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“Shut up, you skinny scoundrels!” Ballu bellowed. “Stop right there!” “We’re not stopping. Catch us in your dreams, uncle!” Ballu ground his teeth so hard it hurt his head. “If I catch any of you, I’ll skin you guys alive!” “That is only if you catch us!” their voices became more and more distant by the second. Visible frustration showed on Ballu’s face, for he knew that he would never catch up with those four thieves. They were too nimble, unlike him who embodied a distended belly and limbs. But the thought of wasting away Nawaz’s money didn’t allow his feet to rest.

    “‘Manifold’ Zentzu,” the librarian’s voice came back to a normal level. “He's been misbehaving a lot since he entered the library. He crossed the limits by recording a fraudulent name in the register. Since you are here, you must punish him appurtenant to his actions.” Zentzu looked at Lirzod, who portrayed a pococurante face, causing him to ruminate.  He must have not heard him. What should I do? “You must be joking,” the guard chortled, “this library isn’t even officialized, yet you want to punish him? For what?” The librarian’s shoulders slumped. He looked at the commander, hoping he might still help him.

“I was just wondering if I can beat the seals that invaded my privacy and not face any punishment,” Lirzod glanced at him, eyes asking for affirmation. The librarian was startled. “T-That’s probably not a good idea. They are just regular animals, justbeasts, so they do no harm to you. You can think of them as pets waiting for your call to serve you.” “You think so?” Lirzod slanted the head a bit as his little finger meddled with the ear.  “For sure, I’d not recommend fighting with seals,” the librarian said, standing stiffly.

At a random spot in a forest, dozens of monkeys ganged up on an already beaten man and stripped all the gold from him, scratching and biting him in the process. By the time the monkeys finished their work and left the scene, he lay on the ground in torn clothes, and not a single gram of gold could be seen anywhere on his body, other than a few of his hidden golden teeth. He even lost some of his fingers, for the monkeys simply bit his fingers off when attempting to get the rings. That man was none other than Dalkan, who often got called as the ‘man in gold.’ Now, the only piece of cloth covering his body that didn’t have a hole in it was his underpants. The huffs and puffs alone took away most of his remaining strength. After getting beaten at the bar, he escaped out with not-so-major injuries, but never in his dreams did he think that a bunch of monkeys would change his fate to such an extent. Am I going to die in a pathetic place like this?  He still couldn’t believe what ...

Stone Spitters left a short while ago. Bilka and Pilli were in the worst situation they have ever been in their entire lives. They couldn’t even cry out loud anymore as even the slightest movement of their limbs hurt them pretty bad. Still, it pained so much that they couldn’t contain themselves from moving around. It was a literal nightmare for the two of them as they crawled in their own blood, feeling plenty of veins needling them from the insides of their bodies. “What do you want to do now?” Pilli just wanted to ask that question, his face in a dismal decoration. “I want to beat the shit out of you,” Bilka extracted out some words out of the pain coursing through his veins and then went into a disconcerted pause before speaking again. “Getting beaten by him back then didn’t feel that bad, but right now, I feel pathetic. It’s beyond embarrassing to be lying on the ground like this.” “I apologize,” Pilli rolled his eyes toward Bilka, who lay beside him. Bilka didn’t say anything...

“You’ve chosen a slippery slope to climb, youngin,” a cackling voice—weirdly gruff—reached Lirzod's ears, but he couldn’t locate its source. With all rooms locked, the four streets seemed unpeopled, except for the presence of those two. “Who’s there?” Lirzod called out, stomping his foot on the locally not-so-dusty wooden floor. “Run. Run like a river [1] !” Hundred commenced to run and forced Lirzod to rush with him. “You said, Stone Spitters, but I don’t see anybody,” Lirzod questioned, already panting a little, even though they haven’t yet taken ten steps together.