In the northern district, by the river on its eastern bank, specifically on the street of the Seven Blacksmiths, there was a caravan. Led by a man at the front, driving the horses to walk along the street beside the lampposts.
He was a man in his forties, with yellow eyes, and a curly brown beard tied from two sides like a Viking's, and a long twisted mustache: its right side pointing upwards, and the left side pointing downwards, creating a contrast with the Viking beard he possessed.
He wore a simple merchant's outfit, with a bronze-colored medal on his right chest, carved with the shape of wheat.
He was the very merchant who had argued with Xiaobing at the gate this morning, but time had been reset, so he remembered nothing and didn't even know who Xiaobing was.
He seemed angry because of what the guard had said to him when he asked him to escort him for protection against highway robbers.
"You cowardly guards!" the man spoke angrily and continued: "Why won't he agree to my request? Why must he obey the king's orders? To protect the city from any sudden invasion? And who would dare invade this city anyway? Pathetic!"
"I must hurry! And deposit my money in the bank! I don't want it to be stolen!" At that moment, he whipped the horses' backs, making them gallop quickly.
Under the crimson moonlight in the sky and the light of the lampposts on the sides...
A person suddenly appeared, standing in the middle of the street. He wore a tall black hat and a blue coat with dark blue trousers striped with sky blue. He carried a black violin in his hands, emitting a suffocating bloody aura, and was playing calm melodies on it.
"You! You fool! Step aside if you don't want to die!" the man shouted at the person standing in the middle of the street.
But that person did not listen, and continued playing, and as the caravan and horses drew closer to him, he gradually raised the volume of his playing. He wasn't even looking at the caravan, but was looking at the violin in his hands, and with every movement of his hand, black smoke ignited around him.
"Don't file a criminal complaint against me in court if I hit you, I warned you!" The man did not slow down, but whipped again and doubled the speed.
Ignoring everything the man said, the violinist raised the volume of his violin playing, and the tune became gloomy and sorrowful.
Suddenly, he looked with his eyes, which were gleaming with a faint green light under the lampposts and also under the crimson light, then moved his hand quickly over the violin... and looked towards the man and his caravan approaching him and said coldly: "Unfortunately, you won't live to see the trial!"
The violinist pulled his hand from the violin strings and directed it towards the approaching caravan, and a horizontal black thread shot towards it at speed.
Fwoooooosh!
The release of that thread caused fierce winds to sweep through the street as it moved swiftly, and in a single moment it had passed through those horses, through that man, and through that caravan.
"What are you doing? Have you gone cr—" The man wanted to mock the action of the person before him, but he suddenly split into two halves, he, the cart, and the horses. But it didn't stop there; the thread returned again, but... this time it had divided into many black threads, which passed quickly through the body of that man who had split in half, not even giving him time to fall to the ground, but sliced him, his caravan, and his horses into pieces.
The scene was extremely bloody.
That person stopped playing when he saw those cut and scattered pieces all over the street from that man's body.
And he looked towards the medal that was hanging on a piece of the man's clothing... and quickly moved, snatched it, and ascended to the tops of the surrounding houses in an instant.
He hid the violin in his tall hat, raised that medal in his hand to the sky, and closed one eye... trying to position that medal so it looked larger than the moon! Like small children.
"What am I doing?" he asked himself while looking at the location where that merchant's body had been so bloodily dismembered.
"You deserved it!" that person said while putting the medal into the pocket of his blue coat... then wiped his hand in the air in front of him, and a moving image appeared of two people supporting each other, standing beside a tall lamppost in front of a café.
"James Bond! What is he doing here? And who is that person he's supporting?" that person wondered while a devilish smile appeared on his face.
He wiped, and the moving image zoomed in with perfect clarity, and the face of that young man whom James was supporting became clear... He had black hair, but with golden strands at the front of his head.
"This is strange, I couldn't read his name! Who in hell is he? Is he a reflection of a person in the Scypher rank? No no... it seems like a person in the Erastes rank! I should observe him closely!" Saying that, he lifted his hat and spun it in a circle before him, and then he vanished in a strange manner.
...
At the café on the Street of the Hanged Dreamer.
James and Xiaobing stood in front of the café's locked door.
"Wait a moment!" James said while putting his hand into his coat pocket looking for his spare keys... and said: "Madeleine doesn't know I have spare keys, but I don't know where they've gone now! I can't find them!"
"No need for that!" Xiaobing said while looking towards the café door, putting his hand into his coat pocket, and taking out the copy of the keys that Madeleine had given him earlier... and gave them to James.
"Oh, right! Madeleine gave you this copy of the keys earlier! I almost forgot from the amount of events I witnessed today!" James said while bending down, inserting the key into the door lock, and opening it.
James entered the café, followed carefully by the tired Xiaobing... James gently locked the café door for fear of waking Madeleine from her sleep... then they headed towards the second floor.
When they went up to the large hall, they entered the door leading to the living room, and saw the sofa where Steaky was still sleeping. But strangely, Steaky was wearing James's glasses.
