“Keep to the fires! Stay away from the mist!”

“If you hear any growling or any darkened animals, do not move to engage! Instead, call for one of the guards nearby! Don’t go near the mist, you there! Stick to the lit areas!”

“You there, remember to tell the foreman to release you guys earlier! You miners always hog up the queue!”

Claud and Lily, who were in the hastily checked queue to enter the town, glanced at each other, their fingers interlinked. After getting rid of the Moon Emissary, Claud had taken Lily and escaped from the Istrel Sovereignty, crossing over to Nihila in the process.

“Still, how can we get identity papers?” Lily whispered. “We can enter, but unless we get some documentation…”

“Don’t worry,” Claud replied, a flower aroma entering his nose as he whispered back. “Everything becomes a lot easier once you enter a town. You’ll see what I mean, m’kay?”

Pecking her forehead once, Claud thought back to the events that had happened once they entered Nihila. The two of them had scouted out five different towns, and Monsville just happened to be the town with the most relaxed standards. These towns were under the jurisdiction of Baron Inanis, who in turn followed the lead of Count Cava.

Those names, which were utterly unfamiliar to the two of them, just reinforced the harsh reality that they were no longer in their safe little Moon Mansion.

“How much did you bring?” Lily asked. “Maybe we can buy a house here, instead of staying in an inn.”

“I was intending on doing that, yes,” Claud replied. “It’s common custom for nobles to buy property under a different name; to thank the nobles for patronising their businesses, some realtors actually assist with obtaining the new, false identity for them.”

“Really?” Lily asked.

“Apparently, anyway. I saw a few instances of this back when I was out and about,” Claud replied. “And there aren’t that many cultural differences across the sovereignties anyway. The Emperor saw to that personally.”

“True.” Lily leaned her head on his shoulder. “Still, to think that we fled from home because of your mistake…you better spoil me good, okay? Don’t even think of ditching me at all. I’ll be sticking by you like glue.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Claud replied. “Besides, you’re all I have here. I’ll be hugging you all day long, mark my words.”

“The same goes for me, so I’m not sure what point you’re trying to make here,” Lily replied. “And your hand is already in mine. I won’t let it go.”

Claud continued to exchange mushy words with Lily as the queue shortened. Fortunately, the two of them had the presence of mind to keep their words quiet, and after a while, the two of them drew up to the city guards.

“Bringing in anything dangerous?” the guard asked.

“Nope.”

“Purpose?”

“We’re…” Claud intentionally glanced at Lily, before pulling her hood down a tiny bit more. “Here to buy a good property to live in. Preferably under a different name.”

The guard smiled at those words, and Claud smiled back.

“Good sir,” said Claud, producing a gold coin, “do you happen to know any such realtors that could assist in such a service? For, say, a noble who wants to escape his dreary life and experience quiet days in a peaceful, quaint home?”

“Ah, I see. The best property manager we have in town is Sir Nicolas. You can find him in the best inn…well, the only inn in town at night,” the guard replied, pocketing the gold coin. “If you approach him and tell him it was me, Guard Jude, who recommended his services, he’ll take care of things perfectly.”

“Ho?” Claud nodded. “Thank you kindly, dear sir. I suppose you won’t say no to a good tip for excellent service, yeah?”

“I’ll make sure we boys keep a look out for you, then.” The guard accepted another gold coin. “Thank you.”

He waved them through.

Claud held Lily’s hand formally, the way a gentleman might escort a princess, and led her through the door. As he passed through the gate, the guard winked at him once, and Claud winked back at the same time.

With that, they entered Monsville. Lanterns hung everywhere, banishing the darkness and shadows into small crevices. Claud would have deemed such a sight as romantic…if not for the fact that people had hung those lanterns to drive back the mist.

The great Dark had far greater influence in Nihila. The absolute darkness had somehow grown even more absolute. Maddened, darkened monsters rampaged in the wilderness without restraint, occasionally attacking small villages at times. To make matters worse, this situation was actually the default; the great Dark possessed a far tighter grip over Nihila than the Istrel Sovereignty.

