A few moments later, at the inn…

Inside the inn, most of the villagers are huddled around the center. The windows are blocked off by tables, and a pile of chairs is haphazardly thrown in the way of the door.

The peasants guarding the door flinch when they notice a shape move outside, through a small unblocked sliver of a window. They clutch their pitchforks tighter, directing them at the door.

Thud!

「Aah!」「Weauugh!」「Hiiii!」

The men at the front yelp when a large force causes the pile of chairs to scatter. They rear their pitchforks back.

The bulky innkeeper forces his face into the gap he created by force, and sees three pitchforks thrust at him.

「What are you-!?」「Wah!」

He recoils back, and so do the men. Their shoulders slump, and they slouch forward, resting their hands on their knees.

「Ahhh… It's just you… You scared the shit out of me!」

One of the men comments as he straightens out. The rest of the inn defenders also relax significantly when they see a human face in the doorway.

Thud!…

The innkeeper gives the door another shove with his shoulder, throwing the chairs aside. The men take some away from the stack as well, and set them down out of the way.

「So how did it go? Is that guy still fighting it?- Ah.」

The man at the forefront asks, and his head perks up when he sees Straf shamble in after the innkeeper.

「It's dead. Finally…」

Straf replies, snatches one of the chairs while passing by, and sets it down at the only table that remains untouched, belonging to a sleeping old man. He sits down right beside him, and the man remains fast asleep on the table, still clutching an empty tankard in his thin, shriveled hand. Cycelia likewise takes a chair from the stack, and gently sets it down right by Straf, cautious not to wake the patron.

「Is that true?…」「Did he really kill it?…」「But it was so huge!… How could it be?」

Though the villagers want to be relieved, they remain wary. The innkeeper walks back behind his counter and pours himself a drink from a wooden barrel set on a stand.

「…Pfwah!… He threw a coin at it.」

He explains, deeply confusing the concerned people, though his nonchalant attitude seems to ease them as well.

「What? A coin?…」「…Why would that kill a beast like that?…」

While the people chatter, he fills a tankard, and walking past Myria on the other side of the counter, he returns to the old man's table. She meekly follows him along.

Clunk.

「Here. On the house…」

The innkeeper noisily sets the full tankard down in front of Straf, who's lying on the table with his face in his arms. He lifts his tired eyes up at the innkeeper, then looks at the tankard.

「Eh?… Free? You're not going to take that back and demand that I pay when I down half, are you?」

Straf asks while staring at the tankard.

「As if I could do that now, stupid!… Just take it! If you don't want it, I'll drink it myself.」

The innkeeper shrugs his arms, then goes to pick up two chairs from the scattered stack. He lifts them with ease with his bulky arms then returns to the table, taking a seat down with Myria.

「Well… In that case, down the hatch…」

Straf shrugs, takes the tankard into hand, and begins noisily guzzling the contents.

「…Glug… Glug… Glug…」

「I really gotta thank you for saving Myria, mage. I doubt a drink does it, but it's the least I can do…」

The innkeeper says, while Cycelia watches Straf rapidly take massive gulps from his tankard with a concerned expression on her face.

「…Glug… Glug…」

「…I didn't like the idea of leaving you behind when you just saved my daughter, but there was nothing I could have done. But thanks to that, she gave me an idea how I could help you…」

While Straf continues drinking, the bulky man glances at Myria. She keeps her gaze lowered the whole time with a tight-lipped expression on her clouded face.

「…It was her, who said that you asked the people for silverware. I had some old coins lying around. They're were worthless now that the prices went up, but they were silver.」

Myria's father shrugs, then turns his eyes back to Straf.

「…Glug… Glug… Pfwahhh!… So she turned my throwaway idea of spooning the big bad wolf's eyeballs out into a botched adaptation?」

Clunk!

Straf slams the empty tankard down, waking the old man. Cycelia winces and lets out a sigh.

「Huh?」「…Eh?… I dozed off?… What hour is it?…」

With his arms crossed, the innkeeper furrows his brows in confusion, and the groggy, slack-jawed drunken old man looks around with dazed eyes.

