Thief of Time

“A purple world? A dome? What are you guys talking about?” the doctor looked at the two of them. “This place has been and always has been a place for the sick to be treated.”

“…You have never stepped outside before?” Claud asked. “You know, outside? This place?”

“I know that Vacuos is outside, but I’m dying of overwork here,” the doctor replied. “There’s no time. There are so many people that have been infected of this weird disease, and they’re all dying. Now, if you’d please, get out before you contribute to the numbers.”

She ushered Claud and Lily into a small room by the side after saying those words. Promising to come back for them, she returned back to the great hall and started administering whatever she was holding to them.

“…Okay, so what’s with this place?” Claud muttered. “Definitely does not seem purple and evil to me, but again, the hideouts of most bandits aren’t lined with human heads either.”

“Let’s try to establish contact with the outside world first…okay, done.” Lily frowned. “So, this place is a gigantic hospital. Definitely has to serve some purpose, or symbolise something.”

“Symbolise something, huh?” Claud folded his arms. “Hmm. Remember what I told you a day or two ago? About that distraught, heart-broken woman that came bumbling into the café for some reason? And how we thought it was a very good idea to get the heck out of the place?”

“You said it was related.”

“Yeah. I’m quite certain that the woman had something to do with the purple dome,” Claud replied. “In fact, I think that the doctor we saw just now was that woman. However, she’s clearly…lost her memories. Or had them altered. Which I think is more likely.”

“That woman is related to this place, and she happens to be a doctor taking care of people who have fallen ill.” Lily folded her arms. “You mentioned that she was in a state of immense sorrow and despair when you laid eyes on her at the café. So…it’s related. She lost someone to sickness. Maybe her entire family, or her child, or her lover.”

Claud bobbed his head. “That’s what I thought too, after seeing all this. Assuming that the purple dome is related to this woman, and assuming that it might be able to bring out her…well, maybe her obsessions…”

“Would she be obsessed over saving patients? The sick and the injured?”

“I’d say yes. The only question is what this purple dome does, and what we need to do to bring it down,” Claud replied, before letting out a slow breath. “Okay, we’ll scout this place. We’ll try to go outside.”

“Outside?”

“Of this place,” Claud replied. “We should explore the…rules of this place. Like what we did in Celestia.”

“Got it. Let’s—hmm?”

She glanced at the crystal box, and then said, “We can make contact with the people outside. Let’s see…oh. Lesser Half is here. I think our message did a lot. He tells us to not resort to violence or mana unless absolutely necessary. He asks if we need more manpower.”

“Not for now,” Claud replied. “They’re not trained the way you and I are, so there’s a good chance they’ll bungle things up.”

“You don’t pull any punches, do you?” Lily giggled. “Alright. I’ll just tell them what you said verbatim.”

“Hold up.”

“I’m just kidding, silly.” Lily put away the crystal box. “Let’s go explore this place first.”

The room the two of them were in had two doors. One of them led to the great hall with lots and lots of people, and the other led to a long hallway. Despite the place being seemingly empty, Claud could vaguely sense something down the long hallway, something calling out to him.

“Meep!” Crown made a sound, and Claud pulled the little guy out. The little meepling rolled a few times in the direction of the door that led to the long hallway, before diving back into his clothes with the other meeplings.

“Huh. That direction…weird,” Claud muttered. “I can feel something summoning me.”

“Is it related to your…special status?” Lily asked.

“Probably. You don’t feel anything, right?”

“Just your warmth,” Lily replied, huddling next to him. “It’s quite cold here for some reason. And I’m a hexa-folder. Doesn’t make sense that I’m shivering.”

“Cold?” Claud tilted his head. “Is it? I don’t feel anything, though.”

“You’re radiating an awesome warmth, so of course you don’t.” Lily squeezed him even tighter. “You’re like a hot bath right now, and I love the contrast.”

“Just remember that I’m not really good for moving too much right now,” Claud replied.

