“He laid WHAT inside of me?!”
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Note to self: Cross ‘packbond with and nearly be parasitized by a predatory beetle thing’ off my bucket list, because it sure as hell wasn’t on my bingo card.
I’m not gonna go into super big detail or anything here, mostly because I’d rather forget the entire ordeal. But! The long and short of it is that Max Jr. had laid eggs inside of me, and the reason it stuck around me so much was because it was guarding what had become its nest — me. It appeared that the eggs had somehow been laid in my abdomen without me noticing, but the little shit fucked off before the eggs could hatch after the cepheran appeared. Either way, the kind people at the infirmary noticed this via some kind of screening spell and promptly removed them surgically.
Did they operate with sterile equipment? Good question, I asked. The answer was a resounding “what?” Hope that clears up how I felt right about then.
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With that out of the way, I’d like to move on to bigger and greener pastures or something to that effect. After waking up and learning all about ‘Lesser Spotted Bore Beetle’ reproduction, as Hollo so gracefully put it after meeting back up with him and Sanon, I… did precisely that actually. I met back up with Hollo and Sanon, the latter of which seemed to be a hair away from giving the former an impromptu visit to the dentist. Then I mentioned the prior information to the two, which prompted two very different reactions from them.
Sanon was naturally appalled and likewise disgusted, but relieved that I was okay. Hollo on the other hand, was weirdly excited. It was that excitement that prompted the lesson on bore beetle reproductive habits, which unfortunately included remembering that parasitoid wasps exist back on Earth, and that Max Jr. was pretty much that but in a much bigger package. If you happen to want to know more about the precise mechanisms involved with that, go read Hollo’s field guide or something — he goes into shockingly precise detail.
All that said and buried, hopefully forever, Hollo had decided to stick around us for a while longer, the reason for which is something that I’m gonna mention later in the chapter because suspense. Imagine I just did jazz hands or something.
Anyway, Hollo had chosen to regale us with tales of his heroism, though calling it that might be met with some resistance from the townsfolk of Hinalydon. Speaking of, the town we’re in is called Hinalydon, which is coincidentally where Hollo was born and raised, indicated by his family name… or like ‘not-given name’? I dunno. Poporean naming conventions are weird, and basically everyone from the town had some variation of the Hinalydon name. Naming weirdness aside, the town itself was actually shockingly close to Elion, so it wouldn’t be that much longer before we made it there, barring any unfortunate encounters a la cepheran or Nauphi.
It was also nice to find out that while news of Nauphi’s razing had indeed spread here, the specific details of who might have been considered the culprit weren’t public information. My better judgement told me that I should turn right the hell around and head south or something, but my gut told me that I could handle whatever it was that they threw at me, book included. Call me naïve, and you’d be right.
Either way, his tales were certainly something, but I won’t be putting them here, since I hardly remember the details myself, and I’m not about to go memory diving to find them. I’ve done enough of that already with this novel, and the closer to the present I get, the easier this will be.
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I’d found his stories to be entertaining enough though, even as we got many a stare from passers by as we made our way through the town on a personal tour from the aforementioned tale-teller. Sanon had already tuned him out, and if it wasn’t clear enough after saying it like three times, Sanon did not like Hollo. I listened in to Hollo’s stories, but I was still more interested in the town itself.
Hinalydon was a pretty well-put-together town, even in comparison to Nauphi which had some pretty good infrastructure considering the level of technology that I’d seen until then. The houses and other facilities were typically built out of a combination of wood, metal, and bricks with an almost Victorian aesthetic, though maybe a bit more toned down. Many of the obviously residential houses had roofs of strange make. A weird combination of sturdier tiling and what looked like paper made for quite a strange sight. I posited that it might have been for ventilation, what with the area being pretty reasonably hot.
If you looked outside the town, you’d quickly notice a dense tropical forest past the clearing where the town was built, and on the horizon, what looked like an immense plateau to the north, precisely where Elion would be, which was actually kinda weird in my opinion since Elion is supposed to be a coastal city.
