“Don’t!” Dia gritted her teeth and held Farah in an arm lock. “Just stay down and stop struggling! None of you are going down there, and that’s final!”

Her head throbbed as the others clamoured about the adorable kids that were popping out from the esoteric circle that was glowing red, blue and yellow. By now, anyone who knew this colour scheme would know that the Moons were behind this odd phenomenon, so the fact that both the Moon Lords and the rulers of Licencia had gone ga-ga over those little babies of doom was perplexing Dia. Sure, it was something novel, but really?

“But those little fellows are adorable!” Farah protested. “Why can’t I go down and play with them?”

“They’re the soldiers the Moons summoned,” Dia replied, her voice tired from repeating the same thing over and over again. “Don’t go and disturb them.”

“But she’s right, you know. Those babies look absolutely adorable. I want to squeeze their cheeks or something.”

“You too — wait, Count Nightfall?” Dia took a doubletake when she saw the speaker, and then slapped her own face. “Come on, count. Caroline, your fiancé is going to do something really stupid, so stop him!”

“He looks besotted with them, so I’m not even going to try.”

“Moons take me.” Dia took a deep, deep breath. “Are you guys nuts? If you want to fawn over kids, go and adopt a baby! And you two shouldn’t even think too hard about it; just pop out a mini-Nightfall! What is wrong with you lot? These guys are the reinforcements the Lunar Lords summoned!”

Dia let out a breath. “Also, anyone feel like our organisation’s name is a bit too dangerous now? Calling ourselves the Moon Lords sounds a bit…uh…”

“Ah.” Schwarz froze. “Yeah. I can see that. Moon Lords, Lunar Lords…they’re too similar. Should we change our name after all? I don’t want to risk divine punishment…this name was thought up in a time of peace and sanity.”

“Should we consult the missing duo before we go ahead with this change?” Farah asked.

“No point. They’ll say the same thing as us,” said Schwarz. “We just need to send out the word that the Moon Lords have rebranded themselves to not sound this absurd, and that would be fine, really. The two of them have the habit of reading the newspapers; as long as we disseminate this news to the entire Istrel Sovereignty, we’ll be fine and dandy.”

“Yes, that should work,” Risti replied. “We don’t know where those two clowns are, and—”

“And?”

“And I know those babies are cute, but can you guys stop staring at them while the other caretakers are bringing them away?” Risti asked.

The others shuffled their feet awkwardly. After making a mental note to ask the others about the prospect of bringing back a little wee baby from a nearby orphanage to raise, Dia cleared her throat and said, “Mind continuing your words, Risti?”

“Last words. Right.” Risti glanced at Count Nightfall, Farah and Schwarz, who were staring at the last little baby being carried away, and then shook her head. “Sorry, I kinda lost track of the conversation.”

“Something about us not knowing Claud and Lily’s location,” Dia reminded her patiently.

“Oh, we don’t know where they went, and they would approve of this change anyway.” Risti continued, after spending a few seconds to think through her words. “As long as they know, it’ll be fine. Hopefully, they aren’t living under a rock or something.”

“Anyway, we need a new name,” said Farah.

Count Nightfall made a little noise in his throat. “Hmm.”

“You have an idea?” Schwarz asked.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“Well, you guys have been acting as the guardians of my city, the City of Trades. Why not call you guys the Trade Guardians?”

“Generic, lame and overly-descriptive,” Risti replied.

Schwarz nodded. “It makes us sound like heroes, when we aren’t. Guardians are for people who stay in the spotlight; that’s not something we aspire to by any means.”

“Furthermore, the name sounds like it’ll obligate us,” said Farah. “Guardians have the connotation of protecting. We aren’t protectors of any kind.”

The triple blow, especially Risti’s blunt words, made the count stagger backwards, and he fell back onto the wall. Dia turned away to hide her smile, but now that she thought about it…what indeed was a good name for them now? Using ‘Moon Lords’ was indeed dangerous, considering what it might mean, and the last thing they needed were some of those Lunar Lords getting angry at a good name chosen at a bad timing.

“There, there,” said Caroline, patting his shoulder. “It’s a good name for a knight order, but it’s really not suitable for them.”

