Lares keeps his eyes fixed on the horizon.
“I see what you are getting at with the trust: It’s hard to work together if you expect that the others will hurt you. I’ve found, though, that people tend trust you if you help them when they need it, make their lives good and treat them in a way they consider appropriate. You can declare a holy covenant of trust afterwards, of course, but if you don’t dance the dance first, it won’t matter.”
Lares waves his hand, indicating the whole covenant.
“Sometimes, though, if you first earn their trust, people are going to keep trusting even when they probably shouldn’t. Maybe something like that happened here? Maybe I was too nice to you all. I let you mind your own business. My family kept things running, and you all ran after personal projects, as you mentioned.”