“Let’s find that realtor first,” said Claud.

“Okay.” Lily’s fingers tightened around his. “Still, that was really easy, though.”

“Well, you can roughly guess how amenable the guards are by looking at how they dealt with other people, right?”

“True.” Lily had an adorably thoughtful look on her face. “While we were spying on them, we saw some of the guards accept rocks. I’m not sure why they would do such a thing, but that had to be a bribe, right?”

“One big bribe, from the looks of it. Monsville is a small, undeveloped town. Mining seems to be big here, but accepting raw ore as a bribe is kinda…”

“Yeah,” Lily completed, before tilting her head. “Still, you’re establishing yourself as a noble now?”

“Gotta match your status, right?” Claud asked, before pecking her cheek. “My dear Lily.”

“Did you get addicted to kissing?” Lily muttered, before turning her other cheek to him. “Here too, please.”

“I’m not sure why you’re criticising me, really…”

After a while, Claud located the best inn in town…which was only the best because there wasn’t any other competition. Like the other buildings, lanterns of all shapes and sizes had been placed around the area, creating a space where the darkness couldn’t encroach.

“We should be careful,” said Lily. “The great Dark here is different from the one in Istrel, if those lanterns are of any indication. Maybe it’s because the Moons’ influence is centred around Istrel, but the darkness here is a lot stronger.”

“Good eye, Lily.” Claud thought back to Licencia. There, darkness wasn’t that much of a problem. However, the fact that even this tiny town was making an effort to light up every nook and cranny had to mean something. “Perhaps, the darkness is lethal. Truly dangerous, and not because it can create darkened animals.”

“In that case, we should find an inn first, and then buy our house and identity tomorrow,” Lily replied. “How does that sound?”

“I like that idea,” Claud replied. “It’s possible that there might not be enough lanterns to decorate our new home.”

He looked up at the tavern’s second and third floors. The windows were all lit up, which didn’t do anything to disprove his ominous hypothesis whatsoever. After all, there wasn’t anything special going on in this small town that would entice visitors, which meant that not every room was occupied. And yet, lights were burning away in each and every room.

Something was definitely up.

“Let’s go and get a room first, then.” Claud rubbed Lily’s head gently, before leading her into the tavern. His nose wrinkled up a moment later, as smoke and pungent alcohol vapours wafted into his nose, but that was all. Making their way to the counter, Claud cleared his throat gently, and a middle-aged man looked at him.

“Need something?”

“A room,” Claud replied.

“That’ll be one silver,” the innkeeper replied. “Or one silver and ten bronze if you want breakfast with it…wait, you’re here with your partner, right? That’ll be twenty bronze.”

Claud took out two silver and slid it to the man. “Bring up dinner for two while you’re at it.”

The man did a double-take at those two coins, and then nodded slowly, a subservient air to his actions. “Yes, sir. Do you need anything else?”

“I’m told that I can buy a house here by looking for Sir Nicolas, who is supposedly in the best inn in town. Do you know where I can find him?”

“Ah. He just left, sir.” The man lowered his head. “Do you need me to convey a message when I next see him? I am sure he’ll be delighted to learn about such a thing.”

“Please do. We’ll be here for the next day, so do inform him about our request.” Claud paused. “You can keep the change, by the way.”

“Thank you, sir.” The man fumbled around in a drawer, and then took out a gold-plated key, which he presented to Claud with both hands.

“Anything else I should know?” Claud asked, trying to keep his words as nonchalant as possible. “Like the issue of lights and whatnot.”

“Baronet Mons has decreed that every room is to be lit up to prevent monsters from taking form,” said the innkeeper. “I understand that it might be an inconvenience to sir and lady, but all lights are to be kept on.”

“Well, looks like we don’t have a choice, then,” Claud replied. “We’ll keep them on.”

“Thank you, sir.”

As the two of them climbed the stairs, Claud couldn’t help but worry about the great Dark, who gripped Nihila and its many cities in a claw of shadowy mist.

What would await them in this new land?