「…Straf?」

Lily calls out in a small, hesitant voice. Straf is lying on his back on the highway, covered in blood, head turned aside.

Clack… Clack…

Her boots make obscenely loud echoing sounds for how much effort she is putting into being quiet. She draws closer to Straf with slow, reluctant steps, clutching onto her dress by her tall collar for comfort. As if sneaking to remain unnoticed by some vague threat, danger, or something scary, she looks at the motionless Straf on the ground with her brows furrowed. Though she can nominally see the grass, woods, and the plains by the road surrounding her, everything seems foggy and indescript, aside from Straf and the road.

「S- Straf… Get up already…」

She stammers, practically pleading him. Lily takes a few more steps, taking a closer look at the blood coating Straf. His torso is badly slashed in a diagonal cut from his heart to his shoulder. Her gaze traces the wound, then drifts upwards to look at his pale face. She blinks, walking aside to get a better look at him.

「Straf?…」

She calls out again. Straf is staring ahead towards the side of the road with dull, dead eyes and a blank expression.

Lily opens her scarlet eyes and takes a pointless gasp of air she doesn't need, clutching at her nightgown. She looks around, and realizes that she's still in her bell tower room, reclining on her bed.

「A dream?… Ridiculous…」

With a sigh, she fully sits up out of her alarmed recline, rubbing her eyes and brows with her palm.

「…No. A memory… And a badly warped one, at that. Completely ridiculous.」

She thinks out loud as she lowers her hand back down to her lap. Somewhat frustrated by the interruption, she turns her crimson gaze to the window by the dressing screen.

「But why?…」

Lily stands up and approaches it, peering up at the sky through its glass. Crossing her arms, she lets out an amused huff from her tiny nose as her mouth slants to the side.

「…Of course. Naturally…」

She sighs, turning her eyes away from the pink, nearly crimson moon glowing through the clouds.

「…At least the season is almost over.」

Lily remarks to herself as she walks behind the dressing screen and throws her nightgown on top of it, taking her usual black and red dress into her clawed hands…

…

A few minutes later, in Straf's bedroom…

Clack…

「Nngnnh…」

Straf groans a little as he hears the telltale sound of the window opening. He opens his eyes and looks towards the center of the dark room.

「Wha-!?」

Lily's black silhouette exclaims in shock as her scarlet eyes blink at him from the center of the room.

「Lily?… What? What's up?…」

Straf asks, groggily rubbing his eyes with his fingers as Stripe begins to wake up as well.

「Y- Y- You-!… With a beastman!…」

Lily points her clawed finger at Stripe, who still has her arms wrapped around Straf's neck as he sits up. She blankly stares back at Lily with her golden eyes half-open, still mostly asleep. Stripe looks at Straf's slanted mouth, then at Lily, then at Straf again. She blinks a few times when her gaze returns to Lily's wide open scarlet eyes.

「Ah!…」

Stripe utters out as she finally wakes up. Her jaw drops, and she pushes herself away from Straf.

「…No! It's not what it looks like! I know what it looks like, but it's not what you think it is!…」

She shouts, waving her arms in vehement denial and shaking her head. Stripe then grabs the blanket and throws it off them both.

「…Then what are you!?-」

Lily asks as she's clenching her teeth in fury.

「Tsk. Fuck, that's cold…」

Ffffwappf!…

The blanket flies up with a loud flutter while Straf is watching the two with a look of annoyance on his face.

「…Look! We're both dressed! We did nothing! We slept! He ordered me to!」

Stripe pats herself down and points at Straf's pants with all belts fastened and secured, including his potions. He glances at the two with a slanted mouth.

「…Straf, why are you sleeping with a woman in your bed!?」

Lily asks with her half-fists on her hips, glaring at Straf.

「Lily… Did you give that question any thought at all?…」

Straf asks back, nonchalantly shrugging with his hands while his mouth remains slanted on his face. She tilts her head gently in mild confusion.

