Doffy did not take them somewhere hidden.
That itself was the first strange thing.
Instead of leading them into underground tunnels, secret bases, or shadowy corners like any reasonable spy in a dangerous city would do, he walked casually through the market streets, occasionally stopping to greet vendors, argue over prices again for no reason, and even complain loudly about the quality of fruits as if his entire purpose in life had nothing to do with espionage.
The deeper they walked into Seurota, the more the city began to change its face.
At first, it had felt lively—crowded streets, overlapping voices, merchants shouting prices as if competition alone kept them alive—but now, as they moved past the outer chaos and into the inner market veins, something else started to show.
The market didn't just exist—it pressed against them. Heat from sizzling grills, oil popping loud enough to compete with the babel of vendors shouting prices that overlapped into one endless, noisy wall. Spices hung so thick in the air every breath was a surprise flavor. Still—something didn't sit right.
Will strolled ahead, sleeves rolled halfway up just like always, one hand casually tucked inside the other like he had all the time in the world. Without a word, he grabbed a fried skewer from a vendor's stand like he owned the place.
He bit into it, chewed thoughtfully, then stopped mid-step and spun dramatically back toward Lily and Ruby.
"Alright, listen up because this is critical. I'm about to drop some serious truth that I need you to respect—no interruptions." He brandished the half-eaten skewer like a judge revealing damning evidence. "If this is what people actually eat daily, I get why this city is on the brink of rebellion. Honestly, if someone fed me this every day, I'd start a revolution, rewrite the whole food scene, the works. This meat? It's not cooked. It's confused. Like it can't decide whether to live or die. And while I admire its existential crisis, I absolutely do not want to eat it."
Ruby cast a casual glance at the skewer, then the vendor, then up ahead.
"Heat distribution is off. Outer layer's overcooked, inner still raw. Fire's either managed terribly or limited on purpose. If it's intentional, that signals supply issues. Supply issues mean the food system's fragile."
Will turned slowly toward him.
"I said it tastes bad, and you just turned that into a full-blown national crisis."
"You started it."
Will pointed at Ruby like a duelist.
"Don't side with him, Princess. This is what I mean—I try to talk straight, but he spins everything into some overcomplicated meat conspiracy. Who even thinks like that? Who looks at a grilled skewer and goes, 'Ah yes, thermal imbalance represents socioeconomic collapse.' What are you, grilled suffering's professor?"
Lily sighed softly but couldn't stop a faint smile.
"Both of you, please. We're attracting way too much attention already. And Will, your clothes—or lack thereof—make it obvious you're not from here. Keep ranting like this and the whole market will unite to kick us out just to salvage their peace."
Will leaned in slightly, voice lowered but tone still carrying its sharp edge.
"Princess, with all due respect, if they kick me out for criticizing undercooked meat, I'll accept my fate with dignity. But I refuse to lie down and pretend this tragedy on a stick is acceptable. If we survive this, I want to know I stood for *something* important—and right now, that something is properly cooked meat."
Ruby took a step ahead.
"They're watching."
the watcher
Will didn't even turn immediately when the two figures near the pillar shifted their gaze. "Of course they're watching," he muttered, voice low. "I just insulted their entire culinary tradition. I'd be disappointed if no one noticed."
Ruby's voice cut through with calm precision, almost like an analyst reporting from a calm battlefield. "Not the vendors. Not the civilians. Not even those pretending not to care. The two by the pillar—the one with burn scars along his left face, tight muscles hinting at trauma or enhancements, and the other with white pupils, either mutated or augmented—they are assigned. They're listening, not curious. They won't look at us because they don't want to be spotted."
Will froze mid-step. Slowly, reluctantly, he glanced toward them, then quickly turned away. "Yeah, no. I officially saw nothing. I'm choosing peace, ignorance, and a stab-free afternoon."
Lily stepped closer, her voice calm but edged with caution. "Ruby, are they dangerous?"
