The day after the bandits tried to rob Perros' wagon, but were not successful. Perros, Nazo and Cyra finally arrived on the outskirts of town.
The sun was shining brightly when they reached a small hill from where they could see the whole capital. The capital is divided into two main parts... the inner, which is smaller but richer, and the outer, which is larger but poorer. The entire capital is protected by giant walls. And the walls are surrounded by a ditch. But one building caught their eye. It was a giant cogwheel, and on top of it was a building. They have never seen anything like it.
"IT'S HUGE!" Perros sounded excited and surprised at the same time.
"Well, what do you expect... this city has the support of the Star of this territory... Amaan 'Golden' Feuntes." Nazo said and looked around the landscape.
"Let's go then!" Perros said excitedly.
It was still a long way to the centre. They passed a few houses before they reached a plain of fields just outside the walls that guarded the whole town.
"I like it here and we haven't even arrived at the centre yet!" Perros again said excitedly while looking around.
"Calm down or we'll look suspicious..." Nazo smiled.
People they passed on the way looked at them as murderers.
"Perros, have you ever been here before?" Cyra asked.
"No... never." Perros turned to her.
Both Nazo and Cyra felt unwanted on the way to the capital. Perros, meanwhile, was still admiring the scenery.
As Perros looked around, he noticed that there was hardly anyone in the fields and he saw the crops drying up.
"What is going on here?" He thought to himself.
"Nazo, stop, I want to talk to someone..." Perros said suspiciously.
"If you say so." Nazo stopped next to the first person they saw.
Nazo stopped at the first person they met.
"Hello, sir, may I ask you a question?" Perros smiled kindly.
He looked at the capital and then back at Perros.
"No." He said quickly and left.
"What a weirdo..." Perros thought.
Nazo spurred Delgado on again and together they continued towards the capital.
"By the way, Nazo, are you going after the kidnappers' boss?" Perros asked.
"He still doesn't know we saved Cyra, but he should still be in Westernfield..." Nazo looked out over the city.
"How do you know that?" Perros asked curiously.
"Cyra told me." Nazo replied.
"Yeah... we've already talked about that." Cyra laughed nervously.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Perros asked suspiciously.
"Because you were in town stealing wagons." Nazo laughed.
Cyra gigled and took a bite out of an apple
"We agreed that we don't want him dead, but he must atone for his sins..." He added.
"Ooh, alright you almighty judge." Perros laughed.
Nazo looked annoyed.
"But I'm still going to help you..." He added.
After a while, they finally reached the gate that would allow them to enter the capital.
"Stop, for what reason have you come?" Guard #1 stopped them.
Perros, Nazo and Cyra looked at each other.
"We're on..." Perros was cut off by Cyra.
"On a family trip... This is my husband." Cyra said, grabbing Perros' hand.
"And this is my brother." She added and pointed at Nazo.
"Why do you have so much food with you?" Guard #2 asked as well.
"That's because we come from a distant town..." She replied.
The guards looked at each other. There was a moment of complete silence.
"Alright, you may proceed." Guard #1 said.
Nazo spurred Delgado on, they crossed the bridge and finally arrived at Westernfield, the capital of the Dorai territory.
Meanwhile, in the alley behind the kitchen of a saloon.
"They said it wasn't good... again." A man said.
"So here you go, Dumpster." He added, put plate with food on the ground and sat on the stairs.
Something emerged from the shadows on the other side of the alley. It was a pig.
"Oink, oink." Dumpster sounded and happily started eating.
"At least you like my food..." The man smiled and petted Dumpster.
Suddenly, loud footsteps sounded from behind the door.
"BRUNOO!" The head chief yelled and broke the door open.
The door flew open so fast that they pushed Bruno down the stairs. Dumpster got scared and backed away from the plate.
"Oh, sorry..." He added.
"Chief, I'll be right back." Bruno said while getting up from the ground.
"Bruno, you shouldn't feed that pig food that the customers don't like." The cheif said.
"Why not? I'm not going to throw away freshly prepared food. That's against the way I was raised." Bruno looked at Dumpster, who was back at his plate.
"I know, it hurts me too, but you know what they say..." The chief said.
"The customer is always right..." Bruno said sadly.
"Yeah... now come back to the kitchen we need you there." The chief smiled and closed the door behind him.
Bruno seemed deep in thought. Dumpster brought him an empty plate.
"Oh thank you buddy." He said.
"I won't stop taking care of you, don't worry." Bruno smiled.
