At a small smeltery, not far from the capital…

Straf and Lily walk in through the door. Small ingots of shiny metal rest stacked on a ceramic tray, set aside on a tool bench with tongs and hammers of different sizes hanging off of its rack.

「Ah! Hello again! They're ready!」

A balding, bearded man says with a smile as he pours molten, glowing metal into an ingot cast with a hissing sound.

「Nice. Finally. Now we just need to find some good coffee.」

Straf says, picking up the ingots and throwing them into his [Portable Storage].

Fwwwoooooom! Fwoooooooom! Fwooooooom!

「Thank you again, for getting rid of that monster! What a menace it was!」

The man speaks with a raised voice over the sound of the bellows, as he pumps air into the roaring furnace.

「Yeah, alright. I didn't do it for you, though.」

Straf shrugs, and turns to the exit.

「There's no need to be humble! You're always welcome! Stop by if you need anything smelted again!」

The man raises his hand to bid Straf farewell, and throws more coal into the furnace.

「I'm serious, I didn't do it for you. Let's go, Lily.」

Straf peeks over his shoulder, and shakes his head as he exits.

Crrreakthud.

The door shuts noisily behind them, and Straf looks around with his hands in his pockets. The people are in festive mood, everyone has a smile on their face ranging from a faint relief, to outright joy.

「How long has it been since Lia told me to fuck off, Lily? Have you been keeping track of the time?」

Straf asks, looking at Lily, who seems to struggle to find an idea what to do with the hand that once was semi-permanently occupied by the parasol's handle, is now free.

「I believe it has been…」

Lily blinks, looking at the blue morning sky as she thinks.

「Geh.」

Her eyes widen. She comes across a realization, and winces. Her face twists into that of an annoyed displeasure.

「What? What is it?」

Straf shrugs and asks, as Lily does her best to avoid eye contact.

「…Two weeks, or so…」

She says, with a sour grimace, still looking away.

「Ah. Time flies fast when grinding. Well, mostly grinding for this machine. Let's check the market for coffee.」

Straf walks off, and Lily follows closely.

「Hello Straf!」

「Yeah, mornin'…」

One of the villagers greets Straf as he passes by, Straf doesn't bother to even nod in acknowledgment, and only dismissively returns the greeting back.

「Thanks, Straf!」

「Yeah, yeah, yeah…」

Another villager shouts out, and Straf rolls his eyes, continuing onward. They arrive at the local market, and Straf looks at the stalls. None of the merchants seem to obviously sell coffee.

「See any coffee, Lily?」

Straf glances at Lily, and Lily glances at him. Slowly entering the center of the market, they stop in the middle, and Lily shakes her head.

「Not that I see.」

Lily says, and looks back at Straf.

「Shit. Well, let's ask the vegetable woman, maybe she knows.」

Straf clicks his tongue, then shrugs. He turns towards one of the stalls, and walks up with Lily.

「Hey, do you have any coffee?」

Straf asks the fat, aging woman behind the stall. She immediately shakes her head.

「Sorry, Straf, we haven't had any for weeks here. The monster was getting in the way of trade, so most traders wouldn't take the risk. Maybe if you wait a month, some of them-」

She explains apologetically, gesturing with her hands, shrugging her shoulders helplessness.

「I'm not waiting a fuckin' month. Lily, we're going back to the capital. It's about time anyway.」

Straf turns towards the road out of the village, and simply walks off.

「Tsk.」

Lily clicks her tongue, and glares at the woman with an angry frown.

「Come visit us any time, Straf! Thank you for everything!」

The woman recovers from the initial shock of Lily glaring at her, and leans over her counter, waving her hand at Straf to bid him farewell. Straf sighs, rolling his eyes.

「I do a bunch of fetch quests for this village to get my stuff processed, and suddenly everyone knows me by first name basis? How easy are they to please?」

Straf shakes his head, with an expression of annoyance, boredom and incredulity mixed together.

