“Are you sure not moving is really a good idea?” Lily asked, pushing open the door to their new home in Vacuos. “The number of people in this city seem to have doubled in the two hours we used to buy this shophouse.”

“Which means we’ll be scoring a lot of money once we need to sell it,” Claud replied. “And no, it’s very safe here. Darkest beneath the lamp, see? No one is going to suspect us or anything.”

Lily looked at him, clearly worried. “That’s quite simplistic, though. I’m sure you aren’t the only person thinking this, right? After all, the divinities and gods are definitely going to keep looking for…”

“Yeah.” Claud frowned. “And they’re all monsters. It will not do to keep avoiding them.”

He frowned once, a movement that felt wholly unfamiliar to him. His body was still as unresponsive as ever, and it also didn’t help that the faint, draining chill seemed to have grown a bit stronger.

“Claud?”

“I’m fine.” Claud smiled. “Now, let’s deck this place out, shall we?”

After sending a message to Schwarz about what happened to him — although it was Lily who handled the composition of the message — the two of them began to pull out the small decorations that they had purchased on the way back. The shop itself had cost a whooping twenty-six thousand gold, which was really expensive for a piece of real estate.

Probably. Claud and Lily had quite a number of lifestones, so they covered the cost quite easily. However, this was a fortune that people who never went lifestone prospecting would never attain, but to them…

A little baby shadow toddled into the shop as Claud placed a small vase with paper flowers on the counter.

“Aww, who do we have here?” Lily asked. “Do you wanna sit on the counter?”

The child looked at the two of them, and then nodded. Lily giggled, and then lifted the little kid onto the counter. Claud smiled at the beautiful sight, and then poked the little baby’s cheeks. Unfortunately, the little baby shadows and Moonlit toddlers couldn’t speak normally, so the only thing they could do was to just look at the baby’s makeshift sign language.

“They’re so cute. Do you think we can enlist them to bring business in for us?”

“We’re mainly selling protective skillstrips, though,” Claud replied. “And we sell really expensive ones to boot. I don’t think this kid can bring in good customers.”

He rubbed the little guy’s head. “Don’t mind my words, kid. We’ll be happy to have you here, don’t worry. Do you like sweets or biscuits more?”

“Just give the kid both, okay?” Lily rolled her eyes. “Hang on a sec.”

After setting out some sweet treats for the little kid, Claud and Lily returned to the task of decorating their shop. There really wasn’t much to do, since skillsticks and skillstrips were easy to store, but it still had to look the part, minimally speaking. Moving around this much was painful for Claud, but he didn’t want to slack off and worry Lily.

Ten minutes later, Claud stepped away from the simple painting that he’d hung on the wall, and then admired it. “Not bad, I’d say.”

The two of them had checked the upper floors of the shophouse when they were touring it early before purchase, and neither of them particularly wanted to change things around. Therefore, with the painting hung, the shop was technically open for business…

“Apples look good anywhere,” Lily replied. “Bombs too — explosions look grand and majestic — but who’s going to paint that?”

“Not me, that’s for certain.”

“Yeah…” She shook her head. “Right, pass me your backpack. I’ll have the little ones get used to their new home first. You should also set up the defences for the place too.”

Claud nodded. “Good point. Thanks for reminding me.”

Unfortunately, since a good chunk of the first floor was pretty much space where the public could roam, he could only place artefacts inside and behind the counter, limiting its scope and defensive coverage. However, as long as the two of them stayed inside, it would not be a problem.

The kid watched on with curiosity as Claud placed down artefact after artefact. After setting up a thick barricade, Claud moved on to install a rather interesting mechanism — it was a receptacle that behaved very much like the sole entrance to Moon Mansion — which would allow them to buy and sell things through the barrier itself without exposing them to too much risk.

Of course, people could attack the counter itself first, but Claud had also projected a barrier right in front of the counter to prevent that too.

“Alright, done.”

The baby looked at him curiously, before reaching out for the little receptacle. It was a small little drawer that could be pulled from both sides; the customer would place the money down on one side, Claud would pull the drawer to his side, replace the money with the skillstick or skillstrip, and then push it back to the customer.

