Page 4095

From everything he'd seen so far, the mass manipulation didn't seem like it would be all that strong, since it was obviously spread so thin. Plus, Hector didn't feel any pressure on his own thought processes, nor did he notice any odd behavior from the others in his party here.

So... maybe this guy here... was just pretending to be manipulated like everyone else? Trying to fly under the radar?

Which would be very suspicious, if so.

Like something that an undercover agent of Abolish might be trying to do, for example.

But that was only one possibility, of course. The guy could just be unrelated to this whole mess and wanting to avoid getting involved. Not to mention, it was unlikely that someone from Abolish would've infiltrated Andeyal so deeply like this. This was supposed to be the heart of Vanguardian territory, wasn't it?

Then again, Hector hadn't technically encountered any Vanguardians yet, himself. They were probably watching him, but he didn't actually know that for sure.

"...Sir, I promise you that I mean no harm," he tried. "I'd just like some answers, and then I'll be on my way."

Silence.

'...Are you sure this guy can hear you?' asked Voreese.

"No," said Hector. "It's just... a hunch."

For some reason, that made her snicker. 'I gotcha.' Then she turned to Selena Cortes who was standing toward the back of their troupe. 'Hey, girlie, c'mere a sec.'

Now Hector was curious. He watched Selena walk forward, still clad in the armor that he'd made for her, of course.

'Take off your helmet,' said Voreese. 'The gauntlets, too.' Then she turned to Hector. 'In fact, just remove the whole thing for her.'

Hector did no such thing. "...Why?"

'Oh, c'mon, just trust me.'

That was not good enough, but when Hector looked at Selena, he found her already doing as she'd been asked. "You don't have to listen to her," he said.

'Yes, she does.'

"It's okay," said Selena, smiling. "Whatever it is, I wanna help."

Hector frowned inside his helmet, still not dematerializing the armor for her.

'Good girl,' said Voreese. 'Now, go touch the stinky bum.'

Roman stepped in now. "Oh my goddess, Voreese. Stop."

'Don't be such a white-knighting pussy. Relax.'

Selena hadn't even hesitated and was already about to do it.

Hector felt compelled to intervene and put a hand on her shoulder. "Y-you really don't have do that..."

Rather than answering him, however, Selena just eyed his hand, which made him retract it.

Next page on the 16th

Thanks for reading, everybody.

Page 4094

The task proved more difficult than anticipated, however. Even with all this noise they were making, Hector didn't see any onlookers turning their way. And the aura was casting a wide enough net that it felt like it could belong to almost anyone in here.

But maybe if he concentrated a bit more...

Focused on what the Scarf was telling him, too...

Maybe...

Ah.

He sensed head movement while his back was turned.

A man by the far door. Sitting on a bench with people on either side of him.

That would've been much more difficult to notice if everyone else wasn't being so freakishly motionless.

Hell, even their breathing all seemed to be in sync, he realized. Wow, that was creepy.

But yeah, that guy was different. Not only had his head moved, but his breathing was off pace with the others, too.

Hector decided to approach.

The expression in the man's eyes was similar to everyone else's. And his clothes seemed about the same, as well. Layered. Full of holes. Could probably do with a good washing. And there was a pair of bags at his feet, seemingly belonging to him.

Long, frayed brown hair covered his head like an old mop, and a bushy beard hid his mouth completely.

All things considered, he reminded Hector of Leo before the guy had cleaned himself up. Minus the dreadlocks. And the stench.

"Pardon me, sir," said Hector. "We've just arrived in town, and we're... uh, quite confused about all the strange things going on around here. Would you be able to tell us about what's been happening in Andeyal, lately?"

The man made no response and just kept gazing blankly off to the side.

After a while longer of silence, Hector began to wonder if he was mistaken. Maybe this guy was just as influenced as everyone else. He decided to try another time, though. "Please. Anything you could tell us would be helpful."

Still, there was nothing.

Hmm.

Hector supposed that a powerful aura didn't necessarily mean that the guy would be completely immune to psychic manipulation. In fact, that might've been the main reason why psychics in general were so scary: because even very strong servants could be like putty in their hands. And it was possible that he was only slightly resistant to it, compared to the others.

But still. Hector's eyes narrowed inside his helmet as he decided that he wasn't ready to leave this dude alone just yet.