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There was no point in speaking her mind about that, however. They’d had such conversations countless times before, and this man’s mind was virtually impossible to change.

Plus, there was utility in keeping up an appearance of amicability. Rebuking these two, no matter how much they deserved it, was not the road to resolving conflicts such as this one.

The centuries-long stalemate between them all was proof enough of that, even if Sermung and his high-minded followers refused to acknowledge it.

‘It has been some time, Saya,’ said Dozer. ‘How have you been?’

Cordial as ever. ‘Very well, Medan. And you?’

‘Perturbed, to be quite honest. This fool has been even more of a nuisance than usual.’

‘Eheh, he says that, but without me, he probably would’ve died of boredom eons ago!’

Sai-hee allowed herself a titter. ‘Oil and water.’

‘Why have you chosen to intervene here?’ said Dozer.

‘Can you not guess?’ said Sai-hee. ‘You have been making quite the mess, you know.’

‘Yeah, but we do that all the time,’ said Morgunov. ‘Doesn’t usually provoke a direct response out of you.’

‘Indeed,’ said Dozer. ‘What makes this time different?’

An astute point. One that she needed to counter, so as not to draw needless suspicion. ‘Usually, I am too busy with my own business,’ said Sai-hee. ‘But I happened to have some free time on my hands now, so I thought I would step in. After all, it HAS been a while, as you said. I would say this is as good of an excuse for us to catch up as any, wouldn’t you?’

A brief silence arrived. Were they buying it? Probably not. They were both too paranoid by a half. But that was alright. She really just needed the plausible deniability. If they knew for certain that she’d come here at the behest of the Vanguard, then it would complicate negotiations.

Which wouldn’t be the end of the world, of course. Just a nuisance that she’d prefer to avoid.

She used the short lull in the conversation to continue assessing the battlefield. The temporal dilation of this “Void State” as these two liked to call it certainly had its benefits. The three of them could hold long, exhaustive discussions within a matter of real-time seconds.

In fact, this entire battle could be concluded by the time most of these hapless Vanguardians even had a chance to say one word to her.