As the woman walked towards the city walls, where a table had been prepared, Claud and Lily exchanged glances.

“Treasures, huh?” Lily licked her lips. “And a whole lot of them too.”

“Just by defending the wall, one can get food and other essentials. A contribution system that replaces the established monetary currencies, huh?” Claud rubbed his nose. “Fortunately, we don’t need to stay in Lostfon overnight, since we can’t stay in an inn with money now, but this also means that we can get items with just fighting and carrying out missions.”

“You probably don’t intend on helping out, but I suggest we check out their list of treasures and whatever first,” Lily replied.

“True. There’s no harm in looking at what’s available.” Claud looked up at the floating island far above the city. “And maybe there’s something useful there too. Information, or artefacts geared towards the Celestia Ruins in general. We might have to end up killing some of those shadowy things.”

“Alright, since we’re in accord…”

The two of them joined the queue, where discussion about that giant explosion was busy making its rounds around the crowds. The soldiers had taken this chance to rush out of the city; Claud could see them building smaller fortifications from outside the city gates. All sorts of weapons had been pulled out, with mounted crossbows to even the same ballistae that Claud had installed on Moon Mansion.

“Are those ballistae…?”

“Yeap.” Claud looked at the soldiers handling the thirty-plus ballistae, as they pulled the contraption onto elevated platforms. Barricades with spikes facing outwards had been erected, their metal pointy ends glittering with the promise of a nasty end. The soldiers were presumably making the same preparations all around the city walls, providing an all-around defensive line.

“Most of these civilians look excited, for some reason,” Lily noted. “But they are quite tight-lipped about the exact reason. Everyone keeps talking about that explosion…”

“Why wouldn’t they talk about that attack?” Claud whispered back. “That was an awesome display of power, and everyone wants to brag about seeing a Chromatic Lord in the flesh. It’s his fault for being too awesome.”

Lily nudged him lightly in the ribs for his own self-praise.

“Hey!”

Rolling her eyes at him, Lily accepted a small flyer. She glanced at it for a moment, and then handed it to Claud. “This is for everyone in the line.”

“What, a flyer to tell us about what to expect when we volunteer?” Claud asked. “That said, I was indeed wondering how everyone knew about such a thing…”

He looked at the rest of the queue, who were comparing two flyers to each other. While both had the same colour scheme, he could tell that the newer one — the one they just received — had a few more words on them, as if the author wanted to add something they forgot.

“Hmm. Let’s see.” Claud cleared his throat. “Conscription notice. All able-bodied people above the age of eighteen are invited to help with the defence of Lostfon City. Complete missions and man certain defence points to earn contributions. Contributions can be exchanged for a wide variety of things, including lifestones, services, territory, property and artefacts.”

“You forgot the postscript,” Lily added. “While the Order of Conscription is in effect, goods and services will no longer accept gold and other financial currencies as payment. The only payment available in Lostfon is through contributions.”

“Sign up today!” Claud added, throwing a cheery tone into his words, and Lily nudged him in the ribs again. “What?”

“Stop trying to make me laugh,” Lily replied. “It’ll be odd if we laugh, you know. Straighten your face!”

“Fine, fine.” Claud flipped the flyer over, but there was nothing on the other page. “Still, it’s just a fancier way of saying ‘Help or get out’, right? Since you can’t conduct business with money here. I’m sure families that escape will return to see their homes ransacked too, with food and valuables confiscated and added to the pool of rewards.”

“…Won’t put it past them,” Lily replied, as a bunch of soldiers tugged a wagon full of pretty clothes and sacks of rice past them. Other wagons followed suit, but Claud could tell that many gazes were on the lead wagon, which had lots of embellished dresses displayed prominently.

“I know that dress,” said a voice. “That one at the front was what the Cliffens’ eldest daughter wore during a party last year. And the green and silver dress was her attire for the New Moon festivities three years ago.”

“What about that corset, the one that’s at the very top?” someone else asked.

