A very foggy outlook

"It's bad enough that the Moons are in slumber," said Dia, "but now we also have to wander through this misty bank of shadow. Our voices are muted too, and our lanterns can only illuminate five metres around us."

"Yes, yes. Saying that for the twenty-fifth time isn't really going to help, though," Farah replied. "Besides, the darkness isn't all that scary once you get used to it."

"Yeah, it's not that scary," Dia replied. "Quite calming, other than—

"—odd cries by animals as they rutted merrily—"

"—the eerie chirping of insects we can't see—"

"—and the monkeys staring at us crazy people," Farah finished, before nodding in satisfaction. "Hmm. Good coordination, I'd say. If you ever grow sick of acting as the princess' bodyguard, consider joining an acting troupe or something. You'll make it big."

Dia, who had been acting ever since she arrived at Pletsville, felt her lips twitch. That was a rather accurate assessment of her skills, for some reason. In fact, now that she thought about it, Dia had managed to portray herself as a double who was failing at her job so well that she was beginning to feel confused at her layers of deception.

After making a mental note to examine all these layered identities, she replied, "I'll consider it. But what kind of troupe's going to hire me?"

"Hmm…well, locally speaking, we have the Moonlight Mirth," said Farah. "They're a group of actors based in Farah County."

"Aren't they comedians?" Dia asked, curious. "What's with that designation?"

"They're good actors, but they have really bad jokes," the countess replied. "Can't be helped, really. They registered their name while coasting on old but gold jokes, but as it turned out, they sucked at making their own comedy routines. After a while, they stuck to more normal plays, but they did like their improvisation acts."

"Pity," Dia noted, before concentrating some mana onto her right hand. A brilliant azure glow lit up their surroundings, dispersing the shadows in a twenty-metre radius. "Alright, let's make ourselves comfortable. It's the deep of night now, and we should rest until the morrow."

"Got it."

"Want a late-night snack first?" Dia asked.

"Definitely. Set up a fire too while you're at it," said Farah. "It's a bit cold out here, and fire doesn't just warm up the body, but the heart too."

Dia nodded. Pulling out one of the many lifestyle artefacts Claud had donated to Moon Mansion, she carved out a metre-wide pit with her sword and placed the little plate at the centre.

Pressing the button at the very centre of the plate, Dia withdrew her hands. A cheerful blaze appeared a few seconds later, and both of them snuggled up close to it. The writhing tentacles of shadow, which had been held at bay, danced around the small dome of vermilion light, as if they were alive.

"How creepy," Dia muttered. "They seem almost alive, no?"

"Maybe they'll turn into monsters when the year is up and attack the cities," Farah replied, drawing on the ground with the tip of her greatsword. "The more I see this, the more I think that's possible."

Dia couldn't quite deny that possibility. Those tendrils seemed like plants given sentience, and they weren't the beautiful, serene ones either. If anything, these tendrils resembled the killer vines she had read about in some rather absurd novels…which didn't seem all that absurd now. After all, in the dark, could one really tell if those bloodsucking vines were green or black?

The answer was fairly obvious, really.

"What a scary mental image," Dia replied. "Not just that, though. It's possible that there are monsters made out of those tendrils alone. No teeth, no skin, just…ropes and vines and sinuous shadowy mists."

"…Let's change the topic, shall we?" The countess shifted closer to the small blaze. "Incidentally, I'm glad that we didn't need to chop firewood and pick up kindling. Claud really knows what the wilderness life is like, eh?"

"…How many times have you travelled alone?" Dia asked.

"Never?" Farah replied. "It's too dangerous. I'm still counted as a newbie to this mercenary thing, you know. Had to leave my county to find some good opportunities. Other than selling food, there really wasn't much Farah County offered. If I, the best-equipped person in the territory, didn't leave to search for new ideas and opportunities, we would have remained stagnant."

"Well, you did find a lot of opportunities in Licencia," Dia replied. "But what were you exactly hoping for anyway? I don't think there are many resources that can benefit a territory if found outside."

