“Well, this is awkward.” Claud deactivated the Looped Encryptor for the first time since the two of them left Istrel, and then held Lily’s hand as they followed after Dia, who was eyeing their linked hands.

“Awkward’s probably the least hyperbolic way of putting it,” Dia replied.

The master thief looked at the lookalike, and then wondered if the fact that they were holding hands was too much for a single person sworn to the defence of her liege. It was a bit sad when he thought about it, but that single moment of pity was nothing in the face of Lily, so he continued to hold her hand happily.

“We didn’t know you guys were here,” Lily abruptly said. “How did this happen?”

“Well, a familiar spirit came to urge us, and while we technically had a choice, there was no way we could actually say no,” Dia replied, her face sour. “Right, you guys must have had a lot of fun, right? Where did you two go for your honeymoon? You said some bullcrap about touring the Istrel Sovereignty, but you two definitely ran out afterwards, right? Where did you guys go?”

“Oh, don’t get us started…” Lily shook her head. “But let’s return first. It’s a really long story.”

Her fingers moved in a few ways, and Claud smiled at Lily, before nodding once. Lily brightened up, and then pulled him closer a moment later, prompting Dia to groan once.

“You two really love each other, huh?” Dia let out a sigh. “So, are you going to stay like this until we reach the camp?”

“What are the accommodations like there?” Claud couldn’t help but ask.

“Uh…everyone has a room. There’s lots of space, you know, seeing as how the main force moved out before we arrived.”

“The main force moved out without you guys?” Lily asked. “I mean, everyone in the Moon Lords are bi-folders. I can’t quite se—”

“Hold up.” Dia stopped and raised a hand. “First, we’re no longer the Moon Lords. That name is…uh, too dangerous here.”

Claud felt his stomach flip at that, and he exchanged glances with Lily, who had an equally distressed expression on her face. After that fleeting exchange, the two of them looked back at Dia, who was understandably unnerved by how they had looked at each other.

Dia’s brows furrowed slightly, an action that Claud didn’t miss. “Something wrong?”

“No, nothing.” Claud squeezed Lily’s hands. “So, what’s the new name?”

Dia grinned. “You’ll definitely like this name, that’s for sure! We’re now called the Seekers of Life.”

Seekers of Life. The name resounded in his ears as it appeared in his mind, and Claud grimaced. The remaining scraps of doubt that had lingered in his mind regarding the veracity of the Second Tutorial had completely vanished; this was proof that it was indeed something that could happen.

The actual events had probably deviated, given that he had directly told Lesser Half and succeeded in evolving Absolute One, but…why did the Frozen Emperor fail? What did he see in his own Second Tutorial?

“It’s a great name,” Lily followed up, squeezing his hand lightly. Claud knew that this wasn’t the time to be spacing out, and added onto her words by saying, “It suits us perfectly. In turbulent times, seek not power or fame, but just our lives.”

“Well…” Dia made an odd face. “Uh. Sure, I suppose? Right, the second thing is that everyone’s a tri-folder already.”

“A tri-folder?” Claud raised his eyebrows. “Everyone?”

“I’m on the verge of my Second Tutorial myself,” Dia added. “And Nero’s a penta-folder. Maybe a hexa-folder. I can’t tell, and I didn’t ask either.”

“Oh, that cheater,” Claud muttered. “That’s just plain unfair.”

Lily poked his sides. “Are you really fit to be saying that? Really? Have some self-awareness. He at least has nearly two decades under his belt. You? Just a year. Who’s the real cheater here?”

“What are you two talking about?” Dia asked. “What cheating?”

“Well…” Lily paused. “No, nothing. We’re just complaining at the Holy Son who happened to become a penta-folder or something. It must be nice having such a birthright.”

Lily beamed, and Claud took the chance to scrutinise her expression. There wasn’t any hint of sorrow or sadness in her words, and he couldn’t help but thank the Second Tutorial and the person who came up with it. Not only did it help him, it also helped Lily to overcome her own personal trauma in a way that he could never do so.

It hurt to face it directly, but there were some things that he could never do.

