"Did you really never tell anyone about this?" Kraft said, pressing a hand to his forehead. His cousin Ryan would never have imagined the secret would be let slip by accident this far from home. Sometimes, fate worked in mysterious ways.
Given how close they were, though, it didn't feel right to expose him. Hopefully, Teacher Anderson would figure it out on his own before he'd collected a full set of eyes, ears, a mouth, a nose, hands, and feet.
"I know. I didn't mention any names. There are a bunch of minor nobles around Wenden Port. Who knows which family I meant?" William stopped himself from laughing. He'd been holding this story in for ages, and finally having the right opportunity to tell it had satisfied his urge to share.
"Since we're already here, how about we take a look at the places they usually go, then head back to the village and find that Old Gory who sounds like some kind of Heterodox leader?"
He'd encountered plenty of people who got cold feet at the last minute like this. The key to talking them around was to make the task sound simple, break it down into clear, small steps, and emphasize that it would only take a little while. For example, telling a sailor to hold onto a rope right where he was for just a moment, while promising to send someone to relieve him as soon as possible.
And then... who could say exactly how long that was without a timer?
"We'll just keep walking until we reach somewhere they've passed through hundreds or thousands of times. We'll take a quick look, then come back up. Two mugs of beer, tops. How about it?"
Kraft was still hesitating. Some kind of instinct was troubling him, telling him