After much pushing and shoving from both the crowd and the guards, who desperately attempt to quell the relatively violence-free riot that spontaneously formed just under the palace walls, Straf waves his empty hand into the air.

「Sold out! Sold out! Everyone calm the fuck down! Trade them at the bank! Seriously, I don't remember a stampede starting over tulips!」

Straf attempts to command the crowd, but they are too busy participating in the ad-hoc market to listen.

「40! 40! Come on! Okay, 45!」

「No less than 50!」

「Disperse! I said disperse! Get the fuck out of here!」

A man desperately attempts to buy a certificate off of another, while a guard is screaming his lungs out at them. He shoves at the crowd with the shaft of his halberd, largely ignored despite the amount of force used, merely sending some people stumbling a few steps. Straf observes the chaos with a slanted mouth, and his fist on his hip.

「…You know what? This isn't my fault nor my problem.」

Straf shrugs his shoulders and jumps off the crate. The old man draws closer.

「Minister Vindict, have you already opened more cafes like mine-?」

He asks with a hopeful tone, leaning in a little.

「What? Fuck no. What do you think? We'll buy some cheap property once we have all that money in the hand, hire some desperate women, and I'll deliver you those machines.」

Straf looks at the coffee shop owner with a ridiculing squint.

「What- Then- Then you lied?」

He blinks in disbelief at Straf, and his face gains a troubled expression.

「No I didn't lie. I said we're opening more locations, which is true. I just didn't say when and it's their own fault for not knowing what they're buying. Moreover…」

Straf takes a few steps towards the palace gate before stopping. Looking over his shoulder, he looks at the man with his usual bored eyes.

「…Listen, man, I want to navigate this legally gray area for as long as I can. Lia is already on my ass for as little as child labor. What's next, legal limits on work hours? Health insurance? Retirement funds?」

Straf rolls his eyes and sighs.

「All the easy ways to get ahead will be illegal by the time the people on top are done with them. Cut me some slack, will you? I'll see you around, old man. Let's go, Lily.」

Straf shakes his head, and places his hand in his pocket. He leaves the cafe owner befuddled, departing with Lily towards the palace.

「So, what'd you do with the photo?」

Straf asks Lily, walking past the gate and its guards. Her scarlet eyes glance up at him, then drift aside as she pouts.

「…I have it with me.」

She says quietly after a brief pause.

「Where is it-? Aaah… Couldn't wait to try out the ring, huh?」

Straf peeks at Lily's small, pale hands only to realize that they're empty. His brows rise in response for just a brief moment, before his eyes catch the ring on her finger. Straf grins, and his gaze returns forward towards the palace.

「Well… Something to that effect.」

Lily replies in a noncommittal manner, still pouting, and still looking away from Straf. He shrugs, satisfied with the answer, but Lily's tone causes his brow to rise.

《Is she angry about something again?》

Straf thinks, and glances at Lily while walking through the courtyard.

「How goes the rule over the night, then? It seems like people are still pretty spooked by vampires, even if they know they have to follow the law.」

Straf asks a throwaway question to gauge Lily's mood. Her crimson eyes return back to his face.

「The humans fear the vampires, and the vampires fear me. As it should be.」

Lily bluntly declares, taking her eyes off Straf to look forward.

「Not a single vampire criminal, huh?… Humanity sure sucks, doesn't it?」

Straf scoffs, smirking a little.

「Naturally, only the insane would dare to go against my rule after I punished the previous transgressor.」

Lily smugly smiles at Straf with a face of proud confidence.

「It was pretty metal.」

「It was metal, indeed.」

Looking forward once again, Lily nods in agreement with a satisfied smirk. Straf nods along too, glad that Lily is speaking in her usual tone and manner.

「…Since you are aware of humanity's flaws, and know how easy it is to rule the vampires, why not-」

After a brief pause, Lily attempts to suggest something, but Straf cuts her off.

「No.」

He quickly utters out.

「Tsk… You didn't even listen to what I have to say…」

Lily pouts and looks aside again, mildly yet audibly upset.

「You are going to try and sell me the idea of turning me into a vampire dictator, and I like only one half of that idea. I didn't listen because I already know, and I'm pre-denying your offer.」

Straf says, scrunching the corner of his his mouth to the side.

