An hour later…

After walking back to the palace together at a leisurely, unrushed pace, Straf and Nona are nearing the gate. Very wary and alert, the guards immediately recognize Straf's unmistakable form and bow their heads to silently greet him as he approaches the palace with a woman wrapped around his arm. They walk past the gate and continue onward to the palace.

「…Kind of shameless of him to act like that, isn't it?」

「What, you mean you wouldn't?」

Once they're out of the earshot, one of the guards says to the other one, and the other replies.

「I would, but…」

The plumed guard shrugs his armored shoulders, agreeing after a prolonged pause.

「…Who is that girl, anyway? I feel like I've seen her somewhere.」

「Dunno. Pretty cute, though. Weird eyes.」

The other guard likewise shrugs.

「…What do you mean?」

「I mean they were orange. I wonder what's up with that.」

The guard across the open gate asks, and the other replies as they look at each other.

「Orange?…」

He mumbles out, rubbing his chin with his armored fingers.

「…Son of a fucking bitch.」

「What?」

The guard suddenly declares, coming to some sudden realization.

「She's the fucking girl that smashed up that room!」

He exclaims, looking at the closed palace door over his shoulder. Straf and Nona are long gone at this point, and already inside…

…

A few moments later…

While on their way to the stairs up, Straf and Nona pass by a pair of maids in the hallway. The maids double-take at the two, staring at each other with a surprised gaze, before shrugging and continuing onward. Just before they can begin climbing up the stairs, Sir Vinis appears on the landing, descending from above.

「Ah. Minister Vindict, perfect timing. I was about to tell the guards to look for you…」

The long-haired man says with a smile as he approaches with his hands spread.

「Why? Is having better things to do a fucking crime now?」

Straf asks, staring at him with a tight-lipped grimace.

「…No. However, as I said, I've gathered the people of interest and they are waiting for you. Come with me.」

Sir Vinis replies, then gestures his hand to Straf for them to follow as he turns around and climbs the stairs again.

「…Careful. Don't trip.」

Straf cautions Nona, leading her up while she clings onto him. They reach the next floor. Sir Vinis waits for them to catch up before continuing onward down the hall.

「Hey, while we're at it… Can you get Nona a room at the palace? I kinda pulled her to the capital, she has nowhere to stay, and she's bad with money.」

Straf turns his gaze to the long, flowing hair of the man ahead as he leads them with his hands behind his back.

「It runs in the family… Ahahaha…」

Chiming in, Nona chuckles quietly with a large grin, barely paying attention to where she's going while holding onto Straf.

「…Nowhere to stay?」

The wine magnate echoes, briefly turning his head forward.

「…We can arrange something after the meeting. She needs to inform you about the intruder-」

Looking over his shoulder, Sir Vinis turns his gaze back to Straf while they continue down the hall.

「She already did. And she's about to drop. Can't you get those three to take her to a room, at least for tonight? I know Lia won't mind.」

Straf cuts in, and nods his head forward. A group of three maids is drawing near after emerging out of a junction ahead. Sir Vinis looks at them, then Nona, then the maids again.

「…Could you do something for me?」

Sir Vinis raises his hand towards the maids, halting them. They stop in the tracks and turns to him, standing at attention.

「Yes, Sir Vinis? What is it?」

The maid in the center of the group asks. Their eyes turn to Straf, warily watching him with cold glares, and curiously peeking at the woman attached to his arm.

「…Agent Nona here is from Ministry of Security, she's their interrogator. She has no place to stay. Could you take her to a room, please?」

The magnate points his hand at Nona. Her head perks up, and her confused eyes look over him and the maids.

「Of course.」

The maid nods, and the group walks past him to approach Nona.

「Please come with us-」

「Ah, while you're at it, take this with her…」

Straf cuts the maid off, reaching into his [Portable Storage]. He pulls Nona's two-handed hammer out, and with one hand, holds it out for the maid to take.

「Understoo- Hmpfff!?」

The central maid nods with a cold glare directed at Straf, and takes the hammer into her hands. She grunts heavily, almost sinking to the floor when Straf lets go.

Another maid rushes in from her side and helps her lift it. They take a moment to adjust their grip, shifting a little to the sides, carrying it one end each like a piece of furniture.

「…And these.」

He adds, and pulls out Nona's new set clothes from his inventory. The third maid holds her arms out to receive it, a little surprised by the vortex and its capacity.

「…And these too.」

Straf halts the maid as she almost turns around to leave. He drops the Ministry of Security uniform on top of the new clothes.

Tfwap.

