“Wait. Hold on. We’re packing up and calling it a day here?” Farah asked. “What did you guys do in that building? Be honest. Did you piss everyone off? Do we need to fight off waves of people hungry for Schwarz-brand drinks now? Or is this place going to blow up and we need to run away as soon as possible?”

“Don’t be silly. Well, the third one is kinda correct.” Schwarz let out a sigh. “Nero, you’re up. Go and let Farah see what we saw.”

“Alright. You guys start packing first…I think we can poke around the small trade fair here, though,” Nero added. “We might find something good.”

“Really?” Schwarz raised an eyebrow. “Well, I suppose this place is rather safe anyway, so we can poke around this place, as you put it. Still, will there be any good artefacts? I really doubt it, though. I can’t sense anyone particularly threatening here.”

“One man’s meat is another man’s poison,” Nero replied. “Don’t look down on things like this. Besides, artefacts aren’t linked to their users’ number of mana circuits, but rather the skill engraved onto them.”

“I know, I know.” Schwarz chuckled. “I’m just of the opinion that the number of mana circuits is most important in survival now.”

“Now?” Farah looked at him. “I thought you were quite lazy when it came to things like this.”

“People change. In my case, however, this change came from watching Celestia’s end, really.” Schwarz made a face. “You will not understand until you see three people seemingly tear apart this…”

He paused. “Universe…that’s the word, yes?”

“Yeah.” Nero made a face. “Still, I’ve suddenly thought of something very random. What’s the name of our world? I’m not talking about the Grandis Empire, the Nihal Senate or the Saran Supremacy, but rather this…whole globe. You know, the ball…”

“Does it even have one?” Schwarz asked. “I mean, I never saw the need to, personally.”

“Really?” Nero asked. “That question has been bugging me ever since we left the room. What’s the name of our world? Of our universe? Or does civilisation need to reach a certain level before we give this thing a name?”

“I suppose an element of unanimity is required, right?” Farah suggested. “We can’t just go calling our world one name…and besides, like you said, you only started thinking about this question when you left. Maybe people don’t think about things like this because they never went to Celestia.”

“Exactly,” said Dia. “And not many people would visit this place. It’s quite dangerous in and of itself. If we didn’t have so many people doing the same thing to open a path, getting up and down this building alone would have taken a lot of time. And there are lots of traps on the way here too, and I’m sure every single building here has their own traps and everything too.”

“So, because we weren’t aware, we didn’t care, huh.”

“I mean, you need something to compare to, right? There’s no need for an actual name unless you need to differentiate it from some other place,” Schwarz replied. “That’s probably why a name doesn’t really exist.”

“True…anyway, I’ll let you experience what I saw.” Nero turned back to Farah. “It’s not going to be the full experience, but you should be able to understand what you see…in part, at any rate.”

“Alright. Go ahead.”

“Pardon my rudeness, then.” Nero reached out and pressed his palms against Farah’s temples.

“Must be nice to be the Black God’s Holy Son, I suppose.” Schwarz pointed at the nearby artefacts. “Come on, give me a hand. I want to pack this whole place up as soon as possible. Also, should we return back to Claud’s little home? Or should we just go straight back to Moon Mansion?”

“Right, we haven’t really decided on that, have we?” Dia folded her arms. For some reason, she had a very strong feeling that their decision here would prove to be instrumental in shaping the future. It was an absurd hunch, one that bordered on insanity, but for some reason, Dia felt like she alone stood at a crossroads.

The feeling that her next words could very well decide their future was not pleasant at all.

“…Give me a moment to think about it,” Dia muttered.

“Alright, go ahead. But don’t slack off on removing those barrier artefacts, got it?”

Dia began to dismantle Farah’s hard work, thoughts racing through her mind. The feeling that she was standing at a crossroads of destiny continued to nibble away at her mind, and for a moment, she felt that retreating to Moon Mansion would be a better idea. After all, it was very well defended, and being under the Moons’ protection was almost certainly better for them right now.

She squatted down to pull out another artefact, and in that moment, the memories of her Second Tutorial raced through her mind. For some reason, her brother’s actions were playing out in her mind. It wasn’t much, and her brother was decidedly adorable for some reason, but what came to mind the most was the feeling of warmth at that moment.

The warmth of home, and having people in it.

“…I suppose I should think about the two lovebirds, right?” Dia muttered to herself. “They had to leave for some stupid summons. Wouldn’t they be heartbroken if we packed up and left without waiting for them to return?”

“Now that you say that, I do feel a bit bad about suggesting a return to Moon Mansion,” Schwarz replied.

“Hey, stop eavesdropping on my monologues,” Dia complained.

“Monologues are meant to be eavesdropped on, alright?” Schwarz asked. “That’s how all the stage plays go. The bad guy, at the moment of victory, sits in the throne and monologues about his master plan, his weaknesses and the important people he swindled and harmed to get to his current position. Of course, for extra irony, these people would be standing behind the curtain…”

“I think you watched too many plays,” Dia replied. “Aren’t you a bartender? Where do you even get the time to watch plays that usually start at night?”

“Before I became a full-fledged bartender, I had a lot of time,” Schwarz replied. “Anyway, your words are very offensive. Bartenders can watch stage plays too, I’ll have you know that.”

“It’s just that most stage plays happen at night…”

“I don’t think I’ve opened the bar at night for quite a lot of days, even before we left Licencia,” Schwarz rebutted. “Anyway, back to the main topic. You don’t think we should return to Licencia?”

Dia thought about the warm little feeling in her heart during her Second Tutorial again, and then shook her head. “Those two lovebirds may complain about our presence, but I can tell that they liked it when we were there. I don’t want them to return to a cold nest or something.”

“You sound like their mother for some reason, but I agree with your sentiments,” Schwarz replied. “Let’s just stay in that cottage and fortify it over and over again.”

As those words rang out, the feeling of being forced to make a critical choice vanished. It was an odd feeling, but one that Dia welcomed nonetheless. Her mental state was in a state of chaos thanks to that damned feeling, and now that it was gone, she felt a lot happier.

“…Are you alright?” Schwarz asked. “You look like someone who just abdicated their throne and declared a full month’s worth of partying.”

“How does someone who did just that look like?” Dia asked.

“Like you.”

Dia glared at the bartender. “Is there even a point to saying such an answer? Seriously. Anyway, I don’t think we should return to Moon Mansion just yet. It’ll be better if we all came back home together. That makes more sense, right?”

“Home, huh. Yeah, that makes more sense.”

Dia nodded, before stowing away another bunch of artefacts. Nero was still in the middle of showing his memories to Farah. This definitely didn’t come from a skill, though — Dia had the feeling that the Holy Son of the Black God was using the Black God’s divine blessings to share his memories of that vision.

The two of them continued to dismantle the base Farah had painstakingly built up. Dia wondered what her expression would be like when she broke out of that vision, but she knew that the moment was going to come soon. After all, that blood-curdling vision only lasted for mere minutes.

Her hands continued to move as she watched Farah closely, waiting for the moment when she broke out of that memory-sharing thing.

“You have quite the nasty personality, huh.” Schwarz glanced at her. “What are you hoping to see on Farah’s face?”

“I must extend the same words to you in return,” Dia replied. “After all, you seem to know what I’m thinking too.”

They exchanged glances, and then nasty cackles.

What could Dia say to this? It wasn’t her fault if everyone was looking forward to Farah’s reaction to that terrifying vision, right?

Stifling a smile, Dia continued to dismantle the base with Schwarz, their eyes continually fixed on poor Farah.