In a Seer operative hideout located in the country of Tupil…

The door opens and Frey walks into the room. He drops an enclosed letter onto Major Raz’s desk.

“I’m requesting a leave of absence. I’ll be departing today,” Frey says frankly as he looks down at Raz sitting across from him.

Raz looks at the envelope than picks up a rolled cigarette before lighting it and inhaling it. “Shouldn’t you wait for approval first?” Raz asks after exhaling a puff of smoke with a hint of displeasure on his face. There was some disrespect coming from Frey, inciting some unruliness within Raz.

But Frey didn’t wait for Raz’s display of authority. Frey walks back to the door and says with his back turned, “If being a prince is worth anything, it might as well be worth this.”

Frey opens the door and walks out of the room, leaving the door open.

Raz frowns, his built-up energy becoming stifled. Raz takes another puff of his cigarette and exhales a cloud of smoke before saying, “Guess I’ll have to visit a brothel today.”

…

…

After exiting from the city gates, Frey approaches the nearby forest and whistles a distinctive tune. “Come on boy; we’re heading out!” Frey calls out to the forest.

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After a few moments, a rustling was heard from the trees and a red blur could be seen moving through them.

Frey sees the figure approach and begins to walk back to the road. Soon, a meter tall fox could be seen jumping around and circling Frey, expressing his excitement.

“Yeah, yeah; I miss you too,” Frey says, reaching out a hand to pet the fluffy fox. Although the fox was still young, a hint of majesty could still be seen from his appearance, as if he was a young dire wolf in a fox’s clothing. But the fox’s excited cries and uncontrolled movement betrayed his nature.

“Come on, Sparky,” Frey says, leading the way forward. “Let’s go find something to kill.”

…

…

Outside the city of Jome, two guards were processing the line of people wishing to enter the city.

As one of the guards was going about his work he sees a dog in the distance. The dog sniffs the ground a few times before moving forward and approaching the line of people. The dog stops to sniff a few people before moving further down the line to sniff more people.

The guard watches this with a blank stare and eventually, the dog approaches the guard and starts sniffing his legs.

The other guard sees this and waves his hand to shoo the dog away. “Hey dog, get out of here. We’re trying to work. Don’t hold up the line.” He says.

The dog promptly scurries forward into the city.

The guard who had just been sniffed asks in a monotone voice, “Should we just be letting dogs into the city?”

The other guard gives him a look and says, “If you’re looking for more work I won’t stop you. As for me, I’d like to think it’s not my problem.”

After looking at the distant dog for a moment, the guards get back to processing the line.

…

…

Siyu lets out a yawn, the rhythm of the carriage, lulling him to sleepiness. Siyu looks opposite of him to Dorian and says, “So, tell me, who’s the Boss? What’s her story? I don’t even know her name.”

“You’re not qualified to know that,” Dorian says with closed eyes and crossed arms.

“Oh, so you don’t know,” Siyu says before getting bored and looking out the window.

Dorian opens his eyes and disgruntlement could be seen on his face. “I know enough not to question,” Dorian says sternly.

“Oh? What do you know?” Siyu asks before pausing to yawn again.

A vein could now be seen on Dorian’s face, then a dangerous look seems to pass by Dorian’s expression as he seems to consider something before once again closing his eyes. “No one knows who the Boss is. Some say she’s a noble’s daughter born out of wedlock, others say she’s a lost princess from a different continent. As for me; all I know is that anyone who’s ever messed with her has never come out unscathed. Whether you’re on a city council or a grandmaster, if you step over that unspoken boundary, a price must be paid,” Dorian states simply before looking to Siyu. “That’s why even if you run, you wouldn’t be able to get far,” Dorian says with schadenfreude.