Claud ruminated on the possibility that the future was heading down the one he’d seen in the Second Tutorial as they landed in Lostfon. The populace was still there, especially the refugees that the count had accepted, and Claud gazed at the complex infrastructure that now surrounded the county like an outer ring of sorts.

Back then, the count had gotten the incoming refugees to build their own homes with building materials he provided free of charge. The project was clearly a resounding success, seeing as how there was a neat outer ring of houses and other buildings around the inner walls of Lostfon County.

“There’s a lot of guards here,” Lily muttered. “And the presence of Greater Half is quite palpable too…we’re not going to reveal ourselves, right?”

“Indeed,” Claud replied. “I fear that the entire city and more is under the direct surveillance of Greater Half. If I recall correctly…Greater Half is sometimes known as the greater eye, right?”

“I heard that once too,” Lily replied. “So, we’re taking those words literally?”

“Literally, yes.” Claud paused. “Still, one must wonder what the lesser spark represents. Whatever. We’ll just hang around here for a while. I don’t think Greater Half would torture her little brother, after all.”

He looked at the three little fellows that were perched on Lily’s shoulder. “Crown, you wouldn’t bully the others, right?”

The little velvety box rolled to its side. “Meep?”

“Right?” Claud chuckled. “Still, this is very tiresome. If Greater Half has complete awareness of the entire city, we can’t really use its services. We might end up having to fly to other cities for board and lodging instead. Damn it.”

“…Well, at least we can fly.”

“True.” Claud chuckled. “It’s human nature to want more and more, huh.”

The two of them marched into the city. The outer circle, the outer city of sorts, was livelier than the inner part of the county capital, but Claud wasn’t harbouring any illusions that security was looser here. For one, Greater Half was definitely guarding against the possibility of spontaneous uprisings and the harbouring of dangerous elements in the more chaotic outer city; if Claud could think of this, a divinity definitely could. Secondly, there were a bunch of formidable presences holding down the fort there.

They were probably familiar spirits, but the pressure the strongest presence gave off was comparable to the Chromatic Lords that Claud had encountered in the Trial of Aeons. One was fine, but Claud knew that the chances of him obliterating all these presences in a single blow was nearly zero, even if he attacked without care for the city here.

“It’s quite…forced, I supposed.”

“Forced?” Claud asked. “What’s forced?”

“The semblance of life here,” Lily replied. “I can sense it. It’s like people are forcing themselves to carry on with their daily lives. There’s this…faint sense of despair and fear here. People don’t know what tomorrow brings.”

Claud frowned, and then examined the street around him. While there was some noise in the shops, the din of daily life was definitely muted here. More than once, he spotted some people peeping out at the patrolling shadows, terror apparent on their faces. Whether these guards noticed or not was another question altogether, however.

“Hmm.” Claud looked at a small group of children being led away by a beleaguered looking woman. “Did something happen?”

“The conscription, maybe. I don’t see many youths around. Only children and older people,” Lily replied.

“Is it a good idea to conscript people like this?” Claud wondered out loud. “And from the looks on their faces, this conscription probably wasn’t a peaceful event either. Greater Half probably squandered the goodwill Lesser Half built up in that moment, and then some.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“The Moons are apparently also doing the same too,” Lily replied. “It’s tough to be a human now, I suppose. Are they lacking warm bodies to throw at each other? Because that’s what it seems like.”

The two of them sighed together, and then continued through the newly constructed outer ring of Lostfon. However, the general vibe remained the same, and after a while, Claud stopped at the actual city gates of Lostfon. The guards there had been replaced with Shadowed Ones, and they weren’t speaking at all.

A small contingent of shadows stood close to the gates, ready to deal with any possible uprising or violence that needed to go through the gate. Claud couldn’t even spot a single human there; this strategic point had been completely taken over by the Dark’s forces.

“Not a lot of people, huh.” Lily folded her arms. “Is everyone staying at home here?”

