「…Unbelievable. You really fell for it again.」

Oleander says with an amused smirk as she looks at Straf's face, who is still staring at the ceiling with his empty cup lying beside him.

「I admit, I was a little worried that it might be not working, or that you discovered the poison…」

She shrugs, crawling over closer to Straf, placing her maliciously grinning face in his field of vision.

「…Did he build up immunity? No, that's not possible, it'd take three months at least to take safe doses… So I thought when you've asked me to drink with you…」

The woman says, tilting her head while looking at Straf's handsome, completely neutral face. She crawls up even closer, and reaches behind her back into the sash wrapping her waist.

「…This time I've come prepared. I'm not taking any more chances, you see, master…」

She produces a black, wrought iron farming implement with a blunt, leaf-shaped blade and straightens out. She points its sharp tip down at Straf, holding it close at her shoulder level.

「…I don't really do things like these, but if anyone comes, I'll have to get dirty. Don't worry, it's just a backup plan…」

Oleander says with a soft, calm voice, and a somewhat frigid face only marked by a lightly amused smile as she reaches for Straf's throat.

「…Ah. The circumstances of your situation should be clear enough, but perhaps you don't remember me, Straf?」

She places her soft hand on Straf's throat, and her head perks up before she can give it any sort of firm grasp. She leans in over Straf's face again and asks with her head tilted.

Oleander stares at Straf's face as she straightens out, sitting on her knees. She blinks at him, but there is no reaction, only slow and shallow breathing with a completely blank face.

With her free hand, she reaches into the front of her sash and feels for something while her brows gently rise and her eyes point upward at nothing in particular.

「Perhaps this will give you a clue?…」

She says as she leans in, reaching towards Straf's face with her free hand. Two of her slightly damp fingers brush against Straf's lips, depositing a drop of tasteless liquid into his mouth. It very vaguely smells of something floral, a flower of some sort. A smell that Straf recognizes, but can't connect to any flower he knows.

「…I may be an assassin, but you will hurt my feelings if you still don't remember me.」

Oleander says with a light smile, looking into Straf's still and unblinking eyes with her face close to his, close enough to also smell the sake she drank with him.

「…That being said, I wasn't lying. I think you're the first man to ever make me regret this a little. I really enjoyed our time together, Straf. It's a shame it has to come to an end…」

She places her hand on his throat again, looking at it with something resembling a wistful gaze.

「…I hope I didn't dose you enough for you to be completely unable to move. I want to see what face you'll make-」

Clack.

「…Eh?」

A metallic latching noise distracts her, along with the light but not insignificant weight suddenly resting on her neck. She pulls her hand away from Straf's to feel for the cause.

「Heh.」

「…Huh?…」

Oleander utters out in deep confusion as her fingers feel for something heavy, circular, and rigid locked around her neck.

「…What?」

Her confused eyes turn to Straf's grinning face as he's looking at her sitting up. She blinks at him, still feebly holding onto the metal collar on her neck.

ZZZZZAPpp!

「Agh!」

Oleander cries out in pain as she collapses on all fours after the collar suddenly crackles, painfully zapping her. She claws at it with her fingers, grimacing heavily.

「What is…!?」

She utters out in confused, wide-eyed panic, breathing heavily and rapidly as she lifts herself up. Her eyes return to Straf's amused grin.

Zzzzzzapkrkkk! Zzzzzap! Krrrrkkrkkkk!

「Gggnhhhh! Hnnnnngyaa! Ngggghhh!」

With his arms crossed, Straf watches Oleander roll around on the floor and yelp in pain as the slave collar continues mercilessly shocking her…

…

Around the same time, in the gambling den's main room…

「…Kyaaaahhhh! Mnnngghh! Gnnghhyaa!…」

Muffled screams of a woman pierce through the wall, causing the two burly guards to look towards their source.

「Tsk… Gotta let everyone know he's good at it too, huh?… Bastard…」

The dealer clicks his tongue, scratching his chest while lazily lying on his side, propping his head up on his palm.

「…Stripe! What did they leave for!?」

Cycelia's sharp, wide-eyed glare snaps to Stripe's tight-lipped grimace.

「Uh… Uhm…」

Stripe evades eye contact, red-faced.

「Answer me!」

Cycelia demands angrily, crawling up right in front of her and reducing the gap between their faces to almost nothing.

