“…

Under the Lacerta stars, we were united.

To prosper this land that we inherited.

Gazed upon the bright sky we wished.

That our enemies will scatter to pieces.

That Palomar will stand forever.

That its strength fails it never.”

The minstrel finished his song with a long note, as if he was wishing under the stars himself that night. All those who gathered clapped and whistled in joy as the minstrel took a bow, together with that was the sound of coins being thrown into his hat on the ground.

“You should really come to my bar one day, they will love to hear this song.” One lady of the Bear tribe said, her mouth broadened with a smile.

“Your compliment warms my heart, truly, I’ll make a plan for that one day.”

The minstrel replied and put his right hand on his chest, palm facing inside, a polite gesture.

“I have your promise, eh? They will love it, I’m sure, haha! Inte Agrana Palomar!” The lady left, her loud voice could still be heard a few blocks away.

“Your voice is really good mister, it is the first time I have ever heard the singing voice from one of the Fox tribe.”

There was a female voice over the minstrel head as he sat down to collect the hat. He looked up and saw a girl from the Rabbit tribe covered in grey cloak. White fur, long ears, rounded face, slightly pointed nose, normal traits coming from their tribe, but what really stood out were the clear crimson eyes and the friendliest smile the minstrel had ever seen. He then removed his hood, revealing the green eyes, pointy nose and mouth covered by red fur, the distinctive look of the Fox tribe. The minstrel stood up and smiled:

“Thank you my lady, it is true that my kind doesn’t really sing much, but everything has its first time, isn’t it?”

“They say those who don’t usually do something are the ones that excel at it the most, now I believe that phrase. Do you live around here, mister fox?”

“Oh I would love to, but no, I live in the commoner’s area of the outer layer, I only come here from time to time to perform for a living.” The fox minstrel shook his head slightly as he replied.

“Then I will be looking forward to your next performance. Inte Agrana Palomar, enjoy your festival mister fox.”

The rabbit girl gave the minstrel a bow, then gently touched her forehead with three fingers as she said her wish to him before they parted ways.

“And same to you, my lady. Inte Agrana Palomar.” The minstrel returned the gesture, then collected his belongings, brushed off the dust from his tail and headed to the outer layer.

Sight like that could be seen anywhere in the busy capital of Palomar, Edion. Strangers, acquaintances, friends, families all greeted each other happily as they passed by the white street of Edion. As this was the biggest festival the beastmans of Palomar have, the day when the light of the Lacerta’s stars shined brightest in the night sky, the day when King Hirion united all the different tribes of beastman and found this kingdom two hundred years ago. Everywhere in the city was filled with colorful decorations and happy, motivated banners. Every shop, restaurant and bar all gave out different gifts to their customers. No matter how was one’s feeling before, that time was the time of celebration.

On his way to the outer wall, the minstrel passed by a housemaid of a noble’s house gardening the trees. It seemed that they were not strangers to each other, the foxman put three fingers on his forehead and greeted her over the fences:

“Inte Agrana Palomar miss, have a nice festival.”

“And you as well, Inte Agrana Palomar.”

The housemaid from the Cat tribe stopped what she was doing, wiped her forehead with her sleeve then returned the gesture.

“Thank you miss, how is the preparation for the Lord’s house going?”

“It’s really busy these days, the master has lots of guests all the time, I heard that they are from the Tax department, or some places really important, you know, those people in white and black uniform, so we housemaids and butlers have been running around like headless chickens. How are you doing, finishing early today?” The housemaid replied as she continued gardening the trees, her tail waving around slowly on the green grass.

“Yeah, I have just finished my performance for today, heading home now, got to spend time enjoying the festival, eh? Can’t be working all the time, I will miss out all the fun.” The minstrel pointed towards the seven strings instrument on his back, his partner at work. “Anyway, the sun has already started shifting west, I have got to go now, see you around miss.”

With that, he parted ways with his usual chatting friend and headed to the big gate. Edion was built with three layers separated by high walls, the inner most is the Royal Palace, where the King and his family stay and other important buildings to the Kingdom. Then come the middle layer, where the nobles and some rich merchants lives. The outer layer is for the commoners. Outside the city wall was the network of crop fields, small towns and villages, army’s outposts and training grounds, all connected by roads, and these roads spread throughout the Kingdom bringing all kind of people, goods and opportunities. Especially today, all kind of beastmans across the Kingdom traveled here just to truly enjoy the most out of the festival, the City Watch had been busy ever since two days ago to keep everything in order.

By the time the minstrel reached the brown brick buildings of the commoner’s area it was already late in the afternoon, a lot of vendors started closing early, even the merchants wanted to enjoy the biggest festival that only comes once a year. After passing through alleys after alleys the minstrel reached his destination, a small, worn out bar in the corner of the city called The 13th Cat. Inside the bar were around twenty sets of wooden chairs and tables, all seemed to have been there for ages. Surprisingly, there were quite a lot of customers spread out on every table even though it was only a few hours until the festival started. All with their eyes constantly checking the surrounding, hands stayed closed to their hips, to their swords, discussing in a soft tone. Shady people, one could say, and the dark outlines of them shined upon by the candles didn’t help to lighten the mood either.