「…Would you really be less upset if you caught me in bed with a man?」

He looks at her with a tight-lipped grimace as her head perks up. Lily blinks back at him, searching for something to say, but she comes up blank. Straf lets out a sigh.

Pat.

「Kinky cat over here is telling the truth…」「Hey!」

Straf places his hand on Stripe's head, nodding at her to point her out.

「…It's cold these days, so I keep her in my bed for warmth. She's a slave, so she can't refuse.」

He adds, shrugging his shoulders.

「…Why didn't you ask me to join you?」

Lily stares at the two with wary eyes.

「For two very obvious reasons, Lily…」

「And that being?…」

She asks, and Straf rolls his eyes.

「One, I don't mind being caught in a bed doing something completely innocent with an adult woman… You on the other hand…」

He point at Lily with his mouth heavily scrunched to the side. She crosses her arms, furrowing her brows as she looks aside at the door.

「So what?… It's none of anyone's business if I look youthful…」

Lily replies, pouting towards the door.

「Lia looks youthful, Lily. You just look like a prison sentence addressed to whom it may concern.」

Straf scoffs, smirking at Lily's response.

「…And the second reason?」

With her arms still crossed, she raises her brow, looking at him in an inquisitive side-glance.

「Ah, that's kind of an obvious one, isn't it? Think about it. Three guesses. I'll give you a hint…」

Straf shrugs, spreading his hands as he grins at her with a very lightly amused expression.

Snap.

「…It has something to do with your body.」

He snaps his fingers and points at Lily. Her jaw drops, and she places her clawed hands on her flat chest while blinking at Straf with indignant disbelief in her eyes.

「Wh-? N- Nooo?… It has nothing to do with how you look, Lily. Think about it harder. Two more tries.」

Completely flabbergasted by her reaction, Straf shakes his head as he stammers. With his brows heavily furrowed, he extends his index finger out as he defends himself.

Lily glances aside, thinking heavily. She places her chin between her thumb and finger, furrowing her brows.

「I'm not… Cuddly enough?」

She asks, appearing almost concerned.

「Nooo… But you're getting closer. It's something related to that. One more chance.」

Straf shakes his head with his mouth heavily scrunched to the side. Lily thinks harder, staring at Stripe to guess as to why she is the one in his bed. Her crimson eyes note her collar.

「…Is it because she's a slave? You know I'll do anything you ask of me, Straf!-」

She exclaims, spreading her arms in a desperate attempt to market herself.

「No, Lily! The answer is simple! You don't have any body heat, so it'd be like hugging into a bag of frozen peas!」

Pat!

Straf slams his hand on the bed, shouting back with his finger pointed at Lily. With a sigh, he shakes his head and sits on the bedside.

「…So? What do you want, Lily? Let me guess, you're hungry again?」

He asks in a resigned tone, throwing his hands up.

「A little… But that's not important. I came here to inform you about the blood moon.」

She briefly pouts, crossing her arms with her eyes turned away before returning them to Straf. She approaches him at the bedside and jumps sideways into his lap.

Fwap.

「That reminds me… Didn't you say there were two in a season?」

Straf replies, holding his hand out for her to bite into. She grabs it and lowers it, causing him to roll his eyes with a sigh.

Stolen novel; please report.

「Usually two. Sometimes there's three, sometimes there's only one. Do not get ahead of yourself, Straf. I've read about a winter with four blood moons, one week after another…」

Lily explains, grabbing onto Straf's shoulders. With her mouth open in shock, Stripe furrows her brows at the sight of the two being far too casually physical than one could expect.

「So what you're saying is, this one's really late, and we could get a double whammy next week still?」

Straf leans away as Lily leans in towards his neck. He winces slightly as her face gets close to his, and to his neck.

「That's right. Quite troublesome, isn't it? It looks like the worst of it will come tomorrow night, too… That's such a short notice for us both…」

「Fucking tomorrow night!? For fuck's sake…」

He clicks his tongue as he crosses his arms, turning his head aside with a frustrated grimace on his face.

