The newspapers had dug out the stories of Tot, even before the heist at Duke Istrel’s treasury, and he was beginning to feel embarrassed. Even the hostility of the Bearers of Destiny and Emperor Grandis was not enough to stop the newspapers from reporting the objective truth.

Somehow.

“It’s a bit unbelievable, the things Tot did.” Claud shook his head, unable to quite believe that he had conducted so many heists. Sure, he did do quite a few, but for some weird reason, there were a lot more robberies and impromptu charity drives that he couldn’t recall doing. Did he really go around every single barony in the Istrel…Umbra Dukedom and rob them?

If so, why didn’t he recall it? And if it was someone else, why would they do the same thing as he did? Was there really another person who would rob a treasury and give away everything that was not a lifestone there? That thought was patently absurd, no matter how he sliced it, but he was getting older. Memories indeed weakened over time, and as a youth, he was probably quite…zealous.

Besides, he couldn’t even quite remember what happened to him on the day he robbed the Istrel treasury. His memory of that day, which had been faint to begin with, had all but fallen apart now. It was understandable that he wouldn’t be able to recall less high-profile heists.

“Truly a folk hero.” A waiter laid down two trays, one for him and one for Lily. “I wish there was a Tot in the Nihila Dukedom too. It would have been very interesting.”

Claud glanced at the waiter once, thought about the slew of incidents that had followed the wake of his name-making theft, and then decided not to think too hard about it. Lily, who was examining his face with great interest, hid a small smile behind her hands, and then tangled his leg with her own.

Chuckling, Claud said, “Yes, I suppose it would have been very…interesting. Thank you for bringing the food to us.”

“My pleasure, sir and lady. Please, enjoy.”

The two of them turned to their meal as the waiter turned away, and Claud took a very deep breath. The smell of this scrumptious breakfast made him feel like a king amongst kings, a being exalted beyond the heights of Emperor Grandis, and the soup was just heavenly. If he were one of the five grand skies now, this establishment would have been blessed for lifetimes to come, for providing him succulent succour in his time of need…

The chicken sandwich gladly offered itself to satiate his hunger, and Claud obliged by dipping it in some soup to boot.

“Never knew sandwiches and soup could be this awesome.” Claud rubbed his celebrating stomach.

“Yeah, well, you haven’t eaten much actual food for some time,” Lily replied. “And no, salted meat only marginally, barely counts. Cooked stuff is the real deal, see?”

“Well, there was no time to cook,” Claud replied. “And after Phase…the second week, my arm felt like metal or something.”

“Your endurance is insane, though.” Lily made a face. “I can’t imagine fighting an endless wave of foes without stopping at all.”

“Well, it just happens. It’s the sort of thing that you don’t think you can do, and when you look back, you wonder how you managed to do it at all,” Claud replied. “An undertaking you never thought you could complete, but you just did it anyway, and whenever you look back…”

Her eyes twinkled. “Yes. I know that feeling rather well sometimes. Like my Second Tutorial, for instance…right, we need to find information about the Third Tutorial.”

“Your Second Tutorial, huh.” Claud looked at Lily, who looked like she had shrunk by ten percent or something, and then rubbed her head. “You completed it, after all. There’s no need to dread it now.”

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“I wonder about that.” Lily trapped his hand with her own. “Also, this hand is a clean one, right?”

“Yeah, it’s a free hand. I didn’t pick up the sandwich with it,” Claud replied, winking once at her. “I can’t say the same for your hand, though.”

“It’s also clean, okay? Besides—”

Lily turned to the entrance, and Claud followed suit instinctively. A very familiar group of people just happened to walk into the inn’s dining section. In fact, they were so familiar that Claud knew that this bunch should have been living in the small house at Monsville, so why were they here?

“Why are you guys here?” Lily asked, verbalising the thoughts in Claud’s head. “You guys are supposed to be in Monsville, right? Or the Celestia Ruins!”

Claud looked at the Seekers of life and then at…the Thirteenth Bearer of Destiny, who was tagging along for some reason. While he didn’t know what the Thirteenth looked like, the woman sticking to Nero had a fricking scythe floating behind her. Based on the interactions he had seen in Phase 3, he was very confident that this woman was the Thirteenth Bearer of Destiny…

There was only one question, though. How did she even manage to make it here?

