Thief of Time

Dia tossed and turned as the dawn sky began to shine through the windows. Her silken pyjamas were a bit too warm, now that she was awake and aware of it, so she got up and shook her clothes for a bit.

Was it the bed that she wasn’t used to? Or the fact that her old clothes were feeling a little tight? Or…

Was it that stupid idiot who had decided to create some grand idea just for some uncertain future?

“Stupid brother,” Dia muttered, before hugging her pillow. “I’ve even forgotten your name, stupid brother. Idiot. Dumbass. How can you throw the dukedom to me? I’ll end up wrecking it one day, alright? Come back home or something. The last time we spoke was years ago!”

She paused. “Or months ago, but that doesn’t count!”

Rocking back and forth angrily, Dia tried to piece together the memories of her brother, but it was an effort that was doomed to fail. No matter how she looked at it, it was as if her brother was a character in a book that had been described as smart, intelligent and caring, but it was the kind of book where people would just be described with adjectives and no actions to back it up.

After another five minutes, she looked at the stickman she’d doodled onto the piece of paper on her bed. She actually couldn’t remember anything that her brother had done, and the descriptions that had been written next to the stickman felt more like a laundry list of what she would want her illustrious older brother to be like, rather than the real thing.

It was a bit annoying, especially since Dia was dead certain that her brother was just a cowardly, annoying prick who had decided to renounce his claim by fooling her father. By all accounts, the two of them were supposed to renounce their claims in the presence of the other, but that asshole had just did it unilaterally, before vanishing.

“…Yeah, well, it’s probably the vanishing bit that makes me the angriest. Where in the Moons did you go?” Dia asked out loud, looking out at the windows of her bedroom.

She idly wondered if Risti was looking at her through this window by one of her many surveillance skills, but she had promised not to do that…

It would be good if she had some trust in her friend, at least.

Replacing her pillow, Dia straightened out her bed and changed out into a comfortable outfit. The many opulent dresses felt like a pain to wear, if she had to be honest, and some of them even required her personal servants to help her wear them.

“Hmm. I wonder what happened to Lucy…”

Did she resign after Dia vanished? She did recall telling her to do such a thing if something happened to her during her Second Tutorial, after all, and the fact that she hadn’t shown up just yet was probably proof that she was listening to Dia’s words.

Lucy was probably fine.

She approached the window and stared outside. Lustre Palace was a normal palace, unlike Farah and Daybreak, so her room was naturally located in the highest tower, allowing her to look down on the dukedom capital. The sun hadn’t fully risen yet, but she could already see the familiar yet strange city coming to life far below. People were moving in groups, merchant convoys were leaving the city, and mercenary groups were gathering around their local offices.

It was peaceful.

“Well, time to head downstairs,” Dia muttered. “Father hasn’t started on that lifestone feeding plan yet, so I should hurry up and scoff down breakfast before anything else happens.”

To be honest, the fact that she couldn’t see her father’s surprised face from the fact that she was now a tetra-folder closing on her fifth mana circuit was very disappointing.

Clicking her teeth, she left her room and headed for the artefact that transported her up and down the tower. It didn’t take her that long before she entered a small dining room that was used if there wasn’t any special occasion, and the chef smiled at her.

“Good morning, miss!”

Dia nodded back. “Good morning. What’s for breakfast today?”

“Scallion pancakes,” the chef replied. “Miss, your friends are waiting for you at the training grounds. They asked me to leave a message.”

“The training grounds? Got it.” Dia smiled at him, and then closed her eyes. In that hellish one month she spent killing her tastebuds by downing lifestone after lifestone, she hadn’t gotten more than a handful of proper meals. Of course, a lot of people would scoff the way she called that one month a hellish one, but that was because they hadn’t experienced the sensation of just chomping down on lifestones over and over again.

Now that she was going to face that damn experience again, Dia wanted to just cry or something. However, her father and her brother had done all this to ensure that she became the Salvation Star; if she failed to take care of that damned Distortion that would rise from Licencia, all this would have been for nothing.

She would never allow such a thing, no matter what.

Her dark thoughts were dispelled by a drifting fragrance, and Dia turned to look at the scallion pancakes that the chef had brought out. Thanking him once, Dia sliced the pancakes and chewed them chunk by chunk.

It tasted like an extra-filling, fluffy egg, and Dia felt her lips curl upwards happily. Nibbling at the sides, she soon completed her breakfast, and was wiping her lips with a small napkin when her father walked inside.

“Daughter.”

Dia stood up, and he waved a hand. “No need to be polite. Is this a savoury enough food? I remember you had a lot of stew and other roasted dishes when you went wild in the treasury.”

“It’s good enough…” Dia grimaced. “I’m feeling a little sick just from thinking about eating so many lifestones, though.”

“Get used to it. My lifespan is around four thousand years. You don’t want to know how many lifestones I ate over three months,” her father replied. “It’s a one and done thing if you do it long enough. You need to grow as much as possible, if you are to protect everyone…that is why your brother sent you away.”

“Me. No pressure, right?”

“It would have been nice if it was someone else, but the needs of the many…” Her father looked a bit fatigued. “Well, you should prepare yourself. The more lifestones you gobble down before that Distortion breaks out, the better. We don’t have a lot of time.”

Dia nodded. “I’ll do my best.”

“From tomorrow onwards, you’ll be sleeping in the treasury. I’ve already set up a place for you to sleep. There will be people dedicated to putting lifestones into your mouth; all you need to do it to sleep for as long as you can and not think about it too hard.”

“Can the others experience such treatment too?” Dia asked. “They should grow stronger too, and we have a lot of lifestones. Besides, they…will definitely help me in the fighting. I don’t want them to get hurt.”

Her father sighed. “Did you know that your brother predicted that you’d say such a thing? Maybe he guessed it. Not too sure. Anyway, the entirety of Treasury 1 is yours. You guys can spend a month swallowing all the lifestones there and I probably wouldn’t notice.”

“Are we earning this much?”

“Probably.” He smiled. “Run along now. The other Seekers of Life are waiting for you at the training grounds. You should tell them the bad news…uh, good news.”

“Father, your sense of humour is as wicked as ever.” Dia got up and bowed. “Have a good breakfast, father.”

“Now, now.”

After dismissing her gently, Dia made her way to the training grounds. It was a place that carried lots of memories for her…mainly that of her swinging her sword, though. The instructors had stopped teaching her after she was around eleven — something about talent needing to polish itself…

Whatever the case, it was exciting to learn that she had such talent, so it was fun to train by herself. The instructors simply served as sparring partners after a while, and there was some sort of glee in seeing her strength spike with every bout.

The others were training with each other when she finally arrived at the training grounds.

“Oh, you’re here!” Schwarz, who was slacking off as usual, raised a hand. “You’re quite early. I thought you’d be sleeping in.”

“I can say the same for you guys, though. Why did everyone decide to wake up this early?” Dia asked, curious. “I’m the one who needs to be worried the most, all things considered. What excuse do you guys have?”

“Eh. Just wondering about the great disaster that’s going to befall Licencia.”

Dia bobbed her head. “Fair enough. Anyway, I have good news to share with you guys. Everyone is going to enjoy the service of being fed lifestones for an entire month on end. With that much lifeforce, we should all be able to run smack into the Third Tutorial quickly.”

“…Third Tutorial, huh.” Schwarz made a face. “That idiot…”

“You’re talking about Claud?”

“Who else would I be talking about?”

[End of Book 12: Hollowed Hallows]