Roughly ten minutes later, past a marketplace, in front of a busy building…

Stripe leads Straf and the rest to a building whose door is nearly constantly kept open by the stream of people flowing in and out. She briefly waits outside the door, and takes a small window of opportunity to slip inside. Straf comes closer, watching the stream of locals pouring out with his hands in his pockets and his mouth aslant, before quickly growing frustrated and simply shoving through.

「Hey!」「You bastard!」「Rude idiot bastard!」

A string of curses pours out of the formerly orderly stream of people which are now held up at the door. Bearing an awkward grimace on her face, Cycelia seizes the opportunity and sneaks in behind him along with the other two. Stripe watches the scene with a cringe-filled expression of disbelief, blinking her golden eyes at Straf's nonchalant face. She sighs, then turns for one of the tables as her shoulders slump.

She sits down on the mat floor at one of the long, rectangular tables. Cycelia walks up, and tilts her head at Stripe.

「Huh? Where do we get a chair?」

She asks, swiveling her chestnut head around the large room. Every other visitor is busy eating or talking elsewhere around the room. All the people are sitting on the floor, and there are no chairs to be seen anywhere, only pillows where the chairs would normally be found. Straf sits down on one of them.

「There aren't any, Lia. You just sit down here.」

He says as he pulls his coat off and casually drops it beside his pillow.

「Eh? But…」

Cycelia takes her coat off, folding it over her arm.

She looks at Stripe, who is looking at her, sitting with her legs folded to the side. The outline of her tail is only faintly visible to a sharp observer.

A little unsettled, Cycelia kneels down and mimics Stripe, brushing her skirt underneath her legs and sitting down slightly on her side. Nona takes off her robes and ponders how to sit down for a while, before eventually settling into a similar position as Cycelia. Lily simply kneels down on the pillow without an issue, sitting up with her arms crossed.

「Welcome! What will your order be?」

A young girl with her hair tied into buns at the sides of her head jogs up to the table and asks. Stripe peels her golden eyes away from the waitress and looks at Straf.

「Straf, what do you want? This place is somewhat famous for its spicy dumplings. They also have noodle soups and cutlets… Some preserved vegetables too.」

She asks with her arms crossed, and shrugs her kimono-wrapped shoulders.

「Mnh… Whatever. Just give me those spicy dumplings, then.」

Sitting far from the proper etiquette and resting his elbow on the low table, Straf thinks for a brief moment with his cheek resting on his hand, then replies to the waitress on a whim.

「Ah. Understood. Spicy gyoza for you customer… And the ladies?」

The young girl nods her twin buns, then turns her eyes to Nona, Lily, and Cycelia sitting down the table. Stripe's head perks up while she blinks her golden eyes at Straf.

「What would you like, Lia, Nona?… Don't hold back, fleece her as much as you want.」

Straf asks, then turns his smug, smirking face to Stripe's somewhat surprised one.

「H- Hey!…」

She stammers, protesting briefly before leaning in closer.

「…You speak the language?」

Stripe asks in a hushed voice, narrowing her eyes at him.

「Why the fuck does everyone keep asking me that!?…」

Straf asks out loud, loud enough to be heard across the restaurant. A few people glance at him over their shoulders before returning to their discussions.

「Well- Because it's- I mean…」

Stripe straightens out, nervously looking around to see if anyone noticed. Nobody seems to care much, as the restaurant is far from a quiet place. The waitress waits patiently with a tilted head.

「…Forget it. I guess it's the least surprising thing about you.」

She gives up explaining after a fatigued sigh, and simply returns a shrug as her mouth tilts aslant.

「Um… A cutlet sounds nice…」

Cycelia chimes in with an awkward smile, drawing attention of the both of them.

「I think I'll have the same.」

Nona says with her fluffy head tilted while blinking her amber eyes at Straf and Stripe with her brows slightly raised.

「Vampire? You don't need to eat, right?」

Stripe asks while leaning over the table to peek at Lily, who is visibly disinterested in the conversation.

「Correct. Don't keep Straf waiting.」

Lily simply replies with her arms still crossed, side-glancing at Stripe.

「Right… So… One gyoza, two cutlets, and tempura udon for me.」

Stripe turns to the waitress and says with her index finger extended. The girl nods her buns with a smile.

「Understood. That'll be six silver, dear customer.」

「Six!?… Silver!?」

The waitress declares, to which Straf perks up with his eyes wide open.

「…Is there a problem, customer?」

The young girl asks, tilting her head slightly with a troubled face and lightly furrowed brows.

「Er, no… No problem. At all…」

Straf replies as his surprise twists into an amused smirk while Stripe fiddles with something underneath her sleeve.

