On the late morning of the sixth day, at a misty graveyard in the capital region…

「Over there! There's one!」

A young swordsman points his finger at a skeleton staring off into the distance somewhere.

「Just one? I thought there would be more…」

A young man with a tower shield and a sword runs up to his side. His eyes dart left to right, seeking more signs of unlife through the mist.

「Quit complainin'! You should be glad it's not as bad as you thought! Now let's get 'im!」

His young companion exclaims, and nods his head towards the lone skeleton, who's still staring at the fog-shrouded dead trees outside the graveyard's low, partially collapsed stone fence around its perimeter.

「We'll be watching your back, but don't get overzealous.」

A woman with a large, pointy conical hat calls out to the men, taking a few steps ahead of the woman in white robes beside her. Her purple, blue-hued robes flow as she steps within an arms reach of the men, and tips the front of her hat's brim upwards with her finger.

「I know that… Let's go.」

The swordsman grimaces at the tall, slender woman's sharp gaze from over his shoulder, and signals his friend with the shield. They rush out towards the skeleton, leaving the purple-robed mage and the short-haired, blonde woman in white robes behind.

The skeleton stirs out of its vacant stare towards nowhere, and turns its empty eye sockets towards the shield charging at it.

Clank!

Bones impact against the metal, and the skeleton is sent flying back. The red glow where its eyes would be intensifies, and the shambling bones pick themselves back up, while the young man holds the shield out between the skeleton, and himself.

At the same time, a pile of bones rustles and clatters behind the shielder. The faint glow in the skull on the ground brightens, and the skeletal assortment rises up.

Clink!

With its jaw hanging loose, the skeleton that the young man previously knocked over is now aimlessly flailing its arm at his shield. Its cracked sword, eaten through by rust, is almost giving out its last gasps with each hit.

Clank! Clink! Clank!

It refuses to relent, tirelessly slashing away at his shield with no results to show for its efforts. Despite being face-to-face with death and unlife, the young man's focused gaze is devoid of fear. His shield moves ever-so-slightly to better receive the haphazard strikes to its center.

His focus momentarily breaks, when a clatter of bony footsteps closes in behind him. His head snaps to look over his shoulder, and his gaze locks onto another skeleton's glowing eye sockets. It charges at him from behind, with its decrepit sword raised high.

Crack!!

The skeleton takes another step, and a shiny, long blade crashes through its skull in an overhead blow, coming in from its side. It cuts further, cracking through the skeleton's empty rib cage, and scatters the bones on the mossy graveyard earth.

The young swordsman wastes no time following-up after his blow. His boot crushes the remains of the skeleton's skull while he charges behind the shielder. He leaps out towards his side, his sword cocked back and ready for another strike.

Clank!

The swordsman leaps forward, beside and ahead of his companion. The skeleton in front of the shield strikes it again, bouncing off of it.

「Hrraagh!」

Crack! Clunkclunkclunk…

Seizing the moment, the young man swings his shiny sword at the skeleton's center. Its vacant eyes only manage to turn towards his face in time, before the swordsman's blow splits it in half, and the force of the impact sends the rest of the bones flying wildly.

Clunkkrrrrk.

Sliding a short way along it, the skull lands on one of the old gravestones. Beautifully carved, but filthy and neglected. The red glow fades from its eye sockets, and a silence befitting a graveyard begins again.

「Whew. Ready to continue?」

The swordsman lets out a breath, smugly grinning at his shield-wielding companion.

Swish!

He swings his blade and carves through the air at his side, before flourishing it in his hand and sliding the tip into the sheath at his hip. The blade slides halfway in on its own, and with a forceful, exaggerated swipe of his hand, he flings it in the rest of the way.

「I thought the plan was that I take its attention, and you deal with it.」

His shield-wielding companion says, turning to face him.

「And I did, didn't I? What were you getting all distracted for? I've got your back.」

The young swordsman spreads his arms, grinning at his companion. The two women join them, warily looking around.

「I see you've heeded my words about skeletons…」

The mage woman remarks, looking at the shattered skull nearby.

「Huh? Nah, I just trusted my gut feeling. I figured they'd try one o' those pretend to be dead tricks.」

The young swordsman replies, crossing his arms and grinning at the voluptuous mage.

「They are dead.」

「Tsk. You know what I mean…」

She corrects him, and he rolls his eyes in response, coincidentally rolling them onto the white-robed woman.

「What are you doing?」

He asks, walking up to her with his hands on his pommel as she kneels at the shattered remains, and mumbles something quietly.

「Praying to Mercia for their peace.」

Her sapphire-blue eyes turn to his as she replies.

「Come oooon, it's just skeletons…」

The swordsman scoffs, and dismissively waves his arm as he turns away towards the underground entrance.

「It's not just skeletons! They were people! They've made a mistake of serving the demon lord once, and now they're cursed like this. Isn't this just too sad?」

She adds, frowning at the young swordsman's back, before turning her sad eyes back to the cracked jaw and shattered teeth on the mossy ground.