“Probably.” Claud wrinkled his nose. “Damn. That’s a strong smell of blood…”

“Blood?”

Claud nodded. “Old. Quite old. Maybe a few weeks. But it’s still there…behind those gates? Were people killed en masse there?”

The two of them walked through the gates. No one, for obvious reasons, stopped the two of them from entering Lostfon proper, and Claud wasn’t anxious to hide away either.

“…Some bloodstains here, I think.” Lily squatted down and pointed at the edge of the road. “Or rather, a lot of blood, right?”

Claud nodded and squatted down next to her. “Washed away. This is probably the most stubborn bit. Maybe the people here tried to resist the Dark’s conscription of just about everyone who could hold a weapon, and Greater Half just killed them all on the spot.”

“It’s sobering, to think about things this way.” Lily looked at the ground again, and then at Claud. “Were the other cities affected too?”

“Possible. Maybe Greater Half didn’t make a move,” Claud added. “Any of her familiar spirits could crush a city alone, after all. And since they all believe that they’re acting on the side of justice, good and morality by getting rid of people that would impede their master’s grand goal, they probably wouldn’t show mercy. After all, in such a state of mind, to show mercy is to disrespect Greater Half…”

“It still sucks, though,” Lily muttered. “And I’m sure the people who protested or something didn’t expect such a violent response either.”

“Fundamentally, the divinities are very different from us humans,” Claud replied. “And for that matter, the beings that serve these divinities. A single word of refusal to them may be easily construed as blatant disrespect to devout followers.”

“Cultural disconnects too, then.” Lily narrowed her eyes. “But this does not excuse such actions, right?”

“No.” Claud sighed. “It doesn’t. But who’s going to hold the people responsible to account? Justice is decided by the strong. That’s how it is, like it or not. It’s just that we’ve grown used to living in an environment where strength is tempered by reason, fairness and consideration for those who are weak.”

He got up and heaved another heavy sigh. “Perhaps, we’ve been living in a…ideal society for a very long time.”

“Ideal?” Lily shook her head. “We’re just going downhill from the peak of human civilisation, right? In a few short years, everything is collapsing around us. Only those who were lucky enough to have strength and power, like us, can still pass judgement and talk idly about these things. Those who do not…have no say.”

“Yeah.”

The two of them looked at the faint bloodstains, and then continued down the street. The houses and establishments that lined the street didn’t reveal much light either; most of the curtains had been drawn up. Shadowed soldiers patrolled the county capital here too, their rhythmic marching further discouraging any would-be rebellious sentiments.

“We’ll need to find a bar, right?” Lily asked.

“I don’t think finding a bar here would be useful,” Claud replied. “We’re going to follow these soldiers back to their bunks instead. We can eavesdrop from there on.”

“Just like that?” Lily blinked.

“I don’t think any human in this city is up to the task of drinking and rambling senselessly away right now,” Claud replied. “There’s a distinct absence of merriment in Lostfon, after all.”

“I see…and we do have the ability to eavesdrop mentally, right?”

“Exactly.” Claud pointed at the closest patrol. “That’s our target. I wonder if they’re speaking telepathically while walking, though.”

The two of them snuck over to the small patrol, and faint voices echoed in Claud’s head. As he got closer, the clarity of these words increased, and before long, a discussion about one’s favourite guard duty meal was unfolding in his mind.

“They have telepathy,” Lily muttered. “But they’re using it to discuss food. I’m not too sure what to think of the whole thing.”

“Well, it shows that no matter how impressive something is, it can always be used to for very mundane purposes,” Claud replied. “Besides, we have multiple ways to communicate across vast distances, but we’ve also used them to natter on about random things. If these methods of long-distance communication become popular and widespread, someone’s going to send a bunch of childish jokes through them eventually.”

“Good point, but still.” Lily made a face. “It’s just unbelievable, that’s all…”