“Is it really fine to tell Lesser Half that we’re leaving?” Claud wondered. “And to Moon-controlled territory no less.”

He looked at the card.

“Well, you did say things about friendship and everything,” Lily replied. “It’s more interesting to watch you go back and forth between friendship and caution, though, so I’m still not going to give my input on this matter!”

Claud rolled his eyes at Lily. “Yeah, sure. You usually defer to me on matters of this nature, so you’re just taking this chance to slack off.”

“You do know I just completed my Second Tutorial thirty minutes ago, right?” Lily made a little noise in her throat, and then picked up the three little fellows that were making a nest in her hair. “And up you go. Anyway, your call, really.”

“That’s really the hardest part…” Claud looked at the card. “I suppose I should tell Lesser Half that, though. He did agree to protect us from the Red God, after all. And while I do not doubt his abilities to find us instantly, it’ll be nice if he at least noticed that we were in Moon territory.”

“But if you tell him that, you can’t…”

“Yeah. Can’t use that way to travel back,” Claud replied. “But I suppose flying through the checkpoint’s going to work anyway. Wasn’t there the familiar spirit of the Red God who did the same thing? I’m sure we can get Count Lostfon to give us a hand. We can also ask him if he wants us to send any message back or whatnot.”

“True. I think Caroline will really appreciate it, at least.”

“In that case, let’s go find the count and get some souvenirs for the rest too. Does Lostfon actually have any—”

“Soft drinks?” Lily suggested.

Claud bobbed his head. “Might as well get some, I suppose! The ones I left behind in Moon Mansion.”

“Definitely gone.” Lily grinned. “I’m willing to bet half of my first lunch back in Licencia on that.”

Claud shot a look at her and shook his head. “That’s a sure-lose bet, but okay. I’ll bet the same thing that there’ll still be some left. Given the overwhelming odds, I get to dictate what ‘some’ means, and in this case, I’ll say at least half a barrel.”

“Half a barrel?” Lily raised an eyebrow. “Wow.”

“Yeah, I know.” Claud rolled his eyes. “I’m putting an awful lot of faith in their self-control. Unless they happened to leave Moon Mansion for a significant amount of time, there is no way they would have spared those poor drinks. I even had Schwarz add some alcohol for the fermenting too…”

He let out a small sigh. “They’ll never get to see the light of day—”

“No, I don’t think they’ll ever see the light of day anyway, since their ultimate fate is to enter either our stomachs or that of the others,” Lily replied with a grin. “Well, I suppose we should start packing up and everything. The longer we wait…”

“The more dangerous things get.” Claud nodded. “Still, do we need a permit? I reckon we could up and leave. The only permit thing I recall hearing about was because the Red God’s familiar spirit wanted to enter Moon territory, right?”

The two mulled on that topic for a while.

“Let’s just sneak in,” Lily replied. “It’ll be fine! And besides, it might be a problem if the count decides to stop us for some insane reason, right?”

“But we need to see if he had any messages for Caroline,” Claud replied. “And now we’ve shifted our positions. You know what? Let’s just drop by and pay him a visit anyway. Since we’re going to tell Lesser Half about our departure too. Might as well go the whole way, right?”

He got up.

“You sure are confident.” Lily picked up the three little fellows, who were making themselves comfortable in the nook of her neck, and then lowered them gently into the small house that the two of them had made for them.

The little guys meeped away for a while, until Lily raised a finger to her lips. “You three have to stay silent when we’re outside later, okay? Or else a lot of people will notice you.”

“Meep…”

Claud reached into the house and set little Crown, who had fallen to its side sadly, back up. “Don’t worry. Soon, we’ll be back home, and you can meep away all day long again!”

The three of them rolled over to his hand and nuzzled it, before rolling back to the small table in the middle. As for what they were doing around the table? Claud seriously had no idea, but he was beginning to entertain the idea of making some playing cards and other fun little mechanisms for them.

“They really can heal one’s soul, huh?” Lily noted, a grin on her face. “As if I wasn’t feeling confident enough already.”

