6 was looking at Cypius as if he was a fool, questioning if he should truly take his words to heart if he is just going to contradict himself like this.
"What the hell do you mean I've already met a Landless. Who? You?" 6 said, accusatorily.
The awkward look on Cypius' face intensified, unsure as to how much information he should share with 6.
"Well…we normally do not tell outsiders. I am only willing to tell you this because you are not from here, and thus should hold no prejudice. Please treat no one any differently because of this." Cypius said after some thought.
"Relax, I don't pay enough attention to people to think about treating them any differently." 6 said as he began grooming his nails
"How reassuring." Cypius watched 6 fiddle with his nails as he wondered what was going on inside his head.
6 wasn't sure if eye rolling was a thing for the people of this planet, but the sarcasm that dripped from Cypius' words hit him even harder without it.
"Many of the adults of our village were Landless. They aren't anymore, technically, as they are now part of Folrost. But most people of our world would still consider them Landless." Cypius said, doing his best to keep the awkwardness off of his face. "This is a secret. We cant let this become known to everyone or our people will face violent discrimination."
6 slowly stood up and began pacing in the room, contemplating the words he just heard. The awkwardness finally left, replaced by nervousness on Cypius' face as he waited to see how 6 would react.
"Okay. okay." 6 said, mostly to himself. "So they are Landless. That is okay. So they have a story? Do they all have a cool story? What kind of stories? Will I have to stay here for weeks to hear them all?"
A sigh escaped Cypius' lips. He realized he was worried about the entirely wrong thing. The more he got to know 6, the weirder the man became to him, and the less he tried to guess what he was thinking.
"Why would you feel the need to do that?" Cypius asked. "On second thought, please refrain from answering that. I can't bear to imagine the sort of nonsense I will hear. Firstly, I'll ask that you refrain from bringing this up to anyone in the village, especially-"
"The kids, especially the kids." 6 cut him off, now biting his nails as he paced the room.
"Yes. and secondly, no. They all have the same story." Cypius followed up.
6 continued his pacing about the room, now doing so out of disappointment rather than excitement. From the looks of it, Cypius had no intention of sharing the story with 6, and 6 didn't feel like pushing his luck.
"Okay. okay. So what can I know?"
"I do think this information will be helpful for you anyways, so I'll share this. In this case, when they became Landless, it left massive side effects. The empty stares and slow movements are but one. It basically made it impossible for them to function as ordinary land folk. Connecting to a new land helped, but it could only do so much. Had Folrost not taken them in, they likely would have died."
Halting his pacing to look at Cypius as he spoke, he thought about what that meant.
"Wait a second. Basically every grown person here that isn't a child seems to match that description. Does that mean-" 6 said before he was interrupted.
"Yes."
"So all of…all of Folrost original inhabitants-" Cypius interrupted 6's sentence once again.
"Yes. Right now Folrost has been reduced to its weak, its young, and the essential workers who could not leave the town. And the former Landless." he said.
"The spiders?" 6 asked as he took a seat.
"Yes." Cypius responded with a cold face.
6 lifted his hands and placed them on his head. The effect the spider's had on Folrost were much greater than he initially assumed. They lost their sister land first, and then it was swiftly followed by losing a large number of the villagers.
"Jesus. I'm sorry." 6 said after a moment of silence. He didn't want to say too much.
"I have come to terms with it." Cypius said, his expression not cracking.
The silence permeated the room once more, the two men not speaking a word.
For 6, this news sealed the fact that he could not count on anyone from Folrost joining him on his visit to the spider's nest, not that he would have invited anyone. They wouldnt have the protection from Trivrium that he has, and Cypius certainly couldn't spare what limit people he has left on what was likely to be a suicide mission.
Judging from the number of kids he had seen thus far, the ones with bright eyes, most of whom didn't bear any resemblance to each other, there had to be at least 30-40 families who were wiped out. That isn't including any childless people. It was a massive number to lose, especially when it consisted of most of Folrost's able population.
"I am thankful to Folrost for taking in the Landless, for without them we would truly be nearly exterminated. They have given us a second chance." Cypius said.
In the room, the two spoke for another hour before Plono interrupted them. 6 was forced to leave as Plono needed to speak to her father in private.
