…
By the time Straf and Cycelia return to the city, it's already almost dark. Long shadows from the city walls envelop everything in darkness. The streetlights are on… Except on the road to the adventurers' guild, where temporary torch stands have been placed to deal with the dark.
Straf clicks his tongue as he looks at the lamp-lit street in the distance.
《I should break those too later…》
Straf pushes the door to the adventurers' guild in, sad Cycelia trails behind him. He walks up to the desk.
「Troll is gone, I've come to collect.」
「Umm… You didn't let me explain that part. You need proof-」
「Oh I have proof, give me one second…」
Straf opens his [Portable Storage] and lets the head drop out onto the floor. It lands with a deafening rumble, cracking the wooden floor underneath it.
「What the fuck?!」
The reaction of the entire guild is nearly instantaneous and exactly the same.
「What?!」 「What?!」
The guild girl's and Cycelia's, too…
「You better not come up with bullshit how this doesn't count.」
The entire guild is silent. The guild girl looks from Straf to the troll and back with her mouth and eyes wide open. Eventually, some men at the tables start mumbling something, and she collects herself.
「Uh… Um…. I believe the reward was 3 gold coins… Honestly, a fang would have been enough.」
「Tsk. Of course…」
She walks to the back room and returns after just a moment. She places three shiny golden coins on the desk with a clunk and slides them towards Straf.
「Cool. That was really boring. Let's go, Lia.」
He turns towards the exit.
「Boring?… Wait! What do we do with the head?!」
「Not my problem! Hang it up on a wall or something!」
He pulls the door and rips it out of the wall.
「Ah. Shit.」
He turns towards the guild with a raised palm.
「Sorry! Sorry! Didn't mean to!」
Everyone at the tables is staring at each other, mouths agape. Shocked Cycelia exits, and Straf simply places the door where it was, sans hinges. They quickly walk away from the guild building.
《Hope they don't kick me out for that. It was their own fault for having such a shit quality door.》
「Say, Lia, do you know where the mages' guild is?」
「Huh? Yes, it's… Uh…」
She points down another street.
「I believe it's somewhere around the market, in that direction…」
「Market, huh? Good, let's go. By the way, how much does three gold get you?」
「You mean the value, right? An average person could live off two gold coins for a year, but…」
She looks aside for a second as she thinks, then continues.
「For example, when I asked my father for some pocket money, he'd give me six gold coins for the season…」
「An average person could live for a year off two, and your father gave you 24 for the year? Spoiled you rotten, huh…」
「He… Yes… He was a good father…」
She frowns, her eyes water…
「Sorry. I only have three, but I guess I still have some time before the season's up. I'll spoil you rotten in his stead.」
Straf looks at Cycelia with a serious face.
「For the sword, I mean.」
Ba-dump ba-dump ba-dump.
Cycelia stops and falls behind as he keeps walking. She blushes heavily… When she realizes she's falling behind, she waves her hands with fervor.
「No no no no! It's okay! I don't blame you, it's okay!」
「No it's not. I understand what's it like to have something precious be taken away from you…」
《My publishing deal… That bitch…》
「...Huh?」
Cycelia blinks. A hand squeezes her heart and her eyes wetten again, but this time for a different reason…
《He… He definitely lost someone. I don't want to ask, but I want to know… What happened?》
They keep walking… Cycelia leads Straf to where she believes the mages' guild is. They come across a market, a few stands are still open.
「Ah! That there is the mages' guild!」
She points to a building with a sign similar to the adventurers' guild, with a book, wand and a few sparkling stars as its logo.
「Alright. But how about we browse the market for a little bit? Pick out something you'd like, I'll pay for it.」
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「Ah, no, I can't!」
「Yeah, you can. Do it, I'll look for something interesting while I'm at it as well.」
「Aah… Maybe something cheap…」
Cycelia yields, Straf ominously not taking a no for an answer. She walks up to one of the stalls, Straf picks another direction.
《Huh… No magic items? No weapons? No armors? Just bunch of tools and trinkets? Guess I could try some snacks- Hm?》
A peculiar person catches his eye. She stands there in the middle of the square, holding an umbrella despite the sky being clear for most of the day. Though her umbrella obscures her face, it's clear she's looking around for somebody. Dressed in a very ornate gothic dress, her short form spins around, as if dancing.
