A few moments later…

Krrrrrkkk… Cla-clack!

Pinching her dress and lifting it a little out of the way of her legs, Lily speeds down the street on a skateboard. She kicks its tail and effortlessly does a kickflip, landing back down on its wheels with a deafening noise echoing through the night. She maintains a completely neutral expression the whole time, despite the speed and agile maneuvering on the board. Her scarlet eyes rise up from her feet to the empty bench ahead. She kicks off the ground, accelerating towards it.

Cla-clack!

With grace suitable for a young noblewoman, Lily does a spinning ollie towards the bench. The skateboard makes contact with the wooden backrest, and like lightning, Lily slides across it in a backside tailslide, casually looking over her shoulder. At the very end of the bench, she hops up into the air along with the board again with a slow rotation, and nonchalantly lands on the wheels.

Klaklaklaklaklaklaklak…

She turns her eyes to a flat, empty hand cart with its back aligned towards a building's wall. Its grips at the front are resting against the cobblestones, low on the ground, and in Lily's vertically-slit eyes the cart's bed forms a ramp. She takes a sharp, arcing turn towards it, leaning her entire minuscule body weight into the turn, and speeds towards the ramp, further kicking herself forward off the ground and accelerating.

With her pale face still completely neutral and lightly lifting her dress up with the tips of her clawed fingers, she speeds towards the cart like a bullet train. Her eyes leisurely rise up from her feet back to the cart as it rapidly closes in. Lily gently steps on the board's tail, rolling towards the ad-hoc ramp with nose up.

Thud! Krrrrrrrrkkkkkk!…

Lily rides up up the cart's length and the front wheels make contact with the stone wall, sending her flying upward along it. Her forward momentum is enough to keep the wheels stuck to the building while she's rising to the roof high above, albeit rapidly decelerating. She has just enough velocity left for her skateboard to rise above the ceramic tiles of the roof, and in a split-second decision, she presses the board's nose against the flat, stone segment of the roof and precariously perches up upon it.

Clap clap clap clap!…

「Nice, Lily! That's 3240 points so far, but I'd say your combo is still going!…」

Straf leisurely follows Lily's path, clapping his hands as he looks up at her from the streets below, grinning.

With a calm and collected face, Lily shifts her foot to the board's tail and tips back down.

Krrrrrrrrrrrrkkkkkk!…

The board's wheels make a loud noise as they grind away against the stone wall of the building on the way down. Her golden twin tails trail behind her, flapping wildly.

In the nick of the time, she lifts the tail to redirect most of the downward force back to the street along the ramp.

Thud! Klaklaklaklaklaklak…

Lily turns towards Straf on two wheels, carefully balancing while maintaining a nonchalant expression on her face.

Cla-clack! Krrrrrrrrkkkkkkkk!

As she draws near, Lily does one final kickflip before she fully presses down on the board's trailing end and rolls to an unnaturally short stop.

Clack!

She lowers the board down onto the street, leisurely steps off, then kicks it into her clawed hand, letting go of her dress.

Snap.

「….3820. Not bad, Lily.」

Straf says as he snaps his fingers and points at her with a grin on his face.

「…Is this metal, Straf?」

Lily asks, blinking as she looks into his eyes.

「Nooo… I would say it's more punk rock, Lily.」

「Punk rock? Is that like metal?」

She tilts her head, her crimson eyes blinking at him.

「Sort of. Kind of… Not really. Punk rock is when you're angry about the government and life in general, so you yell about it while shredding a guitar and banging on drums…」

Straf replies, rubbing his chin as he looks up and aside at the starry night sky with his brows gently furrowed in thought.

「…I'd say It's the perfect thing for the lazy people. You can think of punk rock as metal's fat ugly brother with long, unwashed greasy hair, a leather jacket, and studded fingerless gloves.」

「Huh?」

He explains with his index finger extended, only confusing Lily more as she tilts her head further.

「Basically, punk rock is what you do when you don't like the government and want things to change, but you don't actually want to do things to actually cause that change, like terrorism.」

Straf adds, shrugging with his hand.

「Terrorism?…」

Lily asks, furrowing her brows at him, still holding onto the skateboard in a distinctly clashing, elegant skating gothic lolita style.

