In Straf's room, briefly after sunrise…

Straf wakes up and opens his eyes. Stripe has her arms almost entirely wrapped around his neck, hugging into him as if he were a large pillow. The tip of her striped ear is brushing against his cheek, stiff, but giving way more than his cheek does. His eyes drift up to the canopy above them, and his face gains a troubled grimace.

《Another conundrum…》

He thinks as his eyes slowly return to her fluffy eartips.

《…Let the cat sleep, or risk waking her and get up to be a productive member of the society?》

Straf's gaze drifts all the way down to her face. Stripe lets out a soft moan, and her eyelids twitch.

《Oh. Am I a granted a deus ex machina out of this predicament?》

He thinks, furrowing his brows. Moments later, her golden eyes open slowly, and she scans around the room in a confused gaze.

「Good morning. Slept well?」

Straf asks as she turns her eyes to his and stares at him, not fully understanding what she's looking at. Then, her pupils widen and the golden irises become a mere sliver of color.

She jumps backwards and away from Straf, violently pulling the blanket along with herself in panic as she lands on the foot end of the bed.

「Fuck, it's cold… I need a coat or something…」

Straf briefly shivers from the sudden contrast of the cold morning air after feeling the pleasant warmth of Stripe's body for so long. Still wide-eyed, the blanket finally slips off to the side from her shoulder. She begins crawling back, away from him. It doesn't take long for her to grasp at the thin air at the end of the bed and tumble backwards.

Thud.

Though her brows rise in surprise at the lack of support she expected to be there, she manages to gracefully roll along her back and softly break the landing. She continues crawling away across the floor until her back hits one of the desk's legs all the way on the other side of the room. Straf's brows rise in a grimace of mild, tempered surprise.

「…What's with that reaction? You had your arms around my neck just now.」

He asks, spreading his arms as he's sitting up.

「T- That's because I thought you were a pillow while I was sleeping!…」

Stripe shouts, pointing her clawed finger at him.

「…Did you do anything to me!?」

She asks, and starts patting her clothes down. Her hands pat down her sweater to see if it's not out of place, then drift down to her pants. She even wiggles her fingers into the side of her pants, likely to check if her underwear is where it should be. Straf watches on, furrowing his brows.

「…No? We slept. It's a good thing you woke up when you did, because I was facing something close to a moral dilemma.」

He replies, and shuffles over to the foot end before grabbing his boots, and putting them back onto his feet.

「A moral dillema?… Like what!?」

「Stop shouting the first thing in the morning…」

Stripe shouts, and Straf chides her after a short sigh as he's tying his laces.

「…Sleeping in and being a worthless piece of shit, or waking you up. You woke up on your own, sparing my reputation as a hard worker.」

He replies, and stands up.

「Now come on, we're going to go see Lia… Then I suppose we should go see Lily and fix that little legal loophole.」

With a wave of his arm, Straf gestures Stripe towards the door before placing his hands in his pockets.

「What legal loophole?…」

Stripe sighs as she stands up, and asks, following him to the door.

「…The loophole that lets vampires suck animal-eared humans like you. Whoops.」

He replies with a smirk and walks out through the door. With her head lowered, she follows him out, then shuts the door behind them…

…

Mere moments later, in the palace halls…

Straf and Stripe are heading for the Cycelia's room. At the end of the hallway, Sir Vinis appears from beyond a corner with a sheet of paper in his hand.

「Ah! Minister! Minister!…」「Oh fuck off…」

The long-haired man raises his arm with the paper and waves it, shouting down the hall. Frustrated, Straf stops in his tracks and turns his head aside.

「You don't like him?」

Stripe asks, furrowing her brows.

「What do you fucking think?… I want to do my own thing, and he offloads his fucking problems on me…」

Straf replies, looking at her with his his hands in his pockets and his mouth aslant.

「Minister, perfect timing!…」

Sir Vinis declares as he approaches.

Snap.

「I should have slept in.」

Straf declares after snapping his fingers as he points at him with a visibly displeased, disdainful smirk.

