"As you command, sir."

And after giving Quintus his task, he's off to find that nice officer on Charantis' staff, who may actually be genuinely guileless, and complain to him about how the books they were given to audit weren't, in fact, accounting books. And also about how they have not been provided with a proper point-of-contact in the military administration.

"Well, they can hardly tell you precisely who's where, can they," says the man, baffled. "Do people whose books you're checking usually tell you that? I assume you're supposed to be talking to Pereza, the Crusade quartermaster, and he has some way of talking with his man at the port here, Tellaris, so I suppose I can introduce you to him. But I don't really know what you're expecting."

Oh no, that was probably impolitic.

"We have to follow procedure even in cases where there's observably no reason to" is in fact the correct tack with staff of the Shining Crusade; the man nods fervently. "Of course you do. I'll introduce you to Tellaris. This way."

Tellaris is another retired soldier, who overseas the Crusade's supplies on their meander north from Vellumis. He has a permanent Telepathic Bond with Pereza, this eventually turning out to be cheaper than running down crystal balls or having a significant delay in logistics conversations. He is from the Empire, though it's been a decade since he's been back. "What can I do for you?"

Tellaris blinks. "...sorry? Who'd you get them from?"

"Proximately from a courier, purportedly from a 'Commander Marit' with no explanation as to why this commander is the one providing these records."

Tellaris pauses a minute, checking something over the Telepathic Bond. 

"- right. Commander Marit handles Crusade logistics where there's security implications. He gave you correct numbers, just not detailed numbers, because from detailed numbers it's possible to learn who all we've got and where we have them."

      "They have a procedure that they need detailed numbers for," Charantis's man says helpfully.

"And you want to try to get them out of Commander Marit? Can't you just have the Knight-Commander's oath that she's seen the real numbers and there's no theft she can find?"

He sighs. "I'm afraid not. With all due respect to the Knight-Commander, half the point of an imperial audit like this is that finding theft and corruption is hard."

"Well, you're welcome to discuss it with Commander Marit, if you'd like, and maybe there's some way to get you the details you need without compromising the security of the Crusade."

"Thank you. How shall I find him?"

"I'll convey your request for an audience and he'll come by your offices when it's convenient."

"Are there a great many logistical matters with security implications keeping the man busy?" His tone says that there really oughtn't be.

"- the Crusade leadership doesn't advertise where they'll be and when, sir."

"- right, but they would not want to advertise when they're going to be away from their divisions, would they."

"...I see. I will report this to the Legate."

That sounds like a threat. Tellaris isn't sure what to do about it. Probably the usual way this is handled is with a polite lie that Commander Marit will be over once a Teleport is available, that being understood to be something that might take up to a day with no deliberate deprioritization. The problem is that Tellaris is magically and legally bound not to tell polite lies about Crusade logistics, and is also out of the habit. He didn't even think of the option until after the fact. 

"Of course," he says. "If there's anything else the Legate wants from the Crusade, he should let us know, so we can consolidate on the Teleports."

"We're also interested in speaking with the archmage and the dragon, and whatever representatives your other funders have here."

"I'll pass that along as well." He frowns slightly, trying to think who all that'd be. The Pharasmins, the Dwarves... 

The Pharasmins, the Dwarves, she should probably not personally show up as the Church of Aroden's relevant representative though it's obviously on her word and Commune confirmation that they're spending so much on it -

"Why do they want to talk to me?"

"They want to figure out if you're loyal to me or to the Crusade or to the Empire."

"Well, I'm just trying to do the right thing, wherever that takes me."

"That is among humans a rare motivation, much rarer than claims about it, and so humans tend not to believe claims about it, and will want to talk a lot so they can make their own determination about it. You don't have to, though it'd be helpful."