Page 2562 -- CCXXXVI.

((The Mon/Wen/Fri Double -- page 2 of 2))
Chapter Two Hundred Thirty-Six: 'The land's attention...'
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Hector stepped up to the edge of the cliff for a better look. It was even taller than he'd expected. He could see the edge of the Imara Forest to the north, as well as the road that led to Atreya to the south. There was a clear gradient among the foliage as it slowly changed from the lush green north to a thinned out grassland and finally to the barren gray south.

It was a little strange to realize that his home was down south, in the mildly evil-looking region.

He could hear the ever present footsteps of Matteo Delaguna behind him, along with the much more distant ones of the survey team farther down the slope. The Lorentian Secretary of Agriculture and Land Development, Jonathan Nash, had insisted on sending them with him in order to answer any questions that he may have. Mostly, Hector had just been talking to them through his radio from a thousand or more feet away, because actually waiting up for them was pretty painful.

They weren't the only other members of the party, though. Ravi Zaman and Carl Rondel and both their reapers had decided to come along as well. The presidential advisors from Abolish and the Vanguard, respectively.

Precisely what their goal here was, Hector really couldn't say, though Garovel seemed to think that it was to ingratiate themselves with the new hero of Lorent. With the war going, Hector would've thought they were too busy for something so trivial, but he was having a hard time imagining a different reason.

They actually weren't even talking to him much, though. Mr. Rondel in particular had barely said five words to him so far, and from what Hector had seen, both men were constantly on their phones.