“It’s evening. Huh.” Claud looked up at the setting sun, his fingers intertwined around Lily’s own. “Sure didn’t think that little session would take this long. Still, I’m glad that nothing bad happened.

“That was quite a shock, though, and—” Lily’s words faltered. “What’s this?”

Her other hand had a small card in it. Black and ornately decorated with golden thread, it looked like a calling card or a greeting card that a noble would send out to another. The black, stiff piece of paper radiated some odd charm too, something that made Claud less able to take his eyes away from.

“It’s from Lesser Half,” Claud murmured. “Read it!”

“Ahem.” Lily twitched once. “To my friends, Claud and Lily. Once again, I apologise for abducting you two while you two were walking back then. This card, however, is an invitation for the two of you to take up appointments at the frontlines of the battle. With this card, you two can pick and choose easy positions of your own desire.”

“It’s a blank letter of appointment for us,” Claud observed. “Wow.”

“We aren’t planning to stay here for long, though,” Lily replied. “But there’s more. Ahem. This card will also serve as the means in which he can send us some random messages, and we’ll be able to reply by writing on it. That said, Lesser Half did say that he will not be able to spy on us or feel anything via this card.”

“Uh…okay.” Claud blinked. “So does this mean we have a personal channel to Lesser Half now?”

He didn’t quite like that idea, though, but who could say no? More importantly, it wasn’t like he could dispose of this hot potato, and—

“Oh, he just sent us a message,” Lily noted. “There’s apparently no need to reply if we’re busy or something. It’s more of a means for him to stay connected or something.”

“Doesn’t this remind you of a certain artefact?” Claud muttered.

“The Trading Board, right?” Lily nodded. “I wonder if Lesser Half would be interested in the information on it. I hear that being the middleman is very profitable; what if we were to sell information gathered from the Trading Board to Lesser Half? It’ll be interesting.”

“…I didn’t think of that,” Claud admitted.

“Well, now you do. Let’s send Lesser Half a message about this later, shall we?” Lily motioned at the wooden planks in Claud’s hand. “Let’s go settle the little ones first.”

The three little shapes had wisely chosen to fall asleep during their entire time in the Lostfon Palace, but it would seem that their act had turned into the real thing after a while. Claud wasn’t going to do anything as crass as waking them up, though, and the two of them trekked back to the inn in silence.

On the way back, the two of them came across tens of people who were exhibiting various degrees of dirtiness and fatigue. Indubitably, these people were victims of Lostfon’s way of driving them over to sign up as troops of the Dark, and Claud once again couldn’t help but feel that the count was going about things wrongly. While this was certainly effective, the dangers of depriving the needy of the things they needed was too risky, in his opinion.

“I don’t like it,” Lily muttered.

“Me too.” Claud looked at the refugees that were slumped onto various parts of the city’s infrastructure. Guards were looking around warily, ready to act at the first sign of trouble — and they weren’t going to act nicely either. “This is wrong. This is all wrong.”

The tension grew as the sun continued to set, and for a moment, Claud didn’t want to go back. Someone would break here, and then bedlam would take over. Blood would run in rivers, and—

Before Claud’s eyes, the crowd stirred as a rider on a horse charged down the street, ringing a bell as he went. At the same time, another rider came from the other end of the street, and the symphony of clanging bells filled the city.

“What’s going on?” Claud asked.

“It seems like the ringing of bells is a signal to these refugees,” Lily replied. “Look! They’re all gathering around the two riders! These riders must be the messengers of Lostfon’s will…it seems that he has taken our words into account!”

“Hear all, hear all!” one of the riders shouted. “After a week’s deliberation, the benevolent count has made a decision!”

The second rider rang the bell. “Long he has wondered about your livelihood and your accommodation, and his quick-witted mind has come to a decision! For all refugees, accommodations shall be provided! Food shall be granted!”

The crowd stirred.

“The city, however, is short of people! To all refugees, materials will be provided! Build your homes here! Make your space here! Those who are willing, join the count’s men! Those who are daring, fight with the Dark!” The first rider’s horse reared, neighing dreadfully as it raised itself upright. “If you desire more than porridge, show your worth!”

“If you desire more than a miserable existence, prove your value!” The second rider pulled out what seemed like a pole and then hurled it at the city wall, his body glowing blue. As the refugees boiled with excitement over the presence of a mana-user, the hurled pole slammed into the city walls and embedded itself inside the stone.

What seemed like a huge flag with words unravelled a moment later.

The first rider rang the bell again, and the stirring crowd turned to him once more. “If you desire a real home here, a real property, head over to the Lostfon Palace and prove your mettle! We want warriors and brave men, not craven cowards! Prove your bravery and your skill, and you shall be hired and given a real home!”

Lily’s fingers tightened around Claud’s, and she said, “This is how it should be, right? It’s not like Lostfon can’t give them what they need.”

Claud nodded. The tension-filled atmosphere had evaporated like one of Schwarz’s ice cubes when the announcements began, but it didn’t end there. After those announcements, carts of wooden planks — dozens of them — rolled up to the refugees, and soldiers began to unload them.

“This little crisis has been resolved.” Lily smiled. “I’m glad we went for Lesser Half’s little gathering.”

Claud made a noise of agreement. “Count Lostfon is quite the ruler…but again, most people are, aren’t they?”

“Even the Julan barony had their own public image to maintain,” Lily replied quietly. “But we can disregard their intentions for this round, I think.”

She tugged at Claud’s hand. “Come on! Let’s go celebrate doing a good deed by building a small house for the little ones, okay?”

Claud laughed. “Sure, sure!”

He turned to look at the clamouring refugees as they left. The once-spiritless, foreign populace had now regained a good part of their morale and liveliness, and more and more people were joining in too. Within minutes, the crowd had moved the entire stock of wood and other building materials outside the city, and the beginnings of a new, smaller town were beginning to take root.

“Like kindling, I suppose,” Lily observed. “Their flames of life and hope have rekindled so quickly that the whole thing is rather touching. This is…humanity at its best, if you ask me.”

“Mutual cooperation and selflessness. I can’t help but contrast it with the residents of Lostfon who are just watching, though.” Claud shrugged. “But at any rate, the worst-case scenario has been averted. Lostfon should know what’s the next best action here, and he’s definitely going to let the Dark Herald walk around the new town to recruit too.”

“Maybe set up a training ground or something too, right?” Lily asked. “And maybe some way of showcasing the benefits of joining the Dark.”

“Yeah. I can see that happening really easily,” Claud replied. “At any rate, this city should be fine now.”

The two exchanged glances.

“Is it time for us to go back?” Lily asked.

“You know me. I can’t stand by and let everyone die,” Claud replied. “I, who have seen a possible future, must act to stop it. Rimestar is a beautiful place, but it is a place of death.”

“At the very least, grow stronger first,” Lily replied.

Claud nodded. “But I will not complete the Third Tutorial. Not yet. Have you forgotten about the rumours?”

Lily pondered for a moment, and then nodded in understanding. “The Chromatic Lords.”

“While I have that skill, I don’t want to risk exposure,” Claud replied. “I’ll only do it once I have enough Presence Nullification skillstrips and skillsticks.”

“What do you mean?” Lily asked.

“I’ll tell you about it once I’m ready for the Third Tutorial,” Claud replied. “For now, I’ll try to raise myself to a hexa-folder first. We do have quite a lot of lifestones sitting around, after all.”

Lily nodded. “Yeah. Alright, it’s settled, then. I’ll try to become a tetra-folder before we depart too. We must prepare as much as possible before the Trial of Aeons commence.”

Claud looked at his pocket. “Still, I’m sure we can spare some time for these little fellows…”