「Why!? You know humans are criminal and hard to manage! Even if you make them fear for their lives, they'll get cocky and push their luck! Straf, you could have infinite power if only-」

Lily raises her voice into a near-shout out of frustration, arguing for her pre-denied point.

「Lily, cut it out. You're not going to change my mind because of crime statistics. Also, crime is a good source of money for adventurers. Human bandits cause trouble, adventurers solve crime. It's an ecosystem of broken windows.」

「What?」

Lily's eyelashes flutter in front of her slit eyes as she blinks at Straf in confusion with a tilted head.

「Broken window fall- You know what? Forget it. It's not a fallacy if it actually works.」

They enter the palace and walk through the mostly empty corridors up to the throne room. The guards are noticeably absent, too busy dealing with the crowd outside. Only a pair of maids passes by Straf and Lily, bowing politely at him before continuing onwards.

「You probably saw, but I'm popping in just to say that it went well.」

Straf says as he enters the throne room. Cycelia is anxiously tapping her fingers together, and most of the guards are missing sans for the token few closest to the throne, and the captain of the guard.

「I've heard it went too well, in fact. The guards told me that it wasn't exactly a riot, more like a chaotic gathering… Is it under control now?」

Cycelia asks with a nervous grimace.

「Dunno, I think the guards were doing pretty well, all things considered.」

Straf shrugs with an indifferent grimace.

「You don't know? Ahh… This is my fault, too…」

Cycelia sighs and slumps in her throne.

「Nope. It's not my fault, not my problem, and it's not your fault either, though it may be your problem. I'd say leave it to the guards, you're paying them for something, aren't you?」

Straf shrugs his shoulders with his brows raised, encouraging Cycelia a little.

「Well, yes, but… Shouldn't I do something?」

Cycelia looks at the tall windows off to the side, still tapping her fingers together in her lap.

「They'll ignore anything you have to say.」

「Geh.」

Cycelia recoils from emotional damage of having Straf say that.

「…That's a common theme in my addresses to the people. I have no idea how you can control the peoples' hearts this easily.」

Cycelia sighs, and looks at Straf with a frown. Their eyes meet, and her gaze escapes sideways to the windows.

《…Mine too.》

Cycelia pouts as she thinks, twiddling her thumbs. Straf sighs.

「Bread and circuses, Lia. I told you, didn't I? They don't actually care for anything you or I say. If you announce a feast at the end of your speeches every time, you'll soon have the people drool at the mere sight of you.」

Straf says with a grin and his palm raised up, shrugging his shoulders. Her eyes return to Straf, and her face bears a troubled expression.

「…I don't think I want that.」

Cycelia says after a brief pause with her brows furrowed, visibly perturbed by the idea. Straf's eyes plunge lower to her chest for a moment.

「…Yeah, me neither. So don't pay too much attention to their dead-eyed stares and blank expressions. Their eyes will only light up if they hear you say free food, or free money.」

He explains, spreading his arms with a slight shrug.

「Now, money being mentioned…」

「Yes, you said it went well? Should it cover everything that I… Er, well… Overspent?」

Cycelia tilts her head a little and clasps her palms together with an innocuous, awkward smile.

「Yes… Aaand no. It's a fluid state. I've got some money on hand, and I technically have a lot of money. I'm talking a lot…」

Straf pauses for a moment to rub his chin, thinking on the words to choose.

「…Technically?」

The queen tilts her head the other way, blinking in confusion.

「Yes, you see, I have 50 Dragon class shares…」

Straf says, sucking air through his teeth as he continues rubbing his chin.

「Dragon class shares?」

Cycelia's head tilts further, and her confusion only grows deeper.

「Ah, yeah, that's not really important, never mind that…」

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Straf waves his hand dismissively in front of himself, then returns to rubbing his chin.

「…Basically, the bottom line is, unlike Goblin class shares, Dragon class shares pay a profit dividend. So, as long as the coffee shop is profitable, I'll skim some profit off the top…」

「…Straf, but haven't you said the certificates are worthless? That they can't be paid out?」

Lily shrewdly notices, looking up at Straf's face with a mildly confused expression.

