“Humans with nefarious intentions and unknown purposes have been operating in the region,” began the Dark Herald, “instigating other people to strike at the neutral zone in Vacuos County and at our forces in this place. However, due to the nature of our agreement, we cannot deal with them. This situation cannot continue. We do not want to break our word, so if the situation escalates, we’ll be forced to withdraw from the agreement and the city itself, temporarily ceding control of neutral territory over to the Moons.”

The Dark Herald paused, and in that moment, Claud could swear that she had a faint smile on her face. “We will return after that, and you can be sure that we will not offer such nice conditions after this.”

Claud took a deep breath. He could tell that their choice was irrelevant. What mattered was the outcome here. If the situation continued to worsen here, the Dark Herald would simply abandon this territory to withdraw from the agreement made with Lostfon and Duchess Lacuna.

This was both a threat and a reminder that this agreement cut both ways. If the two of them refused to do, or if they or anyone else failed to stop these people, the Dark Herald would act on what was best for them.

It would be a lose-lose situation, if nothing else.

“Do you have more details?” Lily asked, her eyes set and firm.

The Dark Herald turned to her. “You…speak for your mate in this regard? Odd. Your mate and the count are quite similar in this regard.”

“Dust, don’t say anything unnecessary. And I’m just being a nice person when I let my wife decide things, okay? I’m not henpecked or anything; just so you know, I do not sleep on the couch after a night of drinking with my mates, okay? Don’t over-imagine things.”

Everyone, including the Dark Herald, turned to look at Count Lostfon, who had given a bit too many details in that suspiciously specific denial. Claud felt his lips twitch a moment later, and then cleared his throat. “To clear things up slightly, I’m not in the best state of mind. Therefore, I’ve ceded any decision-making to my, uh, mate here.”

“To Madam Primus, then.”

Claud wanted to laugh at that address, which made Lily sound older than she actually was, but he knew not to do that. While he didn’t know Lily’s attitude towards age and he hated the idea of generalising, pressing about the topic of age was generally rather distressing to men and women alike. The former, for instance, was especially represented in the balding demographic, and—

Arresting his thoughts right there, Claud withdrew from his considerations altogether.

“To me, yes.” Lily shot a long-suffering look at Claud, who looked back at her and made his lips wobble randomly by way of reply. “And yes, he is currently afflicted with intense emotions that render him incapable of making a sound judgement, so I’m in charge of the decisions right now.”

“Very well.” The Dark Herald looked at Claud oddly, and then shrugged. “Details of the commission, then. We entreat you two to put an end to this harassment by any means necessary, or at least to lower the frequency.”

She pulled out a map that highlighted the vicinity of Lostfon City. “Traps and ambushes are frequently laid out in these areas. Simply walking around there should draw their attention, and while we cannot harm or do anything to those people, the same cannot be said for you two. Therefore, we will leave the task of neutralisation up to you, through any means necessary.”

“I’ll remain to guard the city,” said Count Lostfon, “in case unsavoury elements take the chance to sabotage the Realm Bridge. And Dust is completely useless in dealing with us humans, so she’ll provide information support. Does that sound acceptable?”

“Do we need to kill them?” Lily asked. “Or can we just knock them up and toss them into a jail cell for interrogation?”

“You’re not adverse to killing, right?” Count Lostfon asked, prompting Lily to shake her head. “In that case, you believe that there’s someone behind this.”

“Yeap.”

“Alright, we’ll prepare interrogators too, then,” said Count Lostfon.

Lily patted Claud’s knee a moment later, and Claud nodded back. This little clarification was probably for his sake, since he was already squeamish about making more ties of karma. Dust, the Dark Herald, said nothing about this condition too, as if she had already predicted it to come up.

“Now, renumeration,” said the Dark Herald. “What do you two want as a reward? Be greedy here. I need to set a perfect example for more collaborators.”

“Lifestones?” Lily asked.

“Very well. Enough lifestones for you to catch up with your mate,” Dust replied, her voice unruffled and neutral. “Anything else?”

Claud raised his hand. “Information on the tribulation for a tetra-folder. The so-called Second Tutorial. I want everything.”

