On the road somewhere, in the fancy royal carriage…

Aside from the muffled clopping of the horse hooves and the grinding of the wheels against the road below, the carriage is silent. Lian continues trying to find a comfortable position, shifting her legs around, but her foot remains between Straf's knees, braced against his seat.

Alicia and Cycelia are visibly troubled by the silence, and they smile at each other awkwardly every few minutes. Will and Greaves sit next to each other, but with his arms crossed, Greaves is staring out the window on his side past Alicia, with a sour expression on his face.

「Greaves, why don't you just speak up? You've been like this ever since we came back.」

Will breaks the silence, looking at Greaves.

「Um… Did something happen?」

Cycelia asks, looking at Will, Greaves and Alicia for a moment each.

「Hey. Did you tell the queen what I said?」

Greaves turns his face to Straf, and asks with his mouth aslant in frustation.

「Oh. Yeah, I forgot.」

Straf says, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly.

「Hey, Lia. Carrothead said…」 「Hey.」

Straf turns to look at Cycelia's face over Lily's golden head. Greaves protests his wording choice.

「…That he's thankful that you invited them over to the beach. And something something Will's party.」

「Hm?」 「Huh?」

Straf paraphrases, and shrugs again. Cycelia tilts her head, trying to decipher Straf's last sentence, while Will's jaw drops in disbelief.

「Hey! That's not what I!-」

「You're all very welcome.」

「…Tsk. Well, whatever.」

Greaves initially objects to Straf's mangled paraphrasing, but Cycelia's bright smile and nod make him give up. He clicks his tongue and looks at the window again.

「Greaves. What do you mean, Will's party?」

Will asks, squinting at Greaves while he's turned away.

「I meant what I said, Will.」

Greaves replies, with tangible frustration in voice.

「Tsk. A year younger than me, and acts like he's 10…」

Will clicks his tongue, and looks aside to his own window.

「Could be worse. Could be 1000 and act 12.」

Straf scoffs with an amused smirk, but a subtle movement of Lian's foot draws his attention. His smirk twists into something akin to a concerned sneer.

「Yeeaah. I'm such a kid. Good thing the party has a leader with a head on his shoulders, isn't it?」

Greaves sarcastically agrees, grumbling at his side's window. Alicia becomes more troubled by this back and forth, than she was by the silence.

「What are you on about, Greaves? Are you mad because I picked up a sword? A staff is a liability in the long run.」

Will asks, and annoyance in his voice surfaces.

「No, it was a good idea to get rid of the staff, I'd do the same thing if I was the leader.」

Greaves scoffs, shrugging his shoulders without looking at him.

「…Do you want my sword, legendary hero?」

Greaves asks with his mouth scrunched to the side, and turns back around to the window before Will can even reply.

「What, I'm not supposed to grow as a mage!? I'm doing my best to learn new things! I'll use a sword if that will make me better at magic!」

Will exclaims in frustration, and turns to his own window. Alicia and Cycelia exchange uncomfortable glances.

「…And I didn't get rid of it. I just left it in my room.」

Will adds, clarifying with his arms crossed. Lian glances at Will for just a second, before her eyes return to Straf's face.

「Yeah. You don't need an idiot who's only half-good at swinging a sword dragging you down. You can do better.」

Greaves grumbles, clenching his teeth.

「Greaves, that's…」

Alicia meekly says, without finishing her sentence.

「I didn't say that, don't put words into my mouth.」

Will barks out, glancing momentarily over his shoulder at Greaves while turned towards Lian and the window.

「Yeah. You didn't say that. You never would have. You're welcome.」

Greaves says with his arms still crossed, staring outside the window into the forest. He refuses to glance at even Alicia. She looks up at Greaves's face with a sad frown.

「Greaves, why don't you just say it and stop acting like a child!? What are you mad at me for?」

「Tsk.」

Greaves replies to Will's shout with only a click of his tongue.

「…Greaves, don't say things like that.」

Alicia quietly says with her brows plaintively furrowed. The corner of Greaves's lip twitches as he continues clenching his teeth, staring outside the window.

