Claud felt a bit jealous as Lily continued to play with the little shadow’s hair, but again, he was barely resisting the urge to do the same either. It would seem that this incredible sense of cuteness was their defence mechanism, and by the looks of it, it was functioning really damned well.

He looked up at the pulsing sky as they trotted back home. Now that he had been exposed to the horrifying presence of the Lesser Half in its descent, Claud didn’t feel much stress from the ripples that were shaking the world itself. It was a nice side-effect of exposing themselves to madness, but Claud was never going to do that again.

“Something wrong?” Lily asked, and the little fellow tilted her head.

“I’ll tell you about that when we offload this fellow into somewhere safe,” Claud replied, rubbing the little guy’s head. In the scenario dreamt up by the Second Tutorial, what did the Frozen Emperor do? Did he go out to peer at the Lesser Half’s descent too?

For some reason, he felt that the Frozen Emperor hadn’t done that.

He didn’t mind that he was diverging from the Frozen Emperor in terms of actions, though. If that meant that he could avoid the future that drove a hypothetical him into catatonia while killing off a bunch of his friends at the same time, that was a good idea.

Now, with the First Bearer of Destiny dead, there were only two moon phases before the Trial of Aeons followed. The next moon phase, however, would herald the descent of the Moons.

This year was really shaping up to being a fine one.

Shaking his head, he tightened his fingers around Lily’s own and continued their way back to the inn. It was a profound shame that they couldn’t reside in their own property that they had brought in Monsville, but it was Moon territory there. As someone who was wholly responsible for the death of the Moon-aligned Bearers of Destiny there, living there…was a bad idea.

It was sad, but it couldn’t be helped.

“I wish we can go back home,” Claud muttered. “The one we have in Monsville, that is.”

“Didn’t we purchase some protective artefact for it? It should still be fine,” Lily replied. “I only fear for the amount of dust there and nothing else. Cleaning up will be a chore.”

“Right?” Claud envisioned himself dusting the whole place off, and then shivered. “Our bed is going to be mouldy too. Do you think we should hire someone to clean up the place after we return?”

“By the power of money…”

“I’m just lazy. And money exists for us to take shortcuts. With money, you can take as many shortcuts as you wish, after all.” Claud nodded sagely. “This is why money exists. You can buy and sell services with money as an intermediary, and everyone can use it as the basic currency of exchange.”

“We have enough lifestones that dumping them on other people might just come as second nature to us, though…” Lily gasped. “Is that why Clarissa just uses lifestones as payment?”

“As blocks of a few thousand gold each?” Claud pondered. “Heh. Still, I’m sure not many people would buy and sell their houses for lifestones. Gold or platinum? Sure, but lifestones must be traded via an intermediary, who would take a cut out. And if they don’t want to buy, good luck.”

“There’s a shortage of lifestones now, though.”

Claud grunted. “Right. And the only things I can use are either pure-ranked lifestones or prana jades. It’s just that…the only way to get them is rather scary, though. Graveyards? Battlefields? Really?”

He shook his head. Instead of sounding like an idiot, the two of them had taken the liberty to ask about prana jades via the Trading Board shortly after retrieving some from Count Lostfon. They were useful baubles for mid-ranked folders, who were now completely resistant to low, mid and high-ranked lifestones. For tetra-folders and beyond, prana jades were the only things that would allow them to progress, adding one month’s worth of lifespan. This number would, like pure-ranked lifestones, never drop, allowing for unlimited intake.

They were a renewable source, though. One could harvest them from battlefields, or when lots of people died with emotions running high. Their most popular source was ancient battlefields from the various Godsfalls, which never quite seemed to run out.

“Are you going to scour around for them?” Lily asked.

“In essence, all lifestones are pure-ranked ones to me,” Claud replied, thinking about little Crown, who was snoozing in their room. He hadn’t brought Crown and Throne along, since Claud feared that the supposed Dark Herald descending would notice these guys.

Given that the Lesser Half of the great Dark was the actual entity that descended onto Lostfon, his choice seemed like a very, very good one.