「Tsk. I was talking about normal shares, Lily. Goblin class. Of course I'm going to demand a dividend if half his business plan hinges on my machines, and the other on groping maids.」

Straf clicks his tongue and clarifies the situation for Lily. Cycelia's emerald eyes widen.

「…Pardon?」

《Did I hear that right? No no no, that can't be. That makes no sense.》

Cycelia says, lightly grinning at the amusing mishearing she's convinced of.

「So anyway… I have these Dragon class shares and they pay a dividend, but I can also convert one to ten Lion shares. Lion shares are kind of like Goblin shares, but count double for ownership without paying dividends. I figured if the business is not worth it, I'll convert them all and dump them onto the market…」

「Lion?… Ah, like in Temurian deserts, right?」

Cycelia randomly picks out an interesting word out of Straf's convoluted soup of business.

「Who?」

Straf asks with a raised brow.

「What?」

「What?」

Cycelia replies with a question, and so does Straf, albeit with more audible confusion in his voice. The two stare at each other, blinking in silence for a brief moment.

「Okay, never mind all that. Let me get to the point. I technically have money, but it's all in these stocks. I need to slowly, carefully drip my shares into the market… But it all will be in drakes, unless I find some sucker willing to trade it for gold, and that's unlikely. Unless I find a foreign… Heh. Investor… That I can push them onto…」

Straf rubs his chin with great intensity as he continues, heavily furrowing his brows.

「Straf…」

Cycelia meekly calls out from the throne.

「Yeah?」

He looks up at her with his brow raised, his hand remaining on his chin, albeit still.

「…I don't really understand any of this. Sorry…」

She apologizes with a guilty pout on her face, tapping her index fingers together. Straf lets out a large sigh.

「Alright. The point of the point is, we are good on money at the moment but I will still need to figure something out, because most of the money I have right now is just unavailable. Right?」

「Right…」

Cycelia nods along with Straf's extremely simplified explanation.

「And on the way here Lily brought up the topic of crime, and that got me thinking…」

Straf rubs his chin again, then snaps his fingers and points at Cycelia.

「Lia, we need a better way to prevent crime. Banditry is way out of control here! But don't worry, I already have a plan…」

A smug grin appears on Straf's face.

「Eh? Already? In the time it took you to get here?」

Somewhat surprised by this development, the queen tilts her head again. She smiles gently, nearly grinning herself in an amused shock.

「Lia, I need you to set aside some of that gold and create a Ministry of Security. Instead of city guards, who are frequently corrupt, lazy, incompetent…」

「…Straf please don't bad-mouth the guards, they're hard-working honest people…」

Cycelia attempts to cut in but Straf continues talking, ignoring her interruption. Her meek voice dies down, yielding to Straf's.

「…Not to mention, how do you know they can't be bought out by someone else's interest? What if some of them are spies? What if some of them are just waiting for a siege, so they can open the gates for the enemy to just walk right in?」

Straf spreads his arms, tilting his head a little with raised brows.

「Straf, that is really excessive. You have no proof they're corrupt, spies, or even lazy. All the guards I see-」

In response, the queen crosses her arms with a genuinely upset pout and a stern tone. Her response is cut short, however.

「Oh, but do you have certainty that they're not?」

Straf lifts his pointing hand higher, successfully cutting her off. His brows rise further as he nods to add emphasis to his already conceited question.

「No, but-」

She groans and admits the truth to Straf.

「Aaahhh… So you are saying there might be spies who may doom the entire kingdom within the city's walls?」

Without a second's delay, he mercilessly exploits it.

「I… I just think the guards are splendid, dutiful people…」

Cycelia deflates, and her confidence to go against Straf's words dissipates.

「I want to believe so too, Lia. That's why we won't be getting rid of them. They'll guard the ducks at the park, or something. We can't have people stealing the ducks, right?」

「Huh?」

「Anyway… I will need manpower. I'll need numbers. And funding of course, but mostly numbers. Can you get those manhunters that were hounding you into the Ministry of Security?」

Straf asks, perhaps even requests, with his arms spread.

