「Easy, we walk in and kill him.」

Straf shrugs, grinning and spreading his arms as he explains the plan, or lack thereof to Greaves and his party.

「Huh!? Are you stupid!? Do you have any idea how many guards he's going to have!?」

Greaves shouts, shaking his head in disbelief at Straf's idea.

「And? How does that matter? I only want you along for the ride so you can kill the usurper yourself. I can deal with the guards.」

Straf scoffs. He points at Greaves and smirks, peeking at Cycelia while talking about the guards.

「You don't want me to kill them too, right?」

Straf asks, and Cycelia meekly shakes her head in response.

「No… They're good people, Straf. I'm sure they don't know the truth either.」

Cycelia clings onto her medallion with a concerned frown as her eyes drift downwards.

「If you're so tough, why don't you go and do it yourself!?」

Greaves asks, squinting suspiciously at Straf.

「Hey, Lia will get upset if I start ripping and tearing her palace guards apart. And you're right, I could do it myself, but where's the fun in that? It's like a road roller on an ant.」

Straf shrugs his shoulders, smirking.

「…What's a road roller?」

The boy's eyes narrow.

「Nevermind that. Anyway, you'll fight the king, and I'll be watching and cheering on from the sidelines.」

Straf snaps his fingers and points at Greaves.

「Why would we go along with you in that case!?」

Greaves shouts, looking at Lian who is shaking her head, and Alicia who is visibly uncomfortable with the situation.

「Wow. You style yourself as the legendary hero and when the adventure calls, you reject it on the first ring. How do you live with yourself?」

Straf asks with a slanted mouth, pointing his palm at Greaves in severe disappointment.

「What kind of a legendary hero goes around killing people!?」

Greaves shouts another question, and Straf simply responds by chuckling and lightly shaking his head. He jumps over the fence. His hand moves towards the boy's head to pat him.

「Heh, now listen here kid- Ow, what the fuck?」

[Bleeding]

[Stacks: 1] [Damage Over Time] [Status effect]

Target is losing health due to bloodloss. Current loss rate: 2 HP/60s. Stack decrease rate: 1/60s

Higher stack loss rate: 4 HP/60s.

Lower stack loss rate: None.

Straf looks at the status effect icon in the corner of his vision. He shakes his head in mild surprise, then glances at his very softly bleeding palm.

「What the actual fuck is your hair made of? Did a bunch of rings scatter everywhere when you were dropped on your head?」

Straf asks, staring with utter disbelief at Greaves.

「Heh. Serves you right.」

Greaves smugly grins, almost mirroring Straf from a moment ago.

「Tsk. Anyway… What do you think war heroes are? You think those guys aren't legendary? Sometimes you gotta get your hands dirty with blood, kid.」

Tap!

Straf leans down to better match Greaves's short stature as he talks. When he finishes his sentence, he roughly pats Greaves on the shoulder, causing him to stagger a step.

「I'm not a kid! Quit calling me that!」

Greaves angrily protests again, and Straf hops back out of the fenced area.

「…And, you're doing it for a righteous purpose! Remember, Lia here is the rightful queen. You're really telling me you'll reject the queen in need, because you're scared?」

Straf walks up to Cycelia and wraps his arm around her without a warning, causing her to meekly yelp. He smugly grins at Greaves, staring directly at him as he's left grimacing.

「I'm- I'm not scared! I'll do it! If there's no other way around it and he won't give up, I'll do it!」

Greaves shouts, indignant that Straf would dare to even imply his cowardice. Lian sighs and shakes her head again, keeping her arms wrapped around her spear as she silently listens in.

《Heh. Sucker.》

Straf chuckles to himself as his head hangs low. Cycelia looks at him with concerned eyes.

「Straf, are you okay?」

She asks, whispering into his ear.

「Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm great.」

Straf unwraps Cycelia from his arm, and places his hands in his pockets as he turns away. He pulls one of them out only to point at Greaves again.

「Lia, how far is the capital from here?」

Straf quickly glances at Cycelia, still pointing at Greaves, who is now furrowing his brows in confusion.

「If we leave now, it shouldn't take longer than a day on foot. I think we'll make it by nightfall.」

Cycelia answers, thinking for just a short moment.

「Right! In three days' time, you're there. Got it? I'll find you, somehow. If you're late, I'll shave you bald, and then the world will know just how short you are.」

Straf's eyes snap back to Greaves, and he commands him.

「I'm not- I'm still growing!」

Greaves shouts back, angrily waving his fist up and down.

「Yeah, keep telling yourself that until you're 30. Let's go, Lia.」

Straf scoffs, as he turns to leave.