Nightfall twitched once, and then pulled out a flask. Pouring the contents into his mouth, he got back up and straightened his face. “Well, that’s something you guys settle on your own. Clearly, I’m not good with names.”

“Stick to the ones you’re used to,” Schwarz advised. “Leave the weird organisation naming to me. But…well, it’s hard to come up with any new names now. All the cool ones are gone, and I don’t want to sound like a copycat. Shadows of Licencia? Yeah, no.”

“Anyway, those little kids…do you think we can visit them or something?” Farah asked. “I’ve always wanted to pick up a baby made of moonlight. White moonlight too! I wonder how that works.”

“Well, you could ask really nicely,” Count Nightfall muttered, before turning to Caroline. “Maybe we should try for a child after all.”

“You make it sound easy,” said Caroline. “Next time Clarissa comes around, I’ll have you ask her all the questions related to raising a kid, and watch you squirm. And besides, we’re tri-folders. Research shows that the more mana-folds one has, the harder it is for me to get pregnant.”

“Crap, really?” Nightfall took a deep breath. “Alright. Got it.”

Dia really wanted to ask what he got, and judging by the looks on everyone’s faces, they also had the same question, but everyone had the tact to not open their mouth and ask the question burning in their heads.

“So, those little babies…where did the Lunar Lords carry them off to?” Schwarz asked, bringing the topic to something more manageable.

“They wanted to borrow a small mansion,” said Nightfall. “Should we visit them?”

“Moon babies. Sure. Why not?” Schwarz had a peaceful smile on his face. “Given that the cause of our stress is the Moons and the Dark, I find it fitting for us to de-stress by interacting with those little adorable fellows.”

“I don’t think babies are for de-stressing,” Dia pointed out. “Alright, guys. Just give up, okay? If you get attached to those little fellows, when they grow up and die on the battlefield, your hearts will shatter. Even though they’re cute, their fate is to fight in this grand war or something. Just…ignore it, okay? For your sanity’s sake.”

Schwarz looked at Dia. “You sound like you have prior experience at this.”

“Double, trained as a warrior…did you forget?” Risti shrugged. “Did veteran soldiers train you?”

Dia simply looked back at her and Risti flinched. “Maybe. Anyway, it’s best if you don’t think too hard about many things. While those little guys are cute…well, if you really want to interact with a kid or something, go and adopt a baby from the local orphanages. They probably have a few babies dumped on their doorstep.”

She turned to Nightfall. “If you really want to help adorable little babies, increasing funding for orphanages or opening one yourself would help a lot more than just, you know, wanting to cuddle them or something.”

“Maybe we should look into that,” Nightfall mumbled. “But if I open an orphanage, can I give the kids cuddles?”

“You’re the ruler of this city,” Dia replied. “You decide.”

“Wow, way to pass the buck.” Nightfall sighed. “Alright. I’ll hold off my burgeoning paternalistic instincts and do some serious work for the needy children. Thanks for the suggestion.”

“You’re welcome.” Dia heaved a sigh of relief after noting that everyone else had dropped what Claud would have called a stupid idea. For some reason, those fellows had all been taken by the prospect of hugging little Moon babies, and she didn’t even understand why. Only her and Risti hadn’t been affected, so it really wasn’t the issue of gender.

Maybe they just had different conceptions of cuteness.

“Well, whatever. Maybe they really, really love kids or something,” Dia muttered. “Still…it’s odd.”

She glanced at the others, whose attention had been diverted to the prospect of starting an orphanage too, and then decided not to think too hard about it. Besides, it was a good thing too; helping orphans and making sure they had food and the funds to study was good for both their reputation and the city.

Letting out a small sigh, she looked up at the sky. New Moon had passed. Licencia was now under the protection of the Moons, and the darkened monsters that once terrorised the Istrel Sovereignty had been killed. Other than the war that was going to happen in Nihila, their world seemed to be at peace…for now, anyway.

Right now, in this peaceful period, what really mattered was their emergency underground shelter and burning their next mana circuits. Their training would also need to be kicked up a notch, and…

Before long, she had lost herself in planning.