「…Guess you were worth the cooldown after all…」

Straf remarks as he turns his eyes to Myria. She briefly raises her eyes up to look at him, before quickly lowering her head again.

「…Ahhhhhh… Maaaan… I was mostly fine when fighting that asshole, but now that I'm out of the combat high, everything fucking hurts…」「…Can I have another drink, young lady?」

With a sigh, Straf slumps back down onto the table, groaning heavily. The old man raises his thin finger at Myria, but she only stares back with her lips nervously curled inward.

「…If you mean that it was Myria who desperately tried to find a way to help you, you're right. I wanted to help too, but I had no idea how, and her safety took priority…」

The innkeeper nods, then turns his eyes to his daughter. She glances up at him with a nervous grimace, tapping her fingers together in her lap. She flinches when he reaches for her.

Pat.

「…So when I knew that she'd be fine, I rushed out to pay you back. It just wouldn't be right for me to cower in my inn while you fought that thing alone.」

He adds while petting Myria with his large hand. Confused, she furrows her bushy brows at him.

「…Are you not mad at me?」

Myria meekly asks, and her father scrunches his mouth to the side, halting his headpatting.

「Of course I'm mad! I'm fucking furious!…」

He shouts with a voice that fills the inn, and Myria flinches, shrinking. Slowly calming down and surprised by his shout, the villagers snap their eyes to their table.

「…But above all, I'm just glad that you're alright. I wouldn't be able to take another heartbreak. How many times do I have to tell you to run from dangerous things?」

With a sigh, the innkeeper resumes ruffling Myria's hair, and smiles at her softly.

「Another?… Come to think of it, I only saw you and Myria around the inn. Are you divorced?…」

Cycelia tilts her head, gently furrowing her brows, turning her emerald gaze to the vacant counter.

「No…」

The innkeeper's face grows visibly sullen. He shakes his shaved head lightly in response.

「…Let's just say that I was happily married too.」

Myria's father turns his face to Cycelia, trying his best to keep his smile on, but his eyes don't match his lips. He pulls his hand away from Myria's head and rests his elbows on the table.

「Ah… Sorry…」

Cycelia lowers her head with an apologetic expression on her face.

「It's fine. It's an old story anyhow. Most of the villagers know…」

He shrugs, and looks over his shoulder at the crowd. Some of the people dare to peek out of the windows, and see nothing of note.

「…Still, it looks those disappearances had a cause. Now that we know it was a werewolf, it all makes sense…」

The innkeeper remarks, furrowing his brows as he begins to rubs his chin while looking down at the table. The old man listens to the conversation, nodding along and pretending to understand.

「…The drunkard often set out to the forest to forage for food. The debtor lived at the edge of the village, so he probably got snatched trying to warn the rest…」

He says, then turns his eyes up to Straf and Cycelia. Straf is staring back at him with fatigued eyes, resting his cheek on his forearm, while Cycelia listens on with a tight-lipped grimace.

「Then that married couple?…」

She asks in a quiet, troubled voice.

「…Yeah. It looks he really just picked a wrong night to go on a walk. I don't know if the thought will comfort the woman, but it seems like it was a happy marriage to the end after all.」

The man nods, crossing his arms again. Straf's eyes lazily dart around the room, while his head remains fixed and lazily slouched on his arm.

「…And it looks like the wolf picked a wrong night to hunt. Thank you in the name of our entire village, mage.」

「Yeah whatever…」

Myria's father turns his gaze to Straf, and he dismissively rolls his eyes with a large, tired sigh.

「…Man, I feel like shit and it's getting worse with every minute. Is there a bath in this place, or are you not that high up the tech tree?」

Straf asks as he abruptly stands up, heaving heavily.

「Uh? Tech-? Ah, bath! Yeah, we have a bath!-」

Briefly confused, the innkeeper nods his shaved head. Myria shoots up.

