"...I see."
Rueben let out a sigh as he listened to Uril explain.
Rubbing his eyes, he thought to himself that Uril's worries and plans were right. If they could study the behaviour of a Hunter whose near the brink of going blood drunk, they may be able to invent a method to stop such things from happening.
Rueben understands how important such a method would be for the Hunters, knowing most are about to go berserk and collapse. Such a method can prevent countless victims from going Blood Drunk and thus, saving more lives.
He knows that Uril is a rational and logical type of person, her, coming up with such a plan does go in line with her mindset.
But the risks of such an operation were too much.
Maybe that's why the commander was offended, even unconsciously releasing his bloodlust. If the Commander let them continue their research and the hunter turned into a beast and killed them, that would be less talents for the entire city's future.
It was good that Uril was a non-combatant, she didn't feel anything from the lack of perception...
Looking at May, who drank milk while licking her lips, Though for May... Robert does have the habit of teaching everyone he likes martial arts, that must be why she immediately reacted to the commander's bloodlust...
Thinking to himself as he saw Uril put a cube of sugar into May's mug as they chatted, May was a little uncomfortable when he was looking at her though.
Ah.
No, he understood why she was reacting like this.
"May."
"Y-Yes?!" May flinched and answered Rueben while her voice rose high in surprise.
"I apologize for releasing my intent."
"Ah, about that? There is no need to apologize, Mr. Rueben, i know it wasn't your intention to do—"
"No, it was my fault for not controlling myself. That act of mine affected you a lot, so i apologize."
May stared at him for a moment, before nodding her head.
"Yes, it was. But i can forgive you."
Rueben turned his eyes up to look at May while he was bowing, seeing her stand up from her seat and smugly smiled at him, "Only if you do something for me first!"
Rueben stared at her, his eyes narrowed before shaking his head and sighed, "Yes, of course. As long as it's not chores, i'll do whatever you want."
May flinched, before coughing herself, "...Damn, chores are out of the list..." Muttering to herself.
Uril watched the two of them, May, still wearing her mask. Ah, that reminded her, she also wore a mask right now, though its halfway up her face so that she could drink.
Grabbing her mask, she put it down on the table and continued watching the two.
It seemed May had finally chosen what she would make Rueben do, judging from her nose lengthening to the roof.
"After you're discharged, come to the Bar. Boss and missus are worried about you. Well, they told me to tell you that."
Rueben looked at her for a moment, before chuckling, "Yes, of course."
May smiled and nodded her head, "That's good."
The three talked to each other for a while before Uril and May left, leaving Rueben behind.
Rueben stared at the door while they were leaving as the shadow of a little girl, now with brown hair, staring at him while waving her hands.
She seemed to notice that he was staring at her and let out a big smile. She then showed her teeth, cracked into impossible geometric shapes, urging him to look away.
The door closed as the two left him alone while chatting.
Rueben let out a sigh as he unclenched his fists, before taking off his shirt and lied down.
"..."
Silence pervaded the space around him, the only source of light was from the window as rain continued to pour. Hearing the gentle taps and thuds of the raindrops, he closed his eyes, slowly descending to dream land.
***
A woman stood in front of a furnace, pushing her feet to bellow the wind to make the fire in the furnace burn hotter, wearing just a leather apron over her tank tops and large trousers, she grabbed the hammer from her left.
Staring at the melting ingot, she turned to look at her disciples far away from her, observing her every move, watching her as she continued to bellow the flames.
The woman pushed her hair up as sweat continued to pour out from her pores, wetting her hair into an oily mess. Clicking her tongue, she turned to the side where two firearms were created as well as countless boxes of bullets for use.
Smoke filled the entire area, burning hot flames heating up the entire space, some of the disciples flinched and moved further to the back to avoid being burned.
Riza licked her lips, tasting the familiar salty taste of her sweat.
"He said he lost it... Fuckin' bastard, probably used it on something and it broke. Too many functions into one stick would make it less durable, stubborn idiot."
Muttering to herself, she grabbed the cauldron melting the ingots and poured it into a mold.
"I need to make it more effective. More durable. Remove the umbrella, more stability to the frame, remove the whip too. I'll make him a grappling machine to move around. Leave just the sword and the cane..."
