「Where are we going, Straf?」

Lily nonchalantly asks, creating a vacant bubble for her and Straf to walk through in the crowd by her presence alone. The people depart with uneasy glances and worried faces as they pass them.

「Just a little place not too far from here, hopefully the geezer there is up for what I’m planning, but…」

Straf rubs his neck with a mildly troubled grimace on his face, with his eyes closed. His brows rise and his eyes snap open, and he pulls his hand away to look at it, then glances up at his status effects.

「If he’s not, shall I-?」

Lily grins, and is about to suggest something, but Straf immediately shakes his head and interrupts her.

「No Lily, we’re not going to do anything metal within the city limits. Get your human hatred under control.」

Straf says, and Lily pouts, glancing off to the side as Straf continues looking at his hand and wiggling his fingers.

「Huh. So it’s fixed…」

Straf comments, clenching his once-broken hand into a fist in front of him as they walk.

「What is?」

Lily once more looks up at Straf, then at his hand. He presents it to her, opening and closing it a few times with his palm towards himself.

「My hand. My arm is almost good enough to use, too. Honestly, broken limbs are almost as bad as being overburdened.」

Straf comments further, lightly wiggling his casted arm around.

「Heh… As expected of you, Straf. You already transcend humani-」

Lily grins and crosses her arms, momentarily lowering her head in her fit of smugness. When she looks up at Straf again, she sees him shaking his head with his lips stretched almost ear to ear.

「Lily, for the last time, I am not going to become a vampire. Stop trying to sell me on that idea. I don’t want to have to worry about the sun and an impeding economic collapse at the same time.」

Straf sighs, shrugging his healed hand.

「But…」

Lily crosses her arms again, pouting as she looks away. She glares at random people in the crowd, causing them to flinch in many expressions of fear and hurry their step past her.

「No buts. What does it matter if I’m a vampire or a human, anyway? You were one too.」

Straf scoffs, shrugging his arms, and placing his hand in his pocket.

「Only for 12 years, give or take! And I have been a vampire for a thousand! It’s unfair to even imply I have anything to do with humanity at this point.」

Lily protests, pouting up at Straf with upset scarlet eyes devoid of any hostility.

「Yeah, yeah, yeah… A thousand year old vampire that coincidentally looks exactly like a prepubescent child. You don’t need to explain this one, Lily. It’s better if you don’t.」

Straf says, looking closing in on his privately-owned bank while looking at its large, intrusive sign.

「Let’s stop by here real quick, I’ll need some gold for this.」

Straf says, and enters the bank with Lily…

…

As soon as Niklaus sees Straf enter through the open door, he jumps out of his lazy slouch at his front desk, trying to appear as if he was attentively watching the door the whole time.

「Slacking off?」

Straf sarcastically asks.

「No! Not at all!」

Niklaus shakes his head, sitting perfectly straight up as if an iron rod was tied to his back. Straf snaps his fingers.

「…And lying to your supervisor. Nice. I like that. You’ve got balls to pay just barely enough attention to be considered still working and lie through your teeth about that. Work sucks, even if it’s good.」

He says, pointing at Niklaus, who looks at the bank tellers with a side glance in utter confusion. They shrug in response, also unsure what Straf is trying to say.

「I need to withdraw coins. I’ve heard Lia drained the reserves pretty badly, how much have we got left?」

Straf walks up to Niklaus’s desk, and looks at the nervous bank tellers. Niklaus motions for one woman to check in the secure storage room, and she returns after a brief wait with a handful of coins in her cupped hands.

「Well, I’m going to need a little more than that-」

Unimpressed, Straf looks at the gold in the nervous woman’s hands. She interrupts him with her head lowered.

「That’s…」

She says, without finishing her sentence. She grunts and groans quietly, looking at Niklaus, her supervisor for help.

「…Well, you see…」

Niklaus tries completing her response, but stops himself and taps his fingers on his desk.

「What? Don’t tell me someone actually stole the coins, or your ass is mature wheat, and I’m the combine harves- Ah, I suppose you won’t fully appreciate that one.」

Straf rubs his chin after a brief pause, looking aside as he thinks.