Ruby paused, weighing her words. "They're not here to attack. They are here to confirm."
Will exhaled sharply. "Confirm? That's somehow worse than attack. I'd rather a clean stabbing than be used as a checkbox on someone else's list. It feels… insulting."
Lily's gaze hardened. "Then we don't engage. We move forward, no reactions, no escalation. We don't hand them what they want."
Ruby nodded once. "Understood."
Will smirked. "Also understood... but just so we're clear—if they try something, I'm allowed to hit back, right? Need that verbal confirmation before I go full 'instinct mode.'"
Lily looked at him straight in the eye. "You will not hit anyone unless absolutely necessary."
Will grinned, pretending to mull it over. "And how exactly do we define 'absolutely necessary'? Asking for a friend."
"Will," Lily said, voice stern but patient, "trust me, it's not a question of friends here."
Ruby chuckled softly. "Logic and roasting. Classic Will."
Will shrugged. "If I don't keep my charm up, I'll lose my edge faster than these guys can say 'culinary insult.' But alright, I'll keep my fists in check. For now."
Together, they turned away from the silent watchers. No words exchanged, but the understanding was clear—survival meant silence, subtlety, and waiting for the right moment.
The door closed behind them.
The noise outside faded—not gone, but distant, like it no longer belonged to them.
Will immediately dropped into a chair, stretching like he had just returned from a peaceful walk instead of walking through tension.
"Alright, now that we are inside this extremely trustworthy and not suspicious location, I would like to officially request answers, because I have just walked through a city where the food is bad, the people are quiet, and the observers look like they were designed to make children behave, so unless this is some kind of cultural experience I was not informed about, I think we are long overdue for an explanation."
Doffy didn't smile.
"They noticed you."
Will leaned back.
"…I noticed them noticing me noticing them, so I would say we are all very aware of each other at this point, which is honestly a beautiful example of mutual understanding if you ignore the part where it might lead to violence."
Ruby stepped forward slightly.
"They knew we were coming before we entered the inner market, their positioning was not reactive, it was prepared, which means information has already moved ahead of us, and if information has already moved ahead of us then either this city is more connected than expected or someone inside our own structure is feeding it."
Silence.
Lily spoke softly, but firmly.
"…Then this is not just unrest."
Doffy nodded slowly.
"This is design."
Doffy leaned forward, both hands on the table, voice steady but heavy.
"What you are seeing in this city is not rebellion in its early stage, it is not chaos forming out of desperation, and it is not people reacting emotionally to injustice, what you are seeing is something that has already moved past all of that, something that has been carefully guided, shaped, and reinforced over time until it reached a point where it no longer needs to hide, and the most dangerous part is that the people involved do not even feel like they are doing something wrong, because in their minds this is not destruction, this is correction, this is not betrayal, this is reclamation, and once a population begins to believe that what they are doing is justified at that level, you cannot stop them with force alone, because they will not see your actions as protection, they will see them as oppression, and that is exactly the narrative someone has been building here for a very long time."
The room stayed silent for a moment.
Ruby spoke next, his voice calm but sharp.
"This is not spontaneous division, this is structured separation, the targeting patterns, the behavioral control, the economic disruption through food supply and tax withholding, all of it points toward a long-term objective that requires coordination beyond local groups, which means the Sura Sect is not acting independently, they are being supported, guided, or at the very least allowed to function without interference, and if that is the case then the real threat is not the people executing the plan, but the one who designed it and understands exactly how far it needs to go before it becomes irreversible."
Will slowly leaned forward now, no smile this time, but still that sharp edge in his tone.
"So let me say this in a way that even I can fully enjoy, because I feel like I deserve that much after everything we've just heard, what you're telling me is that this city is basically being turned into something else from the inside, not through open war but through careful pressure, removal of certain groups, manipulation of resources, and just enough fear to make people leave without making it look like they were forced, which is honestly very impressive in a completely horrible way, and on top of that there are outsiders helping this process, some of our own people taking advantage of it, and somewhere in all of this there is a person who is smart enough to orchestrate it without being seen, and now we are standing here like three very well-dressed idiots trying to fix something that is already halfway broken."
