The next morning, in Straf's room…

Gentle sunlight floods in through the window. Straf opens his eyes and glances at the two in his arms. Both Stripe and Cycelia stir when he moves slightly, slowly waking.

「Good morning. Slept well?」

Straf asks as Cycelia opens and rubs her emerald eyes with the back of her dainty hands. A few seconds later, Stripe opens her groggy eyes as well.

「H- Huh?…」

Cycelia utters out, turning her drowsy, fatigued eyes to Straf.

「I asked if you slept well, Lia.」

He repeats himself with a lightly raised brow. Cycelia props herself up to sitting.

「…Not really.」

She replies, and covers her mouth as she yawns.

「Really?… What about you, furball?」

Straf turns his gaze to Stripe, and pats her on her head a few times.

「…Me neither.」

Stripe says with half-closed eyes, nearly falling back asleep.

「Huh, really?… Well, I feel great! In fact, this was probably the best sleep I ever got!… Good timing, too, I've got a lot of shit to do today.」

After briefly tilting his head in confusion, Straf sits up as well, throwing Stripe off his chest, waking her up somewhat. He grins at Cycelia's tired face, and looks into her half-lidded eyes.

「What are you, a sleep vampire?…」

Stripe asks while propping herself up on her elbows, and lets out a fatigued sigh.

「…Wasn't there a thing about how sleeping with virgins in one bed would rejuvenate a man? You don't even technically don't even need to do stuff with 'em, just sleep.」

Straf rubs his chin, thinking with his brows furrowed.

「V- Virgins!?」

Cycelia's drowsy eyes snap wide open, and quickly turn to Stripe's, which are now open in shock as well.

「Yeah. You're a proper noble lady, so that's a given, Lia…」

Straf shrugs his shoulders with a nonchalant expression on his face.

「…I'll just have to trust her word on it.」

He adds, pointing his thumb at Stripe over his shoulder. Her jaw drops.

「Wha-!?」

Stripe exclaims in indignant, shocked tone, then shoots up to her knees with her claws raised.

Zzzap!

「Ow!… Owowow…」

The collar on her neck activates, painfully zapping Stripe. She immediately winces and collapses back to the bed, clutching at the collar.

「…You just had a nasty thought, didn't you?」

Straf asks while looking at her with his mouth aslant.

「Your whole being is nasty!… Shit!…」

Stripe shouts back, then hammers her fist onto the bed with a loud thwump in frustration.

「Well… No sense wasting this energy, time to do stuff…」

Straf throws the blanket off of himself and shuffles over to his boots, slipping them on. He stands up and places his hands in his pockets.

「…I'll go see that spiritually-bald prick and tell him this too, but since the ultimatum deadline is coming up, I'll need you to send a diplomat to their place, alright?」

「Uh-huh…」

Cycelia nods her chestnut head as her emerald eyes slowly return to their fatigued look.

「Right. I'll need him to tell 'em that I'll meet with them at their border. That's all. No rush, we still have some time…」

Straf shrugs, and walks out of the room.

「…See you later, Lia.」

He adds, and closes the door. Stripe and Cycelia blankly blink at it for a few moments.

「Then… I guess I'll sleep a little longer…」

Cycelia declares, and lies back down on Straf's bed while Stripe watches.

With her golden eyes focused on her, Cycelia falls asleep nearly instantly, luxuriantly comfortable without much effort. Stripe looks at the bed, and one of the pillows looks incredibly inviting.

「…Guess for a little while too… Won't hurt…」

She mumbles out, then sets herself down on the cloud-like soft pillow, and falls asleep the next instant beside Cycelia.

A few minutes later, the door opens again. A maid peeks her face in, first looking at the floor, then at the desk in the other side of the room, eyes expertly darting around in search of dust.

「Wha-!?…」

When her gaze arrives to the bed to see if it's messy, her white-cuffed hand shoots up to cover her mouth.

Wide-eyed, she looks at the queen with her chestnut head splayed on the bed, and a beastwoman sleeping right next to her on the minister's bed. Slowly, quietly, she backs out.

