After debating for three minutes on the thorny issue of whether the Thief of Time was actually a Chromatic Lord or not, Clarissa cleared her throat and put an end to the topic.
"There's something else I came here to do, actually," said the Holy Daughter of the White Church. "We need to investigate the site of the Moon Emissary's death, but none of us can make it save for Nero. And Nero's new to this continent. So we need a guide. A local one."
"I'll go, then," said Farah. "I'm—"
"No you don't," said Schwarz. "You have things and duties to do. And besides, you're the weakest of us all."
"What do you propose, in that case?" Farah asked. "Who do we send?"
"Dia." Schwarz turned to her. "I apologise, but your talents are sorely needed here. When it comes to surviving in the wild, you're pretty much the best person here now. I would have asked Claud, but…well, he's up and vanished."
"Me again, huh?" Dia rubbed her forehead. "I don't mind, really. And besides, we really need to teach Nero how to live in the wild, after all."
"You do that, then."
"Can someone ask me for my opinion?" Nero muttered. "What if I don't want to go? It's as if everyone's made the decisions for me, and I don't like it. At all."
"…Are you not going to go, then?" Schwarz tilted his head. "You're the best person to investigate the Moon Emissary's death, since Caroline is tied up with the city's administration and Holy Daughter Clarissa's busy with her duties to the White Church."
"I mean, I was going to go, but you should really ask me for my opinions first. It's a matter of principle here, okay?" Nero huffed, and then turned to Clarissa. "Um…you do know that I'm like twenty-three years old, right? I won't even know what to look for."
"Don't worry." Clarissa bent over and whispered in his ear. Dia couldn't hear what she said, other than some hushed whispers and whatnot, but from the dawning light in his eyes, it was clear that she had said something that would help him complete his duty of seeking out clues."
"Got it?" the Holy Daughter asked.
"But is that what it's used for?" Nero asked. "Never heard of it before."
"You're twenty-three. I'm around ten or so times your age," Clarissa replied. "Trust me when I say that works."
After mentally calculating Clarissa's age, Dia stored that intriguing little morsel of information into her mind. She was younger than Count Nightfall and Caroline, who were around three centuries old, and yet…
Ahem.
"So, bring Nero into the wild and escort him to the site of the Moon Emissary's death, huh? It's going to be dangerous, right?" Dia asked. "I mean, the other Moon Emissaries must be making their way now, and I'm not sure if the two of us can kill it."
"Surprisingly enough, the Moon Emissaries are still headed towards the Umbra capital…er, Istrel capital," Clarissa replied. "They have, however, dispatched some of their ground troops. If you make haste, you two should be able to arrive there three days before the closest ground troops arrive."
"What do we know about the ground troops?"
"Each of them seems to have the strength of a one-folder," Clarissa replied. "Just a basic one, without any further mana-burning. Nero should be able to slap every single one into dust with alarming ease. Of course, there's strength in numbers, so don't dally."
"It's not even a week," Dia muttered. "Alright, I'll go and pack up. You should get ready for the trip too, Nero."
"Okay."
"I'll also prepare some equipment for you two to speed up your travels," said Caroline. "Remember, survival comes first. If you sense any danger, try to do some reconnaissance from afar. Nero's a tetra-folder, so he can venture into the destroyed area, but you shouldn't."
"Got it."
"Also, when it comes to fighting, let Nero handle it. Just stay back and provide support," Caroline added. "Don't lose your life there."
Dia, who had nothing in the way of support skills, could only wince. However, if they did their jobs swiftly, there would be any need to fight. "Got it. I'm going back to pack now. You said something about speeding up our travels, right? Do you have any skillstick that can bring us back home instantaneously, like Boundary Crossing?"
Caroline took a deep breath. "I do have some Teleport skillsticks…alright, I'll lend it to you guys. However, if there isn't any danger, please don't use it. I don't have much of those trump cards either."
"Maybe you should buy more of them," Schwarz suggested.
