In the evening, one day before the year's end party, in Nona's room…

Nona enters, and shuts the door behind her. With her hammer still on her shoulder, she stretches with a little groan, and sets it down on its head. She then takes her uniform hat off, and hangs it upon the hammer's pointy pommel. After fiddling with the laces for a few moments, she slips her boots off, and turns for the bed. She coils to jump into it.

「…Eh?」

Nona aborts her attempt and straightens out, when she sees a brown package on her bed, tied with a thin cord. It's flat but fairly wide, and takes up a large chunk of the bed. The bed still dwarfs it with its sheer size, however. Nona blinks at the package with her head tilted in confusion.

「…Did someone forget this here?」

She mumbles to herself, and crawls over the bed on all fours. Her eyes find a small label on the package.

「…It's for me?」

Reading the label, she furrows her brows, and sits up on her knees. She ponders the package and the label stating「For Nona」without opening it, pouting slightly as she thinks.

「From who?… Did a maid leave it here?…」

She tilts her head, and looks over her shoulder at the closed door. After a second, her amber eyes return to the package.

Pfapf.

Nona drops down onto the bed right in front of the package, and grabs onto one end of the cord tying it.

「…Hmmm. What is it, though?」

She mumbles again, and tugs at the cord. It comes off loose immediately, and the paper wrapping it unfurls a little. With an accompanying noisy crumpling, she opens the package further.

「Hm?…」

Nona perks up and furrows her brows. Inside the package, there is a folded black gown, as well as a selection of accessories. The gown looks well-suited for a formal occasion, and the accessories range from hairpins, through earrings, and necklaces of pearl, as well as everything in between. Nona takes the gown into her hands, and gives it a closer look.

「…Is this from Straf?…」

She tilts her head, and looks down at the jewelry again.

「…Nooo waaay. Straf is too busy to go shopping for stuff like this- Ah…」

Nona dismisses the idea with an amused smile, before her head perks up.

「…Is this stolen?」

She looks at the gown again with her brows raised. She blinks a few times, thinking again.

「…He he… It'd be better if it were…」

With a little chuckle, Nona brings the dress closer, hugging it weakly to her chest. She sets it down on the bed, and begins looking through the accessories with a little smirk on her face.

「…This must be from that one maid. I'll go thank her before work.」

With a nonchalant shrug, Nona haphazardly folds the dress on itself and places it back in the package, loosely wrapping it back up.

She then sets it down on a nearby chest of drawers, sits back down on the edge of the bed, and begins unbuttoning her uniform with a little sigh and a content smile…

…

The next morning, in the ground floor hallways of the palace…

「Heeeeey! Good morning!」

Nona exclaims as she waves her hand above her head, chasing after a short-haired, blonde maid.

「Ah. Miss Nona… Good morning… Is there something you need?」

The maid turns around and bows a little as Nona catches up.

「Haaah… No, not really!… I just wanted to thank you for the other day.」

She takes a quick breath, and smiles at the maid while resting the hammer on her shoulder.

「There's no need. I'm happy to be of help.」

The blonde maid nods her head gently as she replies with an expressionless face.

「…Is it really okay though? It must have been expensive… Don't you want at least some of it back?」

Nona asks, rubbing the back of her head and ruffling her fluffy brown hair.

「Hm?」

The maid tilts her frilled head, and blinks her blue eyes in mild confusion.

「You know, the earrings, and stuff like that. I never really pierced my ears… Ha ha…」

Nona explains, shrugging her shoulders with an awkward grin.

「Earrings?…」

The maid asks, furrowing her brows slightly.

「Mhm. And the hairpins, and the necklaces, and stuff… I don't really wear that kind of stuff… Ah! I don't mean I'm ungrateful, but really, I'd only wear them today, and maybe next year!」

Nona replies with a nod of her hatted head, shrugging again as she explains, before suddenly throwing her hand up and waving it as she clarifies.

「…Pardon me, but what are you talking about, exactly?」

With her brows furrowed, the maid asks after a few confused blinks.

「Hm? Well- The package? In my room?…」

Nona points over her shoulder in some vague direction, briefly glancing back, before returning her amber eyes to the maid's blue ones.

「What package?」

She asks, narrowing her eyes slightly.