「…I'm sure most of my forces are already aware, but I still need to give the order to activate the shelters for the younger vampires. I miss the times of not having to worry about it.」

Lily adds, leaning sideways to get a better look at Straf with his head turned.

「…You should just delegate the responsibility to someone else. Lately I'm enjoying making my problems someone else's problem. Nail 'em to the wall again if they fuck up.」

He glances back at Lily. Her head perks up, and she blinks at him as if enlightened.

「…That is a really good idea, Straf. I could form an entire force dedicated to handling blood moons for me, without the necessity of me having to lift a finger.」

「How did you not figure that out? You literally tasked vampires with policing the streets at night.」

「That's different. They're an extension of my power and my reach, whereas your idea involves trusting someone to do my work for me.」

Lily shakes her golden head, placing her hands on Straf's chiseled cheeks while the two look each other in the eyes as she's sitting in his lap.

「Uh… I know you're probably older than you look… But are you two in a relationship or something?…」

Stripe chimes in after watching Lily and Straf both be completely unbothered by the proximity between them.

「Heh… Of course we are- Hmmpnnff!?」「Not.」

Lily replies with a smug smirk on her face, but Straf's hand quickly grabs hold of it.

「No we're not, despite what she or the maids will tell you. She's just a lonely little girl, and I don't want her to be lonely… So I also have to feed her from time to time.」

Straf calmly explains, looking over his shoulder at Stripe while holding onto Lily's mouth. She shakes her golden head violently in an attempt to free herself to no avail.

「…Feed her?」

Stripe furrows her brows, blinking at the two.

「Yeah… And lately, she's a picky eater. I suppose it'd get better once she grows up, but, uhh…」

He shrugs, nodding his head, and glances at Lily while she's attempting to pull her mouth away from his hand.

「…Yeah, guess that's not happening any time soon.」「Pfwah!…」

Grimacing heavily, Straf shrugs again and lets go. Lily lets out a large gasp, though she doesn't need to.

「…That being said, Straf… May I?」

She asks, grabbing into his shoulders again. Straf winces and sighs.

「Fine… Knock yourself out…」

He throws his hands up then crosses his arms. Lily readjusts herself on his lap, wrapping her legs around his waist.

「Then… Thank you for the treat… Nom」「Ow! Fuckin'!… Tsk…」

「Eh?…」

As usual, Lily bites Straf on his neck and begins hungrily sucking up his blood. He grunts out a muttered curse and clicks his tongue, all while Stripe is watching on.

「…After she's done, I'm going to give you written instructions for tomorrow.」

Straf says calmly as he looks at Stripe with Lily hanging off his neck, teeth sunken in the side of his throat.

「…Eh? Are you sure this is the right time? Are you going to be okay?-」

Stripe looks onto the scene as if it was a bizarre dream, pointing her clawed finger at the two.

「Actually, never mind! I don't even care!」

She scoffs, quickly changing her tone as she crosses her arms and turns her head away. Straf looks at her, then glances at Lily's pale face.

「One cat pretends to hate me, and the other won't get out of my lap…」

He sighs as his shoulders slump, waiting patiently for Lily to finish…

…

Next morning, by the printer warehouse…

Dressed in her regular civilian clothing and wearing her cloth hat on her head, Stripe is reading Straf's hand-written note while she's approaching a large group of people gathered by one of the warehouses. Mixed ages, though leaning towards old, all very obviously from the poorer social strata given by their clothes, in roughly equal distribution of men and women, with some children mixed in. Some are standing and talking amongst themselves, some are leaning against the warehouse walls, some are squatting down, all generally waiting for someone. It appears there are a handful of robed mages, too.

「Tsk… What kind of an instruction is don't blow yourselves up!? That stupid bastard!…」

Stripe clicks her tongue as she raises her golden eyes towards the crowd. She notes an additional line at the very bottom.

「…Ps. More gems coming tomorrow. Work until you run out?… Does that mean I have time off if we finish early?」

She furrows her brows and approaches the crowd. One of the men notices her and walks up to meet her.

