In the early of hours of the next morning, in the Redwing palace, in one of the hallways.
Straf is passing by the door to Cycelia's room when it suddenly swings open.
「Ah, Straf. Good morning.」
Cycelia says with a light smile, appearing pleasantly surprised.
「Morning. What are you up to these days, Lia? I've barely seen you around the last few days.」
Straf asks, facing her with his hands in his pockets as she closes the door behind herself.
「Studying. The second term may be far off, but I don't want to fail when I got this far…」
She shrugs, tilting her chestnut head with a smile.
「Yeah, I don't think I could stand another Academy arc.」
Straf grins and his eyes drift upward at the ceiling towards nothing in particular, though he's far from amused as he recalls the events from a few weeks ago.
「…But I felt like taking a break. Would you like to go out to the city and have a-?」
「Nope, sorry, can't right now.」
She asks and takes a step closer, but Straf returns a shake of his head and a quick shrug.
「Ahh… It's about the ultimatum, isn't it?」
Cycelia's face becomes markedly more sullen, and her concerned emerald eyes stare into his while she fidgets with her medallion.
Snap.
「Yup. But don't worry, I'm working on it. In fact, I'm going to handle it right now.」
He snaps his fingers and points at her, smirking as he takes a few steps ahead.
「By the way, where's the beastman?…」
Cycelia asks, causing Straf to stop in his tracks.
「…She's busy too. Y'know, earning her keep.」
He turns his tight-lipped grimace to Cycelia.
「…You're not abusing her, are you? Straf, is she being treated like a regular worker?」
She furrows her brows, taking a few steps closer to Straf.
「Yup. She's allowed to sleep for 5 hours and given an hour a day to eat.」
Straf shrugs, and the two look at each other for a prolonged moment of silence.
「…Good. I hope you're not just saying that.」
Cycelia nods, and her serious face softens a little.
「I wouldn't. See you later, Lia.」
He smirks, and walks down the hall. She nods, briefly follows him until the hallway splits, and turns the other way.
《Good thing the labor standards are lax around here…》
「…Time to put that uniform budget to use.」
Straf looks over his shoulder at Cycelia as she disappears beyond a corner. He heads for the stairs down.
…
A few hours later, inside Strafdrakes…
Straf is in the gunslinger's seat, watching the door and calmly sipping coffee from a small cup while the usual customers grope and fondle the waitress-maids passing by near them. An unremarkable man enters and looks around while the bell above the door chimes softly. He notices Straf and squeezes past the crowded, bottlenecked entrance. He sits down across from Straf, greeting him with a nod of his head.
「Minister.」
The man says, staring at his bored face. Straf reaches into his [Portable Storage] and pulls out a catalog envelope. He places it on the table, then slides it across towards the man.
「…Here are your mission details. Burn the whole thing when the team leaders are briefed, or people in the future will argue about this a lot.」
Straf explains, interlocking his fingers while staring at him. The man unwraps the string on the envelope and opens it, peeks at the documents inside, then nods his head.
「It will be done, minister.」
He says as he ties the string back on, securing the paper flap on its top.
「You're the best of the best. I've arranged everything that will be needed, something like this should be trivial for you. Consider it an exam for the whole formation.」
Straf straightens out, and leans back in his chair.
「…Here is your coffee, master.」
A waitress dressed in a skimpy maid uniform sets a cup of coffee down on the table in front of the unremarkable man, watching him with wary eyes. She appears relieved when he makes no attempt to grope her like the rest of the customers. He stares at her, a little confused as she returns to serve another order. He then turns his eyes back to Straf, who is standing and preparing to leave.
「…Finish your coffee, then get to work.」
Straf says as he stands beside him with his hands in his pockets, then nonchalantly leaves. The man lowers his eyes to the steaming cup full of dark liquid…
…
A week after the ultimatum, outside the city gate…
Straf grins as he sees a massive, building-sized magic crystal on the grass outside the wall. A much smaller yet still enormous white, opaque crystal lies just beside it. At least two dozens of exhausted mages are sitting on the grass nearby, breathing heavily. Some have their hats off, some are lying down with their pointy hats on their faces. A lone, robed man who appears not fatigued at all approaches Straf when he draws near the two crystals.
「…Are you the man who ordered these?」
The mage asks as he points his hand at the larger, blue crystal.
「Yup. Does the guild have the potions and gems too?」
Straf nods and asks, grinning as they approach the enormous magic crystal.
「I can't say, that's not what I was tasked with. But the magic and resistor crystals are as specified, correct?」
The man shrugs his hands as he asks. When they draw near the blue crystal, the air around it feels dense and sticky.
「…They look alright to me. I'll take 'em now.」
Straf declares with a shrug of his shoulders, and walks towards the larger crystal.
