Page 2001

~~The New Year's Days Special + Mon/Wen/Fri Double (page 6 of 6)~~
That particular development had overshadowed almost all others, it seemed. The Lord Saqqaf's fame had skyrocketed, along with that of the Sandlords as a whole.

With the Rainlords "missing," the Sandlords had been forced to intervene in western Sair to prevent anarchy from taking over.

At least, that was what the Sandlords had been telling themselves. And while it was hard to argue with that justification, Asad couldn't help being quite uncomfortable about it.

He did not think it would go as smoothly as many of his brethren seemed to.

The Rainlords' subjects were not your average civilians. They were a hard, resilient people, as proud of their heritage and their history as perhaps the Rainlords themselves. And the loyalty that those subjects had for the Rainlords--Asad did not think that would be forgotten any time soon.

Not to mention that, from a historical standpoint, this event was not exactly unprecedented. The Rainlords had been driven from their land once before by the Mohssian Empire. They had been brought to the brink of extinction.

Yet it was the Rainlords who had persisted into the modern day, not the Empire. And of course, having just spent considerable time among them, Asad knew perfectly well how much the Rainlords wished to return to Sair and reclaim their territory.

There was no telling when they might be able to accomplish that, however. Having raised an organized resistance against the Vanguard was no minor issue. According to the Sandlords' intel, the Rainlord Rebellion--as it was now being called--had sent shock waves through the Vanguardian ranks.

Which was no surprise. The Rainlords were renowned for their honor and virtuous ideals. It would be difficult for even the Vanguardian propaganda officers to paint them as wholly in the wrong.

Perhaps that was why the Vanguard, in spite of all the inquiries being conducted, still seemed quite eager to work even more closely with the Sandlords than ever before. While their reputation was faltering, the Sandlords' was swelling.

Page 2000 -- CCII.

~~The New Year's Days Special + Mon/Wen/Fri Double (page 5 of 6)~~
'So he showed up again in order to close down operations here?' guessed Hector.

'It's possible. I'm not sure why he would need to show up in person for that, though. And again, it doesn't explain why they would leave all these documents behind.'

It was then that Hector noticed another name near the very end of the logbook. It was a name he'd only heard a few times before, but seeing it now in writing, he knew at once that this was no coincidence.

"Garovel," he whispered as he pointed at it.

'Hmm?'

The name read: Pauline Gaolanet.

On the night of the Atreyan Gala of Royal Associates, Hector had received an invitation to meet with virtually every lord in the country. He had not had time to do so in a single evening and had been forced to reschedule the vast majority of them for later dates.

However, there had been one house of Atreyan nobility that had been noticeably absent from that list of invitations.

House Gaolanet, the Lords of Gray Rock.


Chapter Two Hundred Two: 'The Lion's insight...'
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Asad Najir was tired. His return to Sair had been rather turbulent, to say the least. At times, it felt like he was constantly being interrogated. The other Sandlords were constantly questioning him, wanting to know his intentions.

They had not been pleased to learn of what had transpired in the Undercrust and now seemed to think that he would soon bring more trouble down upon their heads.

He supposed he could understand their concerns. He was responsible almost entirely for the current predicament that the Sandlords found themselves in with the Vanguard.

Having met with Iceheart personally now, it seemed clear to Asad that the Vanguard was suspicious of him but lacked the justification to take any kind of action. The other Sandlords had covered for him during his absence, thankfully. An impromptu family retreat. Much needed after the harrowing attack on his childhood home of Dunehall.

Not to mention, Abbas Saqqaf had delivered Ivan's head to them on a silver platter. The Vanguard could hardly complain about that.

Page 1999

~~The New Year's Days Special + Mon/Wen/Fri Double (page 4 of 6)~~
'Maybe they had to leave in a hurry,' said Hector.

'Maybe. But none of those notes mentioned direct attacks on the agents themselves. It sounded more like someone was sabotaging their attempts to cultivate a network of informants. And if these agents decided to leave because that task became impossible, then they should've either destroyed all this stuff or taken it with them.'

At length, Hector found what appeared to be some sort of logbook. It was filled with nothing but names and timestamps, to the point that only the last few pages were blank. He showed it to Garovel.

'These appear to be the comings and goings of various personnel over the course of... several months? Maybe years, even. This thing is quite thick, isn't it?'

'If they were undercover, why would they document all this?' said Hector.

'Only one reason, really. Security concerns.'

'The notes did mention a leak. And being compromised. Do you recognize any of these names from your time with the Vanguard?'

'Mmmm. Keep flipping pages.'

Hector did so.

'Stop.'

Hector did that, too.

'Yep. That one's pretty distinct.' The reaper pointed to the middle of the page at a hastily scrawled name. 'Eckard. It doesn't seem to appear much in this book, which suggests that the guy didn't visit this place very often.'

'So... he was a high-ranking officer checking on his subordinates?'

'That's what I'm thinking. And as I recall, Eckard was also the name of a Captain General of the Vanguard.'

'So this really WAS their hideout, then.'

'Looks like it. Keep flipping.'

Hector did as the reaper asked. He tried to keep an eye out for the name Eckard now, but he didn't see it all--until the last few pages, that was, where it appeared several times.

'Well, now,' said Garovel.