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Hector found himself wondering something else--something he'd wondered on several previous occasions but never felt capable of asking about, for whatever reason. '...You had a servant, right?'

'Yeah.'

'Who were they? And what happened to them?'

Garovel took a moment to answer as he hovered back to the other side of the room. 'His name was Simon Karsh. He was another reason why I wanted to quit the Covert Intelligence Division.'

'What do you mean?'

'It's a long story.'

Hector crossed his legs and folded his arms, wanting to be at full attention now. 'Well, I'm interested.'

Garovel stared at him, then nodded. 'Alright, but you need to sleep soon. Tomorrow is a big day.'

'I haven't forgotten.'

The reaper took a second before continuing, perhaps considering where to begin. 'I met Simon through the Vanguard. I had been thinking about joining their ranks for many years, and I was already very well-acquainted with several reapers who were long-time members. I hadn't taken on a servant for over a century at that point, and it didn't really matter to me who they paired me with, so long as the person wasn't obviously a psychotic asshole. I wanted to keep an open mind. Foster a strong friendship. Build up to things slowly.

'Simon was about twenty-five when I revived him. He was the victim of a firebombing in Vantalay. And he was highly motivated to get revenge on those who were responsible for the attack that killed him. He was quite the soldier, you see. Very dutiful. Very serious. But it wasn't just that.

'In many ways, I feel as if he was what most reapers would consider to be an ideal servant. Already trained in combat. Well-educated. Quite knowledgeable of servants and reapers from the beginning. And incredibly charismatic--at least, when he wanted to be.'