Glass or Diamond: Fairy's Wish

No one knows everything, no matter how hard they try. Bankers are caught by surprise with deals they didn’t expect. Mechanics encounter damage they have yet to repair. And monster slayers meet monsters they know not how to slay.

One monster slayer hunts beings no one else has ever faced. He is legendary for facing an army and titans alone. He saves villages and kingdoms without hesitation and by putting his own life on the line for a tiny amount of coins in exchange.

The man studying a seemingly-simple, mysterious mud stain on the side of a vehicle is surprisingly wise when it comes to defeating things few others even dare to fight.

The fairy Lykha mistakenly believed this filthy, poor-looking warrior knew everything there is to know about killing monsters. He always seems to know what they are without even seeing them. He can sense them in the darkness and predict their movements.

But, he doesn’t know all things about all beings. This mud is not simple mud alone. It’s a residue left behind by something that recently wiped out an entire village and vanished without a trace. Or, so it seemed.

The residue, when reactivated by water, is moderately acidic, most specifically to organic materials. And now, with moisture in a small amount of the mud from Coco attempting to spit-shine the side plating of the sand rail, the residue-contaminated mud seems to be trying to go somewhere on its own.

“So what do you plan to do?”

The Sheriff of the current town the party of three is visiting asks his question with his arms crossed. He likely knows the answer, since Murtoa already said what would have happened if they knew where the monster itself was.

Murtoa replies just as plainly as always, though, “Same as normal. Continue forward. Kill any colossi we come across.” He stands up, looking at the Sheriff. “It didn’t leave any tracks, and we didn’t encounter it. Better to spend the time hunting a monster that can be hunted.”

“Hmmm… Can’t say I can fault that logic… Shame there’s no justice for those lost.”

Lykha winces as she remembers the young male drakyk. Her sadness feels worse, amplified by the emotions she’s been feeling since she woke up.

Murtoa replies quietly and grimly, “There is no such thing as justice…”

This surprises both Coco and Lykha, who look at the expressionless helmet as the warrior wearing it turns back to the vehicle and sheaths his polearm. He says plainly, “Thank you for your village’s hospitality. We’ll be out of the way before noon. Tech. Will the sand rail run?” He looks over his shoulder at the teen girl.

She’s stunned a moment, but quickly snaps out of it, saying, “Aye! She coul’ use a fine sprin’le an’ scrub on her innar’s. Speck o’ goz muckin’ the webbin’.”

Lykha looks at Coco, who glances at the fairy, but says nothing. She quickly jumps up and picks her wrench up, saying as she points, “Juicers shoul’ be full o’ juice, suckin’ up the sun all mornin’.” She taps the wrench confidently on one of the battery casings.

Murtoa replies, “Good. Finish what work you have left. I need to refill my water.”

Coco sheepishly turns, presenting her water skin. “Min’ fillin’ mine again, Love?”

He nods and looks at Lykha. “You need anything?”

The fairy glances at him, still distant with her thoughts. She shakes her head, and he nods, walking away.

She sighs, approaching Coco. She hovers over the teen’s shoulder as the young girl tightens bolts back into place holding one of the plates onto the sand rail.

“How did you learn to do all this, Coco? You’re so young.”

The teen glances at her with a bit of a scowl, in spite of her eyes still being red from crying earlier. She replies with her normal sass restored, though, “Juice be juice, no matta’ how big or small. ‘S like tricks, but fit’s a normie’s min’ like mine. Wasn’e born special. Took things apar’, and… Dunno… Jus’ made sense when I put ‘em back togetha. Goobs buy bih’s and bol’s if they do somethin’ special. Not many otha ways a lass survive ‘sides griftin’ or havin’ a talent.” The wrench slows to a stop, and she murmurs, “Not even tha’s enough…”

She looks at Lykha, saying, “I’m brainin’ some basic things. Those basic things carry over. Tha’s all.”

The fairy nods with a smile, “I see. We’re lucky to have you.”

Coco puffs her cheeks out, restoring her full attitude, “Don’ go tryin’ ta slick me up, Bae. Nex’ bes’ job could be my nex’.”

Lykha giggles at the bluff, but replies, “That’d be my dream come true then.”

Coco looks deviously over her shoulder, “Have ‘bando all to you’self then, ey?”

The fairy blushes, but retorts, “Yep.”

