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"Yes," said David. "It would be quite absurd, if true. If Czacoa accepted, then Intar would immediately be thrust into the greater continental war, which is what Intar seems to have been trying to avoid this entire time. Such an action goes against all conventional wisdom, at the moment, but..."

"You think the rumor might be true?" said Hector.

The Prince's expression became strained. "I am torn on that. I would not have even brought it up if I thought it to be completely baseless. And I do think that Intar's government is currently chaotic enough for such a thing to happen..."

"But?"

The Prince nodded. "But this could also be an instance of information warfare. Even spreading the mere idea that Intar might enter the war... could have a profound impact. I can imagine Czacoa spreading this rumor, if for no other reason than to discourage Vantalay, but the source could of course come from elsewhere. With participants in the war, motivations abound."

Interesting. Frankly, Hector hadn't even considered that possibility.

"As for Kahm and Rendon," the Prince continued, "well, those two offers combined with our own do end up painting a rather clear picture of Intar's interest in our region."

That caused a new thought to strike Hector. "Do you think there's something about the land itself that they could want?"

"That is, of course, also a possibility. I think it likely that Intar's interest in us is not driven by a single factor."

"Hmm."

"And lest we forget, there was another group of Abolish instigators working in Rendon at the same time as there were in Atreya, remember? That nation may not have struggled quite so publicly as we did, but if you look at their economic numbers for the last several months, you will see that they were hurt just as badly by that conflict as we were--perhaps more, even, because their recovery does not appear to be going quite as smoothly as ours is."