Vacuos County was full of tri-coloured and shadowy figures when their little party arrived. They intermingled amongst the humans, browsing shops freely, and little toddlers of light and shadow ran around the place. Some of them were being fed by random citizens, presenting a very harmonious visage.

“...This wasn’t what Vacuos looked like just one and a half months ago, though?” Claud muttered. “What’s going on?”

“That’s a very good question,” Nero replied. “I have no idea either. It seems that the Dark and the Moons have turned into friends for some reason. I’m not too sure why.”

Claud felt a bit perplexed, but he was at least not alone in doing so. Lily was tilting her head in an adorable manner, before gesturing at the little toddlers running around. It was the first time she or Claud had seen the little toddlers of the Moons, and watching them play with the little toddlers of the great Dark was warming the little cockles of his heart.

“I feel like I’m being refreshed or something,” Claud muttered. “Anyway, we’re here…”

“Miss Sara.” Schwarz bobbed his head. “As agreed, we have escorted you to Vacuos. Your subordinates are here, right?”

“I think so. I gave them a mission to do, after all.” The Blessed of the Blue God smiled. “Here’s the payment, by the way. Thanks for being such a good escort.”

“You are very welcome.”

“Are you guys going to leave now?” Sara asked, curious. “I mean, there are lots of babies here. Are you guys really going to leave without picking up one for a hug?”

“Oh, not you too,” Dia muttered.

Claud had no idea what drove that outburst, and he didn’t want to find out either. However, judging from the way how she was looking at Schwarz, there were a few clues that he could pick out here or there…

“Well.” Schwarz looked a bit tempted. “Not to mention the presence of those little babies…I mean, uh, putting them aside, I do want to conduct some market research here. Nero, I wonder if you’re up to it?”

“I am, and I’m not the only one.”

The scythe behind Kemata spun once, and her brown hair fluttered from the generated wind. “Interested too. Lost to Nero. Indignant.”

“Did she challenge Nero to a drinking contest?” Lily whispered.

“I think so. And the results weren’t that drastically different either…otherwise, she would have been traumatised, not sore.” Claud bobbed his head. “Does that mean that the two of them can empty out a shop’s entire stock of alcohol?”

“Now that sounds interesting,” Farah quipped. “Alright, we’ll have some fun watching the two of them drink it out, shall we? And besides, I don’t wanna eat dry rations for the next two days.”

“Alright, let’s go, then.”

A lot of soldiers, each of them wearing different liveries, stared at them as they approached the city. The multitude of styles and symbols could only mean that every single minor noble was out in full force to look for Tot — clearly, the temptation of godhood was too strong to resist. — and Claud forced himself to act natural.

“What’s the point of all this?” Dia complained, glaring at some of the less cultured brutes that were wearing armour.

Claud could see why she was unhappy — the soldiers here were all clearly people who didn’t understand the idea of being respectful and polite. Weird whistles and shouts harassed everyone who was entering and leaving the city, and the more Claud watched, the more he reaffirmed his conviction that most minor nobles really were scum or something.

Probably. He didn’t want to be too blasé in condemning an entire group of people — there had to be good minor nobles too, but the behaviour of these troops was doing a good job in convincing him otherwise. Did they not teach their personal troops how to be basic human beings? Or was there some weird factor at work?

“Oi, oi, oi! Beautiful ladies! Why are you not looking at us?” A bunch of soldiers stopped in front of Claud and the others. “Ditch those losers and come with us for some fun, yes?”

Claud blinked, glanced at Kemata, who had a scythe floating behind her, and then wondered if their eyes were addled. He would, under most circumstances, try to avoid anyone with a floating scythe behind them. These punks, however, hadn’t just done that — they had gone up to a person who had a deadly weapon floating behind them and acted rudely.

“…I’m shocked,” Lily whispered to Claud. “I mean, I didn’t expect people to come up to us, when there’s a floating scythe…”

“Right?” Claud glanced at the scythe again. “That’s her soulbound weapon…anyone with half a mind would know that she’s a folder, right?”

Dia took a step forward and surveyed the soldiers quietly. The men behind a particularly large fellow began to whisper amongst themselves, and Claud pricked up his ears.

His expression changed again. For some reason, their leader had tried to do the same thing three times…the operative word being ‘tried’. All three times were ‘unlucky’, whatever they meant by that, so what gave this oaf the confidence to try again?

“Oi! You guys mute?” Their leader, who was wearing armour emblazoned with some weird ugly symbol, took a step forward. His hand shot towards Dia of all people, aiming for her chest, and Claud winced.

A piteous scream followed, as Dia intercepted the hand calmly. Without much ado, the entire metal gauntlet crumpled up into a ball, and blood dribbled out of the cracks in the gauntlet. Dia stared at the leader calmly, and then said, “I believe this crest is from the Omur Baronet…yes? His troops are so…uncultured.”

She released the hand, and the man curled over. While Claud found it interesting, he also couldn’t help but think that there was something wrong. For one, this fellow had tried three times earlier. Even if he only thought with his lower half…

“Something’s wrong,” Dia muttered.

“Yes, something’s wrong,” Schwarz agreed. “I heard his men speak just now. This guy…even idiots will learn their lesson after being burned twice.”

Claud pulled out a skillstick and snapped it into two. The groaning man, who looked like he had been struck dumb, shivered once, and a clear light returned to his eyes.

“It seems that he has awakened from whatever ability was affecting him,” Farah observed. “And more importantly…”

She turned to the men behind their leader. “I heard you guys say something him trying three times. What’s up with that?”

Farah paused, and then pointed at one of the soldiers. “You, speak. Or die.”

Mana leaked out of her finger, and the soldier quailed. “Y-Your Excellency! I don’t know! Our leader suddenly became weird! He approached everyone in a group, and then tried to hit on the ladies there! And it’s not just him either! Some of the other troops here have been affected too!”

“Well, that explains the whistles,” Claud muttered, before apologising mentally to the minor nobles. “So…it seems that there’s some plot here, yes?”

His mind drifted to the time when he used Will of Solitude. The skill had evolved two days ago, but its use was…surprising, to say the least. Other than giving him and Lily perfect privacy, he had also gained the ability to detect karma. One of them connected him to the red globe hanging high above the world…to the Red God.

Claud had severed it after moving closer to the others.

From the looks of it, the Red God had managed to lock onto him sometime during the Trial of Aeons, and he had managed to sever that connection.

Clearly, the Red God did not like that at all, if this was really his doing. Their destination was obvious, after all, but why did the Red God’s agents do all this, instead of targeting them directly? Or was he simply unable to track everyone in the world?

The more he thought, the more likely he found the second explanation to be. In other words, while the Red God could roughly detect the existences around him, he couldn’t lock onto them the same way he did to Claud. Probably, in that moment he severed the karmic bond, the Red God could only tell that his prey was moving in a group.

If he followed that line of thought, it would at least make some sense. Claud hadn’t forgotten what happened in the Second Tutorial, and he wasn’t going to believe that the Red God was this limited either. Even if this was the truth, he had no plans to lighten up his guard either — his enemy was the Red God.

There was no way he could underestimate someone, especially someone who was desperate for a new Bearer of Destiny…

“Trouble underfoot.” Nero clicked his teeth. “I wonder who’s going to do what now.”

“Should we still enter, then?” Claud asked.

“Do you think danger’s going to approach us anytime soon?” Schwarz asked, looking at Claud seriously. “What do you and Lily think?”

“It’ll be fine, for now.” Claud folded his arms. “This is more of a long-term plan than anything, in my opinion. Maybe they’re looking for someone…”

Lily rolled her eyes at him.