Half an hour later, in the late evening after sunset, outside the palace gates…

Will nods his head towards the plumed guards as he walks out of the palace perimeter. They nod back as he carries on, but not before adjusting his glasses. Despite it already being dark, cold, snowy, and the crimson-eyed vampires already prowling the streets, the capital is filled with noise and lights, and there are plenty of people still wandering about. In fact, Will has to consciously avoid some, turning to slip past through the crowd as someone mutters out a half-hearted apology.

「…Why don't you come visit right meow, meowster!? At Strafdrakes, we'll serve aaall your needs!…」

A maid with cat ears and exposed cleavage asks in a seductive tone, striking a pose at Will.

「…With great coffee and great company! Strafdrakes! A great coffee company… Meow!」

Briefly confused, Will looks at her, then scornfully scoffs and walks away when she blinks at him.

《Using magic so advanced for something so harebrained… Good grief…》

Will thinks with his mouth scrunched to the side, shaking his lowered head in disapproval as he lets out a sigh.

…Rooooooooaaaaarrrrrrrrrr!!…

A golden dragon materializes from thin air above Will, then shoots off towards the Main Street as he walks past the crossing leading to it.

「Dragon!」「Oh no!」「Guards! Help!… Help!」

Screams and shouts of panic come from the vicinity of the Ministry of Fortune. With a glance of disapproval sideways down the Main Street, Will nonchalantly continues onward.

「Tsk… And what is that for? Terrorizing random people?…」

Will grumbles while walking straight ahead. Moving on, he passes by a large crowd gathered around something. He's about to simply continue onward, but his curiosity gets the better of him, and he abruptly stops in his tracks. Will turns around, and joins the crowd of men, trying to take a peek at what they're staring at.

「…Huh?」

He narrows his eyes when he finally manages to peek over their shoulders. A woman is spinning around a silvery metal pole with her legs hooked around it. They're wrapped in a net like a ham, and most of her skin is exposed, owing to the very revealing leotard that only covers her large breasts, and practically nothing on her back. On her head there are long and floppy animal ears, while on her back, right on top of her hip, is a round, puffy and fluffy bunny tail.

「…Want to see more? Come see us at the Gentlemen's Club just past the Ministry of Fortune.」

Lowering one of her high heels down to the ground, the woman hooks her finger into the cup of her leotard and says as she tugs at it a little, with a smirk vaguely reminding Will of Lian's face. He turns his gaze aside on a reflex, adjusting his glasses, while the woman keeps one leg wrapped around the silvery pole in a very suggestive pose.

Just a moment later, the crowd quickly clears as they rush towards the Main Street, leaving Will behind. Before he realizes it, the woman is spinning on top of the pole again. Due to the fact the metal would be freezing and the woman's nonchalant attitude while barely dressed amidst snow, Will discounts her as another advertisement and simply continues onward.

《This is ridiculous. Communication circlets, instant messages, the flying carriage, illusion magic so convincing that it's almost impossible to tell from reality…》

He shakes his head as he thinks, and his mouth scrunches itself at the side of his face again.

《…Just one of those things would bring him instant fame, recognition, wealth… Not to mention, it'd improve so many lives- No, save so many lives…》

Will turns his disapproving gaze to the side while passing by a junction.

「…And yet here we are.」

He grumbles while looking at more of the distant ads. The city is practically so littered with fake people, that it's impossible to not see at least one. Boisterous and flooding the streets with sound, each ad loudly shills something new. Some of the ads make no attempt to hide their intent or that they're just projections, choosing to instead assault the senses of the citizenry with eye-kidnapping flashing lights and loud noises. Will lets out a sigh and shakes his head again.

「Tsk…」

《…Straf, you bastard… How dare you just drop everything into our laps like that? Why do you just refuse to write anything down!? Why is everything a secret with you!?…》

Will clenches his teeth in frustration while weaving through the crowd, grinding his teeth against each other.

《…Why, why, why!? I feel like I'm trying to decipher some madman's writings… But the book doesn't even exist! How about you at least write a treatise on the circlets, huh!?》

He balls his hand up into a fist, shaking it in front of himself with his face twisted into anguished anger.

…Vrrrroooooooommmmmm!

「…Eh?」

Passing by another junction, Will hears a vaguely familiar sound. He turns his head to look and see what it is, but finds himself blinded by two incredibly bright lights shining right into his eyes. He can't see anything but the yellowish orange light, and dark vague shapes silhouetting somewhere behind it. He flinches and covers his eyes, squinting heavily.

Skreeeeeeeeeee!…

A high-pitched screech comes from the lights. Will manages to cover their shine a little with his sleeve, and blinks at what is behind them as his eyes readjust.

「Hey! Get out of the damn way! Are you stupid, kid!?…」

A man, clearly of high status given by his colorful and fancy clothing, shouts angrily at still somewhat blinded and confused Will.