「…I'll be counting on your help.」

Cycelia bows, and hastily jogs up to Straf's side as he leaves the young boy and his party behind.

「You think they'll actually be of any help, Lia?」

Straf scoffs with a disdainful smirk as asks Cycelia. She peeks over her shoulder, and finds Alicia timidly waving her off. She raises her hand to bid her farewell, then turns to Straf.

「I don't know, but I'll need any support I can get. I was planning to assemble an army, but… Perhaps your plan is actually for the best, Straf.」

Cycelia speaks with a troubled expression. She looks aside a lot, and her gaze drifts downward frequently towards nowhere in particular.

「Of course it is, it's the simplest one. The other plan involves a quirky and colorful resistance group, a traitor, absolutely obligatory prison break part, ziplines… It's a lot of elements I can't really be bothered with.」

Straf shrugs, and gestures a circle with his hand as he goes on and on about the different elements of his alternate plan.

「What I meant was, your plan will likely save a lot of lives, Straf. Mine would kill hundreds, thousands, maybe millions, even.」

Cycelia sighs. Gloom is visible on her face, and audible in her voice as she fidgets with her medallion.

「A million lives is a statistic, Lia. Once you get into billions it turns into a candlestick chart.」

Straf shrugs with his hands in his pockets as he glances at her.

「…Huh?」

Cycelia tilts her head, snapping out of her gloom by becoming confused instead.

「What, never heard of that one? Death of an individual is a tragedy, death of a million?」

Straf grins, mildly amused by Cycelia's reaction.

「No, what is a statistic?」

Cycelia asks with furrowed brows.

「Don't worry Lia, 1000 in 1000 people have no idea as well.」

「Huh?」

Cycelia tries her best to decipher what Straf said while they're leaving the village, heading towards the capital city of the kingdom…

…

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Straf and Cycelia reach a wide, paved stone road. Lily swoops in, too fast for a normal human to feasibly see from the nearby wooded area.

「I was wondering when you'd show up. Too shy to say hello to the hero kid?」

Straf smirks at Lily as she walks beside him with her parasol open.

「Not at all. I avoid interacting with worthless human wretches, unless I really must. By the way, Straf…」

Lily peeks up from beneath her parasol at Straf's eyes.

「Hm?」

He looks down. Straf and the little vampire lock their gazes.

「…Who was that woman, in the forest, may I ask?」

Lily stares at Straf with a cold expression, almost a glare. Cycelia looks at Straf as well, curious of the answer.

「That's the kid's girlfriend. I'm surprised myself, childhood friends always lose.」

Straf chuckles, spreading his hands as he shakes his head with a grin.

「I see… And why have you held hands?」

Lily momentarily looks away, before her scarlet eyes slowly drift back up to Straf's.

「Wha-!?」

Cycelia gasps as her eyes widen.

「To help her pull the vine root thing out. She couldn't put her back into it.」

Straf shrugs, and Cycelia exhales with relief.

「That makes sense… And why was she in your arms?…」

Lily asks another question, still staring at Straf.

「That's because-」

Cycelia is about to meekly defend Straf from the misunderstanding, but Lily continues her sentence.

「…Hugging into you?」

Lily asks, with an accusatory tone and narrowed eyes.

「What!?」

Cycelia almost manages to raise her voice, but her jaw drops from shock as her eyes widen again.

「That's because she twisted her ankle, and you somehow scared her so bad she could sense you were there.」

Straf explains himself with a bored face and raised brows. With her hand placed on her chest, Cycelia exhales with relief again.

「Hmpf. I see… I thought I masked my feeling sufficiently. That old theory may be correct after all…」

Lily pouts, looking away from Straf as she twirls her parasol.

「What old theory?」

Straf asks, and Cycelia inquisitively tilts her head as well.

「The vampire survivor adaptation theory. My master strongly believed it was true. Supposedly, most, if not all modern humans will be keenly aware of a vampire stalking them. The reason for that being, those that weren't were eradicated.」

Lily explains, hiding from the high sun beneath her parasol as they walk.

「Wow, so you're saying vampires literally hunted people into gaining extrasensory perception? That's fucking metal.」

Impressed and with his brows raised, Straf rubs his chin, nodding with approval.

「Correct, albeit rather than gaining, the theory states that it's an inherent survival instinct. Overhunting of humanity lead to only two groups surviving. Those who could evade and hide from us, and those who were too powerful or difficult to take on. The grizzled survivors were simply those with the sharpest instincts, and they only sharpened further by the pressures of something akin to selective breeding…」

Lily continues twirling her parasol as she gives Straf a vampire science lesson, though Cycelia is also listening closely.

