Holding her hand, Straf pulls Stripe back to roughly the center of the ballroom and finds some free dancing space. He turns to her, and when her golden eyes accidentally meet his, she quickly turns her face away. Straf then places his hand on the back of her waist while the band continues playing the quick, energetic music.

「W- What are you doing!? Keep your hands to yourself!-」

Stripe stiffens at Straf's touch, and looks at him with a reddened face. She tries to forcefully pull away, but trips over Straf's leg, and pulls him with herself with an accidental leg hook.

Almost falling on her back, Straf quickly catches her after he adjusts his stance. He looks at her with his mouth aslant, holding her propped up on his arm, and holding her hand with his other one, outstretched outward as if he just lowered her down. She blinks her golden eyes at his, then turns them aside to see if anyone noticed her blunder.

《Ahhhhh! Of course they saw! They're all looking!》

Clenching her teeth, she turns her face the other way, away from the staring, now-thinned crowd.

「…I'm trying to dance with you. That's a fancy move you've pulled off right there.」

Straf replies, scrunching his mouth to the side, and he showily pulls her back up to her feet for all to see.

「Weh!?」

Stripe exclaims in surprise as in one fluid motion, Straf pulls her hand up and spins her around.

Pat.

Before she realizes it, Straf places his hand back onto her waist, and readjusts his hold on her hand. He then forces her to shuffle along left and right with him in rhythm to the music. The onlookers are rather impressed, and nod along to each other in approval of the novel dance. A few of the noblewomen have decided to practice the moves. Some are slowly pirouetting around with their hands held by their men, and some are slowly lowered nearly to the ground, before being pulled back up.

「W- What's so fun about this!? It's just stepping side to side, and getting spun around!」

Stripe asks while clutching onto Straf's shoulder with her free hand.

「I don't know, honestly.」

「Huh!?」

Straf nonchalantly shrugs his shoulders, together Stripe's hand upon one of them. Her jaw drops in shock.

「…Then why are we dancing!?」

She exclaims, shaking her head in deep confusion, and completely red-faced.

「'Cause no one listens to what the dancing people are saying… Thanks to you not being here when I needed you, I had to order the guards to do menial shit for me.」

He sighs out in frustration as they continue shuffling left and right rapidly.

「Why do I have to do menial things!?」

「Because you're my slave… Anyway, it's too late now. I wanted you to handle the sale of the magazines, and to hang up information around town on how to recognize fake foreign bills.」

She exclaims, and Straf calmly replies. He lets out a resigned sigh, and shrugs as he explains.

「What fake foreign bills?…」

Stripe asks, furrowing her brows a little.

「Whoops, guess I'm getting a little ahead of myself… Forget it. It's solved. I had the guards do it instead.」

Straf sucks air through his teeth, before shrugging in response again. Stripe turns her gaze away from Straf as she thinks, blinking at the floor behind him. The two continue dancing, and Straf idly looks around the room. Lian is now dancing with Greaves, or rather, she's laughing while holding him by his hands, lifting him up like a puppet on strings as he stumbles while trying to follow her moves. Will and Alicia look on from the side, while Shien is slowly going through the line of women still waiting for him to dance with them.

「…I wish you relied on me to do important stuff. I don't want to do menial things, and I can't talk to people. Why can't you have me do anything else?」

Stripe grumbles quietly with her golden eyes turned away.

「'Cause important stuff is usually pretty dangerous. If someone else turns up dead, oh well, but only a loser lets his harem get hurt.」

Straf replies, and she side-glances at his bored face.

「I can handle myself.」

Stripe scoffs, and looks at him with a frustrated grimace.

「I am aware. So can Lily, but you don't see me sending her out as an attack dog every time I want something fucked up. If it's something I'd need Lily to do, I'd do it myself.」

Straf nonchalantly shrugs, and continues dancing with Stripe.

As they dance, Stripe's face continues to twist and contort in a discomforted grimace. Every now and then, she covertly peeks at the rest of the guests, then returns her blushing face to Straf. He's not even paying attention to her, and simply looks over her hat at the people behind her. She glances over her should to check what Straf is looking at, but can't quite see it.

「C- Can we stop now?…」

Stripe mumbles out, and Straf lets go.

「Fine. Pick three random people to talk with, and then you can drink everything they have guilt-free.」

He shrugs as he walks off towards Cycelia, Lily, and the rest of the original group, sans Sir Vinis, who is talking about something with a clique of nobles elsewhere.

「Hey, painter!… Thought I forgot about you?…」

Straf calls out towards Olivia from behind her as he rejoins the group.

「Straf… Finished dancing?」

Cycelia asks as she, Olivia, and the rest turn to face him.

「Not yet. I didn't dance with the painter girl yet.」

Straf replies, and holds his hand out to Olivia.

「Aaa! No no no, I can't really dance! Thank you for the offer!… Besides, the empress wanted to talk with you!…」

Olivia waves her hands in front of herself and shakes her head, then points at Cycelia.

