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Damn. Hector had been hoping for more than that. But then again, perhaps this was informative in itself. If Ravi really was a decent guy, then his deeds probably wouldn't be recorded, would they? Especially by the Vanguard, who weren't looking to write down praise for good behavior on Abolish's side.

'Ah, here's something,' said Xander. 'It would appear that Zaman has a history of collecting ransoms.'

Or maybe not. "Say what?"

'After a battle at Demarkis, he ransomed five Vanguardian reapers that had been captured. After another at Ninoway, he ransomed three. At Carmino, he ransomed six. At Larudo, he ransomed ten. And a few more, elsewhere.'

Huh. Ransoms, eh? Of enemy reapers? Hector couldn't really see that as such a terrible thing to do when it came to war, especially when the alternative was to just kill them. Obviously, it would be different if he'd been kidnapping and ransoming random civilians.

It did make him curious, though. He needed to be careful how he phrased his next question, lest it come across as something that only someone very young and inexperienced would ask. "How often has Abolish been ransoming your reapers in recent years?"

'Not often at all, as it so happens.'

"The practice goes through periods of flux, doesn't it?" That was more of an educated guess than a knowledgeable comment, but Hector tried to sound like he knew what he was talking about.

'Indeed. It is generally a good metric by which to measure the overall ruthlessness of the current regime.'

Which was to say that Morgunov and Dozer--or at least their subordinates--were currently quite ruthless, by historical standards. Not that Hector was terribly surprised by that, but it did put things into a slightly different perspective.

"I suppose that speaks well of Ravi's character, then. If only a little."

'Yes. Only a little, as you say. Because perhaps his greed simply outweighs his bloodlust.'

"In the old days, that wouldn't be considered greedy at all," said Hector. "That was just how warriors made their wealth." Where had that come from?

'Hmph. I'm not sure if that change in sentiment has been for the better or worse. On the one hand, it can prolong conflicts by letting the enemy rebuild their strength, but on the other, a good ransom will help you rebuild your own depleted forces more quickly. And despite how rare the practice has become, the conflict between the Vanguard and Abolish doesn't seem to be having any trouble prolonging itself.'