Chapter Two Hundred Twenty-Three: 'In the land of disorder...'

Evangelina Stroud would have much preferred to simply sneak into the country in the dead of night. If stealth was their goal here, then it was better to forego all of these pretenses with disguises and fake identities. To her mind, proper stealth didn't mean hiding in plain sight like this. It meant never being seen in the first place.

But sadly, that wasn't an option. The Vantalayan Border Guard was everywhere--and for good reason, of course. They were watching for enemy forces. And they appeared to be well-equipped as well. Fences, cameras, drones, dogs, watchtowers--and probably more. Vantalay had obviously been prepared for this war of theirs.

Much of that observational intel arrived via Raul Blackburn, who'd had a much easier time getting into the country since he'd arrived before the lockdown.

So they were blending in--or were trying to, at least.

Evangelina wondered how long this would last. Ridgemark was one of the only open ports in the country, and just like the Triplets had reported, it was absolutely inundated with reapers.

On the bright side, that made it a bit easier for their own reapers to blend in. Unfortunately, it also dramatically increased the likelihood of running into someone they recognized, and concealing themselves from a reaper who had memorized one or more of their souls would be quite the difficult feat indeed.

But not necessarily impossible.

Primarily, their team consisted of Evangelina Stroud, Diego Redwater, Melchor Blackburn, and Leo. However, they had also brought along two more members of House Blackburn: Dino and Rafael.

Those two were young enough that they would likely be of no help in an actual fight, but there was also zero chance of running into any reapers who had memorized their souls. So the plan was to have those use their soul power to infuse everyone else's clothing.

Which was why Evangelina was so heavily garbed, at the moment. Her modified cloak had a thick head that even extended halfway around her face, allowing only her eyes to be seen.

Could this even be considered a "cloak" anymore? She'd never worn anything so concealing. It was dark blue instead of black, but she still felt like one of those Sandlords who rarely ever saw the light of day.

Not exactly to her tastes.

Maybe that Atreyan guardian girl would've liked it, though. She seemed to have a thing for cloaks.

Diego, Melchor, and Leo were all similarly dressed, to the point where even she might've not been able to tell them apart if not for their slight variance in colors. Diego was in dark red, while Melchor was in black, and Leo was in dark gray--all appropriately chosen, she supposed.

Their heights were also somewhat telling, since Diego was taller than the other two, but Melchor and Leo were so similar that she still had a bit of trouble differentiating between them.

The two young ones were heavily clothed in black as well, but they were short enough that Evangelina could differentiate them easily enough. Plus, they always walked together in a little pair. Aside from hiding their souls, however, this rather heavy-handed precaution came with one other major advantage.

It allowed them to bring their reapers along by hiding them under their clothes.

Leo's reaper had remained at Warrenhold, but everyone else had brought theirs along. If they were to be confronting the Killer of Krohin, it was likely that they would have need of hyper-states.

Hopefully, that would be all they needed their hyper-states for.

Here in Ridgemark, the potential danger was obvious. Just walking the street, she could feel the presence of powerful people in this city. Precisely how powerful, she couldn't tell, but with all the unknown reapers she saw flying around, any obvious conflict that broke out would either be quickly put down or immediately escalate to city-destroying levels.

According to some last-minute intel that Lord Goffe had provided for this mission, the major players in Vantalay were not just the Vanguard and Abolish but also the local companies. Apparently, Ridgemark's "peace" was being maintained by powerful business owners, primarily the hotels and casinos.

Which was why Ridgemark was still allowing foreigners into port, much to the chagrin of the Vantalayan military.

It was honestly amazing how this city could still have so many tourists when it was so close to several active war zones. However, it was thanks in part to all these tourists that their plan to conceal their souls was at all viable here. The city's patrolling reapers would've had a far easier time noticing their little group of repeated souls, otherwise.

And even now, that was still a risk, Evangelina knew. They needed to get out of Ridgemark as soon as possible.