She spoke while concentrating, "So that more beasts can be slain."
***
[Netherworld beaches burning towers of the overworld.]
[Seven leeches of fate with rotting destiny emerged.]
[Dirty divine scratching pleasure of fine wine.]
[Rocky shores of the skies lighting up the brine.]
Thousands of puppet-like beings danced around a woman in white clothes, her white robes spread in all directions as the music played by the puppets sang loudly. Its tune unprofessional, out of tune, even the lyrics of the song were nonsense.
Yet the woman listened, she even hummed along as she watched the countless puppets dancing around her.
The puppets, made from wooden parts danced around her, some were far away from the dance floor, mimicking the actions of "chatting" and "flirting".
[Swallowing hawk beyond disgrace of the fallen.]
[Fateless ones shackled by destiny oh earth bent.]
[Darkness crawling the night is near.]
[The light singing burning bright we cheer.]
The woman let out a low laugh as the music sounded louder and louder, the monotone voices sang with all their might. The puppets danced gracefully, twirling around the throne.
Two love puppets giggled at one another, whispering to themselves as they proclaimed love for each other. Another watched the entire thing from the terrace, sipping wine as they watched.
As the music intensified, the puppets danced with more fervour, the woman's chuckles turned into delighted laughs but it was cut short when the door of the hall opened.
Like strings cut from the puppets, all of them collapsed and fell to the floor, the music stopped and the dancing ceased.
The woman turned her eyes to look at the entrant, a man wearing a long robe, his beard long enough to touch the floor.
The man bowed his head, "My Queen. You called for me?"
The woman, the Queen, stared at him for a moment, before clicking her tongue.
"Didn't I tell all of you to not enter when I'm training? Did my absence give you courage to act around me with such insolence?"
The bearded man flinched, then kneeled down on the floor, his head touching the floor.
"M-m-m-my a-apologies, your royal highness. I—someone told me you wanted to see me—"
The bearded man's head split into two, then blood and brain matter exploded throughout the hall. But, as if the floor was covered in a thin layer of something, his insides didn't dirty the floor.
The blood flowed but it was floating just a few centimeters above.
"Shut it and come with your true body, Falkner." The woman ordered and a centipede-like creature kneeled down in front of her, shaking in fear.
The centipede, just a few meters long, opened its heart to the woman. The woman grabbed the heart and opened her mouth.
"...The poison is not enough. That "thing" won't feel anything from this, much less die from it."
"I-I will immediately increase the toxicity!"
The woman nodded her head, "Good."
Then she ate the entire thing and wiped her bloodstained hand with a towel, "Falkner. I called for you because I need you to do something for me."
The centipede bowed even deeper, digging its head to the floor.
"That "thing", the being pretending to be a king in that shithole of a fortress has moved." The woman stood up, the long fluffy cape she wore fell down, revealing her naked body filled with scars.
The woman walked towards the centipede, Falkner, and held its head. Petting it, "I want you to stop any news from leaking that thing's moving. Allying with them will be essential to protecting our people, with the bloody war that the Crimson Moon Church is threatening us, Arkvem will be a valuable ally against them."
The woman then stood up and went back to her throne, "Also, let none of our people know what is happening, they don't need to know anything that isn't yet decided."
"At once." The centipede bowed his head even more, but he didn't move.
The woman stared at him as the centipede opened its mandibles, "I-If I may, your royal highness. Why do we need to prostrate ourselves to those madmen...?"
The woman scoffed, "The Church's leaders were murdered by the current Saintess-now-Holy Pontiff. With her lead, she started a massacre in their region, the villages burning, blood spilling in the name of the "Moon"."
She grabbed a bottle of wine from one of the puppets and opened it with a pop, "Though most of the Moon's believers across the world do not yet know that such a thing happened, if we don't find a way to stop them, then they will come to our borders in an attempt to usurp us."
She then turned to the centipede, "This is where Arkvem comes in. The nearest country just to the north of ours, perfectly blocking the way to the south where the other countries and ours are."
Then she put some wine into a wine glass while continuing, "Those countries may say that they'll help us fight against the Church, they will only give us aid when we're at our lowest, thus giving them a chance to usurp us instead. Arkvem will be our shield if it comes to that."
