The blue-haired, middle-aged man's grip was firm as they exchanged handshakes. "Once again, Lord and Lady Primus, thank you for helping out my city in our time of need…or so I would like to say, but do you not have territories that need looking after either?"
Claud had absolutely no idea how to answer, but Lily, ever his trusty partner, was already in her alternate mode.
"Do not worry about us, good count," Lily replied. "We're vagrant knights, wandering the land. I know you must have been perplexed by our family name, but we are just wanderers of the land, knighted only due to happy happenstance. Far be it from us to have sway over land and life; free spirits we are, unbound to fief and fame."
"Wandering knights." The count nodded. "It must be the Moons' blessing that you two are here today. And the Chromatic Lord…we owe that Chromatic Lord a big, big favour. Without that attack, we would have been in more desperate straits by now."
Claud really wanted to say something about that entire utterance, considering the circumstances behind their presence here and that massive attack, but Lily was already holding his hand and squeezing it at regular intervals. This was their prearranged means of saying 'Let me handle it', a method that the two had used multiple times in the Nihila Sovereignty.
He squeezed back, reaffirming his trust in her professional ability.
"Praise be to the Moons, yes. But actually, we had originally come here to explore the famed Celestia Ruins." Lily flashed a smile. "The winds of freedom blow strongly in our hearts, and what better to reinforce our flighty selves than with treasures of a mysterious origin?"
Count Lostfon paused for a moment, and Claud had a feeling he was trying to parse that sentence. He wasn't alone in that too; the master thief himself was having fun trying to decipher Lily's words. This side of hers was awesome through and through, and Claud found it a shame that he couldn't whip out some snacks to chew on whenever she spoke like this.
Nibbling on imaginary grapes, Claud watched on as Count Lostfon's expression took on an interesting slant.
"I see. The Moons must have really been shining on us today, then," said the count. "That said, I will offer you two some of the best artefacts we've found from the ruins so far, and—"
Lily squeezed Claud's hands again, making him curious. Squeezing back to affirm his commitment to not speaking, Claud grew interested in Lily's next words, and—
"We'll be flying there ourselves. There's no need."
"Eh?" Count Lostfon looked at them closely, shock written all over his face. His eyes clouded over with many, many thoughts a moment later, and Claud found himself interested in Lily's reason for revealing that. "Flying there?"
As Lily nodded her head with a stately air, Claud linked the count's shock to the fact that they would be flying there.
"We'll make multiple trips, probably," Lily continued on, as if the count's earlier interjection never happened, "so it'll be better if you paid us with information pertaining to the ruins. The sages oft acclaim the spirits of bravery, but what they praise more is the blue moon's wisdom and caution. We ascribe to that very ideology."
Count Lostfon had to take a small pause again, before he nodded slowly. Somehow, Claud could sense that Lily had taken the advantage in the conversation, although he didn't quite know how she had done that. Experience-wise, she was far inferior to an old geezer pretending to be young, so it had to be the information and implications, so…
He decided not to think too hard about it, since Lily could clear all his doubts later.
The count, apparently, thought the same way too. "This conversation has been pleasant, but I'm afraid we all have pressing matters to attend to. Take this badge. It'll be proof of your mission completion rates."
"Please hide our identity, Count Lostfon," Lily replied. "And perhaps, try to keep our presence here a secret. Many things move at the right names."
The count took another deep breath and nodded.
"Thank you," Lily replied. "There is no need to see us out."
Claud raised his right hand slightly, in a manner that Lily had drilled into him as part of their preparations, and escorted her out of the room. He could feel a burning gaze on his back, but if anything, that was proof that Lily had succeeded in throwing the count off.
Still, would it be worth it? The two of them would probably be quite prominent in the count's eyes from now on. Claud, however, had a feeling that Lily had succeeded in doing something, although he wasn't quite sure what that something was. That something, however, definitely outweighed the disadvantages of being a prominent fixture in the count's mind, in Lily's opinion.
After putting some distance between them and the house, he leaned over to Lily. "What was all that about?"
