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((The Mon/Wen/Fri Double -- page 1 of 2))
'Indeed,' said Hanton. 'If left unchecked, they would have sunken their claws into Atreya as they have done countless times before in other nations.'

With the evidence of what happened in Sair still quite fresh in his mind, Hector found it hard to argue with what Hanton was saying here. But he mistrusted the Sparrow's words, nonetheless. He decided to play devil's advocate a little. "If the Vanguard had been here, then I doubt Abolish would've been able to take over the country the way it did."

'Ah, yes, Abolish. The catch-all excuse that the Vanguard likes to bandy about at every conceivable opportunity. Perhaps what you say is true, but first and foremost, we should consider what actually happened, no? Abolish was driven out of Atreya, and peace was restored.'

Hector kept his expression still, but he didn't much care for how Hanton was portraying those past events. "Are you aware of the contributions made by a man named Harper Norez?"

'I am, of course. I understand that his role was pivotal, but let us not fool ourselves. That man is an outlier. He is hardly even a member of the Vanguard at all. As I have heard it, he aided us in spite of the Vanguard, not because of it.'

"...What were you doing during the Abolish occupation, by the way?"

Hanton fell quiet again.

"Abilities like yours would have been a big help," said Hector.

'I am no warrior,' said Hanton. 'I was working to drive Abolish out of Atreya in less direct ways. Ultimately, however, my efforts proved fruitless when you accomplished the task long before I could.'

"What 'less direct ways' are you referring to?" said Hector.

'Gathering intelligence,' said Hanton. 'Especially with regard to their funding and planning.'

"And once you had finished gathering all of this intelligence, what would you have done with it?"

'Sabotage their operational support behind the scene. A direct confrontation was impossible, but weakening them until they had no choice but to leave was still a viable pursuit. Until you came along and crushed them all, of course.'