After that very…uh, illuminating explanation, Dia and the others discussed about the feasibility of actually dealing with a familiar spirit — just in case the Moons turned a bit kooky and decided to give the nod — and then called it a day.

“Still, did that guy really have the guts to be doing that on an important night?” Dia wondered. “Or were you just making it up?”

“I am told that he really had the balls, both metaphorically and physically,” Risti replied. “As a rule of thumb, one appears in the attire they were last clad in, and that person happened to be extra-naked. Unfortunately for him, the historic nature of this meeting meant that he couldn’t leave the mental realm, pull on a set of clothes and then return. As such…”

“He spent the whole meeting naked?”

“Or so I’m told,” Risti replied. “Anyway, this meeting is really important. By showing your faces at the meeting, you are essentially securing a lifeline. The standing policy is to let live where possible, especially when talking to fellow members. It wouldn’t count as much…if not for the fact that these fellow members are very influential.”

“I still can’t wrap my head around it, though. There are people dedicated to combating Limbo…it feels odd.”

“To be more exact, we’re combatting the knowledge of Limbo. Our job is to wipe out knowledge of how to tap into Limbo entirely, usually by killing the people responsible. Book burnings exist too, but our greatest enemies…well, it’ll be announced later tonight.”

“Okie dokie.”

“Why are you trying to play cute with me? You’re the princess’ double. Act like one,” Risti rebuked.

“I—She does that a lot too, alright?” Dia replied. “Okay, not that many times, but she does like to play cute with her father. Squeeze up her cheek and ask for pocket money. Things like that.”

“Really?” Risti hummed. “Maybe I should learn from her, then.”

Dia didn’t know what to make of that utterance, and she cast around for a topic. Within seconds, she had remembered one very important thing; what about Nero? Nero was currently very uninhibited in terms of mannerisms.

What would happen if they brought him into the meeting too?

“You know, that’s a very good question,” Risti replied. “I suspect a certain Black God is going to be a bit…uh, pissed. To put it lightly. I’m not sure. I didn’t figure out that Nero was one of us until we fought the First Bearer of Destiny at Daybreak.”

“At Daybreak?” Dia frowned. “You figured out his identity there?”

“You forgot…yeah, you would have forgotten. After the First escaped, Nero took the initiative to crush some maggots, remember? And I helped to clean the place up. We immediately recognised each other and exchanged some meeting codes,” Risti replied.

Dia frowned.

“Don’t bother. We modified your memory and that of the count’s afterwards,” Risti replied.

“You what?”

“No choice. The moment you saw that, it was possible that you too would fall into the idea of using energy from Limbo. It would be an insidious takeover, and it’s due to your body itself,” Risti replied. “Your very being would inherently try to limit Limbo’s influence when you tap on it without the necessary purification. The…things you took you would accumulate slowly, and as their number rises, your reason and mind would be eroded by the Logia. You’ll turn into a sleeper agent of sorts, spreading corruption everywhere.”

Dia shivered at those words. “That’s…”

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“Dying or turning directly is infinitely better in our opinion. Sleeper agents can deal a lot of damage when it comes to spreading the use of Limbo. It’s easy. Just set up a stall, charge some money to sell a secret of refilling your emptied mana circuits through pure, sheer desire, and bang. A few people will listen and bite. And when these people are desperate in a fight for their lives, when they’re out of mana, they’ll try to draw mana from Limbo.”

Risti shook her head. “And bang, a new sleeper agent. They’ll actively promote the concept of forcibly channelling mana and drawing it out from Limbo — all one needs is the knowledge of Limbo to do that — and we’ll have an entire town gone.”

“An entire town?”

“Believe it or not, but normal people can draw power from Limbo too. Like I said, all that’s needed is knowledge. Normal people exploding out with power to kill a mana-user? Good chance of the source being Limbo. That’s why we check these stories out and summarily execute the person responsible.”

