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Rather than responding, Royo merely looked at the armored young man and listened to the ambient noise of Himmekel around them--the thick sloshing of falling magma, the slight and ever-present trembling of earth, and of course the muted hissing of Hector’s visibly shifting armor.

Royo felt as though he should bring up a new topic, keep the conversation alive, but something made him hold his tongue. Something about this person standing next to him.

Certainly, when he had first heard how young the Senmurai sounded, Royo had been surprised, but he had also heard tales of how the immortal supermen could appear deceptively young. Yet now, after listening to all of his questions and his manner of speaking, Royo had the distinct impression that Hector was indeed as young as he sounded.

Young. And perhaps... impressionable?

Mm, perhaps not. After having actually listened to what Hector had been saying, the young man did seem to be amusingly stubborn in his way of thinking. And sure, Royo had molded more difficult personalities to his will, but there was also the ghost to consider.

Best not to wade into that territory, he decided. A valuable ally or friend was likely the most he could hope for here, despite how much he would have loved to have a loyal superhuman at his beck and call. And even that might be overreaching, if he didn’t watch his words.

At length, Hector was the one to speak again. “...I can’t say I disagree with your view of power.”

“Is that so?” said Royo.

“I’ve... I’ve seen a lot of power, lately. And... it’s exactly like you said. Power doesn’t discriminate against good or evil. Power is just power. Whoever has it, has it.”

“Indeed.” Royo couldn’t help smiling a little, feeling as if the young man wished him to continue his rant after all. “And I believe that is also why evil--or what we perceive as evil, at least--seems so prone to obtaining power.”

Hector turned his gaze away from the lavafall to look at Royo. He didn’t say anything, but that strange, sunken gaze beneath his armor told Royo that he was waiting to hear more.

“Imagine it,” Royo went on. “When an opportunity arises for an individual to seize power of any sort, what will that person do? A good man will hesitate. A good man will think, ‘Is this wrong? Am I being greedy? Will this power hurt someone?’ But an evil man will not think such things. An evil man will not hesitate. He will take that power as soon as he is able.”

Hector looked away again, perhaps thinking on those words.

Royo still had more to say. “What, then, are we to make of a circumstance in which a good man has an opportunity to seize power before an evil man does? If that good man hesitates in his goodness, and in so doing, allows the evil man to take that power from him?”