Lily’s fingers tightened around Claud’s arm as Moonlit soldiers filed into the small town in numbers he had only seen in the basecamp. From the looks of it, the reinforcements from Istrel had arrived, seeing as how the Moons could send a whole bunch of Moonlit troops here. However, what was their purpose here?

The two of them, in silent accord, adopted the same expressions as the others when four soldiers walked right into the tavern and positioned themselves at the four corners. Another two soldiers walked up to the door and stood next to it, creating an imposing visage that would deter anyone from walking out of the tavern.

Were they planning to interrogate everyone here one by one?

Claud took Lily’s hand in his own, and then tapped her palm thrice. Lily nodded very subtly, and the two of them continued to emulate the expression and posture of everyone else in the tavern. The two of them didn’t look particularly outstanding, and even after a few gazes swept past them, the Moonlit soldiers didn’t see fit to pull them out.

The tension began to ebb slowly as nothing seemed to happen, and before long, everyone was returning to their dishes. A few of the tavern-goers had even gotten up to leave, and the soldiers standing guard beside the door didn’t seem to care about their presence.

After a while, Mister Candle hopped over the counter and approached the two soldiers standing guard. “Lord Moon Soldier, sir, what’s going on here? Are you here to protect us?”

Claud, Lily and everyone who was breathing in the bar immediately pricked up their ears in response.

The Moonlit soldier paused for a moment, before saying, “Our foe has lost a Bearer of Destiny. There is a substantial chance of them attacking indiscriminately. We are protecting this town, and are also recruiting people to operate siege weapons.”

“Recruiting people to what?” Mister Candle asked.

“Operate siege weapons,” the Moonlit soldier promptly replied. “Catapults, trebuchets, onagers, and mounted repeating crossbows. Mortal soldiers cannot stand in the thick of a battle between the Lords and the enemy. However, they can provide support from the rear with minimal risk and maximum impact. We are also offering very good pay that can come in different flavours, from gold to food to lifestones.”

Claud hid a smile. Did the Moons plan for people to ask them? They sure seemed prepared to advertise their openings and their new plans. Lowering his head slightly, Claud looked around the room, and then narrowed his eyes. For some reason, the people here seemed quite tempted by the proposition the Moonlit soldier had brought up.

To be fair, one gold was a lot of money, and lifestones even more so. The recruiting spiel had also emphasised on the attendant safety that these openings had. Furthermore, the fact that everyone with half a working head could tell that these new soldiers would be working the frontlines made the whole thing sound even more impressive.

“If I had this opportunity long ago, I might have taken it,” Claud muttered. “This is a really good approach to recruiting normal people.”

“You?” Lily asked. “I somewhat doubt it, but since you’ve said it…”

“Oh, come on.” Claud rolled his eyes. “Anyway, what do you think about the whole thing? I mean, there’s a lull in hostilities for now, after all. Are they just recruiting to make up for lost numbers, or are they waiting for war to break out once more?”

“The latter, in my opinion.” Lily puffed up her cheeks for a few seconds. “Still, it is quite odd. Why would both sides listen to the five grand skies this obediently? Are the literal skies stronger? Or is it something else?”

“Stronger, I suppose?” Claud guessed. “I’m not sure either, but it sure does sound like a family feud now, doesn’t it? The Moons, the Dark and the five grand skies…”

“Like a mother who’s getting tired of squabbling kids?” Lily replied. “Or two children squabbling over an inheritance.”

“Okay, but where does the Coloured Gods and that O fit into it?” Claud asked. “More importantly, I don’t think the five grand skies actually cared about the previous Godsfalls. I don’t recall hearing about them interfering in eons past, and we don’t even have many records about them doing so.”

The two looked at each other in consternation as Mister Candle continued to pry about more details about the Moons’ recruitment. Of course, the two Moonlit soldiers were happy to continue their recruitment drive, and before long, quite a few people had left the tavern, following a soldier who had a spring in his steps.

“Recruitment successful, I guess.” Claud touched his nose. “Looks like they weren’t making that much money to begin with.”

“Gold and lifestones,” Lily replied. “Not going to lie, but any normal person who make fifty silver over an entire month’s going to be very tempted. It’s just that we live in a different manner.”

Claud nodded, and then felt a bit weird. “Isn’t it odd that the ex-noble is telling me about this?”

“No, considering that this ex-noble fled home and lived as a mercenary. You, on the other hand, are a wildly successful…entrepreneur and trader of goods procured in an involuntary manner,” Lily replied. “I’m quite sure that your living conditions were far better than mine before the Moon Lords were founded.”

“Really?”

“Probably, I guess?” Lily smiled. “But it’s all water under the bridge now. Anyway, point is, their conditions are very attractive.”

Claud nodded. “Thanks for putting it into context. I was never in need of money, now that I think about it. Always rich.”

“Yeah, I checked your money stash some time ago, and there’s platinum in there.” Lily rolled her eyes. “Anyway, are we just going to leave now?”

“And waste a perfectly good meal? I think not. Let’s finish our meal first and then leave,” Claud replied.

The two of them polished off the remainder of their meal in silence. The tavern was abuzz with the recruitment spiel that the Moonlit soldier had pulled out, and Claud could tell that they were really, really tempted. It was very possible that this place would soon become a ghost town of sorts, especially since the conditions offered were very good.

Operating siege engines from afar as mortals, and getting paid with gold and lifestones? It was clear that the Moons were going all out to hire more warm bodies to fill up their siege battalions.

After filling up their bellies, Claud and Lily got up from their seats. The Moonlit soldiers made no move to stop them — nor was there any reason to, either — and they left without much incident. On their way out, however, Claud could see that a small booth had been set up, and there was a long line of people queuing up.

The scene reminded him of how Count Lostfon tried to shunt more people into joining up with the Dark back then, and he shook his head. Both sides were attempting to use humans for their own ends, but who was he to pass judgement on that?

After all, humans also used humans for their own ends.

“We should be safe here, right?” Lily murmured, her voice barely audible. “I’m a bit nervous.”

“I know,” Claud replied quietly, his hand in Lily’s. “I know. Don’t worry. Nothing’s going to happen for now. Until the Trial of Aeons is over, and…”

“We confront our destiny.” Lily’s voice carried a small touch of trepidation, and Claud checked the Looped Encryptor once more. The three little shapes were also bouncing up and down in his pocket in an attempt to convey their concern for Lily, but they had the sense to not show themselves out in the open.

Shouldering their will, Claud placed his other hand on her head. “Don’t worry. We’ve done all we can so far, and I’ll continue to work hard. I’ll try to complete the sixth mana circuit before this month is over.”

He had enough lifespan to make that a reality, especially since Crown was present. In fact, he was quite confident that he could push for his seventh fold, but the Third Tutorial was the problem here. How long would it take?

More importantly, he needed to gather more information about the Third Tutorial. From what he knew, there was only one try — failure would…lead to unsavoury consequences, with the most minor one being losing the qualification to become a septa-folder forever.

“You don’t look that happy,” Lily observed.

“Yeah. The Third Tutorial is…scary.” Claud paused. “And that’s putting it very, very mildly. Remember what I told you about the Risti I saw in the Second Tutorial? Yeah, that.”

“Low vitality and energy,” Lily muttered.

“Yeah. Living was probably painful for her,” Claud replied. “Anyway, I’ll hold off on the Third Tutorial for now. It’s probably going to take some time too, anyway. And time is what we don’t have.”

“Your moniker, though.”

“You know that’s just nonsense.”