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But bringing all of that up right now seemed like it might be counterproductive.

Voreese didn’t seem to give a damn, though. ‘Sounds like you must’ve seen some pretty fucked up shit.’

Loren made no response.

‘Voreese,’ thought Roman.

‘Don’t be a coy little bitch,’ she said privately. ‘These two are Abolish, remember? No need for kiddie gloves. In fact, THEY should be the ones trying to ingratiate themselves with US.’

‘Just let me handle this, please.’

‘Hmph.’

She wasn’t entirely wrong, though, Roman knew. The objective here was not to buddy up to these guys. It was to gauge what kind of people they were.

How dangerous they were.

But as ever, Roman disliked the direct approach. “You ever been to Intar before?” he asked, knowing the answer was almost certainly no.

“No,” said Loren.

Roman left an opening for the man’s reaper to pitch in with a different, more elaborate answer, but when it didn’t arrive, he picked the conversation back up. “Well, it’s an interesting place. Tons of people--but tons more land. So only the major cities feel crowded. All the average towns are sprawling like you wouldn’t believe. Makes tourism a bit difficult. Unless, maybe, you enjoy basking in the vast bounties of nature. You the outdoorsy type?”

“...I’ve never thought about it like that, but yes, suppose I am.”

“Aha! That’s a very useful type to be, I’ve always found. Leans into a lot of other skill sets, y’know? Like resourcefulness, self-sufficiency, the ability to think on your feet.”

“If... you say so.”

“Well, I do!” Roman patted him on the metallic back. “But what does your reaper think? Rezolo, right? Was that an accurate prediction of your servant’s capabilities?”

‘He has his moments,’ said Rezolo from inside Loren’s suit.

“Ah. How expectedly vague. Classic reaper behavior, am I right?”

Loren gave an acknowledging huff but otherwise remained quiet.

Roman couldn’t help wondering what kind of relationship these two had. Abolish reapers weren’t exactly known for their benevolent treatment of their servants.

Before Roman had to put the conversation on his back again, however, Rezolo surprised him by speaking up. ‘It was not my intention to be evasive,’ he said. ‘I merely do not wish to overpromise anything. Lower expectations lead to better outcomes, I’ve always found.’

Voreese snickered. ‘In that case, let me tell you all about how incredibly stupid Roman is.’