I stood in front of the stone skull, still slightly tired since I hadn't slept well. After I accidentally killed the intruder I couldn't fall asleep anymore, fearing that I would once again dream of my old life, or of my past in this life, something that was starting to happen now. It had gone from me occasionally seeing their faces in my sleep to me being able to smell the smoke, hear the screams, see her limp body before me...

I shook my head, fearing that those images would come to me now when I was awake. And so I approached the stone skull on the wall, wind blowing around me, towards it, carrying laughter with it, whether it was laughter I had heard in my old life or if it was laughter from someone behind me I didn't know, and it also didn't matter since it infuriated me all the same.

He said that I should put the ring in there...

I took the silver ring with the blue runes engraved on it out of my satchel and held it into the mouth of the human stone skull. A quiet but still audible clicking sound followed soon after and the skull retreated into the wall, the gaps between the stone bricks disappeared, making the stone wall appear smooth and grey. Before long part of the stone wall swung open like a door, revealing a poorly lit staircase leading down into darkness.

I chuckled.

At least they have style...

With one last look behind me and a silent curse directed at the laughter in the wind, I stepped onto the staircase and watched the door close behind me. On this side of the wall, there was another skull that seemed like an exact copy of the skull on the other side, presumably used to get out.

I hope no one comes to my house while I'm gone... well I left M there so everything should be fine.

I took a deep breath and began descending down the stairs. It didn't take long for the lights to start flickering and even further down were no lights.

What type of criminal organization is this? Can't even afford proper lighting...

'Maybe they tried to safe some money?' Ira suggested jokingly.

Once I was completely surrounded by darkness I found myself no longer descending a staircase but rather in a flat corridor. I let my fingers slide over the cold stone the walls were made of. It was completely smooth, not a singly uneven spot for who knows how many metres. After just a few seconds of walking, I nearly ran into a door, when I felt it with my hand I felt the roughness of wood.

I knocked once, as hard as I could without breaking the door. From behind it, I could hear people whispering something I couldn't understand along with rustling and footsteps. The door then flew open and light flooded the corridor I was in. In front of me stood a tall woman wearing black suit-like attire, minus the necktie or fly, just a plain black pair of pants, shoes, a black jacket and a white shirt beneath.

"Oh you're finally ba- ... Who are you?" she asked, getting into a position where she would be able to counter an attack from the front, it looked weird since she was a good half-metre shorter than me still.

I looked at her, unimpressed with my head slightly tilted.

"A visitor," I stated.

"Wait, that voice! That's the one we told ya about. The Crow!" I heard the deep, familiar voice of Gapler shout from the back of the room.

"Oh, so that's the Crow?" the woman in front of me asked, no one in particular, as she looked up at me. "Didn't expect you to be so tall... what happened to the guy we sent to you?" Her voice suddenly got all serious.

"Died," I responded, uninterested.

"How?" she asked, sounding shocked.

"Crushed his throat and head," I responded, still looking down at her with a deadpan expression, I just wanted to get all of this to get over with because I could feel that there were a lot of humans in the room she was currently... guarding.

She looked up at me with disbelief in her eyes.

"Well... I guess that was our fault. I apologize if you felt threatened. But we simply wanted to see what kind of person you were and our... drinkers, only reported to us a few hours ago," the woman explained.

I didn't answer, I just kept looking down at her.

"Why don't you come in, let's talk. We are interested in you," the woman continued, sounding a little unsure.

She stepped aside and let me in. I stepped into the room and looked around. It was a high room with somewhat of a second-floor further back, one staircase leading up to it. Most of the bottom floor looked like an unfinished tavern, filled with tables, a bar and what looked like a boxing ring in the back. The second floor had a few more tables and I could see the top of some doors further back.

Down here were also multiple large couches around a large cage filled with little glowing insects. Sitting on those couches were the five I met yesterday along with a few more people. I counted about thirty, double what the old man in the sewers counted.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Sarge asked me loudly.

I just nodded. Then I suddenly felt incredibly sick, as if someone had just poisoned me and then punched me in the stomach.

"So that, is the so-called Crow, huh?" someone asked.

I turned my head and saw a woman taller than me, a greatsword strapped to her back. She wore leather armour with a hood, had golden eyes and red hair. On her forehead, I could see a golden band that went around her entire head. She was leaning onto the bar with a tankard in one hand.

"Welcome, to Pergament's eighth branch," the woman said. "My name is Ilaria, the leader of this here branch of Pergament."

I swallowed.

"Altair, in this place known as the Crow," I said.

"Come over here, let us talk. I'm interested to hear some things about you. Or well, to hear your perspective of the things we already know," she said as she waved me over.

I ignored the need to throw up and approached her, sitting down on a barstool next to her. Ilaria waved to the woman that had welcomed me. She immediately went behind the bar and got me a tankard and filled it with some yellowish liquid. With a clack she put the tankard down in front of me, bowed and then leaned against the wall, looking away from the two of us.

The room was in complete silence, unlike before when it sounded a little chaotic. When I hadn't taken the tankard for a few seconds Ilaria spoke up.

"Drink, it's good!"

I nodded and took it, put it against my lips and drank. It tasted a little sweet... like honey, which reminded me of the years I spent with Elvia, who would often feed me honey. She would always say that a good mother sometimes needs to spoil her child.

"Now then, I have only one thing I'd like to hear from you," Ilaria said as she stared into my eyes.

Her golden eyes made me sick, they reminded me so much of her... seeing golden eyes on a human of all things... I just wanted to rip them out and force them down her throat.

"And what would that be?" I asked, holding back on rolling my eyes and trying not to sound annoyed.

"What is your story?"

I put down the tankard and stared up at her. If I had to guess she was a good ten or twenty centimetres taller than I was.

How could a human grow so tall? Is that normal?

'In certain conditions, they can,' Ira explained.

'Good to know,' I responded.

"Or well, I want to know about your journey in this town," Ilaria said when she noticed that I wouldn't answer.

"My story in this town? I'm sure you already know everything about that," I said.

"Sure, but I want to hear it from your perspective. I want to know what you felt, what you saw, what you did. I want a full story, not just, rumours and guesses," Ilaria said.

I chuckled.

"Fine, fine. If you really want to hear it, I'll tell you, but only in exchange for information," I said.

"Oh sure, your story in exchange for some information. Almost sounds like I'm ripping you off," Ilaria said with a smile on her face.

Disgusting...