「Damn. There's the main girl, took you long enough.」

Straf chuckles, standing leisurely with his hands in his pockets as he looks over the exotic-looking woman head to toe, and toe to head. She stands just tall enough to look down at him with her mildly confused almond-shaped black eyes, but not enough to truly tower over him. Her blue bodysuit, trimmed with gold along its edges, tightly hugs her slender form.

Straf's eyes drift lower to her modest, shapely chest, then down to her narrow waist, wide hips, and long legs. The woman furrows her brows, running out of patience for his sudden interruption.

「Do I know you?」

She asks. Her tone is deceptively friendly, and so is her faint, smug smile. Most everyone would be capable of telling she is uninterested in a conversation, and that it's a cold attempt at smothering it in its crib. However…

「Not yet, but you will.」

Straf shoots back his own brand of a smug smirk, looking her in the eyes.

「No, I don't think I will.」

Still smiling, she gently shakes her head, and her silken black ponytail wiggles behind her head. She walks past Straf, clanking the shaft of her spear onto the dirt as she tries to make it closer to the fence. Greaves and Cycelia observe from a distance, glancing at each other in confusion.

「What the fuck? What is charisma even good for? If it won't work now of all times…」

Frustrated, Straf grumbles under his breath, surprised at the frigid response he received. He jogs ahead of the woman and walks in front of her, causing her mouth to crumple towards side of her face as she looks aside in obvious frustration.

「Come on, don't just treat me like that. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a woman that looks normal around here? I've been looking for someone like you my whole new life.」

Straf spreads his arms, shrugging his shoulders and tilting his head for emphasis.

「How endearing. I've been looking for ways to avoid someone like you my whole life. Please, do let me know what my mistake was this time.」

The woman remains cold, though her facade is still smiling at Straf with bright eyes and a gently tilted head.

「Okay, look, maybe it was a bad start. How about we try this again, what's your name? I'm Straf. Katastrof. Vindict.」

Straf holds up one of his palms as he admits his error of overconfidence, then introduces himself with a fully confident smirk, enunciating each part of his name.

「Lian. It was a pleasure.」

The woman says with a nod, still smiling, and bids Straf farewell again before walking past him.

「What the fuck? Seriously? Come on! 400 points wasted on this shit…」

Straf spreads his arms again with a perplexed expression as he looks at the woman's back and the widening gap between them. He sighs and shakes his head, following her in his temporary defeat.

「Will says he's feeling a little better… But he's still coughing every few seconds.」

Lian leans onto the fence with her back and hugs her spear close, wrapping her arms around it loosely.

「Alicia and this random guy gathered the medicine for that wimp. She's off to make the potion for him. What'd he want from you?」

Greaves walks up to Lian, looking at Straf as he walks up as well with a sour expression on his face.

「Him? I believe he is a lunatic of some kind. What an unpleasant character.」

Lian glances at Straf, then sighs with her eyes closed, smirking and shaking her head.

「By the way, who might this be?」

Her head snaps to Cycelia standing beside the fence, holding onto her medallion.

「I'm… I'm Lia…」

Cycelia timidly introduces herself, nodding her head a little.

「I see. I am Lian. No fancy titles.」

Lian smiles and nods. The hospitality in her smile carries genuine warmth this time.

「What made you dislike Straf? He gets along great with everyone he meets.」

Cycelia asks Lian, glancing at Straf while he's walking near them.

「Hm? Greaves, is that man and Alicia's helper the same person?」

Lian's brows rise at Cycelia's question, and she looks over her shoulder into the fenced area at Greaves, pointing her bodysuit-covered hand at Straf.

「Yeah. I'm wondering the same thing, you can be a little rough but…」

Greaves rolls his eyes with his arms crossed.

「Come on now, I have a bad experience with spears, and I'm trying to work through it for your sake.」

Straf says as he walks up, spreading his arms.

「Really? If you'd like, I could give you another and you could check if you like it better.」

Lian smiles, tilting her head in response. Though her movements are subtle, she makes it clear her hand moved to her spear's shaft and gripped onto it.

「Tsk. Is she like this always?」

Straf leans onto the fence towards Greaves, and points his thumb at Lian.

「No? What did you do?」

Greaves shakes his head in confusion and shrugs his shoulders as he asks.

「Nothing. I introduced myself… What a great reward for helping your wimp friend get better.」

Straf looks at Lian as he speaks, with a very frustrated expression on his face as he glares at her.

「…I perhaps was too harsh-」

Lian looks away, and just as she's about to apologize, Greaves interrupts her.

「Hey! Don't call Will a wimp! I bet he's stronger than you are!」

Greaves shouts at Straf, clenching his fist in front of himself.

「Didn't you just call him-?」

Cycelia tilts her head with furrowed brows, but Greaves continues without letting her finish.

