[Book 8: Darkness Descends]

A sudden impulse seized Claud, and his head automatically turned to look at the southwest, in the direction of Istrel Sovereignty. His odd, jittery movement immediately caught the attention of Lily, who was tossing crumbs at birds, and she stood up.

“Something wrong?”

Claud nodded. “Yeah. But I don’t know how to describe it.”

“Try me.” Lily winked. “Don’t worry. From how nothing ominous is popping up in the field of my vision, it probably isn’t that urgent yet, so feel free to take your time.”

Walking closer to Lily, he took some breadcrumbs and scattered randomly, and the feisty little birds hopped around in pursuit of their food. Those little sparrows were natives of Lostfon’s Central Park, brave little things that weren’t scared of humans, Shadowed Ones and monsters alike.

“How relaxing,” Claud muttered, his gaze sweeping the park once. He could see green everywhere, a green that was good for his anxiety, and a small candle lit up in his head as he realised why Lily had insisted on dragging him here.

“Yeah, I know.” Lily pulled out a sweet. “Here, more relaxants.”

“Is that medical term really appropriate to be used here?” Claud questioned, before unwrapping the little treat. Before his mouth could water in earnest, he tossed the little bead into his mouth and rolled it around with his tongue.

“It’s not that sweet now, right?” Lily asked.

“It’s perfect.” Claud let the sweetness melt into his mouth and gave her a thumbs-up.

Lily grinned. “Feeling up to the immense, world-shaking task of telling me what’s wrong now?”

“I’m not sure what’s going on, though. I’ll try to describe the feeling to you…” Claud pondered for a moment. “Everything’s fine and going as ordered in the world, but while you’re walking on the streets, a shadow slides across the ground, orders some sausages, and slides away.”

Lily paused, an odd expression on her face. “A shadow slides across the ground, orders some sausage and slides away? What happened to the sausages?”

“That’s the most important bit, yes. You know it ordered sausages, you saw the vendor prepare sausages…and then nothing. Nothing of that sort now exists. The shadow is gone, and the vendor seems to be sleeping as usual.” Claud paused. “But you know you saw a shadow order a sausage.”

“That’s…a very odd feeling, to be sure.” Lily tilted her head. “Basically, something happened. You know that something happened. But…”

She opened and closed her mouth a few times, before a touch of irritation flickered through her face. After a while, she let out a sigh. “I also don’t know how to describe it. But that shadow and sausage analogy got rather close, I think.”

Claud looked at the southwest once more. “I think something changed in the Moons itself, but I don’t know what. It’s a fleeting feeling too.”

“If you can sense these changes despite being an entire sovereignty away, I’m sure these changes are actually rather significant. It’s just that…” Lily jerked once, and then looked at him with shining eyes. “You’ve forgotten the original frame of reference! Or rather, you never knew the original frame of reference to begin with!”

“Hmm…” Claud tapped his feet. “Yeah, that’s probably it.”

“Can’t you give me a more spirited answer?” Lily rolled her eyes. “Still, if it happened in Istrel…I wonder what happened to the others. We’re still stuck outside, and I don’t want you busting through the wall once more.”

“There’s also the Trial of Aeons next year,” Claud added.

“Uhh…you’re going to participate?” Lily eyed him critically. “You know, despite all its dangers? I thought you were going to hide somewhere or something and wait the storm out.”

“I was going to, but whenever I think about the Trial of Aeons, I get a feeling that I’ll be involved somehow,” Claud replied. “Maybe I’ll be forcibly teleported there to take the damn thing or something.”

“Then you definitely need to hurry up with become a tetra-folder,” Lily replied.

“I’m in a near-perfect state of mind,” Claud replied. “But this change…well, I suppose I’ll push it back by another day. Not today, at least. Sorry.”

“What are you apologising for?” Lily flicked his nose. “Come on, let’s continue to feed some sparrows. We can also find one of the shadow babies and play with them too.”

Claud lowered his head. “Sorry to trouble you with all this.”

“Pssh. No trouble, okay? And besides, I’m sure I caused more trouble for you the whole time.” Lily looked at the southwest. “All that trouble with my family and everything, and I made you worry about me too. Maybe I’m being too clingy too.”

