Page 2603

Hector felt compelled to say something now. 'Garovel, I...' It was still difficult to find the words, though. 'I don't know what you want me to say. I mean... a lot's happened in this past year...'

'That, it has.'

'I don't... feel like I've changed that much, myself. Like, deep down, I mean. But... yeah, I do understand where you're coming from, I guess...'

'Really? You don't think you've changed deep down?'

'Uh... well, yeah. I feel like I've gotten better at hiding my, er, uncertainty, maybe... but that's about it.' He paused to think. 'Now that you're bringing all this up, though, maybe I'm just fooling myself...'

'What the hell?' The reaper paused for a silent laugh. 'I'm not telling you this in order to make you feel self-conscious. I just want to make sure you're aware of the changes you're going through.'

'Er, right...'

'Listen, Hector. I...' It was Garovel's turn to hesitate, which made Hector eye him curiously. 'I've grown very attached to you. Not just as my servant. But as my friend. And I've seen servants change dramatically in the past. Never quite this quickly or absurdly, but yes. So... I just...'

As the realization dawned on him, Hector took a long breath and nodded. 'You don't want me to snap and turn into some kind of gigantic asshole.'

The reaper chortled again. 'I wasn't going to phrase it quite like that, but yes, that is my concern in a nutshell, more or less.'

'That makes sense. I mean, I don't want to turn into a gigantic asshole, either.'

'Good. Glad to hear it.'

Hector returned to trying to gently pry the bark of the door in the tree. 'But Garovel, you don't need to "test" me. You can just tell me what you're worried about, and then we can discuss it.'