「…I am a little concerned about the implications of you knowing what that means, Lily. Let's just leave it at that.」

He replies, furrowing his brows back with a troubled face as he places his hands in his pockets.

「Still… People say violence is never the answer, terrorism doesn't work…」

Smirking, Straf says, shrugging his shoulders.

「…Robberies work because because you scare the shit out of someone into giving you what you want. Why wouldn't upping the scale a little not work? That's ridiculous.」

He scoffs, briefly shrugging his hands before returning them back to his pockets. Lily blinks at him, appearing enlightened.

「…Hmpf. It appears I had a natural understanding of terrorism.」

She proudly declares, turning her scarlet gaze aside. Straf's face grows a little concerned again, and he sticks his index finger out into the air, searching for words as he grimaces.

「…You know what? I'm going to flip the script on you.」

He declares, and snaps his fingers again.

Snap.

「…As expected of you, Lily.」

Straf says in an unnaturally exaggerated tone, smirking heavily, barely holding back a grin as his mouth quivers.

「Naturally.」

Lily replies with a smug smile, rising her golden head with a triumphant huff out of her small nose.

「…Do you want the skateboard back, Straf?」

She asks, presenting the skateboard in her tiny clawed hands to him.

「Being an adult man and having with no business riding around on a skateboard meant for teenagers, yes, I want it back…」

「I see…」

Lily nods, and holds the board up for Straf.

「…Buuuut, if you like it, you can keep it and play around for a little bit.」

He adds while shrugging his shoulders with his hands in his pockets, and tilting his head so far to the side that most of his body joins in.

「Really!?」

She asks as her red eyes light up, snapping up to his face. Her fang-baring grin is visibly excited, and has a degree of mischievousness mixed into it.

「Yeah. For a day or two. No one is allowed to have fun skating longer than that. I'm gonna go play with magitech stuff for a moment and go rest for today…」

Straf shrugs his shoulders and turns away, slowly walking back towards the palace.

「…But don't trip and smash your teeth out, Lily! Remember, a toothless vampire does not a good vampire make!」

He warns, wagging his finger over his shoulder as he's walking away.

「Hmpf. Ridiculous, Straf! I would never trip doing something so trivial!…」

Lily declares with a light pout, holding her skateboard under her arm with her small fists on her hips…

…

The next morning, in the Redwing palace…

With his hands in his pockets, Straf is casually walking through the ground floor hall to the entrance. Sir Vinis walks out from beyond the corner ahead, causing Straf to roll his eyes.

「Oh for fuck's sake…」

「Minister Vindict! Welcome back…」

Sir Vinis raises his arms, rapidly approaching Straf.

「Yeah, I'm not saying the line for you…」

He replies with his mouth corners heavily scrunched to the sides.

「The line?… Never mind. Minister, there are some things I'd like to bring to your attention…」

Sir Vinis briefly furrows his brows, before shaking his head and dismissing his previous thought. He reaches for the breast pocket of his fine, silken vest, and pulls out a drake.

「…Have a look at this.」

He says, holding the bill out for Straf. Straf pulls his hand out of his pocket, and reluctantly takes it.

「Oh for fff- Again!?」

Straf rolls his eyes once more, angrily throwing his hand up with the drake.

「You have noticed, I assume?」

Sir Vinis calmly asks with his fingers interlocked in front of himself, brows gently raised and head lightly tilted.

「…Yeah. It's fucking fake. Again. I expected the new design to stay good for a while.」

Straf shrugs, and throws the new, fake drake into his [Portable Storage].

「Well, whoever is counterfeiting them moves quick… Moreover, we had an intruder at the palace, minister.」

The long-haired man nods, then calmly adds.

「Yeah? You killed 'im I assume?」

Straf's brows furrow as he returns his hand back in his pocket.

