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Zeff took his time processing that information. ‘Real, lasting damage,’ was it? The kind of damage that Zeff had already been fearful was being done to his kin?

Hmm.

Madly, a part of him wanted to put that to the test. To see if the man was bluffing, perhaps.

But no. He was not getting the impression that Graves had told him that as a form of threat--or at least, not just that. It truly may have been wiser to keep that information to himself rather than share it, even as a threat, so Zeff was actually tempted to believe him when he said that he did not have malicious intentions for them.

At Zeff’s silence, Graves continued on. “I do not say that as a threat, by the way. Merely a warning for your future encounters. Overconfidence has laid low many who might’ve otherwise achieved greatness. Please do be careful, my friend.”

Hmph. Had he read Zeff’s mind? No telling, unfortunately. Zeff decided to pose another question that would probably prove useless. “Might you have any advice on how to defend against such enemies?”

Another smile flashed across the man’s face. “Advice, eh? Indeed. How would I go about making my own life more difficult? An interesting question.”

Zeff remained expressionless. From that response, it at least sounded like there were things that could be done--that defense against psychic threats was not impossible.

The field marshal regarded him for a long moment, and after a time, Zeff grew uncertain as to whether or not the man was even going to say anything. It did seem to be asking a lot.

“...Perhaps I can do better than mere advice,” said Graves. And he stood up from his desk. “I have a couple of units that specialize in this sort of thing. And I do believe I promised you a meeting with your daughter, Gema, did I not?”

At that, Zeff’s eyes widened.

Graves paced to the right and scratched at his mustache a bit. “She has undergone anti-psychic training, though it may be a stretch to say that she is at the level of an instructor now. So how about this? Upon our return to Sair, I shall arrange for her unit to meet us there. And they will conduct a few training seminars for you all.”

Zeff was off-kilter. Again, the man had merely invoked Gema’s name, and now it felt like everything had shifted.

He had to remain steady. To not get distracted.