「L- Look, not like I'm on his side here, but in his defense…」

Helplessly spreading her hands, Stripe replies while refusing to look at Cycelia.

「In his defense!? Defense of what!?」

Cycelia exclaims as she recoils back, shielding herself with one arm from Stripe in a wide-eyed shock…

…

Around the same time, in the gambling den's backroom…

Covered in sweat, breathing heavily, and clutching at her neck on all fours, Oleander receives a small reprieve from the collar as she stops thinking of driving her kunai into Straf's neck to appreciate the lack of pain instead. With his arms crossed, he stares at her with a bored gaze and his mouth aslant.

「…Look, I owe you one, so I'll spoil this instead of letting you figure it out yourself. The collar will shock you if you try to kill me, or if you don't do as I say. Got it?」

Straf says with a shrug of his shoulders while looking at the woman.

「…Haah… That's ridiculous… Why would that work!?…」

She replies with her brows furrowed in pain, gasping for air as she straightens out.

「Iunno. It just does.」

Straf nonchalantly replies with another, more dismissive shrug.

Zzzzzzap!

「Gahhhh!… Mnhhhh…」

Oleander lets out a pained yelp and a regretful moan as she drops down to the mat floor again.

「See?」

He asks, quizzically spreading his hands.

「…But how?」

The woman utters out in disbelief, catching her breath. Her eyes snap to the sliding door leading to the main room. She makes an effort to lunge for it.

ZZZZZZAPppkrkk!…

「Gyahhhhnghhhh!…」

「Oh… I forgot to mention, it'll do that if you try to escape too, so don't do that. You're my slave now, basically… Guess I'm a fuckin' slave too, huh?…」

Straf watches Oleander roll around the floor in pain again, calmly explaining the escape prevention mechanic.

Gasping for breaths, she lifts herself up to all fours again. She looks at the door, then turns her face of dismayed disbelief to Straf. Her eyes glance at the kunai clenched in her first.

「…Then I'm entirely at your mercy?」

She asks with heavy dismay on her face still, straightening out to her knees as she calms her breathing somewhat. She puts her kunai away into her sash at the rear.

「Yup.」

Straf nods with a smug grimace in a blunt reply.

「…Are you going to kill me?」

She asks as her grimace turns nervous, and she regains her dignified pose despite her clothing getting somewhat disheveled, showing more of her cleavage.

「I fully support equal treatment of men and women…」

Straf declares with his head lowered and arms still crossed.

「…Is the cliched thing to say. Nah, you're pretty fucking weak, and I'd only consider that if there were no other way.」

He adds after a pause, shrugging his shoulders with his mouth aslant.

「…But I have orders to kill you. And not just me.」

She replies in a rather confused tone.

「Yeah, but you can't really fuckin' carry them out, can you now?… Now that I give it some thought…」

Straf scoffs, gaining a smug smirk. He lowers his gaze, pensively rubbing his chin.

「Y- You're reconsidering it?…」

The woman asks and curls her lips inward into her mouth.

「…I have an evil dragon, an evil demon, an evil cat, and technically an evil vampire in my harem…」

He remarks, still staring down at the floor in front of him.

「…Ironically enough, I'm missing an evil human. I guess you're in.」

「…Harem?」

He adds as he raises his eyes to Oleander's confused face. She echoes the strange foreign word, tilting her head at him with her mouth slightly open.

「Yeah… But, uh, you're late to being the first evil murderer. The dyslexiac bimbo gets the dubious honor of that. She's not human though, so there's that.」

Returning a nod, Straf shrugs his arms before crossing them.

「Dyslexiac bi-? Never mind. You said you owed me… For what? I don't remember helping you. I was trying to kill you. This whole time.」

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Oleander furrows her brows, before shaking her head and asking a different question.

「For reminding me to not take this shit so seriously. I owe you for that, so just shut up and take it, alright?…」

He replies, throwing up his hands with a ridiculing smirk on his face.

「…Now, I have a few questions for you, and I want you to answer them honestly.」

Straf adds, crossing his arms again as his face gains a more serious, slightly angry grimace.

「…I'm going to get hurt if I lie, aren't it?」

She asks with a troubled grimace, furrowing her brows.

「Yup. So you better answer my questions… Were you cheating?」

Straf nods in reply, then asks.

Zzap.

「Ow…」

The woman winces when the collar zaps her with a quiet crackle. Straf raises his brow.

「You were thinking of lying just now, weren't you?」

Straf says with his mouth aslant in annoyed disbelief.