"Thank you for your time Cypius. I'll see you tomorrow, you know where to find me if you need me. And I guess you can get a key too, so that's always nice to keep in mind." 6 said, heading to the door. "Thank goodness i don't have any stuff to be stolen."
"Ew. are you telling me you don't have any fresh clothes to change into?" Plono said, her face scrunching up.
"She's right, that is gross. I'll have Karkum lend you some clothes. And take a bath, please." Cypius followed up.
There was no disgust in his face, but his words held a slight prodding to them.
"Hey, I'm not as big as you but do you really think I can fit into Karkum's clothing?"
"Would you rather wear mine?" Plono said, poking at the fact that she was nearly the same height as 6.
"I would, actually."
She scoffed at his words, clearly not expecting him to agree so easily. She wanted to retort, but was interrupted by Cypius.
"Enough. Karkum is an innkeeper, I would hardly believe no one has ever left behind some clothing of your size. He'll have something for you." Cypius said. "And if not, I suppose you can wear some of Plono's clothes"
"Dad!"
"Ahaha, I'm merely jesting. Some of the other villagers will surely have some if Karkum does not, and if you truly cannot find clothes that fit you will simply have to be disgusting, as Plono so kindly worded."
"He doesn't need disgusting clothes to be disgusting." Plono whispered under her breath.
She spoke loud enough for both men to hear, but they each chose to ignore her, to her dismay.
6 finally turned the handle of the doorknob he had been holding, opening the door as he let sunlight enter the room that was previously only lit by two small windows.
"I'll leave you two alone now. Have a good day!" 6 said, not even waiting for their goodbyes as he stepped through the open door and closed it behind him.
As soon as he left, Cypius turned to Plono.
"Did you talk to Karkum?"
"Yessir. He'll be on his way over soon."
"Good. Thank you, dear." Cypius said as he stood to place his hand on his daughter's head.
"Did everything go well with him? With 6, I mean." Plono asked.
"It did. As well as it could go amidst such terrible happenings." Cypius said. "When things are as low as they are now, not becoming worse is often the most you can ask for."
His daughter would one day take his place leading the village. Cypius wanted to do the best he could to teach her. With the tragedies of late, he was pressed for time. He wanted to make absolutely certain she was ready, in case anything happened to him. With her mother gone, who used to be the one to handle matters like this, it became much more difficult for Cypius.
His wife was stronger than him, emotionally and physically. It should've been her to survive the trip to the spider's nest, had she not died trying to protect him and the other villagers. She would have known how to handle the issues in the village, she could have taught her daughter better, she could have handled the situation with 6. Cypius allowed this thoughts to run through his head, but he did not allow them to show on his face.
The two didn't always get along, as his wife was rather strict on her daughter, but it was still her mother. He didn't want Plono to hurt even more than she already does. He remained strong for her sake, just as his wife would.
"Yes, dad, i know." Plono said with annoyance in her voice.
"As every teenager surely does. How are the children? Did you ask them about speaking with 6?"
"Yessir. A few of them were too nervous, you know who didn't even respond to me, the little jerk, and 3 said they were okay with it." she responded.
"That's quite alright. Do see if you can convince more, but dont push them too much. You did a good job, thank you."
Plono nodded in response and began to walk to her room.
"Let me know if you need anything, dear."
A short knock came from the door before it opened, revealing Karkum standing just outside of it. He strode in, his shoulders broader and his face devoid of emotion.
"Do refrain from acting like that in front of 6. It would be a dead giveaway if you suddenly switch your personality." Cypius said as he sat back down into his chair.
"You could easily explain it as trauma." Karkum's voice was equally devoid of emotion as he spoke, the tone remaining entirely flat.
"Yes, but I should not have to." Cypius said, tapping his finger against his armrest.
"You won't." Karkum shut the door behind himself, but did not walk toward a chair.
"Did you find anything interesting about 6?"
"He remained awake for a significant amount of time after checking into his room last night. He looked through the window to observe the people. Aside from purchasing a room, he did not interact with me last night, feigning sleepiness from the long trip." Karkum said.
Karkum was monitoring 6's every move to ensure the safety of the village, of his own decision. The two spoke to each other as if they were equals, not the leader and subordinate manner that they maintained when 6 was in the room.