Moments after Claud returned to his tree branch, something in his pocket began to jiggle, and the master thief reached inside to pluck out an excited Crown. He didn’t need to see it spin around to know why the little fellow was so excited; clearly, the plant that bore the mana herb were something Crown wanted.
There was just a small problem, though.
The whole thing could wrap around Crown ten or so times with ease.
“You do know that this plant” —Claud shook the whole thing up and down— “is a few times bigger than you, right? Sure, it’s like stems and roots, but are you even able to do anything about it?”
The little velvet box rolled to its left, before tossing itself up. Completing three backflips, Crown landed with a gentle plop, and then spun around on an edge.
Claud blinked three times, and then felt a dull pain assault his head. Crown was something that defied common sense, this much he knew. That, however, didn’t mean it should be capable of gymnastics. Or feelings. Or thought, to begin with.
“Alright, fine.” Claud gave in, offering the plant in his hand to the box. At the same time, he leaned forward, interested in seeing just how the tiny Crown could use the plant he dug up.
Crown did a backflip, and then opened up. In the middle was the small dull pearl that it wanted so badly, and before his very eyes, the pearl began to glow. The plant in his hand crumbled into ash, turning to wispy green and blue strands of energy that surged into the pearl.
His mouth fell open for a few seconds as small little inscriptions began to surface on the pearl, and Claud picked up the little guy for a closer inspection.
“Meep.”
The master thief jumped in shock.
“Meep?”
Claud rubbed his eyes, before digging his ears. “Did you just make a noise?”
“Meep!”
“I think I’m about to lose it,” Claud muttered. “Alright. You can meep. Why should I be surprised? Is it because you theoretically shouldn’t be able to make any sound? Or am I just easily rattled after seeing a plant in my hand turn into dust?”
Crown made another ‘meep’, and then closed up. Rubbing its velvety surface against his palm, the little fellow rolled off his hand and into his pocket.
“Well, I’ll be…”
Claud decided not to think too hard about that odd event. There were so many mysteries in Licencia alone, like the phenomenon of empty bottles making their way across roads at three in the morning, so Crown being Crown really wasn’t all that surprising when framed in such a dimension. After all, the little fellow had warranted an excessive pursuit response by Duke Istrel; it was apparently a divine artefact or something.
Being able to turn plants into ash, now that he thought about it, was probably par for the course.
Claud felt better once that thought flashed through his mind, and he let out a good, long yawn. Presence Nullification hadn’t worn off yet, which was fortunate. After all, if Lily saw him talking to a box, she would probably think he was crazy or had a dependence on a particular little box, neither of which was a good impression.
Yawning loudly, Claud closed his eyes and felt the cold night wind caress his face. The rain had stopped, along with the lightning and thunder, but in their wake, a cooling breeze had sprung up. It was the perfect environment to sleep in, and Claud saw no reason to go against nature itself.
His consciousness grew hazy a few seconds later, and the master thief felt sleep hold him tightly. Within what felt like minutes, the branch beneath him had seemingly turned into a fluffy cloud, but before Claud could indulge in that feeling, a set of hands were already shaking him.
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“…ake up. Claud, it’s already morning!”
“Huh?” The master thief forced his eyes open at these words, just in time to see Lily sitting on his torso. He looked at the blue sky behind her, and then rubbed his eyes. “It’s already morning?”
“Yes.” Lily rolled her eyes. “You seemed rather tired, so I let you sleep for another hour or so, but we really need to get going.”
“Oh. Um. Thanks.” Claud looked at her, and then belatedly noted that she was sitting on him directly. Lily probably didn’t see any issue with her current position, considering that she had been sitting on his back or vice-versa when they were travelling with Flight, but it was somewhat…exhilarating to have this happen to him when he just woke up.
Before long, they were both on solid ground once more.
“Still, it feels like I only slept for ten minutes,” Claud grumbled.