「No, no! It’s nothing like that! It’s just…」

Niklaus waves his hands in front of himself as Straf glares down at him. Lily promptly joins him, adding to the pressure. Niklaus turns his gaze to the teller with the gold coins, and she gulps nervously.

「…That’s all the gold we have left.」

She explains, looking at Straf with a tight-lipped grimace.

「…Huh? You mean with all the income, taxes, mines, the gold I have left you, that’s all there is?」

Straf squints, and points at the small pile of gold in her hands. She silently nods.

「…The citizens have been coming to redeem their drakes for gold, a lot of them said they don’t trust… 「Some piece of paper」 to hold any value…」

She explains further, quoting somebody indescript.

「…And how much is this?」

Straf asks, blinking as frustrated disbelief slowly appears on his face.

「Fifteen gold coins, minister…」

The bank teller says almost apologetically. Straf glances at Lily, still holding his expression, then at Niklaus.

「Ah, hello! Is this where I exchange these things for gold?」

A man walks in, holding two one-denomination golden drakes up above his head. He walks up to the bank tellers’ desk.

「Yes sir, you’ve got the right place.」

Another woman nods, welcoming the man before nervously glancing at Straf and her coworker with the gold.

「Well, I’d like to exchange these-」

The man says, placing them on the tellers’ desk and sliding them forward. Straf rapidly walks up, placing his arm around the man.

「Heeey buddy, you don’t need to exchange these, do you? Don’t you know you can pay with them for stuff?」

Straf explains nodding his head at the banknotes. The teller retracts her hand, almost taking the notes from the man.

「I do know that sir, but you see, this isn’t spending money. I’ve got these… Banknotes I suppose you call them?… From a land sale to a minor noble who wants to establish himself around here…」

The man needlessly explains his decision to Straf, who glares at him with an unimpressed, and a perhaps somewhat annoyed glare.

「So why exchange them? They’ll be as good as gold, buddy. Don’t you need to pay taxes? You need these to pay taxes. You’re not some filthy tax evader are you? Huuh?」

Straf pats the man on the back, and shrugs as he asks and reassures the man with a shrug of his shoulders. He menacingly leans in, obliquely threatening the man.

「Well… Perhaps, sir. But I have money set aside for the tax already… This is for long term storage. Paper can burn up and rot, but gold is hard to lose, isn’t that right?」

The man spreads his hands, smiling a little as he’s futilely trying to convince Straf to his view. Straf only replies by leaning away and glaring at the man further.

「Tsk. Fine, take your gold then. You’ll regret it.」

Straf ominously comments, and unwraps his arm from the man, still glaring at him. Lily joins in, glaring at the man from the other side. The man looks at both of them, gulps, then nervously slides the banknotes further towards the teller’s hands.

She takes them, and takes two coins from her coworker that’s trying to make herself small.

Cla-clink.

The coins clink on the hard wooden counter, and the teller slides them towards the man, grimacing nervously. He nods politely, pockets them, and turns to leave. He nods politely once more at Straf, Lily, Niklaus, the nervous coin-holder, and departs in silence and with a hasty step.

「Shit.」

With a slight downward jerk of his head, Straf says in frustration through his teeth with his fist on his hip.

「…Should we tell the people they can’t withdraw the gold-?」

Niklaus quietly suggests, and Straf’s eyes snap at him with uncanny speed.

「No, idiot! The whole point is to make them think their gold is safe!」

Straf explains angrily, holding his palm up.

「…You mean it isn’t?」

One of the teller asks, and they all look at each other before their eyes slowly return to Straf.

「…It would be, if Lia-」

Straf sighs in frustration and slides his palm down his face taking in a heavy annoyed breath. He places his fist back on his hip and looks over his shoulder, replying to the teller before someone’s question interrupts him.

「Hello! What would be?」

A cheery, elderly man walks in with a large smile on his face, holding a single banknote in his hands by each end with the tips of his fingers, as if to display it proudly.

「…It would be great if more people put their trust in the new drakes! They are really missing out exchanging them into coins, riiiiiiiiiight?」

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Straf glances at the old man, changing his statement around as he looks at each of the bank employees, dragging his rhetorical question out to give each one a prolonged glare.

