The two of them were on the move once again after successfully escaping from Oein. Grizz seemed to be against getting mixed up in whatever was happening in the kingdom, but Orou was the exact opposite, wanting to find out as much as possible about what was going on and why exactly were the beastmen rioting. It wasn’t just Oein that was like this, most of the small towns they stopped by on the way had sparks of rebellion, it seemed like even the tiniest fuse would set off a huge explosion. Fortunately, they met no huge mobs of beastmen along the way and although they visited each town they saw, they were there only for enough time to restock and then be on their way again.

They walked through the ever-rolling plains and the occasional patch of forest towards the east, meeting more and more beastmen travelling to and from Edum. Grizz approached a friendlier looking beastman and hailed him, asking for the current news and what was happening in Edum. Apparently, the king was absolutely furious about the news of an upcoming rebellion and was executing people left and right, claiming them to be supporters of the revolution as well as being secretly feral. Of course, this did nothing more than increase the already present tension in the capital, causing several people to try and get further away from the chaos.

The two of them continued their journey eastwards. It took them two days to finally reach the majestic capital of Solus - Edum. It was the largest city Orou had seen, much larger than the human town he had visited. Impressive feats of architecture greeted them from the distance as several buildings, both tall and wide could be seen. One of the most noticeable things about Edum was the enormous tower that seemed to reach the clouds and go on further. In his spirit vision, he could see the surrounding spirits being slowly drawn towards the clouds, or likely, the top of this tower.

The city itself was built next to a strange looking mountain, it looked incredibly jagged and a glint of red in one of the rocks near the top reflected the sunlight, making itself fully visible to whoever gazed on the mountain. Orou felt a strange calling to this mountain, a feeling he had felt somewhere else once upon a time, though this time, it was much stronger than what he had experienced before. As soon as he shifted his gaze to a part of the city, he felt the calling disappear entirely. A few seconds later, he started hearing someone whispering to him and each time he focused on the whispers, they seemed to quiet down enough for Orou to not hear what they were saying.

With the ever-present whispering barely loud enough to be heard, the two of them started approaching the city. As usual, there were no walls to be seen, but instead, the city was walled off by a barrier of spirits. It was strangely similar to the barrier he had seen enveloping the village where he met Grizz, except much bigger. The same spirit threads connected the spirits together and barred anyone from entering or exiting. As Orou was wondering how they would get in, he got closer to the city and noticed a group of beastmen getting searched and interrogated by guards, being practically held at swordpoint. Every single one of the guards had an insignia of a lion’s head and they behaved like they truly were lions, each of them proud and arrogant.

After making sure that they nothing was out of the norm, one of the guards placed his hand on the barrier and a moment later, he ushered the group of the beastmen through, leaving behind several rude remarks to one of the beastmen in particular. As soon as they entered the city, the barrier automatically closed behind them. Looking at it from spirit vision, it looked like the spirit string and the spirits themselves simply vanished for a few seconds and then reappeared once the beastmen had gone through. Spirit vision often raised more questions than it answered, and this time it was no different. Grizz noticed Orou’s confused, though he made no comment about it as the two of them approached the gate.

The guards were about to stop Grizz, but Grizz was already prepared. He pulled out one the governor’s documents and placed it in the guard’s hands. Somehow, Grizz managed to look prouder and more arrogant than the guards as he put on his best expression of displeasure, scoffing to the guards: “Make this quick, I have an important message to deliver to the king and who knows what the king could do when he finds out that you’ve prevented me from delivering it.”

Although Orou didn’t know other beastman that much, he was sure that no other beastman was as proficient in faking his emotions to achieve what he needed. On the mention of the king’s name, the rest of the guard's faces turned sour and the guard that was holding the document almost dropped it. Grizz was dressed well enough to pass for someone important so the guard, without reading much of the document, ushered both Grizz and Orou into the city, his previous arrogance and pride gone from his face.

The two of them walked through the barrier and entered inside of the city. It looked much more grandiose up close than from a distance. The city was truly worthy of being called Solus’ capital, it was much more bustling and active than Onilia. The beastmen were walking back and forth, and unlike Onilia, proper order was beheld. Guards were posted up near every important landmark and building and it seemed like the beastmen were afraid of the guards as they were actively avoided.

The two of them started walking forwards, but as they did, they heard a loud yell coming from a distance. The crowd moved out of the way as a red-eyed beastman was escorted by two armed guards. He was howling and growling and after him was chasing a child, most likely his own. The girl was screaming and yelling for the guards to let go of him and that her father had done nothing wrong, but the stone-faced guards didn’t have a reaction as they continued escorting the beastman to likely his doom.

“A proper greeting for the two of us as I can see,” Grizz sighed and looked over at the girl before resuming to walk. The rest of the beastmen didn’t want to get involved and it looked like they were used to the scene before them as once more, the traffic resumed. Orou wasn’t sure how he hadn’t noticed this when looking at the city from above, but as they continued walking, Orou saw a massive palace decorated with gold and jewels in the distance. Of course, no one dared to take the gold that was before them as the entire palace was encircled with guards in blue armor, standing perfectly still and intimidating all thieves that would want to visit the palace.

“The king can wait a day or two, I’m not heading into the palace until I know what’s going on inside of it and whether the king won’t take our heads for simply appearing in the palace,” Grizz said well out of earshot of any guards as he pointed to a bar in the distance. It didn’t have a huge, flashy sign and the people that walked in and out were dressed in black, but just as the rest of the buildings in this city, it was impressive in its own regard.

Grizz strolled into the bar like he owned the place and immediately, tens of eyes glared at him. Grizz ignored the menacing glares as he walked next to the bartender and pulled out a blood crystal, saying to him: “Tell Aron that I’d like to meet with him as soon as possible and that I have a few things that might interest him.” The bartender silently nodded and whispered something to his assistant, who retreated into the shadows and started to make his way outside of the bar. Grizz turned to Orou and said: “So, do you want to try some of the finest alcohol Edum has to offer?”