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‘We also wanted to ask you about how Warrenhold affects children,’ said Garovel. ‘Babies, in particular.’

That made Hector pay attention again.

‘Mm,’ hummed Voreese. ‘You’re worried that Stasya’s pest control mechanism might negatively impact some of these Rainlord kids?’

‘Pretty much.’

‘That won’t be a problem,’ said Voreese. ‘In fact, it’ll have just the opposite effect. Instead of feeling immense discomfort, kids who grow up in Warrenhold will come to have a strong association between that unnatural sensation and “home.” So it might seem a little counter-intuitive, but what ends up happening is that those kids become quite attached to Warrenhold when they’re older.’

‘Wow, really?’

‘That is assuming, of course, that those kids don’t have horrible lives at Warrenhold for other reasons. Basically, whatever kind of overall experience the kids have when they’re very young will be amplified in their minds after their brains begin to mature.’

‘I see. But this doesn’t work for animals?’

‘Nope.’

‘Any idea why?’

‘I think it has something to do with the human brain being much more capable of adaptation and self-protection. It’s probably a combination of things, I imagine.’

‘Interesting. So then, there must be a cut off point in a child’s age, right?’

‘Yes. It’s around thirteen years old, but it can vary a little. After that, you have to explain the effects to them like everyone else or they’ll start freaking out.’

‘Thirteen? That seems rather late. I assume it has something to do with puberty, then?’

‘Yeah, but I couldn’t tell you the exact reason why it works that way. It’s just what I’ve observed.’

‘So that means that Marcos and Ramira Elroy are still eligible for the little “nostalgia boost,” then,’ said Garovel.

‘That depends,’ said Voreese. ‘Are either of them servants yet?’

‘Oh. Yes. Marcos is.’

‘Then he’s not “eligible,” as you put it, because servants can’t even feel a difference in Warrenhold to begin with.’

‘Right. Okay.’

As he continued digging, Hector thought he glimpsed something in the dark material, and when he slammed a small iron spike into it another time, a chunk of the unknown element broke off, and Hector caught in his hand.

And, yep. In the opening it had left, he could see another brain waiting to be dug out. He eyed the material in his hand another time, though.

“Can either of you tell what this stuff is?” he asked. It was black and had a hard, shiny texture to it.

‘It’s different from the brown powdery material we saw outside the warehouses,’ said Garovel. ‘I suppose that could mean that we’re actually dealing with two materializers, but that’s not likely, is it?’

‘No,’ said Voreese. ‘Roman definitely would’ve mentioned that. Even he’s not so incompetent as to overlook a second opponent.’

‘Then this black stuff and that brown stuff must be the same element,’ said Garovel.

“How can that be?” said Hector.

‘Because of allotropes,’ said Garovel.