"Hello, ma'am. My name is Timmy, and I'll be happy to show you around," my new guide, a wolfkin of about ten, introduced himself to me with a small bow. Although only two years older than Ria, my rough guess, he was quite a bit taller and more of an adult than her. The little kitare couldn't hide the fact that she was still a child, no matter how professional she tried to act. He, however, was not a little wolfkin anymore, but a young one.

"You don't mind only showing me the way to the library?"

"Why would I mind, ma'am?"

'Yeah, yeah, I know. A stupid question.'

Of course, he didn't mind when he was getting paid for every hour he started. Speaking of money, though, I paid a deposit of ten pieces of silver, worth a full day's work, for an hour's lesson with a guy named Deckard, praying that it would be worthwhile, and of course, got my money back, as Lieutenant Blaine wrote. Only then did I head out into the city, following my new guide.

"Do you really only want to see the library, ma'am?"

'Clever young wolfkin.' Certainly a strange request, but the tone of his voice betrayed his desire to see more money, to make me let him guide me longer.

"Well, that depends on how far away the library is." After getting his work done, I was obliged to return to the City Hall with him - that was the rule. Kind of inconvenient, considering I wanted to go to the library without having to worry about the time I would have to pay for my guide just waiting for me to read a book. It meant making a trip there, going back, and making another trip there again while hoping my poor sense of direction didn't come back to bite me in the ass.

"Alright," beamed the young wolfkin, seemingly undaunted. In fact, much to his credit, despite knowing he wasn't going to make much money with me, he didn't drag his feet and led me briskly through the city.

"Timmy, is there just one library, or are there others?" I asked as we made our way from the 5th District, where the City Hall lay, through the 4th District and crossed the 3rd Main Street, the first main street I ever walked down in Castiana, to the 3rd District.

"There's a new one in the City Lord's estate, but they won't let anyone who isn't noble in there. The Imperial Library, on the other hand, is open to everyone."

"Oh, I see."

"May I ask a question too, ma'am?"

A heavy feeling stirred in the pit of my stomach, the feeling I was trying not to get to me.

'Was it just childish curiosity or something worse lurking beneath the surface?'

"S-sure."

"Is your tail really dangerous?"

'Huh? Was he trying to gauge my strength or something?'

"It’s not, is it? I thought so."

'Wait! Don't tell me this was about Ria?'

"You want to hug it? Because if you do, I can't let you." I wasn't holding back my farts.

"No, I don't. I am not a kid. But you say she wasn't lying?"

"Who?" Even though he was just a kid, regardless of what he claimed, it was safer to pretend I didn't know what he was talking about and see what he knew.

"Ria, you know, the other guide you hired. No doubt it's you, ma'am - she won't stop talking about you." Timmy explained, adding under his breath, "It's really annoying."

"Oh, I see. Yeah, Ria can get quite excited, can't she?" Hopefully, the name of my tale remained between her, Enola, and me. The same thing with me being this Wierin in her eyes, some kind of Terr'den creature of legends. It was enough for rumors of my beast might spread through the city.

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"More like stupid," Timmy made a rather unkind remark. Was I surprised, though? No. It just proved that Ria wasn't lying to me about the other guides not liking her.

"Well, I think Ria is very bright - she's just very young."

It wasn't hard to imagine that once they both reached their teens, this boy would be head over heels for her. That is, assuming there were no taboos about inter-racial mixing among the Terr'dens.

"I didn't mean to..." he started, a little alarmed, but I raised my tail to stop him.

"Just don't be so mean to her, okay?"

"I'll try, ma'am." That didn't sound very convincing. However, I hadn't hired him to scold him about how he should treat Ria.

"Some other question? Because I have one of my own, Timmy."

The young wolfkin pondered. "One, actually. Can you really talk to animals?"

"Yes. Yes, I can."

"And the beast?"

"Them too."

"So she was telling the truth about that too," he mumbled more to himself, making me really wonder what all Ria had told the other guides about me. "Well, when I grow up. I won't be talking to the beasts; I'll be slaying them."

"I see. Ria was talking about your wish to become a seeker. Actually, that's what I was going to ask you."

"You want to be one, too?" Timmy blurted out, his eyes suddenly sparkling with excitement.

"Well, that's something I'm not sure about. Enola gave me this leaflet," I said, showing him a piece of paper I hadn't had a chance to study yet. "But I was hoping you could tell me more."

"Ah, there are only recommendations on that. Like which level of strength is appropriate for which floor, what weapons, group composition, useful weaves, and such. The information about the beasts you will face there is what is important, but the leaflet only mentions the Horned Rabbits. It's the only beast you'll encounter until floor eleven."

'Floor eleven? Just Hornes Rabbits?' There in the square, I had seen stalls selling parts of so many different species of beasts. Definitely not just one. 'So, did that mean...?'

"Hold on, Timmy? How deep is the Labyrinth, actually?"

The young wolfkin grinned. "No one really knows, ma'am."

"What?!"

'How does that make sense?'

"No one has reached the bottom yet, so... no one really knows."

'Holy fucking shit!' I knew the tunnels under the city had to be deep after seeing the number of seekers in Labyrinth Square, but this exceeded my wildest expectations.

"The deepest anyone has ever gone in Fallen's Cry is floor 162, but the deepest floor anyone has ever reached is 255 in Vanquished’s Pride."

'What the actual fuck?! Two hundred and fifty-five floors below and still haven't reached the bottom?' The thought that I was just now walking on something so deep sent shivers down my spine.

"W-why is that?", I asked, trying to maintain my composure. "I mean, is it that hard?"

"Yes, ma'am, it is. The deeper you dive, the stronger the beasts you encounter. It says so in the leaflet, too. Let me see - here."

And it certainly did. Below the picture and description of the basic information of the beast, the Horned Rabbit, which only resembled the rabbits I knew in general shape - seriously, it was a beast the size of a black bear, with bulging muscles, sharp teeth, and two short horns on his head - was a listing of the number of sigils beast in the first ten floors had and the recommended numbers for seekers to enter that floor.

│Floor 1 - Horned Rabbit: 30-45 sigils - recommendation: 50 sigils for group - 75 sigils for solo

│Floor 2 - Horned Rabbit: 32-47 sigils - recommendation: 53 sigils for group - 78 sigils for solo

│Floor 3 - Horned Rabbit: 34-49 sigils - recommendation: 56 sigils for group - 81 sigils for solo

And so forth and so on.

"Solo? Is that possible?" From what I had gathered so far, I was under the impression that it was tantamount to suicide. If not, I may...

"Sure it is. Haven't you heard of Deckard?"

As soon as he said the name, I almost froze in my tracks. "J-just a name and well... that he is instructing at the City Hall."

"He does, but very rarely. I wish I could get a lesson from him. I'm saving up for it, you know."

"Is he that good?"

"Deckard is the best. He was the first to conquer the 100th floor of Fallen's Cry alone and is currently trying to get to floor one hundred and thirty-three. Awesome, right?"

"Y-yeah..." That was all I managed to utter; one thought echoing through my mind, 'Who the fuck was I meant to have a lesson with in just a few hours?!'