“There’s absolutely no precedent for the ascension of a new ruler, so he’s trying to scale up the whole thing,” Claud observed wryly, after Schwarz finished his little introduction. “Is that it?”

“Dukes visit the three counts and a few selected baronies, so Ruler Istrel intends on visiting the three dukedoms and a few selected counties,” Farah replied. “And guess what?”

Everyone glanced at her.

“I just received information. Farah County’s one of the selected areas.” Farah held her head. “Two weeks for me to ensure his safety in a pastoral territory. My head hurts.”

“How did you receive any information?” Lily asked.

“It’s something all counts and above have to facilitate the transfer of information. A certain artefact that connects our minds to a shared information space. That’s why Nightfall doesn’t mind letting us take care of Licencia; he will know instantly if there’s anything big,” said Farah.

“Oh.”

“Huh. Could we get something like that?” Claud asked.

“You could, but it is said that there’s only a single manufacturer in Grandia who can make such an artefact,” said Risti, her voice carrying a hint of liveliness. “Furthermore, unauthorised ownership of such an artefact is tantamount to high treason, punishable by the complete annihilation of one’s family.”

Claud, who had been wondering about the prospects of a time-sensitive high efficiency trade run, immediately discarded that notion.

“Bummer. But is there anything that we can use to replicate such an effect?” Schwarz asked, his attention temporarily diverted from the onerous task that was Ruler Istrel’s coronation. Claud couldn’t blame him either; Istrel was literally creating trouble for the heck of it. Who didn’t know that he was eyeing the two dukedoms and hoping to redistribute their territory? And yet, he dared to announce that he was going to visit their capitals.

It was as if he was asking to be assassinated.

“Similar artefacts…well, if we can downsize the scale, there are such artefacts for sale, yes,” said Risti.

“Downsize?”

“The information space used by the high nobles encompasses the whole of Grandis. Perhaps even beyond it,” Risti explained. “There’s a locus in which such a space is maintained, a whole set of artefacts that extend the range in which users can connect to said space, and finally, artefacts that can connect their user to the space itself. If we limit the number of users, the size of the space, or the range of the space…”

“Ah.” Schwarz nodded. “Looks like being the daughter of the Association President really is awesome.”

An odd light flickered in Risti’s eye. “I’m not relying on that where possible, though. Besides, I’m here to make my own name, not my pops. I’m Risti. Got it?”

“I still find it odd that you chose to join up with us, though,” Farah chimed in.

“I want to make an organisation that can rival the Folders’ Association,” said Risti. “Call it ambition or whatever, but I want to prove that I can do it.”

“Figured as much.” Schwarz smiled. “Anyway, are there any ways of procuring such an artefact? Where can we buy them? If we can create a small information space for the six of us, we can react to situations better.”

His eyes flickered to Claud, and the master thief rolled his eyes. Schwarz had already predicted his request to such a point — he derived pleasure from predicting and stealing words from other people.

“I could hook you up with some suppliers,” Risti replied.

“Great, thanks.” Schwarz rubbed his nose. “Alright, we’ve diverged from our topic somewhat, no? So, Farah, do you need to return home to take care of Ruler Istrel’s visit?”

“Yeah, I do,” Farah replied, her eyes sullen. “Well, I suppose it’s better than Nightfall. Poor guy was singled out to, uh, contribute his troops to Istrel and to join as a general of his army. Istrel can strut around my territory if that means I don’t need to take part in his mad war.”

“That’s what happens when you’re too strong, I guess,” Dia commented. “Poor him. Marriage had to be postponed too.”

An impromptu moment of silence followed, as everyone mourned the unfortunate circumstances behind Nightfall and his family. His life and death were not guaranteed either, since Istrel had all but announced his desire to redistribute the territories of the other dukedoms. Lustre and Schwa were already recruiting and preparing for a nice alliance too.

Idiot.

“Well, Emperor Grandis is going to preside over this war,” said Risti. “Us normal civilians shouldn’t be that affected. Probably, anyway. Bearers of Destiny, the Holy Children of two Coloured Gods, a new ruler who wants to redistribute power…this is kinda a shitty year.”

