"Of course!" he booms. "It's what I do!"

THE HERO SAVES THE DAY another day of pain and suffering ANOTHER DAY OF ADVENTURE

“Well thank you for doing what you do,” says the castoff sincerely, and then yes she would actually also like to check on the poor man who was in the process of being tortured to death. “Aleks, do you have a canteen or something, he’s parched.”

He does, yes, here it is.

The golden man follows them as the prisoner blinks at the offered water and gratefully drinks the water.

A SUITABLE COMPANION FOR A HERO she has lessened this man's pain HEROICALLY we don't like it

The ex-prisoner gives Aleks his canteen back, completely drained, and croaks a "Thank you," before clearing his throat and turning back to his companion. "Well? I was the one drinking the water, there's no reason for you to stop talking." Bastard left him out to dry.

    "Yes, well, you see, Ris," and for how much the man's shaking one would think he was the one who'd just spent however long being tortured. "I was hoping to get a reward for turning in the fellow who sold us that brandy without telling us about its secrets, but—"

"But?" snarls Ris. "There's always a but when it comes to money, isn't there?"

Wow, just out of death’s door and already arguing about money, what impressive priorities.

“Oh, I see. That wasn’t altruism at all, you just also didn’t want to get executed.” If she sounds disappointed, it’s because she is. She glances at the golden man and raises her eyebrows. Altruism, or pragmatism, hm?

THIS IS BORING WHERE'S OUR NEXT ADVENTURE the man is saved let's move on

"I—yes, it's true that the Devourer of Wrongs would have learned about me if he had eaten Ris, and I did manage to escape the levies when they showed up looking for us." The man looks Ris in the eyes and puts his hand to his heart. "But Ris, I escaped the levies and saved you from the Devourer because I love you and did not want to see you die. You have to believe me." Escaping the levies was just good luck.

    "Do I?" Ris says, sounding like he very much does not.

Huh. Honesty. Okay.

“It would have taken you days to die, like that,” she muses. “Probably time for him to flee the city and be out of their reach before they knew about him. So altruism probably was a motivation, I suppose. But I think your friend probably needs water, medical care, and maybe some food before excuses.”

    "You know the best way to get those?" snarls Ris. "Money. Which you still owe me."

        "Ris, I—I promise you, I never got paid, I don't have the money." The man very much looks like he's running out of options here and turns to the golden boy. "Please, friend, if you're planning to leave town soon, I'd be much obliged if you could take me with you," and protect him. "This misunderstanding is going to get me killed."

The golden man narrows his eyes. "You," he declares, "are no hero." He says it like he's sending down judgement from above, the worst one could say.

BUT HE COULD GET US ADVENTURES we could watch Ris kill him THAT IS NOT VERY ADVENTUROUS

Golden man’s talking friends are hilarious and she was managing to keep a straight face until now, but the combination of the golden man’s wrathful judgment and the bickering between voices is enough to cause her to crack. She covers her mouth with a hand and stifles a giggle.

“This is dumb,” she says, coughing and distracting herself getting the small pouch of money that is not in her boot and offering it up. “Look, here, just. Talk about this over a meal and compare viewpoints and wait until emotions settle down, okay? I’m sure this has been very stressful for both of you.”

WE WERE RIGHT that never happens SHE IS THE LOVE INTEREST we like the quiet one better

    Ris... watches her money dubiously for a few seconds before accepting it, then eyes the other man, who raises his hands in a "surrender" gesture.

"Keep it," he says. "All of it. Let's follow her advice, let's, just talk, okay?"

    "...fine," although it is very suspicious why would Tybir not accept the money if he wasn't paid for their job, hmm? "But I still want to kill you."

"I really am sorry," he repeats, and really means it. He looks at the other three and nods. "Thank you for your help."

    "—yes, thanks," says Ris belatedly, "for saving my life and all. Now, Tybir?"

He sighs. "Yes, I'll—let's go somewhere else."

THAT WAS VERY NARRATIVELY SATISFYING no one died we should go chase the overseer

The golden man turns to eye the direction the overseer and his levies rode off towards speculatively.

Aleks... is both amused and befuddled by everything that just transpired, here. He looks at the castoff for cues on what happens next because he's kinda lost.

Oh no golden man may or may not be about to go kill a guy.

“The real villains here,” she says solemnly, “are the people that okayed this kind of execution in the first place.”

THAT SOUNDED SMART that sounded dull

But the man turns to look at her anyway and smiles genially. "You are right!" he declares. "Which makes my lack of introduction even more shameful. I am Tahir!"

"...is there a reason you yelled that."

"So the world will know of me! Which it already does, of course. Everyone knows of Tahir! But it's good to remind them."

WE DON'T LIKE HIM we do

He’s insane. He’s absolutely insane. He’s insane and hilarious and has talking demons made of nanites in his head.

“Well, hello, Tahir. I haven’t picked my name yet, I’m still working on it.”

His eyes go wide. "You can pick your name? I didn't know that! I never picked my name!" IT IS A FINE NAME "It is a fine name." He turns to Aleks. "Did you pick your name? What's your name?"

"Aleks. I didn't pick it."

What. Is up. With this guy. Castoff help?

"I shall pick my name!" PICK TAHIR "I pick Tahir." we feel you missed the point IT IS THE BEST NAME

The castoff can’t help Aleks right now. She can’t remember how to breathe, because laughing is more important.

...this guy's thoughts must be hilarious but this does not help with Aleks's confusion.