Raul Blackburn was not there to greet them at the docks, but he did hire a driver for them and left a code word that confirmed it was his doing. After the capture of his two brothers, Evangelina was actually somewhat relieved to see that he was taking extra precautions. She had not been the most confident in the Triplets' suitability for this mission, and thus far, her fears had not been proven unjustified.

Granted, she had expressed her disapproval of the Triplets before the war began. She was now inclined to cut them a modicum of slack for having to deal with such an unexpected development in their mission.

And as tempting as it was to blame them for their recklessness, a part of her felt as if she would have done exactly the same thing in their shoes.

They may have been young. They may have been a bunch of goofballs.

But they were not meek.

They had put themselves in danger just to increase the odds of their mission's success. To save those poor townsfolk.

Just because their plan hadn't worked out perfectly for them didn't meant they hadn't acted like true Rainlords.

Regardless, she was still planning to give Raul a piece of her mind when she saw him.

The limousine came to an abrupt stop in the middle of the road, and the passengers all looked around in order to figure out why. It didn't take long to noticing the line of people standing in front of the car--followed by a few more who appeared at the vehicle's flanks.

Their driver muttered something in Valgan. Evangelina didn't speak it, but the timbre of his voice made his fear apparent to her, nonetheless.

Shouting arrived from one of the men standing in the road. More Valgan.

Ezura, Evangelina's reaper, was kind enough to privately translate for her. 'They said, "Come on out of there, whoever you are."'

Hmm. Evangelina didn't recognize any of their faces, but she almost didn't even need to. The expressions on those faces... she'd seen them countless times before.

The smiles of madmen.

And their behavior? Standing in the middle of the road? Just for a chance to talk to a few people whom they apparently knew nothing about? It was a fair bet that this was Morgunov's side of Abolish here.

Melchor Blackburn didn't sit around to discuss what to do. He immediately got out of the car, and everyone else soon followed suit.

"Aha!" came the same voice from a moment ago. "Good listeners, these ones! How nice to encounter someone with a bit of courtesy for a change! This town is chock full of so many rude and vulgar people, you know!"

Melchor said nothing, nor did anyone else.

Evangelina eyed the apparent hostiles from beneath her hood. She counted twelve in total. Three on each side of the car. The ones behind them had appeared last.

Double their number. Not exactly good odds, but it was far too early to be worried. She knew most of the faces of the truly threatening members of Abolish, and none of these fools resembled any of them. It was possible that there was an unknown threat here, of course, but it was highly unlikely.

She'd seen more than her fair share of overconfident jackasses in her day.

"Why so quiet?" said the same man, having walked a bit closer so that he no longer had to shout. Perhaps he was the leader of this little troupe. He was quite tall--comparable to Diego and maybe even Dimas--and with that long black hair of his, Evangelina might've mistaken him for a woman if not for his deep voice. "Ah! Could it be that you don't speak Mohssian? My bad. I'm still not accustomed to all these Valgan-speakers."

The man motioned to someone else, who began saying something in Valgan, but Evangelina decided to interject.

"What do you want?" she said. She wasn't kidding herself. This was probably going to escalate to violence any moment now, but if there was any hope of avoiding all the attention that a fight would bring, then she had to at least try.

"Oho!" came the loudmouth's voice again. "So you did understand me! Well, now! Don't I feel foolish! Here I was, paying you compliments, thinking you were polite, and the whole time, you were actually being quite rude. It's not nice to leave people hanging when they're talking to you."

Yeah. This man was almost certainly from Morgunov's side of Abolish.

Evangelina elected not to respond, and she was rather pleased when no one else in their group did, either.

"Hmph! Our intentions were purely academic, you know. We were merely curious as to why the lot of you were attempting to hide your souls. Why, a more suspicious person might think that you were up to no good--but not me. I'm very trusting. I'm sure I'd be content if you would only tell me your names and show me your faces. Sounds reasonable, right?"

Evangelina could see the twitchiness among some of the Abolishers. The talkative one seemed calm and collected, sure, but his friends were pretty obviously just waiting for an excuse to fight.

