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Hector tilted his head to the side a little as he considered his next words. He kept his arms folded, because he wanted to be sure that he didn’t give off a false sense of aggression. A servant’s hands were arguably the most dangerous part of their body, after all.

“Do you wanna know why I didn’t attack you while your guard was down?” said Hector.

“Sure,” said Leo.

“It was because you kept all of my Rainlords alive.” That definitely hadn’t been the reason, but it sure sounded good, Hector thought. “You didn’t have to do that.”

Leo’s gaze turned to the floor, and he fell silent one more time.

“I thought... maybe you don’t have to be my enemy. And seeing you sitting there, looking kind of... lost... I thought maybe you needed some help.”

“...Hence why you asked if I was alright,” said Leo.

“Yeah.”

“Well...” Leo bit the inside of his bottom lip for a second. “You weren’t wrong, I s’pose. I have been feeling kinda... lost.”

Chalk another one up for Rasalased, Hector thought.

“More than kinda, actually,” Leo continued. “I’m pretty much at the end of my rope, if I’m bein’ totally honest.” He looked up at Hector again. “Did the big cat’s reaper tell you that about me, too?”

“...Big cat?”

“Roman,” said Leo.

Oh, so he did know Roman’s name. “Ah...” Hector couldn’t actually remember if Voreese had mentioned anything about Leo’s state of mind. He didn’t think so, though. He only recalled Rasalased’s words about it. “No, but... his reaper did mention that he was worried about you.”

“...Really?”

No. It was an easy way to score some brownie points for Roman, though. “Really.”

Leo eyed Roman’s encased head.

Hector saw the opening and took it. “...Now, why don’t you give him back to me?”

Leo was quiet again, and Hector could practically see the gears turning in his head. At length, Leo finally said, “What’ll ya give me in return?”

Agh, of course. “What do you want?” said Hector.

“...I’d like your protection as well,” said Leo.

“My...?” The word was left stranded.

“Your protection,” reiterated Leo. “From Sai-hee, specifically. Y’know. The same protection you’re giving to your Rainlords.”

Was this fucking guy serious? Was he being sarcastic? What the fuck was happening, right now?

Silence was all Hector could conjure as a response.

“...Is that a no?” said Leo.

Okay, seriously, what the fuck? It didn’t sound like sarcasm.

Did this guy actually believe everything that Hector had just said? He’d expected considerably more skepticism. Had Roman and Voreese just been that good at talking him up?

“Why so quiet all of a sudden, bro?” said Leo. “You just said you could protect all the Rainlords from her, so why not me, too?”

Ah, wait a minute... This was a test.

Okay.

That made more sense.

Kind of.