Yet another crime

"You get a drink, you get a drink, I get a drink…and you don't get a drink."

Claud glared at the empty spot in front of him, before turning his eyes to Schwarz. "Hey! Why do I not get a drink?"

"You have an entire warehouse of fizzy drinks and apple juice," Schwarz replied. "I don't see the need to give you any of my beloved creations now."

"Yeah, right. We're all supposed to be equals here. I demand a drink." Claud rolled his eyes, before turning to Farah. The countess had largely gotten over the freak poisoning that had happened during a food handout a couple of days back, after Schwarz brought back the news about Rodrio being controlled by the real culprit. As for how the real culprit managed to dominate that fellow…

Perhaps only the Moons knew.

Right now, there was an ongoing investigation to look into who Rodrio came into contact with in the days leading up to the poisoning. The holder of the skill Claud had privately named Absolute Domination had turned Rodrio against them, but to do so, close contact was probably needed.

Claud didn't expect much from this investigation, however. If Absolute Domination was truly similar to Absolute One, perhaps just a chance encounter or two would be enough to wipe Rodrio's mind.

"No," Schwarz replied, drawing Claud's attention away from his own musings. "Unless…well, there's a lot of fizzy drinks, right? I haven't had the chance to use one to brew some new novelties."

"New novelties…that's redundant." Claud folded his arms. "But more importantly, isn't your menu still full of incomplete research? What's the point of starting something new?"

"Come on, old bro." Schwarz licked his lips. "Imagine the power of apple juice and fizzy drinks combined."

"It's great, yeah," Claud replied.

"Definitely going to — wait. You've tried that already?" Schwarz leaned forward. "That's cheating! I'm supposed to be the only bartender around here! No one gets to mix drinks other than me here!"

"Alcoholic drinks," Claud corrected.

"Oh. Right." Schwarz cleared his throat. "Point is, there's lots of potential in fizzy drinks. I want to research their manufacturing method."

"Then go over to Lostfon and ask the supplier there," Claud replied. "Don't go hound me for my deserved supply."

"Come on, you're receiving them every day. Does your house even have space? Last I checked, you only had enough for a…" Schwarz's words trailed off. "Oops?"

Claud glared at the bartender. "I knew there was a rat sneaking around my place. Turns out it's you, eh? Now that I think about it, I did see a familiar barrel lying around in the kitchen…and a missing one from my house."

"Wait, how did you know—"

"I have receipts." Claud rolled his eyes, before turning to Farah. "Anyway, I thought you weren't going to drink anything from Schwarz…"

"Only his alcoholic brews, which should be dumped on the Moons or something," Farah replied. "The others are great. He should just give up on that particular dream and make fruity beverages instead."

"Can you stop trying to slander my drinks?" Schwarz muttered, before slapping his face twice. "Anyway, playtime's over for us. Let's talk about a serious topic now. Count Nightfall."

He rapped the table. "The count's leaving Licencia in a few weeks. According to the terms of our contract, sworn beneath the Moons, we are to assist in the administration of Licencia. We can command the city guards and decide low-level policy. That said, his fiancée will be taking overall direction of Licencia. Any questions so far?"

"None."

"I'm good."

Claud shook his head in silence. Everyone here knew these things. It was just a recap, just to set the overall mood. This was public information, meant for anyone and everyone in the city to know about. Even without the count's presence, there were still highly-skilled people that would hold the fort if anything nasty, like a monster attack, happened.

The highly-skilled bit was rather debatable, though.

"Excellent." Schwarz lowered his voice. "Our true goal, however, is to establish a second armed force from the people here. A militia, capable of at least holding the town against a long siege. Discipline and preparation will be needed."

Farah nodded. "This bit will be delegated to Dia and the Moon Guards under her. She will train a new batch of troops."

"Correct. The next issue is related to mana-users. Recent intelligence from the borders have arrived at my table. Mana-users have departed from both Lustre and Schwa; their goal is to disrupt the daily life of territories belonging to Istrel." Schwarz' voice lowered even further. "Nightfall believes that the person who dominated Rodrio is behind this."