Clack…

《This is no good!… This is no good at all! I better keep this to myself!…》

Gently closing the door, the shocked maid runs off, covering her mouth with her hands…

…

A few hours later, in the afternoon…

Sitting on a park bench, Straf watches the lake with a bored expression. A man emerges from the sparse crowd on the road near the small plaza, and without a word, sits down beside Straf.

「…Here's the details. You will be split into two teams…」

Without as much as glancing at the man, only slightly turning his head to him so he can be heard clearer, Straf hands the silent man a tied file folder.

「…Familiarize your teams with the new equipment, and organize them so they're well-suited for their team's task. Be ready by the no-later-than date.」

Straf continues explaining while the man silently glosses over the documents. There are folded, marked maps within, alongside some color photographs with markers like arrows and circles.

「I understand… But I have one question…」

The man nods, looking ahead at the lake with Straf.

「Hooooh?… It's a complex operation unlike the last one… But I thought I made everything clear?」

Straf smirks, and side-glances at the man.

「No, it's not that…」

The man shakes his head as he returns the documents back into the folder, and ties it up. He then turns his eyes to Straf's lap.

「…Why the duck?」

He asks, and under his furrowed brow, his gaze meets Straf's. Straf scoffs, and continues petting the duck in his lap.

「Isn't it obvious?… It's because they're free, and I needed something to occupy myself with…」

Straf replies, and sets the bird down on the ground. With a pitter-patter of its feet against the stones below, it runs a few steps away and noisily takes flight.

Fwapfwapfwap!…

「…The kingdom is counting on you.」

He adds as he stands up, and walks away, merging into the crowd. The silent man stands up, concealing the file folder underneath his jacket, and returns to the street…

…

Around the same time, in Straf's bedroom…

Stripe wakes up, slowly opening her eyes. Groggy and confused, she sits up.

「Hngh!?…」

Stripe nearly chokes when she sees the bright, noon-colored light pouring in through the window. She jumps out of the bed and slips her shoes on.

「Eh?… Huh?…」

Cycelia wakes up from the commotion, bouncing slightly on the bed when Stripe jumps off.

「Job! Job! Job!…」

Stripe exclaims, and runs out of the room.

「Huh?… Ah, wait…」

Cycelia tries to call out to stop her, but is far too groggy still to raise her voice enough. She lets out a fatigued sigh, and rubs her eyes as she sits up…

…

At the same time, in the palace hallways…

「Job, job, job! Stupid!…」

Stripe runs towards the stairs with her teeth clenched. The wind tickles her ears gently. She slides to a stop, and looks back.

「My hat!… Tsk!…」

She exclaims, clutching onto her bare head. After only a moment, she clicks her tongue and continues running for the stairs.

《…I don't have the time to go back for my hat! I didn't have the time to sleep in either!》

Stripe clenches her teeth and slides down the stairs' railing. At the landing between the floors, a maid narrowly jumps out of her way. She carries onward, sliding down the rest of the way.

《Ahhhhhh!… I bet everyone just left!…》

Panting as she sprints, Stripe clenches her fists in frustration…

…

Half an hour later, after a run after near-constant speed, Stripe arrives at the consumer goods factory.

「Oh no…」

She utters out with her shoulders slumped, when she notices nobody is waiting around the door. She squats down, curling up into a ball and clutching onto her head.

「…Wait, maybe he gave them a key?」

Her golden eyes suddenly perk up to the door. She shoots back up to her feet and runs up to the factory's door, then pulls on the handle.

Thudthudthud.

Stripe tugs and pushes on the locked door. Slightly taken aback, she pulls her key out.

《Maybe they just locked themselves in?…》

She thinks, fumbling with the key at the lock. After a few attempts, she finally gets it in.

Cla-clack!…

「Hey!…」

Stripe exclaims as she swings the door open. Her voice trails off when her golden eyes scan around the factory, and find all the workplaces empty.

「…Aggghhhhhhhhhh! I messed up!」

She exclaims, squatting down into a ball again.