「If I went and died on my own, too bad, sucks to be me… But I almost got Alicia killed because you brought her there.」

Greaves grumbles, looking at the trees speeding past with his arms crossed, and his teeth clenched.

「Greaves. don't say something like it's fine if I'd die… We made a promise didn't we?-」

Alicia looks at Greaves's sour face with a sad frown. Will cuts her off with a frustrated shout.

「It's your own fault for not listening to me again! You ran off on your own!」

「I know!」

Will shouts at Greaves, and Greaves shouts back, still looking at neither Alicia nor Will. Straf and Lily watch on with bored and apathetic expressions on their faces with their arms crossed.

「…I know. I'm not blaming you. But I almost got Alicia killed because of me… And you, too, I guess. Because I wanted to prove I can do something, and ended up doing nothing. I did nothing and almost got everyone killed. Again.」

Greaves says with a normal tone of voice, albeit tinged with bitterness.

「Will…」

Alicia peeks out from behind Greaves, looking at Will with sad eyes and a troubled face. Greaves continues staring out the window with his arms crossed, refusing to look at either of them.

A voice rises in Will's chest to shout again, but Alicia's frowning face and Greaves's rare moment of self-reflection make him calm down. He adjusts his glasses and turns to face his own window.

「Well… In your defense, if not for you, the mage would have likely continued doing whatever he was up to… And it's not like you knew the vampire was there.」

Will says in an apologetic tone with his arms crossed. A moment of silence begins, interrupted only by Lian's amused, quick scoff out of her nose.

「Petty human squabbles.」

Lily remarks, turning her bored eyes away to the window beside Straf.

「Well, all's well that ended well, right?」

Cycelia says with a smile, tilting her head a little.

Greaves clicks his tongue, still looking out of the window. Will lets out a long sigh, and Alicia smiles awkwardly back at her. The cart keeps rocking left and right surprisingly gently, and the drivers outside continue onward with no regard for the discussion inside…

…

In Ossen's sewers, in the evening…

Nona walks into the water-ramp-turned-makeshift-room, accompanied by two grim men in leather armor.

「Hi-ya!」

She lifts her hand and wiggles her fingers to greet Fost and the rest of the room with a smile on her face.

「Nona!-」

Fost exclaims in an upbeat tone, setting his bejeweled mug down, but he stops himself from saying another word when his eyes open wide and apprehensively stare at the men with her.

「…Who are they?」

He asks, covertly reaching for his dagger at his hip. The atmosphere in the room grows tense in an instant, when the rest also eye the two with caution.

「Ah, they're from work. They're with me, and they're good guys, don't worry.」

She quickly peeks over her shoulders at the men behind her, and dismissively shakes her hand up and down in front of her face with a grin.

「…Right. What brings you here? Don't you work in the capital? How's work there?」

Nona's previous words reassure the whole room, and Fost relaxes a little. The tension slowly dissipates. He throws a few quick questions her way before she can even begin to reply.

「I have work to do here, so I thought I'd stop by. And the work is fun, but…」

She says, with her voice trailing off as she thinks. Her amber eyes drift up and off to the side while she holds her hands behind her back.

「But? There's strings attached?」

Fost asks, once again warily glancing at the two men with her.

「Ahaha! No, nothing like that! It's kind of getting old, you know?」

Nona waves her hand in front of her face again, giggling with a grin. Her grin turns into a somewhat poignant, thoughtful expression as she asks with a faint, odd smile while looking Fost in his eyes.

「…Already?」

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Fost asks with his brows furrowed in mild disbelief.

「Yup!」

She says and cocks her head to the side, grinning with a quiet chuckle.

「Routine, huh?… Well, you know what they say about routine, right, Nona?」

Fost says with a slight grin of his own, and takes a gulp from his mug.

「Nope.」

Nona bluntly replies, in middle of Fost drinking.

「Good grief. Is your head full of rocks or something?…」 「Ahaha… Maybe.」

Fost says, exasperated, while still gulping what's left of his mouth as he shakes his head in utter disbelief.

「Listen… Routine kills!」

Fost exclaims with vehement conviction, pointing at Nona. She tilts her head, and her clueless amber eyes blink at him.

