[Hearing Rinoa speak of her father like that causes Młynar’s heart to tighten. While he’s not his missing brother, he had raised his two nieces like they had been his own- effectively making him their father figure. Is this how they see him? Likely so, given how deep of a rift there is within the Nearl family. It hits close enough to home to make the knight’s grip on the crate unconsciously become firm, with wooden splinters cracking as the soft lumber gives way.]

You might be onto something there. My country, Kazimierz, made my brother and his wife “go missing” when he spoke words the Council disliked. They’ve sent assassins after my nieces for espousing their father’s ideals.

[Meanwhile, his nieces were unaware of his efforts behind the scenes to ensure that they don’t get killed. They just kept on doing what they believed was right, despite the danger to themselves.]

So, I excused my inaction as a deal with the devil to make the Council overlook their actions and keep my family safe from further tragedy. It’s my duty as the eldest in the family, especially now that my father is gone.

[His new companion isn’t that far off the mark about catalysts. Before being swept into this world, his nieces had forced his hand with their heroics. While he’d berated the girls for their aspirations in the past, he would not sit by and let others endanger them. Once bows had been pointed at his family, the Nearl family patriarch was about to remind the world how he’d become renowned as a legendary hero.]

It's enlightening to hear the other side. Perhaps, if I weren’t trapped here, that could have been my catalyst.