In the morning, on the street near the bank…

A young girl is sheepishly walking with a 100-denomination drake in her hands, looking side to side at the buildings' facades. She abruptly stops, and looks down at the paper in her hands.

《Is it here?…》

She thinks, looking at the large sign on the building. She hesitantly enters, and sees a man sleeping on his arms at a desk, hiding his face in them. A bored woman with a large, two-handed hammer sits in a chair beside the desk.

Her hammer's head rests upside down on the floor, her hands upon the end of its handle, and her chin rests on her hands. When she notices the girl enter, her head shoots up, and then lowers back down to her palms in disappointment.

The young girl turns her eyes to the women standing at a long, tall counter. They look back at her, and gently tilt their heads. Her eyes jump between the counter and the desk, and her brows furrow.

《Which one is it? These two look like guards…》

She thinks, looking at the sleeping man and the bored woman at the desk, and decides to approach the counter instead.

「Um… Hello? Is this where you turn these into gold?…」

The girl asks, holding her golden drake up. As she walks up closer to the counter, she realizes her head barely sticks out above it.

「We're not alchemists, young lady…」

The woman jokingly says, and smirks a little.

「Ah- Ahh… At the store, they told me they don't have enough to break this-」

The girl explains, lowering the drake and her head.

「…It was a joke. Yes, we redeem the drakes here. We don't turn anything into gold, try an alchemist for that.」

The woman cuts in, leaning in on the counter and looks at her with a pitying smile on her face.

「Ah… I see.」

Confused, the girl looks up and blinks at the woman. She extends her hand out towards the girl, and holds her palm out.

「Come on, give it here. Let's see it.」

The bank teller wiggles her fingers, waiting for the drake. The girl hesitantly hands it over.

「Tsk. Another minister…」

The bank worker takes one glance at the drake, and her eyes snap sideways with a click of her tongue.

「Wait here, it will take a moment.」

The woman sighs out, after returning her eyes back to the girl. She walks to the back of the building, unlocks a heavy steel door, and enters the room with a grating creak. After a few minutes, she returns.

She places the small box in her hands down on the floor, and swings the door shut, locking it back up. The woman picks the box back up, and walks up to the counter. It lets out a metallic clitter with each of her steps.

「Here they are, please verify it's all correct.」

The bank woman says, placing the box heavily on the counter, and sliding it a little towards the girl. The young girl's face disappears behind the box, and she tries to jump up to look into the box, but can't make it high enough.

「Um…」

The girl peeks out from the side of the box. The woman tilts her head, then lets out a little gasp in realization.

「Ah, sorry, sweetheart. Let's move this here, so you can see it.」

The woman says, taking the box into her hands once more. She walks past the counter out of the employee area, and sets the clattering box down onto the much lower desk.

「Uwaaa… That's a lot of gold…」

The hammer-woman remarks, peeking her amber eyes into the box.

「Huh?…」

Initially confused, the girl furrows her brows at the woman's comment.

She then approaches the desk as soon as the bank teller makes way for her, and peeks in as well.

「Wah!」

The young girl lets out a shocked yelp, and covers her mouth, looking at the pile of gold within with her eyes wide-open.

「Is something the matter, young lady?」

The bank teller woman asks, leaning down a little and taking a closer look at the gold, and the girl's face.

「Isn't this some sort of a mistake!?」

The girl exclaims, pointing at the box while looking at her.

「Hm? I thought I counted them correctly. Is it not enough?」

The woman asks, and peeks into the box with her brows furrowed.

「Is that not too much!?」

The girl says with a raised voice on the verge of panic, looking at the box with disbelief.

「You gave me a 100-denomination note, young lady. It should be a 100 gold coins in here. Please count them if you think the amount is incorrect.」

The woman replies, tilting her head and furrowing her brows at the young bank client.

「So it's correct?…」

「It should be, but like I said, please verify. I try my best, but I may make mistakes as well.」

The girl asks, and the woman nods in reply, staring at her with a troubled expression.

「…Are you someone's servant, young lady? Is this your first time redeeming drakes?」

The bank teller asks, narrowing her eyes at the confused young girl as she's peeking into the box.

「Yes! Ah-! I mean, no! I'm not a servant, but it's my first time doing this…」

The girl turns her surprised face back to the woman, and explains.

「…Say, how'd you get so much money?」

The bored woman chimes in with a question.

「Huh?…」

The young girl turns her confused face to her, tilting her head.