With a flick of his wrist, Nona's dragon and skeleton-adorned peaked cap joins the stack of clothes on the maid's arms as well. She waits a few seconds, then bows her head.

「…Please come with us, agent.」

The central maid requests again, grimacing while she attempts to be as polite as possible while carrying the hammer with the other maid helping her.

「Well? Go on.」

Straf tuns to Nona, unwrapping his fingers from between hers. She looks into his eyes, then at the maids, before returning her amber gaze back to him.

「…Okay.」

Though reluctant to do so, she lets go of his arm and takes a few steps towards the maids.

「…We can do this again, right?」

She quietly asks with an expression appearing a little glum.

「Yeah. Sometime.」

Straf shrugs, returning his hands to his pockets. Nona silently nods, and follows the maids beyond the corner of the junction, looking at Straf one last time before she disappears.

「…Now, may we head to the meeting already, minister? Anything else?」

Sir Vinis asks, spreading his hands as he briefly turns to him.

「Nah… Let's go, I guess… What a chore.」

Straf sighs, shrugging again, and approaches closer to the long-haired man.

They turn the corner in the opposite direction as the maids, with Straf grumbling and shaking his head as they do so…

…

Ten minutes later, in one of the large guest rooms…

A door opens. Sir Vinis and then Straf enter. They approach a long table surrounded by couches at the table's wide sides, and two chairs at its narrower ones.

「Apologies for the wait, Minister Vindict had just arrived…」

Sir Vinis spreads his hands as he walks to the empty chair, and points his hand at the one directly across the table while looking at Straf.

The room is filled with familiar faces. A boy with spiky hair orange like a carrot, a plain yet cute woman in white robes, and another woman in a blue bodysuit covering everything below her neck. She sits with her long legs crossed, a long spear hugged close to her chest while her arms are loosely wrapped around it.

「Master.」

The man sitting directly from across the woman stands up, wearing the same bodysuit albeit its sleeves ending midway across his large bicep.

「…Lizardman. I knew it.」

Straf declares with his mouth aslant, looking at Shien.

「…It's been a long time, master. Do you remember? I am Shien, the-」

Shien attempts to re-introduce himself, causing Straf to immediately roll his eyes.

「Yeah, yeah, yeah… I remember you.」

He cuts Shien off and stands in front of the empty chair, looking over the rest of the gathered.

「It is an honor, master…」

Shien bows low, and sits back down.

「…Stop calling me master, it's going to give people the wrong idea.」

Straf side-glances at him before returning his eyes back to the other couch.

「Straf…」

Cycelia is among the gathered, sitting on the couch beside the adventurer party. She nods her head at him when he meets her emerald gaze.

「Lia. Who else is here?… Haven't seen you guys in a while.」

He says as he looks at the adventurer party.

Snap.

「…Carrothead.」

Straf snaps his fingers, and points at Greaves. He glares back at him with his arms crossed, and says nothing.

Snap.

「…Unfortunately taken.」「Hm?」

He snaps his fingers again, now pointing at Alicia. She tilts her head, blinking at him with a lightly confused smile.

Snap.

「…Cold eyes.」

「They can be colder.」

Straf says, once again snapping his fingers and pointing at Lian. She quickly ripostes with barely a moment of thought, smugly smiling at him with her arms crossed.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Snap.

He snaps his fingers, and points at Will. There is a long, long silence as they stare at each other. Will has his arms crossed, and is looking at Straf with his mouth scrunched to the side.

Will adjusts his glasses, waiting for Straf to call him a twerp, or come up with a new, biting nickname.

「…Who are you again?」

Straf asks, and Greaves sputters, barely holding back laughter while Will is staring at Straf with his jaw dropped in shocked indignation.

「It's me! How do you not remember!? It's been only two months!」

Will exclaims, pointing at his chest with his eyes open wide. Greaves cackles, grinning. The two briefly look at each other.

「Nice, Iron Will…」

Greaves says with his eyes smugly narrowed.

「S- Shut up! I didn't even want that nickname! They came up with it on their own!」

Will shouts, pointing at Greaves. He adjusts his glasses multiple times.

「Will?」

Straf says, tilting his head.

「Yeah!… Remember now?」

Will nods and adjusts his glasses once again, then spreads his hands as he asks.

「…Will who? You think I'll remember a twerp with a generic design like yours?-」

Straf shrugs his hand as he speaks. His brows suddenly furrow, and he goes silent.

Snap.

「Twerp. That took me longer than it should have.」

Straf grins as he points at Will, and shrugs.

「I have a name! It's Will!」

Will shouts at him as he takes a seat in the chair.

