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((The Mon/Wen/Fri Double -- page 2 of 2))
As they proceeded on, it soon became clear that this place was even bigger than Hector expected. It couldn't rival Warrenhold or Bosliat Palace, certainly, but there could easily be hundreds of people living here comfortably. Maybe not in just this one building, but across the entire estate? Definitely.

Hector decided to consult Garovel. 'How many souls can you sense around here?'

'Quite a lot,' the reaper said privately.

Another question occurred to Hector, and he realized that it was something he'd been wondering about for a while. 'Can you pick out reapers in a crowd? Like, do their souls have a different aura to them or whatever?'

'Not exactly,' said Garovel. 'As far as my senses go, reaper souls and normal are identical. However, it is sometimes possible to tell when one is nearby based on context clues. Usually regarding movement. If the soul is flying, for instance. That's usually a good indicator--though not always, of course.'

'Hmm.'

'Another indicator is when I sense a soul that's very "floaty." That one's less conclusive and requires me to really concentrate, but it can work. When normal humans walk, they bob up and down a little--or side to side, sometimes. But reapers just float.'

Hector found that odd. 'You can't sense a person's legs moving? I remember you saying before the body is like a vessel that the soul conforms to the shape of. Or something like that.'

'Yes, but movement is a bit... blurrier, I guess. And my ability to sense souls is not exactly like sight. It's not a perfect analogy.'

The party arrived in a spacious chamber with a gigantic rug that filled it almost entirely. There were several sofas and chairs along the walls, though the largest grouping of them sat in front of an enormous fireplace at the far end of the room.

"Please, sit and make yourselves comfortable," said the head butler. "My lord shall be with you shortly."

They congregated near the fireplace, which was only meagerly alight at the moment. No doubt, it could've held a roaring bonfire, if necessary.