「If you get into a routine, sooner or later, you'll get complacent. You'll think, oh I've done this so many times! Nothing can go wrong now!… Wrong! Everything can go wrong if you let it! That's why don't let the routine get to you!」

Fost smirks as he imparts a portion of his thievery genius upon Nona. She appears deep in thought, furrowing her brows, her amber eyes dart at random points on the ceiling.

「…So you are saying I should do new things, to avoid getting bored?」

Nona asks with her brows raised.

「Uh, er… Not exactly, but you could put it like that.」

Fost shrugs his hands, and reaches for his mug for another gulp.

「Got it! Thanks, old man!」

She says as she tips her peaked cap at Fost with a grin, causing him to almost choke.

「For the last time I'm not old! I've still got youth in me, damn it!…」

Fost slams his fist into the table in objection. His eyes drift to the metal dragon on her hat, and the grinning skeleton with his thumb up below it. Then, they drift lower to her indecently short skirt displaying her thick, tanned thighs.

「…What's the story with the outfit?」

He asks, moving the mug to his lips with his brow raised.

「Ahh… It's my work clothes. Do you like them?」

Nona asks as she looks at down at her militaristic uniform, spinning around so Fost can catch a full look.

「They're… Unique. And they look very new. I don't think I saw anyone else wear something like this…」

Fost remarks with an awkward, pitying grin on his face, intentionally avoiding strong words and ultimately saying nothing about them. He looks aside to his fellow men.

《We were quiet about your legs, arms and tummy showing before and we took it for granted… But isn't this a little too much!? Aren't you aware you look like a slut!? What's with that skirt!? Aren't you embarrassed!?》

He thinks, and the men return a knowing, uncomfortable look, likely thinking the same.

「Right!? I'm supposed to have a lot of authority now, and they look authoritative!」

She says with a grin and tilts her hat lower, obscuring her face a little.

「…Right.」

Fost nods along, and takes another gulp.

「So you work for the Ministry of Security, or whatever they call it? Isn't that just the capital guards now? I've heard they supposedly have the authority to arrest everywhere, not just the capital.」

He looks up from his mug and asks. Nona immediately replies with a grin.

「Yup! But I wouldn't really call it guards… It's something else?」

She looks aside, thinking again.

「…Something else?」

「Something else.」

Fost asks, and Nona echoes back with a nod. He shrugs, and takes another gulp, emptying his mug.

「You said you're here for work… You're not here to arrest someone from here, are you?…」

He asks in a jesting tone with a grin, leaning onto the table with his elbow.

「Or me?」

Fost adds looking up at Nona, barely holding laughter back. Her amber eyes look down at him, and her mildly surprised expression slowly shifts into a mild smile. An uncomfortable feeling washes over Fost, intensifying the longer they maintain eye contact.

「…Right?」

He asks, with the joking tone and confidence fading from his voice as Nona smiles at him.

「Ahahaha! Don't be silly, old man! I wouldn't do that! You're a good guy!」

Nona impishly laughs, grinning broadly as she waves her hand up and down in front of her face again.

「Right. You got me a little worried there, heh…」

Fost sighs with relief, and replies with a grin, letting out a singular chuckle. He reaches for his mug to take another gulp, but only remembers that it's empty after he tilts it. He lowers it down to the table in disappointment, and perhaps with a little covert shame.

「Anyhow, I'm glad to hear you're doing alright. It's a little empty here without you, but… I guess the thought that you're not dangling at Hangman's Square gives everyone a little relief.」

He nods his head, returning a genuinely relieved, contented smile at Nona, momentarily peeking at the rest of the people in the room.

「Mhm. I'm usually busy, but if I can, I'll visit again.」

Nona nods her head in reply as well, bearing a tempered smile on her face too.

「Alright. Well, take care.」

Fost nods as Nona turns for the exit. The two silent men with her take it as a cue to leave as well.

「You too, old man. Don't drink yourself to death! Ahaha!」

She cackles as she hops out of the room, forcing Fost to clicks his tongue in frustration.

