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‘You did, huh?’ said Garovel. ‘Well, uh, that’s neat ‘n all, but still not technically anything new. I’ve already seen Rathmore.’

Hector cocked an eyebrow. “I mean, yeah, but that wasn’t really what I was--”

‘I’m just sayin’. I asked for a new thing, and you gave me an old thing. A been-there-done-that thing. Kinda disappointed in your weird new memory powers, honestly.’

“Garovel, there was more to it than just that.”

‘That’s good. Because I don’t see how just seeing Rathmore’s face would prove helpful at all.’

“...I actually didn’t see his face.”

‘Say what?’

“The memory was, er... I mean, for some reason, people in the memories were all blurry. Faces included.”

‘Wow, so after all that, you still don’t even know what he looks like?’

“Ah--yeah...”

‘Hah! Your new memory power sucks!’

“What the--?”

‘Garovel’s still on top, baby!’

Hector’s face went flat.

‘Go on, ask me something! See how well I can remember stuff!’

In spite of himself, Hector couldn’t help snickering. “You done?”

‘Not really. Feel like I could gloat for another ten minutes, if I needed to.’

“Can we skip that part? I did actually learn some useful things, I think.”

‘Oh, alright. Out with it, then. Astonish me.’

“Agh--don’t build it up like that. I don’t know if it’s that good!”

‘Okay, okay. My expectations are lowering with each passing second. As usual.’

“As usu--?! Fuck is that supposed to mean?!”

Eventually, they managed to actually discuss the subject in question.

‘Hmm,’ mused Garovel for a long moment. ‘So you saw Anicca and even Nykeir here, too. Interesting.’

“And the giant tentacle monster. Don’t forget that. Turns out that thing really existed, after all.”

‘Yeah, I know. I told you that when I first brought it up. What, you didn’t believe me?’

“I mean... not really, no.”

‘Wow. I’m hurt, Hector. Blindly believing everything I say is part of your sacred duty as a servant, you know.’

“Uh-huh...”

‘Gotta say, though. I wasn’t expecting to learn the truth about Nykeir’s sudden disappearance this way. So in the end, he got devoured by a Yigorosk... And a pretty gnarly one, from the sound of it.’

“Gnarly? Were they not all that powerful?”

‘Of course not. Nykeir was probably the strongest servant alive at that time. A normal Yigorosk shouldn’t have been able to touch him. Frankly, while I do find that son of bitch’s death hilarious and well-deserved, I also find this information rather terrifying. A Yigorosk that strong is, uh... not a pleasant thought, given everything else I know about them.’