Chapter 285: The quiet city

Claud sat up from the bed. Lily, who had taken most of the blanket for herself, didn't notice as he glided over to the window and peered out at Lostfon in the morning. He could see families leave the city with wagons in tow, trickling out like a leaky teapot, and for a moment, he felt his decision waver.

People were fleeing Lostfon. He could understand why, of course. But if he wanted to be truly safe, it would be better to live in the territory of the great Dark for now. Who could guarantee that the Moons couldn't track down or identify the asshat who slew two of their Bearers of Destiny and a Moon Emissary?

He had good reasons, but against the anger of beings as old as the world itself, they weren't going to fly.

Stealing another peek at the streets outside, he took a deep breath and faced the burgeoning fear within him directly. Whether he liked it or not, they had to make a choice. There wasn't a leader figure that either he or Lily could follow, nor was there someone to fend off any problems that followed, other than the two of them. As always, he needed to take responsibility for his decisions and see them through.

It just happened that these decisions were beginning to scare him.

Claud raised his trembling hand. Too many things had happened, and he had a feeling that someone or something was acting in the background to make sure that things fell in place in a particular manner.

"Claud?" The bedsheets rustled, and Claud turned around to see Lily sitting up slowly. "What's wrong?"

"Just scared." Claud looked out of the window once more. "They're all leaving the city. I'm doubting myself now. Am I making the right decision?"

"Are we, indeed." Lily stretched once, letting out a little yawn that reminded Claud of a kitten waking up, and then rubbed her eyes. "But you're also scared, right? That the Moons would somehow make their way into this so-called neutral territory anyway."

Claud nodded. "I suppose we should hear about how the great Dark treats the people in Quies first. Surely Duchess Lacuna brought that up in her negotiations with the Dark Herald, right? And if it's really bad…maybe we can move to the Celestia Ruins."

"The ruins?" Lily's eyes widened, her back straightening up entirely. "That's really dangerous!"

"Only if the great Dark uses humans as fuel and murders them horribly. If they aren't all that bad, I suppose we can just sit in this inn and live here for some time," Claud replied hurriedly. "But if there's no difference between Count Lostfon and the Dark's rule…"

"We can stay here, although that'll also be another issue on its own, right?" Lily completed. "But I don't think we should visit the count or the duchess to ask them about that."

"What do you have in mind, then?" Claud asked. "Should we hire someone to do the asking for us?"

"No. No need." Lily brushed a strand of hair away from her eyes. "Count Lostfon will issue a proclamation via town-crier about the actual state once he receives information or a visitor from Quies. It's an entire dukedom, and if the great Dark really wants the people here to stay, they'll probably bring a bunch of people along to testify."

Claud ran through the logic behind her words. "Makes sense. Still, what would the great Dark want to do with those Terra Jewels?"

"Probably summon an army with it or something." Lily shrugged. "Who knows?"

She rolled off the bed. "Let's wash up and get some breakfast. I'm starving!"

It didn't take long for them to wash up, and after pulling on a fresh set of clothes, Claud turned to Lily, who was tying her hair together. "Do you think the innkeepers will stay or leave?"

"For our sake, let's hope they stay," Lily replied. "Otherwise, we'll have to find a new place to stay in. To be honest, I think many people are going to leave. People were willing to stay back when the city was still putting up a fight, but now that the higher-ups capitulated, there's really no point in staying here. But if what the duchess said was true, then I don't think there's anything to fear."

She straightened her clothes and took his hand. "Let's not think about this for a while and get some food instead, alright?"

Claud looked at Lily and smiled. "Thanks."

A little smile crawled up her face. "You're very welcome!"

The crowd that they had seen for the past few days had vanished when the two of them went down. Over two-thirds of the tables were unoccupied, and a fretting old man — not the middle-aged couple that had served them a few days back — was sitting at the counter.

"Hey, innkeep," Claud called out.

"Hullo." The old man looked at them dully. "Here to checkout?"

"We're here to extend our stay, actually. And to get some food," Lily replied. "Unless you're closing the inn…"

"Close the inn? Grand skies, no. No. I'm still running this little place. It's my own property, after all," said the old man.

"Eh? But you weren't—"

"Oh, that was my son and his wife. They were feeling scared, so they wanted to leave. I told them to leave without me," the old man replied. "That's just how things are. The old ones stay behind. Let the young, strapping 'uns have a chance to live on without us broken fossils holding up the line."

Claud looked at the old man, who probably didn't have much in the way of lifestones to use, and then felt a bit sad. Unless one had a mana circuit, their body would deteriorate over time. If this old man had been a mana-user, he would probably have gone with the younger generation, but alas, there weren't many what-ifs in the world.

Although he and Lily had quite a lot of lifespan to burn, the same couldn't be said for the common people. For the old man, given his age and body condition, it was very possible that he would perish without ever seeing his child again. This war would last a very long time, and travelling would be dangerous. How could a normal person who fled Lostfon return to it while circumventing the flames of war?

"I see." Claud lowered his head. "Well, we'll be staying here for the foreseeable future, so please do take good care of us."

"Young'uns, go and leave this place. Don't stay here," said the old man. "It's dangerous."

Claud smiled. "Don't worry. It'll be fine."

With the two of them around, unless the Dark Herald or its mightier soldiers came here for a fight, nothing would happen to the inn. After all, save for Duchess Lacuna, her personal guards and Count Lostfon, no one else here was a tri-folder. And when coupled with his natural awareness of danger, any place he was in would be generally safe.

The old man shook his head. "Young'uns. Always so confident."

"Anyway, we'll like to have some breakfast, please," Lily asked. "Something nice and warm."

"How does porridge sound?" the old man asked.

"That'll be nice, thank you."

After forking over a few bronze coins, Claud asked for a newspaper. The two of them peered at the headlines after taking a seat, and to absolutely no one's astonishment whatsoever, Duchess Lacuna's words had been printed on it. There was more detail about Quies Dukedom and the Voidum Sovereignty on it, however.

"So, the Dark didn't massacre everyone inside."

"Or anyone," Lily replied, "for that matter."

"So, what are we humans to these powers?" Claud wondered out loud. "Are we livestock to be herded? Or is there some benefit into keeping us around these parts?"

"Or maybe there's no point in wondering about us puny flies," Lily replied. "Nobles don't really care about the commoners, since both sides usually lead very different lives. Their ambitions and aspirations are usually quite different too. And normally, they don't clash."

She looked up at the ceiling. "Do we care about ants normally? No, but it's a pain if they crawl onto our food. So we take measures to prevent them from crawling onto our food, right? Use tables. Maybe we dump some food by their colony when we eat. It's the same principle. It's too troublesome to kill humans, but they happen to need the land for some reason."

"So we're insignificant. Joy." Claud paused. "No, I really mean it. The nail that sticks out gets brutally smashed and melted done, so it's good if we're insignificant."

"You have a way with words," Lily replied.

"Always had a talent, I know." Claud was about to add more, but the old man rang the bell at that moment, and the two of them got up. As they brought their bowls of porridge back to the table, Claud found himself wondering something.

If humans were insignificant, why would something like a Bearer of Destiny exist? What was the role of humans here?