[Book 6: Secrets in Shadow]

Dia stared at a bunch of screens in her vision, her hands clutching onto a nice, cool cup of fizzy alcoholic goodness. The brew was one of the better-tasting commercial ones that Schwarz was pushing out in Triple-D recently, although she still felt his personal brews were the best.

Needless to say, Nero had thrown a fuss when he tasted those new fizzy alcoholic drinks, since they weren’t as strong as the original brews that Schwarz made. Now, the two men were on a quest to make the strongest fizzy alcoholics…apparently, anyway.

“Is it me,” Dia eventually said, “or are Bearers of Destiny dropping like flies recently?”

“That is a really good question,” Risti replied. “What do you think, Farah?”

Farah, who was swirling her own glass of drink around, placed it onto a tray that Lloyd, her old butler, was holding on to and hummed lightly. “Moons if I know. Still, Lily and Claud couldn’t have chosen a worse time for a honeymoon…but with something like this happening, will they simply turn around and call it a day instead?”

Schwarz walked into the living room at that moment, a letter in his hand. “It’ll be nice if that happened, but unfortunately, those two probably aren’t coming back here for the time being. Apparently, they’re trying to avoid Count Nightfall for some reason.”

“What’s that?” Dia asked.

“A letter that Claud left in my room,” Schwarz replied. “It’s pretty much what he told me, except that there’s a small emphasis on the fact that they’re not going to return to Licencia. Apparently, their idea of a honeymoon is touring every single small town and village to sample things there, and I’m told that the two have vowed not to return until every last village is visited.”

“How long will that take?” Risti wondered.

“Your guess is, unfortunately, as good as mine.” Schwarz shook. “Still, their timing in which they left is quite suspicious…I would have thought that they killed the Fourteenth, if not for the fact that they literally left an hour ago. Claud’s the kind of guy who would do something in silence and not tell anyone about it, after all.”

“Oh please. The Third was killed by a being of the Third Godsfall. Lily and Claud? Yeah…let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” Farah rolled her eyes. “Now, we’ll need to settle the gaps that Claud and Lily’s departure left behind. Those two were filling really huge boots; both of them were responsible for ensuring the city’s security.”

“Yeah. Fortunately, Nightfall’s returning in the next three days, so he can have the administration of the city back. We just need to make sure that nothing happens in the next three days,” said Risti. “But who’s going to pick up that responsibility?”

“Let me nominate Lloyd,” Farah replied. “My butler.”

The old man by her side took a step forward. “I was in-charge of security and the general administration of Farah in milady’s absence. I should be able to fill in for the gaps…although, if what Dia and milady said was true, I don’t think there’s much to fill. The person called Claud is apparently meticulous and paranoid. This departure might seem hurried, but I believe he has adequately accounted for this.”

“True,” Schwarz acknowledged.

“Still, for them to depart for a two-person lovey-dovey trip with such haste…either it’s a massive coincidence, or they know something we don’t,” Dia muttered. “I mean, look at it this way. They left around an hour ago, and then the Fourteenth Bearer of Destiny kicked the bucket. Does Claud or Lily have some connections to super-strong folders that might be able to do such a thing?”

Schwarz breathed in sharply. “Yeah…now that I think about it. Claud does. You and Risti weren’t here at that time, but during one of the charity drives, Rodrio poisoned the food and fled to parts unknown. He would have escaped, if not for the interference of mysterious man that Count Nightfall identified as a tetra-folder. Claud denied any knowledge of the man, but I wouldn’t put it past him to lie to Nightfall.”

“Does that mean he’s part of a secretive organisation that we don’t know about?” Risti asked. “Should we be worried?”

“Maybe, but Claud hasn’t done anything against our interests so far. Besides, I’m part of the Profiteers,” said Schwarz. “If you ask me, I think he has an intelligence channel that rivals mine or yours.”

“An intelligence channel that rivals yours and mine?” Risti whistled. “Sounds like a really influential group, then, if Claud could get a tetra-folder to do things for him. Now that I think about it, Nightfall wasn’t even aware that such a being had entered his territory. If it’s Claud, who has intimate knowledge on security…I could see the tetra-folder entering Licencia without anyone knowing.”

