Straf, Lily, and the caretaker of the children enter a small garden area within the orphanage. A man in leather armor is sitting on a bench in front of a group of a children sitting on the grass. His hood is pulled off his short-haired head, and his cloth mask is loosely hanging on his neck as he tells the children some story.

「Niklaus? There's… An acquaintance? Here to see you…」

The woman says, calling out to the man. His eyes widen in surprise when he sees Straf with Lily, and he hastily stands up.

「You… What are you here for?」

He asks, holding his palm out towards the children so they remain sitting.

「You. And a few kids, I guess.」

Straf answers with a smirk, then shrugs, adding a slight tilt of his head.

「What do you want with the kids? I've heard you've become an official. I'm the queen's hired hand alright, but the children here are none of your business. What does someone managing the kingdom's finances have to do with children?」

Niklaus asks with wary eyes, placing himself between Straf and the sitting children.

「More than you might think. Listen, I have a job for you…」

Straf snaps his fingers and points at Niklaus.

「…A job?」

「Yeah. You see, I'm going to need security. Not me, specifically, but I can't be everywhere all at once. It's nothing hard, nothing dangerous, and the pay is good. Are you in?」

Straf grins, and places his hand back in his pocket.

「…How about you first tell me what it is?」

Niklaus asks, still squinting at Straf with eyes full of suspicion.

「Tsk, for fuck's sake… It's essentially just a security guard job. You'll be sitting at a desk and doing mostly nothing. I just don't want someone waddling in and taking all the cash, got it?」

Straf rolls his eyes and clicks his tongue.

「…Security guard? Cash?… Never mind that, why me? Couldn't anyone else do it, in that case?」

He shakes his head, then asks.

「…Yeah, probably. But you see, the thing is, you're actually the perfect candidate for my bank's head of security. You have too much to lose to pull something funny, and you could probably hold your own against someone who wants to take my shit.」

Straf looks at the kids peeking out from behind Niklaus's legs, which causes him to shoo them away.

「…Just sitting at a desk? That's it?」

「And stabbing thieves to death, yeah. And making sure the tellers aren't just handing robbers wads of cash.」

Straf shrugs with a grin.

「…How much money are we talking about?」

Niklaus asks, as the caretaker woman walks up to his side.

「Well, let's see…」

Straf rubs his chin, intently looking aside.

「…It's a pretty high-up job, so how about 2 silver drakes per day? That's 4 gold drakes a month, and weekends are days off. You won't get a better deal than this anywhere else.」

He shrugs with his hands, though one of them is sluggish in its shrugging.

「No work on weekends? …Drakes? Ah, the money the queen mentioned, isn't it?」

Niklaus furrows his brows, hearing of the drakes, he then remembers the queen's announcement from the other day regarding them.

「Yup. So, are you in, or are you out? 48 golden drakes a year is pretty hard to beat, and since it's banking, you won't work on weekends to remind the masses that the bankers are the overclass ruling every aspect of their sad lives. How about it?」

Straf asks with a smug grin. Niklaus and the woman look at each other with uneasy gazes.

「…That's a lot of money, Mary… On top of my pay from the queen, if we'd just be frugal, none of the kids would want for anything again…」

Niklaus looks at the woman with a serious, determined face, speaking in a hushed tone. She looks away, down at the grass, before looking back up into his eyes.

「It sounds too good to be true. Are you sure he's not tricking you?」

Mary whispers with concern in her eyes.

「It does. But… I don't really have a choice. It's worth the risk.」

Niklaus glances momentarily at Straf, before looking back at Mary.

「What if he has you killing people? Again?」

Mary asks, clinging onto his arm. Niklaus looks away without an answer.

「…Alright. I'll do it. What do I do?」

Niklaus shrugs his arms with a sullen expression. Mary sighs, frowning and looking down as she lets go of his arm.

「Great. You start tomorrow. Show up at the bank, tomorrow morning. It's on the central street, you can't miss it. Now… I have a job right now for your kids, but I need the smartest of the bunch.」

Straf snaps his fingers and points at Niklaus with a grin. He shrugs his shoulder as he explains, then places his hand back in his pocket.

「What do you want them for?」

Mary chimes in, and Straf shifts his attention to her.

