As promised, Cinti woke him early. Kuro dressed sluggishly and met her in the hallway for a review of their supplies before leaving the inn. Once they were sure they were properly armed and fed, they left.

  It was still dark outside.

  “Cinti, this is torture,” Kuro groaned. “Can’t we start work at a normal time?”

  She was already shaking her head before he finished talking. “Muskrats are crepuscular—”

  “But I’m not.”

  “Let me finish…” she said, turning to follow the street lanterns hung with slimes. “Like those rats, the body and mind is at its freshest in the morning. However, we still have to account for the animals’ behaviour patterns, which dictate they’ll be winding down around these hours, but not yet inactive and completely hidden. You could call what we’re doing a reasonable compromise.”

  As she led the way, Kuro realized she’d put more thought into this seemingly mundane mission than he had into his proposal to Hime.

  “Besides,” Cinti said, thrusting her chin at the winding cobblestone paths, “we have to walk quite a ways to get to our hunting ground.”

  Kuro had not thought about it. He’d thought there would be manholes throughout the city they’d have to climb down. Only now, as he looked around their feet, did he realise that there was nothing of that sort.

  They reached the city outskirts just after the first sliver of light crested the horizon. The ground below them gradually softened, giving way to marshy territory and through the waterlogged groves, a pair of massive demon's heads broke up the tree line. Getting closer revealed that these were storm drains, their gaping mouths constructed of stone. Black tongues of sewage spilled down the centres, framed by ledges so narrow, they served seemingly no purpose.

  Cinti splashed straight into the knee-high sludge draining from one of the entrances to mix with the marsh, and waded through the river of waste.

  “This is my life now…” Kuro muttered, before following suit.

  Muddy sludge sloshed around his boots, each step a struggle as the silt trapped them with sucking force.

  He wore his disgust openly, and complained just as much as he did trekking Lord Grod’s wood.

  Only a short way in, they were met by steel bars, evidently meant to keep things out. The bars had been warped and broken in several places.

  “Rats did that?” Kuro said.

  He wanted Cinti to say it was a stupid question because of course not. Of course, these were normal rats and not steel chewing monsters… right?

  Instead Cinti nodded. “They're magical creatures. They might not be intelligent, but you'd be surprised what they’re capable of.”

  She found an opening large enough to pass through and they ventured further in. As the light grew dimmer and dimmer, the air became thicker and more foul. Eventually, no light reached them.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  Kuro walked confidently, not noticing they were shrouded in pitch black. To him, the area still seemed dimly lit.

  Cinti however, paused and said, “You can see in this gloom?”

  “Yeah,” he said, stopping beside her. “Why, what's wrong?”

  “Of course,” she muttered, stroking her chin. “You must have adopted that demon's dark vision. Your footsteps are sure and your eyes are like flashes of silver lightning.”

  “Oh, is that it? I didn't realise,” Kuro said.

  He turned 360°, blinking at everything. “Awesome.”

  Cinti sighed. “I would say I envy you, but then again, it’s a demonic skill.”

  Kuro didn't know how to respond. He thought she was still upset from the night before, but felt like a dank, filthy sewer was the last place he wanted to get into it.

  “Anyway,” Cinti said. “I’m casting illumination.”

  After performing a hand sign with the corresponding incantation, a small ball of white light grew in the space before her. It hovered there, directed by wherever she looked.

  “Let’s go.”

  They moved further into the bowels of the beast, winding through the tunnel maze as if they had become rats themselves. Soon, distant howls echoed through the sewer system, prompting Cinti to draw her sword and shield.

  Kuro got his at the ready as well.

  “Now is probably a good time to summon that demon friend of yours.”

  “He’s not—” Kuro started to protest, but dropped it as soon as he heard echoes of splashing in the distance.

  Quickly, he summoned the imp. Sandoval screwed up his face and glanced around. He sniffed the putrid air, before hitting Kuro with a side-glare.

  “Is this some kind of joke?”

  “No…”

  Sandoval sighed. “Am I to understand this is an elven sewer?”

  Kuro nodded. He was confused. Sure, it was gross, but why the focus of whether it was elven or not?

  The demon spat and said, “You don’t see the issue here? You brought me, a demon, sworn enemy of the elves, to rummage around in their filth. Does your cruelty know no bounds?”

  Kuro shrugged. “Sorry, but neither of us have a choice—”

  Sandoval charged him in a blind rage and began punching and kicking him about the head. But in that form, his blows amounted to soft taps.

  Kuro scoffed. “Aw, that’s cute.”

  “Stop fooling ar—”

  A roar blasted through the tunnels, drowning out Cinti's warning and stirring the sewage around them.

  Sandoval ducked behind Kuro. Cinti braced.

  The bellows gradually died off, and in the silence, Kuro whispered, “Please tell me that wasn’t a muskrat…”

  Sandoval spat. “Did you say muskrats? In the sewers? This just gets better!”

  “Why? What's the big deal?”

  Kuro's pores were already at attention. He doubted he really wanted to hear what Sandoval had to say, but panic drove him to ask.

  “Didn’t that useless half-elf tell you anything? Muskrats are marshy-woodland monsters. They don't come near cities…” Sandoval hissed beside Kuro’s ear. “Unless charmed by a rat king.”

  Cinti ignored them. She focused on the ripples forming in the sludge, getting stronger and stronger with each passing second. Something approached from the depths.

  “Here they come, you two,” she said. “Get ready!”