The duo quickly reached a new area, it was a vast clearing devoid of any simple residential houses situation at the very edge of the western high walls.

What stretched out before them instead of normal houses, were these big stone buildings with wide gates leading inside. The whole area bustled with activity, it was even more busy than the main roads as hundreds of people moved in and about. There was also an usually larger number of monsters moving around with thick chains around their necks as they followed after some of the people there.

He had learned from Firrol that this was the manufacturing area where they make a lot of things such as pelts, oils, clothes, and some other things that he was indifferent to.

"This is the place?" Asked Melvin, but his question went beyond just the manufacturing area.

"Yes," Firrol replied, "We just need to find the one where they make emberleaves, and then we need to find a way to be allowed into their underground level."

The place was very vast, and so after aimlessly walking around the place, and then finally asking a passerby, they were face to face with the building that was responsible for creating rolled emberleaves for the whole city.

Its architecture was very simple. A big two-story building that didn't even have any doors, just a wide passageway where dozens of people could enter at the same time. Looking in from the outside, Melvin was able to see the dozens of complicated machines where people were busy working.

The most attention-grabbing machine out of them all was definitely the one that was a circular wooden platform that was surrounded by six giant elephant-like beasts, and above it were these complicated contraptions that enabled the unholy amount of grass inside to move in such a particular way driven by the beasts as they turned, and turned.

To the sides, were giant thin yellow bags that Melvin could tell were filled with the raw ember leaves just from the slight green hue coming from them.

'Now how do I enter this place's basement?' He pondered with a deep look. He retreated back into a wall opposite the building and leaned against it. His eyes were glued to the place, studying it more deeply. He noticed how there were these hallways that he couldn't see into that people in and from.

'Maybe they're there?' He reasoned scratching his chin with a confused expression.

Crouching down beside the cat, he whispered, "So, how do we find them?"

Firrol was also deeply looking at the building before him, and so he said, "There are a lot of people, maybe just enter and take a look?"

"That easy?" Doubtfully questioned Melvin.

The duo continued sitting there for a while, waiting for something.

"Quick, quick," Firrol suddenly mumbled, "Follow that man," He said, pointing at a man who looked very suspicious with his head glued to the ground and a big hood over his face.

Thinking that it was a good idea, Melvin stood up and confidently trailed behind the man, as if they were together. He didn't know whether it was because his stealth skill was doing its magic, or just because the people inside didn't care, but no one batted an eye at his entrance.

However, he soon began to hear faint shouts behind him, "Get out of here you cat..."

The workers began shooing Firrol off, obstructing his path.

Swiftly turning around, Melvin gestured for him to just stay back in order to avoid raising suspicions and continued after the man.

They took the first turn to the right and they emerged into a vast hallway filled with people where they continued advancing forward. Slowly but surely, people became less and less, and in the end, they were the only two people walking there.

Melvin was also able to witness the formidable power of his skill. As he followed behind the man, he didn't make the slightest noise. He walked briskly but without sound. His clothes were quiet, and even his breathing was perfectly unnoticeable as he continued.

After a while, he saw before him two burly men sitting above small wooden chairs beside a wooden underground entrance.

Upon witnessing the man's approach, they quickly stood up and lifted the door without saying a word. Inside were small rocky stairs leading to a darkness below.

Melvin's existence was equally noticed but no other reaction followed, and as the cloaked man began stepping down the stairs, he too did the same thing.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Needless to say, he was very uneasy and alert, afraid that something might go wrong at every turn. Yet, seeing how everything unfolded smoothly, he mused, 'That easy?!'

However, he understood that if the entrance was that easy then chances are they were simply not afraid. After all, for the guards to be aware of their location and they were still operating without issue, then the matter was naturally more complicated.

Once below, Melvin was greeted by a completely different scene.

A vast cleared dimly lit space with several shabby thick pillars, where dozens of people were busy doing something. The dim light came from these short and wide windows at the top that made it easy for the sunlight in the above story to penetrate.

Melvin's eyes darted from one place to the next, studying the different people there. To his left were various groups of people that just sat around tables, drinking, smoking, and laughing it up. However, to his right, the situation became slightly different.

There was a very thin but long dirty blanket that covered the cemented grounds where dozens of people were blankly lying down, and some of them had foam at the edges of their lips as they stared into the ceiling with euphoric expressions.

