In the evening, in the Redwing Kingdom's capital city, in the Royal Reserve Bank…

Nona enters the bank, her heavy two-handed hammer resting on her shoulder as she cautiously slips past the open door, mindful of the frame.

「Nona… Have you found anything? Anything unusual? Anybody know anything?」

Niklaus briefly raises his fatigued eyes towards the uniformed woman, before rubbing them with his fingers as he asks.

「Nope… Sorry, boss.」

She tips her peaked cap at him. Niklaus lets out a long, fatigued sigh.

「First the thieving spree, then the inexplicable break-ins…」

He rubs his face with his palm before his fingers focus on his brows. His hand briefly stops, and his eyes begin staring down at his desk.

「Say, Nona…」

「Hm?」

She tilts her head, blinking at him with her amber eyes from in front of his desk.

「…Do you think the thefts and the break-ins are actually separate perpetrators? The burglary at the Vinis manor had a lot of finesse, but nothing was taken… It's strange.」

Niklaus asks, lifting his eyes back up towards her. Nona glances up and aside, raising her brows as she thinks for a moment.

「Dunno. Sorry boss, I'm not good at thinking… Hehe…」

Her orange eyes return to Niklaus. She shrugs, tilting her head the other way with an innocent smile on her face while she chuckles softly.

「Right. Forget it…」

Niklaus stands up, replying through a sigh. He turns his gaze to the bank tellers.

「…Are we ready to lock up for the night yet?」

He asks with his voice loud and clear.

「Almost! You can head out, we'll be out by five minutes.」

One of the women replies, nodding her head at him and waving her hand out towards the door. He nods back, and turns his eyes to Nona.

「Nona, can you stay with them for a moment longer? I'll head back and think how to handle it.」

「Yup! Leave it to me, no worries!」

With a friendly smile, Nona returns a powerful nod as well, and her fingers align with her cap's brim for a salute.

「…Right. See you tomorrow.」

Though audibly reluctant, Niklaus tips his peaked cap adorned by the metal dragon at her, and walks past, heading out onto the street. She waves her hand as he leaves for the orphanage.

Magic lamps lining the central road bathe the streets in a pale blue light. Although deep in thought, his eyes scan the faces of the people passing him left and right. The evening crowd is relatively thin, but nobody particularly stands out. Two uniformed Ministry of Security agents pass by Niklaus at a crossing. They salute each other and nod their heads before the two depart in the opposite direction.

Some of the capital's better-informed citizens likewise nod their heads towards Niklaus out of respect, aware of his position and responsibilities in the city. The blue light grows sparse as the distance between the magic lamps grows. Previously there was a lamp every dozen or so paces, now there's one every few dozen as he enters the poorer part of the capital. The containment for the undesirables, home of the urchins and thieves, and ironically, home to the head of the Ministry of Security.

Niklaus unbolts the wrought iron gate and opens it just enough to slip inside the courtyard. He swings it shut and pushes the bolt locked, then heads for the orphanage door.

「Niklaus!… I thought it may have been you, but you're back early today. Did something happen?…」

Mary asks, peeking into the orphanage entry hall as Niklaus closes the door behind him and begins slipping his boots off.

「No… Not really. Should I have not come back so soon?」

He asks as he takes his peaked cap off and hangs it on the wall-mounted coat hanger.

「Stop being silly! You're just in time for food! The kids will be glad you're here.」

She smiles, wiping her hands into an off-white rag that was washed many, many times before and disappears into the hallway to the side. Niklaus follows her in…

…

Ten minutes later, in the orphanage dining hall…

Children of all ages sit at a long table covered with a gray tablecloth that may have been white once, though the average seems to hover around 10 to 12 years old. Some of the oldest ones can't be older than 14 or 15, while the youngest are 5 or 6. Still uniformed, Niklaus sits at the end of the table in the center. A pleasant smell of some hearty food fills the air in wafts from a nearby room.

「Sorry for the wait!…」

Mary enters, holding a large pot far too large for her small hands. With a strained grunt, she places it in the middle of the table.

「I'll help you, Mary-」

Niklaus slides his chair out and begins to stand up.

「No! You sit where you are!…」

She points her finger at Niklaus with her voice raised in a stern tone. Taken aback a little, he reluctantly sits back down.

「…You rarely eat with everyone else, so you just sit there and I'll get to you in a moment.」

Mary smiles at one of the younger children as she ladles some stew into his soup bowl. She takes another bowl, and likewise ladles a portion in, then returns it.

