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((The Mon/Wen/Fri Double -- page 1 of 2))
"But you don't believe it, I suppose," said Ibai.

'I don't know,' she said. 'It just seems a little counterproductive to obsess over it when there's no real proof to go on.'

"Hmm-hmm."

'What about those other two books you mentioned? What were those about?'

"One was about shared qualities of famous historical figures," said Ibai. "The Composure of Fate's Arbiters by Jara Hanseth. It has some pretty wild theories of its own, actually."

'Oh, goodie.'

"It puts forth the idea that there's this super-secret 'bloodline of kings' that has existed since ancient times!"

'Uh-huh...'

"The author points to a bunch of ancient people like Rizo the Great, Arnel the Terror, and Makio the Immense, saying that they all emerged from total obscurity to build vast empires."

'Okay, look, I hate to shit on reading, but this is why books are overrated. Comparing Rizo the Great to Arnel the Terror is the stupidest fucking thing I've ever heard in my life. Good god.'

At her reaction, Ibai's eyes widened a bit, and he smiled. He had seen her get like this a few times before when they were discussing reading material, and he couldn't wait to hear more of her opinion.

'I lived through both of those men's eras, and Arnel was such a colossal douche and overall hate-filled bastard that I don't even want to mention his name any more than that. Rizo, meanwhile, was a visionary who actually worked to improve the lives of his subjects. Sure, in some ways he failed at that, but in many others he succeeded. Suggesting that those two guys had anything more than the most superficial qualities in common is utter nonsense. They could not have been more different.'

"Heh heh. You're very passionate."

'Yeah, well. I know a lot of historians try their best, but I also know that a lot of others DON'T. And it pisses me off, because who's gonna correct them, huh?'

"Mm, reapers?"

'Theoretically, yeah. But what about when the reapers are the ones getting it wrong in the first place? We're certainly not perfect, either.'