「No. She got away. I believe Niklaus will be able to tell you more about it. I will arrange a meeting with all who are involved for your convenience.」

「She? You're telling me it's a girl?- Ah, it's the intruder from yesterday?… Was she cute? How'd she look?」

Straf's head perks up at the information, and he immediately barrages Sir Vinis with questions. He raises his palm towards him to halt him in response.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

「…Niklaus will be able to tell you about it. I will arrange a meeting with the direct witnesses, and everyone who will be helping you. Find me by today's evening.」

Sir Vinis explains, lightly bows towards him, and walks past Straf deeper into the palace. He shrugs, and heads for the exit…

…

Less than thirty minutes later, in the Royal Reserve Bank…

「…Guess who's back!」

Straf exclaims, spreading his arms as he walks through the threshold into the bank.

「Straf!」

Nona's bored and listless expression immediately shifts to a happy grin as her head perks up off her hands upon the hammer.

「That's right, and I'm about to make it everyone's problem.」

He nods his head as his hands move into his pockets. Straf turns his attention to the bank tellers and approaches them.

「So… More counterfeit drakes, huh?」

He asks, looking at the women behind the long counter.

「Yes, sir… They are remarkably well-made, but the security features are helping us distinguish the fakes ones.」

The woman replies, bowing her head.

「Additionally, sir… Quite a few companies have asked to list their certificates for sale. We have listed their last going price, but the process is very time-consuming…」

Another woman chimes in from to other end of the counter.

「So the stock exchange is finally working? Nice… Don't worry about it for now, I have an upgrade coming for you.」

Straf rubs his chin, grinning.

「…Keep fishing out the fake shit. I'll hand out brand spanking new drakes soon enough, but I need some time. That'll make the fuckers sweat.」

He adds, and turns back to Nona, who's smiling at him nearly ear to ear as she sits in her chair beside Niklaus's empty desk.

「Where is that deadbeat? If he's asleep-」

「No no, he caught a spree thief recently. The boss is working very hard! He's out on a patrol, but he should be back soon!」

Nona quickly shakes her hatted head and defends Niklaus, blinking up at Straf with her large, amber eyes.

「…Alright. I heard there was an intruder at the palace. Did he say anything about that?」

「Ah!」

「Ah?」

Straf furrows his brows as her head perks up again. She stares at him with her mouth open, and her index finger extended.

「…I saw this woman with eyes like mine the other day!」

She declares, and points at her eye.

「…Orange?」

Straf asks, briefly spreading his hands before returning them to his pockets.

「No! But it was close! Yellow!」

Nona exclaims, leaning forward towards Straf while propping herself up on her hammer.

「…Okay? But I don't see how that's related-」

「She jumped out of the way when I tried to break her legs-!」

She adds, interrupting Straf, before covering up her own mouth and silencing herself as her eyes widen.

「…I wanted to say that doesn't sound unusual to me, but most women wouldn't actually react to danger in time. That is pretty weird.」

Straf stares at her in silence for a few seconds, before nodding as he inquisitively scratches his chin with his eyes narrowed.

「R- Right! She was really agile and fast! So I thought…」

With a tight-lipped grimace, Nona nods, forcing an awkward smile. She leans back in her chair, wrapping her legs around the hammer's shaft.

「Hmmm… She seems like the type of person who could actually break into the palace!…」

Nona quotes her own thoughts with her arms crossed, nodding her hatted head with a self-satisfied expression on her face.

「…Doesn't it?」

She asks, gently tilting her head as she turns her orange eyes back up to Straf's. Her hands return to the hammer's grip, and she lets it out of her legs' grasp.

「Sounds reasonable enough to me.」

He shrugs in response, grimacing a little.

「Right! I am not usually good at thinking about stuff, but at that moment it was like one o' those magic lamps turned on in my head! Pa-choom!」

Nona nods again, tapping the side of her fluffy brown head with a large grin on her face.

「Other than yellow eyes, what'd she look like? Anything that stood out?」

Straf asks, briefly spreading his hands once more.

「Ah! Her pupils were actually slit! Like that tall spear guy in the palace!」

She exclaims, leaning forward towards Straf as she pulls her lower eyelid down a little with her finger.

「Tall spear guy?… 」

《No fucking way…》

Straf utters out, rubbing his chin. Nona nods with fervor.

「Yes! He has slit eyes too, like a cat! He's kind of spooky!」

「…Well, it makes sense he'd be back around now. He did say it'd take about that long.」

He shrugs, speaking to himself as he looks at the ceiling before his eyes return to Nona.