“That’s…” Dia felt something in her stomach churn. “But…”

“I know. We seem like a horrible organisation. Memory wipes? Summary execution of someone who’s probably a good guy? Yeah. Once you know about Limbo, we can’t even leave you alive.”

“Wait, didn’t you guys say that you were going to wipe out our memories if we refused?” Dia asked. “Why couldn’t you do that to these people?”

“Seeing is one thing. To use it is another,” Risti replied. “These people, these heroes who killed mana-users who were threatening lives, had tapped into Limbo without any purification. If they had done so while making sure to purify themselves, memory loss or joining us is possible. But…”

She shook her head. “We have killed thousands upon thousands, many of which are good people with families, just to protect our world. It is a duty inherited from even the Primordial Age.”

“And you?” Dia asked. “How many have you killed?”

“I killed a young man four years ago. He was protecting his family from a rogue mana-user, and in that final moment, he managed to tap into Limbo. His knowledge was incomplete, and by the time he killed the mana-user, he was already turning.”

“Turning?”

“Into a monster.” Risti grimaced. “Made my job of killing him a lot easier.”

“How about Nero? Nero’s younger, but…I think he was very experienced in cleaning up the battlefield?” Dia held her head. “I remember him taking the lead to clean-up.”

“Yeap. But that was dumb, to be honest. The way he did it called attention to the white gloopy maggots. I’m glad you two were out of it and didn’t ask any awkward questions on the spot.” Risti yawned. “Remember, don’t take in energy from Limbo without purifying it. It’s a death sentence.”

“…Shouldn’t Nightfall know about that part too?” Dia muttered.

“He does,” Risti replied. “I just left him a small book of what to do and what to definitely not do. You get special service, so be happy.”

“Thanks?”

“Don’t make that a question,” Risti replied. “Anyway, the meeting’s later tonight, so remember to wear something nice. Try not to sleep before that, and remember to wear something nice if you really have to sleep.”

“Okay.”

After receiving a few more tips from Risti as to what to wear and what to not do when night fell, the two of them arrived at Moon Mansion. Nero was squatting near one of those little Moonlit babies, his eyes focused with intent as he fed the little fellow biscuits really slowly.

“Oh, hey, ladies.” Nero’s tone of voice was a bit weird. “Wanna hang around for a while? There’s an adorable baby here, and I think he’ll like it if you two were to feed them too.”

“Feeding babies aside, are you feeling better?” Risti asked. “You do know that there’s going to be a meeting convened at midnight, right?”

“Isn’t it sundown?” Nero asked.

“Sundown in Nihal. Midnight in Grandis…still, I suppose there’s be a few inaccuracies here and there. Even midnight comes differently based on where we are in Grandis,” Risti acknowledged. “Pull yourself together, Holy Son. Lest He gets angry at you.”

“He’ll notice my odd state of mind.”

“Yeah, but you’ll still embarrass Him.”

Dia rubbed her nose. “Are you guys talking about the Black God?”

“Of course. Who else would Nero fear and respect?” Risti replied. “…Fine, I’ll stick around for a moment. Indulge you a bit and everything…give me a biscuit.”

She turned to the little tri-coloured toddler. “Say ahh…”

As the two members of a particular secret organisation fed the toddler until it was full, Dia couldn’t help but think about the absurdity of the whole thing. She hadn’t quite wrapped her head around the fact that an ancient organisation devoted to the purging of a particular piece of knowledge actually existed.

Phew. It was unbelievable, to begin with, but again, she and Nightfall had been sworn to secrecy too. That said, the Coloured Gods, the Moons and the Dark were all in on this thing, so actually trying to leak the secret would probably be very bad for her lifespan.

Giving the little Moonlit toddler a nice headpat, Dia ditched the others and returned to the mansion first. She was certain that the two of them had their own things to talk about, and more importantly, Dia felt a bit tired. Coupled with the fact that her sleep tonight would be disrupted, getting some shuteye sounded like the perfect plan right now.

Yawning once, she slipped into her room.