The inn, which was already very silent, turned into a grave of complete peace as the two of them walked in with a little toddler of shadow in tow. Ignoring the tens of shocked gazes, Claud walked towards the counter. “Old man, do you have an extra room?”

“Yes, Lord Primus, but…” The old man looked at the toddler. “But what’s up with the little shadow?”

“Guy was distracted by a sweet,” Claud replied. “The ritual for them to return home has ended, so this guy is marooned here. I’m going to bring him over to the Lostfon Palace for the Dark Herald to handle tomorrow…”

He paused. “Okay, not tomorrow.”

Lily rolled his eyes at him as the old innkeeper tossed a key over, before rapping the counter for payment. Placing a gold cold there, Claud tugged at the little fellow and beckoned him upstairs, with Lily bringing up the rear.

“So, I never really noticed, but do these Shadowed Ones have bodily functions? I see them eat and eat, but they don’t really have much in the way of passing out waste,” Lily noted.

“Beats me. Maybe this is an incubation period or something, because the toddlers that were returning took on very human forms,” Claud replied. “Maybe this is a special period for them? Either way, we’ll return this little punk to the Lostfon palace two or three days later.”

“Don’t want to see the Lesser Half, huh?”

“Hehe. Count Lostfon is going to break down when he realises that half of the great Dark is paying him a visit,” Claud replied. “For our safety, we’re not going over tomorrow morning. And besides…”

He paused. “I have something more pressing to do.”

“Yes. True.” Lily held his hand. “Have you thought of what you’re going to do?”

“I’ll just make a small altar here.” Claud sighed. “It’s the first time I’m doing this while not in front of her grave.”

“Where is your mother buried at?”

“A small plot outside Licencia itself,” Claud replied, thinking back to the time when he carried a coffin out. Without any money, he could only rely on some help by Schwarz and his father to purchase a coffin. There was no way he could hire a coffin bearer, though, and the carriages and carts didn’t want to help him carry his mother out of the city.

He found a nice, small hill there, and then dug a grave. How long did he dig for? Claud couldn’t remember.

“Claud…” Lily looked at him once, a complex emotion in her eyes, and rested a hand on his shoulder to convey her support. It was a gesture that couldn’t be replicated by words, just like the emotions he had when he finally told her about his own emotions back then.

He sighed, and then ushered the little guy into the second room he booked. “Here you go.”

The little shadow looked up at him, and then waddled over to the bed. Claud watched as it stretched once, and then flopped over.

“Huh. Well, that’s adorable.” Claud poked the little guy on the forehead. “We’ll bring you to find the Dark Herald two days from now. Just sit tight here or something, okay?”

He placed the key on the small cabinet next to the bed. “That’s the key to this room. If possible, don’t leave the room. I’m sure a lot of people would want to kidnap you, now that the great Dark has descended.”

Claud’s face took on an odd expression involuntarily as he continued to speak. He couldn’t help but think that they too fitted the bill very well, and after informing the little guy to go downstairs if he was hungry, he and Lily left.

“So…are we the bad guys?” Lily asked.

“I don’t think so,” Claud replied. “And we’re going to bring him to the Lostfon Palace two days or maybe tomorrow anyway. We’re good guys.”

“…Okay.”

“Look, we really are good guys,” Claud replied, rolling his eyes. “It’s just that we can’t help but think we’re the bad ones for some reason. We’re doing the right thing, okay? We’re even paying for this guy’s board and lodging.”

The little fellow tilted his head.

“Yes, yes.” Claud rolled his eyes. “Let’s go back, wash up and then sleep. This guy will be fine on his own.”

Lily made a little noise in her throat, and then pulled out a bunch of sweets. Piling them up beside the key, Lily cleared her throat and said, “For you. Eat one if you’re hungry, but try not to finish everything. I won’t be giving anymore, you hear?”

The little shadow picked up a sweet, unwrapped it and ate it a moment later, before releasing a happy gurgle. Without any preamble, the tiny guy fell asleep, letting out a content, steady breathing pattern.

“…Reminds me of a drunk person,” Claud noted, and then shook his head. “You are a bartender to small shadows. For shame.”

Lily punched his shoulder by way of reply.