Cause, effect and destiny

After putting aside little Crown, who was beside itself at the prospect of meeting a new friend, Claud examined Lily's words once more. Yes. She was right. Everything had a reason. Even things that could be completely explained away by luck had a very long chain of cause and effect that eventually led to manifestations of fortune or disaster.

Things like a raging desire to seek out battle had to come from somewhere, and given that neither Cleanse nor Crown had succeeded in extinguishing it, Claud could only say that it was probably something that came from within him.

In that case, why did it come from him?

The only reason he could think of, given the events the last time he heeded such unnatural compulsions, was his skill. It had to be his skill, driving him onwards to meet the possessor of Absolute Domination in battle. If he won, it was likely that something good would happen to him.

"Still," Claud muttered, "it's not like I know how to even use the evolved version of Absolute One, right?"

Crown bounced once on the bed, and he regarded the little guy thoughtfully. "So you think so too?"

Crown bounced again, and Claud smiled. "We'll have to be very careful, though. I'm not sure how this impulse thing works. Am I feeling the urge because I know that the Third Bearer of Destiny approaches? Or is it because the Third is approaching?"

Crown rolled onto one side.

"Well, the latter means that people like me can sense each other," said Claud. "But that shouldn't be the case. I'm fairly certain that I only feel this impulse because I know that someone like me is approaching, and nothing else."

Rolling back up, Crown bounced twice to convey its enlightenment, and then hopped onto his head.

"Like master, like pet, eh?" Claud sighed. "Alright. I'll have to interfere in this. The problem is that the others are going to be using Skyward Eye. How do I make sure that they don't know who I—"

Crown hopped down from his head and landed on his wrist, which had the Band of Duplicity on. Claud had been using it to change his mana and life signature, since he had a feeling that some very annoying fellows were using them to track him down, and it worked.

Probably, anyway. The effects of getting Dia to spread a bunch of bottles with his original mana and life signatures had helped too, turning Licencia into Tot's current haunt.

All that was somewhat beside the point, though. The fact that he was still at liberty was proof that the Band of Duplicity worked. Even if Skyward Eye was really as incredible as Risti made it out to be sounded, if Claud modified all his identification factors, there would be no way for them to trace it back to him. Furthermore, Presence Nullification would turn him into a ghost; he just needed to be a bit more meticulous about things for this round.

"Alright." Perking himself up, Claud began to make some plans. Unfortunately, the urge to step forward and horribly murder the Third had only come to him at this point of time, which meant that his plans wouldn't be perfect.

Slapping his face, Claud poked his head out of the door and looked around. Given that he'd told Schwarz and the others about his urge to go out and fight, they were going to restrain him if he didn't give a good reason or acted oddly.

He didn't have much of a choice, though.

Claud nodded to himself. Now that he was making the conscious decision to interfere, he couldn't help but feel a bit irked at the cautious him that had been pacing around an hour or so ago.

A Moon lit up in his head as he stumbled onto an idea, and he walked out into the living room. Schwarz, who was nibbling on a biscuit and examining a cup of something, glanced at him in equal parts surprise and caution as he entered.

"I thought you were feeling impulsive," said Schwarz.

"Yeah, I was," said Claud. "But Lily told me that these impulses had to have a reason, and I know why I have those impulses now."

"Go on," said Schwarz.

"It's because I feel uneasy when we're all looking down from the air," said Claud. "There's something we probably missed out, and I don't think the count's soldiers are going to be very useful in this regard. Something tells me that I must go down and see the place for myself, to prevent any accidents from happening."

Schwarz placed his biscuit down. "You've changed somewhat, Claud."

"Me?"

"Yeah. You used to just hide whenever any bad news like this came down, but over the past few months…" He smiled. "I think this is an improvement. You're not just actively paranoid now; you're also proactively paranoid."

"I feel like you're mocking me or something for some reason."

"You must be overthinking it, buddy. Here, apple juice." Pouring a cup out for him, Schwarz tried to send it through the air with some mana, only for Claud to intervene with his own manifestation.

"You still need practice," said Claud.

"You monster. How did you even train your Mana Control? You couldn't have gotten that big of a head start, right?" Schwarz asked. "Dia's been a one-folder for upwards of a decade, but you definitely weren't one for more than a year."

"Talent?" Claud asked.

"Really?" Schwarz asked. "That sounds real dodgy to me, though. Tell me the truth."

Claud pondered for a moment. It seemed like ancient history to him, back when he first became a mana-user and went through the tutorial. A cursory examination revealed that it would be fine if he told Schwarz about how he screwed the tutorial over and blasted the bi-folder to bits, but…

"Well, I got lucky," said Claud. "Do you still remember the tutorial that happened when you became a one-folder?"

"Tutorial?" Schwarz's eyes glazed over. "Right, yes. I died three seconds after getting in."

"You suck," Claud replied. "I dodged the first attack, and then whatever person that was behind the tutorial felt happy about it, so I woke up with a splitting headache, since it directly enhanced my sensitivity to mana."

"Wait, what?" The bartender frowned. "That's…damn it."

Claud chuckled. "Anyway, that's pretty much about it. Unfortunately, I don't know how to start up the tutorial once more, nor do I think that's actually possible."

The bartender let out a small groan. "Lucky punk."

"Hehe."

Schwarz straightened his face. "So, you're going off now? Have you prepared what you need?"

"I've pulled out my personal artefacts," said Claud. "Don't worry about me, though. I'm just going to make sure that there isn't anything shady on the ground itself. I'll probably hide myself from sight too, and make sure to stay out of the way the moment fighting starts."

"Spoken like our Claud," said Schwarz. "By chance, if you spot the puppetmaster hiding in a thicket of something, remember to run away instead of fighting. I don't want you to be controlled by that dreadful Absolute Domination. Got it?"

"Yeah. Don't worry about me." Claud walked over to him and picked up the map sitting on the table. "Want anything while I'm out?"

"Hmm…I haven't had skewers for some time," Schwarz replied.

"Skewers, got it." Claud folded the map and stuffed it into his clothes. "I'll be back."

"See you later, then."

After downing his apple juice, Claud nodded at Schwarz in thanks, before heading out of the mansion. Before he could step into the booth, however, Lily showed up.

A single glance was more than enough for them to understand what the other was thinking, and Lily smiled. There was a complex touch to it, and intuitively, Claud understood what was behind that smile of hers. Lily was simultaneously happy and distressed; both emotions stemmed from the fact that he was taking her advice, which would set his heart at peace while exposing him to danger.

How adorable. A smile floated onto his face, and Claud said, "Want anything from the streets?"

Lily blinked, before breaking out into a smile. "Get me a small cake. Any flavour will do."

"A cake, got it." The two looked at each other once more, and then Claud stepped into the booth. "I'll be back before you know it."

"I'm going to stay up, since cakes left overnight don't taste good," said Lily.

Claud could almost hear the second, unspoken sentence, and then patted her head. "Alright. I'm going to wake you up if you're asleep, you hear me?"

"What am I, a child?"

The two laughed, and Claud stepped into the booth.