The lecture about a soul-bound weapon lasted for the entire trip back to Moon Mansion, which thankfully lasted for around ten or so minutes. Drawing up at the entry booth of Moon Mansion, the three of them hopped off the mana wagon and entered.
"So," said Caroline, "how was your ride there? Far faster than good old-fashioned mana-walking, right? Was it more comfortable?"
"Dia fell asleep," Nero replied. "Although having a cushion under your bum sounds like a good way to make the ride less painful. Granted, it's better than anything we have right now, but I suspect that driving that mana wagon for more than a week or so would damage your posterior."
Caroline nodded. "Good point. Anything else?"
"Well, from what I can tell, the seat is the one absorbing mana, right? But if someone loses control of their mana and a huge volume floods out, it'll damage the seat and the mechanisms behind it," said Nero.
"Yes, that is a problem." Caroline eyed Nero. "Any suggestions?"
"Rather than absorbing the mana directly from the driver, why not have the driver and other people pour mana into a storage medium? That way, you can standardise the output, let vanillas drive the mana wagon, and prevent overloads if someone sneezes while sitting on the driver's seat," said Nero.
"We're already working on that," said Caroline as the others approached. "Other — oh. I'll ask you later."
"Welcome back, Dia, Nero." Schwarz nodded at them, before passing two bottles over. "Fresh out of the icebox. Thank you for your hard work."
"Are you a bi-folder now?" Risti asked, looking at Dia. "What does it feel like?"
"I'm a bi-folder, yes, and it feels rather good to be this strong," Dia replied. "Sorry to make you guys worry about me. Nothing much happened, though. Went there, saw a soul-shattering sight, and then went back."
"Nothing much? Did you not say 'soul-shattering sight'?" Schwarz rolled his eyes. "I'm not sure what to think of your ability to downplay things."
"We'll talk later. For now, we'll wait for the Holy Daughter of the White God, and then see the recording for ourselves," said Caroline.
"Here?" Nero asked. "But—"
"We'll do the full experience if need be," said Caroline. "Time is of the essence. If the truncated version can let us figure out the reason behind the Emissary's death, as well as that of the Fourteenth's, we won't need to go that far."
Dia had no idea what the two of them were on about, but before she could get her brain to make sense of their little dispute, a bell rang once more. Schwarz glided into motion, and before long, the Holy Daughter of the White Church stood before them.
"Good job," said Clarissa, directing a glance at Nero. "Pass it over, please."
Nero nodded, before handing a familiar crystal over to her. The two exchanged nods once, before Nero took a step back. At the same time, Caroline slid up to the Holy Daughter, and a screen two metres wide and long appeared in mid-air.
"So, that's the army the Moon Emissary had raised," Clarissa murmured. "And that's the Moon Emissary."
Dia took in the giant tri-coloured knight. Back then, the incredible presence it emanated, even as a bygone mirage, was enough to dull her mind, but now, she could appreciate it calmly. Faint patterns engraved on its armour shimmered and twisted, like snakes in a nest, but Dia could make no sense of these engravings.
The screen turned to the horizon a moment later.
"Where were you looking at, Nero?" Clarissa asked.
"No, we felt an enormous burst of energy in that direction," said Nero. "So I turned to look at that direct— ah, it's here."
An enormous azure lance shot through the sky, blotting out the sun and the sky. Crossing the distance in an instant, the spear slammed through the Moon Emissary, erupting into shimmering blue flames that engulfed the entire army.
The screen winked out a moment later, leaving behind a set of fearful faces.
"What in the name of the Moons was that?" Schwarz asked, his face pale. "If that thing had been aimed at Licencia…what monster can produce such a thing?"
"Overkill, I think," Risti muttered. "The killer was clearly sending a message to the Moons, right? Such an attack…what's the point of making it this devastating, when a bit of the energy harnessed in that attack could have done the same?"
"Message, huh?" Caroline had a complicated look on her face. "I suppose this at least accounts for why the other Moon Emissaries were a lot more docile after this. Clarissa, what's your assessment?"