「I'll prepare a bath for him! Give me just a moment!-」

She declares with a smile.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Pat.

The moment she turns around to run for the counter, her father's massive bear paws grab onto her shoulders and sit her back down.

「N- No, Myria… It should be me who'll do that. You just… Stay here and get the inn in order, alright?」

He gives her gentle a pat on her head with an awkward smile on his face.

「Huh? But why? I can carry the buckets-」

「N- No, it's not about the buckets, Myria… Just stay here, okay?」

Her father says, towering over her from behind as she's seated in her chair. Looking up at his inverted face and confused, she nods.

「Okay… Ah, bath! Bath!…」

Realizing that Straf is missing, he swivels his head around and finds him already well on the way to the bath, shambling slowly. He rushes behind the counter and grabs two buckets of water.

Splash. Splosh. Splash. Splosh…

He hurries to outrun Straf to the bathroom, but stops just short of crossing the corner into the hallway.

「…And you bastards better put the chairs and tables back where they belong, or you're paying double for the rest of the year!」

The innkeeper shouts a threat towards the people cautiously piling up at the door to leave. They look at each other, then rush to the tables at the windows and the pile of chairs…

…

Two hours later…

With a slow and heavy step, Straf passes by the innkeeper's counter on the way up.

「Ah, if you need anything else, just come and see me! I'll be heading to sleep soon, but feel free to wake me!」

「Yeah, whatever…」

The innkeeper calls out, but Straf scoffs and dismisses him. He reaches for his Ministry hat to take it off.

「Tsk… Must have dropped it somewhere… I'll go look for it later…」

He clicks his tongue and lets out a sigh when he realizes that it in fact, is not there. He puts his hands back into his pockets, and furrows his brows as he closes and opens his fist.

「Eh? The fucking key slipped out too!?… Fuck…」

Straf lets out another frustrated sigh, and with his mouth aslant, he continues approaching the door regardless.

「…Good thing I didn't lock it. It'd be awkward if I had to kick it apart.」

He grabs the handle, and pushes the door open. He takes a deep breath, and lets out a long, disappointed sigh.

「…Of all the fucking rooms in this inn, of course it had to land on mine…」

Frustrated, with a tight-lipped grimace on his face, he turns his gaze away from the rubble-filled room. The roof had collapsed onto his bed, and shattered wooden tiles litter the floor…

…

The next morning, in the royal palace, in Straf's room…

Stripe wakes up, groggily opening her eyes. Covered by a blanket in Straf's bed, she lets out a groan as she slowly stretches beneath it.

「Morning already, huh?…」

She utters out with her head gently lifted, furrowing her brows at the morning sunlight pouring in through the window.

Tfwap.

「Uggghhh… I don't want to work again…」

Stripe rolls away from the window, closing her golden eyes.

「Huh?…」

《…Right. That bastard is gone. He never said assemble the IEDs. He only wanted the production to go smoothly! I don't have to go to work!…》

Remembering an important detail in Straf's absence, her brows rise.

《…I can sleep in! I don't have to go work at all! Everyone working there already knows what to do! I don't even need to check in on them!》

A massive grin appears on her face, and she closes her eyes again. Rubbing the side of her head into her pillow, she makes herself more comfortable.

《…Idiot! Stupid! I can just pretend that I worked really, really hard, and take it easy! He has no way to tell! Bet he'll even praise me on a job well done!…》

「…Hehehe… Hehe…」

With half of her face covered by her blanket, Stripe chuckles quietly while trying to drift off back into sleep.

「…Nhh.」

After a few moments, her grin fades, and she lets out a soft discomforted groan.

「Ugggggghhhhhhhh…」

Stripe pushes herself off the bed, sitting up. She lets out a large, tired sigh.

「…I don't want to go to work…」

She grumbles as she shuffles to the bed's side and grabs her shoes…

…

Around the same time, in a roadside village in the capital region…

Slouched forward, Straf is sitting in the driver's seat of a horse-drawn cart, just barely holding the reins. Cycelia climbs on and shuffles herself closer to the front.