"That thing may be nonhuman, but it still has principles it follows. Getting its aid will help our people survive from the war."
The centipede nodded its head.
The woman grabbed a scroll from beneath her throne and threw it at the floor, the scroll then magically spread itself open, revealing the entire map of the world.
6 Continents, 8 Archipelagos, 6 Oceans, and an uncounted number of islands.
The Victorian Continent, the centermost continent, home to most of the Human Population in the world of Big Bell. There were hundreds of countries 30 years ago but most of them were purged and their territories were up for grab for those still alive.
The remaining countries are the Orders Society, Arkvem, Sword Edge, Vile Blood, Abyssmals, and the Tainted Clan.
The Church of the Crimson Moon amassed countless people, constantly accepting refugees at the north of the continent where mountains are carved. This thus created a community and followers, creating a large theocratic country named the Crimson Moon Church.
Sword Edge has three mountains named Three Blade Mountains blocking the way to the North, with a narrow way through to Arkvem.
Arkvem is located at the center of these two forces, which made the Centipede understand what the Queen was trying to say.
"I see! You intend to use Arkvem as a shield to stop the Crimson Moon Church from its tracks!"
The woman stared at him for a moment before sighing, "No. I have already told you, the Church will circle around and avoid Arkvem. If they try and do skirmishes against the country, their entire army will be hit with a massive loss of men, effectively crippling them even if they won against Arkvem."
"Arkvem's Hunters are madmen who voluntarily inject themselves with that cursed blood, though it may make them go mad, but it also made them stronger. With most of the population in that city injecting themselves, if I were the leader of the church, I would avoid fighting against that country as much as possible."
She drank the wine.
"They will choose between the Vile Bloods or Sword Edge but with the Vile Bloods weakened from the recent wars with the Abyssmals, they will certainly surrender after a short war. The church will need all the men they have if they want to take over Sword Edge so they can't risk choosing the Vile Bloods."
Then she stared at the map, "So they'll take over our country first, use the remaining to take over Vile Bloods, encourage our people to join their cause through unknown means before taking down the other settlements and become the ruler of Victorian."
"..."
"This is why we must establish an alliance with Arkvem and dissuade the Church from attacking us."
"...I- I see..."
Nodding her head, the woman shooed the centipede away as she spoke, "Now go. Do what I tell you, don't let anyone know that thing is moving lest some stupid people in the court try and use this as a chance to do something dumb."
"Right away, your highness."
Hidden in a small dark room, a woman cloaked in robes stared at a small mirror like object, holding a stick, she gritted her teeth.
Gnawing into a small piece of meat, she looked towards a certain directions, then back to the throne room before smiling.
"Glory to the Sword Queen."
Unbeknownst to Sword Edge, a fanatical individual plots something that will result in heavy losses for Sword Edge.
***
Rueben looked at the briefcase that May brought with her. She looked around to find Uril only to not see her, which was why she was looking out of the window right now and sulking.
Sighing while shaking his head, he opened the briefcase, revealing two revolver pistols. One of gold tinted color, the other of silver. Adam and Eve, his personal pistols.
He lost them back at the cellar when he went crazy, they must've been destroyed and atomized when he left, but it was good to have the two pistols, though not the originals, back in his hands.
Grabbing the two, he checked the pistols, disassembling it before reassembling them. Nothing was wrong, everything was perfect, making him nod his head.
Then he grabbed the cloth that the two pistols rested on and pulled it aside, revealing underneath 10 boxes of ammo for the two revolvers, and a pistol holster equipped with 5 big speed loader pouches capable of holding 5 speed loaders.
Smiling, he grabbed one box and opened it, revealing 30 bullets each box. He slowly loaded his pistol, then loaded the speed loaders before putting them back at the pouches.
He held the two pistols, aimed it around a few times, getting himself used to its grip before smiling.
He put down the holster and turned to the briefcase and pulled out a note.
Opening it, he read the note, then he smiled once again.
I hope you're doing well, my friend. Come by at the bar as soon as you're discharged, I want to hear your stories. —Robert.>
Then he put the letter down and went to the kitchen to heat up some milk.