《What do I do now?… Do I work alone?… No, stupid! I'd never outpace the rest of them alone!…》

Stripe thinks, clutching onto her head while her animal ears fold down.

「Wait!…」

An idea springs in her head, and she shoots up to her feet.

Slam!

She quickly pulls the door shut and locks it, taking the key with her as she runs off again.

《…They don't know I overslept! I just need to go find the workers!》

Stripe pants and pants as she runs out of the warehouse district, heading directly for the capital's slums…

…

An hour later, in one of the poorer districts of the capital…

「Haaaah… Haaaaaah… I'm gonna die… Haaaah…」

With her hands on her knees, Stripe gasps for air. She looks at one of the run-down, barely standing, heavily dilapidated residential buildings meant to house several families right next to each other in small units. She takes a quick glance at the space around her. The streets are simply grim. Buildings in disrepair line the road, also in disrepair, for as far as the eye can see. Scattered trash gets blown by winds every few moments, and dark alleyways invite scum of all sorts to reside in their shadows. Stripe turns her golden eyes back to the residential building.

《…Can't die yet!》

「Haah… Haah…」

Still panting heavily, she runs up to one of the doors and slams her fist on it.

Thud thud thudthudthud!

She leans onto the doorframe, desperately trying to catch her breath while her heart races from the strain of running across the city. After a few moments, she bangs on the door again.

「Haah… Come onnn…」

Thudthudthudthudthud!

After the second attempt, her ears twitch and swivel when she hears a noise from within. Still breathing heavily, she manages to catch her breath enough to straighten out as someone inside is shuffling slowly to the door, now standing directly behind it. Though panting, she tries her best to make herself presentable and serious, standing up straight.

The moment the door opens, she notices a knife pointed at her through the gap.

「Eh?…」

Her eyes widen in surprise, then shoot to the face in the doorway.

「Oh… It's just you…」

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

The incredibly tense old man in the doorway relaxes significantly, when his eyes beneath his bushy, furrowed brows catch a glimpse of Stripe's face. His shoulders slump, and he lowers the knife.

「…What's going on? Are you in trouble?」

He asks as he pulls the door further aside, as far as the narrow entryway will let him. An old woman peeks past him behind his shoulder. Stripe recognizes both as the factory workers.

「Haah… No… Well…」

Quickly shaking her head, Stripe denies, but then quickly winces with discomfort on her face. The old couple glance at each other with confused expressions.

「…Ahem. I am terribly sorry, but I couldn't sleep tonight, and I overslept! There's still time, so we could go work!」

Stripe apologizes, then explains with her palms up, gesturing heavily, pointing in the general direction of the factory with her eyes wide open, and her lips pressed together into narrow lines.

「…Huh? What do you mean?」

The old man only gets further confused, tilting his head as Stripe explains herself.

「What I mean is… I will take full responsibility, and I will try to get you all paid for a full day of work! Just please come to work and do your best!」

「Eh?… Now?」

The man scratches his head, and glances at the old woman, who is equally confused.

「Yes! Now! Look!… The sun is still up! We could get a lot of work done still!」

Stripe points at the sun high in the sky, and desperately tries to plead with the unconvinced man and woman. His old, weathered and wrinkled face gains a troubled grimace.

「We gotta work on days of rest too?…」

He asks in a rather troubled and displeased tone, shrugging his arms.

「…I don't think that's legal?」

The old woman behind him chimes in. With his mouth slightly open in confusion, he shakes his head, agreeing with her.

「Huh?… What do you mean?」

Stripe tilts her head, and blinks her confused eyes at the two.

「Well… The law says no one's allowed to force us to work on days of rest if we don't want to work, right?… Do we have to work today?…」

The old man asks, shrugging his shoulders, and he briefly points his hand in the general direction of the factory.

「Wh- What do you mean, day of rest?」

Her golden eyes continue to blink in disbelief as Stripe's face gains a nervous grin.

