Thief of Time

The oodles of people who were mingling and laughing stood out the moment Claud and Lily closed in on the banquet location, which was the Lostfon palace grounds. Of course, it also didn’t help that there were quite a few people thronging around the areas that led directly to the palace, although the nervousness they exuded hinted at someone buying their presence there…literally.

“Seems like someone’s eager to please their political masters,” Lily noted. “Buying a crowd to liven things up…only a noble or a bigshot has this much money to throw away.”

“Well, at least these people are earning some money,” Claud replied. “Easy money, I’d call it.”

“True…”

The two of them stopped outside the palace gates, where lots and lots of guards were just…hanging around. The centre of attention were the guardians that handled entry in and out of the palace itself, since there were at least five different batches of people that did checks after checks. It was unbelievable, seeing so many groups whose apparent goal was to make life hard for the people who were still outside.

“They’re here!” someone whispered.

In that moment, the sensation of being enveloped by a thousand lights engulfed Claud, and people turned to look at him and Lily. He could feel all sorts of emotions — curiosity, hostility, disbelief, fear and envy — and he waved his hand once.

Mana surged around him, and the gazes vanished as their owners flinched from the dark blue energies.

“Three, two…and done,” Lily muttered.

Claud promptly withdrew his mana, but the crushing pressure that a hexa-folder gave off had shut everyone up. Of course, that was pretty much the main part of him that was a hexa-folder; his physical body was still as sluggish as ever, but no one else needed to know that.

As a happy side-effect, the long queue that had formed was more than willing to let Claud and Lily walk through the gate. The guards also let them through without checking their identities either; no one wanted to be the guy that would stop a hexa-folder.

The undercurrent of whispers faded as the two of them entered the Lostfon palace grounds. The last time Claud went here, it was to deliver a letter to Neo Cadenza, but now, they had returned with their identities on full display…to be honest, Claud was feeling very insecure about this fact.

“Don’t be nervous!” Lily patted his head. “There, there.”

“I’m not nervous about the party, though,” Claud replied. “More of our security, if I had to be honest. Now everyone knows our name and that we’re hexa-folders. I won’t expect anyone to lower their guard if they want to take a swing at us.”

“I don’t recall offending anyone, though. Why would they want to take a swing at us?” Lily asked.

“Who knows what’s in the mind of weirdos,” Claud replied. “Still, we’re pretty awesome. We became hexa-folders without gaining a title at all. The only non-Named hexa-folders…it’s quite a title on its own, isn’t it?”

He looked around at the carefully maintained flowerbeds as the two of them headed towards the brightly lit banquet area. A gigantic marquee — which looked like a huge toadstool to Claud, personally — housed nine long tables. A small table sat apart from the nine long ones, and even from afar, Claud could see the three sovereigns just sitting there and playing games.

“Huh. Card games.”

Claud looked at Lily. “At this point of time, I think I’ve given up on expecting people to behave the way their cultural counterparts do. Are there even stageplays or novels that portray Grandis as a person who likes to play card games?”

“Not that I’ve heard of. Maybe he picked it up or something during his long training?”

“Must be pretty recent, then.”

Emperor Grandis glanced at them once as they approached. “You’re late.”

Claud glanced at the tables, which still had a lot of seats, and then at the crowded gates.

“We were caught up at the gates,” Lily replied smoothly. “Greetings, Emperor Grandis, Supreme Saran and First Lady Cecily. We thank you for your invitation to today’s banquet.”

“Think little of it,” Emperor Grandis, who was wearing his full battle outfit, replied. Everything was present — nine-coloured robe, crown, sword — save for the halos that had been floating behind him during the Aeon Trials. “You two are interesting people, so I invited the two of you.”

Supreme Saran smacked the table once. “Indeed. You two are most fascinating. I can see a brutality in your eyes, Mister Primus. It reminds me of mine.”

