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<“I know,”> said Gina. <“I risked my life for this intel. You’re welcome, by the way.”>

“Er, thanks, but--agh, you shouldn’t have done that. It’s way too dangerous.”

<“I’m being careful. Got myself a cozy little underground lair. Anyhow, it’s you who should be careful.”>

‘Ask her what she’s learned about their plans,’ said Garovel. ‘And put her on speaker so Colt and Bohwanox can listen, too.’

Hector held the phone out as Garovel invited the other two over.

<“I’ve only been listening for a few days, but I know that there are eight servants in Sescoria right now. And they’ve been torturing King William, but you probably guessed that by now.”>

Hector clenched his jaw. The King’s sudden loss of a limb had of course been major news. The media attributed it to a freak infection, whereupon the arm had to be amputated in order to save his life. Hector and Garovel hadn’t bought that pile of horseshit for a second. “Do you know which one of them took his arm?”

<“It was definitely the guy called Desmond. He really likes to talk about it.”>

“I’ve met him,” Hector said lowly.

<“But that’s not the juiciest thing I’ve learned. In two weeks, they’re planning to destroy an entire town and make it look like Rendon is responsible. Right now, they’re still trying to prepare public opinion. You’ve probably seen some of the media coverage about how hostile Rendon and Kahm are, supposedly. Or maybe they ARE that hostile. It sounds like Abolish might have agents in those countries, too.”>

‘A multinational conflict,’ said Garovel, eyeing the others. ‘Ask her which town they intend to destroy.’

“Which town?”

<“It’s called Harold. Northwest of Sescoria. It’s not very big. Hopefully, I can find out who they’re sending and what their abilities are.”>

Colt tilted his head. “Why Harold? Why don’t they just stage the attack in the capital?”

<“Who’s that talking?”>

“Sorry, this is Colt. He’s... an ally. You can trust him.”