「…Lia, can you believe that we're paying six silver for all that?…」

He says, turning his smirk to Cycelia. Her brows shoot up with a similar reaction as his previous one.

「That's cheap!」「…Cheap, isn't it?」

She exclaims, and Straf nods along. He then lets out a sigh, shaking his head.

「Six silvers, customer…」「Yes, yes…」

「Man… Goes to show that they don't use fiat currency here.」

Straf remarks while watching Stripe untie a loop of coins on a string, then hand a few of them to the waitress and her waiting hand with a soft clink.

「Please wait a moment for your order.」

The waitress says with a bow, then runs off to a noisy kitchen area sectioned away by a counter.

「…Cheap for whom? These are my savings from the time I was a little girl, and I'm burning through them quick.」

Stripe says with her mouth scrunched to the side as she re-ties the knot on her string and slides the coin loop back onto her arm, hiding it beneath her sleeve.

「And all my money is no good, so I'd say we're about even… What was that about some information? I suppose I have something to tell you too.」

Straf asks, leaning onto the table with his elbow.

「I'll just get straight to the point…」

With her arms crossed, Stripe lets out a sigh.

「…Straf, there are assassins after you here. Directly after you.」

She adds with a serious expression on her face.

「Yeah, no shit.」

Straf scoffs, smirking. Stripe's woolly hat perks up.

「What? So you knew that too?」

She asks, furrowing her brows.

「I was guessing… And I found out when I confused a pleasure house with an inn.」

He shrugs his shoulders as he replies, scrunching his mouth to the side. Visibly cringing, Stripe hides her face in her clawed hands.

「Ngggghhh… You walked into a pleasure house with women in your company!?… And I bet you shamelessly ordered entertainment too!」

Stripe groans, then replies with her voice muffled by her hands.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

「Hey, I didn't order shit other than four rooms. They added that into the price, and told me that the rooms for the three are discounted.」

Straf explains himself, nonchalantly spreading his arms with a shrug.

「No wonder you are completely broke… Wait, what do you mean found out?」

Stripe lowers her hands to her legs. Her brows then shoot up, and she looks at Nona and Cycelia before returning her confused eyes back to Straf's slanted mouth.

「I mean that I got poisoned and almost strangled to death. I took that quote to heart about what doesn't kill you making you stronger.」

「Poisoned?…」

He replies, and Stripe lowers her chin to her thumb and finger, pensively furrowing her brows as her golden eyes drift aside.

「…Did she tell you her name at all?」

She asks, turning her gaze back to Straf.

「Nah, but I overheard that it was Springflower, or something like that.」

Crossing his arms, Straf shrugs his shoulders.

「Springflower…」

Stripe echoes back while thinking, then lets out a large sigh.

「…Yeah, that's definitely the kind of name she'd use. It's not her real name, obviously. She's a pretty infamous domestic assassin. I never met her, but we're roughly the same age.」

She adds, nodding her head with a troubled expression on her face, glancing at Cycelia.

「You never met her, but you know her?」

Straf asks, narrowing his eye at her.

「I told you she's pretty infamous. She's really messed in the head and likes her job. I don't like killing, but if I have an order to, then there's nothing I can do about it…」

With her arms crossed, Stripe shrugs her robed shoulders, grimacing slightly.

「…But she's known for letting her victims know exactly why they're going to die, and reporting their reactions in detail. She likes using poisons for that, paralytics, especially…」

She continues explaining, glancing briefly at Cycelia and Nona.

「…Nobody knows her name, maybe aside from the palace people, but that doesn't stop the commoners from whispering rumors about a deadly assassin poisoning people.」

Stripe adds, helplessly shrugging her hands.

「So nobody knows who she is, but she's the monster in the closet? The thing that will get your feet if you don't cover them with a blanket?」

Straf scoffs, smirking slightly.

「For someone who almost fell victim to her, you sure are taking it lightly. Are you not right in the head yourself?…」

Stripe asks with a mildly frustrated tone, scrunching her mouth to the side. Straf doesn't reply, but his eyebrows twitch as he is visibly amused.

「…Yeah, like I said, she's infamous. The way she does things is distasteful, but sometimes that's the point, so the palace sends her to deal with corrupt officials. She's a tool of terror.」

After a resigned sigh, she nods her hatted head and shrugs her robed shoulders with a serious expression on her face.

「A real sick puppy, huh?… Where did you learn this, anyway? Could have saved me a real pain in the ass.」

Straf scoffs, exchanging a brief glance with Cycelia as he asks.

