The old woman laughed. It was the kind of laugh that immediately made me glad I wasn't Gerald.
"Oh, I adore him."
I raised an eyebrow.
"Then why do you look like you want to strangle him?"
"Because this is what he does."
She shook her head.
"He interferes in other people's affairs, disappears whenever it's convenient, and somehow manages to create problems for everyone involved."
Her expression became increasingly suspicious.
"But more than that, I still don't understand how he keeps finding our settlements."
The old woman leaned back in her chair.
"We've changed locations. We've changed defenses. We've changed access methods. Yet every single time, that old rogue somehow figures out where we are."
Then she sighed dramatically.
"And every time Gerald decides to help someone, the amount of work he creates for everyone else somehow increases."
"To be fair, he was helpful."
"Oh, I'm sure he was."
She nodded immediately.
"That's the problem."
