A young man stood against the alleyway near the Easy-Peazy Inn. A bottle of liquor, made of the aged grapes in Recetella, on his left hand and a fist on his right. Roland could not think of much. Men with a simple mind that knew nothing beyond his surroundings drowned in the sea of clear alcohol. He knew it was almost his turn to fall or had he already fallen? It was a loud night, the sounds of creaking beds and screams of false pleasure filled the sea air. Roland slid down against the wall and sighed. Loreinstad was a truly beautiful city. But the streets, especially those in the Redlight District, are not the best place to admire it.

　　Footsteps then followed. But it was not the pedestrians walking on the road. No. It was the signature sound of heavy leather boots. A man appeared before him, dark and tall. But the familiar gray hood covered his head. Roland smiled.

　　"Well, well, well, look who I found here." Morgan smiled, holding a bottle of his own. "Roland, are you alright?"

　　Roland stood up, laughing heartily, "Of course I`m alright!" He took a swig of his liquor, then sighed in resignation. "I`ve just had a sobering thought, that`s all. Did you know? They won`t let me in the inn. I thought they`d forget about what I did a few months ago."

　　"Well. That`s life." Morgan sat down. Morgan took a swig of his own liquor. "It`s a cruel world out there. A cruel, cruel world." The hooded man then went closer to Roland. "Say, I heard from Rina that the gang was going to Blackthorn, right?"

　　"Damn you, Rina." Roland cursed the air, before he took a deeper sip of his liquor. "Yeah, we have to transport some things for this guy in Blackthorn. Don`t tell anyone, but I`ve taken a look at what we were transporting."

　　Morgan raised his eyebrows, "Intriguing. Tell me!"

　　"Alright." The young man began, beginning to slur his speech, "There were a lot of things, all of them were mechanical. Gears and springs and meters and pipes and what not. These are the kinds of things that a& What do you call those guys? Those&"

　　"I think they`re called&"

　　"It doesn`t matter."

　　Roland bowed his head, then threw the bottle of liquor against the wall. The brown glass bottle smashed into a thousand glass shards that screeched pleasurably in the wake of the night. The young man, suddenly serious, then turned to Morgan. His friendly eyes were now questioning. Morgan suddenly felt a little pressured. "Can you like tell me, Morgan? I`ve seen you doing it. What are you doing?"

　　"Doing what?" Morgan shrugged.

　　"You`ve been hanging around some women lately. I didn`t know that they were your type. I thought you`d just be hanging around saggy old ladies, all your damn life."

　　"Hey, I don`t discriminate, if that`s what you`re thinking." Morgan`s face suddenly flushed red.

　　Roland wheezed and cackled, collapsing into the ground and turning on his sides. A sharp pain punched through his sides.

　　"Don`t make me laugh too much&" He whimpered. Then, when the laughing subsided, he became serious once more. "I`ve heard from Rina that she`d saved some woman being chased by something."

　　"What does that have to do with me?"

　　"The woman she described." Roland I`ve seen you hanging around a woman matching what I`ve heard. Do you know her?"

　　"No." Morgan swiftly answered. "I guess you`re a bit drunk. We`re practically strangers, but she did hire me as her bodyguard of sorts. But I don`t know what`s the deal."

　　"Really? I guess I have been drinking a lot tonight." He ignored what Morgan said.

　　Roland then stood up from the ground. His legs began to feel like it was alive once more, blooding thrusting through the blocked arteries and veins. The alcohol swam in the blood, reaching the brain.

　　"See you tomorrow."

　　"Wait!"

　　Roland stopped. "What is it, Morgan?"

　　"Uhh, I almost forgot what I came here for." Morgan scratched his head. "It`s about your dad."

　　"My dad?" Roland suddenly straightened his posture and frowned. "What about that douche? What does he want?"

　　"He wants you to go to the doctor. It`s about& it`s& It`s hard to say."

　　Roland rushed towards Morgan. He gripped on Morgan`s shoulders. Then, he started shaking his friend roughly.

　　"What do you mean it`s hard?" Roland`s voice cracked as he shook Morgan back and forth. "Tell me the facts straight, Morgan! I know you can do it. I`m your damn best friend, so you have to tell me now."

