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~~((The National Puppy Day Special -- page 10 of 14))~~
"...It sounds like you're harboring some resentment for the Belgrants," said Hector.

'Resentment, no. It is more akin to a general wariness.'

"And why is that?"

'It is a rather long and old story,' said Hanton.

"...It wouldn't have anything to do with a man named Charles, would it?"

The Sparrow shifted his body a little and bristled his feathers. 'How much do you know about Charles Belgrant?'

Hector didn't feel like answering that. "How much do you?"

'Hmph. He swindled my ancestors.'

Wait, seriously? Charles managed to trick a group of psychics? Or were they just telepaths? Or were those the same thing? Hector wasn't too sure.

"How did he pull that off?" Hector asked.

'First, he gained our trust. He aided us during a time when we were having difficulty maintaining our concealment.'

"Hmm." The conversation was getting off track again, but Hector also felt that if he didn't inquire further now, he might never get another chance. "What kind of aid did he provide?"

'He was in possession of an artifact that could, supposedly, predict the future.'

Hector blinked. "Are you serious?"

'That is how the tale goes. Do not ask me if it is true. I have no idea.'

Holy shit. Could there really be an artifact like that? Even Rasalased had only "kind of" been able to predict the future. But then again, perhaps that just meant that it was actually possible.

The more he learned about this Charles character, though, the more Hector felt like he shouldn't take the stories about him at face value. Charles could've had some other kind of ace up his sleeve and just been lying about the artifact to make himself seem more powerful than he really was.

Heh.

What kind of idiot would do a thing like that, though?

Oh, man...

"...If he really had something like that, then why didn't your ancestors just take it from him and wipe his memory?"

'My noble brethren would never resort to thievery,' said Hanton.

Mm, Hector wasn't so sure he believed that, especially if the Gaolanets were still bitter about it all these years later. Maybe they couldn't take it from him for some reason. Maybe Charles had been able to resist their weird mind powers, too.