A discreet restaurant and a promise of secrets

Bells tinkled as Holy Daughter Clarissa pushed open the doors to a simple-looking building. She had a small frown on her face as she looked around, before turning to raise an eyebrow at Mister Colidra.

"I thought I said 'fanciest restaurant in Licencia'," said the Holy Daughter. "Did you mishear me?"

"Nope," said the middle-aged storyteller. "This is the fanciest place if we're talking about quality alone. Never judge a place by its coat of paint, Holy Daughter. I hope you brought enough gold coins, though. This place is really expensive."

"It better be, or else I'll take it that you're looking down on me," she replied.

Claud and Lily, who was watching the entire exchange in silence, glanced at each other and stifled a smile. This right here was the definition of a profligate child; never mind her stupendous offer to hear a story or two, but even in simple acts like treating a meal would provoke her to waste as much money as possible. It went without saying that such an extravagant bearing needed a particular kind of upbringing — Claud could tell that the White Church was probably loaded. If their Holy Daughter could be this prodigal, it probably meant that the higher-ups were also the same.

In other words, people of the White Church were walking sacks of gold and treasures.

Suppressing his urge to ask about the headquarters of the White Church, which was supposedly in the Istrel capital, Claud glanced at Mister Colidra, who was already talking to a crisply dressed waiter. Clean-shaven, with his clothes and uniform cutting stark angles, the waiter gave off an air of professionality. Another such waiter stood a half-step behind the first, but there was an alert, vigilant air to him as if…

He was a bodyguard for the first waiter.

From the corner of his eye, Claud could see the Holy Daughter's bodyguards glance at the second waiter, caution written all over their faces. They hadn't taken a combat stance yet, but from how they were ready to lower their posture at any given moment, it was clear that they were feeling threatened.

"Don't you think that the waiter gives off the same vibe as her bodyguards?" Lily leaned towards Claud and whispered. "They all have this air of seriousness, like they're chosen elites or something."

Claud blinked twice. Now that she brought it up…these three did seem like they were in the same industry. Which made sense, since this was apparently a top-of-the-line restaurant. If its waiters were—

"Yeah, who am I kidding?" Claud muttered.

"Hm?"

"No, just scolding a random part of my brain for trying to escape what might just look like trouble," he replied. "Yeah, this doesn't make sense. I give up. In this line of work, you always come across trouble, even if you don't want to. There's always something going on, and I think my salary needs an increase."

"You're free to negotiate with Caroline on that regard, though. Judging from how easily she hands out lower rank lifestones with ease, I don't think it's going to be that hard," said Lily. "But it's good, isn't it? You get first dibs on the spoils of any criminal you capture, and it stops you from staying cooped up in your room all day. Don't you get bored?"

"Bored?" Claud felt the corners of his lips rise. "Even without my job, this year has proved itself to be very exciting. It's so exciting that I had to stop my" —Claud lowered his volume— "nightly adventures to help the poor. Now, I just send some funds and food to trusted contacts in surrounding little villages."

"It's safer…"

"That's true," Claud conceded in a whisper, "but I have a feeling my little jaunts at night back then were a lot safer than whatever mess that's going on right now."

Lily tilted her head, and then, with a hint of unwillingness, conceded. "True."

"Right? And—"

"Alright," said Colidra, who was done speaking to the first waiter. "We're all set for today's booking."

"Sirs, and miss," said the first waiter, "do follow me."

Claud glanced around as he and Lily followed the others, but the place remained as sparsely decorated as its nondescript exterior. Other than brown, wooden walls that were just glossy enough to indicate that they underwent regular wipes and nothing else, the furniture and fixtures of this nameless restaurant were coated in a smooth shade of matt grey.

Triple-D, before Schwarz and Dia cleaned it up, was more eye-catching than this, which was an awfully low bar to clear.

For some reason, however, Holy Daughter Clarissa hadn't said anything about the dull interior décor. Her two bodyguards didn't seem to exhibit any disapproval either, which prompted Claud to keep his mouth shut and not say anything. If there was anything he knew about these three, it was that they definitely had been exposed to the heights of luxury.

