「Riiight. I guess I only need one.」

Straf says as he focuses his gaze on the purple tree, with its leaves cyan-tinted.

『Manatree』

[Magical] [Alchemical] [Natural]

A tree infused with mana. Grows on leylines, mana springs, and other places of concentrated mana.

Can power weak magic implements.

Straf shrugs, and kicks the manatree in front of him.

「Ah!-」

Cycelia's jaw drops, and the tree topples.

Thud!

「Hmpf. I suppose finesse is redundant here.」

Lily smirks when the tree hits the ground, and its branches crack and crumble beneath its own weight.

「I don't think this makes fragments though…」

Straf thinks as he grimaces, looking at the felled tree with his hands in his pockets. He gives the tree another rough kick, stomping at it. Its trunk shatters into many purple-red pieces.

「There we go.」

He exclaims, satisfied as he picks up the mangled pieces of wood and throws them in his [Portable Storage]. It takes him a few minutes to collect everything.

「Now… Craft.」

Straf places his fists on his hips, and utters out. The crafting screen appears in front of him. He waves his hand through it.

「Ah, it works.」

「What does, Straf?」

Cycelia asks with mild concern and curiosity in her voice. Lily tilts her head and walks closer, peeking past Straf's side while idly twirling her parasol.

「Now just… Ah, I have enough for two… There.」

Straf taps the thin air with his fingers, and two glowing circles of light appear in front of him in the air. He extends his hand underneath them, and when the glow dies down, the shape of two metal collars is revealed from the golden light.

Clank!

The collars fall into his waiting hand, and he examines them closer.

「Cool, it worked.」

Satisfied, Straf nods at the collars.

《I suppose I should test it. But on who? Do I let Lia put it on my neck?- No, that's a bad idea.》

「Lia, I have a little favor to ask.」

Straf says, turning around with the collars hanging off his hand. He looks at Cycelia, and Lily looks at her with a scowl as well.

「Um… Yes?」

Cycelia fiddles with her medallion. She glances towards Lily for just a moment, before tilting her head at Straf.

「Put this on.」

Straf takes one of the open slave collars in hand, and guides it towards her neck.

「Eh?-」

Click.

The collar snaps around Cycelia's neck, locking itself. Feeling mildly discomforted, she touches it to ascertain its shape and purpose.

「…Straf, what is this?」

Confused, she asks as she keeps touching it. Cycelia tugs at the collar in an attempt to make it more comfortable for her.

「It's just a little collar. How does it feel?」

Straf puts his fists back on his hips as he looks at the metal collar on Cycelia.

「Um… A little… Degrading? Cold? Rigid and uncomfortable?…」

Cycelia answers, looking into Straf's eyes with a disconcerted expression. He only grimaces in return.

「Hmmm… That's it? You don't feel more submissive than normal?」

Straf asks, lightly tilting his head without taking his eyes off the collar.

「What?- No? What brought this on, Straf?」

Cycelia furrows her brows, and Lily crosses her arms in annoyance.

《I could make her do anything, but…》

Straf sighs as he thinks to himself, then shrugs.

「Well, forget it. Let's see if this part works…」

Straf mumbles under his nose as he reaches for the collar. He grasps onto it, and it opens.

Clack.

Without any key, input, or even notable manipulation, the collar unlocks and Straf pulls it off Cycelia's neck.

「Huh. Okay, so that's how it works.」

He shrugs, looking at the collar again in his hand.

「Straf, how did- Where did that thing come from?」

Cycelia asks, fiddling with her medallion once again. Lily shakes her head.

「Redwing girl… Straf is a mage, must you really ask?」

Lily scoffs, glaring with an incredulous expression at Cycelia from beneath her parasol.

「Well, I suppose that's right, but…」

She glances at Lily for a second, but is unable to maintain a prolonged eye contact, and looks down at the ground while fingering her medallion.

「Okay! Let's get out of here before they realize I took their sword and their fancy magic wood. They'll get pitchforks and torches out for sure. Lily, you're wise old woman here, which way to the capital-?」

Straf nods, and turns his head to Lily's parasol as he asks.

「Old!? Old!? Excuse me! I am not old!」

Lily pouts heavily and stares at Straf with her huge, vertically-slit scarlet eyes.

「Okay, fine. Well aged. Like wine. Though, you're more like grapes if we go by wine analogy…」

Straf rolls his eyes and shrugs his hands before returning his gaze to Lily.

「Hmpf. Better. Given by the position of the sun, the moss, and the current season… It'd be that way. To Ossen, that is. And from there, to the capital.」

Lily looks at the shadows, the trees, then her gaze drifts down as she thinks. He points her clawed finger past the scorched trees, deep into their midst.

