The streets of Lostfon had regained a semblance of normalcy after a few days had passed, but there were lots of soldiers here, their black armour indicating their allegiance to the Dark. Recruitment drives for mortals were ongoing, and there were actually mercenaries that were queuing up for tryouts.

Most of these mercenaries were actually refugees from Vacuos, which Claud found ironic. Back when the great Dark marched on Lostfon, tens of thousands of people had fled the county for neutral Vacuos and the dukedom capital of Lacuna, but now that Vacuos had turned into the main battleground, the fleeing fellows had returned.

The dukedom capital had closed its gates entirely too, and Lostfon had welcomed its first influx of huge traffic. However, since Count Lostfon had reappropriated all abandoned properties a few months ago, people who had fled the county months ago and tried to reclaim their properties over the past few days weren’t particularly welcome.

Now, there was no shortage of people who were willing to do hard labour for small amounts of money. Able-bodied people who thirsted for opportunities also saw the recruitment drives in Lostfon as an opportunity and a way to equip themselves.

“Still, why didn’t these refugees just sign up at the Dark’s camps in Vacuos?” Claud wondered.

Lily looked at a group of young men, who were lining up under the watchful eye of a few shadows wearing armour, and then shook her head. “It’s probably due to training.”

“Training?” Claud echoed.

“I assume that those camps on the frontlines accept only veterans,” Lily replied. “As for those who want to but don’t have the ability, they need to be trained, and the closest place to go to would be Lostfon. There are probably other such training camps throughout the Quies Dukedom and the Voidum Sovereignty.”

“Other such camps?” Claud blinked. “What are those camps for?”

“To train people more extensively. We’re very close to the frontlines; things can change at the drop of a hat. The training here is probably more practical, more attuned to the rougher aspects of war.” Lily frowned. “The ones in the depths of Dark-controlled territory, however, definitely have more specialised training camps.”

Claud nodded. Lily’s experience with matters like this either came from her upbringing or her hobby of reading books, but whatever the case, her explanation made a lot of sense.

A thought struck him a moment later. “In that case, those people are…cannon fodder? Taught to wield a weapon for a few hours, and then sent out to fight?”

Lily’s face flickered once. “Probably.”

“Not a very nice thing to face, I suppose.” Claud shook his head. Right on cue, a small woodworking shop that was actually open came into view, and he motioned at it. “Found it. Let’s go get some wood, then.”

Lily’s eyes brightened, and she jiggled a pocket of her clothes. “Do you hear that? We’re going to get you building materials now!”

“Meep!”

The little fellows clamoured around happily in her pocket, and a lovely smile appeared on her face. Claud looked at her, dazed, and then shook himself awake. There was a reason why she always made his heart pound.

Holding her hand, he led her towards the shop..

At any rate, the woodworking shop had quite a few customers, all of them unfamiliar faces. Most of the men and women shopping here had eyebags and pallid complexions, and Claud intuitively understood that these people had been sleeping out in the wild for some time.

Were there former residents of Lostfon that had fled the Dark’s invasion months ago here? Claud didn’t know, but what he did know was that the properties of Lostfon’s former residents had turned into rewards that the count was putting out. They could, of course, be repurchased with resources too, but the count was also offering properties to people who joined his personal guard, as well as living spaces for those willing to join Lostfon’s army.

As for these people here…they were probably refugees who probably didn’t have the desire to join up with Count Lostfon or the Dark.

He didn’t have much of an opinion over their choices, though. They were perfectly free to do as they please.

“What would you have chosen if you were in their place?” Lily asked.

“These refugees?” Claud asked back, his voice a whisper. “Well, I’d probably join up with Lostfon’s army. Even if I’m not a good combatant, they still need miscellaneous staff like cleaners, cooks and other people like that, right? There are a lot of vacant, low-level positions waiting to be filled up by Lostfon, after all. And in these desperate times, we can’t be too picky.”

“But what do you think of his policy to the old, the disabled and the needy?” Lily asked.

Claud thought about that for a moment. “Wait, that doesn’t make sense, does it? Most people who fell into these categories were unable to flee Lostfon to begin with.”

“Ah, you noticed…” Lily stuck a tongue out. “Still, I wonder what happened to the innkeeper’s family. I thought they should be coming back anytime soon, but they haven’t showed up at all.”

The old man had been asking around for the past few days, a sight that had played out over and over again whenever the two of them went downstairs to eat. In fact, Claud had even tried to program — was that the right word? — one of the RECON’s little balls to look for someone that fitted the description of the old man’s family. He had used the old man’s many portraits about his family and got one of those balls to scan them.

There weren’t any results so far, though.

“Yeah,” Claud replied. “I hope his family makes it back soon.”

The two of them filed into the shop as they continued to talk about the innkeeper’s family, before looking around for some nice wood to make a small room with. Lily wanted a nice little room that had small doors and windows, like a small cottage of sorts, and Claud was more than happy to make such a living space with her.

Before long, they had purchased quite a few planks of wood, drawing the eyes of the other customers as they left. By the looks of it, the new arrivals were probably expecting everyone else to be as poor as them, so for them to buy quite a bit of wood…

Claud narrowed his eyes as he detected a few gazes on him. However, none of them made a move or tried to follow them as they left — Lostfon’s security had been ramped up ever since the refugees had arrived. One reason was due to the ex-residents banding together in a bid to reclaim their property, but a swift intervention on the part of the Lostfon guards had ended that. Another reason was how some newcomers decided to give in to their darker sides and resort to violence; being homeless and penniless was a good way to make people desperate.

While he could understand why Lostfon had no intention of returning ex-residents their property, Claud felt that the count should at least build a few communal buildings to house these people in. In fact, he could just enlist these refugees to build their own shelters, and then get them to do collective labour to pay off the cost of building materials.

“It’s odd, isn’t it?” Claud muttered, giving voice to the thoughts in his heart.

“What’s odd?” Lily asked.

“The way the count is treating those refugees,” Claud replied, before explaining to her his thoughts.

“That’s suspicious, indeed. It’s as if the count doesn’t want these people, but what kind of territory lord would have such a thought?” Lily muttered. “Wealth and populace are intimately tied together.”

She paused. “Unless there’s a bigger incentive for him not to do so, enough for him to forgo both immediate and future benefits.”

“Lesser Half!”

Claud looked at Lily, who had said the same thing at the same time, and then nodded.

“Lesser Half must have wanted those refugees to enter the ranks of the Dark.” Lily winked at him. “That’s what you thought, right?”

Claud nodded. “And the best way to do so was to talk to the ruler of the area and offer him benefits that he couldn’t turn down. Besides, Lesser Half and Count Lostfon are on relatively friendly terms anyway, and the count must have been seething at those people who fled the county anyway.”

“One thing led to another, and we got today’s situation, I suppose.” Lily made a sound in her throat. “It’s impressive how small little things can lead to huge situations like this.

“Well said.”

As those words echoed into his ears, a dome of darkness fell all around Claud and Lily at this moment, and a familiar, overpowering presence walked out from the crowd. Claud subtly shifted his body to place himself in front of Lily, before looking at the divine shadow of Lesser Half…who had been strolling around the county.

Who knew that such a being would do such a thing?

The shadow gestured once at the door forming in front of itself. “Come. I have things to discuss with you two and Count Nightfall.”

Claud didn’t think he had much of a choice here, but he still took a few seconds to hesitate anyway.

It was just to make a point, if nothing else.