「Just simple manual work. Well paid, too, all things considered. It's not physically intensive either. Just moving sheets of paper around, some repetitive motions, and moving small boxes. Limited time offer, and I need them right now.」

Straf explains, shrugging his shoulders as he urges, leaning forward a little for the emphasis. Niklaus and Mary look at each other again, then back at Straf.

「How much?」

Niklaus asks with a wary tone.

「One gold drake per day for the kid. That's seriously a good deal for a kid, get them started early on understanding the value of money, and how easily the government can take it away from them. That being said, I only need them for one day. So, one-off easy gold. How about it?」

Straf asks, and they look at each other again.

「That's… Wouldn't some of the kids be up for it? Petras, and some others? They could have their own spending money…」

「By the way, only the smartest ones. I also need one of your oldest ones.」

Straf reminds them, interrupting the former assassin's whispering.

「Why the smartest? And why the oldest one? You said it's simple physical labor.」

Niklaus asks, and Straf rolls his eyes.

「Because I don't want any dumb kids breaking my shit. And I need the oldest one to make sure they're all working. Get me the local bully. The tough guy. The kid that can put them all in line.」

Straf rolls his eyes, sighs, and shrugs with his hand as he explains. Niklaus and Mary look at each other with concerned eyes.

「What do you think, Mary? It might be a good idea. Put them to some honest work, so they don't do something stupid down the line…」

「…If they agree to it, I suppose there's no harm…」

The woman shrugs her shoulders, though with visible worry on her face.

「Alright. Mary, take him inside and make them tea, I'll go talk to the kids. How many do you need again? Eight?」

Niklaus nods his head, and gently nudges Mary towards Straf. He takes a few steps back as asks Straf.

「Six to eight. The skeleton crew is six, so I'll need seven at the minimum.」

Straf shrugs his shoulders, once again looking bored, with the nearly permanent slanted mouth appearing on his face again. Mary walks up to Straf, and points her hand back into the building with a nod of her head. Straf, Lily, and Mary head back inside, while Niklaus walks the other way, across the small, quiet garden…

…

Straf, Lily and Mary are sitting around a small, round table in a rustic room. Children's' drawings are pinned to the wooden walls and wardrobes. Some are sketched with plain coal, and some seem to have been painted with actual paints. Regardless, none of the drawings appear to hold any value beyond perhaps some sentimental one.

「…How's the tea?」

Mary asks, struggling to find a better conversational topic while they wait.

「It's alright-」

「Undrinkable.」

Lily bluntly states over Straf's so-so approval. He sighs, and Mary nods with a tight-lipped grimace.

「Come now, Lily, it's not that bad. They're dipping in and out of the poverty line, cut them some slack.」

Straf smirks at Lily, somewhat amused by her harsh criticism.

「You are far too forgiving, Straf. I should consider serving you this vile brew to be an insult.」

She glares at Mary with crossed arms and a sour expression on her face, causing Mary to get even more nervous than she already is.

「Lily… It's not exactly the good stuff, but it's good enough. I mean, would you really bring out the good stuff out for some guests? Who does that? Everyone brings out their just-better-than-average stuff, says it's the best they've got, and keeps the best for themselves, no?」

Glancing at Mary, Straf grins with faint pity, then at his teacup as he lifts it up. Both Mary and Lily stare at him in mild shock, blinking, and unsure what to say.

「Straf… But… I don't do that.」

Lily says, trying her best not to insult him with the wrong choice of words. He looks at Mary, then back at Lily again.

「…What? It's just me? Huh…」

Surprised, his brows slowly rise, and he takes a loud slurp from the teacup. An awkward silence begins. Lily begrudgingly takes a sip of her tea, and Mary twiddles with her thumbs beneath the table.

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「Mr… Vindict? I've heard you've played a large part in restoring the queen to the throne… How did you two meet, if I may ask?」

Mary dares to ask, to break the silence. Her bravery elicits a quick glare from Lily, but she returns to sipping her tea just as quick in disdainful silence.

「Oh, she kneed me in the face.」

Straf shrugs, and takes a sip.

「Huh?」 「…Eh?」

Lily's wide-open eyes snap to Straf, and Mary tilts her head with an awkward, confused grin.

