A na I hadn't heard jumped out at , so I asked reflexively. "Who?"
Zach said with an exaggerated expression on his face. His eyes turned sharp as he snapped his fingers, invoking death resonance. Souls covered the area around us like a cage muting the outside world.
"In short, David owes Xander. It is partly David's fault that Xander created the Saviors. Touching the Saviors ans coming into conflict with Xander. We are in a difficult ti. David cannot be distracted by such trivialities."
Hearing such an explanation, I couldn't contain my contempt.
"So the bastard got a pass because he helped a Revenant in his old life? How many people had to die every day for that favor of his?"
"Look bastard, it is much more complicated than that! If you just followed the rules, this wouldn't even be an issue! I am your superior, so listen to , damn it!"
"What rules?" I asked in confusion.
"The rules I created for the rcenaries. You didn't even manage to finish the orientation, you asshat!"
"Oh! I was going to listen to that tonight. Would you mind giving the short version?"
Zach made a troubled face before answering.
"rcenaries cannot save everyone. Given the choice, save those who follow the rules and leave the traitors to die."
"What?"
I repeated like a parrot.
Did I just miss sothing? I an, it made sense. But such a directive was given to the rcenaries? Then what if soone was considered a traitor, we just let them die? Who defined what a traitor was? Wasn't that even worse than just killing the bastards?
"Hach Holzfäller, Jack Moses, Gadhala Lubaṛi, Isolde Drache, Tino Malosi, Krishna Sangan, Diaz Lowenherz."
Zach then began to recite nas like characters in a play. So of the nas were familiar, as they were the Phantoms I had t last night.
Before I could question, the man in front of took off his glasses and looked in the eye.
"These were the Phantoms who served as defenders in the places you visited last night. They all have sothing in common."
Following the conversation, I had a bad premonition of what he was about to say.
"They are all Reapers who have turned their backs on the battlefront. They are all traitors. One of the most important directives of the rcenaries was to ignore the dirge sirens in their zones," Zach said scornfully.
"WHAT?!" Unable to accept what he was saying, I rose from my seat in anger. I fought alongside these people. Not only were they noble, but they were doing their jobs. How could they be branded as traitors?
"Sit your ass back down before I beat you to a pulp!" Zach threatened calmly.
"Reapers have no rules Zach, if you want to do sothing. Make ," I challenged.
Souls began to surround Zach like a storm. There was no way I could forget the ass-kicking I got from him. But calling my allies traitors was sothing I could not accept.
The implications of what Zach had just said were heavy. It ant that he could be the one to orchestrate the Phantoms' death at the hands of the Saviors.
I guess I was still emotional from last night. And I didn't know about the other four, but Jack, Isolde and Krishna were no traitors. I knew deep down, instinctively, that they were the type to die for their allies.
Zach's pressure threatened to suffocate . It was heavy, but compared to David, it was like a gentle breeze. So I withstood the souls in the air as our standoff continued.
"Tsk."
With a sneer, the pressure suddenly disappeared and I could breathe again. Then he clicked his tongue again and asked politely.
"Will you please sit down, you bastard? Let finish before you decide to act."
Thrown off by his manners, I finally took my seat like a trained dog. When I did, he finished what was left of his coffee and resud.
"I did not send the Saviors I know Jack Moses personally, so I agree that he is not a traitor. What I ant was that the circumstances of the battlefront made them traitors."
"Explain." I said curtly.
"Look, Reapers cannot kill each other, that is the general rule. But how do you get people to do what you want, other than by force?"
"I don't know," I replied.
"You give rewards and punishnts. The punishnt for these people had to be in the form of being branded a traitor."
"Why?"
"If you were a king and soone directly did sothing you told them not to do, what would you call them?"
"..."
"Exactly. They did their duty, but that was all they did. These people refused to obey anything else. If we didn't punish them, who would listen to us?" Zach continued.
"So you let them die, and even ordered bastards like the Slayer to kill them?"
"Look here, bastard. No governnt is totally clean. Of course you had to have soone do the dirty work.
"For us, the Saviors are just that. We got to keep our hands clean because they got theirs dirty."
"So Robert was right to kill all the Indians with Krishna? Those people were fighting for the living! How can you even say that?" I countered.
"Krishna Sangan abandoned his battlefront in disgrace and sought refuge in North Arica. After we refused to transfer them, they smuggled themselves through Hellsgate. Their good fortune will serve as an example to the reapers in Asia.
"Li Wudi does not take kindly to deserters. He gave us an ultimatum. Send them back or kill them. If we don't, he will invade North Arica.
"What would you have done? Would you risk antagonizing a Revenant and bringing war to our land, all for a bunch of Pajeets?"
"No, but..."
"This is no ga, boy! Do you have any idea how many Reapers Asia has? How many of ours would die if that Chink decided to invade us? We cannot fight a war on three fronts!
"David already has his hands full with that necrophiliac bastard from South Arica on top of the undead."
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