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“You’re the worst friend I’ve ever had, y’know that?” said Jercash.

“I highly doubt that,” said Gohvis.

He was right again, of course, but Jercash wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of admitting it. He took a deep breath as he began to reassess their situation. “Alright, well, what are your plans moving forward? Do you intend to be more involved in this war now? Or is this it for you?”

“The tide has already shifted against us,” said Gohvis. “I don’t see much point in prolonging this conflict. We should pull all of our forces back and focus on recouping our losses.”

That didn’t exactly answer his questions, but Jercash was also not surprised by the Monster’s opinion here. “You were never in favor of this war in the first place.”

“Nor were you.”

“True. But I’m also a very sore loser.”

“You’ll be much worse than sore if you pursue this much further. Neither Morgunov nor Dozer will come to our aid.”

Jercash actually perked up at that. “Oh? ‘Our,’ you say? So you’ll actually be sticking with me, then?”

“That depends. Will my staying incentivize you to do something stupid?”

Jercash barked a sudden laugh. Gohvis may have been playing coy, but he could tell that the dragon man had no intention of abandoning him here.

Finally, some good news after so much bad.

Jercash took a moment to regain his composure. “Well,” he said, “what if I told you that I didn’t plan on winning, any longer.”

“Mm?”

“What if I just wanted to go and give the Vanguard one last kick in the testicles before calling it quits?”

Gohvis fell quiet for a time. “...Have you actually formulated a new plan of action, already? Or are you just saying that to amuse me?”

He laughed again, more faintly this time. “Oh, I’ve got something alright.” More than just one thing, in truth, though he wasn’t yet decided on which he wanted to go for.

“Elaborate.”

Ah. He’d have to choose right away, it seemed.

Hmm.

Well, which one would Gohvis appreciate the most?

Oho. When he thought of it like that, the answer was abruptly obvious.

“When was the last time you met Lozaro?”

The Monster paused for a rare look of genuine surprise. “You have Lozaro?”

“That’s right.”

“For how long?”

He snickered. “The whole time. He came to me for protection straight away.”