Joan stepped into the office. It was beautifully arranged, its furniture made from wood that only grew somewhere in the lands between, hence its very high price. But the moment he crossed the door, Joan could no longer admire the decor. He stumbled and dropped to his knees, gasping for the invisible pressure that mounted up his back. In the second it took General Kumar to look up, his spine had creaked and almost given out, but once he did, the weight disappeared. General Kumar looked middle-aged, but just like the lord of the country, he was hundreds of years old. The frown he had, from reading what he held, only deepened once he recognised his unannounced visitor. "Do you know what manners are?" he started slowly, "the door is there for a reason." "My apologies, sir. I was told you were looking for me, so out of haste, I forgot to knock." The general straightened himself in his chair that almost looked like a throne. "Sergeant, I'm glad to see you're alright," he said, obviously

Doeg was never going to get away. Not when he decided to take the path that had tighter congestion than a matchbox. He had probably been down there before, a few times, but never while speeding off to get away from someone.Loki, on the other hand, had done all this more times than he could remember, while trying to escape the displeased vendors he usually stole from.He slid below diagonal planks and jumped over wheelbarrows with practiced parkour. To catch Doeg, he would have to speed-run a maze, and that wasn't possible with the cloud of anxiety hovering over his thoughts.He lost track soon after he started, but didn't despair– yet. If he was right about Doeg's visit, the man would have to eventually return to the military centers in the city.But which one? Due to the numerous stuff going on here, military presence was needed almost everywhere, even in the privacy of one's home.He stopped running to think. Doeg couldn't go somewhere else to report his findings on a case given to

Morning had come, and the foreigner left, like most people who stay in less-than-stellar inns. Before the next rush of customers arrived, the rooms needed to be cleaned.A cleaner walked up the stairs and stood at the room's door, hoping not to meet a pile of debris...if only she knew.As soon as she stepped in, the strand of horsehair snapped, releasing the spring-loaded caps onto the flint and steel heads, and she was no more.The room exploded ait nd rammed its piece through the Inn at speeds almost sonic.Loki ducked, and so did the hundred other people on the streets.A moment of silence in shock, and then chaos. People scattered with unnecessary screaming, assuming there would be another explosion, and they needed to get to the safety of indoors.There wasn't another blast, but one was already bad enough. A child had run in to meet his mother; where were they both?The building wasn't levelled yet, but was sagging under its own weight. The crowd couldn't wait for vigilantes or t

Yharnam was in disarray.And up in smoke too. From both the prison compound and the keeper's inn, fading mushroom clouds. For years, the capital of the country had served as an example of how impregnable the world under a lord was. Now that world had not only been broken, but it had also been broken twice.And by the same group of a few mortal men. This was not good for the country's image, nor for its ego. Before dusk, all but one of the foreigners had been executed and disposed of.They had left the seeming leader alive, kept in the same place he had broken into, with security twice as high. The military needed to know if he was alone–, or a part of something bigger.In light of that, the city had been placed under an indefinite curfew until it was certain that another attack wasn't imminent. It took a lot of words for Joan to convince his wife to let him go, but she eventually did. Because unlike before, this wasn't just a matter of going to work; it was a matter of necessity.Yh

His wounds hadn't mended, but his hunger had, at least for today. Despite he shabby skills, he actually felt like this time, he wouldn't poison himself with his cooking.He laid bare chested, under the tranquil winds of evening. The sunset was all the scenery described in fairy tales, except with realism, hence it was boring. But it was yharnam's sun.Yes, the Lords all didn't share the same sun. Their egotistical nature would never let them.Speaking of nature...'Can't I enjoy a moment of respite?!' thought Loki, almost aloud, jerking up. Some well-intentioned ants had just made their way into his body, and it were quite jovial about it.Of course their stings wouldn't hurt, but he didn't like ants. And for anyone who knew his background, they would know why.After getting rid of them, he decided to clear a patch of grass away, before returning to resting, and then he noticed it.At first he thought it was his eyes' betrayal, or something terribly wrong, or terribly right.His shad