“I’ve always been supporting you, though?” Lily paused. “Oh! Is that your sneaky way of telling me that you want a piggyback ride? Sure!”

Before Claud could say anything, his vision jerked dramatically, before rising substantially. Lily made some happy noises as he leaned against her back, and then said, “It feels like there’s a heated blanket on my back right now.”

“I’m that warm?” Claud asked. “You do know that the Second Tutorial’s iteration of me was called the Frozen Emperor, right?”

“That is that, and this is this.” Lily adjusted his position slightly. “Alright, onwards! This is fun!”

“Normally, it’s the guy who gives the girl a piggyback,” Claud muttered. “But again, we’re both hexa-folders. You can probably lift an entire building on your back if you wanted to, let alone little old me.”

“I’m glad you have that sorted out. Still, how are you so comfortably warm? Hmm.” Lily tried to pull him closer, but every single part of his body was already in contact with her.

“Meep!”

“Oh, sorry. We forgot about you guys.”

The meeplings rolled out of their hair and bounced onto Lily’s shoulder, before shivering. Letting out little faint meeps, they rushed back to Claud and cuddled up against his neck.

“See? You’re really warm right now.” Lily stopped at the door that led to the long hallway. “And this place feels even colder. Guys, go and hide in Claud’s clothes. I think we’ll start freezing the moment we step into that hallway.”

“Meep?”

“Meep!”

Crown rushed into his clothes first, and Claud made weird movements as the others followed suit and wedged themselves around the centre of his chest for some reason. It probably made sense, since his heart was there…but it was ticklish.

“Now it feels like something is sticking into my back,” Lily noted. “Can you three not stack up on each other and spread out a bit?”

Muffled meeps followed, and the three meeplings obeyed her words. Shaking her head, Lily turned her head to look at Claud, and then said, “Well, let’s see what’s in this passage.”

Her fingers tightened around the doorknob, before twisting it. As she pushed the door open, Lily’s body shivered badly, and Claud found himself hugging her with a bit more strength to convey the apparent warmth that he gave off. At the same time, mana poured out of him, forming a shield that would hopefully ward off the cold.

“Oh. It’s effective.” Lily’s shivers began to die down. “Your mana has this warmth to it too. Can you keep emitting it?”

“Sure,” Claud replied. “Still, my mana now has a temperature? I don’t think something like this has happened before, has it? Or is it the special rules of this place?”

“Probably the latter,” Lily replied.

The two of them looked around the hallway. To their left was a dead end, but a painting hung on it.

“It’s that doctor. And a baby,” Claud muttered. “Yeah. I think our guesses were largely right. Let’s go walk down this hallway. I’m sure we’ll find more and more details about the doctor and that baby along the way.”

“When you read enough books, I’m sure it’s obvious,” Lily added. “I think it’s called the Law of Conservation of Detail. There’s only so many words that an author can use, so details that are evident, like this painting hanging here, has to be important to this world one way or another.”

Claud bobbed his head. “If only we had records of her name, though. We could ask Count Vacuos to tell us about the doctor and whatever happened to her in the lead-up to this…purple dome. It does look like a manifestation of her thoughts and obsessions, though.”

“One woman, working her heart out to make sure that everyone doesn’t die…”

Claud thought for a moment. “Now that I think about it, you three could tell that this thing was about to manifest, right?”

“Meep.”

“Mhm.” Claud folded his arms. “So, the danger came from being caught in the expansion, then. Those who were caught became the unconscious patients that needed treatment here, like the setting of a book. And we, who came in from outside…what role do we play?”

“Maybe the antagonists?” Lily suggested. “Or maybe the trigger point for a plot. Whatever the case, we’ll need to figure out what’s going on and verify it.”

“Yeah. Can you send our inferences over to the people outside?” Claud asked. “They might be able to come up with a few suggestions.”

“On it.” Lily fiddled with the crystal box again. “What do you think we’ll find at the end of this hallway?”

“Something that no one else would be able to enter easily,” Claud replied. “Prepare for a battle.”

Lily stopped at another painting. “Okay.”