“Hmph!” Coco takes her wrench up, turning and nearly hitting Lykha with it ‘accidentally’. The fairy is able to dodge by flying upwards, while the teen walks to the front of the Sand Rail, putting tools away in a small bag and slinging it over her shoulder. She leans on the sand rail, suddenly remembering to check where she’s leaning to ensure no mud is present, and she leans again.

Lykha smiles, taking a seat on the side of the rover as they both wait for Murtoa to return.

When the warrior returns and they head out, Coco drives the Sand Rail as Murtoa sits in the back passenger seat and watches the horizon, while Lykha sits in his lap. It’s a little awkward, but there’s not an abundance of room in the small vehicle.

Lykha asks over all the noise, “Where are we headed to now?”

“Forward.”

She elbows backwards, which won’t do much, but it’ll get the point across.

“Next village to ask if there are any monsters that need dealt with.”

She nods, “Thank you.”

They drive for most of the afternoon and into the evening, with Murtoa swapping to drive when they stop for a break under the shade of rather large boulders in the desert. The warrior drives into the night, stopping at around midnight for a break. However, he finds the two girls cuddled together in the back seat, fast asleep.

In the morning, Lykha wakes up, still in Coco’s arms, but somehow moved to the ground under a desert oak, a semi-rare tree that grows in the desert with a long vertical root reaching deep into the ground. She gingerly extracts herself from Coco’s grasp and slips out from under the blanket. She has to search a little to find the warrior. He’s on the far side of the sand rail, scraping the acidic mud off with a knife and into a glass jar.

“H-Hey, Mury.”

“‘Morning. Sleep alright?”

“I did. How about you?”

He nods, still working on his simple task.

“You’re collecting it?”

“Could prove useful. If nothing else, if we can find a scholar, maybe they can help identify it.”

Lykha asks skeptically, “Run into a lot of scholars in this line of work?”

“If I seek them out. Every now and then, there’s one in a mercenary group or hunter party. Sometimes, they’re even helpful.”

It sounds like a spiteful or condescending comment, but his tone suggested only that a traveling scholar doesn’t have much beyond their own knowledge at their fingertips, which depends entirely on what they learned.

Murtoa doesn’t stop at just collecting a satisfactory amount of the material though. He’s slowly chiseling the mud off with his knife.

Lykha realizes she’s hovering awkwardly, and she clears a small knot in her throat. “Um, Mury?”

“Hmm?”

She hovers closer to him, saying, “I… Look, I was hoping to talk a little about… recently.”

“What about?”

The fairy fidgets with her fingers in front of her. Murtoa pauses to look at her when she doesn’t say anything.

She asks softly, “How… could you do that… to-to Vorsch…? I said things I don’t mean, but… help me understand… please.”

Murtoa looks silently to the mud again, but he doesn’t ignore her and return to scraping. He instead sits back on his backside.

He says quietly, “It’s not a good answer, but despair has a look. And, some pits of despair can’t be climbed out of. Not when you have to heal, and cope with trauma, and then come to grips with losing everyone.” He adds more distantly, “There’s a look.”

“But… He could have still come back from it! He could have found new people! He could start again!”

Murtoa nods. “If he survived. For sure. But, he wasn’t in a condition to survive. Not without suffering for the hours it took us to get to the town. Drakyks can survive more than most. They’re not invincible.”

“But… isn’t it an evil act to take a life that could be saved?” Lykha sniffles, wiping a tear from her eyes.

The warrior looks up to the sky, chuckling softly. He replies sincerely, though, “Good and evil are words for scholars and religious types. Fact of the matter is, there’s no good or evil out here. Just life and death.”

“If that’s what you really believe, then why do you bother? You could survive easily on your own, anywhere you want to be.”

“Repaying a debt.”

“A debt? That’s it?”

The warrior nods. “Evil, especially, is a word used for control, in my experience. If a man kills a man who wants to live, it’s justified. If a man kills a man who wants to die, it’s evil.”

Lykha’s watering eyes widen as she realizes what he’s saying. The bandits that kidnapped her, Coco, and the other women and did other awful things didn’t want to die, and yet, she didn’t complain when Murtoa killed them, including summoning a colossus on top of them.

The fairy sinks to a standing position on the sand, hugging her sides as she cries.