「Yeah, yeah, absolutely.」 「Mhm…」 「I agree…」

Niklaus and the rest of the employees concur with Straf, powerfully nodding their heads while they look at the bank customer.

「Well, uh, there ain’t nothing wrong with them, in fact it was convenient to carry it here instead of a heavy gold coin. A whole bag of them would be a problem for me to carry-」

The old man shrugs his shoulders and explains, walking closer to the bank tellers’ counter. Straf steps in his way, surprising him somewhat.

「Yeah? If there’s nothing wrong with them, why are you here, old man?」

Straf asks, menacingly glaring down at the diminutive old man shrunken by age.

「Well, uh, I’m from the countryside you see, and I’m worried how they’ll be perceived there. What if I pay someone with it, and he won’t accept it because it’s not gold?-」

「Then he’ll be a criminal. Report him.」

The old man explains further, but Straf cuts in with a simple solution in a serious and demanding tone.

「Huh? But- But I don’t want to cause trouble for my neighbors, it’d be easier if I’d just have a gold-」

The old man flaps the drake around as he gestures with his hands, Straf doesn’t allow him to finish.

「Oh? So it’s alright if they cause trouble for you, huh?」

Straf leans down towards the old man’s face, still glaring at him with a serious, intimidating expression.

「Well I- I didn’t say that…」

「It sounds to me like you are used to being pushed around, old man. You have this perfectly valid, legal tender in your hands to settle all debts public or private, and some son of a bitch refuses to take it?…」

Straf says, leaning down further to look straight into the old man’s eyes at head level, squinting with disdain.

「He’s a criminal. Report that bastard. He thinks you’re a weak frail old man who can’t do him any harm, so he can push you around.」

Straf says, and straightens out. The old man’s expression changes into deep thought. His bright smile fades away, and he furrows his brows as his eyes drift to the ground.

「You ought to learn to stand up for yourself, old man. Are you planning to live your entire life on your knees? Have you heard about the man who died standing?」

Straf asks, looking down at the old man with a smug grin.

「Wh- What? No, what happened to him?」

The old man asks with a voice full of curiosity and a tilted head. Straf quickly rolls his eyes.

「I haven’t heard of him either. So let me ask you this… Are you going to die after living on your knees your whole life? Or are you going to finally stand up?」

Straf forcefully pokes the man’s chest with his index finger, causing quiet grunts of pain. The old man rubs the spot Straf poked him at, once more looking down in deep thought. He suddenly looks up at Straf with lips twisted into an angry frown and furrowed brows.

「You know what, sir!? You are right! I can’t believe this took me so long to figure out!」

The old man turns around and starts waddling towards the exit, while shaking his head and mumbling something under his breath. Just before leaving, he turns around to wag his finger angrily at Straf.

「Thank you for opening my eyes, good sir! Why should I carry heavy coins around with my bad back for some prick who cares nothing for my well-being!? Well I shouldn’t! Good day sir! And Mercia’s blessing upon ye!」

The old man shakes his finger and nods in anger, almost as if scolding Straf with years of frustration on his face, yet the old man has nothing but gratitude for Straf’s promotion of the banking system. The elderly man departs, shaking his head with a twisted angry grimace and fuming heavy exhales from his nose like a steam locomotive.

「Yeah! Stand up for your rights! End elderly abuse!」

Straf shouts at the door, then exhales quickly in relief. He looks over his shoulder at Niklaus and the tellers, who glance at each other with clear discomfort on their faces.

「What? It’s the law. And his money will probably be good until he dies, so he has nothing to worry about.」

Straf shrugs his shoulders and spreads his hands, before shaking his head to dismiss the qualms of his employees. Straf turns his head back to the door.

「Ah, fuck…」

He curses under his breath, turning his head away as he sees another customer walk in with a golden drake. He shrugs and motions the tellers to handle the man with a circular wave of his hand. The exchange happens quickly, and the man happily departs with his gold.

「Niklaus…」

Straf says, looking with tired eyes and narrowed lips at the ever-shrinking pile of gold in the woman’s hands.

「Uh… Yes, boss?」

Niklaus nods, leaning forward to look more attentive.

「You know some unsavory characters, right?」

He asks, looking at Niklaus, who turns his eyes away momentarily.