「We killed a bunch of monsters and got a bunch of gold for it! I bet you'd run home to mommy if you saw two horndogs at once! Will killed a lot, I killed a bunch of them, too!」

Greaves shouts and shouts, throwing his hand around in an animated manner. Straf scoffs, shaking his head with an amused grin.

「Yeah, too bad I have no home to go back to- Wait, what!?」

One particular word makes Straf's head perk up, and his eyes widen.

「…We killed a lot of horndogs?」

Greaves asks, unsure what Straf is confused about.

「…Is that a threat or something?」

Straf scoffs, suppressing a chuckle as the surprise is replaced by amusement.

「No? I'm saying we killed a lot of- Have you ever seen a horndog? Do you know what they are?」

Greaves shakes his head, then gestures with his hand as he tries to explain.

「No, but I have a good guess. Go ahead and describe it to me.」

Straf grins at Greaves, barely suppressing chortling.

「It's like a wolf, but it has one or more horns on its head, and it hunts in packs, and it's really nasty, and- What are you grinning about?」

Greaves's arms slump as he blinks, looking at Straf's face. Straf bites his lower lip, trying his best to suppress his laughter. He manages to calm down a little.

「Okay kid, you are fucking with me, right? What's their real name? Gorers? Demon pitbulls?」

Straf chuckles out of his nose, but mostly manages to contain himself as he asks with his palm out, and his other hand on his hip, grimacing heavily as he's trying to regain a neutral expression.

「No? I just told you're they're called horndogs-」

「Pfffffffffffffffftttttttthahahahaha-」

Straf breaks, and leans away as he starts laughing.

「Straf, what are you laughing about?-」

Cycelia tilts her head, looking at him with furrowed brows. She glances at Greaves, but he shrugs his hands and shoulders.

「Ahahahahaha!」

Straf holds his palm out to stop Cycelia from saying another word as he continues laughing. He slams his fist on his thigh, confusing the entire group with his reaction. He calms down, and his laughter dies down. He turns his face to Greaves, and just as he's about to say something, he bursts out into another fit of laughter.

This continues for at least another minute, drawing concern from Cycelia and even from Greaves. Eventually, he manages to finally calm down, and sighs with relief.

「Ahahah… Ahhh… What the fuck… And you seriously don't see anything odd about calling something a- Horndog?」

Straf has to pause. A single chuckle escapes his lungs, but he contains the rest.

「Yeah, what's so weird about it?」

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Greaves shrugs, shaking his head in confusion as he holds his hands on his hips.

「Ohhahaha… Fuckin' ridicule… Alright.」

Straf covers his face with his hand as he grins and chuckles again quietly, shaking his head.

「Ahem. As I was saying, I may have been a little too harsh, considering you helped my companions.」

Lian brings Straf's attention to herself by falsely clearing her throat. She looks at him without her feigned smile.

「Yeah, and I got nothing out of it. I wanted Alicia in my harem in return, but I'll settle for you-」

Straf scoffs. He bounces himself off the fence and walks up to Lian, placing his fists on his hips.

「Straf, don't try to force anyone into your party, it's rude…」

Cycelia meekly calls out to Straf, but she's largely ignored and a background noise.

「Ahh, as I thought, I really want nothing to do with you after all.」

Lian looks away from Straf, sighing in frustration.

「What? What'd I do now? Okay, wrong wording. Swap, not settle. Better?」

Straf spreads his arms and shrugs, confused by Lian's cold demeanor reappearing.

「It'd be better if you'd not say another word. When you dig holes beneath yourself, they're likely to become your grave.」

「…What? Is that a threat, or?…」

Straf furrows his brows as Lian glares back at him. They stare at each other in silence, for a brief moment.

「A saying. From my homeland. When you might say the wrong things, it's better to be silent. Take that to heart.」

Just as she finishes explaining her adage, Alicia returns.

「The potion is preparing, I asked the innkeeper to keep an eye on it and borrowed a spot on the stove, it should be ready by tomorrow.」

Alicia says, looking at Greaves and Lian intermittently.

「Another day wasted, huh… Well, it's not a waste if I train! Hya! Hyargh!」

Greaves pulls his sword out, and begins swinging it pointlessly again, yelling and shouting for no reason. Straf's brows rise at the sight, then furrow. His gaze snaps to Alicia, and he leans onto the fence near her with his elbow.

「So, how about it? Lian here is very strongly opposed to joining me, but she wasn't a part of the deal. You were.」

He spreads his arms, then points to Alicia as she refuses to maintain eye contact.

「But… What is even a harem?」

She sheepishly asks.

「To put it in simplest terms and to make it work-safe for the kiddo over here…」

Straf nods his head at Greaves as he explains.

「Hey! I'm not a kid!」

「…You'll basically do everything I ask you to. I mean, I'll respect your free will, but a good woman ought to do some things for a man, don't you think?」

Straf grins as he pressures Alicia into consciously accepting the membership in his harem.

「Some things?」

Alicia tilts her head, blinking with softly furrowed brows.

