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((The Mon/Wen/Fri Double -- page 2 of 2))
'Which means,' said Garovel, 'that the Killer of Krohin is at least sixty years old as a servant by now--probably more, if he was involved in such a deadly operation even back then. I think the Rainlords are right to believe that Melchor is the safest person to send against such a foe. And there's no telling who else might be in Vantalay, right now. It's a big country. I doubt Croll is the only major threat there. The Triplets have already reported seeing scores of reapers haunting Ridgemark.'

Hector rubbed his forehead. 'When you tell me all that, I feel like we shouldn't send Melchor alone.'

'Of course. The Blackburns intend to send a supporting team with him.'

Hector eyed the reaper. 'I know. That's not what I mean.'

Garovel paused. 'You think we should send another one of our best fighters with him?'

'Melchor is our best check against Leo,' said Hector. 'If Melchor leaves, then Leo becomes a much bigger threat to Atreya. Unless...'

'We send both of them?' said Garovel.

Hector gave a reluctant nod.

'Your reasoning makes sense, but... that also sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.'

'All of our options sounds that way, right now, Garovel. Hell, even if we pull the Triplets back and do nothing, that could piss off Ericoros and potentially Leo.'

'Hmm.'

'Maybe we should even send a third or fourth strong fighter, too,' said Hector. 'Someone powerful enough to directly assist Melchor in case Leo goes out of control again.'

'This is getting messy.'

Hector bobbed his head to side a little. 'Well... you're not wrong about that.'

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It seemed like things were going start moving very quickly very soon, but for the moment, the Triplets still had some downtime to work with.

And they were spending it in Ridgemark.

They didn't want to make a move on Miro by themselves, but they could still pursue the Sword of Unso in the meantime.