The Monster's Requiem - Part 12

It was something that she had learned from Vol. If she ever wished to have a true and treasured friendship with anyone, it would have been impossible to treat them the same as everyone else. The noble values that her father had instilled in her continued to be presented with flaws. So many of the ideas that her father had instilled in her mind had been torn down one by one – and it was Vol at the heart of it.

"You're a talentless fool, it would seem," he had declared straight-faced. "Magic will forever escape you."

On that front, despite Penelope's own reservations, Vol had proved them both wrong.

"If you wish to lead, you must distance yourself from your subordinates. You must value them equally, and grow close to none. You should judge only based on value," he'd said. Those words that sounded so obvious, and yet Vol had torn through them as well.