They were about to get it.

Melchor decided to speak up first, though. "You are about to bite off more than you can chew, friends. I suggest you rethink this strategy of yours."

That was far more diplomatic than Evangelina wanted to be, right now.

Oddly enough, however, it did seem to give these lunatics pause, and the apparent leader looked around at his group. "...Is that right? Well, we appreciate the warning, friend, but with all due respect, I don't think you have any idea how much we can chew."

The main problem was that Evangelina couldn't see any of their reapers. She could see a few observing from a distance, but there was no way to know if they belonged to Abolish, so wantonly attacking them might just bring down a completely different group of servants on their head.

No doubt, that was why these Abolishers were acting so boldly despite having no clue who they were going up against. So long as their reapers remained hidden, they weren't in any real danger. The worst that could happen to them was being taken captive, and if they were low enough level, their superiors might even consider them expendable enough to be worth that risk.

The Rainlords, on the other hand, had more to worry about. Evangelina was confident that they could stomp these chumps into the pavement, but engaging in open combat in the middle of the road would also risk exposing their identities. Ideally, they wanted to avoid that. They had only just arrived in Vantalay, after all.

No one said anything. Even the noise of the vehicles passing them on the road seemed to fall away.

The same nameless Abolisher decided to speak up again. "Say... you folks wouldn't happen to be on your way to a little town called Miro, would you?"

Evangelina's breath caught. How did they know that?

Still, no one said anything.

It had to be an educated guess. Whoever this man was, he must've known enough about the situation in Miro to suspect that the two men they captured the other day might attract reinforcements.

It was either that or... Adan and Esai Blackburn had talked.

More than anything, Evangelina didn't want to believe that. Rainlords wouldn't tell the enemy anything. It was a matter of honor. And if they had, then they would have at least informed their own reapers of what they had done so that the reinforcing team could be told that the enemy was expecting them.

Unless... their brains had been frozen immediately after confession. Then they wouldn't have had the opportunity to tell their reapers anything.

Evangelina's jaw clenched. The more she mulled over the possibilities in her mind, the more she wanted to kill these bastards and be done with it.

"Your silence strikes me as a tad suspicious," said the loudmouth. "Got something to hide, do ya? I know a few people who might be able to get you talking. Why don't we go and--?"

"Yo, this is getting real tiresome, my dudes." Leo's voice cut through the other man's like a hot knife through butter, and everyone turned to look at him. "I dunno about any of you guys, but I'm in a bit of a hurry."

The loudmouth remained undeterred. "It's rude to interrupt people, friend."

"It's more rude to block the road, daddy-o. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's illegal."

"That's a fair point. What say we all go some place quieter and have a nice chat?"

Leo whipped a phone out of his cloak. "What say I call the police? I'm not feelin' too chatty, myself, but I bet they would be able to help you out, don't you think?"

The loudmouth's smile disappeared for the first time. "Don't play dumb with me. It's obvious that you don't want any cops sniffing around your business. Just look at all of you."

Leo wasn't even looking in his direction. "Hey, what's the emergency number in this country? Anyone know?"

Evangelina noticed a few discontented rumbles among the Abolishers and couldn't help being surprised. Were they actually afraid of the civilian police showing up? Why?

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Leo hadn't gotten an answer out of anyone yet, but he'd started dialing, anyway. "Well, maybe I can just guess it."

"Stop your bluffing," said the loudmouth. "There's no way--"

"Yes, police? Hi there. Oh, you speak Mohssian, too. That's convenient. Hey, I'm not too sure where I am, right now, but could you, like, figure out my location or whatever and send someone over here? Like, someone really strong, I mean? There are some hooligans blocking the road and harassing me and my buddies."

"Pretend all you want. It's obvious that you're just--"

"Cool. Yeah, I'll wait right here. Hmm? No, I'm not too worried about that. They seem pretty toothless, honestly. All bark, know what I mean?" He broke for a laugh. "Really? Wow. Okay, awesome. Thanks so much. Yeah, I'll stay on the line."