"Are we in a rush?" Lily asked. "Might take some time to explain, so…"
"I don't think so. And I want to drink something nice too." Claud wiped the corner of Lily's mouth. "And I don't know what that made you drool somewhat."
"It's cute, though!" Claud added hurriedly, before her face could turn into an apple.
Lily pouted and flicked his nose. "But no apple juice."
"Don't worry. I don't think we'll be touching that until we're back home," Claud replied. "My tastebuds have been spoiled, and they're threatening to overthrow the brain if they ever taste an amateur's rendition of apple juice. Still, isn't this place the source of his apple juice?"
Lily forced down a gulp. "Did he import them as-is? Or did he buy apples and make juice from there? If it's the former…"
Claud's mouth felt very dry for some reason. "Then we should check out the apple juice here. But it's risky."
"…Let's go with iced water instead." Lily pointed at a small, mobile stall that was selling drinks. "Oh, right! There are your fizzy drinks here too. We could get that."
"It'll probably be watered down, and a gold or so to boot."
"We're rich. It won't be a problem." Lily blinked at him. "Right?"
"True. And I suppose I deserve a reward after all that heavy work," Claud replied. "Come on, let's get some!"
In high spirits, Claud and Lily approached the mobile stall and paid a few gold coins for two huge metal bottles that were radiating an intense chill. Unfortunately, while water and liquid refreshments weren't covered by the emergency provisions, food could only be brought with contributions, so they couldn't buy any of the food hanging off the place.
The two of them did bring some food, but they hadn't prepared to stay the whole day.
"Fortunately, the missions available now all promise free food upon taking them," Claud noted, "or else we might have to ration our food."
"Or you could…" Lily made a squiggly motion with her hands. "Right?"
"I don't do that to poor people, though," Claud replied. "Hmm. Where did I go wrong?"
That little joke of his was repaid with a small flick to the forehead, before the two of them wandered over to an empty, out-of-the-way bench. Popping the caps off in a single fluid motion, Claud and Lily took a nice long swig and then placed the bottle back down at the same time.
"So, what was all that about?"
Lily tapped on her bottle. "Let me establish some things first. For one, the count would probably investigate any noble who offered aid, especially those whose names aren't that familiar. It's standard procedure, nothing much to nobles he knows, but for people like you and me, it's going to be a bit more thorough. The problem, however, lies in our identities. I'm not sure, but if he finds out that we are freshly-registered knights, all sorts of complications can occur."
"What's wrong with freshly-registered knights?"
Lily took a deep breath. "My family apparently registers knights and sends them out to look for…people. To…help."
Her hands made air quotes around that last bit. "Generally, infiltrators from other territories tend to assume the identity of a knight or a mana-folder. They aren't exclusive either, but of the many people we've caught sneaking into Licencia, I think at least a third of them are freshly-registered knights."
"Being made a knight makes it easier to do things without being questioned?" Claud asked.
"Yeap. But to protect the dignity of the nobles and the system that supports it, spies that reveal themselves to be a knight are silently disposed of. Most guards won't know about it either, and those that do already know to not make a fuss out of it." Lily shrugged. "By revealing our status as knights and communicating this openly with the count, we can stave off a lot of unwarranted and unwanted suspicion."
"Then the fact that we're making repeated trips…"
"To elevate our actual status," Lily replied. "We aren't commoner spies that have been turned into knights for nefarious deeds; we're knights of a certain stature and strength. The proof? Our ability to fly, which we implied to be due to an artefact. And artefacts of such a nature are very…rare."
"Nobles are very complicated." Claud picked up his bottle and offered it to Lily. "It's nice that you're here, or else everything would have been a problem."
"The problem came when that clerk shouted our titles out," Lily replied. "Everything else was damage control from there on."
"Thanks, Lily." Claud rubbed her head. "You're the best."
"Praise me more…but we should go and pick up a mission. I'm starving." Lily smiled. "I think I saw a really boring mission, one that involves us standing guard over some place. Let's do that."
"Standing guard?" Claud chuckled. "More like sitting down and watching the scenery."
"Right?"