The Major, who usually didn't drink during the day, was having a beer on the terrace with his old friend.
"Did you see the ease with which she manipulated energy? A borne battle mage, if only I could get that silly idea of becoming an alchemist out of her head…" he complained, before downing his pint.
His friend, definitely not a Lieutenant, as he pretended to be when he trained newbies (to keep a finger on the pulse, so to speak), patted his shoulder, commiserating with him.
"There, there," Colonel Mieri said. "She's not the first — nor the last. We always get them, don't we? Or at least most of the time. It's hard to resist power and money. Eventually, the best ones join up. After they do something that needs covering up, at least."
"I know that," Major Craen said. "But in this case,
