“Really gives you a sense of her popularity, huh?” Dia’s eyes tracked Countess Farah as her people tossed her up and down, cheering madly the entire time. Her name, roared to the five grand skies, resounded across the entire territory, and as the mob brought their beloved ruler away, more and more people ran over to join the rejoicing people of Farah County.

“Yeah.” Aunt Lumine chuckled. “So adorable.”

“Still, didn’t she say something about wanting to keep a low profile?” Dia tilted her head. “Why did she decide to start shouting out her identity then?”

“Maybe some part of her identity decided to reassert itself,” said Aunt Lumine. “Like a dormant part of her personality, awakening under the right stimulus. Sometimes, people do things that seem a bit out of character, right? It’s possible that those actions were actually part of their character back then, only to be repressed due to outside influences.”

Dia wanted to ask if her usual sorrowful aura was part of that, but she was a few hundred years too young to actually ask such a question. It was possible that a spanking would follow if she ever voiced such an impertinent question to her aunt…and her father probably would approve with applause to boot.

“That makes sense,” said Dia, having murdered the urge to ask stupid questions. “Farah was quite the arrogant person when I first met her. She had to be taken down a peg or two by the others, and eventually mellowed out.”

“I get a feeling that the scene before us probably has a part to play in that, though,” Aunt Lumine replied. “Being the subject of such adulation cannot be good for the psyche after a long while.”

“Really?”

“Would I lie? There’s a reason why your father doesn’t show his face in public often. It is easy to be drunk off adoration, and once that happens, your rationality is affected,” the Lamenter of Sorrowful Partings replied. “You might not think this is important, but as you continue to burn more mana circuits, you will eventually understand why…never mind.”

“Do continue your sentence!”

“Not now. You’re too weak.”

Dia twitched at that reply. The patronising attitude that had been put on full display there was a bit too painful for her to take in, but she did have a point. Taking a deep breath, she said, “I don’t have enough lifestones yet.”

“Hmm. They are in short supply nowadays, true.” Light flickered in her aunt’s eyes. “Well, just keep training. And besides, I believe you have more than enough years, right? Take it nice and slow, but do become a bi-folder before the great Dark descends.”

Dia’s mouth moved on its own. “Aunt, do you know what’s going to happen when the great Dark descends?”

“You asked me that yesterday.”

“Nothing new, then.” Dia sighed, and then glanced at Countess Farah, who was still being tossed up and down madly. The two of them had been following the mob and their helpless ruler, towards a nice little palace. Farah County, as an agrarian territory, lacked the kinds of built-up places Dia had seen in Lustre, Licencia and the other duchies. From the looks of it, the usual household here boasted of a vast swath of farmland, with a fairly large house at the middle, and there were hundreds or even thousands of such households.

With such a backdrop, it was natural for the Farah Palace to stand out.

Following behind the mob, Dia noted the existence of very lustrous wheat, as well as slightly more built-up areas that were closer to the Farah Palace. Dia didn’t have much experience with territories that were mainly agrarian in nature, but she did at least know that these areas had buildings that were specialised for storing and processing food.

“It’s so calm,” Dia muttered. “A nice place to retire in, if nothing else.”

“Too nice, if you ask me. There’s probably a few eyes staring covetously at this territory, which doesn’t have much of a military presence,” said Aunt Lumine.

A bad feeling crawled up Dia’s spine. “Aunt, do you know something? Anything?”

“Well, one of the many plans brother — your father — has is to send a few troops over to this county and cripple it by killing the farmers here,” Aunt Lumine replied, her words solemn.

“What? Since when did we target the innocent?” Dia asked.

“Oh, dear child. We haven’t had a war of this scale before, not under Ruler Umbra. If your father is pushed into desperation, you can expect him to do anything necessary to protect his own interests,” said Aunt Lumine. “The deaths of people in a county of an enemy dukedom will not make him lose any sleep.”

“Aunt, can you—”

The Lamenter of Sorrowful Partings reached out and rubbed her head. “Don’t give me that tearful look. It’s not becoming of you. Don’t worry. That’s one of the worst-case scenario plans. If Ruler Istrel just wants to exert his authority, your father isn’t going to do anything. It’s only if the new ruler wants to…take things to an extreme.”

“Really?”

“Yes, dear. Killing civilians is a point of no return. And he’ll definitely be punished by Emperor Grandis for doing so too.” She smiled. “This upcoming war, if it truly happens, will be watched closely by the Emperor himself. Your father is unlikely to do such a thing, unless things really go to a head.”

Dia scrunched up her face as her aunt rubbed her head once more. “You aren’t lying, right?”

“Oh goodness me. No, of course not. And I’m here to do something important. If it works, Lustre would be safe and sound from Ruler Istrel.” Aunt Lumine chuckled. “Alright. Don’t stand around moping.”

“Okay.”

Placing her hands onto Dia’s shoulders, her aunt ushered her over to Farah, who had been respectfully set down onto solid land once more. The countess herself was already busy telling her people to return to work, a hint of her old high-and-mighty self in her demeanour.

“—people! It is this seat’s joy to have such adoring citizens, but you must absolutely worry about your food first! Archie! Yes, you! Don’t look away! Know your place! You have a family! Three daught — oh, four now? Nice. But that’s exactly the point! You need to work harder, not come and throw me in the air! And you, Pauline! Why did you bring your babies here? Oh, a cuddle for these two little fellows? If you want me to do that, you have to send in a request to the Farah Request Bureau; I’ll hug them all day!”

Dia felt her lip twitch at those words. “How do I even begin to describe her behaviour?”

“You don’t,” said Aunt Lumine, holding up a little teapot…a glowing one, anyway. “But you can use something like this.”

“What’s that?” Dia asked.

“It’s a rather cool artefact. You can store memories and events with this teapot, and then replay them by pouring out water from the spout. The water itself will then display the event that you specified.”

“That’s…a very weird artefact.” Dia thought back to the last time she had seen an artefact that could store images, which was back at Nachtville, when Lucia had made a record of a certain status screen.

“But it’s handy,” she replied. “I’ll just store this scene for future posterity…right, do you know it can also store and replay sounds? It’s really handy.”

“Still, a teapot?” Dia eyed the artefact, and then turned back to Farah, who was still busy telling everyone to get back to work. After around fifteen minutes of calling out names and telling them why they needed to go back to work, the other members of the mob got the hint and finally dispersed.

Farah tottered over to the gates of her palace, and then beckoned for the two of them to come over.

Smiling, Dia obeyed her summons and walked over to the exhausted countess. “Well, you sure had fun…”

“Some water, please.” Farah’s voice was a bit hoarse.

“Here.”

Mumbling her thanks, Farah took a swig, and then glanced at the two guards who were staring back at her. “This seat praises your self-control. Worthy of my trust, you two are.”

“Thank you for your praise, Countess Farah.”

“Your praise is wasted on us, Countess Farah.”

“My praise is rarely dispensed. Be proud that I have extended my approval to both of you,” the countess replied.

Dia watched as the countess thanked her guards once more, the smile on her face widening the whole time. It was refreshing to see Farah act in a manner, and Dia couldn’t help but wonder what the others would do had they seen and heard Farah’s current style of speaking.

After lavishing some veiled praise, Farah walked back to the two of them. “Sorry to keep you waiting. My people are…very…lovable.”

“Indeed,” Dia replied, making sure to keep her face straight.

Farah let out a puff of air. “Come on, follow me. We’ll have proper beds to sleep on tonight!”