"How do they keep the li..."

He cuts himself off from saying 'little shits'

"...more disorderly students in line?  Or do they have to expel a lot of them?"

Actually, if the would-be-arrogant wizards just get themselves expelled maybe that takes care of it?  It would certainly be better than having them whip the other kids and get even more prideful.  This Andoran wizard hasn't seemed too bad, at least so far.

Probably you don't need to hit the actually worthwhile kids at all and it's only because Cheliax raises everyone so Evil that they need so much discipline.

"I can't speak to what Infernal Chelish wizarding schools were like, but I expect we had less disorderly behavior to begin with. I don't actually recall any issues with disruptiveness in the classroom — when I try to call to mind specific examples of misbehavior, I come up with things such as staying in the practice halls after hours or accidentally damaging equipment or supplies, which were typically punished on a first offense with loss of practice-hall privileges and fines respectively. I expect the main factor there is that everyone who enrolls at Almas University is freely choosing to be there, and most of them worked hard to be admitted — the sort of student who would want to disrupt the classroom would generally not seek admission in the first place. I expect that the age of the students is also relevant; even the youngest students there were still older than the youngest students in a typical local Chelish school, or even the youngest students at a Chelish wizarding 'prep school'. 

My understanding is also that students at Andoren wizarding institutions are typically punished for a much narrower range of behavior than would be typical in Cheliax. I've heard that it was standard in Cheliax to punish the worst performer on a major assignment, even if their performance would have been individually satisfactory, which seems... pointless, if one isn't actively aiming to be Evil? If a student is underperforming, their grades will reflect that, but if every student performs well on an assignment, that's a desirable outcome, there's no benefit to punishing someone who successfully... demonstrated a satisfactory Silent Image, of an acceptable duration because their classmates happened to maintain concentration for slightly longer... or whatever it was that students were punished for in practice."

"And the fines don't, uh, send them into abusive indentures because they can't pay?"

Well, that's something to avoid thinking about.  He thinks 'dramatically repented of serving Baphomet' will go over a lot better than... not thinking of it.

"I have never heard of that happening and would expect to have heard of it if it had. I don't know how specifically they prevent it, beyond not giving students access to expensive equipment until they have proven they are sufficiently careful not to break it, but I would guess that it includes some combination of maximum fines and alternative repayment structures for students who cannot pay them."

"Even if they did indenture people over it Andoran's got way more rules about indentures, there's all kinds of things that're legal for people to do to their indentured servants in Cheliax that'd be crimes in Andoran. I mean, I believe it just doesn't come up for people breaking things at wizard school, but even if it did, it wouldn't be like Cheliax."

He doesn't really trust they could really stop people from abusing their indentures... well maiming and death are obvious enough to check for, and at least that much would be an improvement over Cheliax and the fate he's sent a few people to.

"Hmm... that's good."

In between his nervous stuttering earlier and the distraction of trying not to think about an issue he doesn't really feel like talking.  If he was thinking about the issue carefully, he would quickly realize it is really unlikely Sinashakti is reading his thoughts, but not thinking of something in fact has rather obvious and large drawbacks.

He can sense weakness, and he's got a gut feeling what this weakness is about.  Best case scenario, they kill this wizard and take his share of the loot, worst case, at least he gets a chance to mess with an arrogant wizard trying to suck up and pretend like he is really pathetically Good deep down inside.

"Yeah Chelish indentures are terrible.  I bet most Andoran people think that people that abuse indentures and trick people into bad indentures and such are like, only a half step up from slavers."

He suppresses the leer on his face and glee in his voice and does his best to seem serious and solemn about it.  Borderline slavery, such a serious issue.

Nod. "It depends a bit on the details, some indentures are worse than others, but — a lot of the things people do with indentures in Cheliax are kind of awful. And not everyone in Andoran agrees on exactly what kinds are okay, but pretty much everyone agrees it's wrong to... trick someone about what the terms are, or force someone you've got indentured to sleep with you, or come up with sneaky ways to add on extra time to someone's indenture when they should've paid it off, or maim someone who's indentured to you as a punishment, or anything like that. ...Honestly, I'm kind of suspicious of the whole business even if someone's not doing anything that awful, but the kinds that are legal in Andoran are at least less bad than what they do in Cheliax."

Justice is kind of getting the sense that Mateo is trying to mess with the wizard, but if he's trying to make the wizard feel bad about a bad thing he actually did, that seems fine — people should regret the things they've done that were wrong — and if the wizard didn't do anything like that, it won't work.

Elettra did not pick up on that from Mateo at all but she's picking up a little bit from Justice. "If I could give every person indentured in Cheliax the chance to leave I would. But I can't, there's just too many of them, so — in the meantime, I hope that those responsible will find something better to do with their lives, and that anyone holding contracts will release anyone who doesn't want to serve them, or that if the contract doesn't provide for it they'll at least turn a blind eye to anyone who chooses to break it by fleeing."

"I've never killed someone just for tricking people into bad indentures." (Independence has not picked up on the subtext at all and is mostly making the point that even if both are bad, slavery is still worse.)

"Well, sure, but they still shouldn't, even if you wouldn't kill them over it."

"Yeah, of course."

He's trying to interpret the subtext of what Independence said.  That didn't feel like a rebuke to him?  "just for"... maybe she means they need to identify some other horrible crime of the wizard's before the group will kill him and split up his share?  Also, Mateo needs to be careful, if Fernando stops letting his guilt (whether pathetically real or cleverly feigned) steer the conversation, he could easily start drawing attention to Mateo's past crimes.  And now that Mateo is thinking about it, he is pretty sure he's got a few that would have a priestess of Calistria straight up murdering him.