He quickly sight of a woman wearing shorts, a tank top, and no shoes with a golden flower in her hand. Her face looked both impatient and happy as she advanced toward the edge of the blanket and sat down.

Upon a closer look, Melvin noticed how the flower in her hand was more so like a dandelion's seed dispersal stem. Its fine golden hairs gently swayed whenever the woman moved. Finding herself comfortable, the woman surrounded the head of the stem with both palms very tightly. Making a slight opening with her fingers, his nostrils poked through and she strongly inhaled to the best of her ability.

The woman's body immediately stiffened as her eyes widened before they gradually began to become unfocused, and Melvin didn't know whether it was a conscious or an unconscious effort, but her body slowly leaned back before she lay there just like the others.

The previously seed-dense stem became but an empty root that slowly shriveled up and fell to the ground, joining the hundreds of others.

'I think that's definitely that drug, the sunburst.' Melvin reasoned with a complicated expression as he looked at all of it. Coincidentally, this drug could be considered the catalyst for most of his problems right now. That was precisely what prompted the ghoul to send his goons to threaten him, and the rest is history as they say.

Speaking of the ghoul, Melvin's eyes regained focus as he stood behind one of the pillars, watching the cloaked man who came with him.

The moment he stepped down, he didn't loiter around, but his steps were decisive as he moved in a particular direction with a goal in mind.

At the very edge of the underground space, there was a very large wooden desk surrounded by several people. However, it was very easy to tell who was the most important one of the bunch.

Behind the desk, a man stood in an impressive chair. He wore a long black and white striped coarse robe, and its big hooden was hiding most of his face. Melvin could only make out a faint sharp stubble beneath the man's chin.

The man's hands were in his pockets, and he seemed unmoving even though all around him there was a buzz of sounds as people spoke.

'Is he asleep?' Melvin pondered as he looked at the deathly still man.

However, his attention was once again quickly captivated by the cloaked man who had reached in front of the desk where several people were sitting.

Standing there, he knew that the man must be saying something. Unfortunately, because of the distance and the other noise, he wasn't able to understand exactly what.

Following that, the man gave one of those in front of the desk a pouch, and in turn, the man gave him a bigger pouch as well. Holding it from the edge, he made a sharp turn and retreated toward the entrance.

'What now?!' Melvin thought, gears rapidly turning. He understood that there were a lot of people here, and from the guards' awareness of the location and everything in between, he knew that he needed to proceed with caution.

At the same time, he was aware that the cloaked man would be getting out of there, and he was unsure if he himself could get out unobstructed without his assistance. After all, he didn't know if there was some sort of secret code or anything of the sort.

The cloaked man brushed past him as he stood there behind the pillar, and then began climbing the stairs and began knocking on the door.

"Ah, Fuck it," Melvin mumbled, knowing that he had to stay here and think of a way to make everyone leave.

His sweaty palms reflexively made way for the corner of his pants to brush them off, and that's when he felt the Firecaster Ring inside of his pocket. 'Oh?!' His eyes shone as a plan of action appeared in his mind.

However, as he gazed at the unconscious people above the dirty blanket, he hesitated.

'Maybe there is a better way?' Melvin thought once more. And after thinking for a while, a better plan indeed surfaced in his mind.

With a faint smile, he began climbing the narrow stairs. Reaching the door overhead, he began gently knocking.

The moment it was opened by the two burly men, he swiftly jumped out. With a punch to the stomach, he sent one of them flying back, and before the other could even voice his shock a kick landed on the side of his head, rendering him unconscious.

Taking advantage of the slight noise made by the previous small fight, he began shouting underground, "Guards, Guards!"

With another kick, he broke the wooden door and continued shouting. He grabbed the conscious man from his collars and threw him below. With the noise of his fall behind him, Melvin dashed out of the building and quickly reached the place where he previously left Firrol.

Gesturing with his mind, the feline followed and the duo hid behind the wall they were leaning against previously.

Using an empty broken spot where a brick used to be, they watched everything unfold from there after Melvin explained what had happened there.

True to his expectations, from the building where seemingly honest workers were busy rolling emberleaves and grinding the plants, an array of people walked out with infuriated expressions on their faces.

Amidst the crowd, the black and white striped-robed leader was with them as well. His hood was still covering his face, and he appeared as he was before, impassive.