In the early morning, on a forest road not too far from the shore…

A prolonged, rapid chirping of a bird somewhere deep amidst the trees breaks up the foggy, early morning silence. The birds, along with the rest of the forest fauna slowly wakes. The carriage drivers stir, and lazily sit up on their mats.

They look around. Straf is still wiggling his foot on his knee while laying down on his mat, and a tiny flame licks the remaining charred wood in the campfire. The mustached older driver stretches a little, and gets up to approach Straf.

「Thank you for keeping watch. Do you figure we should wake everyone else, too?」

The driver asks, and looks at Greaves. The young adventurer looks back at him with heavy eyelids and crossed arms, but remains awake.

「I guess. Runtime's a wastin'.」

Straf sits up with a grunt, and looks at Greaves himself while the drivers go and shake everyone awake.

「Hey, Carrothead, get in the carriage before someone has to carry you there.」

Straf says towards him with a slanted mouth, and gets up as well.

「I have a name…」

Greaves slurs in response, and sniffles, briefly wiggling his nose.

「Yeah, okay Pants, get in the carriage.」

Straf rolls his eyes and reiterates. Greaves drowsily rubs his face with his palm, gets up, and shambles into the carriage.

The mustached driver manages to wake almost everyone, except Lily. As soon as he approaches and reaches for her, her crimson eyes snap open to his. He jumps back, pulling his hand away with his eyes open in fear.

「I did not permit you to put your hands on me, human. I can wake on my own.」

Lily says, glaring at the driver. He shrinks, trying to make himself look small.

「S- Sorry… I'll keep that in mind…」

He apologetically nods his head, backing away without turning away.

「You better, if you want to keep your arms.」

She cautions, and immediately covers her mouth with her clawed hand to hide a yawn. Lily gets up, and walks up to Straf.

「Straf, good morning.」

「Yeah, morning, Lily.」

Straf and Lily exchange morning greetings, and Cycelia walks up to them with a light smile.

「Lily, Straf, good morning.」

She says, smiling at both of them with a little nod at each.

「…Indeed.」

Lily says with her arms crossed, momentarily looking at Cycelia before looking aside.

「Morning to you too, Lia. Are we ready to go then? It was meant to be a beach episode not a beach arc.」

Straf asks, spreading his hand with palm upward as he looks at them both.

「Mhm. Mr. Driver, will we be heading out soon!?」

Cycelia nods her head, and turns to loudly ask the mustached driver from across the camp while he's packing the mats back onto the carriage.

「Yes, your highness! As soon as we yoke the horses! Everyone can climb in, if they wish!」

He nods over his shoulder, and shouts back. Straf shrugs his shoulders, and walks to the carriage. Greaves and his party approach the door as well.

「Ladies first.」

Straf points his palm at the open door, and snidely smirks at Will. The corner of his upper lip twitches as he scowls back in silence.

「Ah, thank you…」

Alicia nods with a polite smile as she walks past him, and climbs into the carriage, taking a seat next to Greaves as he's slumped and asleep onto the cabin wall. When Alicia slips past by them, Will has a smug smirk of his own.

Will continues smirking in satisfaction at Straf, remaining standing where he is. Lily and Cycelia take it as a cue to follow Alicia in as well, presuming it as a token of gentlemanly respect. Straf's snide smirk slowly fades into a slanted mouth.

Lian enters just after the two, glancing momentarily at Straf's face as she climbs in.

「If you see any goblins or something like that on the road, run them over. If you see bandits attacking another carriage, ignore it.」

Straf tells the drivers while they secure the horses, pointing his finger at them.

「If we're suddenly enveloped by a thick fog… Well, I'll think of something, but I'll be pissed.」

He adds, rubbing his chin as he thinks. He then shrugs, and starts climbing into the carriage.

「Heh.」

A scornful scoff escapes Will's smug grin.

「Tsk. What a win, huh?」

Straf clicks his tongue and grumbles under his breath, taking a seat inside. Satisfied, Will starts to climb in as well.

「Ah… There's no space…」

He remarks as soon as he peeks his head in, looking at their side of the carriage. The entire seating is already occupied by Lian, Alicia, and Greaves, with him taking up most of the space, slumped over to the side.

「Tsk… We might have to-」

Will quietly says, reaching for Greaves's shoulder past Alicia.

Fwap-crreak.

The entire carriage bobs, and its underside lets out a quiet little strained creak when Lian grabs Will's waist with her arms, and pulls him in into her lap. His robes make a clothy slapping noise when he lands.