Focusing on the scythe for a moment to fake out the others, Claud glanced at the woman who had a warhammer slung onto her back.

“…Seems like there are a few unfamiliar faces.” Claud glanced at Schwarz. “Mind filling us in on what happened?”

“Sure,” Schwarz replied. “Okay, so after you left for some summons or whatever, everyone except for Risti decided to head over to the Celestia Ruins. We went there, mucked around for a bit and bought some new artefacts, and then we came across the Blessed of the Blue God.”

The warhammer woman took a step forward. “You must be the lovebirds, right? I’m Sara. Nice to meet you guys.”

Claud didn’t know who to glare at, so he simply asked, “What in the name of the Moons have you guys been telling her?”

“The truth?” Farah looked a bit confused. “Why, what’s wrong?”

“Oh, screw it.” Claud waggled his eyebrows at Lily, who rolled her eyes in response. “Lily, I don’t want to talk to these guys anymore.”

“Hey!” Schwarz clicked his teeth. “Anyway, let us sit down with you guys first. We’re holding up the queue.”

The spacious table promptly turned cramped, but Claud couldn’t help but note that the Thirteenth Bearer of Destiny and Nero were sitting really closely. Sure, they weren’t as close as him and Lily, but…

“Nero?” Lily tilted her head. “Are you engaged or something?”

“I won’t call it engaged,” Nero replied. “Kemeta fled the Saran Supremacy, after all. We just agreed to try out the couple life for a while. If it works out, then good.”

“Errr…congratulations, then?” Lily, like him, didn’t know how to respond to those words. Claud couldn’t help but think that he had made it worse too; he had told her all about Nero’s courtship of the Thirteenth Bearer of Destiny.

He looked at Kemata closely. Now that the stupid censor was gone, he could see her full appearance. Her brown hair was tied into one long ponytail, something that the censor had somehow prevented him from seeing, and her features were exquisite…but Lily was still number one.

Lily tilted her head as Claud hugged her subtly, but she didn’t say anything.

At the same time, the Thirteenth Bearer of Destiny examined the two of them, and a frown crept up her face. Without warning, she took out a small skillstick, snapping it into two a moment later.

“What are you doing?” Nero asked, curious. There was no hostility in his words at all; it was just an expression of surprise.

“Privacy.” The Thirteenth Bearer of Destiny paused. “For your friends.”

She paused. “Claud. Lily. Weak, but clever. Yes?”

“How in the name of the Moons did you describe us?” Lily repeated Claud’s words. “Really?”

“Yes. What’s the problem?” Nero asked.

“Those two…fakes? Hexa-folders. The male is…dangerous. Very dangerous.” Kemata looked at the two of them. “Not weak.”

“…What?” The Seekers of Life stared at Claud and Lily. “You guys are hexa-folders? Both of you?”

“Male, very dangerous.” Kemata’s eyes were guarded. “Identity needs checking.”

“No, the two of them are indeed the real ones, I’m sure of that.” Schwarz’s expression was complicated. “You two…are hexa-folders. Well, I…I’m not sure what to say, but…you know.”

“Don’t worry. We just advanced not too long ago. Wasn’t there a shower of lifeforce? We got over a thousand years of lifespan from it. We just never had the time to improve,” Claud replied. “Until recently, anyway.”

Farah made a noise in her throat. “So you two are the strongest in our group now…”

“Yeah.” Claud rubbed his nose. “How did you find out, Miss Kemata?”

“Skill.” The Thirteenth looked at him. “But you’re…dangerous.”

“Me?” Claud faked some laughs. “Are you sure? I’m very harmless, though. My skills are geared to running, and I never did pick up swordplay?”

“Mana manipulation. Strong.” She paused. “Very dangerous.”

“Ah, so that was what you were referring to,” Nero cut in. “Well, he’s very skilled with mana, but this dude doesn’t fight, if possible. In fact, now that I think about it, you two haven’t actually done any fighting since the Moon Lords were made…”

“Not much, that’s for certain,” Claud agreed. “I can’t remember…anyway, what about you guys? What’s going on with Miss Kemata and Miss Sara?”

Schwarz laughed hollowly. “You will not believe what I’m going to say next.”