"This task is of paramount importance," Farah added, her voice unnaturally stiff. According to Schwarz, Claud has the most experienced in infiltration. Apparently, he's a specialist at spying or something."

She turned to Claud. "Are you a specialist at spying?"

"Me?" Claud glanced at Lily and Schwarz, who looked away together in an impromptu show of coordination. "I guess you can call me that. After all, I did design Moon Mansion. It takes one to know one, so you can definitely call me that."

The countess thought about it for a moment. "Makes sense. You'll handle the city's security, then."

"Just don't ask me to build a giant dome around the city," Schwarz added. "I don't think the city has enough money to do that."

"I'll think up of something," Claud replied. "Don't worry."

"Alright. The next thing is the cessation of trade from the other two duchies. Fortunately, trade from the other sovereignties is still going on well…in fact, they're improving," said Schwarz. "We need to ensure that nothing disrupts this arrangement, however."

"I have a contract with Dia to help Lustre in economic warfare, so let me handle the city's economic policies," said Farah. "This is a good chance to screw with Istrel."

"…are you really going down that route?" Lily asked. "We are, after all, working for the vassal of Istrel."

"Don't worry." Farah narrowed her eyes. "They're not going to know what hit them. We'll enrich Licencia, and then hide away the excess resources. I've been laying down groundwork for weeks. At the critical moment, the other territories are going to be starved for three days, enough to turn a tide or two."

Claud pitied Duke Istrel for three seconds, and then returned to gloating. The old duke and his family were jerks, so he didn't really mind Farah screwing with them. In the chaos of war, this was the best time to strike…and the countess indeed had a contract with the princess' bodyguard.

Countess Farah, as an administrative-focused mana-user, had probably laid out a comprehensive trap from inside. Although most territories' administrations had similar skills and proficiencies, Farah was striking from the inside, from a privileged position.

It would be interesting to see what she had planned.

"Very well. You'll handle that side. Just make sure not to leave any traces," said Schwarz.

"No worries," the countess replied. "I'm useless for just about everything, but administration? That's me."

Claud folded his arms. "That just leaves the issue of intelligence, which also falls under security, right? Are you going to work with me on that?"

"Risti's going to handle domestic intelligence," Schwarz replied. "I'll deal with the issue of information from outside. I'm a Profiteer. Don't underestimate our trade channels."

"Well, if you put it that way…"

The others nodded along in agreement.

"So, are we all settled?" Lily asked. "Is this meeting over and done with?"

"I wish," Schwarz replied. "There are a few other things Count Nightfall wants us to do. First, regarding the Thief of Time. He wants us to locate and negotiate with Tot."

A wintry chill descended onto the room, and Claud felt his heartbeat speed up. He had been hoping that the approaching storm would make people forget about Tot, who hadn't made any movements after seemingly slapping down Zulan Patra with absurd ease.

"Why does he want us to do that?" Lily asked, her words quiet.

"Hmm…well. Zulan Patra…hasn't been seen for some time. He left Licencia in a huff after he recovered, heading down west. There, he stole a mana herb from a Tri-head Snake, but after all, all traces of Zulan Patra have vanished," said Schwarz. "Nothing much should have come out from that, but emissaries from the White Church have come knocking."

"Knocking?" Farah asked. "Oh. Now I get what's going on. Little wonder, then…"

"Do you know something I don't?" Schwarz asked.

"Yeah. Count Nightfall was asking the other counts throughout the Umbra Sovereignty. He wanted to know if anyone spotted Zulan Patra."

"Asking the other counts?" Schwarz blinked. "You lost me at that point. How does one simply ask the other counts?"

Farah pondered for a moment, and then nodded at no particular direction. "Counts and above have a certain...something one might call an artefact, that allows for long-range communication."

Schwarz's eyes flashed with an odd light, but that light vanished seconds later as he slapped his cheeks twice. "So?"

"No one has seen Zulan Patra either," Farah replied.

"Yeah, that's the current problem." Schwarz cleared his throat. "Anyway, Nightfall suspects that Zulan Patra has been captured by Tot for some nefarious reason. He wants us to see if we can do something about it."

Claud, who was already burdened by a stupid allegation, didn't know what to say to this crime that the idiot count had heaped on him.