“So…Claud and Lily found out something and tried to leave…but that doesn’t make much sense either. Why wouldn’t they tell us? That’s not how they act,” Dia muttered.

“Ah. Yeah.” Schwarz clicked his teeth. “That’s also a key point too. Maybe…ah! Maybe these two are carrying out a secret mission?”

“Okay, but how did Lily get involved?” Risti asked. “What, were both of them involved in this hypothetical secret organisation? Or did one of them pull the other in? If that’s the case, why didn’t they try to pull us in?”

She paused. “Okay, I didn’t receive an offer to join their hypothetical secret organisation. Not sure about you guys.”

“Not me either,” Farah replied.

“Claud would have told me about it, knowing him. But he didn’t, so…” Schwarz rubbed his nose. “What about you?”

“Nope.”

“Alright,” said Dia, “I’m now back at lovey-dovey couple meets coincidence. Anyone has better ideas?”

“Maybe that tetra-folder decided to tell his friends about his impending assault on the Bearer of Destiny, and one of those people happened to be Claud,” Risti replied. “After that, Claud decided to enjoy whatever peace he had left, stole away our Lily and brought her away from major cities to hide from danger. Maybe when they come back, they’ll have a baby in their arms or something.”

“A tetra-folder, killing a Bearer of Destiny.” Schwarz bobbed his head. “We’ll need to know if that’s possible.”

“Hmm…that is indeed a point we should note,” Farah replied. “Where’s Nero? It’ll be nice to know if a tetra-folder can kill a Bearer of Destiny.”

“He’s at Triple-D and using my brewery,” Schwarz replied. “We can ask him about it tonight…or even sooner, since he should be making his way here soon.”

“Milady, have your drink back,” said Lloyd. “Lest you harm your voice.”

“Thanks, Lloyd.” Farah received the drink, and then glanced around at the others. “What?”

“Oh, nothing,” Risti replied. “I wish I had a butler, though. Never had one.”

“You? That’s a bit…”

“Dad didn’t believe in me living a pampered life, so there you have it,” Risti replied. “I mean, the Association President has his own super standards for his offspring, and Mum was also super-strong as well…”

“Yeowch.”

“That’ll be the right term, yes.” Risti chuckled. “Anyway, what’s Lloyd’s best dish?”

“Lloyd’s best dish?” Farah asked, puffing herself up. “Why, it’s—”

She paused for a moment, and her eyes went out of focus. Her sudden stillness drew everyone’s eyes, and Dia found herself controlling her breathing for some reason.

Farah’s face took on a very interesting expression seconds later, as the abrupt stillness surrounding her vanished. “Oh dear.”

“That was the nobles’ information space, right?” Risti asked.

“Yeah. Alright. Everyone, stay calm for a bit.” Farah took a deep breath. “It would seem that the Moon Emissary headed our way is dead. Deader than a doornail. Initial investigations by Count Daybreak’s scouts revealed that something like an immense manifestation of power fell upon the Moon Emissary and its army, annihilating everything there. It would seem that the Fourteenth Bearer of Destiny was included in that number.”

“Immense manifestation…”

“Hexa-folder, septa-folder…we don’t know. The scouts can’t tell. A gigantic swath of land has been turned into glass. Nothing survived the aftermath.” Farah held her head. “I don’t think a tetra-folder has anything to do with this, if they aren’t exaggerating the scale of the attack.”

“Alright, so we’re back to total coincidence,” Schwarz muttered. “Maybe they haven’t caught wind of the news yet. After all, the Bearers of Destiny are all over the world…but it seems that our assumption that the Fourteenth was close by has come true after all.”

“Maybe Claud has something like a danger detecting skill,” said Farah. “And when Lily got him to go on a nice long trip, he immediately agreed.”

“He would have told us, though,” Schwarz replied. “Claud might be a coward, but he’s never one to abandon his friends. If he found out about any danger, he would tell us immediately.”

“You two…are quite close friends, huh?”

“Despite the little tussles like that, we are indeed good friends.” Schwarz chuckled. “And in the same vein, if Lily discovered anything, I’m sure she would have told everyone too. I’m almost certain that their departure is just a coincidence. Maybe they want to make a child, and don’t want us hearing about—”

Dia picked up a nearby cushion and hurled it at the bartender’s face, cutting his words off. “Pervert!”