「… I'm telling you, Lia, psychopaths and power are like bread and butter.」

Straf says with a smirk, gesturing with his hands as he finishes a long-winded, confusing point while they navigate through the crowd. The hoi polloi on the streets is much thinner now, in the evening hours, but there's still plenty of people around.

「But, Straf… What are psychopaths? You said you'd explain 3 times already.」

Mildly vexed, Cycelia asks tilting her head.

「Did I?… Oh, yeah. I did.」

Straf's eyes drift upward while he thinks with furrowed brows, rubbing his chin. His eyes widen, and he quickly nods.

「Okay. So. Basically, Lia, psychopaths are people with no human emotions. They will lie, cheat, kill, whatever. You name it, they'll do it, as long as it tickles their funny bone. And the weird thing is, you'd think they'd never fit into society, right?」

Gesturing heavily, Straf asks, pointing his hand at Cycelia. Listening attentively, she nods.

「And yet, psychopaths get along with everyone great! Until they don't, that is. They can look like they have a normal, loving family and a good job, but then they're collecting human skins in their basement, or something fucked up like that.」

Straf shrugs his hands, looking Cycelia in the eyes. She covers her mouth with her hand in shock.

「Is that true?」

Cycelia hesitantly asks with her mouth still covered.

「Yeah, absolutely. They also eat livers and stuff sometimes. From humans, I mean.」

Straf shrugs his head as he places his hands back in his pockets. Cycelia's shock only becomes worse.

「…That sounds absolutely terrible! Is there a way to tell them apart from the normal people?」

She asks with furrowed brows, and emerald eyes full of concern.

「I mean… There is a test, but it's not guaranteed to find them all.」

Straf shrugs his shoulders, dodging the people on the streets.

「What is it?」

「Okay, suppose you have a- Tsk, shit, you don't know what railroad is yet… Okay, let's say that you are on an elevated footpath crossing above a street meant solely for horse carriages, got it?」

Straf looks at Cycelia, and she nods.

「Now, let's say that somehow by mistake, there are people on that horse carriage street. They wandered in or something, I don't know, doesn't matter. Point is, there is a really fat man upon the footpath with you, and you see a wild horse carriage speeding at the people below, they will surely die if it rams into them.」

Straf presents a simplified trolley problem, sans trolley. Cycelia listens closely.

「That sounds like a terrible situation, I would-」

Cycelia tries answering, but Straf cuts her off.

「I'm not done yet. Now, the carriage is speeding at them, and you figure the fat man up there with you is so fat, that if you push him down onto the street his fat body will block the carriage and save the people below, but the fatty will die. Now, my question for you Lia is… Do you push the fat man down? That's the psychopath test.」

Straf finishes, and looks at Cycelia. She sinks into deep thought, placing her chin between her thumb and finger. She rubs her lips with her thumb for a long while, furrowing her brows heavily. Finally decided, she looks up at Straf.

「I would push him in. It would serve the common good, and I'm sure he'd be remembered as a hero for saving those people. What does the test say about me, Straf?」

Cycelia answers, then asks while fiddling nervously with her medallion. Straf stares at her with a wide, troubled smile.

「You pass with flying colors, Lia.」

Straf says with a smile, adding a little nod of his head for conviction.

「Really? Whew. I was getting a little worried.」

Cycelia sighs with unwarranted relief. As they continue forward, Straf almost gets his toes rolled over by a wheeled contraption on a crossroads.

「Hey! I'm walkin' here!」

Straf shouts on a reaction, before his eyes even shift to what it is.

「Mr. Straf? Small world, huh!?」

Louche straightens out, a huge grin appears on his face as he stands behind the wheelchair with Millie in it.

「…What's your face again?-」

Straf stares at Louche with his fists on his hips.

「It's Louche, Straf. Hello, Millie.」

Cycelia chimes in, and greets Louche's sister.

「Hello again, your high-」

「Ssh.」

Millie attempts to greet Cycelia with appropriate respect, but she hushes Millie. Millie blinks in confusion for a moment, then nods.

「That's right! Man, you really helped us, Mr. Straf! We finally could afford a ride here! But now we have another problem…」

Louche looks with a troubled face down at Millie.

「Don't tell me you already did it…」

Straf furrows his brows in disdain, glaring at Louche.

「…Every inn has rooms up the stairs!」

Louche shrugs his hands as be announces with a frown.

「Ohh, what a relief, just more disability awareness shit-」

Straf sighs upward in a relief, throwing his head back.

「I keep telling Louche that it's not a problem, but he keeps making a big deal out of it…」

Millie explains, almost sounding ashamed.

「Millie, the whole point of the wheelchair is so you don't have to strain yourself!」

Louche insistently exclaims, talking down at Lily from behind her wheelchair as he leans in a little.