「No… I was thinking of slipping in lies mixed with truth, to test how far I can push it… It seems the punishment is worse the stronger the intent to disobey is, isn't it?」

Oleander shakes her head, then explains with a resigned shrug of her disheveled robed shoulders.

「Iunno.」

Straf bluntly replies. With her head lowered, the poisoner woman lets out a defeated sigh and lifts her eyes up to meet Straf's bored gaze.

「…It wasn't me who was cheating, so to say. I only stood to gain from it. It was the dealer. I have an agreement with him where I take the others' money, and he takes a large cut.」

She explains, shrugging her hands with a likewise defeated and weary grimace on her face.

「Son of a fucking bitch… So it's not deterministic after all!?… Tsk… How did he do it?」

With his arms crossed, Straf briefly grumbles to himself. After a frustrated click of his tongue, his eyes then return to meet hers.

「With a ring that attracts certain metals. The dice are loaded with such metals, but only on one side, making the results predictable if he wants them to be…」

Oleander shrugs her shoulders, causing Straf to immediately wince and grit his teeth in anger while looking at the door.

「…They're of course, also weighted to perfection, so that they can be used as normal dice with his other hand. That makes it almost impossible to prove…」

She continues, turning her disinterested eyes to the door as well.

「…His favorite trick is to let someone else act as a dealer for a few rounds when someone objects to the results. It shuts the dissenters up very quickly.」

The woman looks at Straf, who then rubs his chin.

「…Right. Makes sense. That's a cliche too… That's kind of clever, but a magnet trick is definitely on the list.」

「A magnet trick?…」

Straf nods, still rubbing his chin as his brows furrow slightly. The woman tilts her head, echoing his words with one eye narrowed.

「Never mind that. Give me all your money.」

He shakes his head and sticks his hand out for the woman, expectantly wiggling his fingers.

Zzzzap!

「Augh…」

She winces heavily while grasping at the collar as it shocks her.

「…Seriously? You're in my harem now and you're going to be stingy? Hand it over.」

Indignant, Straf places his fists on his hips, grimacing in disbelief. The woman reluctantly reaches into her sleeve and hands over her loop of coins to Straf.

「That's more like it. I earned this-」

Clunkkkkslam!

The door slides open with a forceful push.

「Hey! You're not allowed in there! Get away!」

One of the burly guards shouts as Cycelia tries to make her way into the backroom, wrestling with the guard while glaring at Straf with her golden eyes glowing. The man struggles to keep her from just walking straight in, pulling her back by leveraging all of his significant weight as the woven mats beneath them creak. Everyone behind the two appears deeply disconcerted by the situation unfolding.

「Straf!… Straf! What is the meaning of this!?」

Cycelia shouts angrily, but slowly calms down when she sees the two inside frozen in middle of money changing hands.

「…Motherfucker you better take your hands off of her.」

Clenching his fist around the coins on a string in his hand, Straf says with a cold glare to the guard whose arms are wrapped around Cycelia's waist.

「…It's fine, let her.」

Oleander says with a tight-lipped grimace, and the burly guard lets go, showing his empty hands to Straf as if to placate him. Cycelia stomps up between the two, who stand up.

「…Did you finish!?」

Cycelia asks, shouting at the woman while glaring at her with her eyes green with envy. Oleander turns her confused gaze to Straf.

「Finish what, Lia? I think you're getting the wrong idea about something…」

Straf asks with his brows furriowed, spreading his hands while looking at Cycelia's angrily frowning face.

「S- Stripe told me that you… You…」

Cycelia stutters, struggling to finish her sentence while disdainfully pointing her finger at the stranger woman.

「Yeees?…」

Straf nods while spinning a circle with his hand.

「…T- Th- That you're selling yourself for money!… To this woman!」

Cycelia accuses the woman with a raised voice and a flushed face, still pointing at her while looking at Straf with a tight-lipped grimace.

「What the fuck? Is the cat just slandering me on purpose, just because she can now!?…」

Straf's shoulders slump as he looks at Cycelia's seething face while she huffs and puffs with her dainty fists clenched. Stripe is hiding most of her face in her hat.

「…I only ever sold myself for money to Lily- No! Wait! Not like that!」

He replies with a nonchalant shrug of his arms and an amused smirk on his face. As soon as he finishes his sentence, his eyes widen when he instantly realizes his error. He stretches his hand out towards Lily in the back of the group, but it's too late, everyone's eyes are on her already. With her arms crossed, she very briefly meets their shocked and stunned gazes then lets out a nonchalant, amused huff from her small nose.