「I mean, they got what they asked for, didn't they?…」

The man with the shield remarks, shrugging his shoulders as he leans on top of his shield with his arms, looking at the white-robed woman.

「You don't know their circumstances! They might have done it to protect their families!」

The woman replies with a raised voice, angrily furrowing her brows as she stands up and walks in front of the shield. He rolls his eyes, and walks to join the swordsman's side.

「Eh… Side with the losers, hang out with the losers…」

He shrugs his shoulders as he walks away. The blonde woman steps towards the skull on the gravestone, and kneels before it as well.

「I know, right? So, are we going?」

The swordsman quips with a smirk, and looks over his shoulder at the women behind them.

「Go on, I'll keep an eye on her until she's done…」

The mage woman waves her hand dismissively at the two, and crosses her arms beneath her large, mostly-exposed cleavage.

「Right. Let's go, then.」

The swordsman shrugs his shoulders, and places his hands on one side of the door. The shielder places his shoulder on the other, and the two grunt, pushing the tall double doors apart. With some effort, the doors swing open. They take a few seconds to catch their breaths, and descend down the stairs.

They navigate through the torch-lit hallways, and before long, they enter a wide hallway with a dim doorway at its end.

「Uhhhh…」

The shielder utters out, while they stare at the gigantic pendulum blades stuck in the ceiling, each in a massive gash in the rock.

「…Maybe we should head back-」

「Are you taking it slow? Good.」

The swordsman suggests, but then a woman's sultry voice abruptly calls out from the entrance behind. Both of the men wince.

「…Yeaaaah. We saw this, and we still don't know what to make of it.」

He quickly recovers with verbal grace, looking at the massive blades above.

「Oh my… A trap, it seems. And broken.」

The mage woman remarks, tilting the brim of her hat upward with her finger while, she looks at the blades with her brows inquisitively raised.

「Maybe some kind of monster broke it?…」

The blonde woman chimes in, peeking over the broad shoulders of the men up front.

「Yeah, but what would be strong enough to do that? Look how bad they're bent.」

The young swordsman shrugs his shoulders, and points his hand at the bent metal connecting the blade with the hidden mechanism in the ceiling.

「…If you are afraid, we can leave. I think it would be a good idea-」

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The mage woman smugly suggests with a duplicitous, innocent tone of voice, shrugging her bare shoulders.

「Tsk. I'm not afraid! Besides, I'm not getting any bad feeling, so we might as well continue. Just watch for traps.」

The young swordsman clicks his tongue, and cuts her off as he shouts over his shoulder.

「There's one right there. A raised plate.」

The shielder notes, pointing his armored finger at an elevated stone matching the pattern on the ground.

「I know. Look for others…」

He shrugs, and steps over the plate. They continue onwards. Nothing remarkable happens as they descend deeper through the empty halls. The party comes across a large chest.

「Oh! There it is! There it is, there it is, there it is!」

The young man gleefully announces, spreading his arms as he approaches it with a wide grin on his face.

「Careful… Must I really explain?」

The mage woman sighs out, lagging behind the two men.

「I know! I'm just excited to see what's inside!」

He nods his head, spreading his arms while he looks at her over his shoulders. His shield-wielding companion approaches by his side.

「Okay. Like usual. Let's go.」

The swordsman nods his head, and his companion nods back. The two approach the chest, with the swordsman right behind the shielder, and the shield between them and the chest.

The swordsman cautiously reaches out with his sword towards the chest, and after a few tries, squeezes the tip between the lid, and the bottom half.

「Got it… Ready?」

He asks, hiding his face behind shielder's back.

「Yeah.」

The shielder nods back, and braces his shield against his shoulder, lowering the edge to the ground to cover their feet as well, and ducking a little to hide his helmeted head behind it.

The two women place themselves behind the two men as well, albeit in the distance. The mage woman gently nudges the white-robed woman to stand behind her.

「Okay. Three… Two… Hup!」

The swordsman counts down, and flips the lid open using his sword like a prybar.

A few seconds of silence pass, and nothing else happens. The two men look at each other, then the women. The mage woman lets out a disappointed sigh, while the blonde sighs in relief. The shielder and his companion peek into the chest.

「Woah! Cool!」

The young swordsman practically leaps into the chest, reaching for its contents. He turns around, presenting four gold coins and two red potions to the party with a massive grin on his face.

「See! I told you coming to the capital region was worth it!」

He points his finger at the moss-stained white-robed woman, clutching at the gold coins in his hand.

「So we're splitting it even, right?」

The shielder asks, looking at the swordsman's closed fist.

「Tsk. You just have to spoil the fun… How about we go get some food and drinks at the capital? I'm getting' kinda hungry.」

He suggests, standing up from the chest.

「I want my cut. You can keep the potions.」

The mage woman insists, crossing her arms.

