Next week, in the early morning, just outside the palace…

Straf approaches the parked kubelwagen with Nona and Lily already seated inside. Greaves and his party follow him out of the palace towards the car.

「Right… Everyone packed sufficiently? It'll be too late to come back if you forgot something… Hup.」

Thump.

Straf asks everybody gathered as he hops into the driver's seat over the door.

「I've got everything.」「I think I have enough?…」「I took some things I might end up not needing as well.」

Greaves, Nona, and Lily reply. Straf nods, then turns to Greaves.

「…Did you remember to take your map? If you get lost along the way-」

「I have it! I'm not stupid!」

Straf asks, but Greaves cuts him off with an angry shout.

「I wonder. Anyway, if you don't know where to go, just refer to the cat's scribbles on your map…」

With a casual shrug of his shoulders, Straf turns his gaze to the key in the ignition with a neutral, tight-lipped grimace on his face.

「…Lia, are you not hopping in?」

He asks, turning his attention to Cycelia, who is still standing by the passenger's door and looking up at the palace, fiddling with her medallion in her other hand.

「Ah. I am… I am…」

Her distracted emerald eyes return to Straf, and she opens the side door.

「…I was just… The Eastern Kingdoms are pretty far away, huh?」

Cycelia remarks, sitting down beside Straf. She blinks at him with a faint smile on her face.

「Yup…」

Vrrrrtrtrtrtrttttt!

Straf returns a nonchalant nod and turns the key, causing the car to vibrate violently before calming down.

「…Having second thoughts?」

He asks, once again glancing at Cycelia.

「No!… No, I do want to go… I just don't want to leave my home behind, you know?… But I can't do both at the same time… Millie will be expecting us, so let's not keep her waiting.」

Cycelia shakes her head, and lets out a wistful sigh as she glances over her shoulder at the palace again.

「Wait until you're away from home before you get homesick, Lia…」

Straf replies with his mouth aslant. Nona leans forward, peeking her head in between them.

「Do you think my clothes will be warm enough, Straf?」

She asks, tilting her head. Her fluffy brown head is covered by a fur-trimmed hoodie of thick white fabric.

Straf takes a good look at her, then at Cycelia. Both are wearing thick winter clothing, perhaps a little too warm for the relatively mild cold in the city.

「You'll be fine… So, can we go? Will I not get told to go back because of some cliched bullshit?」

Vrrrmvrrmvrrmvrrmvrmm…

Straf asks while the engine idles noisily.

「Yeah… We're heading out…」

Greaves replies, and moves on ahead towards the palace gate with the rest. Straf glances at Cycelia, then shrugs. He fiddles with the gear stick, and presses down on the formerly gas pedal.

Vrrrrrrrrmmmmmmmmm…

He drives past Greaves towards the palace road. Just a few moments later, Straf notices a shape emerging from the Main Street.

Thud! Vrrrrrrrrrrrppppp!…

Straf slams down the brakes, jolting everyone in the car forward despite the relatively slow speed. Cycelia grabs onto the window frame, while Lily and Nona grab onto the horizontal bar behind the front seats. The car slides along the snow a few paces to a stop in front of the junction, and Straf clicks his tongue in deep frustration.

「What the fuck are you doing, asshole!? I have the right of way!」

Straf shouts at the careless autowagon driver who takes a turn towards the city gate from the Main Street, cutting him off.

「Huuuuh? And what gives you this right of way of yours!? I was here first!」

The exquisitely dressed driver of the other car shouts back over his shoulder through the noise of the engines.

「You fucking!- Who gives a shit you were first to the crossroad!? You're supposed to yield when turning like that!」

Straf angrily slaps the steering wheel while shouting at the driver. Greaves and his party casually walk past the commotion, only briefly glancing at the two.

「Says who!? That ain't a law!」

The man shouts back, scoffing at Straf's claim.

「You son of a fuckin'!…」

Straf grits his teeth, clenching the steering wheel.

「…Lia!… Is it too late to go back and make a little law change real quick?」

His frustrated, tight-lipped grimace snaps to Cycelia, who returns an awkward smile.

「What little law change, Straf?…」

She asks, gently tilting her head.

「Death sentence for the people who cut me off! Applied retroactively!」

Straf exclaims, pointing at the car ahead.

「Er… Straf, calm down… We're not in a rush.」

「I am calm!」

Cycelia requests with a soft voice, to which Straf replies with a loud exclamation as he glares at the nonchalant driver ahead.

He drives a few paces ahead behind the car in front, only to be forced to stop at another crossing.

「What the fuck!?」

Straf stands up and peeks over the car in front of them. The entire palace street is jammed full of cars trying to make their way out, and into the capital all the way to the gate.

「These autowagons… They sure are everywhere now.」

Cycelia remarks with a completely unbothered tone.

「Khkhhh…」

Straf sits back down and drops his forehead down to the steering wheel, gritting his teeth.

《…I got sent to another world to be stuck in a fucking traffic jam!?》

He despairs internally for a moment before lifting his gaze up.

