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Parson had argued with her. The idea that he could be the one to replace Sermung...

Well, it was absurd, quite frankly. He was far too young, and there were obviously many more people who were better suited to the task.

‘No, there really are not,’ she’d told him. ‘There aren’t many Vanguardians with useful ties to anyone in Abolish. When the time comes, you will see. It will be just like I said. You three boys will help us change the world.’

And she rebuffed any attempt Parson made to reason with her. She had a counterargument for everything, praise for every expression of insecurity, and confidence in her plan.

Her goal was set. And it had been so for many long years, it seemed--since before she had even met him.

Even now, sitting next to Erisa like this while trying to focus on his work, he couldn’t fully extricate those thoughts from his mind. They were almost always there, in the back, lingering, looming.

A great and terrible shadow of the future.

He didn’t know if he would be able to handle it. He didn’t know if he would be able to live up to Overra’s expectations or be the kind of man that she apparently thought he was.

He wondered how the others were holding up. Parson felt at times as though, of the three of them, he was the one having the easiest time. Germal had undergone such a radical personality transformation over the years that Parson hardly even recognized him. It was almost impossible to believe that he was the same bratty kid who used to follow him around all the time.

And Damian?

Damian had to deal with the Mad Demon. If what he’d told Parson was true, then he was living in a state of almost perpetual fear, never quite knowing if Morgunov would simply snap and decide to torture or kill him.

Everyone had advised Damian and Feromas to give up on their strategy, to come up with some alternate means of infiltrating Abolish, perhaps alongside Germal, but the pair refused every time. Hellish though it was, they said, they were learning a lot from the madman, and they were convinced that they were genuinely earning his trust, as well.

Parson didn’t see how any of that knowledge would be useful if they ended up dead.

It had to be said, however, that the greater plan was finally beginning to bear fruit. Only slightly, perhaps, but fruit nonetheless.

Only six years ago, while he was working in Kavia, Parson had managed to successfully evacuate an entire town after receiving word from Damian that the Devil’s Knife was on his way to seize it.

And two years ago, Parson had managed to avert disaster here in Montero when Germal sent him word that a platoon of Abolish soldiers planned to enter the country by haphazardly digging an underground network.

Parson had informed Air Marshal Artemis of this “discovery,” and together, they had crushed the assault before it even had a chance to attack anyone.