"Still, don't you think it's a little strange?" Hershel's trying to be gentle here and not laugh, I swear. "You seem more interested in making sure you 'won' than the fact he may or may not have made it into a contest. Then again you do seem competitive..."

Hershel considered for a moment. "Well... during bingo I had a chance to talk to him more when we did some of his squares. He mentioned he was willing to take a chance that first round because of your influence, I believe. In general he seemed to just find you worthy of his trust, which I think is probably not an easy thing to win from him."