Chapter 264: Preparing for the ruins

The sun was setting by the time Claud and Lily stumbled out of their room, a nice scent wafting from them. Claud, in particular, couldn't help but sniff himself a few times, pleased at the floral soap that Lily pulled out for their shower. There was something about her soap that made his mind more peaceful, more relaxed, and as they left the inn, he could — for the shortest of moments — forget about the looming crisis the Lacuna Dukedom was about to face.

"How long do you think we'll be spending in Celestia?" Lily asked, looking up at the sky. New Moon would end in either today or tomorrow, and Crescent Moon would soon begin. After two months of absolute darkness, the lunar light would wash across the world once more. How would that affect the world?

Claud didn't know.

"Claud?" Lily prompted. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, I was just thinking about the Moons," Claud replied. "How would the other Moon Emissaries be affected by the appearance of the Moons? And what about the great Dark?"

"That's a good question," Lily replied. "We can only wait to find out, though. Don't worry. You always have a good plan to save our skins."

"I'm worried about those we left behind," Claud replied.

"We didn't abandon them," Lily replied, her voice stern. "You had to flee because you killed a Moon Emissary. Don't go making yourself feel bad just because of this. If anything, I'm the only one who fled."

"Now that's rubbish if I ever heard it." Claud flicked her forehead. "You only came with me because you were worried that I would vanish, not because you wanted to run from the Moon Emissaries. Don't go confusing cause and effect, got it?"

The two looked at each other, and eventually, Lily turned away. "Fine…"

Tugging at her earlobes gently, Claud smiled. "But…thanks. I wouldn't have gotten this far this quickly without you. It's just a shame that the two of us, who knew the most about the city's security, happened to run off into another sovereignty altogether."

"Wouldn't have it any other way!" Lily placed her hands on her hips proudly, posing for Claud to see. "Anyway, what should we be doing in Celestia?"

"…You know, I never really thought too hard about that. I was thinking about the treasures and everything," Claud replied. "Picking up useful things and not-so-useful things, and hope that there's some divine treasure in them."

"I wonder if the Celestia Ruins have lifestones?" Lily mumbled.

"We'll soon find out," Claud replied, before tugging at her hand. "Let's go to their treasure house and turn in our contributions. It's not like we're going to need them for basic necessities after all, right?"

With the arrival of Duchess Lacuna, the contributions from doing missions were no longer the sole currency accepted in the county. Gold and the usual currencies could now be used, but these contributions could still be used to exchange for treasures and other, rarer items.

The only things Claud intended to trade for was information, however. He had spotted a collection of information relevant to Celestia, as well as a set of artefacts that had been branded as the 'Ruins Explorer Set'. As for Lily…well, she was free to choose whatever she wanted.

"Do you think we'll see Duchess Lacuna on the way there?" Lily asked.

"Probably, but why do you ask?" Claud asked. "You aren't going to start dressing up as her, are you?"

"…No?"

"Okay." Claud rubbed her violet hair and started playing with it. "I prefer you as you are now. Also, your hair is really smooth…how do you do it? You don't seem to apply anything special when you were bathing."

"Really?" Lily tilted her head. "Maybe it's because you're washing my hair for me."

"Is that how it works?

The two of them pondered over that particular question for a moment, and then Claud shrugged. "Well, if you like it, I'll do it every day."

"We'll be spending hours in the bathroom in that case," Lily replied. "I think not. We'll just limit it to once every two days or so."

"I don't think there's much of a difference if we do that, though."

Lily shook her head and looked up at the dark skies once more. "You just want more excuses to do whatever you like. Just because you have more mana circuits…"

"How's that relevant?" Claud muttered. "Right, speaking of mana circuits. You're on that last 0.01, right? Maybe there's some special item that might help you cross that last hurdle. If there is, you better get that."

"Something that miraculous belongs in the realm of fantasy, Claud. You'll be better off with hard work and—"

She fell silent as Claud took out Crown, who immediately woke up from its nap. The little guy was quite the lazybones, and whenever Claud placed Crown into a pocket, it would just nap away happily. More importantly, however, Crown happened to be one of those special items that had indeed helped him cross a few last hurdles, so…

Lily opened and closed her mouth, and then raised her hands. "Fine, I surrender. Maybe there is such a thing in the treasury after all."

"Or maybe there's some really useful artefact. Who knows?" Claud asked.

Holding hands, the two continued on to the treasury. As they moved on to a deep discussion about miraculous items one often found in novels, the two of them also took the liberty to shop at some nearby food stands. Meat skewers were the mainstay of Loston street stalls, and before long, the two of them were snacking on well-cooked meat and some sliced potato pieces, fried to perfection.

After a while, they arrived at the treasury, where a group of people were already queuing up to enter the treasury. Only one person or a group could enter at a time, and Claud was in the middle of stealing some of Lily's food by the time it was their turn to enter the treasury.

"Sir and Lady Primus. You may proceed," said the clerk, his eyes looking at the skewers clutched in their hands. "Um, you two might want to wash your hands first. There's some oil on them."

"Oh, bother," Lily replied, her words stuffed full with an exaggerated fuss. "Pass me the artefact."

"Come on, let's clean up as we walk there," Claud added.

After removing the oil through their ultra-useful Refresher — which, honestly, was a waste of their daily attempts — the two of them entered the treasury. Lily wandered off a moment later, her eyes looking at the bright and shiny items that lined the walls, while Claud chose to approach the counter directly.

"Hi, sir. How may I help?"

Clark nodded at the clerk. "I want information on the Celestia Ruins.

The clerk froze for a moment, and then took out a file from underneath the counter. Flipping through it, she said, "We have three types of information about the Celestia Ruins. First — the possible treasures, as well as the list of treasures gathered so far. Second, we have dangers recorded. Third, we have the history and speculations about the ruins."

"I'll have the first two pieces," Claud replied, before producing his identification documents.

"Let's see…Claud Primus. Forty-eight contributions…with this much, you can only choose one piece of information," the clerk replied.

"That's all?" Claud asked, before clicking his tongue. "Fine. I'll go with the dangers of the Celestia Ruins."

"Very good, sir." The clerk ducked underneath the counter, and the sounds of paper rustling filled the air. After a while, she popped back out with some dishevelled hair, a small packet of papers in her hand, and then handed it to Claud. "Your purchase has been recorded. Information on every single danger ever recorded in the Celestia Ruins has been purchased for thirty-six contributions."

Claud turned his eyes to a certain bag, and frowned. The Ruins Explorer Package needed forty contributions, and he had been confident that the information he wanted would cost far less than that back then.

"Anything else?" the clerk prompted.

"N-no. I'm just waiting for my partner," Claud replied, before drifting towards Lily.

"Did you get what we needed?" Lily asked as Claud approached.

"Only got the information," Claud replied.

Lily paused. "Let's buy the package first with my contributions."

"But—"

"Look," said Lily, clamping her hands on his shoulders. "We do this as a couple. Also, there isn't any miraculous item that would make my life easier, in case you were wondering."

"There isn't?" Claud asked.

"…What made you think there was?" Lily rolled her eyes. "To be honest, I'm sure no one would give something that will magically fill up that last 0.1 that easily. Therefore, let's just head over and get that package too, before someone else grabs it."

"Still, before we do that," said Claud, "we…should actually check what's in the package first."

"You didn't check?" Lily asked.

Claud looked away and started whistling, prompting Lily to roll her eyes.