The loudmouth was no longer loud. Instead, he was red in the face with visible veins around his temples.

Leo was just tapping his foot as he waited. His face was still mostly obscured by his hood, but he looked in the direction of the most talkative Abolisher again. "I'm not sure what local response times are, but if you plan on attacking us, you'd better get on with it."

The other man just scowled.

"Or could it be that you were actually trying to goad us into attacking you for some reason?" said Leo. "Heh. Afraid of the law around these parts, maybe?"

And abruptly, Evangelina understood. It seemed odd at first that any servants--especially those of Abolish--would be wary of conventional law enforcement, but Ridgemark was no normal city, was it? Somehow, it was maintaining order despite harboring seemingly huge numbers of both Abolish and the Vanguard.

So who were the peacekeepers around here?

If the nervous looks on the Abolishers' faces were any indication, then Leo had hit the nail on the head.

They still weren't down, though. The loudmouth had apparently run out of tough talk, but none of them were budging.

And so they had a silent standoff, of sorts, as they waited for the authorities to show up.

Supposedly. Even Evangelina wasn't sure if Leo had actually called the police or not. He could've just been acting. Perhaps that was why Abolish wasn't leaving. They wanted to see if he'd been bluffing or not.

At length, the loudmouth began to look more smug again. As the time ticked, he was no doubt starting to believe that Leo had indeed been acting.

Until the sound of sirens arrived.

It was an unfamiliar noise to Evangelina's ears, unlike the sirens they used back in Sair. These were more piercing and whistle-like. But the sudden frowns on all of the Abolishers faces told her everything she needed to know.

Without another word, they dispersed like cockroaches, with only the loudmouth lingering a moment longer to spit on the ground in front of them.

Once they were all gone, Leo started chortling.

"Why are you laughing?" said Melchor. "The situation may have been diffused, but the police will still be quite inconvenient to deal with. I'm not even convinced that simply crushing them wouldn't have been the wiser course of action."

Leo only laughed harder, however. He stuffed his phone into his pocket and got back in the limousine.

Everyone exchanged confused looks before joining him.

Once all the doors were closed, he explained, "I didn't actually make the call. Those sirens were just a coincidence!" And he kept laughing. "Talk about timing, eh?!"

Evangelina had no words.

Nor did anyone else, apparently.

Their driver started the car back up.

But before they could get rolling again, someone else appeared in the middle of the road.

From above. Evangelina's view was partially blocked by the roof of the car, so it looked as though a man had dropped down from seemingly nowhere and then was suddenly leaning on the hood of the car, peering through the windshield.

A man in a policeman's uniform.

Leo's laughter cut off, instantly replaced with a confused grunt. "What the frick?!"

Everyone looked at him again as he double-checked his phone.

"Dudes, I swear I didn't call nobody!" he said.

Melchor opened his mouth to say something, but he was interrupted.

"Hello in there," came the apparent officer's voice. It was rather soft yet still masculine, and his Valgan accent was faint.

Now that Evangelina was looking, the police officer actually had a bit of a babyface.

"Sorry to trouble you," the officer went on, "but would you mind exiting the vehicle? I have a few questions. I promise I won't take up too much of your time."

They were more than a little reluctant to do so, but none of them were eager to get into a fight with the local police, either. They all stepped out of the limousine one more time.

Evangelina saw a reaper floating just behind the man, observing them all from over his shoulder. If his unusual entrance hadn't been enough of a clue, this was confirmation. But the fact that he had actually brought his reaper along was interesting.

Taking that kind of risk meant one of two things: either he was very confident in his ability to protect his reaper, or he was trying to be courteous and diplomatic. In some circles, keeping one's reaper hidden was a sign of ill-intent and distrust. Allowing the reaper to be seen, therefore, was sometimes regarded as an extension of good will and openness to discussion.

"Thank you for your cooperation. I am Officer Brand of the RPMP."

That was the Ridgemark Private Military Police. There was no government-run law enforcement in this city. The RPMP was instead jointly-funded and operated by the largest companies in Ridgemark.