「Hmpf… Well, it was some time ago…」「Lilyyy!」

Lily replies with a shrug and her clawed hand on her pale cheek. Straf screams bloody murder at the no-contest reply. Everyone who speaks lowland common turn their disgusted, disdainful, or shocked gazes to Straf. Will adjusts his glasses while Greaves stares at Straf with his jaw dropped. Lian's eyes are remarkably cold while they glare at Straf.

「It was blood! Blood! It's like a transfusion to a private company!」

Straf shouts back in his defense while pointing at Lily.

「Yes… It was a bargain.」

Lily nods her golden head with a pleased smirk and crosses her arms. Everyone from Straf's group lets out a larger or smaller sigh of relief as their shoulders slump.

「…But if you're not s- Selling yourself… Then why did she lead you here!?」

Cycelia asks, stuttering and lowering her voice before abruptly raising it as she points at Oleander, who stares at her back in silence with confused eyes.

「To kill me.」

Straf casually replies with a shrug, placing his hands in his pockets.

「…What?」「…What?」「…Huuh?」

Cycelia, Stripe, and Greaves utter out with varying degrees of shock on their faces. Stripe rushes into the room past the guard faster than he can react.

「Yeah, she's the one who-」

「…You!?」

Straf tries to explain, but Stripe cuts in with a shout directed at the stranger woman. Oleander blinks at Stripe, and after a few seconds, her head perks up in shock.

「You!?-」

Oleander replies with a similarly stunned shout. Stripe reaches her clawed hand towards the woman's face.

「…Pfftpft! What are you…!?」

The poisoner woman exclaims as Stripe begins to forcefully rub her palm on her face, smearing makeup all over it. Oleander glares at her in anger.

「I knew it! I knew something was off!」

Stripe shouts, clenching her fist and pointing her other hand's finger at Oleander's now messy face covered by smeared lipstick.

「…I suppose I won't be needing those anymore, then.」

Oleander mumbles to herself and reaches into her mouth. She pulls out two small saliva-soaked rags and discards them aside to the floor with a cold glare directed at Stripe.

「…Cloth to change your cheek shape, right?」

Stripe asks, returning a wary glare of her own.

「That's right… I didn't recognize you either, but I didn't think you'd actually dress like that…」

Oleander nods as she walks up to Stripe, who takes a cautious step back.

「…You hid your pretty face in the crowd. Did it not occur to you that you can just color it a little? Are you still always poor?…」

She places her hands on Stripe's face, tilting her head. Stipe's upper lip twitches in anger, and the two glare at each other from up close while Straf watches with a lightly troubled look.

「…You could make a killing on lustful men with those ears of yours-」

Slap.

Stripe angrily slaps Oleander's arms away, interrupting her with a disdainful scowl on her face.

「…I find it silly. You're just like me, yet you refuse to use all your tools as a woman. Why?」

Oleander scoffs with a snide, almost taunting little smirk in return.

「I'm nothing like you. You have something wrong with your head.」

Stripe replies with her face twisting into a bigger furious frown.

「…Perhaps that's why they've sent you away, no? You're a liability-」

Pat.

Oleander replies after a brief pause with an irritatingly calm tone. Stripe rears her hand back for a slap.

「Wha-!?」「My…」

Stripe's jaw drops as Straf grabs her wrist before her hand can make contact. A snide, smug smirk appears on Oleander's face at the sight.

「That's enough of a catfight. Bickering and bitching is fine, but no doing that…」

Straf chides Stripe with a neutral, nonchalant tone and face.

「…That goes for you as well. No murdering, poisoning, slandering, or otherwise harming anyone else, unless I give you the permission to…」

He turns his eyes to Oleander and orders her with a stern voice, letting go of Stripe's wrist. Stripe clicks her tongue, but doesn't try again.

「…I suppose you can defend yourself if you feel that your life is in danger, but no more. I don't want to have to micromanage my harem like it's a fucking dating game.」

With a sigh, Straf shrugs and adds with his mouth aslant.

「…Dating game?」

「…What was that argument about, Straf?」

Oleander echoes, and Cycelia chimes in with a question. He glances at her with a bored grimace.

「Catfight.」

He casually replies, and heads for the door to the main room…