[ right now, it doesn't feel good to be good. it doesn't feel like much of anything except lost. the punches keep coming, and rondo's good at handling them - he's really good at handling this kind of thing, really good at always seeing the silver lining, but this week hit hard.

he pulls back when alfyn does, rubbing his eyes. ]

... I know. [ quietly. ] Thank you. [ and it is genuine, as it so often is. ]

I... I am afraid that someone might have gone after Sir Iwatooshi because they thought he attacked Sir Ichiban, last week.