The Salvation Provinces had three Elites who made up the country's pillars, and those Elites each had their own houses.
These houses acted as the Elite's private army, following any orders given as though they were law.
Sir. Tanto, or Sir Elite if you were the Hunchback or one of his servants, was one of the heads of these households. He was also one of the Salvation's Elites, ranking third, the lowest, out of three.
The Overlord, an unnamed individual who employed the elites and their houses, sent an order for Sir. Tanto to do his bidding.
"Frame the Thucians; raise tensions, and divide the people, for only ununited subjects fall prey to manipulation"
And so, as Sir. Tanto's ruler commanded, he instructed the hunchback, a servant in his house, to outsource scientists to begin work on a political device.
And the Burning Parasites came, evolving ever quickly. It had even managed to break into the Provinces private holy fields, an unintended and unwanted consequence. However, they were too efficient, killing too well and producing offspring too often. There were more bugs than crops.
They began to die out.
But the wanted effect had already been delivered, the people of the Provinces were riled up with just a few well-placed protesters fueling a growing flame from the despair of hunger.
Once again, the bridge being continually built between Thucians and The Provinces was hampered, straining connections between people and people.
Sir. Tanto sat at his desk, looking over a myriad of papers. He held his head which throbbed like a heartbeat.
'That damn hunchback… can't even follow simple orders right, I should've just done it myself.' He thought, clenching his fists.
He clicked the pen he held a few times.
He looked down at a piece of paper that laid atop the others. The heading read: Denial of Bug Exterminant & Focus on T-Project
'According to what the hunchback relayed, I'll have to take the fall for the Holy fields because a higher-ranking Elite forced the outsourced scientists to work on a different project… That's bullshit. You don't deliver a customer a half-finished product, even if it's from a rival house! This is why I keep telling my accountant we should recruit our own research team,' He thought, tapping his desk rhythmically.
"In any case why the T-Project? We've already spent so long trying to get it to work, and it still fails. It infuriates me to know I'll get punished for the foolishness of another " He said aloud. He exhaled heavily.
The early morning sunlight combined with the candle's flickering light. His Victorian-styled bed faded into a weak shade alongside the shadows, every once in a while glowing orange with the light of the flame.
'I need rest' The Elite finally concluded. He tossed his pen and stumbled into the unsure dark.
.
.
.
At a high altitude, somewhere in the Dragon Mountains.
A familiar hunchback was standing alongside a group of people, all of which were wearing full black body suits. They looked on with greedy eyes.
In front of them was a cage encapsulating a mighty beast, its size only outmatched by its prison.
"It's a shame," The Hunchback said.
"Agreed, no more plaque bugs. Watching the commoners fight like animals was mildly entertaining" A group leader joked.
"Not that, it's the fact we're wasting precious dragon's blood, at least the bugs fulfilled their task" The hunchback responded.
"Catching the bastards is almost impossible, we had to dispatch a Dantain Saint just to apprehend it."
"The crooked hoot's gotta point," A member in the back chimed in.
"Watch it!"
The dragon exhaled weakly, interrupting the group. It struggled and failed to flap one of its wings, sending a strong gust of wind.
The mighty beast looked as though it couldn't even lift a pound.
"Hey!" Someone called out in the distance. It echoed just outside the encampment of tents.
"Intruders!" He called out again, this time sounding farther away.
The hunchback looked at the direction with concern, and so did the collection of members. They shared a gaze.
"We'd outta take care of that," The group leader said a second later, unsheathing a red-tipped dagger. He darted off and his underlings followed loosely behind him, leaving the hunchback alone.