"Guhhhhh…"
What in the hell even is that noise? It sounds like… like, if fire could vomit, that was the noise it would make.
"From behind."
Oh. Thanks Kandance. I turn around and see a Dreimaaz on a bench. Its skin is dark red, and- oh shit, it's literally vomiting fire. Well, I say fire, but it's more like fire magic. It's not spreading and it's only scorching the spot they're throwing up on.
"Are… are you ok?"
I go to approach them, but they hold up a finger. Is that supposed to mean "one second"?
"Hmph, they're probably going to jump at you and melt your face off if you get too close. Just be ready to defend yourself…"
I shake my head at Kandance. Poor, simpleminded, racist Kandance. She still thinks Dreimaaz should not be considered people. Well I know better, and I'm just going to wait.
"Gaaah… haaaah… water…"
Ah, yeah, that'd probably help. At least, I assume so?
"On it. One moment…"
I quickly looked around Historia's Rest and found a drinking fountain. What a gracious gift of convenience! It even has disposable cups to fill up. Two should be enough, hopefully. Because that's the amount of filled water cups I brought to the Dreimaaz.
"T-thanks…!"
They carefully pull at their lower lip and start pouring the water in. Its effect wasn't immediate at first, but it only took a minute for the fire magic breath to shrink and disappear.
"Why… were you doing that?"
The Dreimaaz tilted its head like I was an alien or something.
"Never seen it before? It's just how we Dreimaaz get excess mana out of our systems. Ya know, my pa told me that the type of magic we spew up depends on what type of demon one of our ancestors was. And-"
Nope, not interested in a lore lesson.
"I got it now, thank you. And yes, I lived most of my life without ever seeing a Dreimaaz in person…"
They just nodded for a bit, giggling to themselves and hiccuping. Are… are they drunk? Does alcohol give mana? Or is mana alcoholic? Actually, I think I see a beer bottle in the nearby trash, is that the word "mana-infused" on it? There's brands of beer infused with mana? That'd explain why he's drunk. So wait, were they vomiting from being drunk or vomiting from excess mana? Or maybe-
"Wellllllll, you should visit our, hic, our district! It's gonna get real busy once Hubresia's Welcome starts and-"
I didn't interrupt them that time, they just stopped speaking mid sentence.
"... Shit, I gotta help set up the district! Gotta go! Enjoy the Archpontifex Wingding!"
The who and the wha- they're gone.
"I don't recall ever making a 'wingding' based on my Mortal Form. I may have made plenty of holy relics and had them named after both my regular self and my mortal disguise, but nothing like that…"
Kandance and I are talking about what that drunk Dreimaaz told us while I continue walking through Camlyonn.
"Someone probably made it up in their honor, then."
Honestly I have no clue what a wingding even is. I know it's a computer text font that was popularized due to a certain video game, but as for what it could mean here, I am completely in the dark.
"What about Hubresia, that name ring any bells?"
"Well, duh. That's what month it is."
Ah. Yeah I never did ask how days and months and all that stuff works, just years and time in general.
"How many are there?"
"Twelve."
"Amount of days?"
"I just copied Earth's and repeated for infinity."
Hold on, she did?
"Wait, did you make the calendar system in Fanta Regauss too?!"
"Now you got it."
Man. She really likes doing all of this stuff that's been kept up for tens of thousands of years, but then doesn't even bother to visit the world more than twice?
"As for the names, they're all based on the Pontifices that had accompanied me during my time here, just given a little flare. The odd numbered months are the ones from my first visit, and the even numbered months are from the second. Hubresia comes from Hubert, the first Hewmitahl Pontifex. He was the first to approach me after I descended to Fanta Regauss, and thus he got to be the first month. And second, but that was before my second visit and the existence of my second followers."
What an overly complex way to come up with something so unimportant as the names of the months. Should have just picked twelve from the beginning and be done with it!
"Think that's why he mentioned 'Hubresia's Welcome' or something?"
"Yeah, but as to what that could be, I haven't the faintest idea…"
I'm so busy that I don't even notice the Kamamein wearing a glowing safety vest in front of me, and thus I bump into them.
"Ack, sorry."
"S'all good, mate. Just watch yerself while preparations are going on."
What are they preparing for? The Hero?
"Preparations for…?"
Just like with the Dreimaaz from earlier, this guy gave me a weird look. But with even more bewilderment.
"You know, for Hubresia's Welcome?"
"I… have lived in the wilderness for the past sixty eight years. I don't know what that is."
That shocked him to the point of him taking a step back.
"Woah. Well, uhh, do you wanna know?"
"Yes, may I?"
"Yeah, lemme just… lemme just figure out how to explain it all…"
He crossed his arms and began to think, even scratching his head a few times. I just stood there like a deer in the headlights, fitting since his glowing vest could be described as headlights, before finally speaking up.
"So, 10000 AD is the year after this one, yeah? And to celebrate, all the big leader folks decided that this year, which is 9999 AD if ya didn't already know, would be a pre-celebration year. And for every month, one of the big cities is gonna host an event named after the month, and it's gonna be like what usually goes on there but turned up to the maximum. Got that?"
Ah. Well it's a good thing that- wait no, that sounds horrible with context. I was gonna make a joke about how it's good that someone who wanted to live a quiet life their next reincarnation didn't get brought here during this year, but that'd imply I wanted someone else to die instead of me. And that doesn't sound good.
"Yes, I understand now."
"Good. Wait, forgot a detail!"
Oh?
"Everyone's also expecting Hero twenty five to show up either this year or next year, too. So if they arrive as an adult or some adult in the world gets the Hero memories while we're all partying, they'll probably like us folks and help make the world a better place."
Right, they're still expecting me to appear like everyone else. If only they knew…
"Ah yes, I do know about the Heroes…""That's good, didn't wanna explain 'em to ya. By the way, our construction crew is taking bets on where the Hero will be from. Paaldrea's trying to convince everyone to bet on 'em being Japanese since it's the most common one, but I know he's really gonna bet on Brazilian to win big, since his favorite Hero growing up is number ten."
Is that useful to know? I can't even tell at this point.
"Speaking of construction, shouldn't you be… doing that?"
"... Shoot, right. Hope the boss doesn't chew me out for chatting with a civilian…"
I just wave goodbye to him and walk the other direction.