Daybreak City. Unlike its thematic opposite, Nightfall County, it didn’t have a local name…which was actually closer to tradition than many would think. As a capital of a county, one would expect that there would be tons of people milling around the place, but a blood sacrifice to call down a Moon Emissary had recently occurred here.

It was the only Moon Emissary that had emerged from the Istrel Dukedom, incidentally. Farah County was a bit too small or something, and Dia knew that Count Nightfall had ended the summoning before it could truly begin.

She wasn’t too sure about the details, but again, history was only examined in times of peace. In eras of turmoil, history could be rewritten over and over again by the winners, since no one was going to raise any complaint.

“How…sunny.” Risti noted.

“Not really, considering how hollow the sun-themed decorations look now,” Dia replied, her answer conceived purely on instinct. Most of her mind was preoccupied with Nero’s little lesson on his skills, although they were just a general description.

Of course, Nero definitely had reservations on telling them the ins and outs of his skills, so Dia wasn’t going to think about those reservations for too long. Rather, she was intrigued by two things — how these skills corresponded to an action specific to a body part, like Black God’s Step and Black God’s Grip, and how they had incredible effect and coverage.

“You’re definitely still thinking about Nero’s skills,” Risti muttered. “You’re rarely this distracted.”

“I’m not thinking about them in the strictest sense,” Dia replied, glancing at Nero once. “I’m just pondering about how overpowered they are.”

“Keep thinking that, I feel really good.” Nero grinned. “The more admirers I have, the better…would you like to learn more about our Lord?”

“No proselytising here, please.” Risti paused. “I’m sure there’s something that prohibits proselytising in general too, so you’re probably breaking a rule or something around those parts.”

“Yeah, there is.” Nero chuckled. “I’m just kidding about that. After all, why would a supreme god require people to spread his or her words? His majesty is more than enough to bring people salvation, after all. The ban on proselytising is just to stop conflict from breaking out between the nine churches, since we’ll probably get into arguments about who’s stronger or better.”

“True. The only ones who would be affected by such proselytising are the mortals who try to use the Coloured Gods for their own gain,” Risti muttered. “Which is why…”

“Divine punishment is administered,” Nero completed. “In fact, the same thing goes for the Moons too; to promote faith in the Moons by mortal hands is to disrespect them. After all, you’re treating them as a tool for influence, and it also demonstrate the sentiment that the Moons actually need a mortal to promote their influence. Therefore, divine punishment follows.”

This intriguing topic, however, had to come to an end, since they arrived at the city gates itself. People were clustering together and discussing things in hushed voices, while the city guards sent pointed gazes at the people lining up outside the gates.

At the foreigners…like Dia and the others.

Nero released a wave of intense mana as the guards approached them, and their faces changed. Before they could do anything else, Nero said, “There’s an emergency. Bring us to Count Daybreak; we bear news about this new phenomenon that’s covering the county.”

The intense mana radiating off him left the guards unable to reply for a few seconds, and when coupled with the half-scared, half-awed gazes sent their way, Dia found a new impetus to become stronger…although she definitely wasn’t intending on abusing this to scare off guards.

It just looked cool, that was all.

“Follow me,” said their leader. “We’ll bring you and your companions to see the count, then.”

The crowds waiting outside and inside the city parted ways as the guard led the way through them. He didn’t need to shout or anything; for some reason, everyone was paying the guard a great deal of respect.

“Are you someone important?” Nero asked. “If you are, you can call someone else to lead the way, really. We won’t be offended or anything.”

“Where did that come from?” the guard asked.

“Well, the people sure gave you a lot of respect just now,” said Nero. “Usually, you guys need to shout before they give way, but it seems like they were staring at you the whole time.”

As he spoke, they jogged into a street that apparently sold foodstuffs first and foremost, and Dia found herself taken aback by the long queues that had formed there. The shoppers also didn’t hold back either; adults carried huge sacks of potatoes and other hardy ingredients on their backs, while children pulled carts of similar ingredients away.

“They’re preparing for the long haul, huh.”

“Well, people have been vanishing as of late,” said the guard. “Everyone’s scared. And the count just passed down a curfew order that will begin tomorrow. Everyone’s stocking and keeping an ear out for any updates in fear.”

“And no one’s bothering to look at the sky?” Nero asked.

The guard looked up, and a puzzled expression formed on his face. “What’s wrong with the sky? It’s just overcast.”

“…Never mind. Anyway, the other cities have seen huge disappearances,” said Nero.

Dia nodded. “We were at Dawn Barony for the past few weeks, and in the last week or so, the number of people on the streets have dropped to a third or so. I’m not sure where they went, and people weren’t even aware of the disappearances until today.”

The light in the guard’s eyes flickered. “Dawn Barony was affected too, huh. We only became aware of this incident this morning too, and the count was alarmed by the number of missing people cases that were filed.”

“How many were filed?”

The guard paused. “Lots. Enough to fill up the guardhouse three times. We don’t even know where they vanished too, or when they vanished. It seemed to be a sudden realisation, and the mass cases was enough to get the count to set down a curfew.”

“What for?”

“I have no idea, to be honest.” The guard paused. “Best not to speak ill about my own boss, though.”

Steering the conversation away from that topic, the guard talked about the deluge of panicked family members filling up the guardhouse and asking for help about missing relatives. The sight of so many other people doing the same thing simply escalated the panic, and even after reporting those disappearances, the general populace hung around the guardhouse.

All sorts of sentiments like the disappearances being linked to the lower-class citizens — those who didn’t live in Daybreak City itself — and foreigners from afar rampaged through the gathered people, and before long, something like a mob had formed. Thankfully, the guard had apparently dispersed the mob with force and a bit of mana, shouting down the agitated fellows and getting them to scram from the guardhouse’s vicinity.

“Which probably accounts for why they’re all looking at you with equal parts respect and fear,” Nero noted.

“Yeah, that’ll do it.” The guard smiled. “Behold, Daybreak Palace. Stay here for a bit and don’t cross that line unless you want to fend off arrows and spend a day in jail.”

He pointed at a line, which had a sign next to it.

“Crossing this line without permission absolves the Daybreak administration from all responsibility and liability arising from defensive measures taken,” Nero read out loud. “Uh, is this supposed to be legal ‘round these parts?”

“Other than a few absolute laws, the ruler of a domain is free to set local laws, and…” Dia paused. “Just take my word for it. It’s legal.”

“You’re just too lazy to explain it, right?”

“Well, I’ll need to explain local, super-local, territorial, super-territorial and Crown laws, so unless you want me to give a three-day lecture on these things, just take my word for it,” Dia replied.

“…Okay.”

“That’s a good Nero.”

“Anyway, I’ll report your presence and news first,” said the guard. “Just sit tight here and twiddle your thumbs. I’ll be back in five minutes to bring you through the twenty-six security procedures.”

“Twenty-what?”

“Twenty-six,” said the guard. “Can’t be helped. You three are from a neighbouring county, after all, and you’re even a strong folder. These checks are necessary. Don’t worry, they won’t take up too much time.”

“Ugh.” Nero heaved out a sigh. “Maybe we should just turn around and leave. This isn’t our county anyway, and we’re just trying to be good people.”

“…I’ll see what I can do,” the guard mumbled. “Wait here!”

As he jogged into the palace, Dia eyed the duplicitous Nero, who had just strongarmed the poor guard into…well, something. It wasn’t something she could approve of, but again, a long check at security sounded like pain.

Risti simply flashed a thumbs-up. “Nice going, buddy.”

“Thank you kindly, my lady.”