AMITY:
- Do you ever wonder if your life could have been something else? With or without your curse, is there a career you would rather have?

"Of course I do. God knows I do. But doesn't every maligned dipshit just like me wonder what could have been? What good's that line of questioning now? Nothing, that's what. All I can do is ask myself what I do now, not what I could have done ten steps ago."

- In your opinion, why do the authorities around Elstren tolerate your continued presence? Is it fear, appreciation, or something else?

"The Devil you know, you know. I'm not as much of an asshole as my father, and I'm not as much of an asshole as the next guy who's absolutely frothing at the mouth to get where I am now, surely. As long as I'm around, things are going to be cooled down, and by the Gods do the big wigs want nothing more than for everything to calm the hell down."

- How often do you notice new changes to your curse? Do you still see progression today?
"Not as often. I try not to think about it, though. The metal only gets heavier when you notice it."

CLAIRE:
- Does any animosity remain for the students who harmed you? Do you feel any need to tell your current students to protect themselves?

"Oh yes! A truly bottomless pit of animosity that would well fit Amaranth's corpse, we think. That fool was an adult, and knew exactly what he was doing. Our other students don't need to worry as much as we did, certainly; but would that we ever met a child like us again, we would surely warn them."

- How much of the original Claire is left? Can you speak to life as a multiplicity?

"A sixth, certainly! But in reality, much more. We were all more or less duplicates made in the image of the original, and so very much of our progenitor exists within each of us. Even if, over time, we have diverged. You know, there's almost randomness when it comes to souls: the same soul can turn out six different ways, if you make six copies of it. It's a joy, really!

We struggle and argue about some things, but you would never know. Ultimately, our goals are aligned."

- If you can see, what does vision 'look' like for you now? If not, do you have any desire to see again?

"It's hard to explain through the lens of limited human experience. We see everything around us, even things that would normally be outside of our sight, at quite a distance. Naturally, though, we cannot see as far as we once did; we have to focus actively to see into the distance as a normal human might."

ELEANOR:
- Do you regret paying your parents debt? Was it ever a choice?

"Yeah, it was my choice. Of course it was my choice. If my parents had even considered asking me to do that, I probably would have punched one of them in the face and ran away or something. Any parent that'd ask you to do that ain't worth saving. But all I could tell was that they were really... beaten up about having to leave me behind. Nothing else mattered to them but me. I wouldn't take it back."

- How do you travel around these days?

"However I can. Sometimes I pay for carriages. I stole a horse and had that for a while, but some guy was stuck out in the forest and I figured an indestructible tin can like me needed the horse less than he did. So now I just walk, most of the time."

- What's left for you now, or when the royal family is dead? What will you do with your time?

"Fuck if I know. Still figuring that part out. Trying to find my family, I guess? After that, Gods only know."

FEN:
- What thoughts went through your head when you first met Guillaume?

"My dad had spent quite a while trying to tell me that we needed a dog. I was not particularly convinced. First of all: We run a clinic. There are few places in the world that demand such strict organization and sanitation, and the mere existence of a random animal in our lives seemed like a truly hilarious burden to place on ourselves for no reason. Secondly, I just wasn't that interested in animals. I'd seen August butcher enough of them that, although I still respected them, I'd begun to... distance myself from them. You kind of have to.

But then, this trader came in town, and he had a whole bunch of dogs for sale. And among them, there was this little white cloud. I was absolutely sure it was just an oversized cotton ball. But then it turned around, and looked at me with the biggest smile I'd ever seen, and I understood instantly why my father was so absolutely sure we needed a dog. I bought him then and there."

- Do your parents approve of your friendship with Sadiya and August? What is it like when everyone's together?
"Well, of course. I'm an adult now, and if they didn't approve I'd be very cross with them. It's my life. As for how the three of us get along, well... Sadiya is, and please don't tell her I said this, an absolute sweetheart. She grounds both of us, I think, which is a funny thing to say about someone who loves birds so much. August and I are a bit more cynical in our own ways, but she makes us feel like we can be ourselves a bit more. August brings a lot of energy to the group, and I bring a lot of much-needed restraint. So, most of the time, we just enjoy each other's company, however we can. Last night, we all got together to help August butcher a deer they caught, and ended the night drunk and laughing while August tried to throw a ball as far as they possibly could across the glade. And then they'd just toddle at high speed, all the way across the glade, trying not to fall on their ass, to get it again."

- What do you think it will take for the communities you heal to recover?
"Kattua is in bad shape. But I can't imagine it's in any worse shape than anywhere else. At least we have real medical care here, and we're close knit. But that's part of the problem; it's hard for us to keep from each other. That's part of what's necessary at the moment, and it's a bit... frustrating for some people. Frankly, I've enjoyed the opportunity to be less social without having to be questioned, but that implies I've had any time to actually indulge in that, when it's mostly been a lot of labor. I'm sure we'll be fine."

FRAN:
- How did you end up a frog wildkin? Was it what you hoped for?

"Hope and desire is no question when consulting Visiver. I am what he chose for me, and I accepted his choice without question." [This is said in a slightly sour tone that implies they didn't accept it without question.]

- What role would you say your work fulfills in a society that shuns what you do?

"A lot of ambitious and powerful people need my services, and would be able to do far less for us without it. You would have no idea how many small towns have necromancers and my own designs in reserve, ready to defend their town from whatever threats may befall them. Some even work factory lines, a preferable result to people having to waste their miniscule lives there instead."

- Do you see Hollyhock as a project, a friend, or an acquaintance? How has your relationship to Holly evolved?
"... Hollyhock is a friend. I suppose. I treated it as a servant initially, but I can no longer do that when it matches me in power and intellect. I cannot treat it as an acquaintance, because I speak far too openly with it. It must, then, be a friend."

KENZO:
- If Pallavi needed your help, would you offer it? Could your sibling come back to your family at this point if they wanted to?

"It... depends what for. But the answer to the second question is, and always will be, yes."

- Do you ever have moments of regret when people react to your mask or presence with fear?

"Sometimes. But if someone actually catches a glimpse of my mask, perhaps that is the reaction they're meant to feel. If I am present, something has gone very wrong somewhere nearby, and fear might be the appropriate reaction. To some, my mask is a warning that your time is up; to others, it is an alarm bell telling you that something is wrong, and maybe you should leave."

- What does a day off the job look like for a High General?

"Uh, well... you know, that's a good question. With a not-very-consistent answer. I spend a lot of my off-time in different places that I've been stationed, so I suppose you could call a lot of my time-killing a sort of tourism. You have to find your fun a lot of the time. It's hard to have hobbies when you travel so far so often, but I've... taken to writing, and I've begun to show interest in calligraphy, as well. My mother is very good at it."