「Lian!?…」

He quietly exclaims in shock, with his eyes wide open. He sits frozen like a statue, with her arms still wrapped around his waist, and Alicia even covers her mouth with her hands due to the sudden development.

「There's plenty of space still, no? And your friend will not give us peace of mind if we wake him, so why not give him some?」

Lian casually asks, one hand holding the other's wrist around his waist.

「T- That m- May be so, b- But…」

「But?」

She tilts her head behind his back when Will's stammering voice trails off, holding his index finger up with a wobbling hand.

「A- Aren't you going to be uncomfortable like this?…」

Will asks, and adjusts his glasses with his face as red as a tomato. He looks at Straf, and he's looking back at him with a massive smug grin and his arms crossed. Will clenches his teeth from the red-faced embarrassment.

「I'll manage for a while.」

She says, and the carriage moves. Lian rests her chin on his shoulder, causing him to instinctively tilt his head away a little with an abashed, nervous grin. With Greaves still asleep, drooling over himself, they continue onward…

…

Around the same time, in the capital's dungeon…

Clunk!

「Hey, Arthur… Why don't you cut it out already?」

Nona says, and brings the hammer above her head.

Clunk!

With a two-handed swing, she brings it down on Arthur's forearm with a meaty sound of impact and muffled fracturing bones. Arthur doesn't react, and his golden head hangs low.

「Eh? Again?…」

She tilts her head, blinking in surprise at the response, or lack thereof, holding her hammer close to her militaristic jacket.

「Arthur, why don't you stop pretending it doesn't hurt already?」

She asks, and waits in silence. She receives no reply, causing her to grin a little in confusion.

《Huh? Huh!? Did I-? No no no no, no way. There's no chance.》

Her confused grin grows wider, and her face twists into a somewhat nervous expression.

「Arthur?…」

Nona calls out, taking a hesitant step forward and hugging into her hammer for comfort, leaning down a little in an attempt to get a look at Arthur's face.

《This is bad… Did I actually kill him? Oh no. I didn't mean to! I didn't hit him in the head, or-!》

Stolen novel; please report.

She thinks, then blinks as she realizes something.

《That's right. I might have gone a little too far, but I didn't hit him anywhere that could kill him. Is he actually dead?》

「Hey… Arthur?」

Nona meekly calls out and draws closer, placing one of her hands in front of his mouth and nose. She waits for a few seconds, and feels a weak stream of warm air hit her wet fingers.

《Ah?- Is he breathing?》

She thinks, and moves her hand to his chest, pressing her palm against it. She pulls her hand away, and sighs in great relief.

《Ahhh… It's weak and slow, but it's there… I should probably stop right now…》

Nona takes a step back and looks at the bloodied, battered captain of Ossen guard. Both his hands and all his fingers are swollen, purple and red from massive bruising, and most of them are bent in an unnatural way.

After a few moments of looking at Arthur with an anxious, tight-lipped grimace on her face, she takes small steps towards the tool table, and quietly sets the hammer down, barely making a sound. She returns to the front of the chair.

「Nnnh…」

《What do I doo? He didn't sign the form… But now I can't even make him sign it.》

Looking aside, at one of the candles she lets out a troubled groan as she thinks, fidgeting with her thumbs behind her back.

《Maybe he will know what to do?》

Nona glances at the door, before her amber eyes return to Arthur. She backs away, not turning away until she's within the door's reach. She opens it, and looks at Arthur one last time before leaving.

《Thank you, Arthur.》

She thinks with a smile on her face, and shuts the door behind her. Nona slowly, hesitantly walks up the stairs to meet the manhunter guarding the dungeon, with her hands anxiously clasped behind her back.

「Heey…」

She meekly calls out, approaching his desk.

「Yeah? Quiet day today. Heard that guy was pretty important, captain of the guard or some such. Wouldn't want to make a mistake with someone like him, huh?」

The Ministry manhunter chuckles, leaning onto his desk with his elbow.

「Yeaah… Listen, what do I do if he refused to sign that form?…」

Nona asks with a tight-lipped grimace and guilty orange eyes.

「Huh. He's a tough cookie, isn't he? Well…」

He replies, and leans back in his chair as he crosses his arms, nodding his head as he thinks.

「…We can't hold him here without any evidence or charges. Even the guards couldn't do that. If he'd sign the form, then we just hand him to the court, and the court gives him a lenient sentence, but… Well, but he's not willing to do that, right?」

He asks, looking up into Nona's troubled eyes.

「Right. He absolutely refuses to.」

She nods her hatted head.

