I was thinking that maybe there was a string attached. like perhaps you have go dungeon crawling for one year as my representative or something.
On a side note, I sure wish I had Coleen's healing ability right now, I could pay off my credit card debt and finally get that Toyota Prius I've been wanting for years!
I don't think she fail repairing the helmet. What I think is that the lord of the village will increase the tax again now that they managed to pay the larger tax increase of this year.
People are really pessimistic about that new Lord character. The mask seems like a test to see if she is the real deal. If the deal pass through, she may gain a profitable employment out of this that would help pay her village taxes. Of course, what this Lord would want Colleen to do might be problematic but we don't know yet.
It could be healing wounded soldiers so they may go back fighting in the war. It could be a gathering favors with other Lords by healing their sick.
If she had years of wisdom, knowledge and (hard-won) experience, she would take caution, maybe do the attempt with a small separate part of the helmet, and see how it goes. As well as ensure that she is well-rested before-hand. And of course warn the noble that she does not understand her powers well, nor knows much about the helmet, and that he must accept that she is not responsible for damage or destruction to the helmet or any adverse effects. In general, seek to take various precautions and figure out whether they are sufficient, even reg. any aspects she might not have considered. Normally such precautions are not warranted, but this situation with the helmet is an exception in multiple different ways.
The problem is that she is still young, and she is currently in the process of getting (possibly very :-( ) hard-won experience. And besides, it is easy for us readers to notice that something may well go wrong or is amiss, since among other aspects this is a flashback with significant events in Colleen's life. That this can help solve the problems of Colleen's family and village is likely also distracting. It reminds me of various accidents that can happen, where it is not at all obvious that such an accident can happen, and where experience and knowledge makes it much more feasible to handle or prevent the potential problems (this also shows the value of the friar's knowledge and his book - him being able to identify and train Colleen reg. her gift have likely saved lots of time and effort and prevented potential problems).
But if all the rust is replaced with fresh metal, is it still the same helmet? And forget all this healing business. If Ms Colleen can make rust into good metal then she can make a fortune fixing classic British sports cars.
Well, on a molecular scale, you are basically a clone of yourself from six months ago or something, as most of the molecules that you used to be comprised of have now been replaced.
But literally ONLY on a molecular scale, which doesn't really count with practical interpretations.
3 pages to go? That may be cutting it tight. Our lad still has to be introduced to her, and we need a page of her failing with the helmet, and a page of her learning of Marblegate, and each could be expanded to a dozen pages. Might there be another prequel chapter coming up?
I'm less worried about the motivation of the lord being sinister as what he'll do if she's tired from healing and accidentally breaks his great-great-grandfather's artifact.
Y'know, I was kind of expecting this noble dude to be sinister, but his expression and enthusiasm in the second to last panel make it hard for me to think of him as anything but sincere. Maaaybe it'll all work out?
On a side note, I sure wish I had Coleen's healing ability right now, I could pay off my credit card debt and finally get that Toyota Prius I've been wanting for years!
I don't think she fail repairing the helmet. What I think is that the lord of the village will increase the tax again now that they managed to pay the larger tax increase of this year.
It could be healing wounded soldiers so they may go back fighting in the war. It could be a gathering favors with other Lords by healing their sick.
And it could be something very sketchy.
The problem is that she is still young, and she is currently in the process of getting (possibly very :-( ) hard-won experience. And besides, it is easy for us readers to notice that something may well go wrong or is amiss, since among other aspects this is a flashback with significant events in Colleen's life. That this can help solve the problems of Colleen's family and village is likely also distracting. It reminds me of various accidents that can happen, where it is not at all obvious that such an accident can happen, and where experience and knowledge makes it much more feasible to handle or prevent the potential problems (this also shows the value of the friar's knowledge and his book - him being able to identify and train Colleen reg. her gift have likely saved lots of time and effort and prevented potential problems).
But literally ONLY on a molecular scale, which doesn't really count with practical interpretations.
although there might be some rust fell off ... that needs to be replaced indeed.