「Well… You did handle their bandit problem, cleared out the burrower hive, killed the pseudoshade… And you helped that old alchemist get her herbs.」

Lily lists Straf's recent exploits, pausing between each for a moment to ensure she did not skip over any. Straf rolls his eyes again, and clicks his tongue.

「Tsk. I so-called solved their bandit problem by killing their psycho leader. Someone else will be back to replace him as soon as the rest are done shitting themselves. The burrower hive was just me getting free XP along the way, and the pseudoshade was an annoying little fuck, how could I not kill it?」

「…And you've done it all for free.」

Lily adds, with gently raised brows.

「Yeah, that's because they wanted to pay me a whole silver. That's not even worth opening my inventory for. And I thought the woman would at least make me a potion or something out of the herbs. Nope! She just wanted it for her fucking cooking!」

Straf throws his hands up, shaking his head again in frustration.

「You've made yourself quite the hero in their eyes, Straf.」

Lily smugly smirks.

「Yeah, and it pisses me the fuck off. I was just trying to go about my business, and shit was constantly getting in my way. Everything in this open world is expecting me to either kill it, or help it. Can't I just take the back seat for once? Let me watch some cliches unfold, fuck.」

Straf places his hands back in his pockets, and shakes his head again as he grumbles.

「…Isn't it how it should be, Straf? You are like a deadly blade. You can either viciously slash and spill blood, or give a helping hand. If you think about it, you are not that much different from a demon lord.」

Lily grins at Straf, with a proud and smug face.

「How so?」

Straf narrows his eyes at Lily out of confusion.

「The humans who submitted to the demon lord were treated relatively well. There were no bandits to speak of, and their needs were taken care of. Naturally, they became the serfs of the barons… But I am starting to see parallels, Straf.」

Lily gives Straf another quick history lesson, a faint smile remains on her face.

「I'm not seeing it. I have no interest in something as petty as ruling the world.」

「…Petty? Heh. I see, Straf… You have grander goals than that.」

Lily's brows rise, before she knowingly looks at Straf, and smirks.

《…Why does she look so impressed?》

Straf looks at Lily's smug face for a second.

「Yeah. Like watching a kid and his party powerlevel through the world, and then- Yeah, too bad the demon lord is dead, huh? We'll have to find him some other big bad to kill.」

Straf shrugs, with his mouth a little aslant.

「Hm?」

Lily tilts her head out of confusion at Straf.

「What?」

Straf stares back at Lily, and they lock their gazes as they continue past the last homes and shacks. They blink at each other, both confused by each other…

…

A few hours of leisurely travel later, Straf and Lily arrive at the capital. The evening sun shines upon the walls, and the vampire lamps, the light of which would normally be flooding the streets by now, are off.

「Hmpf. Seems like the girl listened.」

Lily glances at the lamps, and takes her eyes off of them the very next second, dismissing them as if they were not even there. Most of the citizenry takes uneasy looks at the lamps every now and then, hopeful for the moment that will not come, where the lamps spark back into life.

「So, how's it like to be able to walk around here by the dark? Well, it's not dark, yet. But you get the idea.」

Straf glances at Lily and asks, also taking a peek at the lamps above as they pass one of them.

「As it should be. These lamps are an aberration, and I'm resisting the urge to smash them to pieces… But I gave the Redwing girl my word, and my word is sacred.」

Lily peeks one more time at the lamps, and scoffs. Her face has a seemingly contrasting expression of disdain and satisfaction from victory over the lamps, it all amounts to merely a slight tilt to the corner of her mouth.

「I hope the market is still open, the capital of all places should have coffee. Or else how would that guy do his business?」

「What guy?」

Lily asks, looking Straf into his eyes.

「Ah, I forgot, you didn't actually meet him. There's this old guy running a coffee shop with stupidly high prices. I wonder if I can offload the machine on him. Oh, yeah!」

Straf's eyes open wide with realization, and he snaps his fingers.