「Uggggggghhhhhhhh… This fucking suuuuuuucks… I feel like utter fucking shit.」

Straf sighs out while staring blankly at the road ahead. Cycelia leans in over his seat.

「…Straf, do you want to maybe rest in the back? I'll drive the cart instead.」

She asks, tilting her chestnut head and blinking up at him from his side. Straf looks at her, and lets out another large, fatigued sigh.

「…Do you even know how to?」

「Rude! I'll remind you that I rode a horse all by myself once, Straf!」

Cycelia pouts at him, furrowing her brows in manufactured anger.

「…Is the horse doing well?」

Straf asks with his mouth aslant, and a bored look about his eyes.

「Well, um… Anyway, how about it? I'll be careful. It's okay, just go rest.」

Cycelia briefly, bashfully turns her eyes aside before turning back to him, and snatching the reins out of his hands. She climbs over, and takes a seat right by his side.

「…Fine. Just don't crash. Despite having less horse power, you're still a woman driver. Humpf…」

Straf climbs into the back on all fours, and with one of his feet still on the driver's seat, he rests on one of the benches with his back, covering his eyes with his forearm.

Cycelia gently whips the horse with the reins. Too gently, in fact. It doesn't react. She tries again, more confidently this time, and the cart begins to move along the dirt road.

「…It's nice that the innkeeper gave you another room for free. Maybe we should stop by here again on our way back.」

She remarks with a smile as she glances over her shoulder at the village as they ride away.

「Please don't put that fucking prospect before me, Lia… I just want to teleport back into my bed. That's all. I'll pay 3000 drakes… That'll ought to cover a magic bus ticket, right?」

With his eyes covered and resting on a bench in the rear, Straf cringes heavily.

「What's a bus?」

Glancing at him, Cycelia asks with a smile on her face.

「…It's something that I really do not have the energy to explain right now, Lia. Sorry.」

He shrugs, and lets out a sigh.

「Right. Sorry… I'll be quiet and let you rest…」

「Right…」

Though Straf isn't paying attention, Cycelia returns an apologetic smile, and he nods in response as they ride onto the highway with a clatter of wheels against stone.

「Hey, Lia…」

「Yes?」

Straf calls out after a few moments of silence. She glances at him with her brows gently raised.

「…Are we an empire yet? Did you make up your mind?」

「Um… Do you think it would be better if we were?…」

「…We're on a highway, right? I think it'd be cool if you could say the imperial highway, and stuff. Think about it.」

Straf shrugs, never lifting his arm off his eyes. Confused, Cycelia tilts her head.

「Um… Ookaaay?」

Her emerald eyes blink at him, but she shrugs, and turns them forward to the at-the-moment still a kingdom's highway…

…

Around the same time, elsewhere, on a nearby stretch of the highway…

A cart laden with cargo noisily rolls along the stones beneath. Two young men sit by each other in the driver's seat.

「Hey, stop the cart for a second!…」

「Huh?」

The passenger calls out, and hops out when the cart slows. He runs a few paces ahead of the horses and squats down.

「Haha! Wow, look at this! A silver coin on the road!…」

「What, seriously?」

The driver tilts his head, and jumps off as well to investigate.

「See, I told you this trade will be lucky! This is the first sign! This coin ought to be blessed!」

The passenger takes the coin by its rim into his fingers, and holds it up for the driver to see with a huge grin on his face.

「…Why is it covered in blood?」

The driver asks, pointing his finger at it.

「Huh?…」

As his grin fades, the passenger furrows his brows and looks at the other side of the coin. It's nearly entirely covered with dried, dark red blood.

「…You're right. What the fuck?」

The passenger remarks, furrowing his brows. The two men look at each other with concerned expressions.

「…Better leave that thing be. It may be cursed.」

「Yeah. You're right…」

Plink…

The passenger nods, and flicks the coin back onto the road with his thumb. They climb back into the driver's seat and drive past the bloodied coin, abandoning it behind…