Around the same time, in a palace on a mountain…

「…When?」

Looking over his shoulder at the palace guard dressed in all black, Willow inquisitively raises his brow, lowering his gripless tea mug.

「A few hours ago. A horse runner was dispatched as soon as it was safe to do so.」

The guard replies through the open door, kneeling onto the wooden hallway outside the room and keeping his head lowered.

Willow lowers his gaze to his low table, thinking. He takes a small sip of his tea then returns his eyes to the guard's round, wide-brimmed hat that covers his face.

「…And those foreigners… Were they just caught up and fighting for their own survival, protecting the serfs, or something in-between?」

The old mage asks before casually taking another sip while kneeling on the woven mat floor.

「There aren't many details on that, Master Willow, but the report said that a great many owe them their lives.」

The black-shrouded guard replies with his head lowered still.

「I see… And how big was their force? The foreigners?」

Willow nods slightly, briefly lowering his eyes to the table in front of him again before returning them to the guard.

「Just four.」

「Just four!?」

「Yes, Master Willow…」

The old man perks up in significant surprise, raising his bushy brows. The guard confirms with one slow nod of his wide-brimmed hat.

「Thought it was mercenaries who want to try their luck… Guess it must be adventurers, then…」

Willow remarks, mostly to himself, and takes another small sip with a slurp.

「…Anything else?」

He asks, turning his gaze back to the guard.

「No, that's all. We will inform you if we learn anything new, Master Willow. Now please excuse me…」

「Right…」

Still kneeling outside the room, the man shakes his head and bows as he slides the door shut. Willow nods, then returns to casually sipping his tea.

「…Loose mouths. Seems like the news spread west already. A boon, or a curse?…」

The old mage mumbles to himself, staring at the table with a pensive, absent-minded gaze.

「…Guess we'll find out soon enough… There are cities closer north… This one was a message, huh?…「Nowhere is safe.」」

He shrugs, and takes a sip. For one reason or another, his mind wanders to Straf Katastrof Vindict and his casual way of carrying himself in the arena.

「…Gnhhh… I don't want to leave so many loose ends untied too… 」

Annoyed by the handsome man's smug face taunting him in his mind, he grimaces heavily while massaging his bushy, furrowed brows with his thumb and finger. The door slides open.

「Master Willow… Oleander wants to see you.」

Another black-shrouded guard calls out, kneeling at the open door with his hatted head lowered.

「Not now. I'm intending to sleep soon, I have enough on my mind already. Tell her I'll see her tomorrow…」

Willow replies bluntly and takes a gulp of his tea, tipping the mug.

「Master Willow… She insists that it's important.」

The guard replies with a small nod of his head. Willow takes a large breath, then lets out a long, weary sigh.

「…Fine. Tell her to bring tea with her while she's at it.」

Willow sets his mug down and gives the guard a dismissive wave of his fingers. The man's wide-brimmed hat perks up.

「Eh?… Er… Her?」

The guard asks in a hesitant and surprised tone, bearing an expression of great confusion on his mostly-masked face.

「Hurry up. I want to get to sleep already.」

The old mage replies with a more insistent wiggle of his fingers as his mouth scrunches to the side slightly.

Though greatly concerned, the guard bows his head and slides the door shut…

…

Five minutes later…

The door to Willow's room is slid open by a beautiful, but cold-faced woman. She picks up the tray lying beside her, then steps inside.

「There aren't many men who'd dare let me treat them to a drink, Master Willow…」

Oleander remarks as she kneels down inside Willow's room, sets the tray down on the floor, then slides the door shut behind her. Willow waits with a weary face.

「…Aren't you a little concerned?」

She asks as she sets the tray on the old man's low table and kneels down at its side, then places a mug of steaming green liquid in front of him.

「I'm far too old to care… Are you not concerned? If I peacefully pass away in my sleep tonight, all eyes will be on you…」

Willow takes the gripless mug into his hands and gently blows the steam away from its surface a few times. The woman's head perks up a little.

「…Mh. Just right temperature.」

He takes a sip, then mumbles to himself with a faint approving grimace and a tiny nod.

「Certainly, that would complicate things a little…」

Kneeling beside the old mage, she replies with a concurring nod and a light smile.

「So? What do you want?… The guard said it's important.」

Willow asks with a shrug of his robed shoulders and his mouth aslant. He then brings the mug up to his wrinkly lips again.

「It's about Straf Katastrof-」「Khakh! Khakhhkkkkkh! Khakhh!…」

Splat.

Oleander replies, and Willow begins coughing, spitting out a mouthful of tea onto the table.

「…Khhkahhhh!… Khakhhh!…」

「…Vindict… Are you alright, Master Willow?」

The old man continues coughing, thumping his chest with his fist while wincing. She timidly completes her previous sentence, then tilts her head with a somewhat concerned grimace.