「Hm? Did you, Lia?」

Straf turns his raised brow to Cycelia, who approaches with a lightly discomforted grimace on her face.

「Straf, listen… I have a little request of you…」

「Yeah?…」

She says, holding her gloved hands clasped in front of herself. Her breasts get squeezed together even tighter. Straf nods in response.

「…Could you entertain the guests somehow? This is the part where my grandfather would tra- polymorph his hand into a dragon's, but…」

Cycelia says, and curls her lips inward, pressing them together as she blinks her puppy green eyes at Straf.

「…But you can't do it, huh?」

「Right… So… Could you? I'm sure you can think of something, like that new dance.」

Straf asks, and she nods her chestnut head in response, shrugging her shoulders.

「Tsk… I guess I can… Give me a moment.」

After a moment, Straf agrees, albeit while rubbing his neck. He takes a few steps away, and looks at the crowd with his fists on his hips. With a tight-lipped grimace on his face, he thinks, narrowing his eyes. He pulls his hand up to his chin, and gives it an intense rub while he continues to think.

《So, what do I do? A magic trick? Have the cat saw me in half?- No, magic is commonplace here…》

「Tsk…」

Straf continues to rub his chin, and his eyes turn sideways.

《…Juggling? Come on, who'd be impressed by that?… Show them the kraken?-》

He furrows his brows as he gains another idea, and looks at the ceiling.

「No, the room is way too small…」

Straf grumbles and mumbles to himself, and turns his gaze aside again, though in the opposite direction.

《…Some magitech stuff? Which one? The lasergun?- Nah, one of them is going to blast another's head off, and the mood will turn awkward…》

「Hmmm… Ah!」

Snap.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Straf's head perks up as he gets a new idea. He quickly reaches into his [Portable Storage] and pulls out a small metal box. The brief appearance of the purple vortex causes the magnates and the nobles to turn their attention to Straf, though most appear simply confused. Straf then quickly pulls out three magic gems, and inserts each into a space seemingly perfectly carved out for each of them. He sets the box down on the floor, and showily clears his throat.

「Ahum!… Attention, everyone!… I have something fucking cool to show you!」

Straf exclaims towards the entire ballroom, glancing at both the seated guests, and the ones standing around the center. Cycelia and the rest of the group watch on with curious eyes.

Taking a quick look around himself, Straf sees that all eyes are on him.

「Heh… Get ready to have your fucking minds blown.」

He lets out an amused huff, and smirks as he squats down to flip a small switch on the box.

Click…

It lets out a soft click, and Straf takes a step back. Cycelia looks at it with wary eyes.

「Straf… It's not going to explode, is it?」

She asks in a concerned tone as the box begins to let out a strange, constant whine, then a static crackle.

「What? No. That'd be entertaining to me, not them. Just watch.」

Incredulous, Straf shrugs his hands, and returns them to his hips in fists. After a few seconds, the form of a cat-eared maid in a skimpy outfit appears over the box, albeit she's tinted slightly blue.

Rooooooooaaaaarrrrrrrrrr!!…

「Huh?…」「Eh!?」「What was that!?」

Straf winces with his eyes narrowed when he hears a ferocious roar of a large beast coming from the box, while Cycelia and Olivia jump up, startled by the noise.

Fffffwoooooop!… Ffffwoppff!…

「…Ah, great. I mixed the gems up.」

With a frustrated sigh and his mouth aslant, Straf watches the cute maid girl strike a pose with her hands raised and fingers curled into pretend claws. She's visibly saying something to someone, but instead of words, a loud noise of flapping wings comes from the cat maid. The curious people approach her closer, while Cycelia and the rest join Straf's side.

「…What is this, Straf? Is this like that projection slab?」

She asks, and turns her confused emerald eyes to Straf for answers.

「Hello? Who are you? How did you get here?…」「…Are you a mage, my lady? What's your name?…」「…Haven't you any shame!? How can you wear that in public!?」

The men and women gather around the box and begin talking to the cat maid, asking her questions, or berating her for her appearance.

Roaar!

「…Ministry of Fortune! Try your luck where fates are shaped!」

Straf's voice says as the skimpily-dressed maid speaks, and winks seductively. Her mouth's movements are completely desynchronized with the voice.

「Huh?…」

Cycelia tilts her head at the box emanating a familiar voice, and looks at Straf's tight-lipped grimace.

「She's not real, Lia. Remember what I told you in the workshop? I had the smart pilot guy encode me a few gems for a test run… I just put the wrong audio gem in. Fuck.」

Straf looks at Cycelia, and casually shrugs his shoulders as he explains, before cursing and letting out a large, frustrated sigh.

「Eh? She's not?… But… She looks like she's right there.」

She remarks, and looks at the projection again. Some of the guests are trying to touch the maid, and are surprised when her form distorts around their fingers, fading slightly with a buzz.