“You do know that’s a rather common experience, right?” Lily chuckled. “Alright, enough whining.”
“Yeah, yeah.” After dismantling the impromptu obstacles he’d set up, Claud took out a skillstrip for Flight. “This is the last one I have, so we’ll be walking for the rest of the journey back.”
“Can we use it later instead?”
“I’m afraid not,” Claud replied. “It’s about to expire.”
This time, Claud wasn’t lying whatsoever. In order to maintain his façade, he had specifically designated some Flight skillstrips to be used within a week. It was easier to keep everyone in the dark if he made sure that the conditions to do so were all met, which included keeping things straight.
Even if it meant some minor inconvenience along the way.
A few days’ sacrifice was nothing compared to the tactical advantages that hiding his skills had. He didn’t quite understand why some mana-users wanted to be so famous; what good would it do if everyone and their mana circuits knew what skills these people had? It would just help their enemies and everything.
“Oh.” Lily had a crestfallen look on her face.
“It can’t be helped,” Claud replied. “That’s the last one in my pile. If I had my choice, I would also want to return to the safety of Moon Mansion as soon as possible, but…”
Lily looked at him, and her face softened. “True. You’re really afraid of death, so even coming out here must have been…”
For some reason, the master thief felt that she was looking down on him. “Like I said, I wanted to make some contributions to the Moon Lords. And you provided a target for me. Even people who fear death will step out if they are utterly confident in themselves.”
He reached out and patted her head. “Thank you for providing me with information and everything.”
“Y-you’re welcome.”
Tearing up the Flight skillstrip, the two took to the skies once more. Under the clouds and Lily’s silence, Claud entered a contemplative mood.
There were lots of things that she would probably need to settle when she returned to the Moon Lords. The destruction of the Julan family would definitely create some waves in the Umbra Sovereignty, as a vassal of the late Umbra. A perfunctory investigation would be launched, but what the sovereignty thought of as ‘perfunctory’ was probably something most normal people wouldn’t be able to escape from.
He was quite confident that they would be overlooked, given that a personage that was far more important had died recently. The new sovereignty, when Duke Istrel formally ascended to it, would not have time to care about the little things, so nothing untoward would happen.
“Say, are you intending to contend for whatever inheritance your family might have left behind?” Claud asked, knowing that not every member of the Julan family had been killed.
“Hmm? No, I have no intention in continuing on their…legacy, or their inheritance,” Lily replied.
“Wise. I was intending to dissuade you if you insisted on claiming it…well, I had a feeling that you didn’t want to have anything to do with it to begin with,” Claud replied.
A few light thumps fell on his back. “Do I look like an idiot to you?”
“Now, now, don’t be offended. People, when confronted with the possibility of massive gain, deviate from their original plans very easily,” Claud replied. “I had to make sure that you weren’t tempted. Let’s be honest. Were you really not tempted?”
Lily was silent for a moment. “To be frank, I didn’t consider this far. My mind’s still a mess after all this. I didn’t even think that it was this easy to destroy my family’s main home, and especially to reveal the cellars underground. But when I went with you, and tried to execute my plans in earnest, I realised that it wasn’t all that hard.”
Claud grunted. “Some things seem hard because you’re looking at them from the wrong height.”
She nodded. “Once I began to seriously ponder my plan of attack, I found lots of weaknesses. No one, for instance, questioned my presence. I could walk around freely, and no one would say anything.”
“Arrogance, I guess.” Claud had heard of stories like these, where local rulers felt so secure in their area of influence that they weren’t cautious or even worried about their security. When one of their oppressed citizens inevitably snapped, a river of blood would flow, and the sun would shine on a slaughtered home of a minor noble.
“Arrogance…”
“That’s one reason behind Moon Mansion’s method of entry,” Claud replied. “Believe me, the more impersonal the process, the better. People are inherently flawed, lazy. Any vetting process that’s people-centric will inevitably be flawed.”
“Really?”
“Well, let me explain…”