The minstrel didn’t seem to mind all of this, he went straight up to the bar in the corner, ordered a beer as he sat down on a random chair. It took only a few seconds for the owner of the bar to bring him a big glass of cold beer. The big men of the Panther tribe in a bartender outfit seemed to know the minstrel, he casually asked while arranging the alcohol shelf behind:

“So how is your day, mister minstrel?” His voice was one that doesn’t sound so friendly.

“Well, everything is good, people are happy, the city is colorful, it is the Lacerta festival after all, mister Grim. How about you?”

Grim lazily waved his hand around as he replied:

“As you can see, usual stuffs, all the happiest customers in Edion with their talks of peace, prosper and generosity. Fitting for an important day like this, truly, thanks to the wise rule of His Majesty.”

Then he sat down near the minstrel, lowered his voice and asked:

“So, you got anything for me? I suppose you are not really here to just have a beer.”

The red fox man drank a big sip of beer, then wiped his mouth off the white foam and replied:

“Come on Mister Grim, you should have more confidence in your brewing skill, this is fine beer you have here. I believe a lot of folks would love to come here just for a beer.” The minstrel threw in a compliment. “But anyway, as a matter of fact, I do have something for you. Lord Brock of the Latea Merchant Guild lately seems to enjoy the company of tax officers in his house. One could even misunderstand that as some dirty acts like bribing. Well then of course it is unimaginable to think our kind Lord would break the law written by His Majesty himself. But who am I to control what the people understand and misunderstand then, I’m just a wandering minstrel trying to live my days in peace.”

Grim nodded his head slightly, his mouth started grinning, the scar on his forehead twisted as he did so.

“Indeed, misunderstanding can lead to some … serious matters, matters which may require a lot of coins to settle.”

The owner of the bar replied, then he took a small bag from the drawer below and passed it to the minstrel. The sound of coins ringing attracted some unfriendly eyes around the two, but as they saw Mister Grim’s grinning face, all averted their eyes away. After all, the sight of big panther man grinning was surely not a pleasant one, especially when he stared at you with his big bright yellow eyes.

The fox minstrel silently put the coin bag inside his cloak, took another sip of beer and asked:

“So, enough with the misunderstanding, any news this month I should know? How is our peaceful world of Damruel doing?”

Grim poured himself a glass of beer as he talked:

“Better than ever, magical beasts and globins come out every now and then paying their visits to the nearby villages, it makes one wonder where the local Lord’s Levies are when they are needed. At the west border tension with the human regarding the city of Dakan keep rising as days passed, another regiment of the Royal Army was dispatched a week ago, there was no official information about their destination, but one can always take a guess. On the eastern mountains our bird friends are still enjoying their everyday activity of attacking lone merchants and farmers. The weather in the north is wonderful as usual with blizzards and ice rains coming every week.”

After a sip of beer, Grim continued like a faithful reporter.

“And when you think it’s getting too quiet in the south, the Firefly appeared again, continuing to accuse the King and the local Lords of overtaxing, overworking, child labor, female abductions, slavery and the list goes on. All are fault accusations I must remind you, truly, what a pathetic effort to defy the great rule of His Majestry. Together with the Firefly appearance, the Black Fang also started moving again, some Lord’s houses burnt, some merchants assassinated, and many other unthinkable crimes committed from what I’ve been told. After the battle of Hvaden Field seven months ago, you would have thought that they had leant their lesson and disbanded but here they are again, challenging the King and the Nobles. Fascinating, I must say.”

“The Firefly Organization and the Black Fang eh? Interesting.”

There were some strange feelings coming from the minstrel’s voice as he said that. But before Grim could ask, the foxman finished his beer and stood up.

“Well then thanks for the news, good to know the world is still doing well as always. I’ll take my leave now Mister Grim, enjoy your festival. Inte Agrana Palomar.”

After the polite gesture, the minstrel put on his hood, covered most parts of his face except for the pointy nose and walked outside the bar, his furry red and white tail waved slowly from left to right.

In the bar, Grim collected the two now empty beer glasses, then muttered to himself:

“Palomar stands together with time, hah, as if you care.”

As he walked along the alleys, the minstrel started humming an old song in his own pace. But then he saw a dark shape standing between the brown walls and stopped walking. Coincidence? He didn’t think so. Folk don’t usually stand idly in the alley, especially when the moon is up there in the sky.

“What a surprise, mister fox?”

A female voice came from the dark, a familiar one, one that the minstrel had just heard not too long ago. The dark figure stepped slowly into the moonlight, enough for the fox man to see those distinctive crimson eyes and the friendly smile. But the smile seems less friendly now in this dark alley. He thought to himself.

Discreetly, the minstrel right hand touched the knife hidden under his cloak. Experiences had taught him that meetings in the dark alley like this don’t usually end in a happy note. Most of the time, they ended in blood.

Dead body in the dark alley, as classic as one can get.