Claud nodded. “Congratulations on conquering your own fears. I suppose you can now look forward to the dark, possible future that I had foreseen in my Second Tutorial.”

“Odd, isn’t it? I relived the past, but you relived the future.” Lily tilted her head. “I suppose it’s just the nature of our fears and regrets, right? And it’s nice to know that you don’t have any such regrets.”

“I wonder if it’s just how I live my life.” Claud paused. “I take things cautiously, so as to leave behind no regret. It’s tiring, bothersome and a pain in the ass, but this way, I live up to my mother’s final wish. Maybe that’s why I fear the future, since I don’t know if I can continue to do that.”

Lily nodded. “That’s definitely it.”

They looked at each other, and then decided to start packing. Given that Claud had a storage ring, it was a lot easier — all he needed to do was to touch the gem to produce the internal space, and then shift all their items inside in neat order. Another touch…

“This was a lot faster than I thought it would be.” Lily rubbed her nose. “It’s a shame that it isn’t that big, though. We can’t stuff a bed in here!”

“This isn’t even our bed to begin with…anyway, we should check out of the inn and everything.” Claud picked up the little house that contained the little fellows — who were still gathered around the table and making odd movements — placed it in his backpack with his other weapons and barrier artefacts, and then stretched once.

“Alright! Let’s go!”

It felt a bit odd, knowing that they were locking this door for the last time, but that was how many, many things happened in life. Life was but a journey of meetings or partings…well, the pursuit of eternal life could stop that somewhat, but even then, sceneries had a nasty habit of changing.

“Claud?” Lily paused. “Something wrong?”

“No, nothing.” He looked back at the room one last time, and then followed her down to the counter, where the old man was still in his usual place. A single glance was enough to reveal that his family still hadn’t returned.

Whether it was by choice or by ability, the fact of the matter was that his children hadn’t returned.

“Old man.” Claud passed the key over. “Thank you for your services over the past half year. Can you relay our thanks to Cassie too? We haven’t seen her—”

The old man shook his head. “She’s gone to join the war.”

Claud froze, and then lowered his head.

“When did she join the war?” Lily asked, her voice betraying a hint of shock. “And why?”

“Who knows?” The old man shook his head. “But I haven’t heard from her for months now. It’s like…”

My family. Claud, however, didn’t complete the old man’s sentence either. It was painful to lose friends and family alike, and judging by the silence…

“Anyway, don’t go dying out there,” the old man added, his face seemingly carved out of granite right now. “There’s always someone waiting for you, someone out there. Before you act…think before you leap.”

“That’s us,” Claud replied. “Thanks, old man. See you around.”

“Goodbye. May your business prosper!”

After waving goodbye once more, Claud and Lily left the inn and made their way to the Lostfon Palace. On the way, Claud decided to send Lesser Half the message that they were leaving — maybe the divinity had some advice or whatnot for them.

“Is that really a good idea?”

“I think it’s a sincere idea,” Claud replied. “And when dealing with people…”

“Yeah, I know.” Lily’s eyes sparkled. “I know that very well.”

“You would, wouldn’t you?”

The streets were still quite deserted, since most of the refugees had been moved outside the city to construct their own little houses. It was something like a small city attached to a larger one, with Count Lostfon providing all the necessary resources. With enough time, it would be part of the city…and the count would be cackling over the new profits.

Before long, the familiar palace appeared, but this time, Dust was already at the gates waiting for them.

“The Lord sent me to pick you up. He seems a little sad,” Dust explained. “But at least you did tell him, so…”

“Well, he is a friend, after all.” Claud rubbed his nose and thought about the little social gathering they had recently. It was unfortunate they couldn’t have a second one, but….

When all this was over, and assuming Lesser Half was still alive, having another social gathering like this could be a thing to look forward to.

“Heh. How am I supposed to refer to you if you claim friendship with my master like that?” Dust shook her head.

“Beats me.”

“Not our problem,” Lily added.

“…Forget I asked. Come on, I’ll send you guys into the throne room.”