Vrrmmmmvmmvrmmvrmmmvrmm…

「Huh?…」

Will utters out as he looks at the man. He's standing in a wheeled contraption vaguely resembling an open-top carriage, but there is no horse to be seen. The man is leaning onto the fence-like horizontal window in front of himself, while an elegant and attractive woman sits right beside him. She appears a little indignant, looking at Will with an expectant look of implicit superiority, and a hint of demureness. She says nothing, and simply watches on.

Thunk thunk thunk thunk!

The man in the horseless carriage slaps the top of the windows' frame in anger.

「…Are you stupid and deaf!? Did you not hear me!? Get out of the way! I paid good money for this, and I have the damn right to make good use of it!」

The man shouts again after a very brief pause, ferociously waving his arm to the side perhaps in an effort to push Will away with the force of his mind.

Still a little stunned, Will looks around. The citizens stand clear of the man's odd carriage and look at it with curious eyes while it visibly vibrates, making steady, repetitive noises. Not wanting to stand out this much, Will quickly hops a few steps aside, joining the crowd keeping out of the way. He adjusts his glasses, furrowing his brows at the strange wagon. It's remarkably rectangular in its overall shape, though it does have some slopes here and there.

There are two round, circular lights at the front of the metal construction, with their backside shaped like a half-sphere. They shine ahead with no regard for anyone's eyes. The man sits back down when Will gets out of the way, and shifts a little in his seat. He grabs a lever in between himself and the woman, then yanks at it a little. The citizenry is very curious, and they circle around the man's strange carriage everywhere, but its apparent front.

「…Good grief, the government ought to make it illegal for the peasants to walk here… I should have just kept going!… Teach you a lesson!」

Vrrrrroooooooommmmmmm!…

The man grumbles a little, then stomps onto something within the wagon. It lets out a loud noise, almost like a roar, and begins moving on its own.

「Huh?… A wagon that moves without a ho-?」

Will furrows his brows at the strange sight while the man takes a turn towards the gate, shining the lights at the crowd while speeding at them as they jump out of the way.

《…Autowagon.》

「…So that's what they're called, huh?」

Enlightened and a little shocked, Will's head perks up. He mumbles to himself, adjusting his glasses.

「Tsk…」

《I only now made the connection… Maybe that pervert should have included a picture of that, instead of lewd beastman photos!》

He shakes his head, and continues on his way with a sigh.

A few moments later, he enters the inn. He looks around for a second, before he sees Alicia waving her arm with a smile. He adjusts his glasses, and approaches the party's table.

「Hey…」

「…Hey.」

Will curtly greets Greaves, and Greaves returns the greeting with his arms crossed as Will pulls out one of the chairs and sits down. The party appears to have already eaten, with empty plates in front of Alicia, Greaves, and Lian. There are still tankards filled with fizzy liquid in front of both of the girls, though.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

「…He's still asleep, isn't he?」

Alicia's asks while her smile fades a little.

「…Yeeeeah. Good grief… It's like the moment he knocked himself out, a curse was placed on the entire empire…」

Will sighs out a reply, nodding his head with his mouth aslant in frustration.

「…How was your day, Alicia, Lian?…」

He asks, glancing briefly at the two.

「…Greaves?」

Will adds in an almost displeased tone as he turns his eyes to Greaves, who's sitting between Lian and Alicia with his arms still crossed. Greaves looks at him, scrunching his mouth.

「We helped a village not too far from here!… Do you want me to tell you about it?」

Alicia replies with a smile, then looks at Greaves. He looks back at her without saying anything, and his expression remains visibly displeased.

「Suure…」

Will shrugs while Alicia waves her raised arm towards one of the waitresses…

…

A few hours ago, in the late afternoon, in a village by the capital…

Greaves, Lian, and Alicia approach the village elder's home. Lian is spattered with red blood, while Greaves is coated in it. Only Alicia remains pristinely clean in her white robes, smiling warmly while casually holding onto her silver wand. All around them, grayish smoke rises from chimneys atop the snow-dusted roofs. The party leave trails of footprints with distinct gaits as they draw closer to the old man leaning on his walking stick, waiting for them in the doorway to his house.

「And? You're covered in blood. Did it go well?」

Looking at the young swordsman from boots to his spiky orange hair, the old man asks.

「…Dead. There were a lot more than three, old man.」

With his thumb sticking out, Greaves slides it across his throat with one sharp motion, then crosses his arms as he scrunches his mouth at the old man.

「Ahhhh… So you got rid of 'em?… I'm glad… Most of us are old, we barely remember our levy times, and we're not much for warriors… Everyone will be relieved, especially the girls…」

With a glad and a slightly embarrassed sigh, the village elder nods his bald head with a few sparse gray tufts remaining.

「…I'm sorry, youngsters. We only saw three that we were sure of…」

Grimacing heavily, the old man awkwardly scratches his bald head while glancing at each of the three.