《Ah, finally, a trope. Gothic lolita, huh? It's still pretty hot out, isn't she going to get a heatstroke in a getup like this?》
Straf walks up to her, but she seemingly sees him coming despite not even glancing at him.
「Aren't you hot in clothes like this? Where did your parents go?」
He questions her, his hands on his hips as he looks down on her hiding behind her umbrella.
「No… I am quite cold. Mister, would you mind coming with me? I have something to show you…」
She extends her ashen hand towards Straf, only a slight smile visible from beneath her umbrella.
「Hmmm? Like what?」
「You'll have to see for yourself…」
《Well, this is obviously a bad idea.》
「Sure.」
Straf gently grabs the little girl's cold hand, she turns away and starts leading him towards an alleyway, her boots clacking on the cobblestones…
《How am I going to see any tropes if I just turn her down? I need to act like a total clueless idiot incapable of unsupervised life!》
Cycelia is browsing through a stand of trinkets. Cheap, matching jewelry caught her attention. She smiles and giggles softly as she thinks of Straf and her wearing it.
《Hm. It's pretty cute. Where's Straf?》
She looks around, she catches a glimpse of a twin-tailed little girl leading him into an alleyway by his hand.
《Huh? Where is he going? Who is she-》
Her eyes widen.
《Oh no. Could it be?》
She runs in their direction, trying to not reveal herself…
…
《Guess if I'm going with the clueless idiot act, I should go for an award.》
「Saaay miiiss, how much further until I see the thing you were talking about?」
The girl leads him past a stack of wooden crates, then stops suddenly.
「…Not long at all-」
Smiling, she turns around. Her vertically slit, crimson eyes open wide. Straf is squatting down, his head level with hers under her umbrella.
「Let me guess. 1012 year old vampire, huh?」
She recoils in sheer shock, she clenches her teeth in panic showing all of her teeth, including her elongated fangs.
「Wh- How did you-?!」
She stutters and shouts out an aborted question. Straf smirks, chuckles, and hangs his head.
「Did you think I'm stupid or something? Literally everything-」
The strange sensation returns. Straf lifts his head, as if underwater.
「Hm-?」
The little girl is slowly swiping her sharp-nailed hand at his throat with an ugly, furious expression on her face.
「Hey, come on now. Are you serious? Really?」
Straf sighs, and reaches to intercept her wrist… Time returns to normal, and his hand locks around her wrist, just before her clawed hand reaches his throat. First she tries to continue her swipe, and then yanks her arm back to pull it away, but neither option works. It's as if her hand was held by a mountain.
「What?! But I'm faster than the human eye can see! What is with this strength- How did you- Who are you- What are you?!」
She gallops question after question in nigh panic with terror on her face. Straf tilts his head and looks up quizzically.
「Hmmmmm… Faster than the human eye can see, I guess?」
He stands up, pulling her arm up with him.
「You cheeky little brat. So this was your big plan? Lure men into an alley and suck them dry?」
「You there-!」
A familiar woman's voice cries out from behind Straf. She grabs his shirt collar and pulls him back. Straf doesn't really resist, and lets go of the little girl's wrist, who falls backwards.
「What do you think you are doing?! You are the last person I'd expect this of-」
The little girl glares with hate both at Straf, and Cycelia shouting at him… Then disappears in a black blur stretching upwards towards the rooftops, zigzagging from wall to wall. Spatterings of dust fall from the walls with a soft crackle.
「Wha- What happened?」
Cycelia stops her shouting, having realized she doesn't grasp the situation.
「Ah. I just found a vampire and I thought I'd give her a little trouble.」
「What? V- Vampire?」
Cycelia blushes terribly and lets go of Straf. Her palms hover to her face, to hide her mortified expression like a shield.
「Aaaaa! I'm sorry Straf! I got the wrong idea again!」
「What was it?」
「No! I can't say!」
「It can't be that bad, just tell me」
「No!」
She turns and runs out towards the market, hiding her face with her hands.