「Anything else?」

「Yeah! She had this baggy cloth hat on her head! I don't actually remember anything else, but I remember her hat because that's how I could follow her in the crowd the first time around!」

Nona nods again, pointing excitedly at Straf's face.

「Why did you follow her, anyway?」

He asks, tilting his head.

「Uhhhhhhh…」

A nervous grin appears on Nona's face as her eyes dart sideways.

「…She was broadly suspicious, right? I get it, you can't find a word for it.」

「Yes! Yes, that's exactly it! She was suspicious!」

Nona shouts, almost standing up from her chair as she points at Straf again.

「So… Was she cute?」

「Huh?」

Straf asks, and Nona tilts her confused head, blankly staring at him.

「Did she have a cute face? Nice body? I don't know, something?」

He elaborates, spreading his hands again with a shrug of his shoulders.

「Well, um… She was a little cute…」

Nona says, turning her gaze away. She glances at Straf, and he nods, waiting for more.

「…Thing is, she looked really plain. Not much different than a random girl from the city. I don't think I'd even remember her if I'd see her face, if not for her eyes.」

「Well, plain is fine by me if she's cute. The other plain-cute girl is taken. Tsk… By a carrot-headed walking cliche, no less…」

「Huh?…」

Her head perks up, and she looks at Straf with a hint of betrayal and disappointment on her face.

「Also, she didn't really look like much…」

She adds with her shoulders slumped.

「Yeah, you already said she's plain-」

「No, I don't mean it like that…」

Nona shakes her head, and look up into Straf's eyes.

「…I mean that she physically didn't look like much. She didn't seem like she'd put up much of a fight. In fact, it kind of looked like the opposite. I was really surprised.」

She shrugs, and lowers her head.

「Well, don't worry about it. You're not gonna get them all…」

Straf shrugs, spreading his hands as he speaks in a nonchalant lackadaisical tone.

「…Straf, did you change your mind about the date?」

Nona asks quietly with her heard lowered, practically hanging off her hammer's shaft.

「Hm? Why would I? Do you not want to anymore?」

Straf asks, raising his brows a little in mild surprise.

「No! I mean- Yes!- I mean, no! I do want to go with you!」

She shouts, correcting herself multiple times, resulting in a tight-lipped stare up at Straf.

「Well, why don't we go now? But, uh…」

Straf asks, nodding his head towards the open door to the outside.

「…I think you should change into something more… Casual?」

He adds as his eyes drop from her dragon and skeleton-adorned peaked cap down to her black Ministry of Security uniform, finally ending up at her short skirt and exposed thighs.

「Umm… I don't really have anything else…」

She replies, looking aside with an awkward grin.

「What, you don't? You mean that leather set is your only change of clothes?」

Straf furrows his brows, his head recoils back a little in surprise.

「Well… I don't really have anywhere to put any clothes either. I sleep at the inn and my change of clothes from the guild is in the bedside chest…」

Nona shrugs, and turns her amber eyes to his with a tight-lipped grimace.

「Hmmm… We gotta fix that… Both of those. I'll see if you can't get a room in the palace. I am going to willingly step on the landmine that all men should avoid, and we'll go shopping.」

He briefly rubs his chin, then shrugs his hand and returns it to his pocket with a resigned sigh.

「Landmine?… Shopping for what?」

Nona asks, tilting her head.

「It's a thing that tears off feet, and if you're really unlucky, legs if you step onto it.」

Straf explains with a bored, nonchalant expression.

「…Why would we need that? Where would we even buy that?-」

「That's a landmine, Nona. We're going shopping for your clothes.」

Straf clarifies, and turns for the door.

「Ah. Ahhh… I see… Wait, we are!?」

Nona nods along, slowly following behind him. Her eyes open wide in surprise as she hops behind him. Niklaus enters the doorway, briefly blocking Straf's path as he walks past him.

「Ah. Straf, wait! I need to tell you about something! There was an intruder-!」

Niklaus says, stretching his hand out towards Straf's back.

「I already know. Guard the bank and don't snooze, or you're fired.」

Straf casually replies without as much as glancing at Niklaus, and exits with Nona. She briefly tips her hat at her boss, before quickly rushing after her boss's boss…