「I… Yeah, I know some types. Why?」

Niklaus nods hesitantly, shrugging with his hands quickly before returning his gaze back to Straf.

「Tell them if they stand out the front, look menacing and harass people trying to walk in here, they’ll get 2 silver drakes per day. No actually harming anyone, but tell them to look like they’ll gut anyone trying to enter.」

Straf says, and turns his eyes to anxiously stare at the entrance.

「Got it.」

Niklaus nods, and leans back in his chair, still attentively looking at Straf.

「I meant now Niklaus. For fuck’s sake!」

Straf points his palm angrily at the open door, nodding his head for the emphasis. Niklaus hastily scrambles out of his desk, and runs out of the bank. Straf rubs his face in frustration, and Lily walks up, looking at him seemingly surprised.

「…Are you perhaps troubled by this, Straf?」

She asks, tilting her head a little.

「What does it look like, Lily? If we run out of gold and a single guy comes in here, it’s game over. He’ll blab to everyone how he couldn’t exchange his drakes, and then they’ll stink worse than a real sewer, not the ones where you have giant rats and clear water.」

Exasperated, Straf sighs heavily.

「On the bright side, that old man will probably build a strong case for drakes and sucker more peasants in…」

He shrugs his shoulders. Lily momentarily glances at the door, then back up at Straf.

「Does it matter? You can still use coins, can’t you?」

「Coins aren’t infinite, Lily.」

Straf explains with clear frustration in voice. Lily tilts her head and furrows her brows gently.

「…But neither are the drakes?」

She asks with mild confusion, as if Straf was unaware of the fact.

「Yeah. For now. This part is important, Lily. It’s all about trust.」

Straf explains, emphasizing with his index finger before sighing again as he anxiously looks at the door.

「…If you’d like, we could trade.」

Lily says after a brief silence, looking at the open door as well.

「What? You mean you have some massive hoard of gold hidden somewhere-!?」

Straf leans down in front of Lily as his brows rise in a mix of surprise and excitement.

「Uhuhuhu, no such thing, Straf.」

Lily begins to softly giggle at Straf’s bizarre suggestion, covering her pale lips with her clawed hand in a ladylike manner.

「Tsk. Too good to be true, huh…」

Straf sighs out in exasperation once more as he stands up straight.

「What would a vampire need gold for, Straf? Please. However…」

She looks up at Straf with an amused smile, before reaching into her dress and briefly feeling with her hand around for something within.

「I have this.」

Lily says, pulling out by its black string a large, yet still modestly sized brown coin sack.

「What? What is this?」

Straf asks, pointing his palm at the sack.

「Why, it’s what you seek. I may as well see how well my master’s perfect world works in practice on my own.」

Lily smirks at Straf smugly, lightly tossing the sack into the air to catch it with her palm. The coins within clink loudly.

「Gold? Great, that’s really going to help-」

Straf reaches out for the sack, but Lily pulls her hand away out of his reach. Straf blinks at Lily in confusion.

「I said trade, Straf. Just like you said I will not receive free meals anymore, I happen to have some tax money from the subject vampires, as well as the pittance the worm that dared to disobey me had…」

Lily says, tossing the sack up and down, giving it just a little air time to clink the coins within with each throw.

「Okay, well how much you’ve got there? What do you want for it?」

Straf grins nervously at the sack, watching it hop up and down.

《You little brat. I know you’re planning something. How dare you try to pull this on me now?》

Straf thinks, hiding his frustration behind a falsely smug grin while staring at Lily.

「…Blood. Isn’t it obvious, Straf? I will not receive free meals anymore, so I’ll pay you for them…」

She rests the back of her other than on her hip, and stops throwing the sack. Lily looks up into Straf’s eyes with a serious expression.

「Okay, you’ve got a deaaa- Aahaha! You almost got me!」

「Hm?」

Lily’s golden twin tails jiggle when she tilts her head at Straf’s reaction. He points his finger at her, chuckling quietly with a genuinely smug grin on his face.

「I’ll take that deal… On a condition.」

With his eyes closed, head smugly lowered and grinning, he holds his index finger up.

「…And that is?」

Lily asks with her brow inquisitively raised…