「Well, that would have been quite a problem. We have just received a message from Parnatau Kingdom- Minister, who is this woman?…」

Sir Vinis is about to explain something as he holds the paper in his hand up, but then looks at Stripe and her ears.

「That's just the intruder, go on…」

Straf shrugs, and casually replies as he places his hands back in his pockets.

「Very we- What!? That's the intruder!? And she's free!?」

The long-haired man nods without fully processing Straf's reply, before doing a double-take at Stripe and pointing at her with his eyes wide open.

「She's not. Look closer, stupid.」

Briefly pulling his hand out of his pocket, Straf taps at his neck with his finger, then nods towards Stripe. The magnate's wary eyes snap from Straf's neck to hers.

「…A collar?」

He asks, furrowing his brows when his eyes focus on the metal collar around her neck. His confused eyes rise up to Straf to seek a further explanation.

「Yeah. She's my slave- Look, I'm not going to bother explaining anything. Are you going to tell me what's this about, or can I just leave?」

Audibly running out of patience, Straf decides against explaining Stripe's position. He spreads his arms as he asks, mouth heavily scrunched, then returns his hands back into his pockets.

「…Ahem. If you see no problem with it…」

Still wary, Sir Vinis showily clears his throat while staring at the animal-eared woman's indignant face. He glances at the paper in his hand again, and resumes.

「…As I was saying, we have just received a message from Parnatau Kingdom. I was sending out merchants to buy all the steel, iron, coal, so on, so on…」

The magnate gestures heavily with his hands as he explains. Straf rolls his eyes.

「…And?」

He asks, spreading his hands while looking at the man with a frustrated grimace.

「…And, they have realized the little nuance of the kingdom's currency.」

Sir Vinis adds, spreading his hands, and shrugs his shoulders.

「Okay. So?-」

「What nuance?」

Straf asks, but Stripe quickly chimes in.

「None of your business.」

He replies with a slanted mouth and narrowed eyes.

「…As Straf said, this doesn't concern you. Why was I not informed she was even caught?」

Sir Vinis adds to Straf's reply, then turns his furrowed brows to him.

「'Cause it's none of your business too…」

Straf barks back with a glare.

「…Now tell me why should I care that some kingdom I've never heard of found out. Do they want a refund? Too bad.」

Straf asks with a snide grin on his face.

「…The message is an ultimatum, minister. They are threatening war unless we exchange their drakes for the equivalent of gold. I quote. Ahem…」

With his fist before his mouth, the magnate clears his throat again, and reads off the sheet of paper in his hand.

「…We will not be defrauded by your deceitful practices. Deliver the gold in exchange for your worthless paper, or we will collect it ourselves. You have one month.」

The long-haired man quotes the letter in his hand, then throws his hands up with a troubled grimace.

「They gave us a whole long month!?」

Straf exclaims in surprise with his brows raised.

「Yes. It appears your theory that they will be unwilling-」

The man nods, folds the sheet, and places it in his breast pocket.

「That's great. I'm more used to working with time windows of, uh… Negative 24 hours or so.」

Straf cuts him off, rubbing his palms together as he briefly thinks before shrugging and chuckling a little.

「…It's great?」

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Sir Vinis asks in a puzzled tone, shaking his head lightly in confusion. His long, light-brown hair flows down his shoulders.

「Yup. Think about it… We've been buying their steel, iron, coal…」

Straf chuckles, and counts on his fingers in front of him.

「Yes, we have been… But what does it have to do-」

The magnate asks, but then his eyes widen in sudden realization. His jaw drops.

「…They have no means of war.」

A smug, amused grin appears on the man's face as he rubs his chin. His eyes then snap to Straf. Appearing a little concerned, Stripe watches on from the side in silence.

「Yup. What the fuck are they going to war us with? Their limp dicks? Their troops will be lucky if they have confiscated scythes and a few old spears. Forget about armor.」

Smirking, Straf nods as he replies, shrugging his hands before returning them back to his pockets while Sir Vinis cackles like a madman.

「…But! Parnatau is still very rich and has a powerful military. What of their current troops? What if they hire mercenaries?」

The magnate quickly calms down and abruptly extends his index finger as he asks, furrowing his brows with eyes sharply focused.