Straf shrugs, throws the collars into his [Portable Storage], and walks off in the direction Lily pointed out, with his hands in his pockets. Cycelia follows, glancing nervously at Lily as she takes Straf's side. Lily joins his other side, and they walk further into the scorched trees…

…

An hour later, they reach a dirt path. They continue along it for a few hours in silence as Cycelia doesn't dare to start a conversation, and the sun goes down below the horizon. An ominous red moon rises into the night sky.

「Hmpf… A blood moon…」

Lily looks up, commenting on the moon above. She yawns, covering her fangs with the back of her hand.

「What, does that mean you'll go on a rampage, or something?」

Straf asks as he glances at Lily, and she looks back at Straf with half-closed, drowsy, glowing ruby eyes.

「Straf, please… Do you think I am a weakling?」

She returns a smirk, though she seems barely awake.

「Wait, you mean it does make weak vampires go mad?」

Straf's brows rise, and a surprise grimace appears on his face.

「Only the weak ones, yes. Weak, and the freshly turned. The little Redwing princess would be in quite the trouble now, if you took me up on my offer…」

Lily grins, fangs showing, as she's looking at Cycelia with her tired eyes. Cycelia's grimace turns ever more nervous, and her brows furrow harder before Lily looks away.

「All the more reason why being a vampire would suck. In multiple ways.」

Straf takes a quick peek at the moon, before lowering his gaze down at the dark road.

「Oh, please… If you were to go mad with hunger, I would take good care of you while you feast, Straf… It's no downside at all.」

「Is it just vampires that go crazy, or are there other things too?」

「Of course… Vampires, werewolves, some fiends, ghouls…」

「W- Werewolves?…」

Chiming in, Cycelia clutches onto her silver medallion as her worried eyes widen further. Mildly annoyed, Lily glances at Cycelia past Straf.

「…Of course. In other words, there are plenty of things for you humans to fear the night.」

Lily replies, suppressing a chuckle as she holds her folded parasol in her hands.

「I guess NEETs are one of the few that don't. Or rather, they just don't care about the night, or day.」

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

Straf shrugs, then takes a good look at Lily's glowing eyes.

「…Say, Lily, are you not sleepy? You look real drowsy.」

He asks, and she turns her head towards Straf.

「Mmmhmm… It's past my bedtime, but I don't mind accompanying you to Ossen-」

She groans, and looks away with a slow blink. Her tired face reveals everything.

「Alright. Let's camp here for the time being. Is that alright with you, Lia?」

Straf quicly peeks to Cycelia, who is surprised she's even being asked for input.

「Huh?- Uh… Truth to be told, I'm a little fatigued as well…」

Cycelia breaks eye contact, looking at the ground as she fiddles with her medallion again.

「That's it, then. Let's stop here-」

「I will return to my castle, Straf. I'm not going to sleep on the dirt.」

Lily announces as she steps aside.

「Huh. Lia is an actual princess and she's less picky… Your choice, Lily.」

Straf's eyes track Lily as she walks past them, facing the large mountain in the distance.

「…You are invited, Straf. I'd love to have you there.」

Lily says with her back turned to Straf, without fully peeking over her shoulder at him.

「As much as I'd like to check out your castle and the chickens in the walls, I'll pass. I can't leave Lia to fend for herself.」

Straf shrugs, glancing at Cycelia beside him.

「Tsk… As you wish… If you change your mind, you know where to find me.」

Lily glares briefly at Cycelia with her glowing ruby eyes, before her form blurs into black and melts into the night's darkness, disappearing with a rustle of grass.

「…She's really high maintenance, huh? Needs a whole castle and blood to be happy.」

Straf comments as he kneels down on the roadside grass.

「I… Uh… Um… I suppose…」

Still disconcerted, Cycelia doesn't want to say much on the matter of the vampire girl.

「I'm glad you don't mind sleeping on the ground from time to time. And you only need a hotdog, or two to be happy.」

Straf says as Cycelia sits down next to him on the soft grass with a rustle.

「…You forgot the throne, Straf.」

Cycelia manages to gently smile, still shaking off Lily's immense pressure.

「Yeah… I mean, what kind of a princess would you be if you didn't want the throne? You'll only get to Lily's level if you demand baths of virgin blood, or something.」

Straf shrugs with his hands, tilting his head a little.

「Huh? Why would I want that?」

She asks, shaking her head in confusion.

「Hey, don't ask me. Why would a land-locked kingdom be ruled by an admiral? They're just weird like that.」

Straf turns his head towards her. He and Cycelia lock gazes.

「…What?」

Cycelia's confusion only deepens, and she shakes her head again.

「Exactly. Some things just don't make sense, Lia. You need to take confusing stuff in stride.」

Straf shrugs again, smirking as he looks away.

「…The world has become really confusing lately. I can barely make sense of things, my life least of all.」

Cycelia looks down, and her tone grows sullen. She fingers her medallion as her gloomy eyes look down at her lap.

