When Claud and Lily left their house the next day, the impact of the Sixth’s death had become apparent. Flyers had been stuck on multiple walls, each of them warning against the appearance of what seemed like a cult’s leader or something, of someone who prophesised the end of the world.

The Sixth’s passing — or rather, the emergence of the Salvation Star — had apparently unveiled the last bit of the Moonlit and Shadowed Victory missions, specifically the part about the adversary. These posters made explicit reference to the adversary multiple times, warning readers that the person described in those posters was a cold-blooded murderer whose greatest ambition was to destroy this world.

As they went through poster after poster, Lily’s attempts to hide her laughter grew more and more pronounced, and after the sixth iteration of the same rephrased warning, Claud pulled her to one corner, checked that his Looped Encryptor was working, and then let out a sigh.”

“Go ahead, laugh.”

Lily took one look at him, and then broke down into raucous laughter. Claud, who had activated a sound-nullifying artefact, also pulled out the three little meeplings, who immediately flew or, in Crown’s case, hopped into Lily’s head as she shook like a willow tree in the wind.

He couldn’t blame Lily for laughing either; Claud couldn’t help but feel very ridiculed by the descriptions of the charismatic monster whose sole purpose in life was to lead people into accepting the end of the world or something. In fact, the way they phrased it made him sound like some sort of malicious trickster who would even swindle candy from a baby or something.

“Meep!”

The three little fellows danced around Lily’s head at the same time, and Claud rolled his eyes. At any rate, however, the entire world was now fully aware of this adversary, whose apparent goal was to destroy the world or something. However, what it didn’t mention, however, was the person whose purpose was to defeat him and presumably kill him off for good.

Why?

There was definitely some bias inherent in all this, but…

Claud glanced at his Status once more. This Status screen recorded all this — or was perhaps the source of this insanity — so anyone who had true control over the Status and how it worked would definitely know that he was this very adversary. The fact that it knew when Bearers of Destiny perished and when the Salvation Star appeared meant that it had access to everyone’s Status. Therefore, if he was really a danger to the world, the existence who could see everyone’s Status would have acted.

In other words, this whole thing about him ending this world was just some bullcrap on the part of the Moons and the Dark.

“Meh.”

“What’s wrong?” Lily stopped laughing. “Alright, I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s not you. And it’s funny, don’t worry. I was thinking about how everyone involved in this is just talking some random crap about the adversary, that’s all,” Claud replied. “Anyway, isn’t it awesome? I have more secret identities now! I can probably start piling them up or something.”

Lily rolled her eyes. “Don’t make it a habit of collecting them.”

“Hey, you know me. Low profile and cautious,” Claud replied. “I can assure you that I had absolutely nothing to do with all this.”

Claud patted her head. “Alright, get the laughter out of your system first. Maybe I should collect these posters. They make me feel good.”

“Huh?”

“It’s not everyday that you get to see such positive affirmation of your abilities,” Claud replied. “I’d love to be this strong and awesome. An existence that can overthrow the divinities? Wow! I don’t know what I’m supposed to be like, but people telling me that the O-word is this powerful is doing favours for my self-esteem.”

“What am I to say to this?” Lily shook her head. “Fine. Whatever makes you happy, I suppose.”

Feeling a bit chuffed about these rumours — it was like him accidentally beating Zulan Patra all so long ago once more — Claud scooped up the three happy shapes that were making a nest in Lily’s hair and popped them in his pocket once more. None of them protested, though, and the two of them resumed their journey to the local tavern once more.

The tavern was filled with people when they entered, and a nervous atmosphere permeated the bar. Wary eyes fell on the two of them as they entered, but Claud ignored them and made his way to the counter.

A middle-aged man fiddling with a clean cup looked at them. “Anything I can get for you?”

“Two specials. And two cups of lemon juice,” Claud replied.

“Coming right up.” The man yelled their orders to the rear of the tavern, and then turned back to the two of them. “Haven’t seen you guys around here before.”

“We came here before,” Claud replied. “And we’re currently living here.”

“Yes,” Lily replied. “We had a…discussion with a charming Sir Nicolas quite some time ago, before all this talk about the Moons and the Dark. Brought a house here back then.”

“Ah, Nicolas!” The grizzled man nodded. “He went off to Cava some time ago, now that I think about it. Shame. Anyway, it’s a good time to be in remote places like this.”

“We just escaped a war,” Claud replied. “I can entirely understand where you are coming from, mister.”

“I’m the boss of this tavern,” the man winked. “Name’s Candle.”

“Candle. Mister Candle, nice to meet you.” Claud extended a hand. “I’m Claud, and she’s my wife, Lily.”

After a round of introductions, which were just loud enough for the townsfolk eating here to hear, Claud returned to the topic at hand. “Did you hear about the recent news? Not too long ago, in fact.”

“Does that news have anything to do with the flyers that appeared?” Mister Candle asked, his cut lip twitching.

“Presumably so,” Claud replied. “Still, who put up those flyers? Baron Mons?”

“His men, yes,” the bartender replied. “Anyway, I forgot. You’re new here, so this meal is on the house.”

He chuckled, and Claud smiled back. It was a small, well-disguised bribe for the news, and Claud lowered his voice. “Anyway, there were some huge events in the war between the Dark and the Moons. The Moons sent an expedition, right?”

The tavern boss nodded. “What happened to it?”

“It was completely obliterated. After that, the Dark sent their army to the Moons’ base camp. I’m not too sure what happened, but one of those Bearers of Destiny died,” Claud replied. “And when the Bearer of Destiny died, this war entered a ceasefire, and a new enemy appeared.”

“That adversary fellow,” Mister Candle noted.

“That’s pretty much it, yes,” Claud replied. “So? What do you think of this?”

“You’re quite well-connected, at least.” The tavern boss nodded. “Heh. I wonder how many people will come up to me to hear this afterwards. Thanks for the information, buddy.”

“We’re getting a free meal out of what’s going to become public information soon enough,” Claud replied.

“It’s all about the timing, young man.” The tavern boss widened his grin. “Knowing things in advance is a treasure in its own right. Come over for dinner for the next few days. All on me.”

Lily tilted her head, and the man laughed. “Don’t worry, miss. It’s to pay you two for the information, see? The baron would love to learn about this, and there are some business owners here. Under circumstances similar to yours.”

Claud smiled faintly. “Sure. We’ll come over for some free meals, then.”

The tavern boss chuckled, and then passed over a tray. “Your meal’s here, sir and lady.”

The two of them retreated to a corner table, and as Claud laid out the dishes, Lily said, “We can get free meals like this?”

“Usually, yes. Information is money too,” Claud replied. “In fact, you can visit any tavern, chit-chat about some information or news, and the owner may make your meal cheaper or throw in some free stuff. If it’s really important news, they might even make your meal free too.”

Claud paused. “It’s a way for travelling mercenaries to cut down on their expenses.”

Lily made a rueful face. “I should have done that more then. Back then, when I was trying to make a living outside Julan, I just kept to myself and fled from interaction. If not for the others…”

“A lucky break for me, I suppose.” Claud held her hand. “Without them, we wouldn’t have met, right? I’m glad you met them.”

“Don’t be so mushy.”

Her face was bright and smiley, though, and Claud happily flirted with her for the next few minutes until his stomach grumbled. After receiving a flick to his forehead, the two of them turned to their breakfast and began to scoff down their food.

This pleasant morning, however, didn’t last long, as Moonlit soldiers soon filed into the small barony in significant numbers.

Something was about to happen.