「Better than Pants… Alright, I don't recognize these two either. What is this meeting about?」

Straf points at the two plumed guards standing at attention beside Sir Vinis.

「It's to inform you as the Minister of Security, as well as her majesty about the recent events that occurred at the palace while you were out. I've gathered everyone relevant…」

Sir Vinis replies, and his eyes shift to the empty seats on the couch beside Shien.

「…Except Agent Niklaus, who I deemed too important to pull away from his duties at hand, and Agent Nona, who has already shared her information with Straf.」

He adds, spreading his hands, briefly glancing at the queen sitting beside the adventurers, close to Straf. She takes a few sniffs.

「…Straf, have you been drinking?」

Cycelia softly asks, furrowing her brows with her chestnut head lightly tilted.

「…What, am I supposed to get dehydrated?」

Straf nonchalantly asks back after a brief pause, throwing his hands up while he looks at her with a tight-lipped grimace.

「But it doesn't smell like beer, or something like that…」

She meekly remarks, fidgeting with her thumbs in her lap.

「That is correct. It smells like what your people call whiskey…」

Shien calmly chimes in, nodding his head. He takes a few sniffs from where he is sitting.

「…Or perhaps some other grain, or barley spirits. Likely stored in oak-」

「Hey! Stop sniffing people already! You're seriously weird! It's creeping me out too!」

Greaves shouts, pointing across the table at the tall spearman's nonchalant, frigid, deceitfully feminine face.

「…You're going around sniffing people and calling me master? Yeah, I want nothing to do with you.」

Crossing his arms, Straf looks at the spearman with a mixture of disgust and disdain on his face.

「So you came to the meeting drunk?」

Will asks, adjusting his glasses and staring at Straf's face with a glare.

「Sober. Mostly. So, your little trip to the north is done, and now you have a new fetish?」

Straf turns his eyes away from Will to Shien, and nonchalantly asks.

「Yes… I have returned not too long ago. Lian has vouched for me, and for the time being, I act as a guard here.」

「Ahh, so you're not going to deny it…」

Straf mumbles out, staring at the ceiling in disbelief at the straight-faced answer before letting out a large sigh.

「Did you find yourself, or whatever new-age bullshit you set out to do there?」

He asks another question with a tight-lipped grimace, the corners of his mouth heavily scrunched to the sides.

「Yes… I finally understand the meaning of what you said when we first met, master.」

Shien calmly, slowly nods as he replies.

「…And what was it exactly that I said?」

Straf furrows his brows, extending his index finger out.

「Your mysterious words about marble and the sculptor.」

The spearman says, and Straf scoffs with a grin slowly appearing on his face. He rests his elbow on the armrest, and props his head up on his fist.

「Yeah? What is it then? Let's hear it.」

Straf says, shrugging his shoulders while he grins.

「Very well… After I set out north, I realized my name and reputation are meaningless there. No one would know me there. It would be a blank slate… I gave your words a lot of thought.」

「And?」

「…And after weeks spent hunting the beasts plaguing the northerners, I realized my name and title were not only meaningless there, but everywhere. Only my actions carry meaning.」

Shien calmly explains, looking directly at Straf's grinning face with a frigid expression.

「…So?」

「Thus… I have decided not to give anyone my name. When the people wanted to know who to thank, I instead gave them your name, master, as you are the reason I was there.」

「…You really ought to cut out the master shit. Is there a point to this tale?」

「Yes… When people asked for my name, I only said they can call me the beast hunter. Nothing more. I understood that my pride was unnecessary, and that I have more to learn…」

Shien nods, and continues his story.

「…Though I was already beginning to understand the intent, I only came to full realization of your words' meaning at the end of my journey…」

The tall spearman shrugs his shoulders, clutching onto his spear's shaft as he leans onto it a little.

「…And that is?」

Straf asks, his grin already faded into a bored grimace.

「…A chisel gains no recognition for the beautiful works of its master. My pride had me rely on mutations to hunt beasts, neglecting training, and ultimately, my goal. Am I correct, master?」

Shien replies, bowing his black, silken, pony-tailed head. Everyone gathered turns their eyes away from Shien to Straf. Sir Vinis inquisitively raises his brows with curiosity piqued.

「I, uh…」

Straf's eyes dart over everyone's expectant gazes. Cycelia blinks at him with large, emerald eyes. Lian stares at him with her usual cold glare, and Sir Vinis has chin on his interlocked fingers.

Snap.