「…Why don't you come in for tea?… I'm fairly sure we gave the guild all of our money for the reward, but I'll ask and see if I can't find something more. Maybe some wedding rings-」

The elder points his hand into the home. A soft crackling of a fire sounds out in the background between the pauses in his words.

「We don't want it! Your reward sucks anyway! We're not doing it for the money!…」

Greaves abruptly declares with his fist on his hip, cutting the old man off while sticking his bloodied palm out at him. Alicia lets out a very quiet chuckle, and smiles awkwardly at the man.

「…No one wanted to take your task because goblins are weak and boring, and it pays nothing! We're doing it to help people in need!」

He adds, and with a scoff, Greaves turns away to simply leave. Lian nonchalantly shrugs and follows. Watching Greaves, Alicia is a little baffled. She turns her awkwardly smiling face to the elder again, bows politely while holding her silver wand low in both of her hands, then rushes to join the two. On their way out, she notices that quite a few villagers were anxiously listening from their homes.

Greaves and his party head towards the capital, wading through the ankle-deep snow towards the less snowy road. Alicia peeks at Greaves for a few seconds at a time while he's casually walking with his bloodstained arms behind his head.

「…You know, Greaves… I think you're a lot more mature now.」

Alicia remarks after a prolonged moment of hesitation.

「Huuuh?」

He looks at Alicia with his eyes narrowed.

「What I mean is… This task was on the guild board for days now. No one felt like doing it, until you picked it…」

She smiles softly and looks at the snow ahead of her feet.

「…I think we saved the village, and you didn't bring up being the legendary hero even once.」

Alicia turns her gaze back to Greaves, and shrugs her robed shoulders while a gust of cold wind flaps the hood on her head. Greaves's red scarf flails wildly in the air.

「Tsk… What's so heroic about killing a bunch of goblins? They're weak and stupid… They're like rats. Even complete beginners can kill a goblin…」

He clicks his tongue and rolls his eyes, grumbling.

「I think it's plenty heroic. I mean, look… In the stories, he never told anyone he's a hero picked by Mercia, right? He didn't go around telling people that he's a hero…」

She replies, shrugging her shoulders again with a warm smile. Lian listens on with a ridiculing smirk.

「…Nobody even knows what he really looked like. He just did things, and people loved him for it. I think the people in the village will remember you fondly.」

Alicia adds, tilting her head as Greaves glances at her.

「Tsk… Who cares? It's some no-name sticks…」

Greaves turns his gaze away again, aimlessly looking towards the empty snow-filled fields and leafless forests.

「You're still a little childish, though. You really should be a lot more polite to people, Greaves. Especially the elders.」

After a brief moment, Alicia remarks, smiling while she looks ahead towards the city.

「If they're going to drop dead because I'm a little rude to them, well, they can die!… I am who I am!…」

He replies, scoffing, and stares aside with his mouth aslant.

「…I don't really dislike that about you. Are you sure you don't want me to purify you?」

Alicia asks while looking at the large splatters of blood all over Greaves.

「No. Save your mana until we're back to the city. We'll never know.」

He quickly replies while looking at Alicia with a serious gaze, then immediately turns it elsewhere…

…

Now, in the capital city, in an inn…

「…Wow. He really said that?」

Leaning onto the table with his elbows, Will asks while staring at Greaves, who is looking completely elsewhere at something vague.

「Yup! He's pretty reliable if he's taking things seriously.」

Alicia nods, smiling.

「Well… If he wasn't I'd have a pretty bad headache right about now, so that's at least one thing off my mind…」

Will leans back in his chair, and shrugs his shoulders after crossing his arms.

「Is work at the palace hard?」

Lian asks, tilting her head with her brows inquisitively raised.

「It's not…」

Will says before his voice trails off, and he stops himself to think with his eyes pensively turned aside.

「…I wouldn't say it's hard. It's just a lot of things. A lot. 」

He replies, shrugging his shoulders as he looks Lian in her black, exotic, almond-shaped eyes.

「A lot? So it's not a beheading, but a thousand small cuts?」

She nonchalantly asks, smirking a little with her cheek on her bodysuit-covered fist.

「I wouldn't call it anything remotely that violent… But there's a lot of things on my mind, a lot of things to keep track of, and it's getting tiresome…」

Will replies after a fatigued sigh, and scrunches his mouth to the side.

「Sorry for the wait!… You just sat down, right? What would you like?」

A young waitress jogs up to Will's side, smiling towards everyone at the table. Greaves refuses to look at her, instead staring elsewhere with his arms crossed.

「I'll have… Hmmmm…」

Will adjusts his glasses, and lowers his chin into his waiting thumb and finger.

「…I want something hearty, it's cold… Baked beans and some nice sausage, if you have them.」

He looks up at the waitress and crosses his arms again.

「Sure thing! Give me a minute!」

The young woman nods, and runs off towards the innkeeper's counter in a hurry…