Surprisingly enough, nothing happened on the first day other than the Seekers of Life’s near-total alcoholic wipe-out at the hands of the legendary alcoholic, Nero. Claud was half-expecting some disaster to strike while the others were all inebriated, so it was with some pleasure that the others began to awaken without any world-shaking incident.

Everyone, however, was in weird positions. Lily was clinging on to his back, in a manner that reminded him of a kitten gripping a tree. Kemata was still seated rigidly, but the scythe was now on the floor. The others were sprawled all over in creative ways, and—

A small noise drew his attention, and Claud turned to look at the entrance.

He glanced at the little tri-coloured toddler who was poking her tiny little head through the tavern door. Claud immediately felt a bit uncomfortable at letting a kid see a bunch of adults at their worst — right when they were waking up from a bout of drinking — so he walked over to the little guy.

The little tri-coloured Moon baby hopped on the spot once, and Claud squished her cheek.

It was soft.

Squishing the little toddler’s face gently, Claud looked up at the sky. Night had fallen, but the streets of Vacuos, which was still in neutral territory, were blazing brightly. Vacuos and the Lacuna Dukedom were the last patches of neutral territory, unclaimed by both the Moons and the Dark…

The little kid nibbled on his arm for some reason, and Claud rubbed her head. “Alright, little one, you should go back to your buddies first.”

A small set of eyes looked at Claud sadly, and the Thief of Time felt a bit bad. He weighed the importance of the others’ dignity and the happiness of this little kid, and then felt that other than Lily’s, the others’ dignity could go and take a hike. However, for this kid’s sake — to not disillusion her about how bad adults could be — he still had to distract her somehow…

“So, uh…what brings you here?”

The kid made a few weird gestures, and Claud decided not to ask her anymore. Instead, he simply hummed some random songs, including Lily’s favourite one, and the kid sat down next to him.

Lily, who was actually on his back the whole time, finally stirred with a little yawn. The little baby promptly tugged at her cheek, and Lily made a weird noise, which delighted the toddler very much.

By the time she was fully awake, the little kid’s hands were on Lily’s cheeks.

“…What’s going on?” Lily asked.

“Your sleeping face drew a baby over,” Claud replied, before tickling the baby’s sides. Lily’s cheeks were liberated a moment later, and Claud forestalled any further cheek-grabbing incidents by squishing the kid’s cheeks instead.

“Oh.” Lily looked around. “And why am I hugging your back so tightly?”

“Why, indeed.” Claud grinned. “I don’t mind the sensation, though. Do continue.”

“My arms are tired, so no.” Lily freed his body, and then slid next to him. Peering at the little baby, she asked, “Do you have a name?”

The baby nodded.

“Aww, so cute.” Lily pulled out a sweet. “Here, have one.”

After bribing the kid with a few more sweets, the little tri-coloured fellow tottered off happily, presumably to show off to her fellow toddlers about nice sweets from a sweet, nice sister. Claud watched the kid vanish, and then looked up.

“Did I say anything funny?” Lily asked.

“You’re a sweet drunk. A clingy one,” Claud replied. “So no. But don’t drink if I’m not around, alright? You’re only allowed to cling to me!”

“The same goes for you…well, you don’t really drink to the point of intoxication, though.” Lily looked at him. “As expected of my Claud. Still, the others…”

“They drank far more than you. I don’t think they’ll be waking up in short order, although Nero was quite happy when Kemata woke up halfway, dragged him over, and then used him as a bed.”

“Happy…”

“Heh.”

The two of them admired the night sky for a while. Now that the Trial of Aeons had concluded, with Claud finding himself far stronger than the Frozen Emperor probably was at this point…

“What should I do now?”

“The Third Tutorial, right?” Lily replied. “That seems to be the only way open for both of us, whether you like it or not. We’ll need to take the risk.”

“Yeah.” Claud cupped his chin. “Not much of a choice here. But…well, if we fail, it won’t just stop there. Last time, we got really lucky or something. And we had information about the Second Tutorial too. We’re really going in blind for this, though. I don’t like it.”