Evangelina had known this, yet it was still somehow difficult for her to wrap her head around the idea of local law enforcement being powerful enough to keep the peace between Abolish and the Vanguard. Surely, there had to have been other players involved, right? Foreign influence of some kind?

Hopefully, this peacekeeping effort wouldn't turn out to be Sai-hee's doing, but that would at least make more sense to Evangelina than all this strength being concentrated into the hands of the locals.

"Could you please present your passports and accompanying documentation to me?" said Officer Brand. He even gave them a smile--a pearly white one, no less.

Ah. Their papers had already been checked and double-checked at the port, so there was no reason to expect them to suddenly fail here. Diego moved to retrieve the items in question from a briefcase in the car.

While they waited, Evangelina eyed this Officer Brand up and down.

Quite well-built. And handsome, in that youthful way. There was almost no chance that he was as young as he appeared, though.

Evangelina couldn't sense any kind of overwhelming soul power from him, but that didn't mean anything conclusive. The Lord Goffe never exhibited such oppressive pressure, either, and he was obviously very dangerous in a fight.

Plus, there was just something about this man, something about the way he carried himself. Calm, yet attentive. Speaking clearly and with confidence.

She wondered if all members of the RPMP were like this. If so, what kind of training did they receive?

Documents in hand, Brand took a moment to look them over, and his reaper joined him.

"Excellent. Thank you." The policeman offered them back to Diego, who returned them to the car. Brand regarded his small audience again with his bright blue eyes. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience. You see, the people who were just hassling you are on an active watchlist, of sorts."

Melchor was the first to respond. "You were observing that encounter? From where, exactly?"

"That, I cannot say," said Brand. "I can, however, offer an apology for not stepping in immediately. Things are a bit tense in Ridgemark, at the moment. I have orders to only intervene directly when a situation escalates to violence."

He couldn't say? Evangelina found that very odd. Why would the location that Officer Brand had been observing the situation from be a classified subject?

"Did those people say anything to you that you would like to report?" said Brand. "Any information you could provide regarding their activities or plans would be greatly appreciated."

"Unfortunately, they did not tell us anything like that," said Melchor.

"Are you sure?" said Brand. "I should add that there is a financial reward for actionable intel on these people."

A reward?

Truthfully, that did pique Evangelina's interest a bit. Too bad the mission came first.

"We are quite certain," said Melchor.

Diego decided to chime in. "Would you mind if we asked you a question, Officer Brand?"

"Of course. Feel free."

Diego adjusted his crimson hood and cloth mask. "How far does the RPMP's jurisdiction extend, precisely?"

Ah. Good question, Evangelina thought.

"The city limits," said Brand.

"I see," said Diego. "So the town of Miro is of no concern to you, then?"

And for the first time, Officer Brand's easy smile turned into a frown. "I'm afraid so."

"Hmm?" Diego's head perked up a little. "Is that remorse I hear in your voice, Officer Brand?"

The policeman made no response.

"Could it be that you know what's happening there?" said Diego.

"Not exactly, but the rumors aren't pleasant. But the same can be said for the rest of the nation. My job is to prevent those same things from happening here."

"I see," said Diego again.

And there was silence.

Evangelina expected more questions from the policeman, but he didn't offer any. Perhaps he was expecting more from them.

She decided to seize the lull in the conversation for herself. "Perhaps I shouldn't be asking this, but you've been very amicable thus far, and I would like to trust you, if only a little. Why have you not asked us what we are doing here?"

"It is not my business to interfere with yours," said Brand.

Wow. Evangelina could hardly believe her ears, especially after the policeman had just mentioned people being on a 'watchlist.' She almost wanted to push her luck and ask him why he didn't seem to be concerned that they were all concealing their faces, but she held her tongue.

Officer Brand took a moment to check his phone before addressing them again. "In any case, I hope you all enjoy your stay here in Ridgemark." He handed a card off to Diego. "If you think of anything regarding those men who were bothering you, please give me a call. Or you can just dial 883, and the operator will help you."

