“What in the name of the Moons were the others thinking?” Claud uttered, his eyes on the newspaper.

“I told you that you’d be interested. See? Money well spent.” Lily stirred her bowl of porridge, before scooping up a spoonful. Puffing on it lightly, she swallowed the spoon’s contents gingerly, before wincing.

“Well spent, yes. Very well spent.” Claud stared at the headlines. It was news about a ceremony two days ago, one in which Count Nightfall officially inaugurated a group of meritorious mana-users as the defenders of Licencia. That news was nice and all…if not for the fact that those mana-users were actually Schwarz and the others.

It was such big news that it was placed on the front page of the newspaper, only below the ongoing emergency that was the three-headed snake. Last night, while Claud and Lily were just lazing around in their rooms, that snake had fought a battle with an unidentified mana-user. The latest reports from the scouts of Nachtville were that there was now an extra axe embedded on the second head of the snake.

“What happened to the others, though?” Lily wondered out loud. “And what about us?”

“That’s a darn good question,” Claud replied. “We’re part of the Moon Lords, but I have a feeling that Schwarz left that detail out on purpose, so as to not involve us.”

“He’s a nice guy.”

“Dude’s a bartender,” Claud replied. “Being nice and considerate is part of his job description. If he wasn’t, Triple-D would have closed long ago. There’s a reason why his place is so popular, even though the drinks are trash.”

“Really?” Lily asked. “I’ve never seen that side of him, though. When we were at his bar, he would just wipe his cup absent-mindedly, talk to customers for a few minutes, and then get them their drink.”

“And that’s where you’d be surprised. The master uses those few minutes to sieve out their troubles, offer excellent advice, and then promote his drink, all in that order.” Claud glanced at his baked potato and took a tentative sniff at it.

“All that in what, three minutes?”

“That’s why he’s a bartender and we’re his patrons,” Claud replied. “That guy, I swear, he can actually read minds. Or your thoughts, anyway. Unhappy? He’ll note it immediately. Lonely? He’ll lead you over to other lonely people and provide a conversation starter to boot.”

Lily had an odd expression on her face, which turned into a contemplative one as she ate more porridge. Claud didn’t quite get what she was thinking about, and he wasn’t one to ask, so he finally decided to get started on the potato. As usual, none of his poison warding artefacts activated, which meant that he was as safe as could be.

Scoffing down his potato, Claud was about to start on the skin when Lily glanced at him. “Don’t eat the skin.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Well, potato skin’s poisonous,” Lily replied. “My mother said so.”

“Your mother…” Claud cupped his chin. “Come to think of it, you never did mention your family.”

“My mother and my brother,” Lily replied, her voice flat. “That’s all.”

“If I remember correctly, your brother…”

“Yes,” Lily replied. “My mother too. My…birth father killed her for no reason. He was always a bloodthirsty man. Hot tempered, vicious. He deserved to die at my hand, along with the family that made him that way.”

Claud shivered slightly, but Lily, who was now engulfed in memories of the past, didn’t notice. “One morning, my mother had been strung up in the air, a spear through her throat. She was just hanging there, in front of my door. No one said anything. Just a small, simple funeral.”

The smile that followed was an emotionless one. “It would seem that my father found out that I was investigating his family, and the missing cases. Perhaps he decided to let the me back then live because my mother’s body was enough to satiate his bloodthirst.”

Claud reached out and patted her on the shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

“No, don’t be.” She nodded her head slowly. “It’s a reminder to me that I did a good deed in killing off my family. Without it, I might have gone insane eventually. How about you, Claud? What was your family like?”

“Me?”

Her words dredged up some memories. A woman, whose face was lined with age, lying down on a bed in a darkened room. Her feeble cold hands, which transmitted the warmth of family when they touched his face. Her quiet wish for her son to live forever.

“I don’t know who my father is,” Claud replied. “Customary, really. Debts, grudges, vendettas…all these make up the underbelly of Licencia. My mother…she was a sickly one. Never had much of a lifespan. Passed away peacefully when I was a teenager. She liked playing very intellectual games. Taught me a lot of things.”

“Sorry for bringing up those memories,” Lily replied, and Claud couldn’t help but note that it was her turn to apologise. He had a feeling that if they went on down this route, they would just keep taking turns to apologise, turning this bright Violetgott morning into a dismal one.

“It’s just fair,” Claud replied. “Come to think of it, how did we even get into this topic in the first place? It’s too dark for a nice morning.”

The two racked their brains for the answer, only to drop their search after a few minutes of silent contemplation. Returning their attention to the newspaper, Claud and Lily looked through the article on Licencia together, picking out the details of what exactly happened two days ago.

After scanning it for the third time, Claud leaned back on his chair, his head throbbing painfully. There was absolutely no clue as to why the others accepted his offer; Schwarz was one who took his plans seriously. The stack of contingency plans and measures he’d created before he departed from Julan had a very high chance of working, if all the conditions were fulfilled, so why did the Moon Lords submit to Count Nightfall?

“Claud?” Lily asked. “You don’t look so good. Are you alright? Did you not rest well last night?”

“I’m fine,” Claud replied. “It’s just that I’m wondering what exactly happened. I left a set of very thorough plans behind when we departed; this was not an outcome I’d expected. Something that I couldn’t foresee must have happened, and I’m worried about the others.”

“Plans?”

“Very thorough ones, yes. They came with a surprise too. I’m all out of them now.” Claud chuckled as he thought about the stack of extra-strong Area Compulsion skillstrips he’d included in the envelopes.

“What surprise?”

“Nothing much, really.” Claud felt the smile slide off his face “So long as they followed my plans to the letter, everything should have been fine. However, since something like this happened…”

“We’ll know when we return, wouldn’t we?” Lily asked. “Let’s not think too hard about this for now.”

“That’s not the right mentality to adopt,” Claud replied. “It’s precisely because we don’t know anything, that we need to overthink things and plan for as many scenarios as possible. We only have one life. It would be a pity if we wasted it because we didn’t want to think too hard about it.”

Lily paused at those words, and then looked away. “You have a point there.”

“By nature, we are all lazy people,” Claud replied. “We try to put off as many things as possible, preferring to laze around and do nothing. But that’s just doing a disservice to ourselves.”

“Is that why you’re always working?” Lily asked. “You’re always making things like skillstrips, skillsticks, tools…how far have you even gotten into the novel I lent you?”

“I’m at chapter fifty,” Claud replied. “Nearing the end.”

“Where did you get all that time from?” Lily asked. “That’s not possible!”

“Making tools and imbuing skills aren’t particularly tough things to do,” Claud replied. “After a while, you learn to multi-task. There are many things you can do while making a bola or some caltrops, you know. It’s not like you need both hands for that, right?”

“You’re unreasonable,” Lily replied. “Alright, fine. I get your point. But what kind of plans should we be making?”

“Well, broadly speaking, there’s a few possible reasons why Schwarz agreed to be Count Nightfall’s subordinate,” said Claud, producing some writing utensils. “First, it’s possible that the contract between the count and him is one that is overly advantageous to us. Second, everyone’s been controlled or compelled in a manner that would facilitate their subordination.”

“Isn’t there any middle ground?” Lily asked.

“If there is, it’ll just be a mix of the above. However, if Schwarz and the others really entered into an agreement due to an advantageous contract, there won’t be an issue. However, if they were coerced or compelled to do so, our return trip would be a dangerous one.” Claud closed his eyes for a moment. “We will return to Licencia and hope that it’s the former case, but we must make preparations for the worst-case scenario.”

“And how would we do that?” Lily asked.

“Using some pieces of paper,” Claud replied. “We’re going to do some shopping today.”