An hour later, well into the night…

「…The issues with the Mage Federation eventually led to them sending the battle fortress against us. Straf dealt with it, but… Well, you know.」

Cycelia continues explaining the events of past six months while Straf and the rest listen. The maid attending to Millie refills everyone's cups periodically, briefly leaving to bring more.

「I always knew Straf was a capable man, but isn't this a little too much? It's like a blessing from Mercia herself to save our plagued land.」

Millie says with a smile directed at Straf, while Louche nods along.

「Pft.」

Straf scoffs with an amused smirk on his face, rolling his eyes, while Cycelia winces and nervously glances around at everybody seated.

「Err… Um… Well… He he… Maybe she had a hand in it… Ha ha…」

Cycelia replies with a very awkward smile, glancing every few moments at Straf's nonchalant, bored face.

「More importantly, Mr. Straf…」

Louche calls out, placing his hands on the table with a serious face.

「…Yeaaah?」

Straf raises his brow at him with his arms crossed.

「…Will you marry my sister!?」

Louche exclaims, and bows his head in a plea.

「Eh!?」「Huh!?」

Cycelia and Lily perk up in shocked surprise, while Nona silently stares at Straf with her amber eyes wide open.

Millie simply blinks at her brother with her blue eyes wide open, while the two maids in the room exchange confused glances.

「Huh? I'm just here to eat your snacks… I'm not into physically sick girls, she's also on the younger side, and I already have a marriage coupon to redeem.」

Straf replies with a somewhat fatigued expression on his face, scoffing as he leans forward onto the table with his elbows.

「…M-? Marriage coupon?」

Louche echoes back, deeply confused. Millie is hiding her blushing face behind her curtain of golden hair. Lily collects herself when she realizes Straf is not interested, and crosses her arms.

「It's still valid, right, Lia?」

Straf asks, turning his bored eyes to Cycelia.

「Ah!? Er, um… It's not… It's not invalid…」

She perks up in shock again and begins to tap her index fingers together as she shrinks with a bashful pout. She then shrugs her shoulders while looking aside.

「Cool.」

With a casual shrug, Straf simply replies.

「Ahh… Umm… Your highness, it's getting kind of late. I'd love to stay up and talk, but unfortunately I have a meeting tomorrow about a new mine…」

Millie raises her still blushing face up and meekly chimes in.

「…I'm sure the village council would understand if I'd explain that I was hosting you, but it'd speak ill of me if I met them sleepy. It's well past my usual bedtime.」

She adds, awkwardly hugging her hands close to her small chest.

「I understand. It's alright, Millie, I'm already grateful that we can sleep in a warm manor, instead of an inn in the middle of nowhere.」

Cycelia nods with a smile and slides out from the table, standing up. Straf lazily stands up as well, after which Nona and Lily follow.

「Right… If you'd need anything, please let the maids know, they'd love to help you. I'll see you off tomorrow morning.」

Millie nods back and glances at the two maids standing by.

「Please follow me, I will take you to your rooms.」

The maid weighed by everybody's outerwear steps up to the group, and bows slightly.

Straf glances at Cycelia and flashes a dismissive shrug, placing his hands in his pockets as he follows the maid out of the dining room with the rest…

…

Five minutes later, upstairs, in a long hallway full of doors…

The maid leading the group stops in front of one of the doors, and opens it. She picks Cycelia's coat off her arm and holds it out for her.

「Your room, your highness. Please take your coat with you, unless you'd like me to wash it.」

The maid says with a slow, light nod of her head.

「Ah, no, it's kept clean at the palace, thank you…」

Cycelia returns a light bow of her head as she picks the folded coat up off the maid's hand, and takes a step into the room.

「See you in the morning then, Straf.」

About to close her door, she says with a smile on her face.

「Yeah, goodnight, Lia…」

Straf returns an acknowledging nod on the way past, following the maid to the next door.

「…Here is yours, Lady Nona.」

The maid opens another door and similarly holds the fur-trimmed robes out for Nona.

「Lady? He he…」

She takes the robes from the maid with a chuckle and a grin, hopping inside.

「Don't steal stuff, Nona… We're just here for the night.」

Straf remarks into the room as he walks past. The maid glances over her shoulder with her brow inquisitively raised.

「Tsk… Fine.」

Nona replies with a little pout on her tanned face, and slowly pushes the door shut.

「Your room, Minister Vindict.」

The maid says as she opens another room and gently bows her head. Straf picks his coat off her arm and nonchalantly throws it into his [Portable Storage].

「…I have to ask, why didn't you do that to begin with, Straf? With the baggage too?」

Lily blinks her scarlet eyes at Straf, tilting her head as he walks into his room.