「What is it?」

She tilts her head. Her golden twin-tails gently wiggle about.

「Lily, I need to sell a bunch of shit. Let's get a bag of coffee, get rid of my worthless items, and then head to the palace.」

「Very well. As much as I do not want to see that girl again, I want her to do something for me…」

Lily nods, and sighs with a disappointed grimace.

「And that is? She's not going to start a cruelty-guaranteed human farm for you, if that's what you think.」

Straf scoffs with a grin, as he places his hands back in his pockets.

「No, although that would be rather amusing… I want her to guide the vampires within the city under the bell tower, so I can make an address to them.」

Lily looks down and smirks from Straf's words, her smirk fades to a normal, serious expression as she looks back at his face.

「And you think the vampires will just happily listen and beeline there?」

Looking at Lily, Straf grins with an incredulous expression on his face.

「I will tell the human queen what to say, don't you worry, Straf.」

Lily smirks, this time with smug confidence in her voice and on her face. Straf simply shrugs, and they continue towards the market. Straf manages to find a luxury goods merchant and buy a small bag of coffee beans.

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He and Lily spend the rest of the time until nightfall selling the random items from slain monsters. They go through multiple shops, with most of them running out of money before Straf's items run out. Eventually, he sells the last item deemed worthless, and they return to the palace.

The palace guards at the gate squint their eyes at Straf in the darkness, before the torches placed in the provisory stands illuminate him and Lily. The guards jump out with their halberds at the ready, almost shouting at them, before they recognize who is coming.

「Ho-! Ah, greetings.」

The guard aborts his shout, and his glare immediately softens. He nods his head in acknowledgment at Straf, and returns back to his spot at the gate. Straf ignores the guards, only glancing at them in passing.

「Tsk.」

Meanwhile, Lily glares with hateful scarlet eyes at the one closer to her side, causing him to get severely unnerved. When they pass and enter the palace, the guards look at each other.

「…I'm so fucking tired of the lamps being off.」

He says to his partner on the opposite end of the gate.

「Yeah, me too. I get the fucking creeps. Keep thinkin' something's going to leap out of the fucking dark at me.」

They exchange shared nervous glances, and continue watching the vague shapes in the darkness ahead of them on the city streets…

…

Straf and Lily walk the halls, and run into one of the maids passing by.

「Oh, hey! Do me a favor, will you?」

Straf raises his hand to hail the young maid, she stops, and glares at him.

「How can I help you… Sir?」

The maid glances at Lily before returning her eyes to Straf and politely asks, with poorly veiled disgust on her face. Straf stares at her, specifically, at her facial expression, before letting out a disappointed sigh.

「…Can you just let Lia know I'm back?」

Straf asks, placing his fists on his hips and grimacing heavily.

「Lia?」

The woman says in a questioning tone, and her brows lightly furrow.

「The queen. Cycelia.」

Straf clarifies, stressing the pet-name part of the queen's name.

「Ahh… Very well… Sir. I will notify her majesty first thing tomorrow. She is asleep right now.」

The maid nods her head. The polite term of address towards Straf seems to struggle to get through her throat, but aside from her disdainful glare and disgusted expression, the maid is nothing but cordial. Straf nods, the maid nods, and she wordlessly skitters away, attempting to not bid Straf anything, but to also not come off as disrespectful.

「…Great. And my reputation is already ruined.」

Straf exclaims, grimacing at Lily.

「What are you talking about, Straf? The humans at the village revere you-」

Lily tilts her head, and heavily furrows her brows.

「Yeah, that's great, but my reputation with the maid faction is down in the dumps. And for no good reason at all, either. Whatever, I can fix this. I know it's night, but let's go to my room, so I can make the machine in peace.」

Straf sighs, then shrugs. He continues onward, with Lily trailing close behind him. He arrives at his old room, still missing its bed. He places it back where it belongs, and sits down on its edge.

