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Garovel floated away from him and stopped in the middle of the room. ‘It’s still a bit early for this conversation, but oh well.’ He turned around to face his servant again. ‘Hector, I want you to listen carefully to what I’m about to tell you. You may not like what you hear, but I hope you will never forget it, because it is one of the most important things I am ever going to say. And I will try to explain why that is.’

Hector shifted in his chair. ‘Uh--okay. I-I’m listening...’

‘There’s something that happens to people when they acquire power,’ the reaper said. ‘It’s not that it corrupts them, necessarily, but it can definitely change them. Whether it’s political power or physical power, the result is essentially the same. Power of any kind grants you influence and control over others. And as you gain more power, more influence in the world, you become increasingly susceptible to that change. So for servants, that change is almost inevitable, because your power is constantly growing.’

‘Are you saying... your servant abused their power?’

‘In a word, yes. He started extorting innocent people. Said he could put their money to better use than they could. I think he saw it as a kind of “greater good” tax, like he viewed himself as some sort of governing figure when he’d really just become a thug.’

‘Wow... and you couldn’t just tell him to stop? Didn’t he understand that he had to listen to you? I mean... we’re called “servants” for a reason, right?’

‘Yeah, about that... Maybe I shouldn’t tell you this, but you’d probably realize it on your own eventually. And I trust you, I guess. See, when servants grow powerful enough, they can prevent their reapers from releasing their souls.’

Hector tilted his head. ‘What? How?’

‘It’s pretty simple, actually. The reaper has to make contact with the servant’s body in order to release the soul. So the servant can just keep the reaper in a soul-empowered prison and never allow themself to be touched.’

‘Oh...’

‘It’s an extreme solution. If you can’t make contact with your reaper, then you lose access to your regenerative power, enhanced strength, and hyper states. And obviously, if you get killed, then your reaper probably won’t feel like resurrecting you again.’

‘No kidding...’

‘Also, you’d have to worry about maintaining the prison. The soul power will drain from it over time, unless you have absurdly high synchronization with your reaper.’