Everyone turned to look at the Holy Daughter of the White Church, who shook her head. "Based off this viewing alone, I would assume a hexa-folder. Maybe a septa-folder. But without gaining a full experience, I cannot give a definitive answer. Nero, what do you think?"
Nero glanced at the picture. "It should be one of the Chromatic Lords."
"Octa-folder?" Clarissa eyed Nero.
"Or even stronger," the Holy Son of the Black God replied. "You'll want to experience the full thing, if you want to know why I gave such an answer. Visually, it's impressive, but just sight alone won't let you feel the true power behind that strike."
Clarissa pondered for a moment, and then shook her head. "Better to be safe than sorry. We'll assume the killer was an octa-folder first."
She paused, and then let out a long sigh. "I didn't think I would say this, but I'm feeling really small right now. A tetra-folder has nothing on that attack, at the very least. If the killer was indeed the so-called Thief of Time, then the comparison between his strength back then and his strength now can only mean one thing."
"He's getting stronger?" Caroline asked.
"He's reclaimed a great deal of his strength," Clarissa clarified. "However, he seems to have an attachment towards this region, at least. As long as we keep our heads down in Istrel, nothing untoward should befall anyone, Moon Emissary or otherwise. I presume he found out about the massacre in Daybreak County, which drove him to act."
"That doesn't explain why the other Moon Emissaries are still alive, though."
"Maybe he just wanted to make a point to the Emissaries in general?" Clarissa pondered. "Point being, he doesn't seem to be hostile to us humans. Yet, anyway."
"Still, someone capable of turning a huge patch of land into a sea of fire…I can't quite imagine that person stealing something from Istrel," Schwarz muttered. "Besides, why are we so adamant that it's Tot? Tot might be innocent in this."
"True. We can't lock ourselves into false assumptions. At least, however, we can be fairly sure that such a devastating attack won't be aimed at any human city," said Clarissa. "Which, in my book, is a win."
"Tell that to the Moon Emissaries."
"They've gotten a lot more docile after their fellows' death," Caroline replied. "Their approach to the sovereignty capital has slowed down too. Remarkably enough, no casualties have been reported from this point onwards. It seems that the Emissaries and their foot soldiers are exercising a lot of restraint in their current actions."
"That's good to hear." Clarissa held her head. "For now, Licencia can operate as normal. Or rather, get ready to receive more people. The City of Trades is not menaced by Moon Emissaries; this will draw a lot of people over. Be careful."
"Aran's returning tomorrow. I'm not going to think too much."
"The count's returning tomorrow?" Dia asked, before letting out a sigh. "Good, good. He can handle this mess. We're just civilians. Let the professionals do the jobs."
"Indeed," Risti chimed in. "Finally, I can sleep at a reasonable hour."
"Hear, hear. I can finally go back to a regular schedule of bartending," Schwarz added. "My workers are complaining that I don't have a regular schedule, and the customers are always complaining."
Farah simply yawned.
"Wow. You know you guys are getting paid really well for doing these jobs, right?" Caroline asked.
"And we do it with all our might. I suppose that's why we're feeling tired and everything," Schwarz replied. "But it's also because everything's going mad. The great Dark descending in two seasons? The Moons doing so in a year? Zulan Patra's death? Moon-freaking-Emissaries? Absolute Domination? Yeah, running a city in times like this is insanity inducing."
"So, our renumeration isn't enough?" Caroline tilted her head.
"You could say that, yes. But we haven't had a break. Things just keep happening and happening on end. We're exhausted." Schwarz paused. "Which is why, I think, Claud and Lily decided to use a good excuse to skip town."
"Claud hasn't been sleeping well, true," Farah chimed in.
"I'm more interested in knowing how Lily knew that, though," Risti added. "But yes, we're tired of handling security for an entire nation. It'll be nice to have a break, especially with the count's people back in town."
Everyone turned to Dia, whose mouth promptly moved on its own. "I'm just going to create a soul-bound weapon."
Nero and Caroline burst out into laughter a second later, while the others looked at each other, mystified.