「I mean… That's a lot of gold. And you look pretty young to me. Did you earn it somewhere?」

Crrrrk…

The woman with the hammer stands up, and takes a few steps closer, noisily pulling the hammer along the floor.

「Um, no…」

Confused even further, the girl shakes her head.

「…That's right. How did you come across a golden drake this big, young lady? Suppose you were a servant for a noble, it would make sense…」

The bank teller's voice gains a tone of suspicion as she asks.

「Um… I didn't- I didn't do anything wrong-」

Somewhat frightened by the accusatory mood, the girl's eyes jump between the two women staring down at her and she pulls her hands closer to her chest.

「Hmmmmm? No one said you've done anything wrong, we are just curious…」

The hammer woman's orange eyes look down at the girl, with a light smile on her face.

「Um… Uh… But…」

The young girl stammers, looking between the two as she searches for the right words for her explanation.

「Wah!」

「…You stole it, haven't you?」

The girl yelps as she turns her head back around to the orange-eyed woman, and finds her face right next to hers. The brim of her peaked cap nearly touches her forehead, and the woman gently tilts her head with a smile.

「N- No! I didn't!」

The young lady vehemently denies, shaking her head left and right, looking at the woman's face with frightened eyes.

「Hmm? So how did you get it?」

The woman asks, and despite knowing her innocence, the girl's fear and the pressure builds.

「Um.. I- I got it as a gift…」

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

She explains, tapping her fingers together anxiously as she drops her gaze down to the floor from the uncannily cheery woman's face.

「A gift? From who?」

The woman with the hammer asks, leaning a little further to get a glimpse of her smiling face into the young girl's sight.

「F- Fr- From that Straf person…」

She meekly says, stuttering, pointing in the direction of the steel door in the back.

「Huh? From Straf?」

The girl's answer knocks the amber-eyed woman out of her rhythm, and she straightens out, blinking rapidly with her eyes furrowed.

「Y- Yes… That man on that paper… He gave it to me…」

Heavily pouting, clenching her fists for comfort and greatly frightened, the girl manages to look up at the now-confused hammer woman, and nod her head.

「Hmmm…」

The woman's confusion twists into her narrow-eyed smile once more as she hums. She brings the heavy hammer from behind her to her front. The girl looks down at the hammerhead with big eyes.

Clunk!

Its heavy head clunks loudly on the floor, and she leans forward on its shaft, propping herself up on it. The bank teller continues silently listening to the exchange, standing right behind the girl, between her and the door.

「And when did he give it to you? How? Why?」

The amber-eyed woman asks, and as soon as she does so, slowly but surely, her smile grows wider and turns into a grin. Despite knowing she's innocent, the girl's heart thumps like a powerful drumbeat.

「Um… Yesterday… Near the market… He gave it to me…」

She explains, keeping her arms so close to her chest that she's practically hugging herself, and blinking with a tight-lipped expression at the woman. However, continues silently staring back into her eyes.

「…Um. I was painting a picture of the bell tower. A man tripped on my easel, and it fell to the ground. All my paints spilled onto the ground.」

Seeing as the woman is apparently unconvinced, the girl continues explaining. The woman tilts her hatted head the other way in response, still lightly grinning at her.

「And then the man started yelling at me, and he threw my painting back down on the ground when I picked it up… And then that Straf person came.」

She adds, and the woman tilts her head the other way again. Her grin does not disappear, and she remains silent. Somewhat surprised this isn't enough to convince her, the young girl continues.

「…He talked to that man, and he was about to hurt him, but I asked him to stop. He gave me that paper when I told him I don't have the money for new paints…」

The girl says, and breaks eye contact, lowering her gaze while nervously tapping her fingers together.

A moment of silence begins, and she only dares to steal glances of the grinning woman worth just fractions of a second. Her hands begin to tremble, and she frowns in fear.

「Ahahahaha!…」

Crrrrrrk.

The woman abruptly bursts out into laughter, grinning massively. She takes a few steps back, and slumps back into her chair, noisily dragging the hammer along with her. The sleeping man wakes up, and starts groggily looking around.

「Aha… That sounds like Straf, alright! He's the type of guy that can't help himself, but rescue girls from bullies! I believe you.」

The woman gets her laughter under control, and she says with a grin, leaning a little onto her hammer's handle. She suddenly stands up, and leans in on one leg holding her palm up near her mouth, as if to whisper something to the young girl.