「…Hnngh… Hrgh. I choked… What about him? Killed him dead, I hope?」

Willow returns a feeble nod while grunting and clearing his throat, before asking with his sharp gaze staring into her eyes.

「It's about that…」

She replies, lowering her gaze to the tray on the table.

「Oh, that's a relief…」

Delighted and relieved, the old man's shoulders slump as he brings the mug up to his lips again.

「…Eh?」

Noticing Oleander bow her head low with her hands in her lap, he stops just short of taking a sip.

「…My sincerest apologies, Master Willow… But I've failed this time. I know it's not an excuse, but his companions saved him after I had successfully poisoned him.」

Oleander says while keeping her head lowered.

「…He's alive?」

「Yes.」

Willow asks, and with her head still lowered, she confirms with a light nod.

「…And he's here?」

「Yes.」

He asks another question, and she confirms again.

「…Shit!」

Clunk.

Willow curses out through his teeth and lowers the mug down to the table with force, splashing a little more tea onto it. Deeply troubled with a sour grimace on his face, he begins pensively rubbing his short beard while absentmindedly staring ahead at the paper wall and the door to the hallway outside.

「…Again, my sincerest apologies, Master Willow. Please allow me to try again. I am convinced his survival was a fluke. I will definitely succeed this time.」

Oleander bows her head a little lower, then raises her frigid and slightly apologetic face to look at Willow. Still stroking his facial hair, he turns his puzzled gaze to her.

「…He saw your face, didn't he? How do you plan to do that?」

He asks, shrugging his hand.

「Yes. But I have my ways, Master Willow. Women have plenty of ways to change their looks. You should know, Master Willow.」

She returns a nod with a light smile, then shrugs her shoulder with a gentle tilt of her head.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

「Right…」

Willow nods as well, turning his pensive gaze down to the puddle of tea on the table as he resumes stroking his chin.

「…I'm not against it. If you think you can do it, do it… But I will not send you alone. Over the mountains, he was a looming danger… Now he's an outright threat.」

He adds, shrugging his shoulders while he thinks.

「Will you send Master Falcon too?」

Oleander asks, tilting her head with her brows lightly furrowed. Willow glances at her, pondering her question for a few moments.

「…No. Not yet, at least. Everything has a cost. If Falcon moves to solve one problem, ten more will crop up. I will send her Divine Embodiment's security to search for him.」

He shakes his head in reply, crossing his arms grimacing heavily as his eyes return to hers.

「Is that wise, Master Willow?… With the demons and all?…」

The woman's face briefly tries to look apologetic before returning to its cold, neutral expression as she asks.

「She's safe here. It's the people below that aren't… If it damn comes to it, I'll deal with him myself. I'm trusting you to do it, Oleander.」

The old mage shrugs with a bitter grimace on his face, and lets out a sigh.

「Yes… Please count on me, Master Willow…」

She says as she bows her head, and stands up.

「…I will set out the first thing tomorrow.」

Oleander adds as she approaches the door, gripping at its concave wooden handle.

「Right. I'm heading to sleep. Cross your fingers that I wake up tomorrow.」

Willow says in a grumble as he stands up as well and heads for a door on the opposite end of the room.

「Please don't say that, Master Willow. You have plenty of years left… Now please excuse me.」

Though a little troubled, Oleander replies with a smile and a bow, then exits the room into the wooden-floored hallway…

…

Around the same time, in an eastern city, in the residential district…

Stripe is leading Straf and the rest through the bloodied streets as workers try to scrub away the splatters with brooms and buckets. The city is mostly empty, and the lanterns above seem to shine only for the group, and the unfortunate workers tasked with cleaning the bloody mess. Grimacing heavily, Stripe peeks over her shoulder at Straf's nonchalant, bored face.

「…Can't we just go to a normal inn?-」

「Nope.」

She asks, and Straf bluntly replies before she can even properly finish her sentence.

「Whyyyy? Do you have any idea how expensive this is going to be!?」

「Not my problem, you're paying.」

Stripe splays her arms with a pleading grimace, but Straf promptly ignores it after a quick peek. Greaves and Will glance at each other with troubled faces.

「Kuhhh… It should be here…」

Defeated, she grumbles out with her hatted head lowered as she turns to face a large, eastern-style mansion's door. Straf glances at his group, then gestures his head towards it while looking at Cycelia. She sheepishly approaches the sliding door and knocks her dainty fist on them, then waits as the rest group up behind her, Stripe, and Straf.

「Coming!…」

A man's voice comes from deep within the home. After a brief wait, the doors slide open.

「…Good evening. You're here for the home, yes? Good timing, I just finished cleaning.」

A partially bald man in a plain blue kimono emerges from the doorway. He looks at Straf and his group with curious eyes, peeking at the young men and women behind him too.

