Sure, why not tell this insane-looking stranger all the details of your identity and mission?
In all fairness, even ignoring the fact that Saito's not the sharpest crayon in the box, every time he's either been discovered as or revealed to be a knight that's gone favorably for him. That is to say, this is the first time it's backfired for him very badly. Also note his evidence at the time that this woman was crazy. She was crying and somehow survived by using a magic ring that could dissolve the undead. Someone from this world
might conclude she's dangerous, but recall that Saito's
not technically wrong in his conclusion either. I can't fault him for this. Not really.
Are you fucking serious. On one side, Saito just wasted the favor of a Water Spirit like a complete chump. And on the other side that Water Spirit is a cheating sack of shit, tearing up five pieces of paper does not even come close to repaying her debt.
Also, Saito should never be sent on secret missions ever again.
Let's break this down a little. He didn't know there was a spirit indebted to him, he didn't know the spirit had been inserted into his body, he had no context for the situation, and he got out of it because someone put a piece of the spirit inside him in order to arrange for events to follow in this manner. He had
no information about any of what you're talking about. Saito knows little to nothing about spirits or what constitutes a debt repaid, he didn't even know there
was a debt in the first place.
Sure, the Water Spirit cheated, okay. Let's assume this is the case word for word. What the hell's Saito going to do about the water creature that just blew up some necromancer's head in front of him? Antagonize it? To quote a reader of this story: "Are you fucking serious."
I will agree with you that Saito probably shouldn't be sent on missions like these. But just because we know he shouldn't doesn't mean the people back in Tristain know. If Saito succeeds in this mission and makes it back alive and well, that basically means he's demonstrating himself and Louise as an experienced pair of adventurers that can be relied upon to perform otherwise impossible tasks. It's stupid, but if he makes it out of this alive he'll be setting a precedent that
will come back to bite his ass raw.
Not really a fan of the Water Spirit reveal, don't understand why Charlotte bothered to go through Mazarin when Saito and Louise are her knights in the first place. What was the point of framing this as the letter arc? Reconquista got eaten by fucking zombies, so Mazarin would have had to recall them in a day or two when the news hit (and nice job having your agents help them, Cardinal. Seriously he has to have been mind-controlled or working for Charlotte for his decision to send them to make any sense). And apparently Saito was water spirit-compulsed into searching out the ring ASAP anyway so why did she bother obfuscating the real goal?
I agree about the Water Spirit. There's a difference between foreshadowing a detail and having a single throwaway line that never becomes relevant again. I've done both, but there's a time and place to use them both. I wouldn't have minded some hint that the water spirit was traveling in Saito's gut. It would have supported the reveal
much better. That said, the reveal itself wasn't terrible. There just wasn't enough there to make us go "of course!"
It's a little early to cast judgment on Charlotte. Recall, there's an evil twin involved in this. I'm not sure who's who at the moment and until I know who's who, I can't rightly criticize this point or support it. I'm not even sure there's been any interaction between Charlotte and her twin with Mazarin. I can't even say if he's particularly
guilty of the tomfoolery necessary to screw Saito and Louise over in Albion to this extent.
The letter arc portion is a little concerning, my views on it haven't changed much. I'm still having fun reading this, I just don't understand why they're going to Albion for the letters. As for the Cardinal's agents failing to help Louise and Saito, it's entirely possible that they were nommed before they could give their final report. As Shade has already said, news travels slowly enough that it could justify sending a pair of adventurers to a far away continent on a secret mission the day after they were publicly revealed for who they were. It should likewise stand that in that time there's no way he'd know his agents were killed.
I don't think the Cardinal's been mind controlled. It seems that the simpler answer is that he just doesn't know enough and he's working with what he's got. As for obfuscating the final goal...
"Oh, hello adventurers! I am the princess of a powerful nation that just so happens to border an objectively weaker nation. After making a deal with an aquakinetic water spirit of renowned strength, I need your help to steal an artifact capable of raising the dead from my uncle's assassin cum lover. Surely this should be an easy task for you; I know of your every accomplishment! After all, I've only followed you every step of the way since your arrival in Tristain through the use of secret agents and a Square-Class wind mage disguised as a bandit sent to kill you. Sorry for that. Politics, am I right? Haha... anyway... Give me the tool to bring about a zombie apocalypse and you'll be rewarded handsomely! To start, I will make you Knights belonging to me and me alone. That way, if you screw up on Tristainian soil their only options are to take it like the bitches they are or declare a war on us that they can't possibly win. Have a great day!"
