After disposing of the enemies outside the warehouse, Surgit took his time exploring the area. He was in an alley surrounded by tall buildings. A bridge connected the alley to another one on the opposite side. The setting sun glistened against the cobbled floor and the big colorful windows that adorned the beautiful structures around Yharnam. The city would have been amazing to explore as a tourist if it weren’t for these accursed fiends that roamed about. The alleys were high enough to be above water level. As he looked down he could see that the canals were far below. ‘I could break a knee jumping from this height, even with my new earned strength,’ he thought. He wasn’t sure if it was his own thought or one that is induced by those strange murmurs. ‘Well, as long as it doesn’t end with: you fool! I’d take it as my own thought’

There was a ladder leading down towards the canals next to the bridge. On his right, there was a wall that looked like it was hurriedly built. He leaned on the railings and looked beyond the wall. There was definitely a way behind the hastily made barrier.

He decided to explore the upper area before heading down. So he crossed to the alley on the opposite side. He wanted to have a good vantage point on the aqueducts. He didn’t want to be ambushed. He didn’t have any blood vials left and he couldn’t afford making any more mistakes. ‘Fool!’ he heard the voices whispering. ‘Fooooool!’ at this point they were outright taunting him. He decided to ignore their taunts and moved forward.

Their mocking increased and he swore he could hear some of the voices giggling. He was walking through the alley looking down at the canals. He had to scan the area for any rats that could be lurking about. He saw the rats below the warehouse and he didn’t want to be surprised by them once he got down through the canals. He heard the cawing too late. One of the fat ugly crows had stabbed him on the leg with its sharp beak. In his head he heard all the voice roar as if they were an audience to a comedy play. That hurt him more than the actual stab. He beheaded the crow and drank its blood immediately. The taste of blood in his mouth was different tough and his would barely healed. ‘Fooooool’ he heard them say again.

“What’s the matter with you!” he cried out. Laughter roared again and Surgit felt his ears get hot. His leg hurt but the wound wasn’t bad enough to stop him from moving around. He could limp but he wouldn’t be able to dodge effectively. The voices in his head no longer warned him of danger in their usual way. He became confused as to what their use was. Had he really gone crazy?

He heard another caw in the distance and noticed another crow crawling towards him. He shot the creature and sent it down towards the canal. “You’re so heavy you can’t even walk. I hope the fall finishes you off,” he said as the crow plummeted to its death. He came across another bridge that took back to the alley where he was. He was finally about to discover why that wall was built and what was its purpose. He heard muffled chuckling in his head. It was as if he was walking beside a live audience.

Two crows were already crawling towards him when he got closer to the wall. He was ready to face them with his limping leg. One of them jumped towards him, trying to bite him while the second was still crawling slowly. Surgit slowly walked to the left and cut the jumping bird. The crow needed to use its wings in order to jump. It probably thought it was flying but its weight kept it down. After he cut the first one, he immediately turned towards the second and shot it in the head. ‘Fool!’ he heard again.

He checked his pistol and only one bullet remained. He was running low on ammunition and he had no vials left. “This is great!” he said, exasperated. He needed to be more careful about how he handled his equipment and munitions. He limped towards the wall carefully. Against the railings were stacked several boxes and he had a fleeting suspicion that something might be behind them. All the voices in his head grew silent, that’s when his suspicion was confirmed. A black beak peaked at him from behind the boxes and Surgit brought his cleaver down at the boxes. He broke the boxes and the crow’s bones at the same time.

The voices in his head remained completely silent and Surgit enjoyed that. When he looked at the wall he struggled to reach, Surgit’s eyes lit up. A corpse laid down opposite the barrier and it held a blood vial; a full vial which he could use. He snatched it from the dead body and immediately injected himself with it. He felt his wound closing and he jumped several times from excitement. He was sick of limping and the thought of meeting a fast beast horrified him. He searched the corpse’s dead body and found several vials, some were empty but there were four of them which were filled with sweet healing blood.

He took the vials and stored them in his pockets. He really needed some new garb which would help him carry more bullets and vials. His clothes were not practical. He thought of the crow lady and wished he had a terrifying garb such as hers. There was no other way to go but down from there. He went back to the second bridge and scanned the area below him.

The canal below the bridge led to another one below it. There was a wooden platform big enough to close the gap between the bridge and the canal underneath it. Perhaps it was used to close the area which led to the market in cases of floods. The other water channel was wider and deeper. It seemed to lead towards the eastern side of the city. That was where he was headed.

He went back towards the ladder to climb down. Before doing so, he searched the headless gunman and retrieved three quicksilver bullets from his pocket. He found the impaled one below and retrieved three more. “Who’s the fool now huh?!” he shouted at the whispering voices.

He moved quickly through the canals. He knew that there were no enemies below. Once he arrived beneath the second bridge and stood on the wooden platforms, he saw a tall ladder to his right. He got dizzy just from following the ladder all the way up. ‘Ladder, music. Ladder, music. Ladder, music’ repeated the voices inside his head.

The things inside his head clearly wanted him to climb the ladder. He decided to climb up against his better judgment. He didn’t trust those voices but curiosity had taken the better of him. He reached the top and heard a troll moaning in the distance. ‘Well as long as I keep my distance and shoot on time, I’ll be able to come out on top,’ he thought as he looked around.

He was in an alley similar to the ones he had been in earlier. One small street led to a bridge which led to a bigger area. The city was very well connected. It was built and structured vertically. The upper parts had sophisticated buildings while the lower he got, the more he noticed that the houses looked dingy and old. The hierarchy and social status in the city was perhaps dictated by how high a person lived from the ground.

Surgit crossed the bridge to reach the small square in which moaned the troll. He heard crows cawing behind him but he decided to ignore them. They hadn’t seen him and if he ever started fighting them, the troll would join the fight and make it harder for him. ‘His back is exposed, cut it open!’ whispered an enthusiastic lone voice. ‘Or just make a noise and let him crush you with that big statue he’s holding,’ murmured another. ‘Oh won’t you just show us the blood?!’ shouted others in unison. Surgit held his head in both hands and shouted. The voices were going to make him lose his mind. ‘Uh oh!’ said all the voices as the troll turned to face Surgit. ‘Look at what you just did! You fool! Heh…heh…heh…’