The afternoon sun smiled as Claud, Lily and Schwarz ventured out into Monsville. Unfortunately, Claud and Lily hadn’t stayed here for long when they first arrived in Nihila; they brought a house and ran to a county afterwards. Of course, their identities were the real deal and this house turned out to be of great use in the end, but it was undeniable that this house had been an impulse purchase of sorts.

Not like Claud cared, though. The two of them had a lot of money, after all.

Lily’s hand in his, the two of them leaned against each other as they walked, occasionally drawing a peeved sigh from Schwarz, who was tagging along in the hopes of encountering a brew he hadn’t drank before. While the chance of that happening was substantially unlikely, Schwarz was Schwarz; even if the drink was made of actual piss, he would drink it once to analyse it, and then dump the rest on the maker’s face.

The duo looked up and smiled, drawing another groan from Schwarz.

“What?” Claud turned around and asked. “We aren’t exchanging any words, so why are you groaning?”

“My stomach hurts,” the bartender replied.

“I see. Maybe we should go back, then,” Claud replied.

“Not that bad enough.” Schwarz cleared his throat. “Anyway, you two really are inseparable now, huh?”

“Pretty much. You have an issue?” Lily asked, her eyes narrowing slightly.

“Just wondering how this asshat managed to move your heart, that’s all,” Schwarz replied. “I mean, he definitely did follow you around for your revenge, but…that’s it?”

Lily’s face flickered once. “It would be too shallow if that was it, though…but I’m not telling you anything! I’ll blush. And he’ll start blushing too.”

“And I’ll die of jealousy, hmm?” The bartender sighed. “Figured.”

He took a deep breath. “What are your plans, given the incoming attack?”

“Fortify the little house and make sure that you guys can live in it if something horrible happens to the base,” Claud replied. “The house...well, we can make more guest rooms or some—”

“We’ve gotten used to living in a base of barriers, so there’s no need to go that far,” Schwarz cut in.

“Used to?” Lily echoed. “What? I mean, you only live in a base of barriers when you’re exploring or outside, like what we did when we went to the Celestia Ruins.”

“That’s what we did when we went to the ancient battlefield,” Schwarz replied. “To harvest prana jade.”

Prana jade wasn’t useful to Claud, since it was only an alternative to the pure-ranked lifestone. Claud himself could use any lifestones, and the Pure-Life Gems were given to Lily. Crown was really awesome when it came to increasing their strength, and it also didn’t help that low-ranked lifestones were really cheaply sold now.

His pocket stirred as Claud’s thoughts wandered over to Crown and company, but the little shapes soon fell asleep once more after he patted his right pocket gently.

“I see.” Lily bobbed her head. “Were there any dangers?”

“There were a few, but Nero took care of all of them. We just needed to listen to his orders,” Schwarz replied. “It was quite fun, though. Like an outdoor camping trip or something. We built a nice house of barriers, made a pit and started a fire…”

“Outdoor camping trips are dangerous,” Claud stated.

“Not if you’re a folder,” Schwarz answered. “We hunted animals easily and everything. And besides, nothing really, really big had happened up until that point. The darkened animals had been driven away or killed by the Moons, and we were taking the chance to delay our conscription for as long as possible.”

Claud really wanted to ask what happened back then, but he had a feeling that the whole story would take days to explain, and Schwarz didn’t have time for that.

Neither did the two of them, for that matter.

Therefore, he would have to settle for the right questions, or at least the interesting ones.

“Right,” said Lily, “did you get together with any of the others while Claud was away? Or at least get to know them better?”

“Look, it’s not the time to talk about romance, especially in trying times—can you not look at me that way, Claud?” Schwarz shot a glare at Claud, who was recalling a very interesting incident that happened long before the formation of the Moon Lords.

“What’s with that expression?” Lily asked.

“…Schwarz will hit me if I tell you now,” Claud replied. “So no.”

“Aww…”

“That’s just couple speak for ‘I’ll tell you when he goes back’, right?” Schwarz asked. “Damn it. Anyway, like I said, they’re all good people. The problem is me, alright?”

