Around the same time, on the streets in the north-eastern part of the city…

「Fucking prick… Did I get scammed, or is he stupid or something?…」

With his hands in his coat's pockets, Straf aimlessly wanders around with his mouth scrunched to the side in frustration. His group trails behind him, sans Cycelia.

「…Tsk… How many fucking warehouses does he think that there are in this fucking city?」

He clicks his tongue and adds while approaching a crossing.

「Did you seriously hand over her majesty to some kidnapper who might be doing who knows what to her?」

Will asks, carefully adjusting his glasses with an angry grimace on his face.

「That wouldn't be a cliche, so- Ah.」

Straf replies over his shoulder as he walks onto the crossing. He spots a masked man wearing all black run off at a distant crossing down a street.

「What?」

Will adjusts his glasses again as he approaches.

「Found the right way. Finally.」

He replies, and sets out straight for the crossing the man in black was standing on.

Will exchanges confused glances with Greaves and Alicia, but all three then shrug as they follow him.

A few moments later, after crossing a corner Straf notices a black, conical hat sticking out of a large building down a street. Its door slides shut, and the man disappears inside.

「Wait!… What about a plan?」

Will calls out to Straf when he simply heads straight for the door.

「You know what the plan is. Try to not get killed while I wipe the floor with them.」

He nonchalantly replies, and walks up to the door with his hands in his pockets.

THWUMP!

The wooden sliding door shatters into tiny splinters when Straf gives it a rough kick. Its remains fly into the warehouse and scatter along its dusty stone floor.

「Ahh… There it is again…」

Will lets out a resigned sigh as Straf enters the warehouse through the now open doorway.

「Straf!…」

Cycelia exclaims, perking up in her chair with joy.

「…Straf! Look-!」

Her joy quickly turns to worry as her emerald eyes turn directly up above Straf at the doorway. [Contextual Time Perception] activates, and Straf casually looks up.

From above the doorway, there is a masked man leaping down at him with his curving sword pointed directly at him. Just beside him, there is another with his sword mid-slash, aiming at Straf's neck. He looks at both with a nonchalant, almost bored grimace on his face.

THUDCRASH! FWOPF!… Clank-clank clank!…

As time returns to normal, Cycelia shouts another word, but the noise of the leaping man crashing into an empty crate drowns her out. The other one flies across the warehouse towards another group of men in black standing by Cycelia. He impacts the ground, losing his grip on his sword, and both he and the sword bounce off the ground while barreling towards the group.

…Thump!

「…Ough!」

The men dodge him, narrowly jumping over him as he slides along the ground, and eventually stops with a pained grunt by slamming into more empty crates.

Cycelia lets out a relieved sigh as Straf takes a few steps deeper in and places his hands back in his pockets.

「Kill him!」

One of the palace guards exclaims after a moment of hesitation, pointing his finger at Straf. With their swords in hand, they fan out and charge at him.

The rest of Straf's group enter, and they only see the charging men when they're already within an arm's reach of Straf. Will points his palm at the bulk of them.

THUDCRASH-CRASH-CRASH-CRASH!…

With Straf seemingly not moving at all, the guards all fly in different directions. Some crash into the abandoned crates by the building's walls.

Will's shoulders slump with a sigh as he lowers his arm, but not before adjusting his glasses with his mouth aslant. Straf walks out in front of Cycelia, to the center of the building.

「…Come on out. I know you're hiding behind a crate somewhere. Make your dramatic entrance.」

He calls out towards somebody with a frustrated grimace on his face and his hands in his pockets.

Greaves and his party exchange confused looks with Cycelia and the rest of the group, and their eyes dart around in search for someone hidden.

「Straf, who do you mean?…」

Cycelia asks, tilting her chestnut head.

「The fucking samurai guy.」

He replies, turning his slanted mouth to her.

「Huh?… Do you mean Falcon?」

「Yeah, whatever-」

She asks, and Straf rolls his eyes with a quick shrug of his shoulders.

「Who?」

Greaves asks, crossing his arms with a raised brow.

「That man. His name means Falcon.」

Cycelia calmly replies, blinking at Greaves and his party. Stripe scratches her temple with an awkward grimace on her face.

「It does?」「Huh…」

Greaves says, and Will rubs his chin with his brows pensively furrowed.

「Tsk… Whatever, okay? Where is he hiding? I thought I'd hit him with one o' those guys. Rat him out, Lia.」

Annoyed, Straf rolls his eyes and spreads his arms before returning his hands to his pockets, staring at her with his mouth scrunched to the side.

「Um… He isn't…」

Cycelia replies with an awkward look on her face.