「Right. Well, then I'm sorry to say, there's not much you can do. In fact, he could file a complaint with the court for an unlawful arrest, and then you'd be in trouble. Unless you have some physical evidence, or at least a witness. You do, right?」

He nods his head as he asks.

「Uhhhhhh…」

Her amber eyes escape his gaze sideways, and she awkwardly grins a little.

「Good grief… Well, there's nothing you can do, then. Except wait for your court summons, I guess… Man, you got really unlucky.」

He lowers his head and shrugs his shoulders, grinning a little while shaking his head.

「Why did you even arrest him, if you have no evidence?」

The Ministry agent looks back up, and asks.

「Uhhhhhhh… Ummm…」

「If that's going to be your answer in court, I guess I'll see you soon.」

He scoffs, and sarcastically remarks.

「…How long does it take to get court summons?」

Nona hesitantly asks, looking at the Ministry guard with furrowed brows, fidgeting with her thumbs behind her back.

「Hm? Well, that depends. If he files it immediately… Two, three days. Give or take. Usually the guards would handle delivering that, but since they're gone, and we know each other, I suppose someone from the Ministry will do that.」

He shrugs, grimacing a little indifferently.

「Ahhh… I see…」

Nona nods a few times, returning her head lower and lower with each nod.

「Hey, chin up, maybe he'll demand a written apology or some shit. But I wouldn't hope for that… Are you done with him, then? Can I send him home?」

He asks, nodding his head towards the stairs.

「Uh- Ah… Yeah. I guess so… Good work today.」

Nona nods her head, and tips the brim of her cap to bid the Ministry manhunter farewell. A flash of red catches his eyes, and they widen for a second. He furrows his brows greatly as she jogs to the door.

《Was that?…》

He thinks as he's slowly standing up, while Nona shuts the door behind her.

《…No, no way. Why would it be? Things were quiet today.》

He scoffs at his own thoughts, and starts walking down the stairs, shaking his head.

「Man, I'm so tired I'm seeing things…」

《But then again, I saw her hands bloodied so many times, that I probably assume they just are by now.》

He chuckles, shaking his head again as he approaches the door of the torture-interrogation chamber.

「Hey, sorry for keeping you for-」

He exclaims in a loud, clear voice as he opens the door and enters.

「…So long.」

The Ministry manhunter finishes his sentence, slowly. He approaches the chair with his brows furrowed, and eyes staring in sheer shock at the man.

《…Did she fucking kill him? Why wasn't he screaming?》

He thinks as he walks up, looking at the man's obvious signs of torture with morbid amazement.

「Hey. Are you alive?」

He asks the prisoner, and receives no reply. He moves his thumb and finger to each side of the man's throat.

《Right. He has a heartbeat. Did he seriously sit through all this in silence?…》

He thinks, looking at the blonde man in utter disbelief on his face, blinking in shock. Meanwhile, on the surface, Nona squats down near a bucket of clean water.

She reaches for a rag, and notices the back of her hands and a little of the fingers is stained with red blood. Nona brings her hand up to look at it. Her amber eyes blink curiously, like a child watching something confusing, but interesting.

Like a cat, she gives her balled hand a large lick. In an instant, a taste of iron fills her mouth.

「Ha… Hahaha… Ahaha…」

With her head low, she grips onto her hat's brim to keep it on. Nona clutches onto the nearby well's stones for better balance, poorly restraining laughter. Some of her cackling slips through her massive grin regardless.

《This is bad. This is really bad. I'm in trouble. But it was so much fun. Ahhh, I feel so bad for Arthur, too. He really didn't deserve that…》

「Haha… Ahahaha…」

She looks up at the slowly brightening, cloudy sky, and clutches onto her grin to try and hold back her manic giggling.

《He's really amazing. I think I broke his bones into a pulp, and he didn't scream. What a terrible thing to do to someone…》

「Ahahahaha…」

Flapflapflapflap!

While her giggling intensifies, a crow swoops in and lands on the roof of the dungeon. It looks at her, tilting its head, almost as if curious about what she's laughing at.

《I'm in really big trouble… But that was so fun. I'm sorry, Arthur. It shouldn't be so fun to hurt you, but it was. I'm really grateful for everything. Ahhh… Will Straf save me again? What if he doesn't?》

Caw!… Caw!… Caw!

「Ahahaha!」

The crow loudly caws, looking straight at Nona. She lowers her hand from her grin, letting go a fell laughter, looking at the coal-black bird.

Caw! Caw! Caw!… Caw! Caw! Caw!

It cries out while she cackles, almost as if laughing with her…