「I'm afraid we can't help you with that. You'll have to hire someo- What in Mercia's name!?」
The mage points at Straf, screaming in shocked surprise as Straf casually lifts the building-sized crystal over his head. The mages resting beside them jump to their feet, with some running, and some simply being too stunned and in awe to do anything but stare. [Portable Storage] opens, and Straf throws the massive crystal into the whirling purple vortex. He picks up the giant resistor crystal with ease, and likewise throws it in.
「Right. Now where are those assholes?…」
He dusts his hands off and looks around, squinting. He sees the familiar military men idling, lounging around behind a little hill on the grass near the road leading out of the city.
「…I said near the gate, damn it. Tsk」
Shaking his head in disapproval, Straf clicks his tongue and approaches them.
「Ah. Minister Vindict! We were waiting for you!」
A mustached officer runs up and salutes Straf, then joins his side as they return to the men, who are now back up at their feet and standing at attention.
「I said outside the gate, not randomly by a road…」
Straf stops near the group, and points his hand at the open city gate some distance away as he complains to the officer.
「Well, uh… You see, minister… I am clueless about magic, but I know magic gems are volatile. So I thought a magic gem of that size, if it were to react…」
The officer attempts to explain himself, gesturing heavily with his hands while his thick mustache jumps left and right.
「They're crystals… So you moved your men away from them just to be on the safe side?」
Straf says, staring at the man with a tight-lipped grimace.
「Yes, minister. If something were to go wrong…」
「Alright, forget it. Theoretically good call…」
Straf dismissively waves his hand, then approaches the military men.
「…Now how's my second-favorite unit doing?」
He asks, grinning at the group of hand-picked men standing before him.
「…Second?」
A confused young man's voice asks quietly from the ranks.
「First Rat Hunters… Atten-tion!」
The officer barks out an order.
Clankclankclank!
The entire unit brings their armored feet together with a clatter of metal and straightens out, looking dead ahead.
「Now… Where's that kid and his friend? The one who fought in the battle with mercenaries… What was his name?…」
Straf asks, scanning through the faces with a squint. A man in the rear raises his armored hand.
「Sir… Do you mean us? I'm Julius, and William is here too.」
A young man says, and another one standing right beside him forces his hand down, whispering something angrily through his teeth into his ear.
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「Great. C'mere. I want to take a good look at you. Have you been killing your rats?」
Straf wiggles his fingers to the two. The older man cringes, and follows Julius to the front.
「Yes minister, they've been killing the rats as ordered with each fresh delivery!」
The officer chimes in, speaking in a loud and clear voice.
「Good… Let me have a look…」
Straf rubs his chin, and focuses his gaze on the young man standing in front of him.
Julius Ratar
[|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||] Lv. 24
Strength: 18 Perception: 10
Agility: 20 Endurance: 23
Dexterity: 20 Willpower: 21
Luck: 17 Intelligence: 9
Charisma: 12 Wisdom: 9
Snap.
「Nice.」
Straf grins as he snaps his fingers and points at Julius.
「Sir?…」
His brows furrow, and Straf turns his eyes to the older man.
William Steiner
[|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||] Lv. 28
Strength: 25 Perception: 9
Agility: 16 Endurance: 28
Dexterity: 16 Willpower: 21
Luck: 11 Intelligence: 10
Charisma: 10 Wisdom: 14
Snap.
「Nice.」
As if it were a replay, Straf snaps his fingers again, and points at William.
「What?」
William asks. He and Julius look at each other, before turning their eyes back to Straf.
「I'm going to give you and your unit something real nice. It's going to turn you into real killers. Craft. Helmet…」
Straf declares, then begins tapping the thin air and aimlessly waving his hand in front of himself.
「Yeah, uh… Not me. The levy cycle is almost up. We're all out in a month… Except the rat-killer Julius over here.」
William chimes in, extending his armored index finger. He smirks at Julius as he nods his head towards the young man.
「Wlliam, stop calling me that! I got over it, okay!?…」
Julius winces, and places his gauntlet on his friend's armored shoulder.
「…You think you're leaving in a month?」
Straf asks with a snide smirk on his face as he looks at William.
「…Yeah? You can't keep us here longer than that during peacetime. That'd be breaking the law-」
William replies, explaining with his brows furrowed gently in mild confusion.
「Pft.」
Straf sputters, and taps the thin air again. And glowing object with the shape of a full helm appears before him.
「Wha- Is that magic?…」
Julius asks, pointing at the glowing shape. The glow dies down and reveals a full helm of white, matte material.
《Prototype crafting experience gained. New prototypes available.》
A monotone female voice announces as the helmet drops into Straf's hand.
「You can just make a helmet out of thin air?」
William asks, staring in disbelief at the helmet. Straf holds it out for him.
「Not out of thin air. Put it on.」
He replies, and hands the helmet to William. He slips his open-faced helmet with a nose guard off, and hands it for Julius to hold as he drops the new helmet onto his head.