At most, he could only be by her side.

Lily tilted her head when Claud ruffled her hair, and the lookalike of the Lustre Dukedom rolled her eyes at them.

“I’m going to fall sick from this sweetness,” Dia muttered. “Come on, hurry up! I want to get some bitter tea into my mouth. Not every relationship is as sweet at this. Go burn in a fire or something. Explode, lovers.”

“…You do know that Lily has around thirty-eight explosives on her right now, right?” Claud replied. “She could blow you up if she really wanted to, hmph.”

“Yeah? They aren’t going to break past my defences.”

“Oh, they definitely will. After all, no sword can stop the power of explosions,” Claud argued back. “She can blow up this encampment if she really wanted to, right?”

Lily nodded. “I’ve made great strides in my research!”

“Excuse me?” Dia glared at them. “You guys are looking down on swords, right? And Lily, have you been practicing your swordplay during the honeymoon? Or is this guy not letting you wake up early in the morning for whatever nefarious reasons?”

“Not for nefarious reasons,” Lily replied. “It’s just that I like to experiment late into the night, that’s all.”

“Why aren’t you getting Lily to sleep?” Dia turned her burning stare to Claud.

“…That’s my fault now? And besides, I’m also busy making stuff. Lots of things, see?” Claud replied. “Sheesh. Usually, she gets me to sleep instead, not the other way around.”

“Really?” Dia frowned. “You two are weird. What a weird couple.”

“We just came back, and we’re being insulted now.” Claud rolled his eyes. “Anyway…well, I suppose this really isn’t home, but we’re back. In a sense. Although I’m definitely not going to join up with the Moons.”

“Eh?” Dia looked at him. “Even though we’re all here?”

“We’ll think about it,” Lily cut in. “It’s too early to decide, and there are many things we need to take note of first. Are we allowed here? And in the first place, what are you doing here anyway?”

Dia pointed at a nearby building. “I’ll explain once we’re all inside. It’s rather simple, really. We’re just doing random missions to earn freebies. It was my turn to be checking for intruders and sneaky fellows, and I happened to see you guys.”

“Is it fine to be abandoning your post like this?” Claud asked.

“Don’t worry about that. I found a pair of intruders and am escorting them back now. That’s a mission too,” Dia explained. “Anyway, we’re just doing odd jobs for this deserted encampment to get more freebies and everything. That’s just it and nothing else.”

“…Isn’t this a bit too lax?” Claud asked. “And isn’t there a place where you should be processing newcomers or something? Like a guard station?”

“It’s that building over there,” Dia replied.

Lily and Claud made small noises as they scanned the building up and down. On closer look, it was the building closest to the faint barrier, and there were a few squads of Moonlit soldiers sparring around it. Their gazes fell on the three of them a moment later, but that attention lasted only a second before they resumed their sparring.

Claud had no idea how to respond to this egregious breach of security. Didn’t anyone bother to check Dia, at least? Or were they banking on whatever was inside that building to do the checking? There weren’t any walls either, and no matter how he looked at it, this place was literally begging to be infiltrated and robbed.

Lily’s fingers fluttered in a particular manner, and Claud rolled his eyes.

As she chuckled softly, Dia said, “What are you laughing at?”

“We’re just exchanging jokes,” Claud replied. “With our eyes. You see, when we look into each other’s eyes, we can speak without words and everything. It’s great to use this when telling jokes.”

“…You’re kidding, right?” Dia asked, before opening the door. “Come on, the guard station is here. Prepare to be checked.”

As Claud walked right into the checkpoint, he couldn’t help but wonder if the Moons were taking security for granted. There was only one Moonlit soldier on duty, and the fellow didn’t even move — the red-coloured guy just pointed at a metal frame and gestured for him to cross over.

By the time they left the building, Claud couldn’t help but turn to Dia. “This place is too insecure, isn’t it?”

“You get used to it,” Dia simply replied.

“You get used to it?” Claud echoed.

“Deal with it.”

Speechless, the two of them could only follow Dia deeper into the camp, apparently for some official documentation.

Was there really a point to patrolling?