Claud didn’t want to definitively say that he was the fellow that the mastermind behind these guys was looking for. After all, there was the possibility that he got it embarrassingly wrong and that those fellows were looking for someone who travelled in a group and had some fancy-schmancy moustache instead. That said, he was reasonably certain in his guess, and he definitely didn’t want to alert the Red God to the fact that there was someone who could sever karma here…
Will of Solitude, other than being the perfect skill for secret trysts and walking down streets with questionable fashion sense, was also apparently useful in preventing pesky gods from focusing on him. More importantly, the ability to deactivate the skill without needing to tap someone was really impressive, and it also didn’t magically cease to deactivate the moment he bumped into someone.
That last bit had to be tested with Lily, though. Surprisingly enough, she actually couldn’t notice accidental bumps, but if he tried patting her head, Lily would catch him immediately…
Clearly, the skill had a mind of its own or something. The specifics of the skill itself, however, were a bit intriguing. As long as he desired to interact with someone, the skill actually deactivated…although the sheer cooldown time of two hours meant that he could regret his decision a while later.
That said, the only skill medium that could hold these skills was Elysia wood. While he had a healthy amount of it in the storage ring sitting on Lily’s finger, it also meant that he couldn’t mass produce Will of Solitude. However, it wasn’t all that bad; when he tried to imbue Will of Solitude onto blank skillstrips, it actually produced Presence Nullification. The shorter cooldown time for a level 11 skill, which was two hours, meant that he could mass produce that skill instead…
Will of Freedom, similarly, just produced Flight. It was quite useful, seeing as how he could now produce twelve every day, but…
Shaking his head, Claud watched as the others debated over their next course of action. His words, which were essentially him telling the others that this place wasn’t that safe, had stirred up a small debate between Schwarz and Farah…
“Alright, enough already.” Claud clicked his teeth. “With me around, it should be safe.”
The others looked at him, and then Sara rubbed her nose. “Well, it’s good for them, but I’ll be here for a long time!”
“Well, you have things to do, right?” Claud replied. “You’ll have to bear with it.”
She looked a little sad, but since she wasn’t Lily, Claud didn’t mind her pouty face.
“Query.” The scythe behind Kemata spun once. “Reliable? Claud?”
“Yes, he is. He has kinda a track record for things like this, see?” Schwarz replied. “He would leave right before a disaster struck. Quite special. It was as if he knew when they were coming…for instance, when the Moon Emiss—”
“Schwarz.” Claud glanced at him, his word carrying a hint of warning. “Time, place and occasion, if you will.”
He glanced uneasily at the troops around the place. Some of them were still exhibiting weird traits, and a few other people had been accosted…resulting in hilariously comedic and tragic outcomes. For some reason, all the ones who had been affected by this weird behaviour weren’t what Claud would call strong at all, so…
“Yeah, I get it.” Schwarz made a face. “Let’s bunk in here for a few days, and then leave once you guys are done having fun. Happy? Sheesh. Claud, you better be looking out for us.”
“Just make sure you guys are ready to flee at a moment’s notice,” Claud replied.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
The soldiers that had accosted them earlier had long gone, having grabbed their leader to flee. Dia clearly wasn’t in the mood to pursue them, and the Vacuos city guards simply eyed them warily as they passed. They had clearly seen Dia’s power…and even if they didn’t, the Thirteenth Bearer of Destiny had a frigging scythe floating behind her.
By now, Claud suspected that everyone knew about a certain Bearer of Destiny who had a scythe floating behind her. If the deal with Princess Dia was of any indication, it wouldn’t take that long before the first copycats showed up…
“What are you thinking about?” Lily whispered to him.
“Something hilarious,” Claud replied. “You know the deal with copies of Princess Dia and whatever? Now that I think about it, Kemata has a key identifying feature, right?”
The two of them slipped to the back of the group, and Lily raised an eyebrow. “Oh, come on. That’s ridiculous.”
“Yeah, well, if you think about it a bit harder…” Claud shook his head. “I don’t really find that an impossibility. She’s a Bearer of Destiny. People are going to fall over themselves to look like her. No one wants to accidentally offend a Bearer of Destiny, a penta-folder at the very minimum…”
Lily glanced at two toddlers from both sides of the Fourth Godsfall as they skipped past, hand in hand. “Well, I can’t say that isn’t attractive. I think I know where you’re coming from, but still…copycats?”
“Maybe there are already a few in Vacuos,” Claud replied, a grin on his face. “I wonder how our Reaper Princess is going to react to that.”
“With a lot of shock, probably.”
Claud glanced at the others, who were wowing at the sight of tri-coloured shadowy toddlers totter around. For some reason, they had returned, and quite recently too. However, for what reason did they disappear in the first place? And why were they now interacting and playing together? Claud didn’t know that much about the future outside of himself as the Frozen Emperor, but he was very certain that the Moons and the Dark weren’t holding hands and making up.
In other words, this definitely had something to do with him. Were they uniting against the Omen? Was that even fair?
Scolding them in his mind, Claud glanced at the little children running around. It seemed like the war between the great Dark and the Moons was over, and he felt like making his way to Lostfon to ask Lesser Half about the whole thing. However, Claud couldn’t help but think that he might have given away his identity…
Well, if Lesser Half did figure it out, I would have been dead by now or something, right?
Claud made a face again, and then rubbed Lily’s cheeks.
“What’s wrong?” Lily asked. “Feeling insecure again?”
“As always,” Claud replied gloomily. He looked at the six people in front of them, and then wondered how they would react if they ever found out he was the Omen. He had no intention of telling them, however, and if he played his cards right…
But the Frozen Emperor definitely thought that way too…
“What’s the reason behind that insecurity of yours?” Lily whispered.
“Lesser Half,” Claud whispered back. “Maybe he’s suspicious of me or something. After all, the future I presented painted me as someone the Red God wanted…while there are many reasons, I can’t help but think that he might have guessed.”
The small black card that Lesser Half gave to Claud was with Lily when he entered the Trial of Aeons, so it probably didn’t give him away. To begin with, Lesser Half hadn’t talked to them all that much ever since the Trial began, and even after the Trial was over, the card still remained blank.
More than once, the two of them had wanted to write something, but what would one say to a god? That the two of them missed him and wanted to check on him?
“Guessed, huh.” Lily looked at him. “Well, it was still the right decision at that point in time. And, in my opinion, still now. We’re not out of the woods at all. The enemy is far stronger than the two of us, no matter what.”
Claud nodded, but before he could say anything else, Schwarz waltzed over.
“What are you guys talking about at the back?” Schwarz asked. “We need you two to point out the best places to bunk in! Which inn’s the safest one?”
“Do you really need me to do that?” Claud asked, annoyed. “I thought I gave you the rundown in that little handbook.”
“Oh, come on.” Schwarz patted his shoulder. “Why not? Oh, I know! Let Lily choose! She must have picked up most of your skills by now, yes? I don’t see why we can’t have her showcase her ability.”
The two of them found it hard to refuse the enthusiastic bartender, so before long, the two of them were at the forefront of the group once more, putting an end to that little conversation.
It was a shame that the two of them couldn’t continue discussing the serious bits, but Lily’s face, scrunched up in concentration, was quite worth the trade. Before long, she had identified the best choice, and the Seekers of Life plus two extras marched inside with high spirits.
Claud could only hope that nothing stupid would happen while they were here…but he had a feeling that something was going to happen anyway.