「Um, we are staying over at a warehouse… It's not the most comfortable, but at least it's some place to stay. It wouldn't be a problem, right, Straf?」

Cycelia says as she looks at Millie, then turns to Straf, seemingly to ask for permission. He sighs.

「I guess it's not like I own the place. Come along if you feel like it, but hands off your sister.」

Straf shrugs with his fists on his hips, then turns to continue onward down the street. Cycelia gestures Louche to follow, and they head into the direction of the warehouse…

…

Straf and the rest arrive at the warehouse, and enter through the missing door. Louche needs to fiddle a little with the wheelchair to push Millie past the elevated threshold, but he eventually manages to do so.

「…Are we really allowed to be here?」

Millie asks as she looks at the dim warehouse full of stacked crates. Straf blocks the way out with some of them, which makes Millie nervously stare at him over her shoulder.

「Probably not, but who cares? We're probably not allowed to kill the king, either.」

Straf says as he pats his hands together, clearing the non-existent dust off his immaculate hands.

「Hehehe… Yes, probably…」

Millie nervously laughs, out of politeness, unaware Straf is dead serious. He hops onto a crate, and kneels into his meditative pose.

「Well, make yourselves at a squatted home. Oh yeah. Lia, take this back.」

Straf shrugs his shoulders, and closes his eyes. He momentarily opens them, only to dig a blanket out of his [Portable Storage]. He throws it into Cycelia's hands.

「Louche, get Millie up here, I'll share my blanket with her.」

Cycelia pats the crate, near her, and he rolls the wheelchair up. Cycelia and Louche help Millie climb onto the crate, and lay down to rest.

「…It's a little hard.」

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「You'll get used to it. Here.」

Millie complains about the crate bed, and Cycelia throws the blanket over them. As Millie is much shorter than her, only her golden head sticks out from underneath the gray blanket.

「There's some hardtack if you want it, too. Just don't break your teeth on it too loudly while I'm trying to focus…」

Straf nods his head at the mostly-empty crate of rations.

「Focus on… What?」

Louche asks, as he sits down on a nearby crate and lays down on his side.

「My willpower, and I need to come up with a plan how to distract the guards. I suppose Lia won't like it if I just slaughter them, right?」

「Yes.」

Cycelia nods back, hugging Millie into her chest.

「Can't… Breathe…」

Millie squirms, but her groans fall on deaf ears.

「Wait, you weren't joking!?」

Louche shouts, and shoots up back to sitting. His shocked voice echoes throughout the warehouse.

「Tsk, what made you think I'm joking to begin with? Lia has been accused of what was it, quadruple murder? And the prick on the throne is behind it. Why do you think we'd come back to the capital, if not to get rid of him?」

Straf opens his eyes, and clicks his tongue as he stares at Louche with an incredulous expression.

「That's obvious now that I think about it, but…」

Louche's voice trails off as he looks down, troubled.

「But what? Got a moral problem with killing a killer? Good thing Lia is somewhat morally flexible, she has the potential to be a CEO, or a politician.」

Straf scoffs, and Cycelia furrows her brows.

「…Ci-io?」

She mumbles to herself, and Millie manages to wiggle out of her bosom to gasp for air.

「…That's not it, it's going to be rough. The palace will be filled with elite guards-」

Louche shakes his head with a concerned face.

「Not for me, but I need to distract those elite guards somehow, preferably with the help of some chump- Oh.」

Straf's eyes snap open, and he turns his head to Louche.

「You said your life is at Lia's disposal, right?」

Straf asks, a grin forms on his face.

「Um… Yes?」

Louche nervously gulps, and nods his head…

…

The next morning, at the palace gate…

Two guards stand at the royal, decorative and yet sturdy gate. A young man runs in front of them.

「Halt! No entry-」

The senior guardsman holds his palm out, but the young man cuts him off with a shout, pointing away.

「Some madman is throwing gold coins onto the streets by the theater! I think there's going to be a riot!」

Louche shouts, pointing his arm down a road.

「Heh, yeah, right. Go pet a slime, kid- Wha-!?」

The guard scoffs with disdain on his face, at least until he sees a massive crowd rush into the direction the young man just pointed into.

「…Do you think maybe we should check it out? You know… To prevent a riot?」

The senior guard's younger partner asks, and they look at each other.

「…Yeah, to prevent a riot. Quick, before it's gone!」

The gate guards run off, and Louche walks into the palace perimeter. He shouts the same thing at another group of guards, and mentions the gate guards will need help dealing with the riot. Each time, the guards look at each other, nod, then rush off in the direction of the theater.

Louche leisurely walks out of the palace walls, and exhales with relief.