「Chew a lot, okay?…」

「Okay…」

She cautions one of the youngest, if not the youngest child with a soft voice and a brief rub on his shoulder after she delivers his portion. The child nods back. Though there's food in front of them, none of the kids are eating. They are instead watching Mary take the bowls, return closer to the pot, ladle a brown and greasy liquid in, then carefully set it back down where it was, her eyes heavily focused on it to not spill anything. She takes Niklaus's plate.

「And here's yours…」

Mary returns the bowl, gently setting it back down in front of Niklaus.

「A stew?… With meat?」

He asks, turning his surprised gaze to Mary's face.

「Mhm. I try to sneak in some meat into everyone's meals now. There's this nice woman who sells her unsold meat to me at a discount every evening…」

She explain, nodding her head while smiling softly at Niklaus as she circles around the table behind him with another full bowl.

「Mary, I know the kids should eat meat… But can we even afford that?」

He asks as he looks down at the bowl of stew. There are sizable, well-cooked chunks of meat submerged in the broth. A few cut carrots and some other mysterious vegetables float around.

「I am keeping an eye on it all, don't worry. It's a lot easier to properly feed everyone now that your money is coming in.」

Mary replies in a soft, soothing voice as she hurries for the pot with an empty bowl in her hand.

「…I see.」

Niklaus nods his head weakly while staring at the stew in front of him. The longer he blankly stares at it, the longer his mind can drift. His thoughts begin drifting to the past, and the men he delivered to the Ministry's torture-interrogation chamber, knowing full well what Nona will do to them. As a tinge of guilt begins to fill his heart, perhaps to justify it, his mind wanders further back.

《This isn't the first time someone's blood paid for everyone's food…》

He thinks while idly staring downward with a blank expression on his face, as if partially asleep with his eyes open. He recalls how large a dagger once felt in his small hand as a child, the resistance of a fat man's flesh against its thrust, the weight of gold for someone's life.

《…And it won't be the last.》

Niklaus thinks as he remembers another man, who was gravely wounded and on his back, crawling away from him. His words are now an incoherent, jumbled mess warped by time, but Niklaus remembers the man's terrified face and the meaning of his words well enough. Begging for his life, he said something that made Niklaus hesitate for a moment with his dagger raised, but it was either the man's life, or food for Mary and others.

Niklaus remembers the force he used to bring the dagger down at the man.

「Niklaus… Niklaus.」

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「Hm?」

Mary gently pokes his hand, looking at him with a concerned face as she's sitting just beside him at the side of the table. He blinks, looking at her and the children with a lightly confused gaze.

「Niklaus… Are you okay?…」

She asks, furrowing her brows as her hand retreats.

「Yeah… Yeah, I'm alright.」

Niklaus nods back, looking at Mary with a tight-lipped grimace and eyes wide open, staring through her.

「Everyone has their food already. We can eat now.」

「Yeah…」

Mary replies, and Niklaus simply nods again, not entirely grasping what she said until he looks at the children staring at him with their bowls full, waiting.

「Okay kids!… Niklaus is usually very busy. Let's quickly thank Mercia, and then let's eat!」

Clasping her hands together, Mary turns her head to the children. She smiles warmly, though she's mostly addressing the youngest ones.

「…Thank you Mercia for gracing us with another day.」「Thank you Mercia for gracing us with another day.」「Thank you Ms. Mercia for gracing us with another day…」

Mary says a little prayer with the children, and she looks at one sitting nearby.

「You don't need to call her miss…」

「Okay…」

She quietly explains with a smile, petting the young boy's head.

「Okay! Let's eat before it gets cold! Remember to chew!」

She adds, and grabs her own spoon. Niklaus nods along and starts eating, staring at the stew with tired eyes…

…

Twenty minutes later…

Niklaus returns to the entry hallway and begins slipping his boots back on.

「…Niklaus? You're not going to bed?」

Mary asks with a worried expression, rushing into the hallway just a few moments after Niklaus. He looks at her over his shoulder for a few seconds, then resumes putting his boots on.

「…No. There's a spree of break-ins lately, someone has to put an end to it.」

He replies after a moment of silence, and puts his boot on. He grabs the second one, and slips his foot in.

「Niklaus… Niklaus! Have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately!?…」

Mary walks up and places her hands on his barely shaven face just before he can take his hat from the wall. They lock their gazes, and the longer she looks, the more her brows furrow.

「…You're home every other day, and for an hour at most at a time. You have terrible bags under your eyes. Niklaus, do you even sleep at all?」

She asks with a dismayed tone, frowning heavily.

「…I sleep sometimes.」

Niklaus shrugs, turning his face away.

「Sometimes?… Niklaus! You're going to die at this rate!」

「People don't die from lack of sleep, Mary. At least not this fast. I'll be fine.」

He replies, placing the hat with a metal grinning skeleton below the dragon on his head.