「Ah.」

《Wait… I did this to get some money out of the circulation…》

Straf utters out as he blankly stares ahead, eliciting a worried glance from Lily and Cycelia, both furrowing their brows at him.

「…The consequences of my actions… We meet again.」

With a large, resigned sigh, Straf utters out as his face gains an indignant tight-lipped grimace.

「Hm?」

Cycelia blinks at Straf, confused. She glances at the cars ahead packed with cargo and passengers, then back at Straf's frustrated face.

Thumpthumpthump.

「Tsk… Right, I forgot that wasn't a thing until later…」

Straf slaps the center of the steering wheel with his palm, then clicks his tongue in annoyance and mumbles to himself.

「Huh? What was?…」

Cycelia asks as Straf reaches into his [Portable Storage] and pulls out a bugle.

「…Huh?-」

TOOTOOOTOOTOOOOOOOOOT!

Cycelia watches as he brings the mouthpiece to his lips, and starts blowing the bugle as loud as humanly possible. Everyone around Straf's car winces from the noise.

「What are you doing!?」

The driver ahead shouts at Straf.

「Honking!… Get out of my fucking way! I'm in a hurry!」

「Straf… No we're not…」

Straf shouts back, and Cycelia quietly corrects him with her brows furrowed.

「Are you blind!? There are autowagons in front of-!」

TOOOOOTOOOOTOOOOOT!

The man shouts again, but Straf cuts him off with another loud blow of his bugle.

「Stop that! I couldn't move, even if I wanted to! There are people-!」

TOOOTOOOTOOOOOOOOT! TOOOOT!

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Straf cuts the man off again, shrugging his hands at him with an annoyed and expectant look on his face.

「Ghhh… Hey! Move your ass so this guy stops blowing that fucking thing!」

「… I can't! Can't you see!?-」

「Just drive a little off to the side and let him through!」

The driver ahead argues with the driver of the cargo-laden car in front of him, who in turn begins arguing with another driver ahead…

…

Five minutes later…

TOOTOOOOTOOOT!

「…Straf, could you stop that, please?… My ears hurt.」

Cycelia pleads with her brows furrowed, and her ears covered by her dainty hands. Nona and Lily are covering their ears too, sitting quietly in the back.

「Stop already! We'll let you through!… Just stop!…」

The driver ahead shouts at Straf, covering his ears. The cars ahead move slightly, driving off to the side of the street. Soon, the driver moves his car as well.

「…Get out of here, and take that cursed thing with you!」

The man ahead adds, glaring at Straf with his teeth clenched.

With a smug, satisfied smirk on his face, Straf throws his bugle back into his swirling vortex.

「See, Lia? Just threaten people that you'll do something that they really don't want you to do, and you'll get your way… Like bombing buildings, or taking hostages.」

Vrrrrmmmmmmmm…

Straf says with a growing grin as he carefully drives past the traffic through the narrow space formed just for his car.

「…Isn't that terrorism?」

Nona chimes in, peeking her face in between them again, blinking her amber eyes at Straf.

Snap!

「…And terrorism works!」

He snaps his fingers, pointing at her briefly over his shoulder. Nona sits back down, furrowing her brows in deep thought as Straf drives towards the city gate.

「…Straf, should I arrest people who blow bugles, then?」

She returns her face between the front seats, and asks.

「I'll leave that up to you, Nona.」

Straf casually replies and shrugs his shoulders. The rest of the way towards the gate is uneventful, and one of the cars trying to make its way in yields to Straf, allowing him out.

A minute later, on a road outside the capital, Straf sees Greaves and his party. He accelerates, squeezing Cycelia and the rest into their seats.

Vrrrrrrrroooooommmmmmm!…

「Um, Straf?…」

Cycelia calls out with her face becoming visibly worried, and her emerald eyes widening as the needle on the speedometer moves to the right.

「Yes, Lia?…」

Straf casually replies, only momentarily side-glancing at her while he speeds towards the adventurer party.

「…You said you wouldn't go so fast. Could you slow down?… Please?」

Cycelia pleads, blinking her large, scared puppy eyes at Straf.

「Just a moment Lia…」

He replies, fiddling with the gear stick as he puts the kubelwagen into a higher gear.

…Vrrrrrrrrrroooooooooooooommmmmmmm!…

Will and Greaves look over their shoulders at the speeding autowagon.

「Ah. There he is…」

Will remarks with his mouth aslant, and stops paying attention.

「Tsk… Guess there's no beating those speedy things… Hey! We should get a carriage east when we get to the next town!」

Greaves continues onward, calling out to Will.

「Yeah, probably-」

Vrrrrrrroooooooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmm!

Will adjusts his glasses as the engine noise grows louder.

「Hm?」

He looks over his shoulder, and finds Straf speeding towards them.

「…What is he doing?」

Greaves asks, furrowing his brows in confusion. Lian narrows her eyes at the autowagon, while Will and Greaves grow a little unnerved by the roar and the speed of the kubelwagen.