Lily stepped forward, her voice calm but carrying weight.
"…Not broken," she said softly, "not yet, because as long as we understand what is happening, as long as we can see the structure behind it, there is still a chance to stop it, but we cannot treat this like a simple mission anymore, we cannot approach it with force alone or assumptions, because if we do, we will only strengthen the narrative they are trying to build, and that will make everything worse, so before we act, before we confront anyone, before we even think about Daniel, we need to understand one thing clearly…"
She paused.
"…who benefits when this city stops belonging to Lancelot."
Silence.
Doffy answered quietly.
"One of the Eight."
And this time—
Even Will didn't joke.
Will dropped into the chair without hesitation, stretching his legs out as if he had just returned from a long, exhausting journey rather than a tense walk through a city that clearly didn't want them.
"…Alright," he said, letting out a slow breath while rolling his shoulders, "I'm going to be honest here because I feel like honesty is the only thing keeping me sane right now—I don't like this place, I don't like the way people look at us like we're already part of something they understand better than we do, I definitely don't like the food, and I especially don't like the fact that we are clearly walking into something that has already started moving without us, so before I accidentally insult another cultural pillar and get us all killed, I would really appreciate it if someone explained what exactly is happening in this city in a way that doesn't make me feel like I'm already too late."
Doffy didn't respond immediately.
He walked past them slowly, closing the inner latch of the door, his fingers resting on the wood for just a second longer than necessary, as if confirming something unseen.
Then he turned.
And whatever careless expression he had worn outside—
Was gone.You're not late," he said quietly, his voice losing all of its earlier looseness, becoming something sharper, something that carried weight without needing to raise itself, "but you are standing at the edge of something that has been building for years, and the reason it feels like it has already begun is because, in truth, it has, just not in a way that people like you would notice immediately, because what's happening here was never meant to look like a war, it was meant to feel like change, like correction, like something that people could slowly accept until one day they wake up and realize that the city they live in no longer belongs to the same idea it once did."
Silence settled.
Lily stepped forward slightly, her hands folding gently in front of her, her voice calm but intent.
"…Then start from what matters," she said. "Not history, not distant causes—tell us what is breaking right now."
Doffy looked at her for a moment.
Then nodded.This city," he began slowly, "is sitting on a fracture that was never healed, and that fracture has a name, whether the kingdom likes to admit it or not—it is the divide between the Chandryx and the Dhruvians, and the reason it has reached this point is not because one side suddenly decided to rise, but because both sides have been carrying something unresolved for far too long, something that was buried instead of addressed, something that people believed would fade if ignored, but instead it grew quietly, passed from one generation to the next, shaping the way people think without them even realizing it."
Will leaned forward slightly, resting his elbows on his knees.
"…You're telling me this entire mess started because two groups couldn't get along," he said, his tone lighter but his eyes more focused now, "because if that's the case, then I feel like we should have solved this centuries ago, considering that's basically how every problem in history starts."
Doffy shook his head slowly.No," he said. "It didn't start because they couldn't get along. It started because they were never allowed to stand on equal ground to begin with, and once a system is built like that, even if it pretends to change later, the memory of that imbalance doesn't disappear—it settles, it shapes identity, it creates narratives, and eventually those narratives become stronger than the truth itself."
Ruby spoke then, his voice quiet but precise.
"…The Chandryx were exploited."
Doffy didn't look surprisedYes," he said. "Their bodies, their traits, their very existence was treated as something valuable—but not in the way people deserve to be valued. They were taken, sold, studied, used… not openly, not always within the kingdom itself, but enough that the identity of their race became tied to something dangerous—something desirable but not respected—and over time that kind of treatment does something very simple and very destructive to a people…"
He paused.it teaches them that they are not seen as equals, no matter what the law says."
