The ones performing their little stage play in the tavern were, naturally, Reynard, the senior student, and Disma, the second-most senior. Aaron played the noble knight's attendant.
It was not that Aaron was bad at acting. His skills were certainly better than Reynard's and Disma's. The real problem was that the Warlock had seen him before, and Aaron could not be sure whether the man would recognize him.
There were several key points to this plan.
The Warlock Mepham came to the tavern for lunch every afternoon. They had to take their positions beforehand.
Aaron judged that if the Warlock sensed a threat, he would either leave immediately or attack at once.
That made Reynard's identity as a Paladin the perfect cover. A hotheaded idiot of a Paladin who knew nothing of the world, an overconfident Paladin overflowing with righteousness-Mepham would consider him no threat, but would also dread attracting his attention and getting caught up in trouble.
That was also why they had arranged for a crowd to gather. The more people there were, the more troublesome the Warlock would find the situation.
But they still needed a pretext for a conflict, one that would drag the Warlock into it without making him want to leave.
For that, Aaron had drawn on the Warlock's faith in Cyric.
Which two kinds of people did followers of the Dark Sun Prince hate most?
Without question, meddlesome Paladins and Druids.
What kinds of stories did the Chaotic Evil Dark Sun Prince enjoy most? Murder, betrayal, provocation and conflict, lovers turning against their vows and loving each other even as they tried to kill each other.
Cyric's followers would relish such things.
Aaron had suddenly remembered a webnovel he had read in his previous life. The protagonist had engineered a seemingly accidental tavern