「Niklaus!…」

Mary desperately cries out, holding back tears as he leaves through the door…

…

After the sunset, in one of the unassuming buildings in the capital…

「Ahh!… This is such a mess!…」

A woman with a baggy cloth hat over her short black hair enters, and slams the door shut behind her. She slumps down in a chair by a small round table and lets out a large, frustrated sigh. A large number of pigeons softly coo through the ceiling. Her golden yellow eyes scan around the dim, cramped, yet somewhat cozy house.

「Hey, Sparrow! Are you here!?…」

She asks in a loud voice, turning her head all around. With a faint sound of footsteps, the stairs to the attic begin to creak softly.

「I am… Keep your voice down…」

A woman descends down the stairs with her eyes focused on a small piece of paper, her long hair flowing behind her. She approaches the round table and takes a seat on the opposite side.

「Another message?…」

The golden-eyed woman straightens out of her slouch. Sparrow nods her brown head in silence.

「…They're getting increasingly anxious. Apparently, there was another beam of light in the east just now. It carved a large chunk out of the Western Boundary near the Academy of Magic.」

Sparrow calmly explains with a soft voice, and the two look at each other.

「So… Am I going east, then?」

The woman's golden eyes blink at her as she gently furrows her brows.

「No. Your orders are still to find out the public's reaction to the death of Straf Katastrof Vindict, and investigate the strange light here…」

Sparrow spreads her hands, sets the small letter down on the table, then lets out a sigh.

「…Don't you think we should report back? I don't know why they ordered you here-」

「Agggghh!…」

Thunk!…

With a frustrated groan, the golden-eyed woman slams her forehead down on the table and clutches onto her headwear in desperation. Two points on the hat refuse to go any lower.

「…What am I supposed to report back!? Two months later, I still don't know what that light was, and now it's completely elsewhere!…」

She shouts down at the table, pulling her hat downward towards her black head.

「…And this Straf man!? What am I supposed to tell them!?」

The woman pushes herself off the table, straightening out, then spreads her arms wide as she keeps shouting. Sparrow sighs, propping her head up on her hand.

「Sorry, I don't know what the light was!… By the way, you were wrong, Straf Katastrof Vindict isn't dead, in fact, he's the kingdom's Minister of Finances!…」

Thud!

The black-haired woman exclaims, then slams her forehead back down on the table.

「…What kind of a report is that!? They will immediately recall me for questioning, and order me to kill myself!」

She adds, and her shoulders slump along with her arms beneath the table. Sparrow sighs again.

「…Well, as far as the minister situation goes, it's not your fault. They could have asked me to do something so simple, but they're very afraid to task contacts with anything.」

「Nnnhhh…」

Sparrow shrugs her shoulders, encouraging the disheartened woman a little in a calm, melodic voice. She groans in response.

「…You sure have it nice. You just feed pigeons all day and shuffle people like me around….」

She grumbles with her forehead still on the table.

「I do much more than just tend to the pigeons… But you're right, it's a nice assignment. I even meet nice people… There's this girl taking care of kids at an orphanage-」

「I don't care! How can you even look those people in the eye!? You're here to stab them in the back with me!」

The woman perks up, shouting a question at Sparrow with a frustrated, tight-lipped grimace as she stares at her with her golden eyes.

「…Just because we're here to spy on their rulers doesn't mean we have to mean them all harm. So, what will you do?」

Sparrow calmly replies, completely unfazed with a serene expression on her face. The woman lets out a large sigh, and straightens out as she pushes herself up by the table.

「I'm going to investigate the palace. I need you to make me a few ice daggers.」

She looks at Sparrow with a look of determination in her golden yellow eyes.

「…Are you sure that's a good idea? It's heavily guarded-」

「Of course I'm sure it's not a good idea! But I need results! That light must be some sort of a weapon of theirs, and if that's the case, there must be some documents about it!」

The woman shouts back, spreading her hands again before she looks aside with a frustrated grimace. Sparrow lets out a long, troubled sigh with her hand on the side of her face.

「…How many will you need?」

She calmly asks, looking into her golden eyes as they return.

「As many as possible, but at least three. And as fast as you can, I'm doing it tonight.」

With her arms crossed, the woman replies in a harsh, determined tone as the two maintain eye contact. Sparrow nods, and stands up.

「I'll go burn this… Do you want tea while you wait?…」

She asks, taking the small letter into her hand as she looks over her shoulder at the golden-eyed woman.

「…Sure. Green, if you have it.」

She grumbles in response, looking aside. Sparrow nods with a light smile, and climbs back upstairs towards the sound of softly cooing pigeons…