Page 302

--donation bonus (day #14, post 1/5)--
There were currently eight servants in Sescoria, including himself. Whenever Moss finally returned, it would be nine, but Desmond was starting to wonder if that would even happen. He’d tried calling Geoffrey, as well, but to no end. Normally, he would be tasked with hunting them down and confirming their deaths, but he was told that the mission took precedence this time.

Desmond turned when he heard the door open.

Two men entered, each with a reaper at his back. Stoker was the taller man with a shaved head and swirling tattoo on the side of his face. Karkash had bronzy skin and a thin beard, as well as one of the most penetrating stares Desmond had ever seen. Their female reapers were Nize and Hoyohté, respectively--which, to Desmond’s eyes, were wispy, black-cloaked entities with white masks instead of faces.

These four were different from the other reinforcements. They were on loan from the other side of Abolish--the 32nd Anti-Air Division under Dozer, to be precise. They had been added to the mission at the last minute, supposedly as “goodwill ambassadors,” but Desmond would have sooner proceeded without them if he could have. The key difference, he had always found, between the Morgunovs and the Dozers, was that the Morgunovs knew how to have a good time, while the Dozers were a bunch of uptight, joyless shitbags. And these ones here had yet to prove themselves as exceptions.

Still, they were allies, so he put on a smile for them. “How are the air defenses?”

“Will be completed soon,” said Karkash. His thick accent put a roll in his l’s.

“What brings you back here, then?” said Desmond.

Karkash reached into his sashed coat and retrieved a gray folder. He nodded toward the King. “Need stamps and signatures.”

Desmond shrugged and made way for them.

Karkash tossed the folder on the King’s desk. “Sign.”

William opened it slowly and began reading.