「…There was a package delivered to my room yesterday. It wasn't you?」

「You received a package?…」

The maid tilts her head with her gaze now narrowed in suspicion.

「Yes…」

With some hesitation, Nona returns a wary nod.

「…If you weren't expecting one, someone might have accidentally delivered a package to your room.」

The blue-eyed maid replies, staring at Nona with a wary look on her face.

「Ah, no… It was addressed to me… Unless there's another Nona around here, he he…」

She explains, once again ruffling the hair behind her head with an awkward chuckle.

「To you?… No, I don't believe there is. If it was specifically addressed to you, it's unlikely it was a mistake, but it was not me who delivered it.」

The maid furrows her brows, and a moment later, the suspicion her face evaporates, becoming once again expressionless as before while she explains.

「Really?… Do you know who it might have been, then?」

Nona asks, tilting her head, and idly returning her hands to her hilt to add a counterweight to its heavy head.

「I do not. However… I believe I saw a maid leave your room yesterday.」

The maid replies, placing her chin between her thumb and finger as she looks up and aside to think.

「Really!? Who was it? I want to thank her!」

Nona's face lights up, but the maid remains expressionless, and shakes her head.

「I can't tell you, I didn't catch her face, but I thought she was rather tall, and had long black hair.」

She shrugs, and joins her hands in front of herself, blinking at Nona.

「Ahhh… I see… Well, maybe I'll find her somewhere around here! I gotta get to work, boss will be mad! Bye!」

Nona runs off in the direction of the palace doors, waving her hand to the maid, who bows politely as she leaves her behind…

…

A few hours later, in the palace's magic workshop…

With an entire assortment of magic tools on the workbench before him, Straf is fiddling with a collection of boxes, digging in one of them with a magic implement in his hand. The door behind him opens.

「Straf? Are you busy?…」

Cycelia asks as she peeks her face in.

「Always, Lia… But I always have time for you. What do you want?」

Straf glances over his shoulder, and returns to working on the small metal box in his hand.

「What are you up to?」

She asks, shutting the door after peeking out.

「Prototyping magic ads.」

Straf replies, focused on the control boxes before him.

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「Magic ads?…」

Cycelia asks as she leans over his shoulder.

「Remember that fancy magic display I used to show you what's going on in Murusburg?…」

Straf asks in a rather unexcited tone.

「…Yes, what about it?」

She nods, watching his hands with her emerald eyes.

「Basically, like that, but to sell people stuff.」

Straf shrugs nonchalantly.

「Eh? Just to sell them things?… That seems…」

Cycelia furrows her brows, looking at the box in his hands.

「Wasteful?」

Straf asks without lifting his gaze.

「…Well. I thought there would be better uses for it.」

She shrugs with a little awkward smile on her face.

「There are. But right now, I need to sell people shit… Problem is, I can't just show anything I want. For example, suppose I want to show a maid inviting you to a cafe…」

Straf explains, shrugging his shoulders again, briefly gesturing with his screwdriver-like tool.

「…Well, I can't just demand a maid to show up. The mana needs to know how it should solidify… And it has no idea what a maid is. Mana is kind of stupid, huh?」

「I'm… Not sure I'm following?…」

Cycelia replies with her awkward smile returning.

「Anyway, I first need to encode a series of points, vectors, if you will. More points means higher definition, but also more mana used, obviously…」

Straf continues, wiggling his screwdriver a little while he speaks, and his gaze remains focused on his work.

「Obviously?…」

Cycelia echoes with a voice lacking confidence, wincing slightly.

「…Also, if I want sound, then I need to encode vibrations at a just right series of frequencies, otherwise it'll sound weird. All this needs its own gem…」

「Uhhh… And that's a problem?…」

Straf continues explaining, and Cycelia tries to nod along.

「Yup. That's one gem for power, one gem for audio, and one gem for visual… That's money thrown into mud, Lia…」

「Right…」

「…That's why I'm going to get that necromancer guy to teach me how to charge them later… But you're not here to talk about any of this, are you?」

Straf suspends his work on the control box, sets his tool down, and straightens out as he turns to face Cycelia with his mouth scrunched slightly.

「Well…」

Caught, Cycelia winces a little, averting her gaze with an awkward smile on her face.