「Craft… Lily, go get me some water in a pitcher, will you? And two cups.」

Straf looks through the crafting screen at Lily, lazily slouched forward, propping himself up on his elbow against his knee.

「Very well. I will return as soon as possible…」

She nods, and opens the door.

「No rush, I still need to figure this out.」

He adds, and Lily quietly closes the door behind her.

「Riiight… Let's see… Blade.」

Straf says, looking at the search bar on the craft screen. He taps his finger on it, scrolls down to small metal blades, taps the amount, and presses [Craft]. A few palm-sized, thick blades fall into his waiting hand after the glow enveloping them dies down.

「Okay… Coffee. It better be enough…」

Straf looks at the search bar again. Various coffee-related items appear. He scrolls, and scrolls, rubbing his chin as he watches many coffee machines scroll past the list.

「Huh. I've never seen one like this. What's the brand?」

Straf taps one of the coffee machines to read through its description. He searches for its brand, and finds none.

「Steam-driven unpowered boiler espresso machine with a grinder, huh? That's it? No brand? No nothing?… Wait a moment, is this made up?」

Straf looks at the requirements, and furrows his brows when he realizes all of them are already met.

「Huh… The blades I crafted for the grinder, too… Whatever, it's meant to be an experiment anyway! Might as well make it a triple experiment!」

Straf presses [Craft]. An irregular shape flashes into existence, and remains glowing for longer than Straf would expect it to.

「Wait, it's still crafting? That's odd.」

He furrows his brows, and the glow subsides soon after. An odd coffee machine falls into his hands, resembling an unholy union between an espresso machine with a portafilter, and a moka pot.

《Prototype crafting experience gained. New prototypes available.》

A monotone female voice states in Straf's head.

「Wait, prototype crafting?-」

He furrows his brows, and the door opens. Lily returns, holding two tea cups in her hand, and a pitcher in the other.

「What is that thing, Straf?」

Lily asks, setting the pitcher and cups on a desk, curiously staring at the item in Straf's hands.

「It's… Uh… A prototype, I guess.」

Straf shrugs. First with his shoulders, then with his hands.

「A prototype?」

She asks as she walks closer, looking over the curious coffee machine.

「Though I need a fire for this… Stove.」

Straf looks at the search bar again, and utters out another word. He sets the coffee machine aside on the bed, and scrolls through the list.

「Ah, perfect.」

Straf taps his finger on the thin air as Lily watches on. A little metal container, small enough to fit some fuel within, drops into Straf's hands. He sets it down on the floor.

「Now I'll be able to actually boil the water without burning the palace down. Lily, could you uh… Borrow me a lit candle from somewhere quick?」

「As you wish, Straf.」

Lily nods, and leaves again. Straf waves the crafting screen off, and stands up. He opens [Portable Storage], and pulls a thick branch out.

Snap! Snap! Snap!

He breaks it into small fragments in his hands, as if it were just a thin pencil. Straf opens the metal container's side hatch, and throws the shattered chunks of wood inside. Lily returns, holding a candle with a flame dancing on its wick.

「Perfect timing. Give it here.」

Straf sticks his hand out and receives the candle from Lily. He lights the flame in the metal box and shuts the lid.

「Pfoo. Now, let's get this thing ready while the stove heats up.」

Straf blows the candle out and puts it down near the stove. He takes the prototype coffee machine, and doesn't take even a second to look for its water tank. He opens it, and starts pouring the water in from the pitcher.

Glug-glug-glug-glug-glug-glug…

The internal container fills quickly, and Straf flips its lid closed, tightening a little winged knob to ensure it won't leak any steam. He opens the grinder, pulls the coffee bag out of the [Portable Storage], and fills it to the brim with a noisy rustle of the beans.

Crrrrrrrrrrrrrrkkkkkcrrrrrrkcrkkrcrk…

Lily observes with curiosity, as Straf turns a little crank on the internal container where he just dumped the coffee into.

「What are you doing?」

She asks with curiosity, as she sits down on the bed.

