning in his favor. He imagined the worst-case scenario where he would be sentenced to punishment by the council which is anyone's worst nightmare. He was aware of the fact that their decision to divert from their mission and relax was against the rule. For a long time in the history of the temple, it had been a rule for any Sohei to always be on guard outside the walls of the temple. Depending on the distance they needed to travel, on many occasions, they were not allowed breaks or any form of distraction from a mission simply because of the prevention of surprise attacks by their enemies. This was normally upheld by Squad 18 except that at this time, it wasn't given much thought because, for many years, they hadn't had any trouble, to the point that the Sohei presumed that they would probably encounter real peace without disturbance from mages.
Another council lord cleared his throat and spoke.
"The recklessness of your squad leader and team cannot go unpunished. Ambassador Felix's trip was not one of such distances for breaks and camping in the wild. Not only did you nonchalantly disobey the law, but you also didn't have the decency to finish off the enemy.
What were you trained for? Was there bribery in the ascension of your squad leader to his position? Or is it not unheard of that a squad of the Sohei of the Monkogon temple was completely wiped out by a group of mages? When has this ever happened in the history of the monks?
Usher was silent and his shivering by this time had increased to the point that the traction his feet had managed to gather, he intentionally putting effort to keep his leg from slipping, had begun to loose and his foot was slipping away from position.
He started making an effort to keep it in place.
Of course, the reason the Sohei suffered such damage from the mages was a result of their excessive eating and drinking during the break.
Every one of them was too full to carry themselves well, and this made it impossible to battle at the time.
It was time for the moment of truth, there was no other excuse that could salvage the situation now. Usher couldn't admit to weakness because weaklings would never be possibly found in a squad taking missions outside the walls. Also, if he revealed the extent of their recklessness in eating and drinking outside the walls along with an unpermitted break, great would be the evil that would befall him.
He knelt there in the same position, his head thinking rapidly and his lips lacking words.