「…He wouldn't hit us, would he?」

Will asks, and exchanges a nervous glance with Greaves.

VRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!

Straf turns the wheel slightly towards Greaves and his party, causing them to panic and jump back to the side. He activates [Contextual Time Perception].

…BRRMMBRMMBRRM… BRRRMMM… BRRMMM…

The engine noise grows deeper as each piston works noisily inside the engine block. With the flow of time significantly slower, Straf sticks his hand out towards the recoiling party.

Despite the speed, Straf finds it a rivial task to steer with his ability active. Passing by at an arm's length and grinning, he holds his hand out in front of Will's face, while Will just barely manages to track Straf and his speeding autowagon. A moment later, Straf deactivates his ability, and the flow of time returns to normal.

…VRRROOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmm!

「Eek!」「Idiot!- Stupid!…」

Alicia yelps in panic, Lian glares at the autowagon, while Greaves shakes his fist and shouts at Straf. Mildly confused, Will adjusts his glasses as Straf speeds off into the distance.

「…Was he seriously trying to kill us!?」

Greaves shouts, clenching his fist in anger.

「No, I don't think so… It was very brief, but he was gesturing something. I saw a glimpse.」

Will shakes his head, furrowing his brows as he thinks.

「What? What was it?」

Greaves asks, placing his fists on his hips with an indignant grimace on his face as he stares at the rising cloud of snow on the road in the distance.

「…It was something like this… Do you have any idea what it might mean?」

Adjusting his glasses, Will asks with the back of his extended middle finger pointed at Greaves's confused face…

…

In the late evening, in the far east of the empire…

With the kubelwagen's lights illuminating the dark road ahead, Straf drives up a snow-covered hill. The sky is already dark, and the moon is absent. The slope of the hill begins to ease out, and a roof of a mansion vaguely reflects the car's lights. Cycelia's head perks up at the sight, while Nona stares ahead with bored amber gaze. Lily observes something distant in the dark, looking aside with her arms crossed.

Vrrrrrroooooooooommmmmmmmmm!…

Straf presses on the formerly gas pedal one last time, and lets the car slow down to a halt in front of a wrought iron gate. The shivering guards at its sides quickly move to open it without a delay, and swing it open for Straf. He drives inside, and the manor door opens. Millie and Louche emerge, with Millie sitting in a wheelchair, being wheeled out outside.

Vrrrrrtrtrtrtrttmm…

Straf twists the key in the ignition, the car's lights shut off, and the engine's vibrations die down as it grows silent. Millie and Cycelia smile at each other when they see one another in the faint, warm light pouring outside of the manor's many windows. Cycelia opens the door and steps out, waiting for others to dismount by the car.

「Ah!- Millie, wait!」

Louche calls out as Millie simply stands up and jogs towards Cycelia and the rest.

「Your highness!」

Millie calls out, and practically jumps into Cycelia's arms for a hug.

「Millie… We finally meet again.」

Cycelia says with a smile, reciprocating the hug.

「…It's been so long, your highness!- Khakh! Khakh!…」

Millie says, before being interrupted by a short coughing fit.

「Are you okay, Millie?」

Cycelia asks, furrowing her brows in worry, but Millie nods her long-haired golden head.

「…I'm fine. It's just hard to breathe with the cold air.」

Millie replies with a smile and a strained voice.

「Millie!… Stop pushing yourself!… Sit back down!」

Louche comes running in after his sister with the wheelchair. She begrudgingly obliges.

「…You're not pregnant.」

With a tight-lipped grimace on his face, Straf remarks towards Millie with his brows raised in mild surprise.

「Ah!? Um, well, yes… I don't have a suitor yet after all…」

She perks up in shock, and covers most of her blushing face with her pale fingers.

「…Eh!?」

Millie notices a glimpse of red, and sees Lily peeking out from behind Straf with her arms crossed. Alarmed, she recoils back in her wheelchair with her blue eyes wide open.

「Ahh, don't be alarmed!… It's just Lily! She's the baroness in the capital!… You might have heard.」

Cycelia quickly jumps in, waving her hands in front of herself and explaining Lily in her stead. Millie and Louche calm significantly, and their shoulders slump as they relax.

「I see… That scared me quite a bit…」

Millie says with an awkward smile and her pale hand on her small chest, turning her gaze to Louche, who chuckles awkwardly.

「…Please, come inside. It's cold out here. Why don't we have tea? I have some snacks too!… It'd be a shame if you left before we could catch up a little!」

She adds, pointing her hand at the manor's doors, tilting her golden head a little.

One in each hand, Straf grabs Cycelia's and Nona's baggage out of the kubelwagen and slings them over his shoulders.

「Sure thing. The night is young!…」

Cycelia replies with a smile and a nod, following Louche and Millie to the door.

「…Come, Straf. Lily, join us too.」

She gestures her chestnut head towards the door, smiling at both. Lily only replies with a silent huff, trailing behind them.

With her hands held behind her back, Nona casually follows them in alongside Straf with a long, jumpy stride…