Gears turned in Suran's head as he emerged from the cramped alleyway into the bustling street. A quick glance back over his shoulder confirmed that the five thugs were still pursuing him. Without another moment's delay, Suran darted down the crowded street, stringing Natalya along by her hand. There was only one place he could go to that came to his mind: Baron Reginald's home. The question became how to get there.

Steadily, the ruffians closed the distance. Suran had the stamina to run for indefinitely. The problem was Natalya was not in such a position. Lugging around her heavy backpack quickly made her energy diminish. She was already panting and starting to lag behind even though Suran was trying to pull her along. Up ahead the landscape was changing. The street was becoming wider and small market stalls were cropping up along the edge. On the left was a depression in the ground where lied a waterway. At the intersection in front of him, a carriage was pulling out right of him. If he could not outrun them, he must simply outmaneuver them.

Suran purposefully ran in front of the carriage, bringing its horses to an abrupt stop and causing its driver to shout numerous obscenities at him and Natalya. With a passing wave of apology, he continued to truck through the crowd past the horse driven carriage, and went curved to his left, aiming straight for the waterway. Right now the thugs could not see him, obscured by the wagon, and he planned to make the most of it. On his path, unfortunately, was a food vendor whose stall was stocked with round apples. He dragged Natalya up to the confused vendor, and pushed her down into the waterway below, much to her surprise. Immediately after, he drew his sword and sliced the legs of the man's stand, causing it to fall forward, spilling all of its round red apples onto the ground. The vendor scrambled after his livelihood in pure panic while Suran dropped down into waterway as well.

“What the hell was that for?!” Natalya exclaimed, sprawled out on the ground.

“We weren't going to outrun them,” Suran plainly commented while peering over the edge to evaluate the ongoings. His makeshift plan seemed to have work. The thugs were slipping and sliding over the apples on top of having lost sight of him. He felt bad about cutting in front of the carriage driver and destroying the apple stand, but, considering his life was possibly on the line, he felt it unavoidable.

Slinking underneath the edge of the riverside wall, Suran took a breather, finally out of sight. After collecting himself, Suran stood back up read to go, “Come, no time to waste.” He began walking down the shabby pathway back the way they came.

Natalya was confused by his choice of direction, “Isn't that the way we came? As in, the wrong way?”

“I would think not,” Suran stated, continuing down the path that resembled more like a sewage system. “Who would think of looking back when chasing forward?” Certainly not these individuals, Suran thought to himself.

“Ooooooh! I get it!” Natalya exclaimed. Suran let out a sigh. Even though she was over twenty years of age, sometimes he could not help but see her as a perpetually excited little girl who was just a little slow on the uptake.

Suran traveled down the flowing water's side which slowly evolved into a full-blown sewage system. It slowly delved underneath the city and snaked on. He was afraid he was going to get lost, so he scoured the sewer for the first possible exit. It was nearly pitch black in the sewer with the only light coming from the storm sewer drains up above. Natalya stuck to Suran's back, afraid of the dark and grimy environment. It took some time trekking before a ray of light shone at the other end. Leaving his back, Natalya scrambled towards the light like a rat scurrying to food. Meanwhile, Suran took his time leaving the dark.

“Afraid of the dark?” He teased when he exited into the light of day.

Natalya flashed a blood thirsty gaze at Suran, “Say another word and I'll poison your food and watch you slowly die.”

He blinked indifferently at her, “Noted.”

Just like the entrance, the sewer opened up into a ravine like area with the water flowing down the middle of two eroded, stone walkways. Surprisingly, the area was clean, making him think that this was more of a storm drain then a sewage line. Regardless, he crept up to the vertical ledge and peered over, examining the environment.

It was a quiet residential area. The streets were a little rundown and the houses were slightly shabby, but it gave off a homely feel despite the obvious lack of maintenance. More importantly, there were no signs of the chasing thugs. When the coast was clear, Suran hoisted himself up over the ledge then proceeded to give Natalya a hand in bringing up her heavy belongings and herself.

“Where to?” She asked while fastening her backpack.

“The Baron's.” It was their only real choice.

“Are you sure you don't wanna call it quits on this request? It is getting kind of dangerous...”

“I finish a job I've accepted,” he sternly replied while observing the surroundings to see where they were. Without another word, Suran hurriedly took off down the street, and Natalya followed.

While maintaining his brisk pace, Suran peered around every corner and stuck to the shadows. For some time this went on, scrambling through the streets, trying to garner the least amount of attention possible.

“Hold up!” Natalya shouted from behind.

Suran stopped and turned around to see Natalya standing with her hands on her hips, her eyes squinted and her mouth slightly agape. She looked extremely annoyed. “What is it?” He casually said.

“Where are we going?”

“...The Baron's?”

Looking around with a frown, she said, “Do you know where we are going?”

“Of course. It's just down this way.” He pointed in some direction.