「Well, to be fair, it's more like she fumbled a landing, and landed on my face…」

Straf sets the teacup down, and shrugs with his hands and shoulders.

「…Huh?」 「…Huh?」

Mary's and Lily's responses match, but their degree of shock differs. While Mary is more confused than shocked, splashes of Lily's tea drop onto the table as she shakily brings the teacup to her smiling face, poorly hiding a furious snarl.

《…On his face? That bitch.》 《On his face? …Under the skirt!?》

Both of them immediately conjure the incorrect mental image of Straf in a greatly unfortunate, or fortunate position, depending on one's view. Mary almost involuntarily covers her mouth, and Lily starts grinding her teeth.

「H- How did that happen, Straf? When?」

Lily asks, stammering as she barely manages to bring the teacup to her pale lips. Her facade of calm almost shatters when she growls another question. Mary takes notice of Lily's verbal and non-verbal cues, and makes herself small.

「Hm? Oh, that's right, we haven't met at that point yet. She was running from the manhunters on a horse, and by some chance, the horse tripped and launched her from the saddle. That was a real good hit, too, it sent me flying.」

Straf rubs his chin as he recalls the past events, looking sideways with furrowed brows. He nods as he thinks about his airtime.

「F- Flying? S- So… She didn't land on you?」

Lily blinks, and her shaky hand steadies.

「What? No, it was more like this. Bang. Fwoooom. Thud.」

Straf demonstrates the first encounter with Cycelia to best of his ability with his hands, despite the difficulty of one of his hands being out of commission. Lily sighs in relief, and Mary's shock dissipates as well.

「I have to say, that is a rather lucky coincidence, for her to run into you like that-」

Mary says, just as Niklaus enters the room and interrupts her.

「Come on, get in here.」

He says over his shoulder, holding the door open with his hand. A short stream of children of varying ages trickles in.

「They're are the brightest we've got. Honestly, they're smarter than me.」

Niklaus places his gloved hand on of the kids' head, chuckling quietly with a smile.

「Yeah, that's not exactly a high bar. How old are you, kid?」

Straf asks, staring at the tallest and oldest-looking child of the group.

「Fourteen and a half.」

The child hesitantly answers. Straf scoffs, grinning at him.

「Here's a wisdom for you, kid. When you say, and a half, you actually sound half your age. Remember that for the future. Alright…」

Straf stands up and claps his hands, rubbing them briefly.

「I assume you've heard what's the deal. You're going to do a thing for me, and hopefully you won't ruin anything. We have to act fast, because I doubt that child labor will remain legal for long, with Lia at the helm. Let's go.」

Straf snaps his fingers, and points in the general direction of the children. He gestures them to follow him, and nods his head at Lily as well. The group trails behind Straf and Lily, and he leads them to the exit.

「Stay safe, okay!? We'll be waiting!」

Outside the orphanage, Mary waves her hand at the children as they follow Straf. They wave back with varying degree of enthusiasm…

…

「…Aaand there. Done. Now we're ready to start printing.」

Straf fits the last of his crafted stamp forms into the modular printer, and dusts off his perfectly clean hands.

「Okay. So. This one prints golden drakes…」

He points his hand to one of the machines in the dim warehouse, as the kids look on.

「…And this prints silver drakes.」

He points his hand to the other machine, of the exact same type. He turns around, and places his hand in his pocket.

「Now, I don't think I need to tell you this, but… This is a matter of national security. If you break either of these machines, you're in trouble. You can forget about your pay in that case. You'll be lucky if you don't end up dangling off a noose within the next hour of breaking one.」

Straf ominously warns, and the kids look at each other with huge eyes.

「To reiterate, in case you forgot…」

He says, and walks up to the golden drake printing machine. He points at the crank.

「You keep turning this thing. That's one job for one of you. You have to be literally trying in order to screw this up. Then…」

Straf walks around the machine, and points his hand at a set cogwheel-looking mechanisms.

「One, or two of you feeds those paper sheets into this. That is all you do.」

Straf points to the massive stack of large, blank paper sheets waiting on nearby crates, then at the machine's mechanisms. He shrugs, and shakes his head a little while looking at the children. They glance at each other, then look back at him.