"Connections, primarily. As well as talents," Farah replied. "In that sense, I did find a bunch of talents and connections in the Moon Lords, so all's well ends well."

"Isn't that something anyone could do?" Dia asked.

"No, not really." Folding her arms, the countess looked up into the moonless sky. "The nature of an agricultural county creates families that generally see no point in venturing out of their safe spaces. After all, just about every aspect of farming requires lots of manpower; people tend to stay home and help out. And to prevent issues from arising, my administration handles the trading of food, to prevent the innocent people from being taken advantage of. In fact, prior incidents in which my people were taken advantage of by scheming outsiders have led to a general distrust of strangers, as well as the territories outside Farah."

Dia took a few seconds to process her words, and a strange expression crawled up her face. "Wait. So…your people just like staying home?"

"…That was your takeaway from all that?" Farah rolled her eyes. "Fine, whatever. Yes, my people like staying home. Deal with it. Hmm…but you should be fine, though. You're with me, after all."

"Doesn't like going out, prefers staying home to farm…hmm. Anything else I should know?"

"Nothing else of interest, I guess." The countess yawned, before pulling out one of the bartender's HELPS. "Right, how do I cook this? You've used it before, right?"

"You can eat them without cooking," Dia replied. "But if you want to eat it warm, you just need to stick it in an open flame for a minute or so, and it will taste just nice."

Taking out her own packet of HELPS, she drew out some mana and carried her own supper into the flame. "Just like that."

"Oh. Right."

"…You do know that you're a mana-user, right?" Dia glanced at Farah, before shaking her head. "That's like our schtick. The thing that makes us extra-special."

"I've been doing paperwork for the past few months," she replied slowly. "I kinda forget after a while."

"That's no excuse," Dia replied sternly. "And you've been training with me for some time…oh, food's done!"

Slicing open the packet, she sniffed at the aroma that wafted out of Schwarz's little creation.

"What's inside?" Farah asked, curious.

"Meat and rice." Dia pulled out a spoon and scooped a bit of the mix out. "A bit squishy, but I suppose there's no two ways around it. Don't worry about the food, though. It won't give you a stomach ache or anything."

Farah, who had opened her own packet of HELPS, sniffed experimentally, and then scooped some of the mix out too. Dia chuckled as the countess eyed the mashed food — clearly, the aesthetics of Schwarz's handy little invention didn't go down well with her.

"Just get over the appearance," Dia prompted. "Hurry up, before it gets cold."

Farah took a deep breath. "I'm going after Schwarz if it doesn't taste nice."

"…Why is it his fault? Besides, food that's this convenient is bound to not taste that nice," Dia replied. "It's good enough already, so don't go breaking the poor master's heart."

"I feel like I've been betrayed for some reason," Farah muttered. "After we became really close friends too!"

"Now, now." Dia rubbed her head. "That's not how it is, right? It's just that we should really appreciate how nice it is to be able to eat a meal this easily and quickly. Look all around you — do you really want to pick berries or spend an hour cooking food in such a gloomy, eerie environment? I would rather just finish eating and then start sleeping!"

"Don't we need a night watch or something?"

Dia chuckled. "I've got that covered too. Claud donated lots of useful things. Other than barriers…he sure knows how to live well outdoors."

"What kinds of artefacts are we talking about here?"

"Well, we have a perimeter artefact, a camouflage artefact, and a weather artefact. Plus the Pyro-Plate I used to make the fire. There's also one to cut through grass and thin trees, plus—"

"Alright, alright." Farah waved her hands. "I get your point. Lots of artefacts. Claud is crazy-prepared. Anything new?"

"…never mind." Rolling her eyes, Dia polished off her meal, before setting up the alarm artefact she had borrowed from Moon Mansion's store.

Yawning once, she said, "Don't stare at the food for too long. Get some sleep. We need to get there in four days, right?"

Without waiting for a response, she laid down on the ground and closed her eyes.