“That is the same way we have been going this entire time!” Natalya ran her hand over her face. “Look around you!” She threw her arms out, “We have been here five times already!”

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Suran stopped and looked around. The building did look familiar and there was a small waterway like before, but the entire city looked the same to him. There was no way he was lost, “No, no. We are going the right way. I'm sure of it.”

“Are you really? Are you really sure?” Natalya waited for a response, but Suran gave none and stood confused. She roller her eyes and sighed, “Okay then, you stand there and do nothing while I go ask for directions.”

At the moment, he jumped up alarmed and tried to stop her from interacting with anyone for fear they could be discovered, but she was already off and away before he could even manage a word. Moments later, Natalya came prancing back.

“Follow me,” she said, taking off down the street. “Unlike you, I know where we are going.” He said nothing and followed with a frown.

Rather quickly, Natalya bounced through the streets despite her backpack weighing her down. Suran never got an idea of what she kept in there, but it looked packed and heavy. Much to Suran's dismay, the scenery began to change as they traveled the streets. The roads became cleaner and the buildings gradually shifted away from being impoverished and rundown to upscale stoned manors. In familiar territory, it was not a problem getting to Baron Reginald's home.

Suran surveyed the street, cautiously looking behind him and around every corner; it would do no good getting here if they were being followed. Once the area was deemed clear, he felt safe approaching the door and entering the lawn of the estate. He walked up the door, knocked on its wooden surface, and took a step back. It was Fletch who answered.

“Ah, it's you again,” Fletch said, blocking the entrance with his. “What can I do you for?”

“Need to speak to Reginald.”

“...Right this way,” he responded after a moment's hesitation.

Once again, the two were taken through the home back towards the office of the Baron. It was empty as usual, and there was no sign of the cat maid in the home. At the old wooden door, Fletch went inside, having Natalya and Suran wait outside. The door propped open and Fletch walked outside. He motioned the two in while he left.

There was nothing different about the room save for one thing: the good Baron was in the worse shape he had ever seen him. Dark bags were under his eyes, indicating he had not slept an ounce.

“Any progress?” The deteriorating man meekly asked.

“There has been activity at Lord Shroom's home, but that is not why I am here.”

“Then...?”

“Until further notice, we will be staying here.”

“E-excuse me?” Reginald stuttered.

“Our recent accommodations feels through; we were attacked again so the only safe place we have to stay is here. I'm sure that won't be a problem since we are finding your daughter, correct?”

Reginald's lips were moving but no words came out. He could only stammer out unintelligible syllables as he tiredly tried to respond to the housing demand. Clearly the stress and exhaustion were getting to him, Taking a deep breath, he collected himself before weakly responding, “Y-yes... that is fine...” Taking on the two into his home was not something he seemed keen on doing, but he was in no condition to argue.

“Good,” Suran rose from his chair. “Natalya will stay here while I go out.” She was dozing off in here chair, indifferent to the ongoings. No one said anything more, so Suran rose from his chair and made his way out of the home. There was only one thing on his mind: finding the Baron's daughter.

Heading through the home and out to the streets, he slowly made his way back over to Lord Shroom's estate. The residential streets were busier then normal, so Suran had to carefully walk through the streets to make sure no one noticed him. However, the street Lord Shroom resided on was quite the opposite; even though it was busy part of the morning where everyone was out an about starting their day, not a single soul was on the street nor was there a sound or a squeak.

It was strange to him, this empty street among a sea of activity. However, there was no time to waste pondering the reason so he climbed up the convenient tree he perched in yesterday. After he was settled, he began the surveillance.

Some time was lost due to the shenanigans earlier in the day, but it was of no consequence; it was eerily quiet on the street and that did not change through the day. Not a single person walked on the street below nor as there any activity in the home.

As the sun disappeared over the horizon, Suran considered leaving the tree for the day, but opted against it. His priority was finding the Baron's daughter – doing anything else was a waste of time. Besides, there was something about the cool calm night of pure silence that was attractive to him. Suran remained camouflaged in the tree for the rest of the night.

At the crack of dawn, something was amiss. The house felt like it was stirring across the street. Windows would pop open for just a moment, their blinds pulled to the side. A man clad in full black came plodding down the empty street. Approaching the gate of Lord Shroom, he looked everywhere – but up – and tossed a parcel over the wall before hastily walking off.

The parcel sat obscured behind the door before an old man exited the home, hustled over to the package, and hauled it back to the building with a speed surprising for an elderly man. The house returned to dormancy. It was not until later in the day, where dawn turned to dusk, that the gears went into motion. The portly man from the other day came bumbling out of the home with the elderly butler in tow. They exited the home and began to walk off into the dark night lit by the two planets above and the flickering street lamps. This was the opportunity Suran had been waiting for. When it was safe, he dropped down from the tree and began his pursuit.