To speak now would be to expose the heights of his own ignorance.

Lily was also gazing around curiously, although the amount of attention she paid to certain things — which Claud didn't notice anything funny about — was a bit too obvious. Unfortunately, since no one was in a speaking mood, Claud wasn't going to bug Lily about what she knew.

After around a minute or two, the two waiters stopped in front of a door and waved them in.

The room, unsurprisingly, was as dull as the area outside.

"Not bad," Holy Daughter Clarissa murmured. "How did you know of this place, mister Colidra?"

"The owner of this restaurant liked my stories," he replied. "But that'll be a tale for another day. I apologise in advance, but I've already helped everyone order their dishes. This restaurant has a very unique menu, so instead of waiting for you guys to eat your own words, I've taken the liberty to order a standard table's worth."

"Eat our own words?" Claud asked, curious.

"Yes. Meals here are very pricey, and there have been stories of customers being blacklisted after trying to threaten the staff present," the old man replied. "I would rather not have you guys go through such an experience, and the best way would be to convince your stomachs."

Claud didn't know what Colidra was getting at, but since he and Lily weren't actually the ones paying, the two of them were more than happy to go along with him. From the sounds of it, however, the two of them were in for a treat.

"Do you want to start talking about the great Dark now?" Holy Daughter Clarissa prompted.

"Now's a good time as any, I guess." Colidra cleared his throat. "First, what exactly is the great Dark? The first time I heard this term mentioned is in the old legend, the Moons and the Makers. Certainly, back then, Helios spoke thus to the Moons, 'Thy light art likest fireflies, that which flickers and fades in the howling Dark. We shalt not bow to neither the Dark nor your feeble light.'"

"The Moons and the Makers…" Holy Daughter Clarissa glanced at one of her bodyguards. "Dio. Take that down. I recall seeing one such text before."

"The Church of the White God has professionals in analysing texts, so I shall not delve into an in-depth analysis," said Colidra. "Knowing your ways, I suspect that your people will come up with a far better explanation and hypothesis…if only I could take a look into your library!"

"Well, you could come with us," the Holy Daughter replied. "How does that sound?"

"I'll think about it," said Colidra, his words measured and careful. "I am honoured by your invitation, however."

Claud couldn't help but note that the two bodyguards had stiffened up upon Colidra's refusal, only to loosen when Colidra expressed his gratitude. The two guards had been conditioned to think that way, and as for the reason why…well, they were probably fanatics.

The religious kind, not the kinds that emulated their role models and idols.

Lily nudged him in the ribs.

"What?" Claud asked. "I didn't do anything!"

"That denial sounds suspicious," Lily whispered back, before nudging him a few times with her elbow. Claud wanted to dodge, but squirming around like some insane fool didn't bode well for his handsome image, so the master thief could only endure Lily's little nudges.

It helped that they were more of pats than jabs, so Claud could easily endure it while Colidra moved on to the next few texts. As a whole, the storyteller hadn't encountered many texts about the howling Dark or the great Dark — which apparently referred to the same entity — but there was one thing for certain, and that the great Dark referred to an entity that existed beyond the world.

As for what that entity was…

"Well, no one really has a clue," Colidra replied. "That's just how it is, Claud. We've lost many valuable records over the course of history. In fact, we're in a great age of decline; eons ago, tetra-folders would have been more common than cabbages."

He paused. "I'm somewhat exaggerating, but my point still stands. No new septa-folder has emerged in the past six thousand years, for instance."

"I would tell you the answer," the Holy Daughter replied, "but I am afraid that you will die on the spot."

"Yes," said the storyteller. "I know."

He chuckled. "There are many secrets, many things that we have taken for granted. But now, even recognising what we have taken for granted can be…dangerous. But never mind that for a moment. Our food is here."

On cue, the door opened. Trolleys trundled into the room, each of them laden with silverware, but Claud wasn't going to care about that.

No.

What truly drew his attention wasn't the fact that the dishes on them were glowing, but the otherworldly, mouth-watering fragrance that had wafted into the room.

As one, stomachs rumbled.