Murtoa says calmly, “You don’t owe me anything. You can always leave at any time. Life on this path doesn’t get much better. And I can’t promise you’ll always approve of what I do.”

“You’re right though… I didn’t weep for any of them… A-And… I know it’s hypocritical after what I had you do for me…”

“Doesn’t matter. I only told you to do one thing when you joined me; know you can’t stop me.”

She says softly, “I remember… I just… I want to believe you’re better… I wanted you to live up to the stories.”

“I didn’t write the stories.”

She scoffs. He’s consistent, if nothing else. “I know.”

There’s a moment of quiet between them. She requests gently, “If… I get stronger at healing… Will you let me try, at least? I-If we ever…”

“Yes.”

She looks at him with watering eyes.

“A-about… what I had you do… t-to stabilize me…”

“Coco called it blood magic. I assume it has a reputation.”

Lykha nods, surprised as ever at what Murtoa doesn’t know. She answers, “It’s said fairies are the first blood magic users. Because we have so much inherent magic in our bodies -at least as far as the wish goes-... we can convert blood into magic energy without incantations or somatic spells, as most casters have to. It has drawbacks, though. I-if I use it too much, it can curse me. Especially using my own blood. Just like any other blood magic practitioner.”

The warrior replies without any level of disdain or shock, “I see. You’re okay then?”

She smiles softly, touched that, as usual, that’s all he cares about. She replies softly, “Any pain I feel now might feel a bit worse, but as long as I stick to my normal magic, the miasma will wear off.”

“That’s good to hear. Don’t push yourself. But, you did good work running interference. Thanks.”

Pride wells through the fairy at the praise from an actual monster hunter. Granted, what she did could be done by almost anyone fast enough to simply avoid being hit by the dartwings, but she did it, and it helped him shift the balance enough to start ending them one by one.

Lykha hovers over to Murtoa and asks as he returns to scraping mud, “Can I help any?”

“Just passing time at the moment. Batteries have to charge.”

She joins him in scraping the potentially dangerous coating of dirt off using a coin.

“Wouldn’t it be better for us to drive at night then, and let the batteries charge during the day?”

“Probably.”

“Why don’t we then?”

“Most colossi sleep at night.”

“You really do rely on running into them accidentally most of the time, don’t you?”

He chuckles, “I suppose so.”

“Also, what happened to ‘Having a vehicle draws too much attention’?"

“Still true, but a sand rail with two seats is less so than a full sized sand cruiser. Especially one that’s solar like this. Self sufficiency is always an advantage, but the batteries leak charge overnight, so half of the day is eliminated.”

“Interesting that you think like a bandit.”

“Fairly basic tactics, actually. Military movements suffer if units can’t run at all times. It’s why fuels or -in the militaries more commonly- crystal power are far more common. For bandits, pirates, and free villages, solar panels are acceptable alternatives because they can be run to empty and charge back up on their own, generally speaking. But to steal one may or may not be worth it.”

“Sounds perfect for us, though.”

“For now.”

The fairy sighs, “I hope someday you’ll tell me everything you’re thinking.”

“I honestly have reached a point where I try not to overthink anything. After a while, certain things just make sense.”

“Strange… that’s kinda what Coco said, too, about how she lived before us.”

“It’s a difficult road to reach experience. But, lifesaving once you have it.”

“I understand. I’ll try to absorb any and all wisdom I can.”

She glances at him nervously a couple times without turning her head. She then says, “Um,... Thanks. For… everything. I know I can be difficult sometimes, but you never cease to teach me and look out for me.”

“You’re thinking about it too much. I haven’t done anything different.”

She smiles. Yes, you have.

Coco approaches the two, yawning as she carries the blanket she and Lykha were using. “Havin’ a par’y without me, hav’ye?”

Lykha replies, “Just killing time while the batteries charge.”

The teen yawns a big yawn and then tosses the blanket into the back seat. She climbs into the driver seat, turning the machine on. She states as she inspects the meters and gauges, “Bes’ ‘rizon chasuh the empty bundle o’boxes had. Good sunsuckas and all ‘er juicers full up o’ nasty water.” She rubs her eyes, still trying to wake up fully. “Even the spinnas in goo’ shape. Af’er I zipped one, o’ course. Other chasuh not gonna be needin’ it.”

