Empathetic for the most part, but he does have a critic.

I looked around, seeing a variety of reactions from the crowd. The barkeep paused momentarily and nodded, before returning to his cleaning. Grutrod and Oliver had similar reactions, raising their drinks in a salute with somewhat grim expressions. Tris tapped their finger on the counter awkwardly, looking around at seemingly nothing, clearly in thought. Natalia had the strongest reaction, a battle of many emotions across her face from sadness to a somewhat defeated expression I didn't quite understand.

One more new voice spoke from the entryway, "So, you admit to being a criminal then?" Silvia's voice was bitter, her words spoken with clear intent to harm. Looking over to her, she stared at me with a hatred in her eyes, clearly still considering me evil.

Before one of the surprisingly many people who tried to come to my defense could speak, I replied myself, "I admit to a dark past, something I believe many here would as well. Very few of us can be shining bastions of righteousness like Oliver here all of our lives, so perhaps it helps to get the evil out early." I ended it with a shrug before forcing more of the consumable nutrients down my throat.

Oliver seemed somewhat touched by my statement, but Silvia scoffed, "Such a human thing to say. To blame your own cruel deeds on some higher power or fate, instead of accepting responsibility. And to top it off, you use it as a chance to spit out hollow flattery." She wore an expression of genuine disgust upon her face.

It was Tris who got the next word in, "Is that right miss immortal? That must be so easy to say from someone born in a place where every child is individually nurtured. Where I grew up, you had to fight for every day you lived. I hate to say most meals were your failed peers." There was an unexpected softness to the tone of the words, though they still spoke with body language that suggested they were looking down upon her.

The barkeep looked to Tris, no other movement or signal was made. With that, Tris gave a nod back and left to return to whatever nightmare was their kitchen. I watched them go with curiosity, wondering what kind of place such a person could have come from. On the other side of the spectrum, Silvia watched them with a glare I couldn't quite feel the meaning behind, it feeling like more than just their opposing positions in the debate.

I decided I should take the moment to speak for myself once more, "I was not blaming my actions for another. I accept full responsibility for what I have done, and plan to do what it takes to atone when I have reached the end of my time." I looked her in the eyes as I spoke, "But I must simply move on from them, for I have a purpose I must serve. I owe my life and my chance at being a better man to my god, and I will not waste it by punishing myself when the time could be spent in his service." I added one last bit for good measure, "I understand it perhaps may be harder for you to understand that others around, but when one has so little time, they have so few chances to waste it before it is their life that is wasted."

I had worded this intentionally in a quite hostile way of course. To most I could pass it off as not understanding what I was saying or some may even agree. To her however, it is most certainly a direct insult that I very much doubted she would abide. Her overly hostile reaction will make me seem the more logical or calm of the two, and make Oliver choosing me seem more of an easy decision.

She most certainly took the bait, her face contorting in further disgust and anger. "Are you daring to say I cannot understand something you can because I am an elf? Just what I would expect of a human, you dare look down on me and my people?" I discreetly smirked to myself while eating at how easy she seemed to manipulate.

To my surprise, it was Oliver who took his turn next. "That is not at all what he said." He looked at her, her demeanor immediately falling to an almost scared expression. "If anything, what he said could be taken as a compliment, saying your people are gifted to have more opportunities. If anyone here is looking down at another group, it is you with your 'human' generalizations! Do you forget that me and Natalia are both human as well?"

Silvia's face fell, and her somewhat powerful stance quickly shifted to a shy and scared one, "I-I-, wait I didn't-, I wasn't talking about-" She stumbled over her words for a while before blurting something out to try and save herself, "You aren't a full human anyway, right? And Natalia is different."

Oliver put his mug down forcefully on the counter, startling all parties except the barkeep. He said but one sentence in a tone that demanded no response or doubt. "I am taking a walk." With that, he quickly stood and left, no one daring to make a move against him as even the other tavern-goers moved aside.

After he was out, Silvia seemed to snap out of her daze from his sudden departure. "W-wait! Oliver wait!" She moved to go after him, however the crowd had reconvened and was not parting for her, some of their eyes looking at her judgingly. I chuckled internally 'perhaps they heard her insults?' Regardless, they put a decent distance between the two before she made it out of the building.

A silence filled the room before Natalia moved next to me. "Hey, I really am sorry about her. I don't quite understand what is up with her?" She had a somewhat **** smile before she seemed to consider something heavily. "H-hey, can we talk about some-"

Tris's echoing voice called from the backroom, "Miss witch, I believe you have an appointment today, right? Shall I see you in the courtyard shorty?" There was something hidden in their words, some message or meaning that I could only tell meant there was **** in the matter.

Natalia grimaced, "Ah, is that today?" Her pained expression lingered as she looked between me and the doorway. In the end, she settled on me for a moment, "Could we perhaps later talk about something? I believe we may both have to get to work in a way."

I nodded to her, which she responded to with a kind smile before getting up and moving towards the path to the outside yard. I watched with intrigue as she walked away, wondering what appointment she had. So much of these characters was shrouded in mystery, but it would ruin the fun to just use God's Eye and get all the answers.

As I watched her go, I noticed something that caught my immediate attention.