「How's that? Heavy?」
Straf asks while William is swiveling his head around and trying to get used to the new equipment piece.
「…It's heavier than the other one.」
He replies, and brings his gauntlet up to it.
Tonk tonk tonk tonk…
「What is this? Stone?」
William asks, turning his horizontal eyeslit to Straf's face as his voice echoes lightly within the helmet.
「Close. Crystal… So, no issues with wearing it?」
「No. It'd get pretty tiring to have this on my head the whole day, but it's not that bad.」
He shrugs, and takes the old helmet from Julius.
「Alright. Take your old armor off, you're getting a new set… Everyone line up! You're getting new armor!…」
Straf declares, shouting at the unit and waving his hands for them to form a queue. He begins tapping the thin air again while William waits…
…
An hour later…
The First Rat Hunters are accommodating to their new, stone-like armor on the grassy field beyond the hill. Some are twisting their torsos, some are waving windmills with their armored arms, and some are jumping up and down in a stationary jog to test for the armor's weight and feel. Their old armor pieces are lying in a large pile nearby.
「Alright! That's all!… For now!…」
Straf exclaims to the group as he dusts his hands off, then turns his gaze to the officer.
「…Officer!」
He shouts at the mustached man, who runs up to him without delay.
「Yes, minister!?」
He stands at attention, staring at Straf with his mustache held high.
「You're dismissed. Put their old armor away, and keep your men combat-ready.」
He replies, and turns back towards the gate.
「Yes sir!… Rat Hunters!… Marching column!」
The officer salutes, then begins barking out orders at the group as Straf departs…
…
A few hours after the midday bell, in the palace's guest dining room…
Straf nonchalantly enters the room in a swaggering step. He smirks when he sees Greaves and his party at the long table lined with plates filled with food.
「Ah! Straf! Come join us!」
Cycelia beams a large smile when she sees him enter, nods her head towards the empty chair across from her. Two maids watch him warily from behind Cycelia's seat.
「Can't, Lia… I'm here because of work…」
He replies as he walks up to Greaves, and silently stares at him.
「…What do you want? You're being creepy.」
Greaves asks, narrowing his eyes at Straf while he stands over him with his hands in his pockets.
「Carrothead… I have a task for you that can be only done by you and your team. It's real hero stuff. Are you up for it?」
Straf asks while pointing down at the young man's face.
「…What is it? Let's hear it first.」
Will asks, furrowing his brows from the other side of the table.
「Don't butt in, twerp. This is a job for a real hero. So… How about it?」
Straf turns his slanted mouth to Will, shutting him down before looking at Greaves again.
「…I'll do it! What is it?」「Tsk…」
Greaves nods, shaking his orange mass of hair. Will clicks his tongue and shakes his head in a sighful disapproval. Straf reaches into his [Portable Storage].
「I've heard some really bad things happened in one of the villages on the road to Telas Kingdom, right by the border…」
He says, forcing the photo camera into Greave's lap.
「What is this?…」
「This is a camera. It takes photos. You point the round cylindrical bit towards the thing you want captured on a photo, and then you press a button on top to-」
Straf explains while Greaves is fiddling with the camera in his hands. Alicia, Lian, and Will all lean in to get a closer look.
Fffwap!
「Nngh… For fuck's sake…」
Straf grunts and covers his eyes as the flash blinds him. A little surprised, Greaves lowers the camera and notices a photo of Straf's face, frozen mid-explanation.
「Wow! Cool!」
He exclaims, and shows the photo to Alicia. Straf snatches it out of his hand before she can get a good look at it.
「Yeah, it's cool. Don't waste all the film on taking photos of cats, puppies and landscape… Now listen closely!…」
Straf says with his voice loud and clear, extending his index finger while his other hand rests in a fist on his hip.
「…I've heard something terrible happened on the border. I want you to go to that village and get evidence… For whatever it is!」
He explains, staring at Greaves, briefly glancing at Will every few seconds. He adjusts his glasses as he listens quietly.
「Straf, what is it? What have you heard?」
Cycelia asks with a face full of worry.
「…I don't know, Lia! It's their job to find out! Now go on. The sooner you come back, the better! We need to get to the bottom of this!」
Straf shoos Greaves with his fingers and points at the door.
「…We're not done eating yet.」
Greaves calmly replies with an incredulous expression, staring at Straf like he's stupid. He stares back with his fists on his hips, a tight-lipped grimace on his face.
「Right. When you're done, get to work!… See you later, Lia.」
Straf nods, then turns for the door, briefly looking over his shoulder at Cycelia as he bids her farewell.
「Yes…」
She nods back, smiling a little, albeit it's tinged with worry. Her concerned emerald eyes drift down to her half-finished plate as she fiddles with her medallion…