The teen says more confidently, “She’s probably got enough juice already to start. Long as we don’ push ‘er, she’ll suck up sun fas’er than she uses juice.”

Lykha replies warmly, “Sounds good to me. Mury?”

He chuckles as he stands up. “Look at that, Coco. She’s starting to understand you.”

The teen arrogantly retorts, “Maybe I jus’ dumbin’ it down so Bae’s thinkin’ blob can un’erstand.”

Lykha smiles as Murtoa checks all of their gear secure and then climbs into the back seat. She retorts to Coco, “You can call me dumb all you want, Coco. I know what you’re really like.”

“You know nothin’, Bae.”

“Before we start off, I have most of my magic back. How’s your hand? Want me to try to heal it some more?”

Coco grips the steering handles, replying plainly, “Me gripper’s fine. Shoul’ be worryin’ ‘bout ‘Bando.”

Lykha looks up and back at the warrior. “What does she mean?”

“Just worried about my injuries. Didn’t see a healer in the village. Not an excess of coin right now, and I’ll be fine.”

The fairy looks at Coco, who starts driving the sand rail, and then at Murtoa one last time. They’re neglecting to tell her something. But, it’s too noisy to try to pry now. Instead, she lies back in the warrior’s lap, as he patiently leans back himself. There are many things a fairy can’t do simply because of her size, such as take a turn driving the sand rail. It’s a struggle for Coco to see clearly over the steering column, though she doesn’t seem too concerned about it. She will get stronger in magic though. How, she’s not certain, but it’s the least she can do.

The next town is about half way in size between the first village Murtoa brought Lykha to, and the one they left early a day ago. There are maybe twenty buildings or so, one of which is actually an inn like the one Lykha was in when she awoke, but smaller, though it also seems to have some sort of restaurant on the bottom. Murtoa points Coco to park near the inn/restaurant, and once they’re stopped, he climbs out.

“Don’t leave anything in the rover.”

“Aye, love.”

Lykha asks innocently, “Won’t people be MORE likely to steal a vehicle with no signs of ownership?”

The warrior and the teen both chuckle, and Coco is the one to answer, “Easier to grif’ gear than a chasuh. Even bett’r to grif’ both.”

“Fair enough,” replies the fairy dully, understanding that the world isn’t honorable -which she of all people should be the first to realize-. Still, she can’t wrap her head around crimes being the norm, as opposed to the extreme. But, fairy elders do preach that their villages are well balanced in maintaining fairness and order.

What surprises the small fairy is the number of other vehicles crowded around this building, though. Four gruff looking individuals climb out of a four seater sand rail; a drakyk mage, a lightly-dressed human warrior or barbarian, a human bounty hunter -carrying a wide spread of gear-, and a female Drakyk wearing gauntlets with humongous tusks or fangs pointed past her fists like pinchers, but to be used as punching weapons.

Coco observes, “Look’s li’e we droppin’ in a monsty hunta crowdin’.”

“Interesting,” remarks Murtoa without any real interest.

Lykha asks nervously as she tugs a small knitted poncho down over her wings to hide her back better, “I-Is coming here the best idea, then?”

The teen asks, “Wha’sa matter, Bae? ‘Fraid some goob’s got a hankerin’ for a tooth pick?” She snickers at her own joke.

The fairy glares at her, whispering, “If you forgot, some people see me worth killing for.”

Coco cleans her ear with her finger, clearly expressing boredom. “As if one spo’ o’ trick is the only thing goobs grif’ an’ slice for.”

Murtoa states calmly, “We’ll be fine.” He leads into the restaurant without hesitation, and Coco follows.

Maybe Lykha could hide on the roof or something. But then, she’d be defenseless up there. At least next to Murtoa and Coco…

She sighs and flies through the door to the…

Pub. It’s not a classy restaurant of any kind; it’s a pub. Every seat is full, with huge mercenaries, pirate-looking types, and obvious monster slayers scattered all around in large groups.

The fairy quickly flies to Murtoa’s back and hangs off of his back plate, keeping as close as possible to him and his polearm. Some of the mercenaries in the pub look at them briefly, but as she looks around, she realizes that her group doesn’t look as weird as she imagined.

There are young boys and girls -just as rough around the edges or moreso than Coco-. There are techromancers, mages, and warriors of all shapes and sizes. And, there are humans and drakyks intermingling as if at a family reunion or a party.