「So that's why I could sense you're looking at me?」

Momentarily pausing his chin-rubbing, Straf asks as he glances at Lily's parasol.

「Perhaps. I didn't bear hostile intent against you, so I am not quite sure why, or how… Unless your senses are among the sharpest.」

Lily peeks out from underneath her parasol, inquisitively lifting one of her brows as she looks up at Straf.

「So, wait… If you want to really badly kill someone, it'll be like lighting up a torch at night? They'll be able to just sense it?」

Straf asks, rubbing his chin further with furrowed brows.

「Yes, that is correct. Though… As I said, there are two groups of humanity. Those with the sharp instincts, and those without them. Most nobles do not have the instincts, as their families either bent the knee to the vampire barons, or they were too well-defended, and effectively untouchable.」

Lily says, then looks at Cycelia.

「…I wonder if that is why you are oblivious to all but the most intense killing intent?」

She asks a rhetorical question, and Cycelia breaks eye contact, nervously fidgeting with her medallion.

「Well, you don't have to be too concerned, you helped Straf when he needed it. I hate very few things, and being in someone's debt is one of them. As long as Straf wants to keep you around, and you are not in his way, you can rest easy.」

Lily smugly smirks, satisfied with Cycelia's level of intimidation.

「So Lia can't sense you, because her family line was just dragons that would rip any vampire that would try apart?」

Straf spreads his arms as he asks Lily.

「Tsk… I wouldn't word it like that, but yes.」

She clicks her tongue, and looks aside with a pout.

「Neat. Oh, is that a tollbooth over there? I guess you can't get away from the government's bullshit even here.」

Straf glances at the worried Cycelia, and shrugs his shoulders. He looks back forward, and notices two armored men standing at a barricade on a road, far, far in front of them.

「It appears so. Will you pay, Straf, or should I get rid of them?」

Lily asks, smugly smiling at him as she shifts her parasol away a little.

「Let's see what they want first.」

Straf says, and they continue onward on the road to the tollbooth. The guard extends his palm at them.

「Halt! Who goes there!?」

The guard shouts, as he and his partner stand warily with their halberds resting on the ground.

「What's it to you? How much is the toll?」

Straf shrugs with his hands as he asks.

「We're not allowed to take money. Now, who are you?」

He walks up to Straf's, as his partner stays in the background.

「I am Straf. Katastrof. Vindict.」

「Never he-」

「Yeah yeah yeah, I know, this is getting old. So if you are not taking money, it's a checkpoint, not a tollbooth. What's the point of this?」

Straf points his hand at the wooden spike barricade blocking the road.

「We are checking identities. Who are you traveling with?」

The toll guard asks Straf, and walks up to Cycelia barely managing to maintain a poker face.

「Huh. You kind of-」

The guard rubs his chin as he intently stares at Cycelia's face. Straf interrupts him as he swoops in with his arm around Cycelia.

「This is my wife, Lia. And this cute girl over here is our daughter Lily.」

「Wha-?」 「Huh!?」

Lily shoots an indignant, incredulous stare up at Straf, while Cycelia's poker face breaks, and her jaw drops in response. The guard isn't buying it, and furrows his brows at her reaction.

「Wife, huh? Funny. She looks a lot like the murderer princess…」

The guard looks over his shoulder at his companion, and they both shift uncomfortably. Cycelia nervously glances at Straf, while Lily is impatiently waiting for permission to kill.

「Yeah, isn't that right? She gets that all the time.」

Straf scoffs, disdainfully looking at the guards with his fists on his hips as he lets go of Cycelia.

「We've been told to be on a lookout for women matching her description. Do you have any identification?」

The guard asks, looking at both her and Straf.

「Identification? Are you joking? Do you think the princess would randomly just decide to walk back to the capital after everything?」

Straf scoffs, smirking at the guards. They look at each other with lightly furrowed brows and slanted mouths.

「…Yeah, fair point. We're really only standing here because we were ordered to. We know she's not coming back.」

The guard shrugs his shoulders with a clatter of the armor plates.

「I know, right? So, do I need to pay you, or?…」

Straf asks, lightly shaking his head as his voice trails off.

「No, we're not allowed to take money. Just leave, go on. What a waste of time this job is…」

The guard turns around, and mumbles underneath his breath as he waves them past.

「Have a good day, traveler.」

The guard says, as he sits down on a wooden log set aside near the barricades.

「Oh yeah, I will. You too, buddy.」

Straf chuckles as he walks past the checkpoint with Lily and the princess, his chuckles come and go every few seconds, seemingly at random. They continue onward, towards the capital…