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In fact, given the relatively close proximity to Warrenhold, Hector began to further wonder if his castle might have some tangential relation to these monuments. Voreese might know more, given that she was Stasya Orlov’s reaper, but from the way that Voreese had talked about her before, Hector had a feeling that the reaper wouldn’t be able to provide many new details. It seemed like, even now, Stasya was still something of a mystery to Voreese.

And as he recalled, Stasya was herself a descendant of the Nykeirian people.

Which was a crazy thing to think about. This fucking prick that had been making Rathmore’s life hell had been such an important historical figure? It felt hard to acknowledge that as even possible, let alone true.

According to Voreese, though, Stasya had not actually been born until after the collapse of the Nykeirian Empire. She’d been “a product of the Mohssian culture,” as the reaper had put it.

Whew. He was feeling a little woozy, all of a sudden. Perhaps he needed a break from this weird-ass memory-diving. And so much the better, since it seemed like he’d reached the end of this memory, anyway.

He opened his eyes again, felt breath in his lungs again, felt his whole body again.

And felt even more woozy, actually, enough to make him stumble backward and fall on his ass.

‘Hector!’ came Garovel’s voice.

Hector had to shake his head a few times before the ground beneath him finally stopped spinning. “Hey, Garovel...”

The reaper gave a silent sigh. ‘Geez. You were gone for quite a while there, buddy. Startin’ to make me worry you’d slipped into another soul coma. I was getting ready to just sit here like an asshole for two weeks, watching you.’

“Ah. Uh. Yeah, sorry about that...” He took his time climbing back to his feet, still feeling a bit drained, like he’d just gotten done with a full body workout. “How long was I out?”

‘A few hours, I think.’

He straightened. “Hours?!”

‘Yeah. Didn’t feel like that for you, I take it?’

“No!”

‘Hmm. Did it feel shorter or longer?’

“I mean, uh--” He had to think about that for a second. “Shit. I only looked at, like, two memories...”

‘So shorter, then.’

“Ugh. I guess I should be more careful about doing that again in the future. I didn’t intend to spend so much time on this.”

‘Well, did you at least learn something new?’

Hector looked at the reaper. “I saw Rathmore.”