Murtoa looks around calmly. It’s hard to say what he’s thinking in a room full of potential competitors. No one seems to be in charge of the room, and it seems to just be a rowdy gathering of warriors.

A towering figure walks up behind the warrior, and Lykha squeaks nervously. It’s a drakyk male, and a rather large one at that. His long tail is scarred and rounded at the end where it seems to have been severed. He’s carrying firearms in numbers comparable to the knives Murtoa has, and he looks like some sort of pirate with a broad hat protecting his head from the sun. Murtoa pivots partially to look at the drakyk, who also surveys the room briefly.

“I see I’m not the only one lookin’ to score big.” The big lizardman’s tongue slides across his top lip, moistening the craggy scales above his mouth.

“Score?” asks Murtoa.

The drakyk looks down at him, “You ain’t heard? Bounty’s been drifting out to the far reaches. Offerin’ a million gold.”

Coco retorts, “A million? That ain’t even a real coun’able.”

The drakyk scoffs, handing the girl a hand bill. She stares at it, but it’s quickly apparent the girl can’t actually read. Lykha leans out from Murtoa’s back. Sure enough, the hand bill is a bounty request for a colossus, but one that hasn’t been identified. However, the name sends a chill up the fairy’s spine; solaghoul.

Can it be the same thing Coco believes is a solaghoul?

Murtoa asks, “Who’s providing the coins? Girl’s right. That’s more than any of us have ever seen on a job.”

The drakyk chuckles, replying, “Probably why they’re all here. Hopin’ to see what it is and believin’ they’ll be the ones.”

“If they’re all here for one, is there any other jobs needing done?”

The lizardman shrugs. “Just got in myself.”

Coco looks at Lykha pleadingly, and the fairy hovers down, whispering to her what the paper says. The fairy pays attention when the drakyk says, “Huh. Guess he’s here too.” She looks, and his gaze is looking at a table where a well-polished and friendly looking individual is sharing a tale with his companions and the interested barmaid. He’s polite, jovial, and has a very noble look to him.

“Someone specific?” asks Murtoa.

“Murtoa of Lakia. Human knight earned some fame during the last southern war.”

Lykha glares at her Murtoa. She knew it. That guy looks more like an actual knight.

The teen says, “We coul’ do a lot with this much shine, Love.”

She hands the sheet back to the lizardman when Murtoa refuses it, and the drakyk puts it back in his bag.

Murtoa remarks, “It’s a fool’s errand. They’re offering that much because no one else has been able to defeat it.” He looks up at the drakyk, saying, “Good luck, Hunter.”

“Gyrryth, human. A name’s an honor, if you’d honor me.”

“Murtoa, unfortunately.”

The drakyk chuckles, musing, “Humans. Will you not stay and join the merry hunt, Murtoa?”

The scrap-armored warrior replies, “Not interested. And this many hunters, won’t be any other jobs left. Better to keep moving. Nice meeting you, Gyrryth. Good luck.” The two shake hands, and the lizard nods. “Good luck, Murtoa.”

Lykha hasn’t forgotten her irritation, but she asks, “You won’t even hear them out? What if you can defeat it?”

The warrior pauses long enough to reply to her, “There are parties from all over the world. If I can defeat it, they probably can. If they can’t defeat it, I probably can’t. I’m not a god.”

He starts to continue, but a fairly young woman steps up, fully armored, but with deep pitting in her armor and what looks to be a chemical burn on her right arm. Still, she projects powerfully, “Thank you all so much for coming. My name is Kolaya. I am the bailiff of this humble town, and it means a lot that so many of you responded to my bounty. Some of you are wondering if the bounty is real, and I assure you, it is. The other village bailiffs and I have been struggling to scrape together enough gold to make this hunt attractive enough to earn your service. Please understand, this… thing is like nothing anyone’s faced before.”

One of the more gruff mercenary types calls out, “Let’s see the gold, pipsqueak. We ain’t here for some sob story.” Some cheers confirm this mercenary’s blunt opinion isn’t alone.

She disheartens a little, saying sternly, “You know why that isn’t possible. The gold is gathered and secured in a safe place. The location of which will be revealed on completion of the bounty.”

One of them stands up, retorting, “I been in the business too long to know; if it sounds too good, it is.”