We also passed by a market area with plenty of stalls and larger buildings clearly intended for selling a variety of goods, though I could smell a distinctly foody kind of smell emanating from a couple of stalls and one of the buildings. In fact, the steak that I’d eaten after waking up appeared to be being served at one of those stalls. Behind the stall was a rather large cart filled to the brim with what looked like frozen meat. And frozen it was, since I could see mist flowing out from the cart and into the nearby alley.
All in all, seeing this town definitely gave me pause as to whether or not I should even be trying to apply human methods of measuring societal progress, because this definitely wasn’t iron age, and medieval could clearly only be applied in some places, not all.
Eventually we came to a rather grand, yet somehow reserved estate, prompting Hollo to stop and regale us with information pertaining to the residence. “THIS IS MINE OWN RESIDENCE WHICH I DO INDEED CALL HOME. DO PLEASE MAKE YOURSELVES AT HOME, FOR WHAT IS MINE, IS YOURS. Do mind the wildlife though, some of them can get a bit nippy.”
Past the gates of the estate were a variety of ponds, wooded areas, open field-like areas with varying heights of grasses, a number of smaller shed-like buildings, etc etc etc. I’d even spotted a few different Helsan animals, the most notable of them being a group of large armored quadrupeds that looked like a buffalo and a pangolin had a baby. The scales on it reminded me pretty strongly of Sanon’s hair, though it seemed like they were much more suited for being armor than Sanon’s were. Some of the plants were notably not green, and not in a seasonal way. More in an ‘everything else around is different’ way. Seriously, everything else around me was still green, while the non-green plants were more of a deep purple coloration.
I now know that the area I was in didn’t experience a winter so much as it experienced a dry season and wet season, and changing colors in plants wasn’t so much a seasonal thing necessarily. The purple plants, for example, were just using retinol instead of chlorophyl, which basically means they reflected purple light instead of green light. Fascinating, but I’m not a botanist.
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The main building at the center of the property, while ornate, gave off a more militaristic vibe, which clashed with the nature reserve-esque vibes of the rest of the estate. It had a lot of blacks, golds, and weirdly enough, greens. The interior clashed with the exterior just as much as, if not more than the building versus the rest of the estate. It was almost like a medieval research laboratory of some kind had been turned into living quarters, though with Hollo it was probably the other way around. Even so, that wasn’t necessarily true for the entire building, as the foyer maintained the ornate militaristic aesthetic that the exterior had presented.
Another thing that didn’t really come as a surprise, but still caught me off guard was the fact that what I had assumed to be a sizeable portion of the staff of the estate had gathered in two orderly lines upon our entry into the building. Some of them were clearly dressed for their positions, maids, butlers, kitchen staff, you know the types. But some of them were a bit harder to discern, what with their strange brown colored robes and silvery apparatus adorning their faces, like some kind of attempt at glasses. Or at least that’s what I had thought until a roar echoed through the building, and half of the strangely dressed staff immediately booked it to the source. Researchers of some kind, probably.
Less strange were the few staff that were clearly armed. Most had swords or daggers, but a few had greatblades akin to what I’d seen Hollo wield against the cepheran. The greatbladers were doing a salute of some kind, so there was certainly something that only they were a part of in this arrangement.
Even stranger to me, was the fact that among the staff were a couple of humans. Conversation with them would of course be inevitable, since the only other humans I’d seen since I got here were me, myself, and I. I might be describing it somewhat calmly in this moment, but believe me when I say I was foaming at my proverbial mouth to speak to them.
Wait why did he bring us here?
“Hey- psst- hey Sanon.” I whispered inconspicuously… probably.
“Hm?” Came a raised eyebrow.
“Any idea why he brought us here?”
“WHY, FOR TEA OF COURSE!!” Announced Hollo, making it clear my whispering was most certainly not inconspicuous.
“Tea?” Asked both myself and Sanon.
“TEA INDEED, FRIENDS!”
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Yeah, tea indeed. I never really imagined myself a tea enjoyer, but I also never imagined that I would have eggs laid inside of me, so I guess there’s a first for everything. I need to stop bringing that up. The tea was good though. Pretty earthy, herbal, tea-like.
We’d seated ourselves in a private study of some variety while Hollo had the aforementioned tea delivered to us. After taking a nice, big sip, he began his theatrics again, or so I had assumed he would.