「Huh? You mean he's right fucking here in plain sight?- Wait, did he disguise himself and I kicked his ass?」

Straf asks, then his head perks up and he points his hand at the battered palace guards writhing in pain on the ground.

「N- No… He left, Straf.」

Cycelia shakes her head as Straf walks up to her.

「Left? You mean the son of a fucking bitch just talked all that shit, took you with him, then ran away?」

Straf throws his arms aside in disbelief, turning his indignant face to his group. Will adjusts his glasses and winces in pain.

「No. He had to go elsewhere. It sounded urgent. He was asking a lot about you and seemed like he was really up for a fight…」

She explains while sitting in her chair. Will walks up behind her to examine her restraints and furrows his brows in confusion.

「…He's dangerous, Straf. He has a blessing. I don't know what it does, but he claimed that it's irrelevant how strong you are. He demonstrated it with a coin flip.」

Cycelia says with a serious face and tone, and holds up a gold coin for Straf to see. He looks at it with a disinterested gaze, then tilts his head when he looks at her arms.

「…You're not tied?」「That's what I noticed too, yeah…」

Straf asks, and Will nods along with a troubled grimace.

「Um… I knew you'd come for me, so I promised I wouldn't run and he only kind of tied me to the chair…」

Tapping her fingers together, Cycelia awkwardly explains with her gaze turned aside.

「That's awful nice of him…」

Will remarks, adjusting his glasses as he looks at Straf.

「What about that coin flip?」

Straf asks while Will works to untie the feeble knot behind Cycelia.

「He told me to flip it and tell him the result. He told me whether it's heads or tails before I knew which one it was… He was right every time, Straf.」

She replies and looks at Straf with a greatly troubled face while he rubs his chin.

「Huh… There's sure a lot of cheating fucks in this city, huh?」

Straf remarks, and looks at Oleander, who is at the back of the group and unwilling or unable to participate in the discussion. She stares back at him with a frigid gaze.

「…There. It's untied. He didn't tighten it at all either. Kind of nice of a kidnapper.」

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Will announces as he loosens the rope around Cycelia's waist and drops it to the ground with a noisy fwap.

「Yes, well… We got to talk a little. He actually seems like a nice person. I'm glad you didn't come to blows. I hope there's a peaceful way to solve this.」

Cycelia nods, then shrugs her shoulders in response. Straf turns around and approaches one of the guards on the ground.

「He didn't mistreat you or anything, your highness?」

「No, not at all… He even brought some food… Well, his men did…」

Will, Cycelia, and the rest get into a conversation as Straf walks up to one of the guards. The man first notices Straf's boots, then look up at him with his eyes narrowed in pain.

「Ugh!… Owowow…」

「Listen here, asshole… Do you want to fuckin' die?」

Straf grabs the man's black clothing, twists it in his grip, and pulls him up. He rips the man's mask-hat off his head, tearing it to shreds and discarding it to the ground as the man yelps.

「N- No, please…」

Too weak to stand, the man plaintively holds his palms out towards Straf and his frustrated, tight-lipped grimace while hanging off his grip.

「Then you better fuckin' listen carefully. I'm frankly tired of assassins in closets, bathrooms, on random streets, when leveling… Fuck off. Seriously. What did I even fucking do to you?…」

Straf points his fingers in the masked man's now bare, pained, and frightened face.

「…I'm going to a nice onsen, and I want peace and fucking quiet. Do I have to kill your fucking god for you to stop? Got any goblin-filled sewers there?… Fuck!…」

With his mouth scrunched to the side and glaring at the man, he shakes him a little by his clothes, before cursing out in frustration at a vague memory.

Thump.

「Ungh!… Ow… Ow ow ow…」

He lets go of the man, and the palace guard drops to the ground with another yelp while grimacing in pain.

「…Now you better fucking listen. I could have done worse. Much, much fucking worse. You better run home and tell that to everyone important. Tell 'em to leave me alone too…」

Straf places his hands in his pockets and turns around, making his way back towards Cycelia and the rest of the group.

「…If they don't, then I'm coming for the palace next, and I'll commune with your fucking boss.」

Briefly peeking over his shoulder at the battered guard, he adds, then scoffs and approaches Cycelia.

「Straf. What did you tell him?」

She asks when Straf returns to the group.

「Same thing I'd tell that asshole… Fuck off and leave me alone, is what. So you're saying he was nice to you?」

He briefly shrugs his arms and returns his hands to his pockets with his mouth aslant.

「Yes. He didn't seem like a bandit or a mercenary to me, but he sounded like he has knowledge on both… More like a knight? He's easygoing, but also remarkably dignified.」

Cycelia returns an affirming nod of her chestnut head, then her emerald eyes drift upwards as she thinks briefly, before shrugging her shoulders.

