Thief of Time

“Senators and spire lords…” Claud mulled over the informal term of address for the senators of Nihal, before looking up. “In the end, it’s just another way of creating a noble family, right?”

“Definitely better than the alternative we have back in Grandis,” Lily replied. “After all, you can’t really choose your ruler in Grandis. If you want the guy to change, you need to exterminate the entire family or begin a really long and dangerous process to get Emperor Grandis to shut the offending family down.”

She paused. “Since all nobles are supposedly appointed by the Emperor, protesting against a noble family is protesting against his choice and his decision. It is quite the contentious decision, so…anyone who wants to go down that route would need to face a lot of things.”

Claud looked at Lily intently, and then asked, “What sort of things are we talking about here?”

“Assassinations, challenges, insults, bureaucratic obstruction, idiots who don’t know any better, idiots who only know how to respond with outrage when someone wants to upend the status quo, idiots who are distantly related to a crappy noble family that engages in illegal and immoral stuff…the list goes on.”

Clearly, the trauma that was Lily’s family was still there, even if it had settled for the most part.

“Sorry for bringing this unpleasant topic up.” Claud rubbed her head. “Forgive me?”

Lily squished his cheeks. “All is forgiven.”

“Meep.”

“What are you, the meeplings?” Lily shook her head, and the little fellows hanging around in Claud’s pocket jiggled. “Oh, they’re awake. Should we let them out?”

“I don’t see why not.”

The two of them headed to a more desolate part of the city, before Claud pulled out the three little meeplings, who promptly scuttled up his neck and perched on his head.

“Meep! Meep!” Crown danced around on his head, whirling and spinning on its tiny little edge. Claud could tell, because said edge was poking his scalp, and after letting the little guy whirl for three seconds, he reached up and grabbed the little spinning fellow.

“Alright, that’s enough.”

“Meep.” Crown jiggled in his hand, and the two other meeplings hopped onto it.

“We’re in the Nihal continent,” Lily added. “You guys should be fine with the change of scenery, but if you don’t feel well or something, sound off.”

“What are we supposed to do if that happens?” Claud asked. “Wait, why are you looking at me?”

“Wouldn’t you know something?” Lily asked. “I mean, you are their caretaker. Like their main caretaker. I’m just an assistant here…”

“True, but I know as much as you regarding these little fellows,” Claud replied, before raising his hand to his neck. They hopped onto his shoulders without any delay, nuzzling into his neck and making themselves at home. “Still, what are you guys exactly?”

“That’s a question that probably won’t be answered for some time,” Lily replied. “Now…are we going to continue our journey?”

Claud thought for a moment. “Actually, I want to explore and test this Spire for a bit. The Nox Spire is one of the outermost Spires. Its defences and capabilities probably aren’t as pronounced at the ones further inland, since none of the three continents have declared war on each other before.”

If they had been at war with each other, the outermost Spires would have been heavily improved and fortified. However, the six thousand years of peace meant that there was little impetus to improve the outermost Spires, unless done so by their own owners to defend against other Senators.

“We’re testing the weakest of the lot, though,” Lily replied. “Is that really going to yield valuable data?”

“It’s a good time to,” Claud replied. “The First Lady and her strongest people are all in Grandis, searching around for the Fourth Bearer of Destiny and hoping to brutally murder him in a way that will enter the history books of this world and the mythological books of the new world.”

He chuckled. “Nice, the way I put it.”

“You sound like it’s none of your business whatsoever,” Lily muttered. “Be a bit more careful, okay?”

“…Someone saying that to me is a bit novel, but it’s you!” Claud grinned. “Well, we’re doing this together, so no worries.”

“Good.” Lily let out a sigh. “Or rather, you shouldn’t be doing anything this strenuous anyway. You’re still recuperating, and you look a bit frail right now. Maybe we should put off this test.”

“No can do,” Claud replied. “We’re short of time, and I did have enough time to rest during our dinner. We need to figure out what’s exactly going on and what the rest of that book is saying. After all, there’s another catastrophe looming. It’s possible that Dia’s brother sacrificed himself for the wrong thing, or the Distortion that affected Licencia was just a shadow of the real deal. We need to be prepared.”

Lily looked at him with a complicated gaze. “This whole thing is very…screwed up, isn’t it?”

“I suspect that my previous self was behind the whole Distortion thing, at this point of time,” Claud replied. “Ugh. If I can understand how time works and how time flows, we’ll be better able to navigate the next few years…or we can just camp out in a place devoid of anyone whatsoever.”

“I know you can do that, but…can you really bear to do that?” Lily asked, gazing at him with a tender expression.

“…What do you mean?”

“There are people other than me that also matter,” Lily replied. “That’s true for both of us, right? And while I’m perfectly willing to throw everything aside to go with you, the same can’t be said for Dia and the others. That’s why we’re here. You know, it’s…I’m happy that you’re going so far for me, but it’s also making me feel guilty and everything.”

“Don’t be. You’re more important than you realise,” Claud replied, patting her head. She squinted as he played with her cheeks for a while, before glancing up at the sky to look at the clouds above. “Now, then…shall we go test the defences of this place?”

“Sure.”

“Will of Freedom. Will of Solitude.”

Once again, Claud paid close attention to the activation of these two skills. He could feel his lifeforce and his mana control the area around him, before holding the two of them in place. At the same time, the two energies seemed to vanish from his senses, and Claud lost track of himself entirely.

“Whoa.”

“What’s wrong?” Lily asked.

“I tried to trace the activation of the two skills,” Claud replied. “It’s…a weird experience. Not going to describe it too much just yet, though. Now, then.”

He gazed at the spire. “We’ll need to deal with this big boy and kick it a few times, yes? I wonder what it has in store for us.”

Lily grinned. “Do you want me to do the kicking?”

Claud thought for a moment, and then gestured grandly. “It’ll be my pleasure if you do. I’m still feeling a bit empty, and given the choice, I don’t want to move all that much. If you’d do the kicking, I’d be very much obliged.”

“We should really rest, though…” Lily looked at him, worried, and then squared her shoulders. Mana fluttered around her, forming solid stakes that looked like they had been hammered hundreds of times.

Claud rarely saw her attack, so he took in this side of her with relish. Her serious face, one filled with contemplation and heavy planning, was a side that she rarely revealed to Claud. Since he had handled most of the heavy lifting up until that point…

Maybe he should let Lily do more in the future. Perhaps, the previous him was too protective of Lily, preventing her from learning more about defence. All she knew was gleaned from him, in the form of theory without any practice. If she was truly, one day, brought away by some Distortion or whatever, such a lack of actual experience would be fatal.

“…Maybe you should do more things without my interference,” Claud muttered. “I may have done you a grave disservice.”

“Claud?”

“…Nothing.” After making up his mind to make Lily act independently, he held her hands once and said, “You should do this more often.”

“Me?” Lily tilted her head. “Sure, but why?”

“I think it’s necessary for you to do things more often,” Claud replied. “I don’t like the future that is depicted in front of me. But if it’s inevitable, then the only way is for you to overcome it yourself. And I must ensure that you can overcome it yourself, right? Mana control, your skills in protecting yourself…all that, and more.”

He took a deep breath. “I’m scared, but this calls for me to trust in you and your abilities.”

Lily nodded. “I was thinking that too. So…”

“Combat training?”

“In your current state, though…”

Claud touched his chin. “Well, I’m sure I can endure it. No worries on my part. Now, then. I suppose this can be your first move. So, tell me what you’ve planned, and explain it to me…”