「…Some things?」

Cycelia asks under her breath, squinting and blinking from the side as she listens in.

「Yeah. Since the kiddo is here, I can't say what…」

「Hey!」

Greaves shouts again, frowning angrily. Lian stays silent, and simply hugs her spear while staring at Straf in disdain.

「…But rest assured, I am not desperate enough to force you into anything. How about it?」

Straf asks, smirking confidently while spreading his arms.

「…But I still don't really understand what it is.」

Alicia glances aside left and right, fidgeting with her wand in hands and a troubled expression on her face.

「Tsk. Well, it's kind of like a party. Except I don't take men. I just don't. Get it?」

Straf clicks his tongue and rolls his eyes in frustration at Alicia's feigned or genuine innocence. Her troubled expression grows more severe.

「Wait… like a party?」

Cycelia shakes her head in confusion, still mumbling to herself.

「So, how about it? You'll have to ditch your friends to come along though. I mean, they can come along too, but they're not party of the harem obviously. So?」

Straf asks, then shrugs his head as he talks about Greaves, Lian and Will. Alicia grows even more troubled, glancing to Greaves with furrowed brows.

「Hey! She's my party member! You don't get to just steal her!」

Greaves protests angrily, he walks up to the fence with clenched teeth, slapping his hand onto it.

「Sorry, Carrothead. It's not stealing her, you never had a shot. Besides, she's a big girl, she can make decisions for herself, Right?」

Straf points at Greaves with a sly smirk on his face, then attempts to wrap his arm around Alicia as she stares at the ground with slumped shoulders.

「I can't!」

Alicia desperately exclaims, shoving at Straf with her wand. He barely budges, and she mostly pushes herself away instead, almost bumping into Lian, who stops her by bracing her back with her hand gently.

「Wha-!?」

Greaves is rendered speechless from Alicia's unexpected show of assertiveness.

「Huh? Why not?」

Straf spreads his arms again, and then drop limp in disappointment. They pat against the sides of his legs.

「I can't… I'm sorry… I know you earned a reward, considering whatever was lurking in that forest was probably afraid of you, and you might have saved Will's life… But I can't.」

She apologetically explains with her head lowered and form shrunken.

「I can't leave Greaves alone, and I can't leave Will alone. I don't know how I would be able to sleep at night if I'm not sure if Greaves is alright, or if he's not dragging Will into danger again.」

「Tsk, seriously? It's this trope?」

Straf clicks his tongue and rolls his eyes, placing his hands on his hips in frustration.

「Wow, I can't believe you actually got a fucking chance, kid. What a rarity, it's almost not a cliche.」

Straf says as he looks at Greaves with a slanted mouth and an annoyed expression.

「I'm sorry… I wish there was some way I could repay you.」

Alicia bows, keeping her head low for a prolonged moment.

「Whatever… In that case, why don't you tag along and help Lia kill the king?」

Straf nonchalantly asks Greaves.

「Wha-!? What!? Are you insane!? I'm supposed to help you with a rebellion against the king for collecting a few lousy herbs!?」

Greaves's jaw drops, and he outright screams at Straf while waving his arms about.

「Yeah. You style yourself as a legendary hero or whatever the fuck. Don't you know the king is a usurper?」

Straf asks and leans in on the fence.

「What? How do you know that? The princess murdered her family, the town criers were yelling that for weeks!」

Greaves shouts again, but Cycelia interrupts him.

「That's a lie!」

She angrily shouts back, the sudden raised tone from the otherwise timid woman puts him out of his rhythm.

「Yeah, didn't it occur to you that the so-called king is lying? Idiot.」

Straf scoffs at Greaves with a disdainful smirk.

「…And what proof do you have!? It's your word against his! And you're some random nobody I don't even know the name of! And… Her! I don't know who she is either!」

Greaves points at Cycelia, and she glances at Straf nervously with her brows furrowed.

「Oh yeah? You don't recognize Cycelia the rightful heir to the throne?」

Straf points his palm at Cycelia, nonchalantly deconspiring her.

「Hm?」 「…The princess?」

Lian humms, as her brows rise while side-glancing at Cycelia. Alicia mumbles under her breath out with widened eyes.

「What? The queen?- But, she's a murderer!」

Greaves is momentarily shocked, raises his voice again as he points while talking to Straf.

「No! That's a lie! It's those murderer's lies!」

Cycelia shouts over Greaves, clenching her teeth. She stares at him with wet eyes, and Greaves's pointing arm slowly drops.

「What? Then… You didn't kill your family?」

Greaves meekly asks with slumped shoulders and widened eyes.

「No! It was him, and he framed me! Why would I murder my father, mother, brother, Albus? I never wanted to rule! My brother was a better fit for a king!」

Cycelia shouts on verge of tears. Greaves looks at Alicia and Lian, then Straf.

「…Okay, but how do you exactly plan to do that?」

Greaves asks Straf, and he grins in response…