「Well, don't you know? It's a day of rest today. We're supposed to rest-」

「Aaaaaaaaaaggghhhhhh!…」

Stripe interrupts the man's explanation by curling up into a ball and clutching onto her head again.

「Uh… Boss?… Miss? Are you alright?…」

Slightly concerned by her pained and anguished reaction, the old man leans over her with his bushy brows furrowed.

「…Of all the days I could have picked to work extra hard on… Why did I have to pick a day where I could have just slept in!?」

Stripe shouts into her knees in a voice full of dismay…

…

A few days later, two days before the Parnatau ultimatum deadline…

Just as he crosses the palace gates on his way out, Straf rolls his eyes as he Sir Vinis rapidly close in while flapping a sheet of paper in his hand.

「Minister!… Minister! We need to talk! This is urgent!」

Sir Vinis exclaims, tapping the paper in his hand with his free hand.

「What, someone suggested alcohol prohibition?」

Straf asks with his mouth aslant, throwing his hands up.

「No, but equally destructive!… Have you seen the prices of things lately!?」

The ruler magnate asks, moving himself shoulder to shoulder with Straf.

「Seen? I paid them.」

He replies with his fists on his hips. Sir Vinis taps the sheet of paper in his hand.

「Look, minister!… Meal of the day at an inn in the capital… Forty drakes! Golden!… A bottle of undrinkable wine goes for as much as sixty! A box of grapes goes for five, to ten!」

The magnate reads through some of the points on his list, completely shocked.

「So? What's the problem? Sounds like you're in a good place to earn some drakes off your wine…」

Straf shrugs, then continues onward. Sir Vinis steps in his way, much to his frustration.

「The problem is the workers are not interested in working unless they receive higher wages!…」「Oh, the horror… 」

Sir Vinis replies, causing Straf to scoff with a smirk on his face.

「…Minister, the mood in the capital is almost seditious! You need to do something, at least say something to calm the people!」

「Tsk…」

Straf clicks his tongue and lets out a sigh before rubbing his temple with his finger.

「…It's already being worked on. First, I need to pick up a delivery. I'll address the unwashed masses and their inflation problem later today. Make it in the afternoon.」

He replies, and pushes Sir Vinis out of the way with his hand, clearing the way. He nods his long-haired head, then heads towards the palace, staring at his sheet of paper…

…

In the afternoon, in the royal palace, at the prominent speech balcony…

Outside the palace fence, a large, scowling crowd waits with their arms crossed for someone to appear up on the balcony. Soon, their wishes are granted, and dressed in his stylish coat with a Ministry of Security hat upon his head, he appears on the balcony with Cycelia right beside him. With a crown on her chestnut head and a mantle draped over her shoulders, she waves her dainty hand towards the crowd with a warm, gentle smile, but it does very little to soften their scowls.

「Good afternoon, people of the kingdom!…」

Straf exclaims, and leans onto the balustrade, sizing the angry crowd up. Crossing his arms, he nods with a grimacing approval.

「…As you may know, I am Straf. Katastrof. Vindict… The Minister of Finances!」

He adds, smirking at them. His attitude and held position only seems to rouse the crowd further. Loud, angry grumbling begins below.

「…I know what you're thinking! Life is hard right now, things are expensive!… You know who's to blame, right!?」

Straf asks, spreading his coat-covered arms. Glaring up at him, the crowd nearly explodes in anger, but they manage to maintain a mask of civility and continue listening.

Fwap!…

With a flap of his sleeve, Straf points his finger at the new seat of the government in construction off in the distance.

「It's those rotten bastards' fault! I'm doing my best to bring prosperity to you, but they're loading up their pockets!…」「Eh? Straf?」

Straf shouts, leaning onto the balustrade while pointing his other hand at the distant building. Cycelia's head perks up at Straf's unusual approach of blaming the government.

「…I brought you paper drakes, which made trade easier and faster! Gone are the days of hauling heavy ass gold to buy some bread!…」

He exclaims as he pulls his index finger away with his other hand's thumb.