「I'm not old damn it! Stop acting like my hair about to turn gray!」

Fost slaps his hand on the table multiple times, shouting towards the empty doorway…

…

After sundown, on a forest road…

Knock knock.

A knock comes from the front side of the carriage. Cycelia peeks over her shoulder, and slides open a little rectangular hatch.

「We'll have to stop for now, your majesty. It's gotten too dark to continue, especially through this forest here.」

The mustached driver says through the open hatch, tugging at the reins to slow the horses and take the carriage a little off to the side of the darkened road.

「If you think that's for the best.」

She replies, and nods her head, albeit the driver is too occupied with driving to see it. The carriage promptly slows to a halt, and both of the man jump off the seats. The young man starts tending to the horses, while the older mustached man opens the carriage door from the outside.

Straf hops out, and everyone else soon follows. He stretches out, turning and twisting his torso. Lily yawns as she approaches behind him.

「Ahhh… If it was just us, we could have already been there.」

Lily says, looking at Straf with sleepy eyes.

「Lily, maybe the journey and its boring rocking left to right counts, not the destination. Did you not sleep well today?」

Straf says with a smirk, then asks with his fist on his hip while looking down at the little vampire.

「So-so…」

She shrugs, looking away.

「Were you too excited to sleep?」

Straf asks, and Lily turns her head away further.

「Wow, ain't that cute.」

Straf chuckles with a grin, shaking his head lightly at Lily while she pouts, looking into the dark forest with her arms crossed.

「Here's sleeping mats, your highness. The weather looks fine today, so I believe the tents are unnecessary?…」

The mustached driver says as he unfurls a sleeping mat onto the grass beside the road, looking towards Cycelia.

「Yes, I think we'll be fine. I'm used to sleeping under the sky, anyhow.」

Cycelia replies, and flashes a knowing smile towards Straf with a little tilt to her head. Greaves and his party partially unload as well, and everyone prepares to camp and rest.

「Uh, your highness, if I may make a request…」

While the camp preparations are mostly finished, the mustached driver meekly approaches Cycelia.

「Yes?」

She asks, sitting on her mat next to the fire.

「…It would be best if we sleep through the night, as we need to drive the carriage tomorrow. But we also do not trust this forest. Is it possible you would tell one of your companions to keep watch through the night? They could sleep in the carriage later.」

He asks, pointing his palm to the young man still tending to the horses tied to a nearby tree as he speaks, and gesturing heavily with his hands.

「I'll do it.」

Straf calls out from behind, overhearing the man's word while he's lazily lounging about on his mat with his hands behind his head, wiggling his foot idly.

「Ah, you would, sir? Thank you, I will try to sleep as little as possible-」

「I'll do it too.」

Greaves interrupts the mustached man, laying on his side with his face propped up on his hand.

「Too late, Carrothead. I already volunteered. Not like I can sleep on this, anyway.」

Straf shrugs his shoulders, looking at Greaves while still laying on the mat.

「Well I don't trust you to not fall asleep! If you don't, we'll just sit through the night, I guess.」

Greaves shrugs his shoulders, crossing his arms as he plops down on his back.

「Whatever. Suit yourself, Carrothead. I'm not doing a campfire bonding scene with you, though.」

Straf shrugs, grimacing in indifference.

「Stop calling me that!」

Greaves shouts at Straf with his fist clenched.

「I'm being generous. Don't make me call you by your name.」

Straf snidely smirks at Greaves in response. A few hours later, everyone is asleep. Except Greaves, and Straf. The fire crackles softly, sending short-lived sparks flying into the air every now and then.

「…You know you can just go to sleep, right?」

Straf asks, laying on his mat lazily still.

「Shut up… If I fall asleep, nobody will watch over everyone else… And you're going to fall asleep like that…」

Barely coherent, Greaves replies, nodding out of drowsiness as he sits up on his mat.

「No I won't. It's physically impossible for me to sleep unless I'm real comfort-」

Straf scoffs, but his reply is cut short by a suspicious rustle of vegetation off to the side.

「…That kind of looks like a weird, purple, cyclops toad. What the shit is that?」

「What?」

Greaves drowsily asks, turning his head towards whatever Straf is looking at…