[ Hilda's no better at interrogation either. Her strengths had always lain in looking helpless and a little bit clueless. That was usually a sure fire way for someone to fill in the blanks for her without needing to exert much effort at all. Altair's attempt at curiosity unfortunately comes across as a little more...rough than delicate. ]

"What do you mean why? Why would I know anything about that?"

[ Spotting the bandit's hackles raise at the "why", Hilda attempts to soften the line of questioning. ]

My brother loves learning about stories —

"This isn't a story."

[ Hilda fakes a flinch as she rushes to amend herself. ] No, no of course, but what I'm trying to get at is that he's always liked learning the why and sometimes I tell Gus that his curiosity gets the better of him sometimes. He isn't trying to accuse any of you of anything. [ She pauses, eyes gently flickering towards the guard before they slide away as if she's too shy to keep her gaze on him. ] We just wanted to know if there's something that you and your friends have seen so that we know what to avoid.

[ There's a moment of silence before he takes several steps closer, the keys by his side jangling against his hip. ]

"There's other forces at play here. Magic. Not the good kind either. Maybe it's Thorne. Maybe it's Solvunn, but strangers who go about claiming to be siblings can only bring more trouble than it's worth."