“Everything?” The Dark Herald looked at him. “Everything?”

“No need to repeat it twice, really,” Claud replied. He hadn’t dared to move on from that last 0.05 for his fourth mana circuit, since he had felt a tremendous sense of danger emanating from it. He didn’t know what or where that danger came from, so he didn’t dare to take that last plunge until he found out.

“You two are quite special.” The Dark Herald paused. “I will commune with Him regarding this reward. I beg my leave for two minutes.”

“Go ahead,” said Count Lostfon, and the Dark Herald faded from view. He turned to Claud a moment later, his expression something Claud saw on Schwarz whenever the bartender had something on his mind, and then said, “You’re this far ahead, eh? Why did you come here, then?”

“The Celestia Ruins,” Claud replied. “I believe we talked about that particular tourist attraction in our first meeting.”

The count tilted his head, and then jumped. “Right, right! Man, that felt like months ago, what with so many things happening.”

“It was indeed a couple of months ago,” Lily replied, rolling her eyes. “Anyway, I’m just going to take some food. It’ll be a real shame if it got cold, right?”

“Do you have any fizzy drinks around here? There was this fellow who found the recipe for it from the ruins, right?” Claud added. “It’ll be nice to taste that legendary specialty.”

“What am I, your waiter?” Count Lostfon grumbled, before getting up. “I’ll call in the actual waiter or something, then. Sheesh.”

The waiter came with a tray just as the Dark Herald returned, and the poor guy hurriedly set down the drinks and fled. Claud watched with interest as the Dark Herald looked at the fleeing servant, dejected, and then noted down this very interesting reaction for future reference.

“He has agreed. We will not hold back in granting you our understanding of the Tribulation should you fulfil our request adequately,” said the Dark Herald.

“Your understanding?”

“It is hard to explain, but even the Great One is not all-knowing. Though the Dark lies beyond the stars, not everything is visible. There are forces in this universe that we cannot comprehend by virtue of their origin or progenitor.” The Dark Herald paused. “As an illustration, the place called the Celestia Ruins is one such example. The laws that govern the place are different, independent of this world.”

A certain word popped into Claud’s mind at this piece of information, and he worked to suppress it immediately. Lily shifted her eyes to look at him discreetly a moment later, and Claud blinked twice as a response.

That little exchange had gone unnoticed by everyone else, but to prevent the count and the Dark Herald from getting suspicious, Claud said, “In that case…what do you think, Lily?”

Lily nodded. “We have a deal, then. We take out the trash for you, and you help us out here. Do we need a contract?”

“If you think that’s going to make you more secure,” the Dark Herald replied.

Lily pondered for a moment, and then shook her head. “I believe in the name of your master and of you yourself. No need for a contract.”

The Dark Herald eyed her once, and then nodded. “It seems you’ve figured out a few things. Very well. May we have a happy cooperation, one as pure as the lightless sky itself.”

“Well, now that’s settled,” said Count Lostfon, “it’s my turn to offer you rewards too.”

“Huh?” Lily blinked. “Why?”

“Why, you ask…well, you two are doing me a favour, after all.” Count Lostfon smiled. “Is there anything you want from me?”

“What you have, we probably have,” Claud replied slowly, trying to impress upon him their fake position. “How about three favours, to be used when the need arises?”

“Favours?” Count Lostfon tilted his head.

Lily chuckled. “Things like helping someone who comes to you with a certain symbol, for instance. Maybe I have a friend who needs your protection, and I get him to help you with it.”

“The noble way, eh?” Count Lostfon folded his arms. “Very well.”

He took out three emblems. “One emblem for one favour. Anyone with it can get me to help them…within reason, of course. I trust this is acceptable?”

“I think three is a bit too much,” Lily replied. “Let’s just go with one.”

Claud had no idea what Lily was thinking about here, but since she was the professional and he’d ceded his decision-making portion to her, he was more than content to just nibble at his food.

Dust, the Dark Herald, was clearly of the same opinion too, and while Lily and Count Lostfon exchanged pleasantries, Claud made a new bond with the otherworldly Dark Herald over the all-important business of food.

Maybe he might benefit from it somehow.