Claud looked at Schwarz and felt sad for his bosom buddy. “You…are still clinging on to that? You know full well that it’s not you. It’s just that you two weren’t compatible, that’s all. Have you not moved on yet?”

“I’ve watched thousands of people try to move on,” Schwarz replied. “And all of them ended tearing themselves apart. Look. Thinking about ‘what could have been’ is painful. Might as well just…”

“Just what?” Claud asked. “Wait for her to pass on?”

“Shut it, Claud.” Schwarz looked at him. “I’ll deal with it on my own. Don’t worry. I’m almost over it. After all, the ladies are…really good people, after all. I don’t know, but I’m sure I’ll get over it.”

“…Okay.” Claud nodded. “Good to hear.”

“Just don’t…push things, alright? I know you two are worried about me, especially since this is a time when supporting and being supported is important, but I’m still…not over it yet.” Schwarz paused. “Heh. Go and tell Lily about what happened to me after I go back to camp. But don’t tell anyone else, get it?”

“Roger,” Claud replied.

“This is what happens when you have a very nosy friend, I suppose…but thanks.” Schwarz flashed a small, fatigued smile at him.

Claud looked at the bartender, and then patted his shoulder.

“I’ll keep it a secret,” Lily added quietly.

“I know you will,” Schwarz replied, before slapping his cheeks lightly. “Anyway, don’t worry about me much, guys. Besides, there’s things we need to think about…incidentally, are you guys going to the Celestia Ruins again?”

“The Celestia Ruins?” Claud’s eyes flickered. “We wanted to, but it seems that Greater Half is busy analysing the place.”

“…What? What half?”

“Greater Half.” Lily tilted her head. “Uh, the two divinities of the great Dark are called Greater Half and Lesser Half. Lesser Half is currently in Lostfon County and dictating the war from there.”

He also happens to like holding social gatherings, much like a certain Moon, and he also likes sending messages via a weird card of sorts, Claud added in his mind. Of course, saying this out loud was probably going to result in a few problems, so he could only utter them in his head, but he still felt proud nonetheless.

Claud shook himself mentally a moment later. This was decidedly a dangerous attitude — gloating was for half-baked villains who were asking to be taken down one chapter later — and he had to rectify that.

“Halves, huh?” Schwarz’s face flickered with a myriad of emotions, before shaking his head. “Must be nice to have a destined half.”

“…What do you mean by that?”

“Like an arrangement of destiny, I suppose. Or a prearranged marriage, for nobles. No need to court the other party. Just have it laid out…yeah, I know. It’s me being pathetic.”

“…Being human,” Lily replied. “I once thought that way, you know. I didn’t know how to make friends or anything before I joined the Moon Lords. Without the arrangement of looking like Princess Dia…I would have been alone up until now.”

She paused. “In a sense, she helped me meet the Moon Lords and Claud.”

“I like how you specified me…but you’re right, now that I think about it. If you didn’t look like her double back then, Dia and the others wouldn’t have grouped up with you, right? Or are less likely to.”

“And I wouldn’t have been part of the Moon Lords.”

“And we wouldn’t have met.”

The bartender sniggered. “So, the princess was the matchmaker, eh? I suppose that’s another reason to help her.”

“We also want to help Princess Dia,” Claud replied, “but she’s even better at me than hiding.”

“Exactly. She’s vanished off the face of the world,” Lily complained. “How are we supposed to help her if she doesn’t even show up?”

The three of them laughed.

“Poor Dia. Her master’s gone into hiding, and we can’t even help her.” Claud’s smile vanished a moment later. “But if we help her…would Dia go back home?”

“It’ll be for the best if she goes back home, I suppose,” Lily muttered. “I mean, she was never like us to begin with. I suspect she misses her home too. The princess’ family was like her own, after all. She definitely misses them too.”

“Let’s see if we can help her find her family or something,” Claud muttered.

“Now?” Schwarz asked. “Of all times? Destiny is upon us, and we’re going to look for a missing princess?”

“…Good point.”

“The Trial of Aeons is approaching, and the world’s going to be flipped. Let’s just hunker down for now first,” Schwarz replied. “We can deal with the rest after the dust settles.”

Claud looked at the bartender and shook his head. Easy for you to say…