Dumpster walked next to the stairs and lay down in the shade.
"All right, I'll come check on you later." He said and went inside.
Bruno went into the kitchen and put on his apron.
"So what should I prepare?" He asked the chief.
"Nothing, go serve that table with three people." The chief replied.
So Bruno took off his apron and went to get his notebook.
"Hello, what would you like to order?" Bruno asked politely.
"Perros, make up your mind..." Nazo was annoyed.
"Sir, what would you recommend?" Perros asked with hunger in his eyes.
"Personally, I think the buffalo steak is the best." Bruno proudly replied.
"Okay, then bring it three times." Perros ordered.
"As you wish sir." Bruno made a note and went into the kitchen.
"But I didn't want a buffalo steak." Cyra said in confusion.
"Whatever... as long as he' s paying, I don't care." Nazo said.
"Well, you better hope I have the money for it." Perros laughed.
In the kitchen, Bruno hung up the paper with their order and rang the bell.
"Three buffalo steaks for table seven." Bruno said and went to serve the other tables.
"We're finally going to eat something good..." Perros' mouth watered.
"Excuse me?" Nazo said offended.
"Well, I'm just saying, we' ll have something good for once..." Perros said and looked towards the kitchen
"Argh, whatever..." Nazo said.
After a while, Bruno brought the ordered food. It was a medium-rare buffalo steak with a sprig of rosemary on top and potatoes as a side dish.
"It smells so good!" Cyra said, picking up her cutlery.
Bruno was serving near table number seven and could hear what they were saying.
Perros slowly took his first bite. His eyes began to shine like stars.
"This is so delicious!" Perros said with his mouth full.
"It is good..." Nazo nodded his head.
Bruno looked over to them.
"Do you mean it?" He couldn't believe his ears.
"Yeah, I wouldn't lie about something like that." Perros still had his mouth full.
"Isn't that normal?" Nazo asked.
"Well, you know... it's not." Bruno said sadly.
"Richer people come in and order and don't eat the food because they don't like it. I honestly don't think we cook that bad, but..." He added.
"But?" Nazo asked.
"The rich people are used to very expensive food, that is delivered from overseas. And most of the time for poorer people there isn't enough food." Bruno said sorrowfully.
"But it wasn't like that in the past..." He added.
And he began to explain how it was in the past.
-- Westernfield, 8 years ago--
This town was practically the same, but without the giant walls and the inner part. It was just the capital.
A few months after Amaan Feuntes came and became the guardian of this city... everything changed.
My family and I had lunch at this exact salon the other day. And Amaan's men burst in.
"Take every workingable person to the 'cog'." A man said.
"Take all capable of working people into the 'cogwheel'." Man #1 said.
Everyone started to panic. Amaan's men tried to take them away without violence, but after a while they ran out of patience.
"Alright..." Man #2 said and pulled out his gun and shot to the ceiling.
They all looked at him.
"You'll listen to what we tell you, or this place is going to get ugly." He added, looking very harsh.
After his statement, no one was foolish enough to rebel against them. They took everyone but me and the saloon staff.
The head chief took us in. He teached us how to cook and serve customers. I am deeply indebted to him for what he has done for us.
Later when I calmed down, I asked him.
"W-Where did they take them?" Bruno asked with watery eyes.
The chief took a deep breath and said.
"You know why Amaan chose this town. Not because it is the capital, but because there is a golden vein under its center." The chief said and sat down.
"If his men catch you not working... they'll take you to the mine." He added, lighting a cigar.
"W-Will I see them again?" Bruno asked sadly.
"Who knows..." The chief said and exhaled smoke.
I lived with him from that day on. I guess he felt sorry for me, but I never asked him about it.
And to this day, I've never seen my parents.
--Present--
"So that's what happened here..." Bruno explained.
"That's horrible!" Cyra said.
"And after that he put some gangster in charge of the city for him." Bruno said madly.
"Does the gangster wear some sort of specific symbol?" Nazo asked curiously.
"If I remember correctly he wears chalice or something like that..." Bruno thought.
Perros, Nazo and Cyra looked at each other.
"I knew it!" Nazo mumbled.
"Well, thanks for the food. Perros here will pay for it, but now we have some things to take care of." He added.
"You mean..." Bruno thought.
"You want to get rid of him?" Bruno was surprised.
Perros and Nazo looked serious.
"If so, I want to help you..." Bruno decided.
"I want to avenge my mother and father!" He added.