「Good evening… Yes, but…」

Stripe nods with a greatly demoralized, weary face. Her shoulders slump as she lets out a sigh.

「But?」

The man furrows his brows, tilting his balding head.

「…We're here to only rent for one day. One night, even. Would that be possible?」

Stripe asks with her mouth heavily scrunched to the side, glancing up at Straf's nonchalant face.

「For one night?」

The balding man asks with a quizzical nod as if certain he just misheard something.

「…I know how unusual this is, but would it be a problem?」

Resigned, she spreads her arms and shrugs her shoulders, furrowing her brows before letting out another sigh.

「Well, it wouldn't be a problem, but…」

The owner replies, bringing up a finger to his bald temple to rub it for a few moments as he thinks while looking at Straf and his group.

「…I was looking for longer-term tenants, you see. A few weeks, month, at least… And that's on the lower end.」

He explains, spreading his hands with a troubled grimace.

「I see… I understand…」

Defeated, Stripe shrugs her arms and begins to turn around.

「Wait… It wouldn't be a problem, but… I'm not really going to lower the initial payment to a fraction just because you want to rent it for the night. If you're willing to pay that…」

The bald owner holds his hand out, stopping Stripe. She turns back around, furrowing her brows before briefly glancing at Straf.

「…How much would you want?」

She asks warily.

「Eight gold-」「Eight gold!?… Khhkhhhh…」

The man replies with a shrug. Stripe instantly cringes in dismay and grimaces in pain as she reluctantly reaches into her sleeve with her head lowered.

「…But I'd feel bad if I'd charge you that for one night, so how about I take eight, and give you back half if you don't trash the place by tomorrow?」

He clarifies while rubbing the back of his neck with an apologetic grimace.

「Ahhhhh… Thank you very much…」

Stripe lets out a large sigh of relief as she slips off the loop of gold coins from her wrist and unties it.

「…Hnhhhhhggggh… This is a year of my life at least…」

Clink. Clink. Clink…

She whines as if on the verg of tears while reluctantly dropping coins into the owner's waiting hand, wincing with each clink.

「Huh? What do you do-? Oh, these are some old coins…」

The balding owner asks, but quickly gets distracted by the old and rare design of the coins in his hand, raising his brows in surprise.

「…Alright, that's eight. If you keep the place more or less clean, I'll give back a half. Let me give you a quick tour, then.」

…Clink.

He nods his bald head when Stripe drops the last coin, tying the very sparse loop of coins back up with a uniquely pained grimace on her face.

She slips it back onto her wrist, sliding it back onto her forearm as she follows the man inside with the rest.

「Bedroom one…」

「…Two…」

「…Kitchen…」

The owner leads Straf and the group around the house, sliding doors open and pointing his hand into the rooms. The home itself is a rather old construction, very visibly different from the rest around itself, but is also clearly kept well maintained. The wooden floors are clean, the paper walls are off-white, and the woven mats making the flooring of most rooms are straw-yellow. The bald owner slides another door open, and points his hand inside.

「…Bathroom.」

He declares with a nonchalant shrug and a rather bored face. Within the room there is a large cast iron tub, a bucket, and a stove beneath the tub, presumably to heat the water. The room itself is built and lined with treated wood, and light of the lanterns shines in through gaps in the small sliding wooden window above, which is currently closed.

「Uwaaaa! I was wondering when I'd get to take a hot bath!… Who's first?…」

Nona declares with joy on her face as she steps into the room and looks around, smiling broadly.

「Ah. There's foreigners with you?」

The owner asks while glancing at Straf and Stripe.

「We are foreigners.」

Straf nonchalantly replies. The bald man's brows shoot up in surprise.

「Wha-? Why, I'd have never guessed!…」

The owner replies, and his eyes dart over him and his party. Stripe extends her finger to object, but then changes her mind.

「…I'd never guess that you are, at least. You don't sound foreign in the slightest.」

「Damn, but if I'd say that, it'd be a huge controversy.」

Straf lets out an amused scoff, shrugging his shoulders with his hands casually remaining his pockets, smirking a little over his shoulder at his group.

「Eh?…」

The bald owner tilts his head in confusion, furrowing his brows at Stripe in search of an answer.

「…Alicia, want to take a bath with me?」

Nona asks with a cheeky grin as she turns around on her heel and leans forward.

「Ah!? Eh!?… N- No… I can wait…」

A little surprised she's being directly addressed, Alicia perks up, fumbling with her silver rod before returning a strong shake of her head.

「Tehe… I see… How about you, Straf?」

Nona asks, narrowing her amber eyes at Straf with a mischievous glint in them.

「Nah, I don't need to. Play a game with Lia to figure out who goes first… Or wrestle, I dunno…」

Straf casually turns Nona down with a shrug of his shoulders, then turns down the hall to explore the rest of the home. The owner comes with, and the group quickly joins them…