When Kairils suddenly asked him that question.
The corner of Viel's mouth twitched uncontrollably, and his back teeth ground together.
Graycliff Town was a fucking backwater with only a few thousand people!
Forget kicking one of their priest's crappy doors to pieces-with the privileges of regular knights from Winterhold, even if they'd burned that courtyard down last night, Graycliff Town's priest would still have had to crawl over on his knees the next morning to serve them tea and apologize!
What kind of freak was Kairils, anyway?
Was his head stuffed with nothing but rigid rules?
Why did he have to uphold these meaningless "knightly principles" even when dealing with commoners as insignificant as ants?
Viel mentally cursed Kairils and eighteen generations of his ancestors.
But what could he say?
Could he dare admit that he hadn't given that crappy door a second thought?
Could he dare say that, in the eyes of Winterhold's knights, having their doors smashed was an honor for country folk?
In front of this captain, who valued his "knightly creed" more than his life, Viel would be in for a beating today if he dared pay lip service while disobeying behind his back!
Viel forced a stiff smile onto his face, his voice even trembling slightly with suppressed anger:
"Reporting, Captain!"
"Rest assured, I personally visited the church before dawn and compensated the priest with some refined ore from Winterhold."
"I absolutely... did not break your rules."
Only then did Kairils withdraw his gaze in satisfaction.
Not a ripple of emotion crossed his handsome, ice-cold face as he offered a cool assessment:
"Good."
"A believer in the Deity must not forget humility simply because he holds a blade."
"If we cannot uphold the knight spirit even toward the weak out in the wilderness, our strength