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~~((The 7th Anniversary Special -- page 9 of 24?!))~~
"Is that bitterness I hear?" said the Queen.

'Perhaps a bit. More and more, I've begun to feel that Intar is exploiting the Vanguard's goodwill so that they don't have to bother protecting their own borders and allies.'

"How can that be? I was under the impression that the Vanguard does not participate in conflicts in which Abolish is not involved."

'Mm, yeah, that's the intention. On paper. But in practice, how do you know Abolish isn't manipulating a conflict from behind the scenes? Not all Abolish sects are as overt in their actions as the one that came here. It's foggy, at best. And a sufficiently motivated Vanguardian officer might very well use that as justification for sending troops to "investigate" a conflict which is exhibiting no obvious signs of Abolish involvement.'

"How worrisome..."

'Yeah.' A beat passed. 'But in fairness, I should also mention: it's not like such suspicions are completely unfounded or otherwise indicative of corruption on the Vanguard's part. Over the last few decades, there have been plenty of instances where Abolish has been caught trying to stealthily stoke civil unrest and incite violence.'

"That is not more comforting," said the Queen. "In fact, dwelling on that possibility sounds like a recipe for paranoia."

'Oh, absolutely. I don't envy my superiors' positions at all.'

Pauline could sense her father's presence quite strongly now from the east. She exhaled through her nares and prepared herself for the inevitable argument.

The Queen and the reaper were not done talking, however. Pauline must've missed something while she was distracted, because their conversation seemed to have shifted topics slightly.

'It is particularly frustrating, considering how wealthy Intar is. It shouldn't be relying on a force of only a few thousand servants for all the heavy lifting.'

"Does Intar not commission its own servants?" the Queen asked. "Those without ties to the Vanguard?"