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'I was hoping you'd have some useful explanations for me here,' said Hector. The stone path along the eastern edge of Riverton Hall was illuminated with scores of amber lanterns hanging from trees instead of lamp posts. They made for a beautiful view, but seeing as they weren't visibly connected to anything other than the trees, Hector wondered if someone had to light and douse each one individually every single day and night. Surely not, right? Maybe there was some sort of hidden electrical line in the trees or something.

'Well, I suppose there might be a couple things I could talk about,' said Garovel. 'You mentioned the name Lozaro, didn't you?'

'Yeah. You know it?'

'I've only heard it in passing a few times,' the reaper said. 'The first time, though, was over two hundred years ago.'

'Hmm. Don't like the sound of that.'

'Understandable. If this dude was responsible for bringing Chort into the world, then he's probably not one of the most respectable scientists out there.'

'Morgunov is a mad scientist, too, isn't he?'

'The most infamous one, yeah.'

'These two aren't, like, related at all, are they?'

'No idea. It wouldn't surprise me if they knew each other, though. The community of international madmen who are famous for conducting horrible experiments is not that big. Thankfully.'

'Are there any mad scientists that are... y'know, good?'

'Uh. Does Haqq Najir count?'

Hector bobbed his head. 'I dunno, does he?'

'Well, what distinguishes good and evil, really?'

'A question for the ages,' said Hector dryly, not wanting to go down that rabbit hole right now.

And his head turned. He'd had a thought process constantly monitoring the Scarf's input, looking for any sign of a Sparrow among the gently waving trees, and it finally found one nearby. He stopped walking, which made Garovel and the other stop, too.

"There you are, Pauline," he said aloud. "I was starting to get worried."

A rather long period of silence arrived, however, until a different voice arrived.

'Hello, Lord Goffe,' said Hanton Gaolanet.