Page 2132

((The Mon/Wen/Fri Double -- page 1 of 2))
'Think about it carefully,' said Garovel. 'I bet you can get it right.'

Hector's eyes drifted over the room another time, looking for an excuse to leave this conversation, but everyone was still just waiting for Hanton to arrive. 'I really don't know, Garovel. Could you give me a clue or something?'

'Hmm, alright. What do I like to do best?'

'Uh...' As Hector thought about that, only one answer came to mind. 'Fuck with me?'

'Yes, exactly!'

He was still confused, though. 'How is that a clue?'

'If I told you that, I'd be giving it away.'

Hector shook his head. 'I don't understand. Do you see reapers as, like, visible manifestations of sarcasm or something?'

'That's an interesting thought. What would sarcasm look like, exactly?'

'Hell if I know. I give up. Just tell me already, please.'

'Okay. Well. Don't be mad.'

'When you say that, it makes me want to get mad.'

'The truth is, it was a trick question.'

'Are you fucking kidding me?'

'Nope. Heh heh.'

Hector didn't even know what to say and stared blankly at the crackling fireplace.

'Reapers all see each other the same way. We don't see a bunch of weird personalized shit like you dirty corporeals do. We just see normal human beings, albeit with a slightly ethereal tinge to them.'

'...That's it?'

'Mmhmm.'

'...You're an ass.'

'I know. But I had to spice it up, right? It's kind of a boring reveal, y'know?'

'Whatever.'

'Though, I suppose there IS one aspect to it that's slightly less boring, if you're interested.'

'I'm not.'

The reaper laughed. 'C'mon, don't be like that. It's kinda neat. I promise.'

'Right, because you're so trustworthy.'

'No need to be hurtful. Here, I'll just tell you. No games, this time.'

'Oh, boy, lucky me.'

Page 2131

As they waited, the King and Diego struck up a conversation, but they spoke softly enough that Hector couldn't really make out what they were saying.

While the relative silence drew out, Hector's mind returned to Garovel. 'So, uh... you really can't tell if the Goalanets have any of their own reapers around?'

'That, I cannot,' said Garovel, again with the echo of privacy. 'The souls all seem pretty normal to me.'

'And no aberrations, right?'

'Not that I can tell,' said Garovel, 'but those are difficult to sense at all until they're right in front of me. Then they're obvious as shit.'

'Oh yeah. Hmm.' Then a thought struck him, and he knew at once that he had to ask one more question. 'Hey, what do reapers look like to you?'

Garovel regarded him for a moment with that hollow gaze of his. 'Care to guess?'

Hector's mouth flattened. 'Not really.'

'You sure? Honestly, I've been wondering when you would ask me that for the longest time. Seems a shame to just come right out and tell you.'

'Garovel...'

'C'mon, just take one guess. It'll be fun.'

Hector mulled it over for a second. '...Giant pandas,' he said for no particular reason.

'What? No. Why would you guess pandas, of all things?'

'I dunno. It was just the first thing that popped into my head.'

And somehow, the reaper looked positively disgusted with him. 'What about my personality or my history made you think that I would see my fellow reapers as giant pandas?'

'Garovel, I really didn't think about it that much.'

'I can tell.'

'Hey, you never said my guess had to make sense.'

'Doesn't matter. Your guess sucked so hard that I want a do over. Take another crack at it.'

Hector had to hold back a sigh. 'This is getting annoying...'

'Guess one more time. And think about it a little harder.'

'I don't want to know that badly, Garovel.'

'Guess. Again. As my servant, I order you.'

'Wow.'

Page 2130

((The Mon/Wen/Fri Double -- page 2 of 2))
As they proceeded on, it soon became clear that this place was even bigger than Hector expected. It couldn't rival Warrenhold or Bosliat Palace, certainly, but there could easily be hundreds of people living here comfortably. Maybe not in just this one building, but across the entire estate? Definitely.

Hector decided to consult Garovel. 'How many souls can you sense around here?'

'Quite a lot,' the reaper said privately.

Another question occurred to Hector, and he realized that it was something he'd been wondering about for a while. 'Can you pick out reapers in a crowd? Like, do their souls have a different aura to them or whatever?'

'Not exactly,' said Garovel. 'As far as my senses go, reaper souls and normal are identical. However, it is sometimes possible to tell when one is nearby based on context clues. Usually regarding movement. If the soul is flying, for instance. That's usually a good indicator--though not always, of course.'

'Hmm.'

'Another indicator is when I sense a soul that's very "floaty." That one's less conclusive and requires me to really concentrate, but it can work. When normal humans walk, they bob up and down a little--or side to side, sometimes. But reapers just float.'

Hector found that odd. 'You can't sense a person's legs moving? I remember you saying before the body is like a vessel that the soul conforms to the shape of. Or something like that.'

'Yes, but movement is a bit... blurrier, I guess. And my ability to sense souls is not exactly like sight. It's not a perfect analogy.'

The party arrived in a spacious chamber with a gigantic rug that filled it almost entirely. There were several sofas and chairs along the walls, though the largest grouping of them sat in front of an enormous fireplace at the far end of the room.

"Please, sit and make yourselves comfortable," said the head butler. "My lord shall be with you shortly."

They congregated near the fireplace, which was only meagerly alight at the moment. No doubt, it could've held a roaring bonfire, if necessary.