Claud was quite sure that was an actual insult, but…

“T-thank you?” Claud looked at the armoured fellow. He still hadn’t forgotten how this black-armoured fellow had talked to Kemata, although he was beginning to get the feeling that everyone back then was just putting on one heck of a front.

First Lady Cecily was still as frosty as ever, but in his little shop, she had put away her abrasive exterior entirely. Likewise, Emperor Grandis and Supreme Saran seemed noticeably different from the time he saw them at the Trial of Aeons; the Emperor felt like an old man. Supreme Saran seemed to have toned down his outward…whatever that weird hostility entailed, and he seemed like some regular hooligan.

“Take a seat, Claud and Lily.” Emperor Grandis gestured at two open tables. “I hope you do not mind me speaking informally, especially since you two are knights of my empire.”

“No issue there,” Claud hurriedly replied.

The eyes that were staring at them seemed to glow as Claud and Lily took the seats designated by the Emperor, and a tingle ran down his spine. The prickling sensation only grew as more and more people filed in, and he had to resist turning around.

“You’ll get used to people staring at you after a while,” Emperor Grandis advised kindly. “You aren’t the type that likes the limelight, are you?”

“My husband is not in a good condition either,” Lily replied. “We attended today’s banquet as a show of respect, but I don’t think we’ll want to poke our heads out for a long time after this. We’ll probably close the shop too.”

Emperor Grandis chuckled. “Not many would ask to be excused from meeting us, but here we are. What do you think, Cecily?”

A set of icy-blue eyes studied Claud for a while, before they turned back to the Emperor. “Indeed. Age and ambition are inversely proportionate for the two of them.”

“They are, I am told, in the mid-twenties,” Emperor Grandis replied. “They are positively children.”

“Children?” The freezing gaze swept across them again. “That is…unbelievable. Are all youngsters this impressive?”

“Oh, you have no idea,” Emperor Grandis replied. “Why, I had this arrest warrant out for a dukedom’s princess, and she just vanished from the public eye. My Shadows were completely bamboozled by how the little princess vanished.”

Claud twitched.

“Turns out, she impersonated her own double and lived in plain sight in a county capital for years,” Emperor Grandis continued. “She even joined a famous mercenary group.”

He clicked his tongue. “This new generation is turning out to be exceptionally impressive, in my opinion. Why, Neo’s kid is a tetra-folder, and she’s their age too.”

Claud glanced at Lily, who made funny faces back at him.

“Something wrong?” Emperor Grandis asked. “Oh, right. You two are part of a mercenary group, right? Did you—”

“Grandis!” A middle-aged man, who was wearing bright green from head to toe, called out to him. Lifestone-green accessories hung all over him, jingling as he walked over to the Emperor. “I’m not late, am I?”

“Barely late, I suppose.”

“Hoho…oh? Claud and Lily? Didn’t know you guys had the connections to be sitting here.” Neo Cadenza bobbed his head. “Long time no see.”

Claud, who had seen him during the Trial of Aeons, rubbed his nose. “Hello.”

“Nice to see you again,” Lily added.

“You know these kids?” Emperor Grandis asked.

“Of course. Remember my kid? Yeah, she’s with them, the Seekers of Life,” Neo Cadenza replied. “And if you’re wondering why that sounds familiar, Princess Dia is also part of that mercenary group.”

“…Wait.” Emperor Grandis held his head.

Claud glanced at Lily, who also didn’t look all that good either, and he began to ponder the possibilities of leaving this banquet unscathed. It was a ridiculously high chance, so he relaxed shortly afterwards, an action that made Lily relax shortly afterwards too.

After a few seconds of deep thought, Emperor Grandis asked, “These two are…part of the mercenary group that the Lustre princess joined up with. That right?”

“Uh-huh.”

“…Huh.” Emperor Grandis turned to Claud and Lily. “How did you two not realise?”

Claud cupped his chin. “You know, I’ve been wondering that too…”

First Lady Cecily and Supreme Saran turned away, presumably to hide a smile.