「Yeah, their standing army might still be well-armed and well-equipped, but their capability to actually go on a campaign is dead. They must be really desperate…」

Straf calmly replies with a shrug of his shoulders, nodding again.

「…But that just means they're hoping for one decisive battle, or better yet, that we'll not fight at all. They had to give us a reasonable timeframe, but that bit them in the ass.」

He adds, briefly shrugging his hands.

「Because we can just raise levy troops, while they're unable to do the same?」

Sir Vinis asks, rubbing his chin.

「Pretty much. Mercenaries will never be a factor. I've dealt with them before, I can do it again… But, uh…」

Straf looks at Stripe. Somewhat confused, she tilts her head.

「…Y'know, I've learned the joy of delegating the boring, trivial, and stupid shit for other people to do. I have a plan, and I'll just let others handle its execution.」

He grins, turning his gaze back to the magnate.

「And the plan is?…」

Sir Vinis asks, furrowing his brows gently.

「You'll see. I'm the Minister of War here, you mind your own fucking business… Wine. If that's all, I'm going to tell Lia about this funny vampire lamp thing.」

Straf declares and walks past him, gesturing Strip to follow.

「You are heading to see the queen? Good, me too. We can explain the situation together.」

The long-haired man joins Straf at his side, opposite of Stripe, causing him to look at Sir Vinis with an exasperated look on his face.

「Do you seriously have to do this to me from the very start of the day?…」

「Pardon?」

Straf asks, and lets out a frustrated sigh. Confused, the magnate tilts his head, blinking at him a few times before they continue onward towards Cycelia's room…

…

A few minutes later, in Cycelia's room…

Knock knock.

Cycelia is sitting on the edge of her bed, tying her boots when a knock on her door draws her emerald eyes to it.

「Enter!-」

She says loudly, and the door opens before she can properly finish her sentence.

「Straf? It's unusual for you to knock-」

Furrowing her brows gently in mild surprise, Cycelia looks at Straf's bored, tight-lipped grimace when he enters.

「Ah, Sir Vinis. That makes more sense…」

Turning her eyes to the door, a long-haired man peeks his face into the room, and nods his head in a greeting. He enters, and Stripe soon reluctantly follows them both in.

「What brings you here so early in the morning?」

Cycelia asks, looking at all three with a smile, and stands up from the bed. Sir Vinis looks at Straf, who sighs in response to his gaze.

「…Go on, tell her.」

「Very well…」

Sir Vinis nods, and turns his eyes back to Cycelia.

「Hm?…」

She inquisitively tilts her chestnut head as Sir Vinis tugs at something in his breast pocket…

…

Five minutes later…

「…But Minister Vindict supposedly already has a plan.」

Sir Vinis concludes his explanation of the situation to Cycelia, pointing his hand at Straf who's standing nearby with a bored, tight-lipped grimace on his face.

「Straf… That's a terrible thing to do. I don't want my relations with other kingdoms to be sour. Forget the drakes being not valid for conversion, we should give them the gold-」

「We don't have the funds, your majesty.」

Sir Vinis cuts Cycelia off, bowing apologetically.

「…Huh? But- But the drakes are supposed to represent gold?…」

Cycelia says, furrowing her brows with a perplexed expression as her eyes dart between Straf and Sir Vinis.

「That's old drakes, Lia. The new drakes are a fiat currency. The gold standard got two in the back of its head.」

Straf nonchalantly says, shrugging his shoulders with a bored face.

「But… But we can't just give them worthless papers for all that steel!」

The queen protests, furrowing her brows with a disapproving grimace.

「That's what we already did… Look, Lia, I'll arrange a commodity trade with them, alright? We don't have the gold on hand… But it's fine if I trade them a commodity, right?」

Straf asks, spreading his hands as he looks at Sir Vinis. The magnate appears a little confused and glances at Cycelia.

「You will?」「…You will?」

They both ask, albeit the long-haired man's voice bears a hint of disbelief.

「Of course! I'll just trade 'em stuff!… By the way, on a completely unrelated note…」

Rubbing his chin, Straf changes the subject.