“Neither do I,” Lily replied. “But we definitely have an advantage, right? The younger we are, the less traumas we have. That’s something that not many others can copy.”

Claud folded his arms. Indeed, in his Second Tutorial, virtually everyone had failed to become a high-ranked folder. It was a given that they had already gone through the events that led to the creation of Rimestar; if they had to experience their traumas or something once more…

“Age, huh.” Claud made a noise in his throat. “Well, it won’t hurt to give it a try, but are we going to do it now?”

“It’s safer,” Lily replied. “And you know what I mean by that, right?”

Claud nodded. “But the others...”

“They can go back first,” Lily replied. “Our advancement is very important. Every day we delay the Third Tutorial is a day that we’re vulnerable. And we need to alternate, right? It’s dangerous for us to do it together.”

“You’re right.” Claud let out a sigh. “Maybe I just don’t like the idea of doing it…but we do need to, after all. It’s just too dangerous, and Nero explained it clearly. Failure turns living into a huge chore, and…”

“That’s why we need to clear it while we’re at our peak,” Lily replied. “Our youth is our advantage.”

She didn’t look that convinced by her own words, though, but Claud wasn’t going to press that topic. Lily was clearly also trying to convince herself to go through with the whole thing, since it was really dangerous. Not only did they have no information on the Third Tutorial, but the price for failure was also incredible.

“It can’t be helped.” Nero, who had awakened from his nap, cut into their conversation. “If you were wondering why high-ranked folders don’t really exist, this is one of the key reasons. Of course, the unofficial decree from the Coloured Gods and the Moons also played a part, but those who are eligible to undergo the Third Tutorial also know the dangers hidden within.”

“Can’t say I don’t sympathise with them,” Claud muttered, before glancing at his status. After the end of the Trial, he had gathered enough Fragments of Fate to evolve his Absolute One again, so a new personal quest, One’s Ideals, had been triggered.

[Personal Quest: One’s Ideals]

Quest introduction: The mark of an administrator is the ability to bring order to the world. The mark of a ruler is the presence of an ideal that can unify the world. Show the observers up high what you stand for.

Quest requirements: Impose your ideals upon your tribulation.

Quest rewards: FiBoD:O??? evolves,

Additional Remarks: Trigger a tribulation by bringing your Mana Circuit Superimposition to 7.00.]

Like One’s Order, this quest was annoyingly vague. Not only did the instructions fail to make any actual sense whatsoever, Claud also knew that the quest requirements would definitely change once he triggered the Third Tutorial. No matter how he tried to make sense of it now, concrete instructions would only surface after he entered the Third Tutorial, making his life even harder.

It was as if the world knew about his cautious personality or something, and he didn’t like that feeling at all. Being personally targeted by the five grand skies was a privilege he could do without for his entire life, but they just didn’t like him or something.

“Right?” Nero asked, unaware of Claud’s inner grousing. “Anyway, I’m going to make something for the others. Can you two stand guard here?”

Nero scuttled off a moment later, and Claud nodded to himself. “I suppose it’s best if we completed our Third Tutorial here. It’s too dangerous otherwise, after all. We’ll go in at our best state as soon as possible.”

Lily gripped his hand. “Yeah. Let’s.”

“The only problem is explaining to the others, I suppose.” Claud pressed a finger to his throat. “What? You guys are going off on another honeymoon again? Wow.”

“Who are you impersonating with that?” Lily asked. “Doesn’t sound like any of the others.”

“I’m impersonating their inner voices,” Claud replied. “As for whether they actually think that…that’s another question, naturally.”

“Meh.”

“Oh, come on,” Claud muttered. “At least I tried to look past their exteriors, right?”

“That does not give you the right to arbitrarily assign words to them using the excuse of their inner voices,” Lily replied. “That’s just petty.”

“S-sorry, guys…it’s not like they can hear me, though?”

“It’s the thought that counts?”