「Come on, just say it already. What is it?」

Straf asks, crossing his arms while leaning onto the workbench slightly.

「…Straf, shouldn't we inform everyone about the demon lord? At least Greaves and others.」

Cycelia's tone and face become serious, and she looks Straf in his bored eyes as she asks.

「Leave it. The year is ending today. Is going「Hey everyone, we're fucked!」the right way to end it?」

With a sigh, Straf spreads his hands, and his mouth tilts aslant.

「Nhh… But we are going to tell them, right? Eventually?」

Cycelia lets out a lightly troubled groan, before gaining a concerned grimace on her face.

「Lia, I handled things, didn't I?… I'll handle shit at a later point too. For now, just leave it be… And relax. If you show yourself with a face like that at the party, everyone will find out anyway.」

He rolls his eyes, then shrugs his arms, before crossing them again. Cycelia looks at his lightly amused smirk, free from worry, and lets out a large sigh.

「…You're right. At least today should be fine to take it easy. Don't work yourself too hard either, Straf.」

Cycelia nods her chestnut head with a faint smile, and turns for the door.

「Yeeeeah…」

With another roll of his eyes, Straf shrugs once more, and turns back towards the workbench. Cycelia nods, and quietly exits, leaving Straf be…

…

Just before the evening, at the palace gate…

With her hammer resting on her shoulder, Nona makes her way back from the bank. The plumed guards watch her pass, and turn their eyes back to the street ahead.

A few moments later, Lily emerges out of a corner. Her scarlet eyes glow in the lamplight as she approaches. The guards gain nervous grimaces on their faces, and bow their heads a little when she draws near. She glances at one of them, and audibly scoffs as she walks past, heading straight for the palace doors. Two maids open the door for her, and let her through.

Less than fifteen minutes later, a young girl approaches the gates.

「Halt.」

「Eh?…」

Holding his armored gauntlet out, one of the guards steps in her way. The girl's confused eyes between her furrowed eyes blink up at him.

「Who are you?」

He asks, staring at her with a grim face. The second guard lazily approaches, hanging his gauntlet by his thumb off his sheath belt.

A little nervous, she looks up at his halberd blade, then returns her eyes to the first guard.

「I- I'm Olivia…」

「And?」

She replies, and the second guard immediately asks with an unimpressed face. Olivia brings her hands up to her chest in loose fists, taking a step back when the guards take a step forward.

「…I was supposed to come here.」

Olivia says with her gaze lowered, and her voice quiet.

「Says who?」

The guard asks, nodding his helmeted head up.

「Huh?…」

Confused, Olivia blinks her eyes at the two guards, growing increasingly nervous.

「…Am I not invited?」

She asks, and the two guards glance at each other.

「I don't know. Are you?」

The guard shrugs his armored shoulders, and the two continue staring at her with unimpressed grimaces.

「Mr. Straf said- Well, one of the maids said I'm invited…」

Olivia replies with her face lowered, anxiously fiddling with her thumbs.

「The minister, huh?…」

One of the guards says, nodding slightly.

「Anyone could say that. Got any proof, kid?」

The other one remarks, shrugging. Olivia's face becomes visibly nervous as her eyes widen.

「N- No, but…」

She meekly shakes her head, and continues fidgeting.

「…Get lost, kid. Try scamming someone else.」

The guard waves Olivia away with his armored fingers, and slowly backs away to his spot. The second guard, too, sluggishly heads back to his own. Resigned, Olivia turns away with her head low.

「Wait a second!…」

「Hm?…」

A maid calls out as she hastily approaches the gate. The guard looks over his shoulder, and Olivia stops.

「What is your name, young lady?」

The serious-faced maid asks, stopping right beside the confused guard.

「I'm Olivia…」

She replies with her loose fists up to her chests again.

「Tsk…」

The maid clicks her tongue, and lets out a frustrated sigh.

「…Let her through. She's on the list. You almost turned a guest away, dimwits.」

「Eh?」「Huh?」

The maid heads for the palace, shaking her head. The guards perk up, and look at each other. With awkward grimaces on both of their faces, one of them wordlessly waves Olivia through.

She bows a little, and quickly jogs past the gate in an effort to catch up to the maid…