「And leave the maids with nothing to do? You heard her, they love to serve…」

Straf replies with a shrug and places his hand on his room's door.

「…Besides, Lia or Nona might want to change into pajamas.「Straf, could you give me my spare panties?…」doesn't sound so good, does it?」

He adds with his mouth aslant and a brow raised, leaning onto the door. Lily's golden head perks up.

「…Indeed. Goodnight then, Straf.」

「Yeah, goodnight, Lily.」

She nods in agreement and follows the maid to her room. Straf closes his door and turns for the bed.

The room is small, much smaller than the palace, but not overly so. It definitely does not come anywhere near being cramped, though in some places the walking space is limited. The bed lacks a canopy or its supporting pillars, being a quite normal, regular bed. Straf walks up to its foot end, turns to it with his back, and leaps towards it.

Fhwump!…

「Ahhhh…」

Straf lets out a large sigh as he bounces up towards the pillows, coming to a halt with his hands remaining in his pockets.

He waits, and waits, and waits.

「…Yup. It's a bed. Guess I'm not sleeping tonight. Hmpf.」

Disappointed, he pulls his hands out and sits himself up with a small grunt.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

「Might as well grind my stats a little more…」

He shrugs as a semi-translucent screen of text appears before him while he shifts his legs to sit in a meditative pose…

…

The next morning, outside the manor…

Millie follows Straf and the rest out of the front door to the autowagon parked in the snow outside. A maid carries Nona's baggage to it, while two carry Cycelia's, one holding each end.

「I hope you visit again soon, your highness… I know you're terribly busy usually, but I enjoyed our teatime last night.」

She says to Cycelia while Louche wheels her behind the group.

「Same, Millie. Maybe if we're not in a rush on our way back, I'll stay for longer when I come back with your souvenir.」

Cycelia replies with a smile as she sits down in the car. The maids approach the car with the large baggage, wondering how and where to load it.

Straf nonchalantly takes both into each hand, and simply throws it into his [Portable Storage], leaving the maids empty-handed and mildly confused.

「This carriage… It's really unique. It runs on magic, doesn't it? I heard a word about them some time ago, but didn't get to see one until just now.」

Millie asks as Straf and the rest sit down in the kubelwagen, back at their previous seats.

「Yup, it does…」

Vrrrrrrrrrrttttrtrtrtrtrtt…

Straf nonchalantly replies as he turns the key. The autowagon begins to vibrate violently before settling down.

「…Would it be possible to buy one? I don't know what it takes to make one, or how much they cost… But I'm sure you know my land has plenty of gold mines. I can see its uses.」

Millie clasps her hands together as she tilts her head slightly, blinking her blue eyes at Straf.

Vrrmmvrrmvrrmvrrmmm…

「I'll mail you a brochure when we're back… I've got an idea for a premium model, anyhow. People like Lia should be rolling around in something fancier.」

Straf turns his slanted mouth to Millie and speaks in a calm, unrushed tone over the engine's idle noise as he turns his bored eyes to Cycelia.

「Please, I could think of many, many uses for a few of them. I'm sure they would return their value in no time at all…」

Millie smiles while Straf fiddles with the gear stick.

「…Take care then, your highness. Please consult with that guide, he might help you cross the mountains.」

「Yes, we will. Thank you, Millie. Take care of yourself too.」

Vrrrrrrrmmmmmmmm… Vrrrroooommm…

She adds, and Cycelia replies with a nod. Straf backs the car out, turns it around, then drives out of the open gate down the hill.

Along the way, Louche rolls Millie out of the gate, where she waves Straf and his group off with a warm smile on her pale face. Cycelia waves back while the car speeds away…

…

A little under two hours later, in a small village at the foot of the long mountain chain…

Vrrrrrooooommmmmmm…

Straf drives into the snow-coated village, which amounts to just a handful of homes, a well, and a few barns, presumably full of animals. He stops in the center and looks around. A few villagers peek out of their windows to investigate the engine noise, and after a moment, a middle-aged man propped up on a staff walks out of his home, approaching Straf.

「Ooh… Travelers, yes? Are you here to buy goods from the Eastern Kingdoms?」

The man asks, stroking his pointy beard which awkwardly sits in a spot somewhere between long and short.

「No, we're looking for a guide who knows a path to the east.」

Cycelia replies as the villager stops by her door.

「I see, I see… That would be me. I am Rudolf. I go from here to the Eastern Kingdoms every now and then to load up on their goods, then sell them over on our side…」

Rudolf the guide nods his gray head and lazily wags the top of his staff towards the mountain as he explains.