「Hello, are you the manager? We've been told to wait here for someone…」

The man explains and points his hand at the rest of the people. The squatters stand up, and the leaners straighten out.

「It's supposed to be me…」

Stripe replies and pulls an iron key out of her pocket. She approaches the door and tries to fit it in the lock. It slips in with ease.

Clack.

She twists it, unlocking the door, and hesitantly enters the warehouse. The crowd follows her right in.

「So, uh… What do we do?」「Are we really going to get paid a gold coin a week?」「Is it tough work? My back's no good…」

The people swarm Stripe from all sides, all asking questions.

「Ah! For now, let me get my bearings!…」

She shouts as she squeezes out of the encirclement and looks around the warehouse. There are tables wide enough to have two, maybe three people standing side by side at each, and there are boxes full of IED components on them. Stripe peers inside and takes some of them into hand, examining them. While they look very similar to the ones she assembled previously, the dimensions are slightly different, and it appears the finished assembly would be overall smaller and more densely packed. She sets the components back into their box and reads the instructions again.

「…Okay! Mages!… For now, start charging the crystals over there!」

She shouts, pointing at a table by a wall. There are a few wooden boxes full of gems laid out on top. The robed men oblige and take a few gems out. Stripe quickly notes that there are two types of gems in the boxes, one very small, and one roughly the size of the internal compartment. She continues reading through the instructions, then approaches one of the tables.

「Everyone, listen up! You're going to assemble these things, and I'm going to show you how to! They'll need to have magic gems inserted into them carefully!…」

Sripe holds up one of the interior parts of the IED, showing it off to the crowd while the mages are charging the gems glowing in their hands.

「…First, you're going to put together these gears over here! Then you're going to place the gears in this thing, and put gems into it! The smaller one goes here!…」

She points her clawed finger at a new, small compartment meant for the fuse gem.

「…The gears will turn, and then the little hammer is going to smash that tiny gem, and then the big one will react! Be very careful or you'll kill everyone!」

Stripe warns the mostly old crowd. Someone in the back coughs.

「…Can you show me how to do it from up close? My eyes are bad, and it's dark in here.」

An old man at the front asks, pointing at one of the tables near him.

「Tsk… Fine. Everyone watch closely!…」

She clicks her tongue and rolls her eyes as she obliges…

…

Around noon, outside the capital's gate…

Two young teenagers are riding out of the city on the back of a public wagon with other citizens, holding sacks of bought goods between their feet.

「It's too bad we couldn't stay a little longer, huh?…」

Lisa asks, smiling at the boy sitting across from her.

「Yeah…」

Jack nods along, lowering his gaze to the sacks.

「…You know, Lisa… I don't actually mind the village. The capital is fun, but…」

「But?…」

The girl tilts her head, blinking at Jack with a smile.

「…But if not for you, I wouldn't have a reason to go here…」

He replies, glancing at her smiling face.

「…Or be, at all.」

Jack adds, lowering his eyes again.

「Hm? What do you mean?」

「Well… I don't mind the village or the city… Or anywhere else if you're there… And, um…」

She continues staring at him, and he awkwardly rubs the back of his neck, evading her inescapable eye contact.

「…Lisa, what I'm trying to say is… I l-」

CHOOO-CHOOOOOOOO!!…

All the passengers jump up, startled by a sudden loud noise that sounds like a high-pitched warhorn. A plume of moving smoke rises up to the air from beyond a hill.

「What was that!?」

Lisa looks over her shoulder, searching for the source of the sound.

Chukka-chukka chukka-chukka chukka-chukka…

As the wagon rolls past the hill, the source of the white smoke becomes visible. A massive, sleek, speeding hunk of metal vaguely resembling a wagon is rolling along a path of wooden planks and narrow strips of metal underneath its wheels. Smoke billows out of the chimney on its top as it takes a turn along its path, speeding away down the flat field, only to turn and come back again even faster.

「What is that?…」

Jack stands up to have a better look while the rest of the passengers stare in awe. A handsome man peers out of the speeding beast of metal, grinning at them…