「Fine, fine… Let's get to an inn first, how about that?」

The swordsman asks, pocketing the gold coins, and slipping the potions into the pouch at his side.

「You better not weasel out of it… We have our own expenses, and you do not want to make a woman angry…」

The mage woman says, taking a few steps behind the white-robed woman, and wrapping her arms around her from behind. She makes no effort to resist, but the contact is clearly unwarranted.

「…Right?」

The mage asks with a smile, peeking over the blonde woman's shoulder. She turns her face away, awkwardly smiling a little. The rest of their graveyard expedition continues to remain uneventful, as they backtrack their way to the surface…

…

In the meantime, in the palace throne room…

Straf enters with his hands in his pockets. The plumed palace guards are back at their usual posts, and the young captain of the guard is standing beside Sir Vinis, while he sits at the head of a long table in the center of the room.

「Aw fuck, I forgot…」

Straf turns around on his heel, and walks back to the door.

「Ah! Minister… Minister!」

Sir Vinis notices Straf's presence, and calls out towards him. Straf ignores him, and continues walking away.

「Minister!!」

Sir Vinis shouts, with both of his palms at the sides of his mouth to act as a megaphone, and make the excuse of not being able to hear him impossible to use. Straf stops in his tracks. His shoulders rise, and drop as he visibly sighs.

「…Yes, Sir Vinis?」

He asks over his shoulder, with his mouth heavily scrunched to the side.

「We are in session right now! Please, come join us!」

Sir Vinis announces, and points at an empty seat at the table near a handful of men Straf has never seen before. He lets out a large sigh again, and approaches it.

「Gentlemen, this is-」

Sir Vinis begins to introduce Straf. He pulls the chair out, sits down, and places his boots on the table with his arms angrily crossed. Straf's audacity gives Sir Vinis a momentary pause.

「…This is Straf Katastrof Vindict. The Minister of Finances…」

He continues announcing, pointing his hand at Straf's scowling face, while his glare scans over the middle-aged men, intimidating them all.

「…And the Minister of Security… And the Minister of War.」

Sir Vinis adds, and lowers his hand back to the long table.

「…The all-minister.」

Someone at the table quips, and a quiet wave of chuckling begins.

「Huh!? You want to have a go at it, asshole!?」

Straf angrily barks in the general direction of the someone. Sir Vinis immediately raises his hands, pointing his palms towards Straf in an attempt to pacify him.

「Minister Vindict!… Minister Vindict, please, the Minister of Transport didn't mean anything by it. It's simply a little joke going back and forth between us. We all know, and appreciate the hard work you put in for the kingdom.」

Sir Vinis explains, pointing his hand at one of the middle-aged mustached men at the table.

「Yeah, okay… Now that the meet and greet is done, can I leave? I wanted to see Lia, not a bunch of thieving assholes.」

Straf asks, and gets up without waiting for the reply.

「Ah- But- Minister Vindict! I haven't introduced the ministers to you!-」

Sir Vinis exclaims while Straf once again turns to the exit.

「I don't care about your cronies. Let me guess… The Minister of Transport has a carriage construction business, and he's about to introduce a revolutionary standardization law, and have everyone follow some stupid regulations on wheel width, right? The exact width his business already has?」

Straf stops, only to spread his arms towards the long table with his mouth disdainfully aslant at the men sitting at it.

「…How did he?-」

The mustached man appears a little unsettled, and his gaze snaps side to side at Sir Vinis and his fellows while gripping his armrests.

「And the Minister of Agriculture and whatever is going to start handing out permits to sell produce on the markets. And the Minister of Work is going to have a noticeboard where people looking for workers can put up their job offers. Sounds good…」

Straf continues, placing his hands back in his pockets, disdainfully smirking at Sir Vinis. The men at the table begin nervously glancing at each other.

「…Until it'll turn out that they'll only be allowed to, once they pay a monthly fee. If someone crosses you, they're going to get government goons inspecting their workshop for inadequacies right away, right?」

Straf asks, scoffing with a scornful grin as he lightly chuckles. An outraged man stands up from his seat, and angrily points his finger at Straf.

「W- What are you accusing me of!? This is preposterous! It's all slander! I'll see you in court!-」

He shouts, red-faced and fuming.

「Oh, I am not accusing you of anything. Yet. You just haven't done anything yet, but I struck a nerve, haven't I? Good grief… Seriously, tone it down just a little. The corruption index is not a leaderboard.」

Straf chuckles, shaking his head as he turns around back to the exit, nonchalantly walking away. He stops right before crossing the doorway.

「Oh, and if you want to see me in court, go ahead and send me the summons…」

Straf says, shrugs, then looks over his shoulder at the gaggle of crooks.

「…But I hope you don't mind me being the judge.」

He grins, and leaves.

「…I am… The law! I am the law! I am the law!…」

Straf's voice repeats over and over, snickering loudly between the phrases in the hallway. The outraged man sits down, deflated…