[Lifespan Remaining: 25 days, 11 hours, 44 minutes.]
Noct and Aurora decided to split up to cover more ground, seeing that the banquet was coming to a close in about an hour or so.
Still, it was strange that the host himself, Baron Altaire, was not present.
’I have a bad feeling about this...’
He approached a round-faced man who had somehow managed to balance both a wineglass and a plate of pastries in one hand.
His mask covered only the upper half of his face, leaving a very impressive mustache hanging underneath it.
"Ah! You must be the representative sent by Lady Lenia!" the man spoke first, recognizing him. "I must confess I wasn’t expecting her to send anyone. Had I known, I would’ve brought my son. He really wanted to meet the witch or someone who’s close to her—"
"Another time, perhaps." Noct smiled politely. "We were just discussing the banquet. The Baron and Lord Faust seem to have spared no expense."
"Of course! An occasion like this deserves nothing less."
Noct tilted his head. "An occasion like what, exactly?"
"The reopening of the mines, naturally!" the man smiled widely. "Almost all of us here have a stake in it. And naturally, it’s going to belong to Lord Faust."
’Hm...I guessed correctly.’
"Have they been opened?" Noct asked, taking a glass of wine and putting it near his lips, yet not drinking it.
"Not yet," the man waved the pastry in his free hand. "But preparations are already being made. Transport, security...such an operation is very large in scale."
"I see. And you’re involved in those preparations?"
"My family owns several warehouses near the eastern road. Lord Faust has offered us the opportunity to handle a portion of the crystal shipments."
’Offered you warehouses full of crystals he doesn’t own yet...’
Noct chose not to think too deeply about his own agreement with Aurora. With the man seeming quite intoxicated as well as having his guard down, Noct decided to pry a bit deeper.
"Well, what if Lady Amelia gets it? The Duke hasn’t decided who will manage the mines yet, has he?"
The man simply took a bite of his pastry and swallowed before speaking. "Well, I’m sure Lord Faust has already accounted for that."
"How?"
"That’s precisely why he’s Lord Faust, isn’t it?"
"..."
"He has a vision," the man continued, already reaching for another pastry. "With what he’s discovered, he can turn our dreams into reality."
"What discovery?"
"Oh, I wouldn’t presume to explain it myself. I’m sure he’ll tell us all tonight."
***
After what seemed like thirty minutes, Noct and Aurora regrouped back in the main hall. Though for some reason, Noct kept getting a strange feeling.
He felt...tired? But maybe it was the exhaustion from the entire day catching up. Still, they both decided to share the information they obtained with each other.
"The woman I was talking to told me that Faust found something in the mines," Aurora explained. "It’s what everyone wants to know. She apparently believes that it can ’give her back her beauty’."
"That’s strange..." Noct muttered. "The guy I was talking to said something similar. Something about turning their dreams into reality as well."
After thinking on it for a moment longer, he eventually decided to continue the search. If someone else knew about this ’dreams into reality’ thing, then it can’t have been a coincidence.
But again, his steps felt short.
Noct looked down at his legs. They weren’t trembling and there wasn’t any pain, yet moving them felt like wading through thick mud, as though he had been walking for hours without stopping.
’Maybe I should’ve rested before coming here.’
Near one of the ornamental pedestals stood an elderly man in dark formal robes. He wore a plain silver mask, and he was fidgeting with a ring around his finger while watching the entrance.
Noct approached him, but all he could mutter was:
"Excuse me—"
That was when a faint violet light caught Noct’s attention. The same crystal that emitted that mist, sitting safely inside its silver holder. There was enough mana inside that one piece to buy him more time.
How much exactly? An hour? Two hours?
These were probably also from the mines, and they were merely decorations.
’So what would the ones inside be like? They’re definitely purer. They’ll...keep me alive.’
The elderly man was still speaking. Noct could feel himself answering, but strangely, the words were no longer important.
He had spent so much time worrying about how to obtain it that he hadn’t really considered what would happen afterward. After he obtained it, Noct could walk with his head held high.
Whatever spell he wanted to practice, he could without constantly being in fear of when he would die. He could train his body properly, learn every spell in the game, and from there...
He would become the most powerful mage in the world, surpassing even Amon. No, why stop at Amon? Noct could become the God of Magic, an untouchable being, and would eventually—
"HEY! SNAP OUT OF IT!"
Someone grabbed him by both shoulders and shook him hard enough for his head to spin. But only then did he get a grasp.
"Noct!"
The elderly man was gone, and Aurora stood in front of him instead. Her expression was worried, panicked even, as she checked his dilating pupils.
"What’s my name?"
"Aurora. What kind of question is that?"
She released a small breath and finally let him go. Noct glanced around and noticed something odd. His head still hurt, but even then, he could recognize that Aurora just yelled at the top of her lungs.
Yet...no one seemed to bat an eye.
"What happened?"
"That’s what I was trying to ask you."
"What do you mean?"
"Something’s wrong." She lowered her voice. "My [Psychic Resistance] skill suddenly activated."
"Someone used magic on you?"
"I don’t know. I was speaking to someone, and then..." Aurora hesitated. "For a moment, I forgot what I was doing."
"What happened afterward?"
"The skill activated, my head cleared, and I came to find you." She frowned, staring at him. "But you wouldn’t answer me."
Noct rubbed his forehead, trying to clear the lingering heaviness. The thoughts felt so natural a moment ago. But now just the thought of the ’God of Magic’ suddenly made him cringe.
But before he could process anything, a sharp chime rang through the hall, followed by the sound of the main doors opening.
"Lord Faust de Arcadia!"
Faust entered the hall without a mask, but he had changed since the public hearing, now wearing a dark formal coat with silver embroidery. However, it was extremely baggy, with the sleeves extended almost to his fingertips like he was preparing for cold weather...in a portside city.
’Where’s the Baron?’
The host was still absent, but it didn’t look like Faust minded. The Knight Captain, Don Maverick, was right behind him as he walked up to the front of the hall quickly and turned back.
"Everyone, I’ll keep this brief."