「Yeah. That's exactly it. Took you long enough.」

《What the fuck!? Did he come up with this shit on his own!?》

Straf snaps his fingers and points at Shien, grinning at him. His eyes dart to the rest to gauge their reactions.

「Wow. That's really deep, Straf.」

Amazed, Cycelia clasps her hands in front of her chest, staring at Straf in awe.

「Well… It's food for thought…」

With his arms crossed, Will begrudgingly agrees, turning his gaze aside.

「Indeed… But may we now return to the topic at hand? The intruder in the palace.」

Sir Vinis nods in agreement, but then spreads his hands and asks, glancing at everyone gathered.

「…Right. Someone broke in? A woman?」

Straf asks, looking at the magnate and the adventurers before turning his eyes to Shien.

「Yes, master. A woman dressed in light, all black cloth. I could only see her eyes through a gap meant for them. She claimed to be a chimney sweep, and ran when I wanted to verify that.」

Shien nods and explains, briefly turning his eyes to Lian, Sir Vinis, and Cycelia.

「…She threw caltrops and jumped out of a window on the ground floor. Do you know what caltrops are?」

Will asks, briefly uncrossing his arms to adjust his glasses.

「Yeah…」

Straf rubs his chin, furrowing his brows as he looks down at the table in deep thought.

「The guards here said she distracted them using a dagger made of ice by knocking out the gem from the magic lamp in front of the gate, then made entry while they were distracted.」

Sir Vinis adds, pointing his hand over his shoulder at one of the plumed guards.

「…Dagger made of ice?」

Straf lifts his eyes up to meet the long haired man's, his brows furrowing further.

「Yes. She threw two at me while I was in pursuit. It was definitely ice.」

Shien chimes in, nodding his head.

「But why would she-?… So there would be no evidence.」

Straf thinks out loud, before his brows rise in realization.

「I think that's a possibility, minister.」

Sir Vinis nods as well, glancing side to side at Shien and the rest.

「…But then she left the caltrops and the grappling hook she used to escape.」

Will adds, and rubs his chin as well.

「Yeah, that's obvious. She came in with no intent to get caught. The daggers would melt and no one would be the wiser if nobody saw her. Lizardman must have fucked up all her plans.」

Straf shrugs his shoulders, spreading his hands as he turns his eyes to Shien.

「…Whatever those may be. We are concerned she may have been planning an assassination. Either mine, her majesty's, or someone else in the government.」

Sir Vinis leans back in his chair with a soft creak of the wood, and sighs, thinking with his gaze turned aside.

「…What if she wasn't?」

「What are you suggesting, minister?」

Straf says, lifting his head up from his deep thought. Sir Vinis tilts his head, his light brown, nearly golden hair slides off his shoulder onto the armrest.

「What if she didn't come here to kill anyone, but to steal some shit? She just got discovered and had to leave.」

「But she didn't steal anything, Straf.」

Cycelia chimes in, blinking her emerald eyes at him.

「Yeah, because she probably didn't find what she was looking for. But what if? If she wanted to kill you, she'd probably just jump you on the way to your manor…」

Straf replies, then turns his eyes to Sir Vinis.

「Hmm…」

He hums and hunches over forward, thinking heavily with his elbows on his knees, and his fingers interlocked.

「…And if she wanted to kill Lia… Well, wouldn't she first wait until she comes back? If she didn't know she's out, that's pretty haphazard for an assassin.」

Straf turns his eyes back to Cycelia, and the two maintain brief eye contact until he looks at Sir Vinis again.

「…Indeed, that does make sense. But assuming this is dangerous. Minister, I'd like you to find out if the intruder worked alone, and if not, if she is connected to another kingdom in any way.」

Sir Vinis nods in agreement, then leans back again, sighing once more.

「Nona said she might have found a woman that could have broken in, and she was last wearing a cloth hat on her head, so I'll start looking for those…」

Straf replies, and gets up from his chair.

「…Hnnghh… For now, I'm going to bed.」

He grunts, and nonchalantly turns for the door, placing his hands in his pockets.

「Very well. Adventurers, please aid Straf in that as well. Again, it's not much to go on, but it's better than nothing.」

Sir Vinis stands up as well, and bows lightly towards Greaves and his party.

「We'll try… But the capital is a big city.」

Will nods as he's stepping away from the table.

「Indeed it is. The rest of the Ministry will be helping as well, of course. I just want you to focus your efforts on that…」

The magnate nods, and turns his attention to Straf as he opens the door.

「Goodnight Lia, see you tomorrow.」

「Goodnight, Straf.」

She nods, smiling as he bids her farewell, and leaves. Everyone slowly shuffles towards the exit as well…