　　The gray hood was slipping from his head. Morgan felt a fear rising up when he realized this. If he discovered what he truly was, it was over. He had to come up with something quickly, otherwise&

　　"Stop shaking me." Morgan pleaded. "I`ll tell you, just stop shaking me."

　　The shaking stopped.

　　"Sorry, Morgan." Roland sighed. "Tell me, please."

　　"It`s your grandma."

　　-break-

　　"Best discuss it inside? Inside what?" Lee Baxter raised his brow at the priest overlooking him. The burly man, a masculine example of the working man. He had a slight paunch, something he did not care about hiding. "Forgive me for saying this, Father McCurdy, but how are we going to get inside your home? Those stairs& I can`t risk more money being taken by the sharks!"This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

　　The stairs were steep mountains, carved by the unskilled, unpaid, and immigrant artisans of Loreinstad, it was brutal and sharp in appearance. Too tall for Mrs. Baxter`s wheelchair, which was clearly showing its age and its sleek new coat of rust. Kenneth rubbed his face in an effort to think of a solution... In times like this, it was clear that a house in the Bulsara District was much more suitable for his pay. But Bulsara was full of the worst of the worst in the city, nothing like the innocent poor that Kenneth grew up around. It was full of vices that even the Redlight District dared not to show.

　　"Honestly, I don`t even know how you`re going to get up." Kenneth shook his head in defeat. "The spring breeze is rather frigid, so I would like to invite you in, Mrs. Baxter and you too, Lee. No man deserves to be frozen in the Azumare`s winds."

　　"Oh, please. Don`t pity yourself." Mrs. Baxter quietly chuckled. "I knew Martha raised you well. You`re quite the gentleman your father never was."

　　"Gentleman? I wouldn`t say so." Lee sneered.

　　"You`re too kind, indeed." Kenneth smiled uncomfortably, still gripping on his Codex. Suddenly, something inside him clicked. "Oh, I`ve got it now! Let`s just carry your mother into the house."

　　Kenneth made his way down the stairs and assisted Lee in carrying the old lady. She was surprisingly heavy for her age, but Kenneth kept his opinions to himself. Lee grunted in an effort to try and synchronize his movements with the priest`s. Steadily, they went up the steep stone stairs.

　　The duo set Mrs. Baxter on a wooden chair overlooking the lone dining table that basked in the singular kerosene lamp. On the other end of the table, the potato dinner Kenneth had was waiting. Kenneth gave a brief but knowing look. He saw that the old woman`s legs were slowly atrophying. The sight of a devil may have given her a run around.

　　Lee Baxter took a seat close to his mother, his eyes ever so locked on her motherly eyes. It was weird. For most of his youth, Lee hated his mother. When Kenneth returned from boarding school, he`d changed. He closed his thoughts and sat down on the chair overlooking his dinner.

　　"Thank you, sweeties." Mrs. Baxter smiled. "I appreciate the kind gesture, I really do. I wish I would`ve been some more help."

　　"Please don`t pity yourself, Mrs. Baxter." Kenneth calmly rubbed his chin. He kept his sight on Mrs. Baxter for a moment, then towards his dinner in another. "Now, I don`t think I may be qualified for this devil problem. Police may help..."

　　Lee interrupted, "We`ve talked with the coppers already. They wouldn`t give mumsy a chance to even explain herself. That guy, I think his name was Marcus, he simply laughed at my mother. I immediately lobbed a strike at him. Kids like him need more respect for the elderly nowadays."

　　"Some things never change, huh, Lee."

　　"If he said the same things to your mother, I know you`d do the same."

　　"We`ll see about that."

　　Lee seemed rather driven, like he was almost about to cry. But the touch of his mother`s arm was enough to calm him down. At least for now. Kenneth stood up and took his copy of the Codex. He sighed to himself. A problem like this was truly odd.

　　"Now, I want to hear what happened. Please, Mrs. Baxter."

　　Mrs. Baxter took one deep breath and exhaled. "Well, I don`t know where to start."

　　"Hmm?"

　　"Lee, can you help jog my memory?"

　　"I can." Lee coughed, holding his hand up. "I was managing my bar at night yesterday. As you know, the people get a bit rowdy, and naturally it would be the last place I would bring my mother. So, I got my son to run the place."

　　Kenneth raised his brow. "You asked Roland to run the place?"