「What? Manhunters? I… Well… I don't have a good opinion of them, but I will see what I can do… Nothing will come out of it if they won't agree, you see.」

Cycelia's body language becomes skittish and awkward the moment she thinks about the manhunters, tapping her fingers together once more with furrowed brows. Straf snaps his fingers.

「Great. Lure them with good pay. We will need good pay to ward off corruption. Excessively good pay. Can you contact those vampire hunters, and get them in on it too?-」

「Vampire hunters!? Why them, Straf?」

Lily scoffs in utter disdain at the mere mention of the hunters, looking up at Straf in shocked disgust, albeit not directed at him.

「Well, manpower, Lily. The Ministry of Security will be a kingdom-wide organization with authority to act everywhere. This includes your domain Lily, night or not. That will need a lot of people. But, er… If you're concerned about representation, if you know any trustworthy vampires, I'll be counting on you to recommend them for the Ministry as well.」

Straf explains to Lily, and her disgust gradually dies down. He shrugs his shoulders when done, with his arms spread.

「Hmpf. I see, I see… So the vampire hunters will be your peons, mere disposable pawns…」

Lily nods her head with her arms crossed, the corner of her lip scrunched a little.

「No, well, yes… I mean, not exactly.」

Straf struggles to form a coherent reply as he juggles the idea of the Ministry in his mind.

「Very well. If you are counting on me, Straf, then there is nothing I can do about it. I will order the ones I deem worthy of you to serve in this… Ministry.」

Lily looks up at Straf's face with a serious expression.

「You don't have to order them to do that, but…」

Straf shrugs, and turns his gaze back to Cycelia.

「One last thing… If there's going to be a Ministry of Security, it'll need a Minister of Security. I'll volunteer for that, Lia.」

Straf spreads his hands with a smirk, and shrugs his shoulders.

「Huh?… I don't know Straf… Aren't you a minister of two things at once, already?」

Cycelia puts her fingers together and tilts her head lightly, with a somewhat concerned, neutral expression.

「I see. Well, it is what it is, Lia.」

Straf drops his unbroken hand back to his hips, and shrugs in defeat.

「…Huh?」

Cycelia blinks in heavy confusion at Straf's sudden retraction from the suggestion.

「I mean, it does require a lot of trust, doesn't it? The Minister of Security… All that power in control of one man… It does go against your idea of the government, doesn't it? It's okay, I understand.」

「Huh? No no-」

Cycelia shakes her head as Straf shrugs his hand and limply drops it. It taps against his leg, causing a sad-sounding pat.

「I get it, Lia. Forget the whole idea, I was way over the line this time, huh? Minister of three things at once? And the Ministry of Security? You'd have to be insane to trust me with all that power-」

「No no no! That's not it at all! You're just overworking yourself way too hard, and-!」

Cycelia manages to interrupt Straf's dejected acceptation with immense guilt in her emerald eyes.

「You don't have to justify yourself, Lia. You're the queen after all, nobody can tell you what to do. It's your own decision. Anyway, Lily, we're going to the beach with Lia in a few days-」

「Wait! I'll do it! I'll sign it all today! It'll all be in effect tomorrow! I'll talk to the manhunters today! Captain! Go get them for me!」

Cycelia looks at the young captain beside her throne and points at the door with a commanding voice.

「I… Er… Yes, your highness!」

He pauses for a second on the steps, almost as if to say something as he glances at Straf with concern on his face, but complies and runs out of the throne room in silence.

「…Huh? The beach? Why?」

Lily tilts her head, furrowing her brows.

「What do you mean why? For fun. To relax.」

Straf says in his completely normal, usual tone.

「Er, did you hear me, Straf?」

Gripping at her throne's armrests at the edge of her seat, Cycelia blinks in disbelief, confused by Straf's reaction.

「Hm? Yeah, thanks Lia, you won't regret it.」

With a confident smile, he looks at Cycelia with his hand in his pocket.

《Ahhh, Lia… You're really lucky that I'm a good guy. You lucked out. You're too sweet. You handed me a whole plate of stupid fucking cliches on a silver platter, it's great. It's going to be a banquet.》

Straf keeps grinning, holding back laughter, while Lily knowingly side-glances at the throne.

《Ah, he's smiling again, what a relief…》

Cycelia sighs, content she protected Straf's smile…