“You’re not.” Claud grabbed a few more crumbs. “I’m happy that you came with me, even if I feel guilty for dragging you away from Moon Mansion, where it’s super-safe.”

“Super-safe, huh? How safe is that place anyway?” Lily asked. “I know you’ve been upgrading it constantly with all sorts of artefacts and things, but how much of a fortress is it?”

“Hmm…” Claud looked around. “It’s probably harder to capture than Lostfon itself? Other than its emplacements that can fire on its own, its defences are one of a kind. It can resist lots of attacks from tri-folders, and it should be able to stall tetra-folders on its own. If Nero chips in his strength, it should be able to counterattack with a terrifying might too.”

“…What exactly did you turn Moon Mansion into?” Lily asked.

“A fortress?” Claud tilted his head. “Anyway, I’ve even gotten some people to dig out a solid space underground too, and Schwarz should be making use of it to make a liveable space. If push comes to shove, the entirety of Licencia can be destroyed, and the Moon Lords can still be living underground.”

“That’s not really a fortress anymore, then.”

“Okay, genius. You can come up with a name, alright? I can’t think of anything that you guys would approve of,” Claud replied. “Most of my names are like ‘Redoubt of Absolute Defence’ or something like that.”

“Uwah. That’s so…”

“It’s dramatic, I guess?” Claud shrugged. “Maybe while I’m handling my Second Tutorial, you can think of a cooler name or something. Give me something to look forward to.”

“I’m not sure why a cooler name is your motivation when I’m here, but okay.” Lily reached into the bag of breadcrumbs and tossed another handful of crumbs at the birds, revitalising them immediately as they scrambled for more food. One particularly smart sparrow, however, had simply approached Lily directly, flapping its wings and hovering in mid-air.

“…It’s asking for food. From you.”

“I thought birdbrain was an insult that denoted someone as stupid,” Lily replied, before holding out the bag. “Maybe this is the exception that proves the rule.”

The little fellow hopped onto the small bag’s edge, perching on it precisely. Its head flickered back and forth a few seconds later, and Claud immediately thought about Crown and Throne, who were both sleeping in his pocket. Unfortunately, wild birds weren’t good as pets, and unlike those little fellows, they had a nasty tendency to leave behind waste products.

Setting down the bag of breadcrumbs, the two of them retreated from the area.

“Right, how’s your mana circuits going?” Claud asked. “Are you close to the next level yet?”

Lily nodded. “Thanks to your selfless donation of lifestones, though.”

“Considering that I get free years from the mere act of Bearers of Destiny dying, it’s not really an issue,” Claud replied. “And as it turns out, some of those Bearers of Destiny are really, really old. A fraction of their lifespan is good enough to prop me up. And don’t forget about little old Crown, who can make Pure-Life Gems and help me absorb lifestones without purity issues.”

“True. It’s so convenient for you.”

“Too convenient.” Claud bit his tongue lightly.

“Yeah, I know.” Lily had a serious look on her face. Playing with her violet hair, she said, “Maybe the world has something for you to do. Like a huge role you’re supposed to play or something.”

Claud really wanted to tell her about the Omen Mission, but the mere thought of doing that was enough to make bells ring in his head. Smiling bitterly, he said, “I’ll tell you about it if we can stop over at Celestia once more.”

“…So there is something planned.”

“Perhaps.” Claud looked up at the sky. “I don’t know. I don’t like the feeling of not knowing either. In the first place, what exactly is the Trial of Aeons for? What is it meant to do?”

He didn’t complete his sentence. If the three factions — the Moons, the Dark and the Coloured Gods — were backing a bunch of Bearers of Destiny, who was backing him? What entity would move him around on the board and pit him against the others?

And what would happen if he succeeded?

“We’ll soon find out,” said Lily. “Don’t think too hard about the future, alright? You always like to overthink things. It’s not good for your health.”

“You know that’s impossible,” Claud replied.

“But I tried, at least!”

Messing up her violet hair, Claud looked up at the sky, where something huge had just changed, but no one knew about it. “Yeah, you did.”

Lily held his hands, a smile on her face. “Let’s get some sausages. All that talk about sausages earlier gave me a craving for them.”

“Sure, sure…”