"My glasses!! Steaky, aren't you tired of sleeping! Give me back my glasses!" James shouted, making Steaky react strangely, jumping forcefully and clinging to the chandelier on the living room ceiling. James took advantage of this and took his glasses and put them on.
"Ah, James! You scared me, man! You don't have to exaggerate to this extent for a pair of glasses." Steaky said while hanging from the chandelier on the ceiling. And continued, saying: "And also that suspic— I mean your new partner!" Then Steaky descended with all elegance and jumped onto James.
"You! Get off me, I'm tired!" James took Steaky and put him on the floor.
Xiaobing slowly looked towards Steaky, but ignored him and headed towards the sofa and threw himself onto it.
"Bing! Why don't you go and sleep in that empty room?" James asked while looking at Xiaobing.
"No, this sofa will do! Sorry, but it seems I'll burden you and sleep here tonight!" Xiaobing replied slowly, covering his eyes with his elbow.
"No, no... what are you saying, man, shame on you! We're partners, you shouldn't say such a thing!" James replied, displeased with Xiaobing's words.
"Anyway! What do you think? Should we have dinner?" James said eagerly.
"I'm tired!" Xiaobing replied quickly.
"Don't worry, I'll cook! I just want to confirm if you want to eat?" James asked.
"I don't wa—" Xiaobing wanted to refuse, but his stomach betrayed him and let out a very loud rumble... shocking James and Steaky, who was sleeping on the floor.
"Alright, I'll go and prepare something for us to eat!" James said while heading towards the kitchen, but he was followed by words from Xiaobing, who said: "No pork or its derivatives!"
"Yes, yes!" James said it, remembering his loss in the cooking competition today.
Steaky suddenly jumped onto Xiaobing's stomach, looking at his face and showing strange expressions for a cat's expressions... then approached Xiaobing's ear and asked: "How was it?"
"How was what?" Xiaobing replied.
"You know what I mean!" Steaky looked with a strange expression at Xiaobing's face beneath the elbow that showed his right eye.
"Mean what?" Xiaobing asked in surprise.
"Don't try to act, I smelled a woman's perfume, and there's a scent like that thing Madeleine puts on her lips... what was it called? Ah, yes, it's lipstick!" Steaky said while his look became stranger.
"What! Didn't I wipe it off?" Xiaobing sat up on the sofa, with Steaky in his lap, and quickly rubbed his hands on his cheeks repeatedly.
"It seems you had a hot night! Hehehe," Steaky said while laughing strange laughs at Xiaobing.
"Shut up! I don't want to talk about this!" Xiaobing said while looking at Steaky in his lap.
Steaky looked and felt there was something strange about this, so he quickly turned his gaze towards the black glove Xiaobing was wearing on his hand, while the other hand bore a ring glowing with purple and black light.
"What is this?" Steaky asked, looking at the ring.
"It's a polished artifact!" Suddenly, James's words interrupted and answered Steaky's question. James was carrying a plate full of cream and apple jam pastries.
"A polished artif—" Steaky wanted to show his surprise, but James threw a pastry into his mouth, forcing him to be silent.
James put that plate on the table in front of the sofa and sat on the floor... and looked at Xiaobing.
"Well done!" Xiaobing praised while picking up Steaky and putting him on the table next to the plate, got off the sofa, and sat on the floor in front of the table.
"What are you doing?" James said while looking at Xiaobing.
"Nothing, I think I feel more comfortable on the floor!" Xiaobing said while reaching out his hand, taking one of the cream pastries, and quickly putting it in his mouth.
"Delicious!" Xiaobing said while swallowing that pastry and reached out to seize another one.
"Oh-ho! I'm glad our skilled cook liked my humble pastries!" James said.
"Don't say it as if I'm a servant!" Xiaobing replied nervously.
"Hehehe, you know I didn't mean that!" James replied.
"Yes, you did!" Xiaobing said while looking at James.
"No, I didn't!" James replied again and brought his head close to Xiaobing.
"Yes, you did!" Xiaobing replied while pushing James's face with his forehead. James was wearing his glasses, so his appearance was like an intellectual to Xiaobing.
James quickly turned towards Steaky, who was slowly and peacefully eating one of the pastries away from their dispute.
"Steaky! Did I really mean to insult Bing?" James said to Steaky.
"Steaky... do you think James intentionally insulted me?" Xiaobing said while turning towards Steaky.
"Ah... I don't know what to say, so you two should calm down!" Steaky said, trying to calm the situation.
But Xiaobing and James continued arguing while eating the pastries... loudly.
Suddenly, the sound of a door opening was heard, making all three of them turn their heads in perfect harmony towards the source of that sound.
A feeling of fear settled in their hearts, even Xiaobing at that moment; there was cold sweat running down his cheek, but it was no more... than James, whose body had turned completely sweaty.
"Jimmy!" said Madeleine while rubbing her eyes from sleep.
...
End of Chapter ~ To be continued.