Jester, that was really besides Nevill's overall points in favour of A1. I suppose that an advantage of A1 would be that if we cause Rong Zhiyu to become desperate during the duel, he might resort to unorthodox techniques that he might have picked up along the way - the powerful poison indicates he knows people in that circle. During the course of the fight, he might give some tells that his image isn't as clean as he says it is.
Yes I know I did. The problem is that you are assuming he is going places while being an arrogant, not terribly cunning, and very ambitious person. That is usually a recipe for disaster, because it usually means overreaching and stepping on much more dangerous peoples toes. Though I do agree he will probably help the school to grow compared to the stagnation of his father, I just have serious doubts about his ability to carry it that far before he inevitably pisses off the wrong people.
I guess you don't follow politics.
If we pick A2, this will happen: Papa Rong will be furious at our accusations of his son - especially without backing it up in a duel. In a couple of weeks/months/years Papa Rong will die in an accident of some sort, and once Rong Jr takes over, the place will flourish thanks to his ambition and his father's signature technique.
But that won't be the only thing they teach. We can infer that Rong Jr's cultivated a lot of contacts not only in the orthodox world, but in a lot shadier circles - where do you think he got that poison? So the Songfeng school will act as a front: it brings students in by marketing their sword style as their signature technique, but once you get into the inner, trusted circle of people that the young Master has, that's where you see the darker side come out. I'm suspecting that he's been getting involved in a lot of unorthodox techniques because of the poison. But he also has a lot of great connections in the orthodox world to boot - this is a dangerous combination. And it could mean a lot more trouble down the road for us.
It will reflect well on them and should the truth come out one day, on you, but it also gives you the biggest hit to reputation and orthodoxy.
Are you referring to A1 or B1 here?
I'm still sticking with A1. I think that the truth is much more important than the family saving face, even if they don't believe us. I really doubt that junior is working alone here - at the very least there are his thugs that were likely in on the whole thing. And quite probably somebody in the shadows that procured the poison for him as well. By concealing what has happened from the family we also conceal potential future danger from them. Sure, they could ignore our warnings later, but at least we will make them.
Plus, I can't help but feel that jumping back to killer fee now without explanation and with our reputation here already damaged after last night would give our character a reputation as a psychopath.
I had already considered this - the son did indeed procure the poison elsewhere, but whatever the plan is, it depends on Rong Jr taking over the academy. The thugs are not a concern: they were following the Master's son (probably in exchange for favours and techniques), but without him driving them, they aren't going to do anything. Rong Jr could lead a mutiny because as heir, he would be the one taking over, so without him, there's no leadership. If you strike down the shepherd, the sheep will scatter.
Also, with B1, we
will have an explanation: this is our first mission and we've never killed anybody, so we hesitated. Unfortunately, we are under orders from our Master to do so in order to maintain the balance of life and death. We will offer Rong Zhiyu a fair duel, and in the end, one of us will die, restoring the balance. Sounds reasonable.
Also, if there is a larger conspiracy behind this, then bluntly stating that Master Rong was nearly killed by a powerful poison will let whoever is directing it know that we are on to them. We are just kids starting out - we don't want any part of this shit right now. We have to hold this knowledge close and look for clues later ourselves.