「…But, uh, I just came back recently, and I'm not planning to go again for a few weeks at least, young lady… Unless you'd make it worth my time.」

He adds, leaning onto his staff while he peers into the autowagon with his brows raised.

「Of course, I don't expect you to work for free. What do you charge?」

Cycelia nods he chestnut with a smile, then tilts her head as she asks.

Vrrmvrrrmvrmvrmvrmrm…

The man thinks for a few seconds while the engine idles. Straf stares at him with his mouth aslant.

「…Well, normally I'd take a few drakes, but since I just came back, and you seem to be in quite a rush… How does fifty drakes sound?」

Rudolf asks with a shrug of his hand as he pulls it away from his chin.

「Fucking son of a-」

Straf immediately curses out with a roll of his eyes and grabs the gear stick, fiddling with it to move it out of neutral.

「Wait wait wait… Straf, wait…」「Tsk…」

Cycelia gently grabs his wrist with both of her dainty hands, flashing a pacifying smile at him. He clicks his tongue and turns his gaze away, flicking the gear back to neutral.

「…I know it's quite a trip, but is there not a chance that you could lower the price just a little?… Juuust a little?… What you're asking for is enough to buy a decent building in the capital.」

She turns her smiling face to the guide and explains with a soft voice.

「Oh, I know that, young lady… But I've got gran'kids and I don't want to leave 'em with nothing, you see… Besides, the route is fairly dangerous. I might just not make it back one day…」

The man nods and shrugs his shoulders in reply, leaning onto his staff as he explains, glancing towards the snowy mountains towering over the village.

「…If fifty's too much to ask, you can wait a few weeks. If I'm about to head out to restock, I'd take you along for maybe five, even less… If you promise to let someone know about my business.」

Rudolf adds, shrugging again with a light tilt of his head. Lily glares at the man from the rear seat, while Nona simply blinks at the three in front of her with a tilted head.

Cycelia looks at Straf with a troubled face, while he looks back at her with a greatly annoyed and displeased tight-lipped grimace.

「No fucking way I'm paying this guy fifty so that I can follow him along until a scripted monster eats him.」

Straf replies while looking with scorn at the guide, who looks back with an inquisitive and puzzled gaze back at him.

「Straf… You're supposed to take it easy on this trip, remember? Did you already forget you almost worked yourself to death? I can always get more money, I can't get another you.」

Cycelia leans in towards Straf's side and tugs at his coat's sleeve, staring at him with large green puppy eyes as she speaks in a hushed voice.

「Tsk…」

Straf simply clicks his tongue and crosses his arms.

「…Ahhhhhhhhh… Fiiiiiine. Take your fucking money.」

After a large, prolonged sigh, Straf reaches into his [Portable Storage] and pulls out a singular 50-denomination imperial dragon out of the swirling vortex beside the car.

「Ah. You're a mage, sir?… Well, that's a relief…」

The guide remarks as he takes the bill from Straf and pockets it.

「…But, uh… Sorry to say, young lady, but you'll have to leave your carriage behind. The route I know is entirely a foot path. If I knew of one traversable by wagons, I'd be rich now.」

Rudolf adds with an apologetic shrug of his hand.

「Is the path far from here?…」

Cycelia asks, furrowing her brows with slight worry on her face.

「No, no no… If not for the forest, you could see it from here, but it's a little climb where you need to use your hands…」

Vrrrrmvrmvrmmmmm…

The guide explains as Straf shuts the engine off and steps out. Rudolf takes a step away to let Cycelia out while he continues talking.

「…Ah! Don't be alarmed! It's not dangerous at all… The path itself, that is. It's more like very steep stairs, or a ladder. It eases off after that.」

He adds as Lily, Nona, and Cycelia dismount.

As soon as the autowagon is empty, Straf simply reaches to its underside and casually lifts it up, then throws it into his [Portable Storage] while the man watches.

「…Ah… Eh?… How much did that weigh?」

Rudolf asks, completely stunned with his jaw dropped as the entire car disappears in the purple vortex, leaving behind only an abruptly ending tire trail on the snow.

「So? Where is it?」

Straf asks without hiding is annoyance, throwing his arms up into a shrug with his mouth scrunched to the side.

「Er… Right here. It begins just past the trees with the climb I mentioned…」

The man points his staff towards the mountain and gestures his free hand for the group to follow, departing from the village in the direction of a leafless, snow-covered forest.

「Cool. I'll walk slower than you, and run faster than you do. All the way there.」

Straf grumbles as he places his hands in his pockets, shaking his head in disapproval…