It turns out that Colin is also new, and also pretty oblivious to a lot of the political concerns of Paris. This is because, of course, he's from the countryside away from Paris. They don't know much about Colin or his opinions; he's always carefully neutral. He has an odd habit of disappearing when it's not his turn to be on guard duty, however. No one really knows where he goes. But when it's time for him to do his job, he does it, and what more can they ask?

Let's say they successfully make their way into the king's rooms. None of it seems particularly out of the ordinary, beyond an assortment of various locks, all with adjoining keys. The king is famously a hobbyest for technical equipment and puzzles of that sort, from clockmaking to locksmithing. Each key has a lock to match it somewhere on the king's workdesk... except one.

How odd.

The soldiers indulge Ashitaka-- he's a strange man, but they like him for his strangeness and his honesty and his obvious strength. They don't think a bloodless conclusion can be reached. The nobility refuses to give an inch. The time for change is now, and if the nobility keep ignoring it, well... that's their fault.