Rinne

The sun's rays fell on the pavement, yet the wind was picking up, signaling a shift in the weather. Archie pulled his clothes tighter to protect himself from the increasing gusts and continued on, gazing at the Rotting ones roaming the streets.

Some appeared to have lost all hope, their eyes dim and lifeless, while others exuded pride, arrogance, or a facade hiding their bleak future.

The streets of Rinne, Atharia's capital, were teeming with people: The slowly withering Rotting Ones, cunning Angran rats, and gentle Taurians. Yet, the paved ways showed warmth to none.

Archie stopped in front of a wall with a worn poster, originally intended as a warning about a danger that had since passed.

Mischievous teens had scribbled and drawn on it.

At the top of the poster was a picture of a bald, scrawny man with sunken cheeks and protruding bones, his flesh seemingly stuck to his body. Below the image were several warnings:

[Do not stare into its eyes]

[Do not get any physical contact with it]

[Do not leave any kind of biological matter around it]

[Do not initiate conversation]

[Absolutely do not accept its offer]

The paper was worn, its age evident, and the scribbles on the portrait mocked the warnings. Archie sighed, gazing at the poster, knowing the subject had disappeared years ago. Some people had lost their fear, but those who had witnessed its capabilities would likely treat the warning with more fear.

The increasing presence of the Rotting Ones in the city had shifted the focus of fear. They had appeared mysteriously hundreds of years ago with no one knowing their origin,yet unlike the entity on the poster which had disappeared mysteriously,the Rotting ones seemed destined to survive forever, until perhaps the end of the world, which might be the only thing bringing them freedom and ease their pain.

Archie continued walking and arrived at a dilapidated home, knocking on the door while removing his hat. A rustling sound and pitter-patter of small footsteps came from the other side. A screeching, timid voice asked, "By the gods, who is it?"

Archie chuckled, recognizing the familiar voice, and replied, "It's Archie, Mr. Aratt, your usual client and friend." The voice squeaked happily, and the door opened to reveal a 1.1-meter-tall rat walking on two legs, dressed in a cheap but durable black suit.

The hideous face with large teeth belonged to Aratt Atticus, embodying the Rinne proverb: "A person's greed is reflected in their face, especially if they're an Angran." Despite his appearance, Aratt was a suitable businessman for those seeking rare items.

Glancing at the two moons visible in the daylight, Archie entered the cracked building, accompanied by the Angran.

Closing the door, Aratt squeaked once more and greeted Archie in a worried tone, "Good day, Archie. How was your trip? Did you encounter any problems or, gods forbid, got cursed by the decay?"

Cursed by the decay was a general term used for those that somehow got infected by the rot and slowly become the "Rotting Ones ".

Amused by the Angran's false concern, Archie shook his head and replied, "Good day, Mr. Aratt. The trip was uneventful. I'd say it was so dull I almost wished for the end of the world."

As they walked forward reaching the lounge, what came in front of their eyes was a beautiful but worn down lounge with a fire place in one corner surrounded by tattered luxurious wooden furniture.

Taking a seat on one of the recliners in front of the fireplace Aratt sighed and lamented,"There is nothing as good as sitting here after a hard day at work, enjoying the heat and warmth of these old chairs"

Fully aware of the bragging habits of the ratman, Archie made no attempts of denying rather he bolstered the esteem of the fellow saying,"That is not the truth for everyone, Mr. Aratt, only someone as successful as you can sit down on such luxurious recliners and call them old chairs, besides majority of people don't even get the warmth of the fire let's not talk about these expensive seats"

Aratt immersed in his own pride and wealth only sniggered and mocked,"That is the fate of those who do not work day and night, do not shed tears and sweat, only they are responsible for their own lack of success."

Content with the answer he was expecting, Archie simply answered trying to keep a straight face,"That is very true, if they were even half as hard worker as you, they'd start sneaking in all the illicit products they could find and sell them to the crazy decayed."

