Okay. So maybe it was the second thing on my mind.

From what Kasumi had heard of South Window, it was a fast-paced but pretty city, more so than Radat and even more then Banner Village. Kasumi didn't have much experiences with bustling towns, so she imagined South Window to be something like Gregminster; elaborately structured architecture, high class shops and restaurants, a small scattering of nobles perhaps, mixed in with the common folk slightly on the polished side. She'd find a money changer there, have her bits changed and finally have a rest an a decent inn. Maybe after she'd tied Krin back up; she still didn't quite trust the thief. The runt had babbled all the way on the road leading to South Window, promising not to run away. Kasumi had been lenient; relinquishing her hold on Krin's ear, she settled for keeping a watchful eye out for him at every turn. So far, he actually seemed to be on his best behavior, though his knife skills were a tad rusty, as seen by an unexpected encounter with a group of squirrels. Kasumi supposed that he was still good enough to pick pockets, as long as it wasn't her own. He better be showing her the right direction to South Window, too. It did seemed like a good place to visit.

Kasumi's illusions regarding South Window promptly shattered the moment she stepped through its gates.

A spectacled old man rushed up to them, wringing his hands in dismay and looking as if he was caught in an explosion beforehand. "My beautiful house!" He wailed, stumbling and latching onto a surprised Krin.

"What the--? Hey, leggo!" Krin wailed, turning beet red and trying in vain to peel the sobbing man off his shoulder, as Kasumi unobtrusively moved off to one side and chewed her fingernails, viewing the carnage around her. Guards marched back and forth, some digging into the huge piles of wood and sawdust, while a commander stood off to one side, barking orders no one really listened to because that's all those kinds of commanders were really good for, in Kasumi's opinion. There were rubble lying all around, as if some cataclysmic eruption had taken place somewhere in the area.

Had South Window been taken under siege? Kasumi had heard reports back at home that the possibility of a war breaking out in Jowston was highly probable. A huge lump formed at her throat. War in South Window? If so, could it mean that....?

No. The other houses seemed to be intact, and from the location of most of the rubble, it appeared that only one or two houses seemed to have blown up. Why, Kasumi had no idea, swallowing the lump.

"Excuse me sir....what happened here?"

"Oh, didn't you know? That kooky inventor Adlai's house blew itself up. Always knew that old man was dangerous, what with him mucking about with all those explosive chemicals of his and all."

"Ah. I didn't know being an inventor was dangerous work."

"Fah. Hey, rumors even have it that this fugitive from Toran sneaked in the old man's house fleeing from Lord Granmeyer's guards, and HE blew the house up. Better than being caught alive, know what I'm saying?" A sly wink, as if he knew everything there was to know about politics and espionage.

"REA-lly?"

"Yeah, really. Still say the old man got what's coming to him. Got guards posted all about, cause they're still trying to comb the area for the fugitive's body."

Toran fugitive? Kasumi could count on one finger the people she knew who were officially missing from Toran at the very moment. Something bubbled up inside her, but she quickly squelched it. She was supposed to be angry after all.

Turning, Kasumi managed to drag Krin away from the weepy old man --Adlai, she supposed. "Now let's see if you're good for anything after all." She said evenly. "We're going to go get some money changed, but after that we're gonna be tailing after those guards. Since this Lord Granmeyer person seemes to be in charge here, I might get away with paying him a visit -- official overtures from Toran for peace or something ambassador-like. I want you to scout around and keep your eyes peeled for trouble."

Krin managed a small grin. "I guessed you've risen really high in life, huh? Still....this is kinda like old times, wot? I promise I won't run away again." He added quickly, when Kasumi opened her mouth. "Honest."

Kasumi sighed, quickly leaving Adlai and his former domicile behind. "We'll just see if you're better at your word now than before. But first, the money changer." She turned.

And brushed something that scuttled.

A popular librarian from the Toran Republic named Hugo onced published a Standard Desk Dictionary, used by many nobles and a huge assorted number of people in the Republic, a heavily compiled list of common words, slangs and phrases, and their subsequent meanings in fluent prose. Among these words, there is such a term known as "adrenaline rush". In Hugo's dictionary, it was defined as "a sudden burst of speed propelled by the nervous system in cases where the person is experiencing a life or death situation or other related events." It was an apt description.

Many of the cityfolk who were roaming the streets were treated to a great view of Kasumi streaking towards them, pumping eyes wide, her arms hard and an indelibly long scream in high soprano emanating from within the deep recesses of her throat and vocal chords. Ruled by an able mayor for a long time now and taught the more basic aspects of common sense, they did what any sensible person would do, which was to get out of her way, fast.

"AAuuuuugh! Get them away from me!!!" Kasumi tried to crane her neck to look behind her, no small feat with the speed she was going, and was rewarded with the sight if a long line of small, and considerably abundant bands of roaches streaming out of the junk and moving in her general direction. "Aaaaaauuuughhhh!" With one last superhuman effort, Kasumi resorted to less ladylike tactics and scampered up a nearby open window. The old man doing his daily toiletries inside stared at her with consternation, but Kasumi was too busy to notice.

"Get them away!"

It took Krin and several good Samaritans bringing out several cans of bug sprays and driving the insects away to convince Kasumi to climb out of the frightened man's window, and even more to calm her down.

This was going to be one hell of a trip.

Some hours later......

"I didn't know bits could cost this much!" Kasumi marveled, as they left the store. "And I thought a thousand bits wouldn't be enough!"

"They say war's fast approaching." Krin said, eyeing the money mournfully until Kasumi shoved it back into her pack. "And Toran's stable at the moment, so the rate's higher now than it usually is."

Kasumi shot him a warning look - she had seen where his eyes had wandered - as they passed the rubble that had once been known as Adlai's house. Or at least, Krin passed the rubble, while Kasumi doublechecked the ground before nervously edging her way around it. This time, its former owner was nowhere to be seen. "Alright then, next. Where's this Lord Granmeyer staying in? I take it there's a mayoral residence or something of that sort around here?"

Krin pointed. "Left at that corner, then straight ahead. You can't miss it, it's the fanciest building in this city, and the largest to boot."

Kasumi sighed. "If we can't know what's going on, I can always use a formal visit as an excuse anyway." She took a step forward.

And stopped. Krin, not expecting the ninja to halt so suddenly, bumped into her from behind.

Kasumi was a ninja, and ninjas were a useful lot. Not only were they trained to become good stealth fighters, they were also known to possess acute powers of observation. There were two things wrong with the part of South Window that she was looking at, and Kasumi's eyes picked them out with unerring accuracy.

First observation. There were no longer any guards haunting the rubbles of the inventor's destroyed house.

Second observation. There was a crude drawing of McDohl on a wanted poster on a tree right next to her. Crude was the nicest description she could give. Ivanov, the former Toran Liberation Army painter, would have had a heart attack had he seen the portrait.

Now, in lieu of a conclusion for the first observation, there was probably a logical reason as to why the guards had given up their search for their "missing fugitive".

They could have been ordered to search somewhere else, having exhausted all possibilities of the afforementioned area.

Or they could be questioning witnesses in hopes of discerning the fugitive's current location.

Or they could be on their lunch break.

Or they might have already found who they were looking for.

Conclusion for the second observation?

That was another matter entirely.

"It's not roaches again, is it?" Krin spoke up plaintively from behind her.

In a flash and in the space of about two seconds, Kasumi was off to the mayor's house, with a floundering Krin barely at her heels. And for once, Kasumi didn't care if the hunchbacked thief was escaping or not.