"Thank you, Officer," said Diego.

"You are welcome. And before I go, a word of caution: Ridgemark is safe, but everywhere around it is a lawless zone. You people seem like you intend to leave the city, and while I obviously don't intend to stop you, I strongly recommend that you reconsider. You will be taking your lives into your own hands, if you do."

"A 'lawless zone?'" said Diego. "That's a strange way to put it. Isn't everything within Vantalay's borders subject to the laws of the Vantalayan government?"

Evangelina was fairly certain that Diego was playing a bit dumb with those questions. He'd received the same briefing that the rest of them had with regard to Vantalay's unique political circumstances. He probably just wanted to hear Officer Brand's take on the situation.

"Ah, well, being foreigners, I suppose it's to be expected that you wouldn't know about that," said Brand. "The truth is, you can't rely on the Vantalayan government for anything. Whether it's protection, funding, food, or healthcare--it's always in flux. Occasionally, they'll help you. Most times, they won't. Even before this war, that was the case, and now it's just doubly so."

Diego gave a small laugh. "Those're some pretty strong opinions you have there, Officer."

"Not really. You should hear some of my coworkers."

Diego gave a second laugh. "Your Mohssian is very good, by the way."

"Thank you."

"Are all RPMP officers as fluent as you?" said Diego.

"Being multilingual is a prerequisite for the job, yes."

"Ah, because of all the tourists Ridgemark gets?"

"Indeed. In truth, I speak six languages."

"Oho! Impressive. I only know a bit of Valgan, myself. Trying to learn more, you know. What are all the languages you speak?"

"Valgan, Mohssian, Lhugian, Vaelish, Yenish, and Ghisi."

"And which is your native tongue?"

"Ghisi, technically, but I spoke Valgan for most of my adolescent life, so my accent probably sounds more akin to that."

"Aha. You, sir, sound like you've had an interesting life."

"And you, sir, sound like you are buttering me up in order to ask another question. You can simply ask. I shall answer to best of my ability."

Diego snickered.

Evangelina merely listened, but she was hardly surprised by the initiative Diego was taking here. He'd always been a bit of a conversationalist, and while this might've seemed like an inappropriate time to be engaging in small talk, Officer Brand was clearly a valuable source of information.

"You got me," Diego admitted. "I suppose what I'd really like to know is who those people who were bothering us were. Do you know?"

"I'm not at liberty to say, I'm afraid. My apologies."

"I figured as much. Shame. Then can you at least tell us if there are any other people we should watch out for while we're in Ridgemark?"

Officer Brand was quiet a moment as he met Diego's gaze, perhaps trying to take the measure of him in some way. "As I said, Ridgemark is safe. You don't need to 'watch out' for anyone while you are here. The RPMP will protect you perfectly."

Diego nodded. "Of course. I did not mean to imply otherwise."

"I'm sure you didn't." Brand's sky blue eyes drifted between everyone. "However, there are a few names you may wish to be mindful of. In the off chance you hear of any of them."

"Oh?"

"Risto, Orma, and Voss," said Brand. "If you encounter anyone with those names, I recommend you walk the other way. They're liable to get you into trouble."

Evangelina was familiar with all of those names. They were all infamous Abolishers. On par with the Killer of Krohin, arguably.

She wasn't afraid of them. If not for their mission, she would've relished an opportunity to take each and every one of their heads. The amount of misery that they were collectively responsible for over the years beggared belief.

Officer Brand wasn't done, though. "Those are the ones you should probably avoid the most, but I would also recommend staying away from anyone named Jun or Graves. You'll find nothing but trouble from them as well, I suspect."

Evangelina didn't react, but she sure wanted to. Having been a member of the Vanguard herself for over twenty years, she knew that last name particularly well.

Field Marshal Graves.

She'd never had the opportunity to meet him--which was perhaps to her benefit now, since it meant that his reaper wouldn't have her soul memorized--but all of the Field Marshals had their own mythos surrounding them. The lower ranked Vanguardians loved to talk about them, to swap fantastic tales of questionable veracity.