「…You need to be careful, he's a total pervert! Ahahahaha!」

She loudly adds, and jumps back into her chair while cackling, almost falling over if not for the hammer acting as a counterweight.

「Huh? He is?…」

The girl asks, tilting her head and furrowing her brows. She sighs with relief, however, and the pressure dissipates. The woman doesn't say anything, and instead nods her head with a massive, cheeky smile that doesn't quite make it as a grin.

「…Can we assume she's telling the truth, then?」

The bank teller asks, looking at the amber-eyed woman.

「Yup!」

She nods her head in reply, holding the brim of her cap between her thumb and finger while maintaining the large smile. The sleepy man yawns, and looks at the young girl, quite likely half-dreaming still.

「I'm glad! I thought I smelled a thief. I guess I need to take a bath! Ahahaha!」

The cheery hammer woman jokes, as her amber eyes jump between the young girl and the bank teller while she's returning back to the counter. The girl nervously laughs along a little.

「…I wouldn't like having to arrest you. I have sympathy for thieves, you know.」

The woman unabashedly says, leaning onto the man's desk with her elbow, and propping her head up on her hand, smirking at the young girl.

「Ahh… So, I'm not in trouble?…」

The girl hesitantly asks, looking into her orange eyes.

「Nope! You can take your gold! Whatcha gonna spend it on?」

The woman asks with a grin.

「Um… Paints.」

「Huh!? All 100 coins!? Paints are expensiveeee!…」

The girl replies, and the woman exclaims in wide-eyed shock.

「N- No, the paints are only three coins…」

She gently shakes her head, and corrects the woman.

「So, whatcha gonna do with the 97 of them?」

The woman asks again, grinning a little.

「I- I don't know yet… Probably food, and more paints and canvases…」

The girl replies, and takes some of the coins into her hands, then looks at them with a troubled face.

「Hmmm… So you're a painter?」

「Yes… Um. Can I take the box with me? I don't have anything to put this much into…」

The girl quickly replies, and asks. The woman straightens out, and her brows rise.

「You don't?」

「No. I've never had this much money in my life. I have never seen this much money in my life.」

The girl shakes her head, and drops the coins back into the box with a clink.

「Ahahaha! Same!」

The woman cackles, noisily slapping her knee. She reaches behind her back for something, and brings up a large, mostly empty coin sack in front of her face.

She unties it on the desk, pinches its bottom, and empties the contents onto the desk. Five silver coins and a handful of small copper ones bounce in place before settling down.

Fwap.

「Here, you can have mine.」

She says with a smile, throwing the empty coin sack onto desk near the box.

「Huh? Really?… Is it really okay?」

The girl asks, then reaches for the sack. She stops her hand and pulls it back, then asks again with furrowed brows while the woman scoops the coins into her hand and places them into her pocket.

「It's fine, it's fine. Take it. Who uses coins these days? Pft. What a bother.」

The amber-eyed woman scoffs with a smile, and shrugs. The girl nods, smiling back a little, and starts throwing the coins into the large sack by the handfuls. A minute or so later, the sack is nearly at capacity, and she barely ties it down.

「Thank you- Um… What's your name?」

The girl turns for the exit, but stops in her tracks after just one step, and looks back at the woman. The woman grins, and reaches for her breast pocket.

「I'm Nona! Nona Bounder, Ministry of Security!」

Nona proudly declares, showing her Ministry identification to the girl. She flips it shut, and slides it back into her breast pocket.

「Thank you Ms. Bounde-」

The young girl politely bows, but Nona cuts in.

「Eh, just call me Nona.」

She says with a dismissive wave of her hand, and a light smile.

「W- Well… Call me Olivia, in that case. Do you know Straf, Nona?」

Olivia nods, and asks, tilting her head.

「Haha! Yup! He's my boss! This sleepy guy is my boss too, but Straf is his boss!」

Nona lets out a little chuckle in response, and nods her hatted head. She pokes her dazed boss in the cheek with her finger, and he barely reacts, looking at her with glassy eyes with dark half-circles beneath them.

「I see… When you see Straf, could you thank him for me? I'm really grateful for everything, and I didn't manage to ask him for his name.」

「Sure can!」

Nona exclaims, grinning. The girl bows again, and leaves. Nona lets out a large sigh, places her hands on the hammer's handle, and once again rests her chin on them. Her bored amber eyes stare at the door, waiting for someone…