As Tessa said, after a couple of hours, the city became visible. The girl tried to tell Ray as much as possible about the internal structure and the order that the new ruler had established throughout the country. The same one listened attentively, trying to understand at least the general picture of Rondal's hierarchy.

At the very bottom were the vast majority of people, ordinary residents whose fate was not much different from a weak-willed labor force. Almost all the results of their labor were confiscated for the sake of their superiors, who cared little for the fate of the poor fellows.

It was up to the guards to see to it that the former worked with due diligence. This stratum of society lived relatively normally, but only at the expense of the common people. The problem was that there were also a lot of guards themselves, because they had to suppress the people during large and local uprisings that arose with great frequency, so they absorbed a lot of resources. It was somewhat reminiscent of a somewhat perverse analogue of the army, the soldiers of which were supposed to fight against their own compatriots. As Tessa explained, the main criterion for recruiting guards for service was their character. After all, soft-hearted people will not be able to turn a blind eye to the suffering of their fellows, but better living conditions are rapidly changing the worldview of many of them.

Even higher in the hierarchy were the city authorities and officers appointed by the capital. Then came the nobles, the political elite of the country and the highest ranks of the lawyers, over whom stood only the family of the monarch.

The city was getting closer and sharp vision of the forest already allowed Ray to see something.

Glancing at the shapeless pile of stones that apparently served as some kind of city wall, Rey began to be convinced that everything Tessa had said was the pure truth. Perhaps the girl even downplayed the scale of the country's decline. However, this was soon confirmed.

There were more than three kilometers to the entrance to the city, but the guy could clearly see the gloomy scene unfolding in front of a hole in the wall that marked the entrance to the city. The burly man was turned with his back to the plain, so his huge carcass blocked the view, but even so, only by the nature of his movements and the lowered pants, the guy could guess what the guard was doing, and Rey had no doubt that it was he, because on the other side of the entrance to the city stood another similar boar, and on his clothes was the same symbol as on the back of the first.

Tessa felt the guy's arms embracing her tense up a little, and the air around seemed to become heavier. Turning her head, she noticed that Rei was looking towards the city, and murderous intent flickered in her green eyes. Unfortunately, even looking closer, the girl could not notice the reason for such a change, but decided to distract the guy at least a little.

Ray, there is one problem. You can put on a hood and hide your claws, but if they decide to check us, they will definitely not be allowed into the city. It's one thing, if we had a whole detachment with us, the guards would even be afraid to approach us, but now ... They will not let the non-humans enter. Although, most likely, they will only run away when they see Cess.

- Everything is fine.

Tessa didn't understand what he meant at first, so she turned her head again to gasp involuntarily. The girl looked at the guy's changed skin color with eyes full of surprise. As if in disbelief, she grabbed his hand, looking down at his nails.

Ray decided to immediately answer the question she had not yet voiced:

I can take on any form. Besides, I was originally human too.

When the guy said that, he looked towards the city again. Now he could hardly even see the hole in the wall where the guards were standing next to, but that didn't take away the bad feeling in his chest.

“Do I even have the right to judge them?” When that thought flashed through his mind, Rei resolutely pushed it aside.

“The past cannot be changed. Why bother worrying about it?"

After calming down a little, he looked down at Tessa, who was still crushing his fingers in her hands.

- Played enough?

Hearing the guy's words, the girl froze and let go of someone else's hand.

- Sorry. Pouting her lips, she turned her back to him, thinking about how much she doesn't know about the person next to her. Without noticing it herself, the girl only after a few words of the guy began to perceive him as a person.

Rei only smirked at such a cute reaction, ordering Cess to speed up a bit. Panther gladly complied, and three kilometers to the city were left behind in a matter of minutes.

As they moved, Tessa realized the reason that had made Ray so gloomy earlier. Although she grew up in this country, such scenes even made her hate Rondal with all her heart.

Near a large stone, at the base of the wall, a young girl stood, leaning on the gray rock with her hands. Her long skirt was pulled up now, and thin streams of tears rolled down her face. The poor fellow's eyes were tightly closed, but it was unlikely that this helped her much to move away from what was happening.

Behind her stood a fat man, naked from the waist down, with the symbol of the city guard on a shabby, coarse shirt. He moved his hips with a strained puff, and his partner, slyly chuckled, but a slightly upset look clearly showed that he was unhappy with the second place in line.

After a dozen more pushes, the first guard firmly grabbed the girl's waist, and his thick legs trembled slightly. She screamed something, but she could not escape from the strong grip of the man. Finally pulling away, the guard looked at the girl who fell to her knees, a trickle of white liquid flowing down her thigh, and her eyes, which had not been very lively before, were now almost completely empty.

Satisfied fat man without saying a word, pulled on his pants and went to the second. Accidentally turning his head towards the plain, he almost tangled in his own feet, but he could hardly keep his balance. Fifty meters away, towards the entrance to the city, a huge panther was slowly walking.

His comrade also noticed the beast, so without waiting a second, he moved away from the hole in the wall. The first guard, noticing his actions, hurried to repeat them, but a girl appeared on the way.

“Please… you promised me four coppers…” Her voice trembled so much that the words could hardly be made out, but the guard didn’t care at all that she was mumbling. Kicking her foot, he hastened to get out of the way of a huge cat. What was the surprise of the man when the thin girl was able to rise to her knees after his blow.

“Sir, I beg you. I haven't eaten anything for two days. Only four…

- Get out of here! I'm not rich enough to pay for every dirty crack. – making sure that he had gone far enough, the guard roared without letting the girl even finish speaking. She only cried harder, not paying attention to the fact that just a couple of meters away he stopped her Cess.

- Pay her. A calm male voice sounded.

The dumbfounded guard froze. Only after a moment, he realized that the eyes of a young guy in a strange gray armor turned to him. He was even about to open his mouth, but prudence and the desire to live took over. Taking out a few rounds from a bag on his belt, he approached the girl and put them in her hand. All the while he walked, his eyes darted between Ray and Cess. You could see how his legs trembled when he looked at a huge cat that was almost twice as tall as himself.

The girl, realizing what had happened, turned her head to crawl away a few steps in fright. At that moment, Tessa jumped off the back of the panther. The eyes of both guards involuntarily stuck to her. She wore quite a few clothes. The reason for this was that her fighting style was entirely based on maximum mobility, so a minimum of clothing was justified.

Approaching the frightened girl, she begged her to get up. She, still not fully understanding what had happened, looked at Tessa, and then at a few coins in her hands. Her sunken face conveyed a whole gamut of incomprehensible emotions. Casting a look full of fear and hopelessness at the guards, she quietly thanked the girl standing next to her.

Tessa's heart ached at that moment, as if pierced by needles. If she had been unlucky a few years ago, she could have stood in the place of this poor fellow. But even so, it was not difficult for her to understand why this girl was looking at the guards with such a look.

Turning to Ray, she spoke.

“That doesn't make sense. As soon as we leave, these bastards will not only take the money, but also beat her half to death.

At that moment, the hearts of both guards missed several beats. They stood at some distance, but still clearly heard Tessa's words. The two looked at each other, but had no idea what to do. At that moment, Rei barely perceptibly nodded and jumped down to the ground. Without a word, he walked towards the first guard. He, looking into strange green eyes, saw only calmness there, but for some reason he involuntarily took a few steps back.