「Grinding the coffee, what does it look like?」

Straf looks at Lily with his brows raised, still cranking the grinder's blades as they slowly become more and more quiet, with the coffee becoming finer powder inside.

「…I don't know. I have never seen a contraption like this.」

She shrugs, still curiously observing the coffee-making ritual.

「Yeah, and you think real coffee has been invented.」

Straf scoffs, and fiddles just a little with the machine's mechanism to feed the portafilter directly from the grinder. Fine powder drops right into the business part of the coffee machine, and Straf tamps the coffee down to ensure a good brew. He places the portafilter back where it belongs, and sets the prototype on the stovetop.

He sits down next to Lily, placing one of the teacups below the portafilter, and stares at his invention as it heats up. Lily scoots closer to Straf, almost making physical contact.

「Did you enjoy those two weeks with me alone, Straf?」

Lily asks, looking up at Straf with a cocky smile.

「Yeah, I guess it wasn't bad. Time went by pretty quick.」

Straf shrugs, and keeps staring at the coffee machine.

「Didn't it? You could spend weeks, months, years, centuries with me. What do you say? Why not let me turn you-」

Lily smiles wider and wider as she speaks, staring at Straf's eyes distracted by the black liquid filing the teacup before him.

「No. Coffee.」

Straf glances at Lily, and picks the teacup full of aromatic, steaming coffee. He picks it up by its sides, ignoring that it is blazing hot, and presents the grip to Lily. She takes it in her hands, and smells the contents.

「It does smell… Pleasant.」

She lowers the teacup, looking at Straf as he fills the second one.

「Doesn't it? Nobody dislikes the smell of coffee. It's impossible.」

He takes the cup in his hands, and takes a sip.

「Ahhh. That's the real deal. The luxury of civilization. How is it, Lily?」

Straf grins, and looks at Lily, who is staring at the pitch-black, creamy liquid in her teacup.

「I haven't drank it yet.」

She looks up from her cup at Straf.

「Well, what's the hold up? Go on, let me know how much better it tastes than the trash you probably think is coffee.」

Straf nods his head encouragingly. Lily looks at the cup again, brings it up to her pale lips, blows air onto the surface a few times, then takes a sip.

「Well? Great, isn't it? There's a reason the business is worth so much money. Just call them consumers, and you can get away with addicting people to anything!」

Straf chuckles, widely grinning. Lily lowers the cup. She glances at Straf, then back at the coffee.

「Well? So good it took your words away?」

Straf asks, taking another sip.

「I… Don't like bitter things.」

Lily says, with a troubled grimace on her face, as she looks into Straf's eyes. Straf almost chokes, but his ability allows him to breathe unimpeded, despite the coffee in his lungs.

「Aaaaaaaaaggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…」

He throws his head back in frustration, letting out a prolonged groan.

「…Are you okay, Straf?」

「Why didn't you say so!? I could have made just about anything else!」

Indignant, he speaks at Lily with a frustrated tone.

「I thought making this machine is something you just wanted to do, I didn't think it was meant for me specifically… I'll give it another try…」

Lily says, and takes another sip.

「Ah, now that I think about it, it is good.」

Lily says, grimacing heavily and looking aside.

「Lily, you don't need to pretend you like it. I know that's what girls your age do to look more mature, but-」

「Ahh, it's an acquired taste, and I like it now. I don't like bitter things, but I like coffee.」

Lily takes another large gulp, and winces heavily. It is likely that if her pale face could have color to it, it would be green right now.

「Lily, stop pretending. It's alright, I can just-」

Seeing Lily's act, Straf's face gains a troubled expression as well. He gestures plaintively at the machine, shrugging, but Lily cuts him off again, gulping down the remainder of her coffee.

「B- But I am not pretending! That was a di- Delicious cup of coffee!」

Lily sets the empty cup down on the bed, looking away from Straf as she fails to maintain her facade any longer…