“SO! How are you feeling, young Max?” spoke Hollo, his crimson crest feathers perking up briefly before flattening back down.
“You’re quiet all of a sudden. What changed?” I asked, rather bluntly in hindsight.
“We’re in private now, my theatrics aren’t necessary here. Now please answer my question.” Hollo retorted.
“Uh- yeah. I feel alright, pretty limber actually. I think that rest did me quite a bit of good.”
“Indeed, it must have! I am most pleased to hear that you are rested and recovered. I suppose I will have to give that infirmary a bonus for their hard work, indeed!” Hollo took a long sip. “I do want to broach a particular topic, however.”
Oooh, consider me interested.
“I’m all ears. Shoot.”
“How long have you been here on Helsa?” Questioned Hollo. I could feel his gaze sharpen briefly.
“Uhh I think… about two-ish months… maybe?”
“That confirms my suspicions then. The two of you are woefully unprepared to be travelling in the wilds, even following the roads. I can understand Miss Sanon here being confident, but you? I’m not so sure you’re aware of what’s out there. Do you know what I am?”
Sanon piped up. “He isn’t helpless… well, mostly. He’s just really reckless, like a lot.”
Rude, but true.
Hollo’s eye’s narrowed, but his expression brightened up shortly after. “Ah! A brash one then! Much like myself when I was but a wee chick in training. I’ll ask again, though, Max. Do you know what I am?”
Pretty insistent on that question, huh.
“I… do not. What are you?”
Hollo chuckled briefly. “I want you to guess.”
“A member of some kind of military? Maybe a guardsman of some kind?” I posited. He did have the sword after all.
“Mm, not quite, but close. I am an eco-mercenary.”
“Ohh I’ve heard of those. I think the Partisan Guild contracted some to work for our tribes.” said Sanon.
“Oh? Is that so? Which branch?” Hollo asked, his crest perked up in interest.
Sanon closed her eyes briefly in contemplation. “I… think they were from the Lonta-Cher Border Branch.”
“Ah! I’ve never met their representative, but I’ve heard they’re one of the founding branches. I’ve much respect for them.”
At that point I’d gotten pretty lost, so I opted to make it known. “Uh. Sorry to interrupt, but what’s an eco-mercenary?”
Hollo stopped his next words in their tracks, realizing he’d completely changed the subject. “Apologies, friend! It seems we've gotten off-topic!” Hollo cleared his throat and took another sip of tea. “As I said before, I am an eco-mercenary. We like to set down our roots in a region and do routine patrols in the settlements of the region. Whenever a particularly large and rowdy creature draws just a hair too close to a settlement, it’s an eco-mercenary’s job to handle it and either kill or discourage the creature from getting any closer.”
Reminds me of a game from back home. Something about hunting monsters.
“I see… Uh. I don’t mean to be rude or anything, but how is this relevant to our apparent unpreparedness?”
A sinister smile manifested upon Hollo’s face. “Why, what better way is there to gain preparedness than by being trained by an experienced eco-mercenary such as yours truly? You simply must stay a while and allow me to show you proper form for using that wonderfully crafted spear of yours! You as well, Miss Sanon. I can tell you aren’t terribly fond of dear old Hollo, so allow me to make it up to you!”
“One moment please.” I said, holding up a finger.
I wrapped an arm around Sanon and pulled us into a group huddle.
Naturally, Sanon protested the sudden contact, nearly reminding me that humans only get two sets of teeth. “What are you doing???”
“Okay- yay or nay. Is it time for a training arc?” I whispered inconspicuously.
“He can definitely hear us, and what in the hells is a training arc?” Asked an incredulous Sanon.
“Training? Should we get trained? Like let him train us? A training arc? A story arc consisting of training? An arc of training, if you will?”
“Shut up. But yes, you need to be able to defend yourself.”
“Hm. Yes. I agree. And you need to be able to not freeze up like a deer in headlights whenever something attacks us.” I retorted, which earned me a bruised shoulder and a very angry glare from Sanon.
“What even is a deer??”
“Don’t worry about it.” I said, ending the huddle and turning to face Hollo, whose expression was one of mild confusion. “Sure. Let’s do a training arc. Gimme your worst.”