「Yeah… That's how it is. Everyone pretends they know what they're doing, Lia. The truth is, nobody has any fucking clue. They're either doing their best, or they don't care. I bet your father and grandfather had no idea what they were doing either, but were doing their best to make sure nobody finds out.」

Straf lays down on the grass, placing his hands underneath his head.

「I… I don't want to believe that.」

Cycelia meekly protests, sighing.

「Yeah? Do you have any clue what you are doing?」

Straf looks at Cycelia's face. They lock gazes momentarily, before she breaks eye contact.

「…No. But I'm sure I am the exception-」

「No you're not. That's how it is, Lia. Everyone's just stumbling through life, and hoping they don't trip and smash their teeth out.」

Straf shrugs, looking at the sky for a split second before snapping his gaze off of it with a scowl.

「...Fffucking shitty ability…」

「What about you, Straf?」

「Huh? What about me?」

Straf looks at Cycelia, as she's gazing down at him with sullen expression.

「…Are you stumbling through life as well?」

She asks, and sighs. Straf momentarily grimaces in response as he looks away, before looking back at her again.

「I used to. Now I'm kind of skateboarding through life… Ollie through fate, and nosegrind on the possibilities before me.」

Straf shrugs, scoffing with a smirk on his face.

「Wh- What?…」

Cycelia once again becomes perplexed, and she shakes her head.

「Confusing things, Lia. Take them in stride. I guess I can show you a skateboard at some point, shouldn't be too hard to get my hands on that.」

Straf sits up, and kneels again.

「…Okay. I'll try to sleep, goodnight, Straf.」

Cycelia says as she lays down on the grass, turning her back towards Straf.

「Goodnight. Don't worry, if a werewolf shows up, I'll make a pelt out of it.」

「Straf! Don't even joke like that! Werewolves are scary!」

She peeks over her shoulder, pouting at Straf.

「I'm not joking, I really want a werewolf pelt.」

Straf looks at Cycelia, and she lays her head back down without a reply.

《…I kind of want to see Straf kill a werewolf…》

Cycelia thinks to herself, as she closes her eyes…

…

The next day, Greaves and his party are on the road out of Ossen…

「Great! It just had to rain after we left!」

Greaves clicks his tongue as droplets of water start to rain on him and his party from the gray sky above. Alicia pulls the pointy hood of her white robes over her head, and Will grabs onto his hood as well, but pauses as he looks at Lian.

「…Lian, are you going to be okay? Do you want my robes?」

Will asks, and Lian's ponytail wiggles when her head turns towards him over her shoulder.

「Do you think I'll melt in the rain, Will? I'll be fine.」

Lian replies in a sarcastic tone with a smug smirk.

「I bet he does! Because you're so sweet to him you must be made of sugar!」

Greaves exclaims, grinning as he elbows Will.

「Greaves I'm going to-! Grrrrrr!」

Will growls at Greaves through clenched teeth, but calms himself when he looks at Alicia. She sighs with an exhausted face, and Will turns away from Greaves, adjusting his glasses. The party continues walking along the road, with Will continuing to glance at Lian with concern as she's completely unbothered by the rain.

「…Just take the robe, Lian! I can't watch you get soaked when you've helped us so much.」

Will says as he pulls his robe off and throws it onto Lian's tall form. Her brows rise in surprise, before her smug smirk reappears on her exotic face.

「My, aren't you chivalrous, Will.」

She says as she drapes Will's robe over herself and pulling the hood onto her head as the rain soaks Will's shirt.

「Yeah, aren't you a real noble knight for your princess, Will-」

「Shut up! I'm just returning a favor for saving me from the horndogs! And it's because you can't fight your way out of a linen bag!」

Will shouts back at Greaves, adjusting his slippery wet glasses.

「I was protecting Alicia! You were next on my list! And if you were such a hot mage you claim to be, you'd deal with them-」

「I never claimed to be a hot mage! I just know a couple spells!」

Will shouts, waving his free arm about as the other one angrily clanks the staff on the ground.

「Yeah, yeah, yeah… That's why you show off all of a sudden, now that she's with us.」

Greaves grins, walking with his hands locked behind his head, unbothered by the rain in the slightest as his orange mass of hair blocks most of it.

「What do you mean show off!? I can't just heat ray everything all the time! I need to practice other spells too! You saw what happened the last time!」

「Maaaaaan, those villagers are going to be pissed…」

Greaves continues grinning wider and wider as he continues mocking Will.

「Shut up! I was doing what I could! If you did your job I could be more careful with the spells!」

「Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's always my fault, huh? Real mature of you, Will. That's what adults do, huh? Blame the kid…」

As they walk along the road, Greaves continues mocking Will, who gets more and more irate, waving his arms around while shouting. Lian only chuckles softly every sentence or two…