Hearing the reply, the bloated Aratt froze and could only retort with,"That's—that's just what I had to do being a poor angran surrounded by the racially motivated humans and daemons, and being honest it was just something done by pure goodwill, those poor, suffering Rotteds had almost gone crazy and needed some distractions hence, me being a good samaritan could only try to help them as much as I could."

The smile on Archie's face only grew bigger hearing the answer from the ratman until he couldn't contain himself anymore and responded with,"I absolutely agree, Mr. Aratt, your goodwill knows truly no bounds, just like you helped those other poor fellows get their hands on all those tiny and cute explosives which they clearly used for the betterment of all people."

That event happened around half an year ago when a noble's building was "accidentally" blown to bits by some kind hearted people not related to the similarly kind rat at all.

Aratt this time could not counter at all, only trying to not get in any worse position in the argument chose to switch the topic whatsoever by uttering in a small voice,"Haha, that's all in the past anyway, Mr. Archie, let's talk about more important matters like the future or why you decided to show your handsome face in this humble dwelling of mine."

Snickering to himself, Archie decided he had enough fun and proceeded to think for some time choosing the words to say to the rat and answered,"I need information about the Catacombs of the Architect, including it's proper location, the known anomalies around it and all the other hidden dangers."

Certain locations were hidden from general public, their information hidden because of the lethal danger they represented to mortal men.

For example, the Undead curse is said to be first propagated from one of the hidden catacombs yet due to the country concealing the intelligence, the source was lost to the population known only to certain higher ups or maybe only the heads of the nation.

Whereas Anomalies are the peculiar phenomenon that occur in places with high supernatural activities or locations that are the eternal resting places of Higher entities.

Anomalies come in many forms from concepts, animals, humans, spirits to even seperate realities. These can be lethal enough to cause death of a large area or harmless enough that different lifeforms start to grow there.

Special Organisations created by the nations keep track of these anomalies and classify them based on the danger they represent to the populace.

Aratt hearing the name flinched, muttered something to himself and said grimly,"Catacombs of Architect are known for being especially dangerous but to get their proper details I'd need some time to collect the needed information."

Archie knew full well the capabilities of the Angran agreed and replied,"No problem, and I'll also need some supplies, weapons and necessary appliances for the trip."

Aratt continued with a polite smile,"Actually, we have a special discount this time on everything other than the information, Mr. Archie because how special of a customer you are to me."

Seeing the rat acting like he was doing a favor, Archie only laughed knowing there was something he wanted because in trade there are no free gifts.

The rat resumed this time hesitating a bit,"But I'd like for you to do me a favor for that, being the honorable explorer you are, you'd not find it beneath you to help this humble Angran would you, Mr Archie?"

Archie only shook his head signalling the ratman to proceed.

The squeaking continued,"So uhh, I'd like you to help me handle a pesky group of people that has been a thorn in my trade for quite some time, trust me they've caused me quite a bit of loss and you're my only hope of dealing with them, Mr Archie",he said with a face full of desperation and sadness as if the "pesky group of people" had murdered his wife and son.

Archie knew there was a catch as always so he tried probing for information saying,"If they've done so much damage, why haven't you tried hiring anyone earlier reducing your damages faster?"

The Angran, hesistated,then sighed and revealed ,"Well they're actually a group of Rotting ones, who are probably close to going hollow and has decided to have as much fun as possible as their last stand"

Archie arched his brows thinking,'That's quite a pickle if it's a group of decayed but it still doesn't tell why he hasn't hired anyone, there could be some people who'd deal with them for a little bit more money..., but this special discount is very much needed eitherway, the cost of the intelligence about the catacombs alone will be high enough so I need to save as much money as possible for emergencies.'

Coming out of his ruminations, Archie replied,"Alright, I'll do it but I need more information about these Rottens, and some weapons in case things go wrong."

Archie knew not to ask too much sometimes because eitherway he'll find out about the whole deal when he goes there in person.

The rat growing more excited and joyful stood up and started shaking the human's hand while chattering,"Thank you Mr. Archie, I knew you'd agree being one of the most important customer of this Aratt's humble trade so let's meet again in 2 days near the town square as that's where the target is, and I'll give you whatever you need there along with the information."