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((Triple Saturday -- Page 1 of 3))
“That’s...” Hector didn’t even know what to say.

Roman was just looking at him, waiting for him to finish.

‘Say thank you,’ said Garovel privately.

“Ah--er--thank you. That’s amazing. That’s more than I possibly could have hoped for.”

“Funny,” said Roman with a smile. “Wasn’t more than you asked for.”

“Y-yeah...”

“And what did you say this money was going to be used for, again?” said Roman.

Hector’s mouth flattened, mostly from disbelief. “Uh... are you seriously asking me that?”

“Yeah, why? Is it that much trouble to repeat yourself or elaborate?”

“No, it’s just... I mean, did you really just decide to give me ten million troa without understanding what it was for?”

“Well, like I said, you have my trust.”

Hector didn’t know whether to smile or frown at that.

“That’s a bit reckless, Master Roman.”

“Yeah, well, that’s why I’m asking for clarification.”

“You should’ve done that before saying you would give him the money,” said Gina.

“Why? It’s not too late to change my mind. I’m not above going back on my word. Even when it’s in writing. Remember that contract with Genuto Motors a few years ago? Never paid those fuckers a thing.”

“I remember them suing you,” said Gina.

“And I remember them dropping it after one of their server rooms mysteriously caught fire,” said Roman.

“Narrowly avoiding bankruptcy is not something you should brag about, Master Roman.”

“Whatever. That’s all water under the bridge now. C’mon, Hector. Tell me what this money is for again. Some kind of bank, right?”

“Oh, ah, yeah.”

“See? I listen.”

“It’s, ah... basically, it’s to prevent foreign banks from taking over the country,” said Hector, “and, er, challenging the Queen’s power.”

Roman folded his arms, nodding. “So you’re gonna use this money to challenge the Queen’s power?”

Hector reared back in his chair. “Wait, what? No! It’s to stop foreign banks from doing that, not me!”

‘Foreign interests,’ clarified Garovel. ‘Not necessarily banks. We’re hoping to help preserve Atreya’s financial independence through this economic crisis.’

“Oh, okay,” said Roman. “I thought that was a little weird.”

“You didn’t actually think that, did you?!” said Hector.

“Well, I dunno,” said Roman. “I mean, you’ve got all these Rainlords here... and all this land... and I haven’t seen you in a while...”

Hector just lowered his brow at him.

“Heh. You might want to be careful when you tell the Queen about this plan of yours.” Roman allowed a beat to pass. “Or, have you told her about it, already?”

“Not yet,” said Hector. He rubbed his neck, figuring that he should probably go see her soon. How was he even supposed to do that? Or would just a phone call be enough? He’d have to ask Garovel about that later, he supposed.

“Have fun with that, then,” said Roman. “Tell her I said hi.”

“Ah, heh, okay...”