「Do not stick your arms into the machine. Do not stick your legs into the machine. Do not stick your heads into the machine. And definitely do not stick your friends into the machine. Okay? It's not AI powered yet. It's not some sort of deity, you don't need to feed it sacrifices. It's just a machine.」

He sticks his index finger out as he cautions and explains. He slaps the machine, and lets out a large sigh.

「And of course, once the box below the blades is full, you get an empty one. If by the end of the day all of you have all of your limbs attached, and a bunch of drakes have been printed, I'd say that's mission successful. Your job is to make sure that happens, got it?」

He points his finger to the oldest child in the back, and the child energetically nods his head.

「Okay. Test run, let's go. Let's see how you're working, so I can make sure I can leave you unattended for uhh…」

Straf waves his hand towards the machine, gesturing the kids to start working, then rubs his chin.

「Twelve to sixteen hours? Believe me, it'll be over quick. Even more so if you stick your head in the machine, but I'll consider that your resignation. Go on, show me what you've got.」

The children haphazardly take their positions around the machines, and look at Straf for guidance. He nods his head and gestures them with his hand to start working, and they start following his instructions.

Four kids grab the paper sheets, and two of them turn the crank to power the printers. The oldest child looks on, looking at the accelerating and menacing moving parts with furrowed brows. The kids feed the paper in, and the machine starts working.

Clankclankclankclank… Thud!… Clank!

The machines lets out a peculiar noise as it operates, and the children dance around them in a hasty step, in a best attempt to keep up to its rhythm.

Clankclankclankclank… Thud!… Clank!

Sharp, menacing blades descend onto the stamped sheet of paper, and the ready golden drakes fall into a funnel, then into a wooden box below.

Clankclankclankclank- Crrrrrrkkkkk!

「What!?- Oh for fuck's sake…」

Straf clicks his tongue and shakes his head, as the silver drake machine lets out a horrible discordant screech. Its mechanisms jam up, choking on a paper sheet one of the children fed to it the wrong way.

「What are you doing? What am I paying you for? You were just standing there while he did it wrong?」

Straf berates the child supervisor, pointing his hand at the guilty party, who is hanging his head down in shame. He clicks his tongue and shakes his head again, then moves closer towards the machine. He reaches in for the paper and tugs at it with force, freeing it from its complicated mechanisms.

Clankclankclankclank… Crack!

Straf's arm lets out a nasty sound of bones snapping as a cogwheel bites into it, pinching it painfully against the frame of the printer. He grimaces heavily, letting out a quiet grunt with clenched teeth. He looks at the child still turning the crank, turned with his back towards Straf.

Straf taps him on his shoulder with his free, broken hand, and the child momentarily stops.

「…Did I tell you to keep turning it?」

Straf asks with greatly narrowed lips, in a completely nonchalant tone.

「…You didn't tell me to stop… Sir.」

The child explains himself with a nervous expression. Straf looks up and away, thinking.

「…Yeah. I guess I didn't.」

He sighs, and yanks his arm out of the printer's vicious mechanisms. He steps away, and looks over his shoulder at the young cranker.

「Well? Keep going. I want to see that money supply ballooning.」

Straf says, and walks away a few steps, grunting heavily. He turns around to face the machines and the children.

「Alright! I'm leaving you unsupervised now! You better not break anything else!」

Straf sighs, and grunts quietly as he turns for the door.

《My arm was already fucking enough…》

He thinks, looking at his aching arm with a sour expression on his face. Lily follows, taking note of his grimacing.

Clankclankclankclank… Thud!… Clank!

「Straf? Is your arm okay?」

She asks, tilting her head.

「I'm. Fine.」

He bluntly replies, staring ahead as they walk for the door side by side. Keeping both of his arms low and hanging awkwardly in front of himself, Straf appears almost like a power-walking zombie.

「…Are you sure? You look like-」

「I. Am. Fine.」

Straf turns his head towards Lily and insists with each word distinctly stressed, he then quietly grunts. Lily breaks eye contact, looking down and away with a pout.

Clankclankclankclank… Thud!… Clank!

「I- If you say so…」

Lily nods, though she glances at Straf's arm every few moments or so as they walk out of the noisy warehouse.

「Get the door for me, will you?」

Clankclankclankclank… Thud!… Clank!…