"Wild elementals start out pretty chill."

"That's good."

"...yeah."

"Hm?"

"It means they're kind of naive and stuff."

"That would seem to follow, wouldn't it."

"Yep."

Sigh. "How bad is it?"

"It took a while for Penumbra to trust me at all."

Sigh. "I wish I was surprised."

Sigh.

"Anything straightforward to be done about it?"

"Local magic appears to be potentially unlimited, so that's exciting."

"True. I meant more 'is the problem something that can be solved through direct application of force,' such as by say for example leading a slave uprising, or is it something that requires politics."

"Uh, in theory the correct brand of force would do most of it."

"Well. Kanimir's good at that."

Nod.

"What's the problem, precisely, or would you rather not say?"

"...not today. Sorry. You seem very nice."

"Sure. 'These people are being oppressed, here's how' is something the kind of person you don't yet know I'm not could use to oppress people."

"Yes exactly."

"And all too many people are like that."

"Too many."

"Honestly, I like people very much as individuals, but in the aggregate I'm almost as sick of them as my brother."

"I like a lot of elementals very much but have met few humans I like. But, you know, I'm a human, so I know I can expect better of us."