　　"Of course I did. He`s gotta learn responsibility. When he came back home he was drunk as hell. Rina brought him home. Rina seemed like she was busy, because there was another girl with her."

　　Mrs. Baxter coughed. "Lee. You`re getting off-topic."

　　"I ordered something from the bakery. Roland was *supposed* to get it, but his friend fucked up the delivery, taking care of a fight out my bar. Last time I ever ordered something from her..."

　　"Lee!" Mrs. Baxter croaked. "I said you`re getting off-topic!"

　　Mrs. Baxter was. She was still quite sharp for her age, despite her condition.

　　"Sorry."

　　"Please, Mrs. Baxter. Please be easy on him." Kenneth nervously smiled.

　　"Right. After I told him to take over, I took Mother for a stroll. We walked by the pier, most of the festival`s decoration wasn`t taken down in that part. Then, I saw my friend. He was smoking as per usual, but he wanted to have a chat with me. I left my mother alone for a while. When I came back, she was shaken. She kept mumbling about the devil walking the earth!"

　　"I remember now, sweetie." Mrs. Baxter nodded. "I saw that dangerous creature. It was tall, black like the fur of the unlucky beast, the undeniable visage of the devil. It was chasing a woman, a woman who seemed like she was terrified out of her life!"

　　She paused for a moment.It seemed like it was too much for Mrs. Baxter to bear, she was trembling again. The clock ticked. It was half past ten. But she pushed on.

　　"The devil was merged with shadow, one with the moon`s light, and the screams of terror seemed to make it smile. I couldn`t move further, I was frozen. Then, that devil phased through the walls of a house."

　　She exhaled deeply, "The devil saw me and fled towards the warehouse. It looked at me with its beady little eyes. I swore that I heard laughter coming from that thing. I crossed my heart, said my prayers to the Goddess."

　　Mrs. Baxter`s revelation hung in the air, and the room seemed to grow colder. Lee`s eyes widened in disbelief, and Kenneth felt a shiver down his spine. The atmosphere was heavy with the weight of the unknown.

　　"You prayed?" Kenneth exclaimed, as he flipped through the pages of his Codex. "Really? You didn`t call for Lee`s help or anyone?"

　　"What?" The bartender looked at Kenneth with shock. "What do you mean, she prayed? You`d pray too if you stood in front of something dangerous. Everyone knows those devils, anyone that it would ever come across. They`d be sold into vice."

　　"Nothing." Kenneth coughed, seemingly embarrassed from the interjection. He stopped flipping through the pages of his Codex. Paragraphs upon paragraphs of stories of the old seers and prophets, all stating their visions from the Goddess. Not one of them mentioned anything about a devil. Where was the Goddess` vision for this problem? "Please, continue."

　　"Pardon me for saying this. But, the devil then screamed." Mrs. Baxter . "He screamed very loudly, then he stomped towards the warehouses near the docks."

　　"He?" Kenneth raised his eyebrows, "What do you mean, he? The devil was a man?"

　　Suddenly, Mrs. Baxter let out a shrill yelp. She then quietly uttered something in her native language. Her breathing became rapid, her wrinkles tensed, her face was a clear sign. She grabbed on her chest and bent forward.

　　"Mother, please." Lee put his hands on his mother`s hand. "Calm down."

　　But then, Mrs. Baxter fell silent. She closed her eyes and kept them closed.

　　Kenneth`s expression turned serious. He considered the gravity of the situation and the fear that must have gripped her. Though, the matter of finishing his potato dinner was still a concern.

　　"Thank you for sharing, Mrs. Baxter," Kenneth said gently. "I can see that this is deeply troubling for you. Lee, I assure you, I`ll do whatever I can to help. But, I`m not qualified for this kind of thing."

　　"Thank you, Father." Lee nodded. ""

　　The woman did not move.

　　"Mother?" Lee stood up from his seat. He rushed towards his mother. He shook her gently, not wanting to scare the woman, but she did not respond. Then, Kenneth stood up from his seat. Lee touched her hands — they were cold.

　　"No. No. Kenneth!" Lee grabbed Kenneth`s collar. His dumb-looking face contorted with an empathetic worry. His eyes were almost tearing up. "We`ve gotta go to the doctor!"

　　Kenneth immediately stood up from his chair.

　　"Let`s hurry then&"