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Hector straightened. “Ah... Garovel wants to know about the Sandlords.”

<“What about them?”>

“What about them, Garovel?”

The reaper’s bony brow twisted. ‘Ask what they’re up to. We heard they were having trouble with Abolish before, so have there been any notable developments with that? Or any other problems, maybe?’

It took him a bit longer, but Hector relayed the reaper’s questions. More or less.

<“As far as I can tell, the Sandlords don’t like to discuss that type of thing openly,”> said Lynn. <“But the news has been a little odd.”>

“Odd, how?”

<“Ah---um, I should preface this by saying that I had to ask someone to translate for me. The news is in Valgan, you know, so... just, don’t get mad at me if I got something wrong here, alright?”>

Hector blinked as he listened, feeling a sudden worry that his own awful speech patterns might be having some kind of negative effect on her. And without even thinking, he said, “I doubt I could ever get mad at you.”

There came a very long pause.

His eyes widened as he realized what had just come out of his mouth. He wanted to take it back, but he was too afraid to say anything else. When he looked at Garovel, the reaper’s hollow eye sockets had grown larger as well.

<“...Well, uh.”> It was her turn to clear her throat. <“I just thought the news seemed odd because there are a lot of mysterious reports going around. Freak industrial accidents. Disappearing pets. Brushfires. Even a rise in burglaries and murders.”>

Hector’s brow lowered. “Where have these things been happening?”

<“Zebul, Guldamere, Shara, Egas--all over eastern Sair.”>

“Hmm... Do they think it’s Abolish?”

<“I assume so, but who knows? This place has been so busy. It seems like the Sandlords have had to dispatch people to investigate a new problem every few hours.”>

“Huh. That’s... unsettling.”

<“Yeah.”>

“Maybe you should head back to Atreya soon...”

<“Ha. That’s not up to me, Hector. Why? Are you worried about us?”>

“Uh... well, yeah. These Rainlords and Sandlords... they’re no joke, Lynn. I’ve seen them fight with my own eyes, and they scare the hell out of me--way more than anyone we fought back home. So... I mean, anyone who thinks they can go up against these guys is either really stupid or really dangerous.”

<“I see. Well, I’m sure Prince Meriwether knows that, too, but I’ll tell him what you said.”>

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Hector just froze up again. He heard Lynn sigh.

<“Alright, well... can you at least tell me if you will be returning to Kuros anytime soon?”>

“Oh. Um. Er... are you still in Kuros?”

<“Yeah. After you left, Prince Meriwether decided to stay a while longer and spend some extra time with his children. I think he was worried about leaving you without a ride back to Atreya.”>

“Ah... o-okay. But I don’t, uh... I don’t think I’ll be back in Kuros very soon. You probably shouldn’t wait for me. I’ll try to bum a ride off the Rainlords or something.”

<“Okay. How are things going with them, anyway? I’ve been following the news, but it hasn’t been able to tell me much, other than the fact there’ve been a lot of evacuations.”>

“Ah, things have...” He cleared his throat and lowered his voice. “Er, things’ve gone fairly well, actually. I was kinda surprised, uh. I thought there’d be a lot of casualties, but I haven’t seen any whatsoever.”

<“Really?”>

“Yeah. The Rainlords are really nice, too. Very, um--very careful and respectful.” He paused. “Well, most of them, anyway...”

<“Huh. That’s good to hear.”>

Hector felt an awkward silence creeping in and snapped to the realization that it was his turn to pose a question. “W-what, um, what about you? How did the, uh... the thing go?”

Lynn breathed half a laugh. <“The thing?”>

“The, ah... agh, the negotiation thing? Between the Prince and Lord Saqqaf?”

<“Oh, I’m not too sure. Lord Saqqaf agreed to provide us with some money, but I think Prince Meriwether had been hoping for a lot more.”>

Hector scratched his cheek with his free hand. He felt like there was a more important question he should ask, but all he could think of was, “What was Lord Saqqaf like? I mean--er, did you meet him?”

<“Yeah, I met him. He asked me where I got my gauntlet.”>

“Oh. What’d you tell him?”

<“That the Vanguard gave it to me.”>

“Eesh... you sure that was wise?”

<“Not really, no. What would you have said?”>

“Uh... hmm.”

<“Exactly.”>

“Maybe... an unnamed friend gave it to you.”

<“Then he might’ve asked who.”>

“Well, you could’ve said that you were protecting their identity or something.”

<“Oh yeah, because that doesn’t sound suspicious.”>

“Hmm...”

Garovel decided to intervene. ‘This is a lovely chat ‘n all, but you should ask about the Sandlords.’

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‘You should give Lynn a call,’ said Garovel, still privately.

Hector pressed his lips together flatly.

‘Don’t you want to know how things went in Kuros? And how she’s doing? And what she’s wearing?’

Hector just sighed and rubbed his brow with one hand.

‘Seriously, though, you should call her. She might be able to give us an idea of what’s going on with the Sandlords.’

‘She might’ve already returned to Atreya,’ said Hector.

‘Yup.’

Hector paused. ‘Uh... how are WE gonna get back to Atreya, by the way?’

Garovel shrugged. ‘Asad seems pretty rich. Maybe he has a jet we can borrow.’

‘Who the fuck would let anyone “borrow” a jet?’

‘Well, maybe a motorcycle, then.’

‘Agh...’

‘Come to think of it, you should probably call Amelia, too. Seems like we might not return to Warrenhold for a little while.’

That brought up a question that had been lingering in the back of Hector’s mind. ‘Ah... how long are we going to stay with these people, do you think?’

‘Not sure.’

‘It’s just... after we get to this Moaban place, uh--I mean, then what? We can’t just stay with the Rainlords indefinitely...’

Garovel made no response.

‘Er--I’m not saying I wanna abandon them or anything,’ Hector added. ‘It’s just, uh... ah--’

‘I know,’ said Garovel.

‘Do you have a plan?’ Hector asked, fishing into his pocket for his phone.

‘Well, I’d like Chergoa to return with us,’ the reaper said. He threw a look toward his sister, who was busy hovering around Emiliana. ‘But that seems unlikely, at the moment. I’m hoping I can find a way to convince her.’

‘...What if you can’t?’

Garovel gave an echoing sigh. ‘Then I guess we’ll just have to go our separate ways again. But at least she’ll know where to find me, if she needs to. I suppose that would be enough.’

Hector frowned. He hated feeling so helpless, but he didn’t see much point in pressing the issue. He found Lynn’s number and called her.

She answered after a few rings. <“Hector?”>

Predictably, he had trouble responding.

<“...Are you doing that thing you always do, or did the call actually drop?”>

“N-no, I’m here.”

<“Okay, good. What’s up?”>

Again, no words came out.

<“...Good goddess, Hector. Come on.”>

“Ah--sorry. I was just... uh, wondering, um... ah... I, er...”

<“...You were just wondering what?! Don’t say something like that and then leave out the important part!”>