「Yeah… And look like she's there is all it'll be. It'd be more impressive if I put the Strafdrakes audio gem in… Or had the fucking dragons fly around the room.」「Eh? Dragons?」

A little disappointed, Straf shrugs his arms. Cycelia's emerald eyes quickly snap to him at the mention of dragons.

「Er… Excuse me… Minister? That woman… What is going on? We can't touch her, or even hear her. It's magic, isn't it?」

A confused nobleman walks up to Straf, and points his finger at the maid, who is repeating her previous motions in a loop, winking again.

「It's called an advertisement. Get used to them, you'll be fucking sick of them by the end of next year… And yeah, it's magic-」

Rooooooooaaaaarrrrrrrrrr!!…

A loud roar interrupts Straf, who rolls his eyes. The man jumps up, and looks around the room in panic.

「…It's magic, but it's still a prototype. A proof of concept, really. It's a little sneak-peek at what's coming…」

Straf casually continues explaining, and the man calms down a little when he sees Straf isn't alarmed at all.

Fwwwwop-! Click…

「…And that's enough of the sneak-peek. You'll see more next year.」

He adds as he flips the switch on the box. The maid disappears, and the flapping noise stops abruptly, leaving only echoes in the ballroom as a fading specter. Straf stands up, and throws the little box back into his [Portable Storage], then places his hands back into his coat's pockets. The mildly frightened, mostly amused guests clap for a few seconds, nodding their heads in approval. They then turn to each other, grinning and chuckling, and begin discussing the maid amongst themselves.

「…How's that for entertainment?」

Straf asks, and quickly peeks over his shoulder at the people behind him, before returning his eyes back to Cycelia. The ballroom has entirely shifted into discussing Straf and his magic box.

「Eheh… My grandfather would be jealous…」

Cycelia replies with a bright smile, watching the busy crowd of people talking. In fact, most of the tables clear to join the lively discussion in the ballroom.

「…Ah. Since there's some space, wouldn't you like to have a seat and eat something, Straf?」

She asks Straf, but then turns her eyes to Nona, Greaves and his party, and the rest. Sir Vinis emerges from behind them.

「Your highness, may I join you at your table?」

He asks, bowing slightly with his hands on his shoulder.

「Tsk… Done mingling, back to being an asskisser?」

Straf crossing his arms with his mouth aslant while looking at the long-haired magnate.

「…There's still mingling to be done, minister, but I think a small break is in order.」

Sir Vinis replies, shrugging his arms with his usual smug, slightly snobbish smile.

「I'm feeling kinda hungry, actually…」

Greaves remarks with his arms casually behind his head.

「Same… A little…」

Will adjusts his glasses, nodding.

「Well, let's eat then. All that dancing made me hungry…」

Cycelia nods her chestnut head, pinches her dress to lift it up slightly, and heads for the seating area, which is now being rapidly cleared of plates by the maids.

Hearing the word hungry, Straf looks over his shoulder, searching for Lily, and finds her talking to Nona. Nona is saying something with her finger on her chin, thinking, while Lily listens with a bored expression on her face and her arms crossed. Straf sits down with Cycelia and the rest, and looks at Lily again. She scoffs and turns her scarlet eyes to Straf, while Nona heads for their table.

「Is there anything specific you'd like, your highness?」

One of the maids by the table asks.

「Ahh… No, not really. Just get me the same as everyone else.」

With a light smile on her face, Cycelia shakes her head in response.

「Understood… Please wait a moment.」

The maid nods, and hastily rushes away towards the door.

Turning her eyes back to Straf, Cycelia places her elbows on the table, and interlocks her gloved fingers.

「…New year's soon, huh? I'm getting a little excited.」

She beams a bright smile while looking at Straf's bored face.

「All good things come to an end… And I can tell this year wasn't very good. It's dragging on, honestly.」

He rests his cheek on his fist, and shrugs his free hand with a sigh.

「Ah, your highness. If I can ask… How were the people at the Academy?」

Will chimes in, adjusting his glasses as he asks Cycelia. She turns her smiling face to him. Straf tunes out of the conversation as his eyes drift up to the fancy lacunar ceiling.

《The year's almost up, huh?… Granted, I was here only for roughly a half of it…》

He thinks as his gaze returns to Cycelia's smiling face while she's in a discussion with Will. His eyes briefly jump to Greaves, Alicia, Will, the foreigner siblings, and the painter girl, who smiles at Straf with her head tilted when she notices he's looking at her. He turns his disinterested gaze elsewhere.

《…And for the half I wasn't here, things were pretty fucked up, huh? Lia lost her entire family, bandits everywhere, monsters everywhere… Vampires being assholes…》

Straf's eyes idly drift to Lily. She's looking around the ballroom, looking for something to do, and apparently not interested in joining the table with the rest.

《…Well, next year is off to a good start…》

He shrugs, and leans back in his chair, crossing his arms.

《…All fucked up. A return to tradition.》

As the maid returns with a few others to set down plates of food on the table, a malicious grin appears on Straf's face…