Thief of Time

It was interesting to see Risti talk about a diplomatic rift between Istrel and Schwa, since Dia rarely saw this side of her. The hyper-stalker was actually putting her talents to good use in this area; from the looks of it, having her learn from the bartender was an excellent idea.

Dia didn’t really want to consider the possibility of this biting her in the posterior when Risti turned her finely-honed ability to keep track of her idol’s every movement. On the bright side, however, there was little she already didn’t know.

The fact that Dia found that fact to be a bright side felt a bit absurd on second thought, but since it was imperative to remaining sane, the stalked princess didn’t really care about that anymore.

One might say that she had given up.

Besides, she really couldn’t do anything either…

“Still,” said Farah, “isn’t this an excellent pretext to screw Duke Istrel over before his inauguration as a ruler?”

“It is,” said Schwarz, who was examining another set of papers. “As we speak, Lustre and Schwa have already mobilised their troops. At the same time, their best diplomats are already on the way to the Istrel capital. The Lustre delegation is protected by the Lamenter of Sorrowful Partings, while the Schwa delegation is protected by the Incandescent Smiler.”

Dia twitched at a very familiar name, and for a moment, a woman wearing a white mourning robe entered her mind. Her face was devoid of any sharp angles, her body small and seemingly frail. Other than her weapon, she looked very much like a priestess belonging to the churches of the Coloured Gods.

More importantly, she was a tetra-folder.

“We don’t know much about the Lamenter of Sorrowful Partings, but the Incandescent Smiler is quite a famous person,” the bartender continued, oblivious to Dia’s sudden twitch. “Mystle, the Incandescent Smiler, is best known for his chakrams. The defining act that made him a Named folder was his defence of Schwa’s Chi county. Faced with a monster rampage led by a tetra-fold monster, a newly-promoted Earth Dragon, Mystle walked into their path alone, a smile on his face.”

Schwarz took a sip from his cup. “‘His chakrams burned a brilliant orange as they sliced through the air, parting and carving monsters wherever they went. With a smile, he bisected the Earth Dragon, bowing as the rings orbiting him turned all into mush.’ So says the report.”

“It seems that he has a penchant for showing off too,” said Risti. “He is reportedly fond of dressing as a street performer who has a perpetual smile on his face.”

“Sounds like a villain from the Slasher Opera House series,” Dia quipped. The Slasher Opera House series of books were stories focused around a detective as he pursued a killer, who operated around the area of a famous opera. Interestingly enough, none of the opera singers were the culprit; as it turned out, a street performer was the serial killer.

“He’s the one who inspired that series,” Risti replied.

“Wha—”

“Wait, do you mean he goes around killing people randomly?” Dia asked. “Shouldn’t he be a wanted person by now?”

“Other than that bit,” said Risti. “The real Mystle just loves to perform on the streets.”

“Oh.”

“You sound disappointed for some reason,” said Risti.

“You’re thinking too hard,” Dia replied. “So the fellow’s harmless?”

“Theoretically, yes. But who knows?” Schwarz shook his head. “People as exalted as him have all sorts of likes and dislikes. Behind every tetra-folder is a huge organisation. With their support, even things like systematic murder and other crimes can be carried out. Best not to place trust in their character.”

“That sounds like something Claud would say,” Dia pointed out.

“I copied it from his words a few years back.” Schwarz shrugged. “But he has a very good point, no? Who knows what kind of dark things they do? So long as they keep it under wraps, the Folders’ Association won’t find out easily. Even if they catch wind of some oddities, if it’s not too extreme…”

Dia turned to Risti, whose dad was apparently the leader of the Folders’ Association. “Is that true?”

“Regretfully, yes.” She closed her eyes for a moment, and once again, Dia found herself struck by just how different she was from the usual Risti. “The Folders’ Association is an organisation that has branches throughout Grandis, empowered by the Emperor himself. However, his subordinate territories see our presence as an affront to their sovereignty. Therefore, we must balance our expenditure of political capital carefully.”

“I can see where the nobles are coming from, though,” Farah mused. “I wouldn’t like it if some organisation started a manhunt in my organisation. It wouldn’t look good on me.”

“See?” Risti shook her head. “It’s far easier to secure their cooperation if the nobles themselves ask for help. By then, however, the damage is usually too severe to keep under wraps.”

Dia shook her head. She didn’t quite understand, but again, she used to be an administrator of Lustre, not its ruler. Things like influence and reputation were centred around her father and her brother, not Princess Dia. To her, it was rational to get the Folders’ Association for help, but to a noble concerned about his or her standing and reputation, that might not be the case.

“Anyway, we’ve digressed from the topic,” said Risti. “Where were we?”

“We were talking about the possibility of war before Duke Istrel becomes Ruler Istrel,” said Farah.

“Right. And the people sent there.” Risti fell silent.

“We can’t be sure if the two dukedoms are willing to actually start a fight at this juncture, though,” said Schwarz. “For all we know, they might just be trying to milk the destruction of Julan for all it’s worth. Sap away at Istrel’s strength, so that when the real war begins, they’re actually prepared.”

“Possible.”

“Mm.”

Dia found herself nodding along too, and for a moment, she felt relieved.

“Well, no point thinking about that. Still, if it’s become such a big hoo-ha, what happened to Lily and Claud?” Risti asked. “It’s likely that the recent visitors to Julan are the most suspicious, right? They might be held captive or something.”

“If it’s Lily alone,” said Schwarz, “that’s possible. But we’re talking about Claud here. That guy will never enter a jail cell or be restrained, since the chances of being killed is a lot higher once that happens. And he’s not the kind of guy to abandon a friend.”

“So…are they going to be alright?” Farah asked.

“They should be. For all we know, they might already be outside the city the moment the explosion happened. I can see Claud carrying Lily with an underarm grip, running towards the city gates like a madman, while Lily struggles in his grip.” Schwarz chuckled. “He’ll probably be beaten up by Lily later, but he’ll still have that annoyingly smug face on.”

“Why can I picture it so well?” Dia muttered.

“He does give off that impression,” said Risti.

Farah nodded along. “That guy speaks nasty but has a good heart…I think.”

“Best not to tell him that to his face, though,” said Schwarz. “He’ll get all uppity for the next few days, and that’ll be disappointing. I made the mistake of praising him while he was in earshot, and that fellow rubbed it in my face for the next few weeks.”

“Oh.”

Making a note to never praise Claud in his presence, Dia rubbed her nose and got Schwarz to pour out another cup of apple juice. The more she drank it, the better it felt, but she still couldn’t get the others to try. It was a pity, but on the bright side, if the others decided to try it out too, it was likely that her share of the great beverage would go down.

“In that case,” said Farah, “where might be the two of them now?”

“Camping out in the wilderness,” the bartender replied. “Claud’s probably set up a small fort in the middle of nowhere. Full of traps and well-defended, if he intends to carry out what he came for. If he’s going to beat a retreat, he should be halfway back by now.”

“But other than that, they should be alright, no?” Farah asked.

“Safe and sound.”

“Alright, good enough.” She got up. “Well, in accordance with our contract, I will now exe— prepare a plan to engage in economic warfare and sabotage with the Istrel Dukedom. The effects may not be obvious for some time, so please have patience.”

Dia nodded. “Thank you.”

The others began to get back to work too. The sounds of paper rustling made Dia a bit self-conscious, so after sneaking away with one last cup of apple juice, she went back to the small backyard, where most of the trainees had already gone home. Picking up her own sword, which had been disturbed slightly, she began to practice some forms once more, carving out some slow arcs with blue light.