Second-in-command? They're equals.
Erdrick is the one calling the shots, and while she has her own opinions, she defers to his judgement whenever he is around.
The goblins worship us as their deity who destroyed their former master. The twins acknowledge us as their savior and mentor. Fortunio, Zayan and Lucy work for us. She did nothing for any of them (except the sapling, I guess). So, yes, she is our second-in-command, because on her own, she has nothing and doesn't command anyone. Without us, she is a nobody - a princess of a kingdom that is no longer there, of the people that were left light years away, with no one to recognize her as such and nothing to show for her name - the only thing she has left from what she was is her father's legacy, and even that we 'own'.
I recognize her as an equal in ability and in standing (a partner rather than a subordinate), but I can't help but notice that we are irreplaceable to our new 'organization', while she isn't.
The only thing she really feels obliged to do is to guard Erdrick from harm, which is why the only time she was sorry was when she actually threatened his physical wellbeing through her mistake. As long as the both of them are living and healthy, nothing else matters.
Well, we'll see what she thinks of this when roving machete adventure parties come to Grahferde's vicinity - something that she might have contributed to.
There was also a part of keeping one's trust, and I don't know about Erd, but my trust in her abilities is definitely sinking.
I believe it has something to do with her constant misunderstandings, like the one that made her think kidnapping Wisteria was something we wanted to do
because we dismissed Elmont.
She is working off false premises, and is under an impression we want things we don't. Like a proper time window to heroically save the prince alone (ended in abject failure). Or a prisoner when we are on a date (ended in abject failure). Or a male adventurer 'for other things' (ended in... a relative success, if you can call it that. Zayan certainly has her fun. We, not so much).
The whole problem with Rin is that she tries to guess what we'd like instead of asking us, or us telling her. Miscommunication is a source of comedy, after all.
Was Erdrick actually upset over her killing the women in the update?
I don't know, but me and a few of the 'Dexers certainly did wince at her denseness. Erdrick goes out of his way not to harm women, going even as far as to bring Wist to the temple. If he isn't upset, or at least annoyed at her picking the 'wrong' target (one of his first questions was 'what about his companions?'), I'd have to wonder why.
If she had done nothing, you would have gotten nothing. Her little excursion - even if not executed perfectly - was a net gain for Erdrick, which he recognized.
I am not protesting that. I am wondering about the lack of proper feedback with our most able commander. Did she understand why it was not perfect? Or does Erdrick simply not care enough to improve her performance?
You can be butthurt all you want, but when you have been acting with zero regard for caution it doesn't take much but a single accident to sink your plans. You're a monster with nothing but cloth to disguise yourself in a city full of people that are suspicious of you. Then you go and attend a royal banquet. You do nothing there but stay on the sidelines waiting for people to come talk to you. Then you show off your spells in front of people who have no reason to like you. If you're going to try and rush to the top of the social ladder by making a spectacle of yourself, don't be surprised if you fall just as quickly. Even if Wisteria's drowning still happened, it would have been possible to talk your way out of it had you cultivated some better connections and stayed around.
That has nothing to do with the issue at hand - that is, wanting to eliminate the reason why Wisteria's drowning happened and ensuring it won't happen in the future.
While we can't change what happened, the latter should definitely be within our capabilities.
Also, while I see perfectly why our actions made it harder or outright impossible to fix this, all I see from where I am standing, without the knowledge of subsequent events, is that Rin was the one who lit the fuse of the bomb that blew up in our face.
I believe Nevill is butthurt because no-one predicted the "cow torpedo" event. Most people were aware both Rin and Aria were trying to do something, but no-one expeced... "That" to happen
.
I did want to visit the tower for better visibility of the surroundings. But you are right, I did not expect
Aria to agree to something like that.
I am more annoyed at that absolutely no conclusions have been made. It was just swept under the rug - and not that I want to dig it out, I'd be perfectly fine treating it as a 'let us never speak of it again', but it
continues to happen.
I am trying my hardest not to blame her, but it doesn't mean I want to pretend that there is no issue here.
Edit: It was funny as hell, though. But now I am getting worried about the expedition (and the Dark Lord, and Athos, and a lot of other things that keep piling up), and would like to get a bit more serious.