“It’s nothing interesting, really.”

The baby tilted his tiny little head, and then tried to reach out for Claud. His hands came into contact with the barrier a moment later, and the toddler touched it a few more times out of what was probably curiosity.

Claud chuckled to himself. “Don’t stress your little head over this, kid. Want another cookie?”

The kid nibbled on the cookie, finishing it as Lily returned downstairs, and she glanced at the barriers and the preparations that Claud had set up.

“Nicely done. Now…I suppose we’re going to spend the next week preparing some stocks, right?” Lily asked. “If we keep at it constantly, we’ll have around eighty or so skillsticks for Flight and Cleanse.”

“We’ll need to limit sales too. Or diversify what we’re selling, but I’m too lazy for that.” Claud glanced at the kid. “Besides, this place isn’t really for profit to begin with.”

“The prices of these skillsticks tell me otherwise, though,” Lily replied. “Not profit-driven…”

“Well, they are limited commodities, and life-saving ones at that. People fork out platinum to buy teleportation skillsticks; they should count themselves lucky that I’m selling both skills at only five thousand gold per pop. A lifesaving set for one platinum each; that’s a good deal.”

“I know, but…it still feels like a rip-off or something.”

“Hehe.” Claud looked at the kid and squished his cheeks. “Anyway, we have things to do now, so run along. If you want more cookies, you can come back next week from lunch onwards. We’ll be open for business then.”

The little shadow baby looked at him for a few seconds, and then waved goodbye to the two of them.

“Phew.” Claud willed the door shut with some mana. “Now that we’re settled in a bit more securely, I suppose we should ponder our actions for the next year here. We should check in with Lesser Half and ask about the Fourth, just in case. After that, we need to keep a ear out…we did place a subscription for the local news, right?”

Lily nodded. “You forgot that?”

“…Yeah.” Claud scowled to himself. “Maybe I should turn in early for the night or something.”

“We need to prepare a stock of skillsticks, though.” Lily thought for a moment. “It’s a shame that my skills are mostly geared around making things. I don’t think anyone would want to learn them.”

“What about making items, then?” Claud asked. “Manufacturing useful items.”

“Uh…” Lily rubbed her nose. “How about selling bombs? It’s quite a niche product, right? But it’s still going to be useful.”

“That’s a good idea.” Claud bobbed his head. “Maybe you can also try making some artefacts. Can you do that?”

“I’ve never really tried that, though. But the Vacuos library might have some information on how to make artefacts. Should we pay it a visit later?” Lily asked. “We’ll probably need to pay for the entry, though.”

“How expensive can it get?” Claud asked. “Sure, let’s go tomorrow.”

He thought for a moment. “Right, we should also keep track of the city’s general movement of troops, right? Lily, can you help me take out the RECON?”

“The, uh, Reserve Echelon Command Observation thing? On it.”

Claud handed her the ring on his hand, and then leaned back. “For some reason, I feel like a lazy scumbag ordering his hardworking wife around. Sorry.”

“If this happens to me, I expect you to do the same too,” she replied.

“Of course.” Claud nodded. “That person did say that only me and Dia became a septa-folder, after all. I get a feeling I’ll be running around and doing this after the others try their hand at it…but where am I supposed to get so much lifespan from?”

“Well, you did say something about Bearers of Destiny…”

“Hmm.” Claud looked at Lily. “Well, that’s a source, yes. Still…never mind. I’ll think of a way. Anyway, I’ll go and make a few skillsticks, and then head up to rest. Are you fine with eating outside later?”

“I’m fine if you don’t help me cook, though.”

“I insist. I’ll only sleep if you’re beside me,” Claud replied. “I know I’m not in the best state now, but we’re equals, partners. I’m at most a patient second.”

Lily hesitated for a moment, and then smiled. “You’re as gentle as always, huh.”

“It’s called being fair, alright?” Claud rolled his eyes. “Come on, let’s go up.”