Thief of Time

“Alright. This looks good, doesn’t it?” Claud stared at the complicated flowchart that would account for most contingencies that he could conceive of, and then looked at Lily. Her serious face was also adorable too, but trying to squish her cheeks now was definitely not a good idea.

Lily pored through the complicated flowchart, referencing the little notebook in her hand, and then followed the arrows slowly as they converged onto the final goal, which was meeting with the Black God and then leaving successfully.

While all signs pointed at the Black God as someone friendly, Claud didn’t want to be too complacent in this regard. The Black God was a divinity, after all, and like all the other divinities Claud had tangled with so far, he also gave off the feeling of being absolutely unfathomable.

“Cheer up!” Lily squished his cheeks. “I don’t like it when you’re so serious and contemplative. You have to smile more, okay? It’s someone who helped us. Don’t be this worried.”

“Yeah, I’m not that worried,” Claud replied, before looking at the complicated flowchart. “After doing all these checks and scouting the entirety of Kabir, I don’t really think there’s a trap in this.”

He looked at the flowchart, memorised the various options on it, and then got up. “Well, we should prepare for the long, winding trip to meet the Black God. We only have this one day before the whole thing needs recalibrating again.”

“Didn’t you just say that you don’t think there’s a trap in this?” Lily asked.

“I’m paranoid,” Claud replied.

“Good enough, I suppose…”

The two of them bustled around and prepared their equipment. However, since the strongest opponent that they could theoretically face was a divinity, their countermeasures were overly inadequate. What they were about to do was no different from two ants crawling onto the dining table to negotiate with the human having dinner or reading a book there. If the human was amused enough to talk, and was too assed to not bring his or her hand down on them, all was fine.

If not…

Claud wondered if his all-out attack could deal some actual damage to the Black God. However, his current state really wasn’t suitable for negotiations and everything. After all, the Black God would definitely be aware that his lifeforce was still hollowed out. There was still quite some time to go before a full year marked itself; he would need to go through another Half Moon, Gibbous Moon and Full Moon first before he could recover fully.

“Meep!”

Three little meeplings hopped onto his shoulder as he checked on the knives hidden all over his body, before making a fuss in his hair.

“What are you guys doing?” Lily asked, picking up the meeplings, who promptly nestled in her hair instead.

“Meep.”

“Oh, you wanna come along?” Lily folded her arms. “Is it safe?”

Claud made a face. “As much as I think that it’s not safe, I’m quite certain that the Black God already knows about our presence here. I mean, we are in Kabir, after all. It’s the Black God’s place of power. We’re already operating off the assumption that he knows where we are and what we’re doing. Bringing three little meeplings along really isn’t much of an issue at this point of time.”

“Meep!” Sceptre hopped onto his hand, and Claud winced as the sharp points of the star stabbed into his palm.

“Okay, okay. I get it. You agree and approve.” Claud looked at his poor palm. “Maybe I should round off that pointy bit.”

The meepling shuddered.

“Just kidding.”

After fooling around one last time, Claud unloaded the little fellows into Lily’s clothes, where they made themselves comfortable, and the two of them headed out. The capital city of Nihal, Kabir, was far more crowded than anything he’d ever seen before, especially in the mornings. Yet, despite the sea of people, everyone was moving with an order and flow, where people paid attention to where other people were going and adjusted appropriately.

Walking paths were carved out, and horseless carriages, ones that reminded Claud of the deadly coffins that he’d seen in the Celestia Ruins, trundled across the huge roads. Occasionally, small flying boats would zip past them overhead, heading towards the spire at the very middle and docking there.

“It’s uncomfortably quiet,” Claud muttered.

“Right?” Lily whispered back. “I bet even a small pop would be heard from the other end of the city.”

“Fortunately, this only happens in the morning, though.” Claud shook his head. “It would be very creepy at night.”

The two of them followed the crowd heading towards the spire for a while, before breaking into the fifth small side street they came across. The small streets generally contained little shops that provided board and lodging, or were eateries that offered affordable and filling dishes. Every small street also had at least one general store, where all manner of items could be brought.

And of course, there was a bar.

“Chicken’s Coop…found it.” Claud looked at the weirdly named eatery. “Still, why in the name of the Moons would the Black Church use such a storefront? The name is so…not Black God-ly.”

“Right?”

The two of them stopped in front of the door, before Lily knocked on it three times.

“Come in!” a voice replied, and Lily opened the door. With one hand holding on to Claud, Lily led him into a shop, which had paintings of eggs and chickens all over the place.

A young woman sat at the counter, her eyes abnormally bright. “You’re here for retail, right? Enter this booth and tell me what you want.”

Claud recognised the passphrase instantly, but he didn’t need to remind Lily at all. In silence, the two of them entered the small, isolated stall, where Lily promptly brought out the passphrase.

“We’re here to check on your Sussex stock,” Lily replied. “I wonder if you’re open for discussions?”

“Why, yes, indeed. Come on in. We’ll talk at the back.”

After locking the store’s door, she led Claud and Lily into the backroom. The procedure here was mainly to remain silent and to count the number of lights that they had passed.

“I think the ninth is bright enough,” said Lily, and Claud glanced at the ninth light. “Shall we discuss in this room? There are questions to be asked, to a person that matters.”

The woman froze, and Claud felt some fear emanate from her thin frame.

“Here, ma’am?” the woman asked.

Lily nodded. “Yes.”

“V-very well. Please go in first. The supplier will be here in three or so minutes. Please make yourself at home.”

She opened the door, and the two of them entered. Instead of following them in, however, the woman closed the door behind them, scuttling off into the depths of the passage.

“Looks like this place is used not just by us,” Claud noted. “Every light had a door. The passphrase, the light’s number, and the words that follow. Hmm. Interesting. How do they deal with this if there are multiple people, though?”

“Maybe one group is allowed at one time,” Lily replied.

“Yeah.” Claud folded his arms. “And this place is…quite extensive. We’ve been walking in straight lines, but there are quite a few branches too. Presumably according to the species of chicken we ordered here.”

Lily let out a low whistle. “So weird. With this many different venues, the news must have leaked out by now, right? Everyone and their parents should know that there’s a hidden hideout of the Black Church here, and it has extensive underground tunnels. Why didn’t we hear any of this?”

“That’s a good question.” Claud folded his arms. “And there are lots of organisations here too. How is it that the Black Church can dominate the underground area? After all, dig enough and you’d end up digging into a different set of networks.”

“Maybe it’s an open secret. The actual secret is the passphrase, which is presumably kept hidden through that booth. Everyone knows it’s there, but only a few people know the right phrase.”

“That’s probably it,” Lily replied.

Claud looked around the room once more. It was a sparsely decorated room. Other than a pitcher of water on a wooden table, there wasn’t really anything much. The only thing that caught his eye was the heavily reinforced door on the other end, and it wasn’t just the door either; the walls and the hinges were all made from the same glowing metal.

“No weak points to be found in that door, I’m afraid.” Claud folded his arms. “Well. The Black Church definitely knows how to keep people out, if nothing else. I’m impressed.”

“Getting some praise from you is quite rare, but hm.”

The two of them sat around for a minute or two, before the door on the other side opened. In that instant, Claud felt his hackles rise, and he gazed at the newcomer.

Hexa-folder? Whatever the case, this person was…not an ordinary mana-user, if nothing else.

“Be careful,” Claud muttered.

“Mhm. Maybe they were expecting a certain someone else,” Lily replied.

“…This is the Holy Son’s private channel,” the newcomer said. “What do you think?”