He and several others file out, grumbling and cursing the young woman, who watches with only a little disappointment. One of the woman hunters taunts Mury as she passes, “Simp away, boys. Maybe she’ll even put out.” She and her friends laugh as they exit.

Kolaya says with a little less fire in her voice, “This monster has already destroyed six villages, including Uthron to the west, the largest free village in this region. It seems to abduct or consume everyone in the span of a day or less. We haven’t had any survivors to confirm any details about it, but we believe it’s an acid user. Those of you with chemical resistances and elemental attacks have the highest likelihood of success, but I truly beg you all to help us find and fight this thing.”

“Million gold for a silveryourd? You really are outta your mind, princess!”

Kolaya replies, “While it’s true silveryourds have been reported to successfully disappear villages in the past, those villages were minimal in size. And, they leave a lot of blood behind from those they don’t hit with acid attacks. The monster that we’re hunting doesn’t.”

One of the mercenaries scoffs, saying, “Million’s barely worth a silveryourd anyways. Have to replace all your gear afterwards nine outta ten times.”

“I understand how you all feel. Truly, I do. But, please. You must understand! We need to stop this monster. It managed to catch a village trying to flee to the north in transit. We’re desperate, and it’s all we could scrape together… From… the deceased as well.”

There’s a grim silence that falls over the room. Looting bodies happens on the job, since the original owners are unlikely to need the items any longer. But, no one really likes to boast about it. It’s rather like bragging about punching a paotruss. They don’t really do anything about it, and it’s not a challenge in the slightest.

The real Murtoa asks from his corner table, “Do we have any ideas where it nests? Do you have a map of the attacks and their estimated times?”

There’s some grumbling, and the female mage in his group says, “It’ll also be helpful if we can determine what time of day it appeared in, as well as weather conditions.” She’s youthful, but has an experienced edge to her personality.

While Lykha could commend Mury for staying to hear about the monster, she’s still irritated that he’s posing as someone obviously noble and knightly like the real Murtoa -the one she heard stories of-.

Someone nearby says quietly and sarcastically, “Leave it to him to take this job seriously…”

“Still though… If this thing goes unchecked… not to mention the million gold…”

Another voice whispers, “Not like we can return to a city.”

“Yeah, but still…”

Kolaya holds up a map, “I have a map with the attacks, as well as our best guesses to the time and date. It attacks months apart, and there doesn’t seem to be any real pattern to where.”

The real Murtoa stands up, picking up his elegant looking longsword and saying to his oldest companion, a bearded man, “Copy the coordinates, please. We’ll ready to search the last area hit. No such thing as an actual solaghoul, so we’ll find this thing. After that, we’ll see what we can do.”

His companions cheer, and another group leader stands up, saying, “Screw it! I’m in it for a million. Anyone else with me, let’s ride.” There are more cheers, and the young woman’s face brightens in hope.

The real Murtoa presents himself to Kolaya, saying, “Murtoa of Lakia is officially at your service, M’lady. Consider this beast as good as dead.”

She says softly with a relieved smile, “Thank you so much…”

As the room clears out with excited adventurers and mercenaries heading off to search for the monster in question, Lykha murmurs, “I don’t believe this.”

Coco retorts, “I know! That goob posin’ as ‘Bando. The flabber of some goobs.”

“What!? No! I mean you! How can YOU call yourself… ugh… You know.” She looks at Mury, embarrassed to even address the issue in a room full of people.

The warrior looks at her briefly, and then at Kolaya. Without responding to Lykha, he approaches the younger bailiff and says, “Apologies for not speaking up. I think a village was attacked more recently than your map has. Here. If it helps, it leaves behind an acidic salt that blends in with mud and sand. That’s why evidence is so difficult to find.”

Her eyes widen, and she asks, “How do you know this?”

“Honestly? Her. She was cleaning our sand rail when she discovered it.” He gestures at Coco. He adds, “We don’t know much else other than what you said. But, if your group finds it, be wary of the ground around it, even if it’s dry.”

“You’re… not going to help?”

“Afraid not. Good luck, Bailiff.”

She sighs. “Thanks.” She adds the new village to her map and turns to a colleague. Murtoa walks out without another word, passing Gyrryth, who watches curiously as he finishes a drink.

Lykha wishes she could convince Mury otherwise. But then, it seems, he truly is what she feared.

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