No one was ever quite sure what to believe when it came to the Field Marshals--and she'd heard that was by design. The legendary stories about them served to muddy their actual histories and thereby protect any innocent people who might've been connected to them.

One of Abolish's favorite pastimes was raiding a place that a Field Marshal once called home. In addition to enjoying the slaughter and destruction, they no doubt hoped to bait the associated Field Marshal into a trap.

Even among the Field Marshals, though, Graves was regarded as perhaps the most mysterious. Supposedly, he'd once fought Dozer to a standstill, yet that was the only story Evangelina had ever heard circulating about him. Beyond that, his past was a complete blank.

Jun, on the other hand, Evangelina had never heard of. It could've been someone who had only recently made a name for themself, but whoever it was, if they were being mentioned in the same breath as Graves, then they were bound to be extremely dangerous.

Bah.

She'd hoped that none of the Marshals would be here in Vantalay--or at the very least, not in Ridgemark--but it seems that wasn't to be.

They'd just have to be that much more careful, she supposed.

Diego and the policeman continued their chat for a while longer, but Diego didn't manage to get any other useful information out of him. And thankfully, Officer Brand did indeed leave them alone as he said he would.

Finally, they all got back in the car and resumed their journey out of the city.

No one said anything aloud for a long while. Perhaps they were afraid to.

'That policeman worries me,' said Ezura privately. She was still attached to Evangelina's torso, hidden beneath her cloak.

Normally, Evangelina saw reapers as quite large birds--storks, to be precise. Their black-and-gray feathers smoldered like fire while their eyes glowed white or sometimes yellow or even occasionally red. When they were hidden like this, however, their large size made no difference whatsoever. That was what happened when reapers attached themselves to someone else's soul. Their usual appearance melted away, and they became little more than an amorphous blob stuck to the person's body.

'I thought he was surprisingly well-mannered and unintrusive,' said Evangelina.

'I thought so, too,' said Ezura. 'His personality isn't what concerns me. It was the way he showed up like that out of the blue. He said he'd been watching us the whole time, but I still didn't sense him until he was basically on top of us already.'

'Well, your senses are hindered by my cloak,' said Evangelina.

'Sure, but it wasn't like I was blind. I was paying close attention to our surroundings in case any more Abolishers showed up.'

'Hmm.'

'The more I learn about this town, the less I like it,' said Ezura. 'If Graves is really here in Ridgemark, then why the hell hasn't he gotten rid of Abolish?'

Evangelina could tell where she was headed with that question. 'Officer Brand didn't name any Abolishers who can stand up to a Field Marhsal.'

'Exactly. So why's he dragging his feet?'

'Maybe he is worried about collateral damage. There are plenty of innocent tourists still in the city. And if the casinos refuse to evacuate civilians, then I imagine Graves' job becomes much more difficult.'

'You might be right,' said Ezura, 'but even if that is the case, the question remains: why doesn't he just strong-arm them into evacuating the city?'

Evangelina tipped her head to the side a little, considering that thought. 'Technically, the Vanguard is supposed to respect local sovereignty.'

'Hah!'

'I am aware that we represent a rather potent counterexample.'

'An understatement if ever there was one. I don't believe for a second that Graves is just sitting around like a good little boy. This country is at war. Local sovereignty, collateral damage--these things are already in flux, at the moment, even without the Vanguard's input. If he hasn't run Abolish out of here, it's not because he doesn't want to. Someone really strong must be getting in his way.'

Evangelina almost didn't even want to say it. '...The RPMP?'

The reaper sighed. 'I don't want to entertain the idea that they could have someone that powerful on their payroll, but right now, it's looking like the only explanation.'

A worrisome thought, to say the least. But Evangelina could also see a potential bright side. 'Well... if that really is the case, then perhaps that is to our advantage.'

'Maybe. But I've never been much for optimism.'

A faint smile crossed Evangelina's lips. 'Believe me, I know.'