「He's a nobleman? A magnate?」

Will asks, adjusting his glasses as he and the rest head for the door.

「No, actually. He insisted that「people of his status don't have a name」and that only noble houses have names. That'd be the so-called land-owners.」

Cycelia shakes her head and explains with a light smile as they walk out to the streets. Straf gestures his head for them to follow, and they return onto their path south.

「The daimyo.」

Stripe chimes in with her arms crossed.

「Yes. That word. We talked a little about this land, and a little about ours. He watched Straf fight in the arena, but had to leave early.」

Nodding her head a few times, Cycelia looks at Stripe, and continues explaining to the group.

「He was in the kingdom for the tournament? Why is he trying to kill Straf, then?」

Will asks, furrowing his brows in confusion.

「He wouldn't elaborate, but he said that they feel threatened. I'm not surprised, but I don't think Straf intends to harm them…」

She replies, and looks at Straf's broad back while walking alongside the center of the group.

「…Had that been the case, they'd stand no chance. The entire Eastern Kingdoms would be on fire right now, so… I think this is just one big misunderstanding.」

Cycelia remarks, shrugging her shoulders with a faint smile.

「…Now that the sun is out, it's a lot warmer, huh?」

Will idly comments when he walks into sunlight washing the streets and slowly melting the snow.

「Yeah. Looks like the winter will end soon…」

Stripe nods along, turning her golden eyes to a small mound of wet snow.

The group leaves the city outskirts, and heads out on the snowy road south…

…

The next day, in the early morning, in a palace up on a mountain…

「What!? All of them!?」

Willow asks with his voice raised in disbelief, blinking at the palace guard kneeling at his door.

「Yes, Master Willow. Only minor injuries. One has a broken arm, but the physician said it'll heal with ease…」

Keeping his head lowered, the man in black nods his conical hat. The old mage scoffs, shaking his head, then takes a sip of his tea.

「…Additionally… Straf Katastrof Vindict had left a message.」

The guard adds, raising his eyes to look at Willow.

「A message? What? How?」

The old man furrows his brows at the guard, tilting his head slightly as he lowers his mug to the low table.

「He demanded that he is to be left alone as he is heading to an onsen, and the assassins sent after him recalled. He also threatened to kill her Divine Embodiment if he is not heeded.」

The guard replies, and lowers his head again.

「What!? Th- That rat!…」

Utterly shocked, Willow's weary eyes snap wide open. He grits his teeth and clenches his fist around his mug.

「…Master Willow, perhaps it would be wise to see what he'll do if we-」

「Nonsense!」

Thud!

The kneeling guard suggests, but the old man slams his wrinkly, bony fist on the low table. The mug jumps up and splashes tea on its surface.

「…I'll sooner die than let that demon wander the land unpunished, and threaten her Divine Embodiment at that!… Khakh! Khakh khakh khakh!」

Willow shouts, clenching his teeth. After a brief moment, he gets into a coughing fit and feels for his chest with a troubled, tight-lipped grimace on his face.

「…Master Willow?」

The guard raises his eyes to the old mage, looking at him with a concerned eyes.

「…Ahem.」

Willow nonchalantly clears his throat and settles down.

「Master Willow, what shall we do then?」

The man in black asks, blinking at Willow's weary, pensively grimacing face.

「…Send more guards. Send every guard from the palace, even. You too. Quadruple the presence in the Palace Town, and send the rest after him…」

Willow replies while blankly staring at his mug's contents.

「…The guards are to act as scouts. Do not engage him unless you are sure you can take him. Prevent him from making it to the palace…」

The guard nods along as Willow continues speaking.

「…As shameful as it is, I will contact the nearby priestess too. Him directly and openly threatening her Divine Embodiment is grounds for divine punishment. Either from us, or from her…」

With a resigned shrug, Willow brings the mug up to his wrinkly lips and take a small sip.

「…Go to the transport mage and tell him that I want to see him. Urgently. I'll kill him if it's the last thing I'll ever do.」

He adds, turning his troubled grimace to the guard.

「Yes, Master Willow!…」

The guard nods, but remains kneeling with his head lowered.

「…Master Willow, that is a lot of resources, isn't it?」

He asks with a troubled tone, raising his eyes back to Willow.

「Yes… But it can't be helped. If that filthy man's repugnant foot as much as dips its toes on this hallowed ground, we'll all have failed. Now go.」

Willow nods in reply with a large sigh, then returns another helpless, resigned shrug. The guard nods his conical hat and slides the door shut.

With his mouth scrunched to the side and a troubled gaze locked on his mug, Willow takes another sip…