Farah stared at the very innocent potato stick in her hands, a torn expression on her face. It was safe to say that the little thing was decidedly innocent of whatever crime that Farah’s gaze was indicting it for, but it also didn’t help that Beth was staring at it with a gaze that screamed out her desire to munch on it…

Either way, that potato stick was done for.

“What’s wrong?” Nero asked, looking at Farah. “You’re giving off this intimidating air.”

“Just nervous, that’s all.” Farah paused. “Those…parents of mine. Haven’t seen them in two decades. I wonder what they look like.”

“Don’t go getting soft-hearted now,” Nero replied. “While it’s alright for normal families to try reaching out to each other, you no longer have their luxury. You are the ruler of a domain, and if that domain happens to fall into the hands of people with problematic past records, that’s it. Like it or not, you cannot afford to take that risk.”

“Agreed,” Kemata added. “And even if they’re sincere, now that they’ve had a very long taste of what it’s like to squander vast wealth…”

The Thirteenth Bearer of Destiny didn’t continue her sentence, but Dia obviously knew what the rest of her sentence was going to say.

“Yeah, I know.” Farah paused. “Oh. It seems that you guys thought I was going to be soft-hearted. Right? No, you guys got it wrong. I’m wondering if I should deck them on their faces twice. I need to know their faces first, though. If I deck the wrong fellows by accident, that would be a shame.”

“Eh?”

“Eh?”

“Eh?”

“What’s with you guys?” Risti asked. “I mean, you surely couldn’t believe that Farah would be soft-hearted, right?”

“Yeah! She’s a cold person to many, many others!” Schwarz added.

“Oi. Just what the heck do you two think I am?” Farah asked, turning to the duo who had just piped up with a bunch of insults. “I’ll have you know that I’m a good and kind person, alright? What kind of monster do you think I am?”

“Hmm.” Schwarz paused. “Well. I’d prefer not to say.”

“You ass.”

Beth clapped her hands happily, and then made gurgling sounds as she reached out to the treat in Farah’s hands. Farah promptly condemned the poor potato stick to a crunchy death, and then got up. “Anyway, this place is really quite luxurious, but the views suck. For a place this tall, there’s nothing to look at.”

“Wait until the lights are turned on,” Risti replied. “You can’t see anything great now, but wait for nightfall.”

“There’s no nightfall in this weird place,” Farah replied. “It’s all moderately lit up. I can’t really see anything special.”

Dia joined Farah at the windows. Indeed, the entire place was lit up by the same monotonous white light. The white light itself seemed to come from the ceiling somehow, and illuminated the whole place without bringing in the oppressive heat of the sun.

“Hmm. It does look a little boring. And how does one know when it’s night outside anyway?”

“Just wait for it,” Risti replied. “Anyhow, do you guys have other things to do here, save for Farah and her parents? I think I’m going to pay my old man a visit. He should be chilling here…or in Vacuos. Not sure where he is right now. What plans do you guys have?”

“I’m going to scour the city for some nice recipes,” Schwarz replied.

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Nero glanced at Kemata, who made a funny gesture that contradicted her usual image, and then said, “We’ll go around town looking for more places to eat. We’ve been cooped up at home for a few seasons. There’s only so much homecooked stuff can do.”

“Hungry.”

“Alright, you two...go get a room.” Dia paused. “That, or go get some food at the buffet first. You guys have a card too, right? Go and get some food downstairs, then.”

“Well, I suppose we can indeed do that.” Nero got up. “We’ll go get some grub first, then.”

Beth tottered up to them, and then pointed to her mouth. “Hungry!”

“Mind if we bring her along?” Nero asked, glancing at Dia.

“Sure. Just don’t let her eat too much,” Dia replied. “But I thought you guys were going for a date or something. Is it really a good idea to bring Beth along?”

Beth made a shocked face, and then looked up at Nero, who laughed.

“Don’t be silly,” Nero replied. “And Beth is sensible. You won’t disturb us on a date, right?”

“Ya!”

“I’m not scared of her disturbing you guys, I’m scared of you guys forgetting about her,” Dia replied.

“Don’t worry about that.” Farah got up. “I’ll go get some grub too. I’ll take care of the little kid while I’m at it.”

“Let me join you on that as well,” Schwarz added. “A buffet from an acclaimed hotel in the Grandis capital has to have something special. I’m going to sieve out that something special. Who knows? Beth might help me in that.”

“Sure, sure.” Dia patted the kid’s head. “I’m going to mediate for a while, then. It’ll be nice if I get a nap too or something. What about you, Risti?”

“Me?” Risti thought for a moment. “I’ll stay here too. I have things to take care of. After that, I’ll go find my dad.”

With everyone’s plans all laid out nicely, the Seekers of Life dispersed, and Dia retreated to her own room. She wasn’t all that hungry right now, but more importantly, she also needed some time to herself.

“This bed is really squishy,” Dia muttered, before using the Refresher on herself again. “Like, really squishy.”

Rolling around on the squishy mattress, Dia thought about the sense of impending doom that still hounded her constantly, and then closed her eyes. What did she need to do now? She wanted to push for her seventh mana circuit, but Claud’s fate was getting to her. Without knowledge of what it felt like to fail, Dia didn’t dare to approach the notion of stepping into the ranks of a high-ranked folder.

What was the Third Tutorial like? If Claud, the most prepared and paranoid person she knew, had failed, what could everyone else hope to achieve?

The more she thought, the more fear she felt.

Dia covered her face, which had twisted with emotions that she didn’t dare to give voice to, and then lay down flat on the mattress. Was she truly qualified to fight in the arena of the divinities, in the hopes of stopping the Omen? Could she really protect this world against that monster?

The answer was clear.

“But I have to try, right?” Dia muttered, thinking about the things that were at stake. The Fourth Godsfall was a game between her and the Omen, and the prize was the entire world.

Or the Cosmic Egg.

Or whatever the hell was going on with the whole thing. The gods were looking for the Omen, the Moons were looking for the Omen, and the Dark was also looking for the perp. The war she had been expecting hadn’t broken out just yet, as the divinities scoured fate and destiny for the Thief of Time.

“The Cosmic Egg…” Dia sat up on the bed and rubbed her eyes. “Am I supposed to protect that thing or what?”

However, according to the others, the Cosmic Egg was still in the place where the Trial of Aeons had taken place, gestating as it continued to hatch a new world. Unless she had a way to reach the Trial of Aeons, there was no way she could do something about it.

“Still confused, though.” Dia rolled around for a few more seconds, and then got up from the bed. “Maybe Risti will know something.”

Leaving her room and a messy bed, she went to the suite’s living room, where Risti was busy mediating. Blue and green light danced in a sublime harmony as lifestones winked out one after another, lifestones that had been extracted from prana jades mined some time ago.

Dia stilled her complaining mind and turned to the small treats that were placed around the suite. The potato sticks numbered in the hundreds, and Dia saw no reason to not help herself to them, especially since Farah was hogging them earlier.

Dia was in the middle of munching the forty-second potato stick when the light around Risti faded away.

“Done?” Dia asked.

“Yeah. I’m pushing for my seventh mana circuit, but I need to space it out,” Risti replied. “If something breaks, I’m going to cry.”

“You’re not scared, even after learning what happened to Claud?”

“Can’t be helped,” Risti replied. “I don’t want to go down his path too, but the weak do what they must. Even if death awaits them. That’s our fate. In this chaotic world, we cannot stand still. It’s rare that we get a period of peace…what if the divinities go mad tomorrow? We’ll never be able to form our seventh mana circuit in peace.”

“…True.” Dia made a face. “But surely that won’t happen, right?”

“Who knows?”