「…Lia, where's the deposit of gems in the kingdom?」

「There aren't any.」「There aren't any.」

Cycelia and the magnate reply at the same time. Straf's eyes widen.

「…What do you mean there aren't any?」

He asks as his concerned eyes jump between the two.

「There just aren't any, Straf. My father constantly bemoaned the fact. He said the kingdom would be much better off if we had a even single gem mine.」

Cycelia shrugs, and turns her emerald eyes to Sir Vinis.

「As her majesty said… We are forced to import all of our gems. This isn't a problem with crystals, but gems on the other hand…」

The magnate helplessly throws his hands up as he adds to her statement.

「It's the woe of many mages, but jewelers too. The main reason why our medallions were cheap was because we were by the border.」

「…Fuck.」

Cycelia holds her silver medallion with the gem in her fingers up, smiling at Straf. He lowers his head and mutters out a curse under his breath.

「Alright. I'll think of something.」

With a frustrated grimace, Straf spreads his arms before placing his hands back in his pockets, and lets out a large sigh.

「I have to return to my duties, your highness. If you'll excuse me…」

Sir Vinis declares and bows as he backs out of the room.

「Yes, of course…」

Cycelia nods, and the long-haired man shuts the door behind himself as he exits, leaving only Straf, Stripe, and Cycelia in the room.

「…Is Straf treating you well?」

She asks, smiling at Stripe. The beastwoman appears a little taken aback by her sudden question.

「He's!…」

Stripe says with a raised voice, but it quickly trails off into silence as she and Straf look at each other.

「…It could be worse, I guess.」

She replies, crossing her arms as she looks away with a displeased grimace.

「That's good. You're in a very odd legal place. Normally, you should be executed for being a spy, but… Neither Straf nor I want that just for snooping around. It'd be cruel.」

Cycelia nods, turning her smiling face to Straf. With her arms still crossed, Stripe remains silent and refuses to look at them.

「Lia, I was digging around in those vampire lamps last night, and guess what I found out…」

Straf says, grinning a little as he takes a step closer towards Cycelia.

「What?」

She tilts her head, blinking her emerald eyes at him.

「…They're basically just magic arc lights. Mystery solved. And the reason why they're orange and not blue is…」

「Arc lights?…」

Furrowing her brows, Cycelia tilts her head further as Straf reaches into his [Portable Storage], and pulls out a floppy, rectangular, translucent orange sheet.

「…Whoever made them just added an orange filter sheet to the light. It literally does nothing else but make the light orange. At least they tried, I guess.」

Wikawikawika!…

Straf explains, chuckling as wiggles the bendy sheet and causes it to make a very specific sound.

「You mean… You mean you know how the vampire lamps work now, Straf?…」

Cycelia asks, and her head slowly perks up. She blinks at him in awe and disbelief on her face.

「Yeah. Guess thanks to Lily, the capital is going to have significantly lower rates of skin cancer down the line…」

He nonchalantly shrugs with a grin on his face, and puts the orange filter sheet back into [Portable Storage].

「…By the way, there's a problem with the human protection law that vampires have to follow. There's a loophole. You and Lily need to work it out.」

「A problem? What problem? All humans are untouchable unless they attack or disrespect a vampire, that sounds reasonable to me.」

Cycelia watches Straf as he shakes his head and approaches Stripe. Grinning, he lightly flicks her ear, causing her to involuntarily flap it a few times.

「Stop it!…」

Stripe growls out, covering her ears with her clawed hands. Straf rests his forearm on her shoulder, and points his free hand at her.

「It sounds reasonable to me too. Real quick, Lia… What is she?」

Straf asks as he looks at Cycelia with an amused smirk, raising one brow. She looks at Stripe for a few seconds, thinking.

「…A beastman.」

She replies, albeit her voice lacks confidence. Straf's face gains a large, exaggerated smile as he nods his head in silence. Confused, Cycelia furrows her brows and tilts her head.

Then, after a few seconds of looking at Stripe's indignant and frustrated face, Cycelia's emerald eyes open wide in shock as she covers her mouth with her dainty hands…