“She wore that last month once, when going out with her friends.”

“Nice to know…but how did you know that?”

Lily snickered as the crowd went wild at that question. “Turns out that there’s always a fanatic here and there. Still, this family sounds like a noble family, a barony or something. What are they doing here? Shouldn’t they be running their own territory?”

“You’re asking me?” Claud chuckled. “Maybe they’re a live-in noble. Or a fief-less noble family, if that’s possible.”

“Those actually exist?” Lily muttered. “And I thought those were rumours.”

She muttered under her breath for a moment, and then pricked her ears once more. Restraining the urge to nibble at them, Claud returned his attention to the ongoing chatter, which had now centred around the interesting spectacle of the Cliffens’ properties being carted into the building behind the registration booth.

The fact that the building had a sign that read ‘Treasure House’ probably didn’t help either.

Putting that aside, the sudden appearance of these wagons had fortunately turned the people’s attention away from the alleged attack by the Chromatic Lord — which was actually Claud — but he found it a bit unnatural at how quickly they forgot about it.

“They sure forgot about that attack really quickly,” Lily noted, barely a second after that thought flashed through his mind. “Oh, were you thinking the same thing?”

“How did you guess?” Claud asked, surprised.

“I think I’m number one when it comes to studying your expressions,” Lily replied. “You usually have this odd, bemused look when you think that something doesn’t make sense, and it just appeared.”

Claud felt his face and squished his cheeks. “Really? But I swear my expression was as straight as ever, though.”

“Maybe it’s a me thing?” Lily asked. “And sometimes, you also seem to read my mind quite easily.”

“Hmm.” Claud pondered on that subject as the queue dwindled. “I think it’s a lovers’ thing, if you don’t mind me calling it that.”

“Now, why would I?” Lily clutched his hand a moment later. “Anyway, it seems that they’re indeed confiscating the properties of people who flee Lostfon. It’s an inspired move, when you think about it. They won’t have the face to come back after the whole thing is over, and this confiscation just doubles down on that particular fact.”

“A social death.” Lily tilted her head. “I wonder if they’re going to hammer it in by announcing their flight? Still, one must admire the ability of the Lostfon family in orchestrating this. Even with the threat of enemies closing in, they didn’t forget to make an example out of any deserters, and even used one of their peers as a demonstration.”

She paused. “I’m feeling a bit cold.”

Claud considered her statement for a moment, and then hugged her lightly. He had a few guesses about that abrupt statement, but what really mattered was that Lily needed someone.

“Noble society can sure be cold,” Claud muttered.

They stayed together in this position right until it was their turn to register, and the clerk had to cough lightly to get their attention.

“Excuse me, sir, ma’am.” The young man rapped his table gently. “But I can’t process you two if you keep hugging each other this tightly. I need your identification papers.”

Claud cleared his throat, and Lily took out their documents. His pockets had too many items to put something as crucial as these documents inside, so he had left the job to Lily, whose pockets were also quite stuffed.

“Let’s see…knights?” The clerk froze up, and a bad feeling welled up in Claud’s heart. Before he could stop the punk, the latter had produced a bell.

Ringing it madly, the clerk proclaimed, “The knight family of Primus has joined us in our defence! From an entire county away, the husband-wife duo of knights has pledged to aid our defence! Everyone, please thank them!”

Under the rain of applause, Claud only had one thought, and from the expressions on Lily’s face, she clearly had the same choice word too. Within seconds, the clerk had stamped on his paper, before calling someone else to take his place. Under his constant urging, he shepherded the two of them into a rather fortified house, and sat them down in what looked like a reception.

The clerk was laying out drinks when the unmistakeable aura of a mana-folder followed a stately man into the room.

“Sir Primus, Lady Primus.” The man walked up to them and sat down on the opposite sofa. “I’m Count Lostfon. We thank you for your aid.”

At those words, Claud really wanted to cuss. This, unfortunately, wasn’t the time for it.

They had to face the patriarch of the Lostfon family first.