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“Atreya is quite some way from here, is it not?” said Nicholae. “I would have thought you would be too busy taking care of matters there in order to venture such a distance.”

“It’s not that far,” said Hector, thinking of the other day when he’d flown all the way down to Vaeland. “Just on the other side of the Gulf. And besides, Atreya has hardly been affected by the waves at all. We’ve been fortunate.”

“That so? Huh.” The man scratched his temple and smiled sheepishly. “I suppose my poor grasp of geography is showing. I should confess: I’m not actually sure which of those countries out east is Atreya. They all kind of blend together for me.”

“...It’s out west, actually,” said Hector.

A beat passed. “...Oh. I, um. I also get east and west confused, apparently.”

Hector returned a faint chuckle. “You’re not lost right now, are you?”

“Now that you mention it...” He shook his head and laughed, too. “I’m just kidding. But thank you for your concern.”

‘Ask about the situation in Azirat,’ said Garovel privately.

“How are things here in Azirat?” said Hector. It didn’t escape Hector’s notice that the reaper could’ve simply asked the man himself and yet chose not to.

“Regarding the aftermath? A bit chaotic but still smooth, I’d say. Hard to complain when we know how much worse off certain other places must have it. Even just here in the Gulf. I’m sure Vaeland has had a rough go of it.”

Hector bobbed his head to the side a little. “Actually, from what I’ve seen, Vaeland is doing alright.”

Nicholae blinked. “Really? Even with all those islands?”

“I was surprised, too,” said Hector. “But it seems like they’ve got some real strong servants over there to protect them. I saw walls that were literally like mountains.”

“Wow. If it was enough to impress you, then it must’ve really been something.”

Hector balked, unsure how to respond.

Nicholae looked abruptly confused. “...You do realize how amazing what you did here was, right? That floodwall you repaired four days ago ended up saving hundreds of lives.”

...Had it really been that many? Hector tried to think back, but the last few days were kind of a blur. And honestly, Azirat wasn’t that intense in his memory. It was Mara and Boland that had gotten truly crazy, he felt.

“I’d been patching holes in it for hours when you suddenly showed up and slammed down an entire new coating for it like it was nothing.”

...Huh.