"That'll be hard," Risti replied immediately. "Spatial skills are very rare, and can only be picked up at with lots of luck. No one can teach them."
"Wait, serious?" Schwarz asked. "Then how do people learn them?"
"Under the light of the blue moon," Risti replied. "You'll need to be frighteningly lucky to gain some sudden inspiration, however. It has very harsh acquisition conditions too, and even then, the notification about a mutating skill can lead to random outcomes."
"Random outcomes…"
"Yeah," said Risti. "Spatial skills are completely down to luck. You'll be better off learning Flight or something."
"…And how do I learn Flight?"
"Well, just keep throwing yourself off the cliff and into the sea. After around three years, you might get lucky, and—"
"Yeah, I'll be dead by then," Schwarz replied. "Genius."
Dia shook her head at the duo's banter, and then returned to her own room. Stuffing her bag with clothes and other essentials, Dia glanced at the small pile of artefacts that Claud had donated to Moon Mansion. Equipping some on her and placing the rest into her bag, she gazed at her bed, and then left the room.
"That was fast," Farah noted. "Heck, Nero hasn't even come out yet."
"Well, most of my stuff was still inside, and we did clean them at…you know." Dia shrugged, unwilling to say 'Farah County'. It was still a secret that Farah was actually the countess of the titular country, and she didn't want to leak that out to Caroline, who was still in the room. "We used Boundary Crossing to return, after all."
"Oh, right." Farah yawned.
"Right, the two of you left Licencia for a while, right?" Caroline asked.
"Yeah," said Dia. "But anyway, what type of equipment would help to boost our travelling speed? We're already mana-walking, and—"
"No, you won't be mana-walking. You can't keep up with Nero if you do," Caroline replied. "Therefore, I'm loaning you a mana wagon. You two just need to supply mana to it, and it would cover fifty kilometres every hour. It's slower than mana-infused movement skills, to be sure, but it's far more reliable."
"A mana wagon?" Dia tilted her head. "What's that?"
"It's an invention I used to travel here. Lostfon is really far from Licencia, after all. It would have taken me an entire month to get here if I and my people mana-walked."
Dia gulped. "Do you have…more of them?"
"Once the blockade of Istrel Sovereignty ends, I'll send some over. My fiancé has been interested in those things for a very long time, after all. At that time, I'll allocate some to the Moon Lords." Caroline grinned. "How's that as a reward?"
"That'll be really great," Schwarz replied.
"My reward's pretty nice, I know." Caroline turned to Clarissa. "But how about you, Clarissa? Shouldn't you offer up something great too? It's a bit unfair if I'm the only one providing rewards."
"You seem to be seeking out trade partners, rather," Clarissa muttered. "But fine. I'll offer a bunch of pure-ranked lifestones. How does…say, a hundred and twenty sound?"
"A hundred and twenty?" Dia found herself gulping. That was ten years' worth of lifespan. Considering the amount of time spent—
"Per person, yes."
"…How rich is the White Church?" Schwarz asked. "Are there openings for a bartender?"
"Schwarz?"
"S-sorry." The bartender glanced at Farah, apology written all over her face. "Just that I'm, you know…really tempted. Most people don't go beyond one-fold for a reason, you know."
"Unfortunately, we don't pay people with lifestones," said Clarissa. "It's a stipend for people of a certain importance. Don't worry, it's less than a thousand pure-ranked lifestones. I'll be able to pay you easily."
"…easily?"
"On the spot, even," Clarissa pondered for a moment, and then pulled out a bunch of lifestones. "For you, Dia. You're braving danger, and I can tell that you're quite close to becoming a bi-folder. With this much, you should be able to make it."
"There's more than a hundred and twenty inside," Dia noted.
"Yeah, you need twenty years of lifespan for that final hurdle," Clarissa replied. "Although you can clear it with your own lifespan, I figured that giving the person who's actually heading out a bit more is a rather good idea."
"T-thanks."
"It's nothing much to me, really." The Holy Daughter of the White Church chuckled. "Believe me."