「Whew. I can't believe that worked.」

He grins, satisfied with himself as he stands in front of the gate with his fists on his hips, waiting…

…

Meanwhile, at the theater…

Sturm reaches into the box, and throws another handful of gold coins into the crowd. Perched onto its giant roof like bird, or perhaps a decorative gargoyle, he provides a frequent golden shower to the fervent rabble below.

「More, sir! More!」 「More! More!」

The voices in the crowd shout, though they are not synchronized, they all shout the same, or very similar thing, a greedy plea for another shower.

Clank! Clankclankclankclinkinkinkin!

Another handful of coins rains from above, and the rabid crowd jumps at them. They pull, push and tug at each other, in a desperate attempt of at least a hundred people to gain a few coins for themselves. With each minute, more people arrive.

「Hey! What's the matter with you!? Disperse! Disperse!」

Two men with red plumes on their helmet arrive, and start shouting at the crowd, lightly poking them with their halberds to prod them out of the way, like cattle. As soon as the crowd takes a few steps back, the guards bend over to pick the coins up themselves.

Clank! Clank! Clinkinkinkinin!

More coins come with a tinny clatter onto the cobblestones, and the crowd ignores the guards and their halberds.

「Hey! I said- I said disperse! Hey!」

None of the guardsman's commands work on the hungry, devouring crowd. The people in the mob leap face first into the coins. More guards come running.

「Hey! Step away and disperse immediately! Fuck, they'll take everything!」

The guards' reinforcements shove into the crowd with the shafts of their halberds, but the push dies down early when they manage to gain some ground with the coins on it. They quickly bend down to scoop some up, angering the mass of people as it shouts bitter insults at them.

Sturm stands up, staring silently at the raucous mob. He turns around, and picks the chest of gold up.

Cccllllllankkkkkkinkinkinkinkinkinkinkinkinkinkinkinkinkin!

He tips the coffer over, and a waterfall of gold comes crashing down. Some loose coins painfully thwack the people onto their heads, and some bounce off the guards' helmets, dazing them with a loud metallic noise of forceful impact.

Sturm stares at the riot unfolding below, more guards join in, and they too start fighting for the coins. He walks away from the edge, jumping from rooftop to rooftop…

…

「Isn't that our signal, Greaves?」

Alicia asks as more palace guards run past them. Greaves continues staring at the palace like a hawk with his arms crossed.

「No, not yet. It's not a commotion yet. Who knows what the guards are running out for?」

Greaves says, as he impatiently taps his foot.

「…Is this really wise? Once we enter, there's no turning back. We'll be wanted criminals if we fail, provided we even survive. Is that worth the risk? Will?」

Lian looks down at Greaves as she asks with a serious voice. She calls Will out, non-verbally repeating her question with her eyes.

「…And if we win, we'll be heroes! I'm not turning back because the odds are against us!」

Greaves adamantly proclaims, tapping his foot one last time with force. Will adjust his glasses.

「…I'm not backing out if Greaves isn't. And if what she said is true, then she really needs all the help she can get.」

Will looks Lian in the eyes with a determined look, clutching onto his staff.

「As you wish, but don't say I didn't warn you.」

Lian sighs, and turns her wary eyes towards the palace gate.

「Ah! There he is! That cocky bastard!」

Greaves points at Straf leisurely strolling into the front gate, with Cycelia trailing just a little behind him…

…

「I'm back.」

Straf says as he walks out of an alleyway with his hands in his pockets.

「Straf, you really pick the worst times to need the latrines.」

Cycelia crosses her arms, mildly irked.

「What was I supposed to do? Do it in my pants? Let's go check the palace out.」

Straf shrugs and walks past her. People run past them in hurry, forcing concerned looks out of Cycelia.

「…What is going on? Why is everyone running in the same direction? They don't seem to be afraid… More like excited?」

「Dunno, maybe someone temporarily solved the income inequality problem.」

Straf shrugs, causing Cycelia to tilt her head, but she doesn't say anything. It takes them just a moment to arrive to the palace walls.

「…Where are the guards? Straf, you didn't drag Louche off yesterday to order him to do something crazy for me, right? Millie wouldn't forgive me-」

Cycelia looks at the empty, unguarded and open gate with a confused face. Her concerned emerald eyes turn to Straf.

「Nope, nothing crazy. Sure is convenient the guards went missing, right? Let's just walk straight in and cause a ruckus, so Carrothead can finish the job.」

Straf shrugs his shoulders and starts walking towards the palace. A smug smirk appears on his face as he glances at Cycelia for a second.

「I just hope he's okay… I really don't any more innocent people hurt.」

Cycelia follows with a hasty step, fidgeting with her medallion with a downcast look on her face as they enter the palace grounds…