Farah slid her empty cup to Schwarz, who filled it up with a neat gesture. “Hear, hear.”

“And we are kinda like traitors too,” Schwarz added, sliding the cup back to Farah. “We’ve already diverted one-tenth of the usual trade away from Istrel.”

“That’s regretfully a soft limit for us,” said Farah, her face turning into a frown. “Dia, this is as much as I can do for your mistress and her family. Any more, and we’ll put ourselves at undue risk.”

“Nuh-uh. It’s good enough,” Dia replied, a touch of sorrow in her words. “The rest is up to them. Knowing…Duke Lustre, he would eventually concede a bunch of useless territories to Istrel, and then enjoy some compensation in return. Essentially a sale of territory and pride to the new ruler.”

“What about Schwa?” Farah asked, curious. “Do you know anything about him?”

“Can’t say for him,” Dia replied. “Alright, I have something to do. Please don’t mind me. My apologies for leaving this conversation early.”

“Go on.”

“Sure, no problem.”

After sending Dia off with some variant of ‘No problem’, Farah stretched her neck, while Lily giggled. Risti was humming happily, and for a moment, Claud and Schwarz exchanged bemused glances. There was some inside joke there, and neither of them quite understood what it was about.

“Ahem.” Schwarz cleared his throat. “Farah, when you leave, take someone with you. I recommend Dia, actually, since she’s the strongest combatant amongst everyone here. We don’t need her to protect us for now, since there’s a whole lot of high-level folders here.”

“Why not…oh. Right.”

For a moment, Claud could have sworn that Farah was looking at him, but her glance, if he didn’t actually mistake it for something else, was so fleeting that he couldn’t even quite grasp it.

“Yeah, true,” Risti chimed in. “You said it yourself; your territory’s closer to that of a barony than an actual county. Dia might be of great use there, and I’m sure she’s willing to go the extra mile to help.”

“Dia!” Risti yelled into the house. “Can you go along with Farah when she returns to her territory? It’s better if you have a bodyguard!”

“Sure!” A voice yelled back.

Risti shrugged. “See? Done. Now you just need to come up with some plans for us or something, so we don’t go bankrupt while you’re away.”

“You’re overexaggerating,” Farah replied, sipping from her cup. “Besides, all the relevant documents are left on the desk, and I’ve been getting Lily to help me out here and there.”

“Oh, that’s nice,” Risti replied. “Still…you’ve really turned this little hodge-podge gang into a legitimate power, no?

“If everyone chose the same skills as me, it won’t be that hard, really,” Farah replied, shifting aside Risti’s praise smoothly. “Rather, Lily’s doing those calculations and considerations with her mind alone. Now that’s talent.”

Lily squirmed at those words, and everyone laughed.

Claud stole a glance at Lily, before giving Farah a mental thumbs-up. With how he was training Lily in the art of staying very safe, Lily was going to become a very well-rounded person. And more importantly, the more she had to do, the less she would think about the things she’d done.

Time would heal all wounds.

And Lily, who had been driven in desperation, was someone who truly needed such a healing. If that meant teaching her about more things, Claud knew that the others would be more than happy to help out.

“Is there anything else we need to discuss for today?” Claud asked.

“Hmm, no, not really,” Schwarz replied. “Other than other usual work and all, really.”

“Excellent.” Claud slid his cup over to the bartender. “Apple fizz, please. Or whatever nice name you’ve given to it.”

“Coming right up, buddy.” Schwarz passed a full cup back, and then peered at him. “You look stressed, though. What’s up with that? Did all these omens finally fry your brain?”

Claud sipped from the cup and felt the soothing mix run down his throat. “You could say that, I guess. Bearers of Destiny, some eerie prophecy, a war…it’s getting me worried. And stressed. And very stressed. It feels like imminent doom is upon us or something.”

The bartender sighed. “Get some rest, Claud. You look like you really need it.”

For a moment, Claud wanted to refuse, but everyone’s glares were too piercing for him to say no. With a metaphorical tail between his legs, he slunk back to his room…and promptly fell asleep on the bed.

So much for acting tough…