「…Have you seen the stock market lately!? Everyone who heeded my word in the beloved by everyone photo magazines is now rich!… It's not over yet, I will bring prosperity back!」

Straf asks, pointing his hand in the general direction of the bank. He then brings his hand up again, and pulls his middle finger away, counting up.

The people in the crowd glance at each other. Still angry, their scowls soften into wary disapproval, and they nod along.

「The prices!… I was on a trip to handle the kingdom's business lately… How did they let the prices get to this point!? With every step I take forward, they take two steps back!…」

He shouts, pointing his hand at the government building in-construction again. Some people in the crowd begin nodding along with more force.

「…We have many external and internal enemies, friends! You don't need to do anything, I will handle them! They are getting cocky, and they are crossing the line!…」

Straf wags his finger at the crowd, staring in the same direction as the new seat of the government.

「Yeah, that's right!…」「…Those thievin' rats!…」「…I can't afford anything anymore!」

The crowd begins shouting, rather than at Straf, they begin complaining to him. He holds his hands up, silencing the crowd.

「I hear you!… I am well aware of your problems! I am but one man, and I need time to fix it!… Soon, I will be heading to Parnatau Kingdom to secure a favorable trade deal!…」

He exclaims, and points his hand in a very vague direction, somewhere far away.

「…You will see prosperity again!… Which no doubt, our internal enemies will try to squander!… If they try, they will regret it!」

Straf wags his finger again, throwing out promises both to the crowd and to the internal enemies.

「Yeah!…」「…Woo!…」「…Death to the kingdom's enemies!」

Still angry, the people begin clapping, very pleased by Straf's words. Already somewhat concerned, Cycelia furrows her brows further.

「In the meantime, if you a struggling for money, invest! Invest in stocks, invest in Strafsteelworks bills!… Do not let our enemies pick you apart!…」

Fwap!…

He throws his arm aside, noisily flapping his coat's sleeve again. The people nod, slowly regaining smiles.

「…Remember this!… Our enemies have names and faces! We know who they are! They think they're safe in the shadows, but I have a vampire lamp for those kingdom's bloodsuckers!」

Straf throws his index finger up with a lofty declaration. The crowd cheers, chuckling and grinning. They clap their hands in approval.

「Um… Straf…」

Cycelia meekly tugs on Straf's sleeve, drawing his attention.

「Yeah?」

「…I'm starting to draw some parallels with what you've told me about your old world.」

She replies, nervously glancing down at the feverish, cheering crowd. Straf pulls his peaked cap off his head, and looks at the metal dragon and the skeleton adorning it.

「…Only now?」

He asks, squinting in disbelief.

「Wah!…」

He quickly sets his hat back on his head, then pulls Cycelia closer by her shoulder. She lets out a quiet, surprised yelp.

「…And now an encouraging word from your rightful queen!」

Straf declares, and presents Cycelia with his free hand.

「Huh!? Eh!? Now!?」

Her emerald eyes snap wide open and blink at his grinning face.

「Go on, Lia. You can do it. Just tell 'em what they really need to hear.」

Straf whispers into her ear, then nods at the waiting, smiling crowd. Curling her lips inward, she turns to them.

「Um… Um!…」

Her eyes dart over the crowd waiting for her words.

「…There will be a free feast tomorrow!-」

She announces with a smile and a wave of her hand.

「Hail! Hail! Hail!…」「…Hail! Hail! Hail!…」「…Hail! Hail! Hail!…」

The crowd erupts into furious cheering, waving their arms towards Cycelia, jumping up and down.

「Nice. You're getting really good at this, Lia. This is exactly what they wanted to hear.」

Straf grins with his fists on his coated hips, nodding in approval at the feverish mob below.

「…Are they doing the arm salu-?」

Cycelia asks, pointing at the forest of raised arms.

「…Hail! Hail! Hail!…」「…Hail! Hail! Hail!…」「…Hail! Hail! Hail!…」

「No, Lia. They're just waving. That's all it is. Don't look too hard into it.」

Straf replies, turning his tight-lipped grimace to her while the crowd continues shouting a short, efficient cheer…