Aye, 'tis the very nature of competition. Yet I would think that you are still... [he presses through on saying it] well-suited to the task. You fear not cold nor absurdity, and I know that your time in Ishgard has been abundant in both.

[Her words relax him. Enough to consider saying the thing that's been burning inside him since doing it, since even speaking to Estinien.]

Estinien mocked me for entering. Well, entering and losing. [He holds his head between his hands, happily not making any eye contact.]

He said that I was ill-prepared and that he might have helped me prepare. Yet he made it sound like something narrowly preferable over death. I'm... unsure what to do with this kind of information.