「An old contact of mine. We go way back. I learned all I could without raising suspicion, but he's also not the type of person to report me to anyone.」

Stripe nonchalantly explains while glancing at Nona and Cycelia. Lily listens quietly without bothering to look at her.

「Can we go see him later?-」

「No. Let the old man die in peace, damn it. There's nothing you can gain from bothering him.」

Straf asks, but Stripe immediately objects with her mouth angrily scrunched to the side.

「…Tsk. Fine. Tell me about the palace instead. I heard her say some shit about some Divine Embodiment… What's that?」

After a moment of staring at Stripe's face, Straf lets out a groaning sigh and shrugs his shoulders. He straightens out, crossing his arms as he asks.

「Wha…? You know our language but not about her Divine Embodiment?…」

Surprised again, Stripe's head perks up as she narrows her golden eye at Stripe. Deeply confused, she looks at Cycelia.

「It's that woman in the palace, right?」

Cycelia asks, tilting her head.

「Not just any woman. It's a divine incarnation of the goddess. It's not that much different from your idea of Mercia-」

Stripe explains, but the waitress returns with plates of food.

「Sorry for the wait! Here's your food, dear customers!…」

The young girl exclaims as she hastily sets their tables.

「Oh boy.」

Straf remarks as the waitress places chopsticks on a stand in front of him. He turns his eyes to Cycelia, who stares at her own chopsticks with confused emerald eyes.

「…If you'd like anything else, please raise your hands and I will attend you.」

The girl adds, then bows and departs to serve another table.

「…What am I supposed to do with this?」

Cycelia asks while holding her chopsticks like a fork, blinking at Straf. He lets out a long, weary sigh.

《…Do I cheat and give her a fork, thereby ruining the experience… Or do I waste time fruitlessly teaching her how to use them?》

Straf rubs his chin while his eyes drift up and aside at the rather boring and unappealing ceiling.

「No no, not like this… You hold them like this, brace it with your finger like this…」

Before Straf can decide, Stripe leans in and begins teaching Cycelia herself instead.

「…Maaaan, delegating stuff is a cheat power in its own right.」

He remarks with an amused smirk on his face as Stripe retracts her clawed hands, and Cycelia looks at the chopsticks in her hand with surprised glee as she swivels them open and close.

Clack-clack.

「Straf, look! Stripe taught me how to use these! Do you want me to teach you?」

Cycelia turns her emerald eyes to Straf, clicking her chopsticks together with a wide smile on her face. Stripe turns her golden gaze to Straf, raising one brow at his hands.

「I'm fine… Can you two teach Nona instead?… Good luck…」

Straf replies, and points his hand to Nona, who is trying to scoop up her cutlet with one chopstick in each hand. He smirks, mumbling to himself while shaking his head.

「Hm? What?…」

Nona lifts her confused amber eyes to the rest when she hears her name. Stripe and Cycelia lean in, and begin teaching her the proper way to use her chopsticks.

「…So? What is the palace? Where is it?」

Straf asks as he casually picks up his fried gyoza in his chopsticks and takes a bite. Stripe pulls away from Nona, letting Cycelia teach her instead.

「No no, not like this…」「Huh? But then how do I pick stuff up?…」

Cycelia continues teaching Nona, who remains clueless despite her best efforts.

「…If you want to go there, give up right away. It's the best-guarded place in all of the Eastern Kingdoms. Your own security pales in comparison.」

Stripe replies with a serious expression on her face, then starts slurping on noodles from her bowl of soup.

「I don't remember asking about that. Now tell me where it is.」

Straf ripostes as his mouth rapidly shoots to the side. He takes another bite of his meat-filled dumpling.

「It's a little to the south, up on the tallest mountain here. It's walled, filled with guards, and full of people who can kill in the blink of an eye.」

Stripe slurps up the last of a noodle's length, then replies, still staring at him with a serious gaze.

「So, nothing special… Guess I'll put it somewhere around the middle on the priority list.」

Straf shrugs, then throws the rest of the gyoza into his mouth, chewing it conspicuously with an unimpressed grimace.

「Tsk… Didn't you hear a word I said!? You are not getting in! It's full of people like you!」

「…Bored to death and looking for something to do?」

Thud.

「Idiot!… Stupidly powerful and in service to someone else!」

Straf asks with an amused smirk, causing Stripe to slap the table with an angry shout. Some people raise their brows, staring for a few moments. She shrinks like a turtle hiding in its shell.

Clunk.

「Ah.」

Nona lets out a mildly disappointed utterance as one of the cutlets falls back to her plate out of her chopsticks. Cycelia's head drops with a long, weary sigh…