Independence's comment breaks him out of his loop of internal self censorship.  If they wouldn't kill him, then whatever punishment the group does to him would be worth it if it helps him clear his ledger of Evil deeds and thereby avoid an eternity of punishment.  Still, he can be a bit indirect.

"Are there any groups like yours that rescue indentures in addition to slaves?  ...do they, uh, take commissions for specific people or anything like that?  Or, uh, take donations to do extra rescues?"

He's not sure he can remember enough identifying information of the people he's sold into indentures to commission a rescue (if he somehow had the money).  He burned his careful meticulous record of debts owed to him after joining the Cult, he had no further need to interact further with Asmodeus's style of trickery and contracts.  Maybe with a Fox's Cunning and a few other memory recall spells he could manage to remember the names and when and where he sold them in enough detail?  Alternatively, from what theology he knows, an equivalent Good act doesn't erase an Evil act, Pharasma is unfair like that, but enough Good can partially outweigh that.  So even with a lopsided ratio, like seven to one or ten to one, if he can fund enough rescues it will eventually balance out.

"If there's someone specific you're worried about, you want someone who can teleport. There are people who do teleport rescues, we can put you in touch, but it's dangerous work, and it has to stay very secret, which limits how many people they can get. I don't know how they decide who to go for, if they've got more requests than they can cover."

And no one she knows would kidnap people who refuse to come, obviously, but that means they can only save people very willing to trust a Message through a Scry, or desperate enough to agree even knowing it might be an Asmodean trick.

"If you're looking for groups that are trying to rescue indentured servants more broadly — remind me once we're out of Chelish territory, I have some ideas but none that can't wait a few days."

“Uh, not exactly someone specific.  One of the groups that rescue people more broadly sound good…”

He definitely can’t afford a teleporter any time soon to save the particular indentured people he was responsible for indenturing.  He could talk to a theologian or something that would know how many other people rescued would make up for selling people into indentures, if the ratio is bad enough he should save up for the teleporter.  Otherwise he should find the group that can most efficiently turn his donations into rescues.

Nod. She gives him a reassuring smile. Does it seem like he would rather keep talking about this or like he would rather she steer the subject to something else?

He seems to be willing to just let the moment drift into silence.  He kind of wants to wait on talking about anything sensitive until he’s safe in Andoran with confidential spiritual council.  (He hopes true confidentiality is actually an option.)

Mateo is also content to be silent.  He’s pretty sure priests don’t get detect thoughts, which is a major relief, because now that he’s on the subject he’s thinking of a lot of stuff an Avenger would probably want to get him for.  Fighting Asmodeus is probably sympathetic.  Banditry… and some of the indulgences he took in the process… is not.  He definitely needs to avoid giving any hint to either wizard he has any interesting thoughts.

He’ll stare off into space blankly.  Big dumb fighter is all out of words, give him something to hit with a glaive.  It should be an easy sell to the wizards.

They end up deciding to play things safe on the return trip; although they don't encounter any Chelish patrols, there are enough signs of increased patrol activity to make it obviously foolhardy to try any of their more ambitious ideas. They continue to periodically encounter wildlife, but nothing so dangerous that they can't handle it. The border crossing itself is fairly straightforward: a Fly and Invisibility hides most of the group, and Reduce Person lets them fit the last two into a Bag of Holding.

Once they're across the border, they start travelling mostly by road; absolutely no one attempts to demand a travel pass from them. They pass through several farming villages on the way to Augustana; it's hard to be sure, of course, but the people there mostly seem happier than in Cheliax, and certainly less scared. There are temples to Erastil and Pharasma, temples to half a dozen gods at once not one of which is Asmodeus, Desnan shrines on the side of the road, an inn with Cayden Caylean's symbol displayed on the sign, laypeople wearing Sarenrae's ankh or Shelyn's songbird or Milani's rose. At one point they meet an entire adventuring party full of halflings, not one of whom seems remotely concerned that anyone will try to enslave them. 

The Eagle Knights seem more relaxed on this side of the border, too. They finally introduce themselves with their actual names, and start sharing stories about some of their friends. Elettra teaches Fernando and Mateo some new songs; her favorite is the one about a hunter using his incredible skill at archery to resist a tyrannical new lord, but there's one about a group of pirates trying to escape a sinking ship that she thinks Mateo might like.

Eventually, they reach the outskirts of Augustana. Its towering hills are visible from above the city walls, and even from this distance they can make out the sight of Fort Constance. The road they're on seems to have grown much wider, and they've been joined by too many fellow-travelers to count — most of them farmers, of course, but also a pair of travelling minstrels carrying some sort of instrument resembling a more complex lute, a wealthy-but-barefoot halfling riding a boar, a group of children arguing about which roadside landmark to race each other to next, a gnome carrying a bizarre metal contraption on a Floating Disk, a man who's set up a small cart by the side of the road selling skewers of mutton...

"Where're you going to want to visit first?"

"I could use a drink.  Operating out of a secret underground base made getting a good drink with good company hard.  Do you know any bars where I could also get some Caydenite council?  Or if there are any Shelyn bars so I can trade glaive tips and sing drinking songs."

He's been thinking about how to spend his money from his share of the loot and what he would really like is a whore (or two, he has a lot of money) but he's gotten the impression she isn't that sort of Calistrian and also he is staying firm in not providing the slightest hint of his more avengeable past deeds.

"Is there any popular place wizards gather together?  It would be nice trading techniques and such." 

He assumes (or at least hopes) non-Evil wizards are less stingy and petty about it.

"And I think I would like some Iomedaen spiritual council at some point."  

"There's loads of Caydenite taverns, we can definitely find one for you. I don't know of any Shelynite taverns, but some of the Caydenite ones'll have drinking songs either way." Glance at Elettra.