Lily's expression softened slightly, but there was tension beneath it now.
"…And the Dhruvians?"
They built the system," he said. "They held the structure together, the land, the administration, the military backbone of Lancelot… and because of that, they began to see themselves as the foundation of the kingdom, the ones who made it possible, the ones who kept it stable, and when people see themselves like that for long enough, they stop questioning whether others feel included in that system, because from their perspective, everything is already working."
Will rubbed the back of his neck slightly.
"…So one side feels used, the other side feels justified, and both sides think they're right," he said. "That's… impressively bad."
Ruby added quietly—And stable… until something disturbs it."
Doffy nodded. That disturbance came from outside," he said. "Other nations saw what Lancelot refused to admit—that this balance was fragile, that it wasn't built on trust but on suppression, and instead of attacking directly, they did something far more effective…"
He leaned forward slightly.They gave that resentment direction."
Silence.They spread ideas," he continued, "funded groups like the Sura Sect, encouraged identity over unity, and slowly turned what was once quiet dissatisfaction into something sharper, something organized, something that no longer wanted coexistence but separation, and once that idea took root, it didn't need to be forced anymore—it grew on its own."
Lily's voice lowered.
"…And now they want to take the city."
Doffy met her gaze.No," he said quietly. "They want to redefine it."
Will let out a slow breath, leaning back again, staring at the ceiling for a moment before speaking.
"…So let me see if I understand this properly," he began, his voice returning to that familiar balance of humor and sharpness, "because I feel like I need to simplify this before my brain decides to leave my body—you have a group that was treated like a resource instead of people, another group that built everything and therefore believes it belongs to them, outside forces pushing both sides just enough to keep things unstable, and now a city where one side has decided that instead of fixing the system, it would be easier to just take a part of it and call it their own, which sounds like a terrible plan but also a very effective one if no one stops them, and on top of that we have people inside our own kingdom helping this happen, which I personally find very offensive because if we're going to fall apart, I would prefer we at least have the decency to do it without assistance."
No one interrupted him.
Because—
He wasn't wrong.
Ruby's gaze lowered slightly, his voice calm but colder now."This is no longer conflict," he said. "It is transition."
And that word—
Landed heavier than anything else.Lily closed her eyes for just a moment.
Not out of fear.
But because she understood now—
This wasn't something that had just begun.
It was something that had been waiting but now it's finally moving....
The room was silent after been explained by duffy everyone was thinking...
Will leaned back in his chair, one arm resting behind his head, the other still tucked lazily into his sleeve, staring at the ceiling as if it had personally offended him.
"…You know," he began slowly, exhaling through his nose as though trying to process everything without actually committing to seriousness, "I always thought if we ever walked into a situation like this, there would be a clear villain, someone loud, dramatic, maybe standing on a stage giving speeches about revolution while we dramatically interrupt him halfway through and I get to punch him in the face in front of everyone, but this… this is just layers of quiet problems stacked on top of each other like someone decided to build a disaster using patience instead of stupidity, and I honestly don't know whether I should be impressed or extremely annoyed by it."
Lily remained standing, her gaze lowered slightly as she absorbed the weight of what they had just learned.
"…It means we cannot act carelessly," she said softly, though her voice carried firmness beneath it. "If this is truly as structured as it seems, then one wrong move from us could strengthen their position instead of weakening it, and that would only push the city closer to what they want."
Will tilted his head slightly, glancing at her.
"…So what are you suggesting," he asked, his tone lighter but not dismissive, "we walk around politely asking them to stop destabilizing the kingdom, maybe offer them better food so they calm down a little, because I feel like we're missing a very important step here where someone does something that actually matters."
Every one was silent at that point and then ruby steps up from the chair and proposes an idea in this pin dropp silence... He said with a smirk
How about we infiltrate the suraaa from inside
[ here the chapter ends]....