The Peace Accords signed after the Great Purge was said to have been a groundbreaking achievement by both the Great Families and the Rulers of the Night Creatures.
It helped to stop further bloodshed and allowed both parties to come to terms that would be favorable to future generations.
The Accords saw the Rulers of the Night Creatures and their denizens retreat to the Eastern Highlands which they then corrupted with their essence to mark the area as their territory.
Of course, not all of them left for the Eastern Highlands of Ra’as and those that didn’t came together to form what would be known as Strongholds.
Each Stronghold had two things in common; they had a high number of Night Creatures staying in them and secondly, the location held historical value.
Krobridge was one such location.
According to the terms laid out in the Accord, Night Creatures that chose to stay in a Stronghold were allowed to do as they pleased as long as no human life was taken, and on the part of the D.O.D, they would try as much as possible not to interfere.
Those were the terms laid out but considering how tempting it could be to feast on humans and prevent word from getting out, the Great Families decided on a different strategy to curb the excesses of the Night Creatures.
Which was what gave rise to the Liaison.
There was no D.O.D. precinct in Krobridge but there was a Royal Blue regiment so a department was formed.
Department for Special Relations.
Headed by the Liaison who was most times handpicked by the Great Family heads themselves, the Department was charged with keeping watch over the Strongholds and ensuring they didn’t overstep their boundaries.
With that arrangement, peace was kept stable in these Strongholds where humans and Cryptids lived side by side.
A man wearing a curved grey cap and brown jacket over a white t-shirt, suspenders, and brown pants with shoes to match, was seen racing down the busy streets of the business district of Krobridge.
Krobridge was divided into three main areas; Kro Institute, Newwick which was substituted as a general estate for all noble houses present in the city, and lastly, the 3rd district popularly called Funland which the business district was a part of.
In any case, the man, who looked no older than 25, while running, bumped into quite a few people before quickly recovering and with a muttered sorry, continued on his way down the street.
After almost 15 minutes of running, he arrived at a large building with the insignia of the Royal Blue etched on its gates.
Pushing the gate aside while murmuring a greeting to the guards who replied with slight amusement, the man rushed into the building before making his way downstairs.
"Why do you think he’s running this time?" The first guard asked jocularly.
The second replied similarly. "Maybe those vampire guys are starting to move again."
"Heh, I doubt it. The Liaison is a scary lady. Except they want to have their ass handed to them, they’d better stay as they have all this while."
Due to the unique nature of the strongholds, most adults knew about the existence of Vampires.
It was considered mandatory to ensure that when a child reached a certain age, they were taught about the supernatural to ensure they didn’t overstep their boundaries.
Meanwhile, the young man that was running earlier soon arrived at his destination after making his way to the underground floor of the Department of Special Relations.
He rushed to the central office while greeting those he came across.
As he got to the door, a plaque was seen on the door with a title reading, Department of Special Relations, Liaison.
The man knocked thrice and after waiting for a few seconds, a feminine voice was heard.
Taking a deep breath to calm his rapidly beating heart, the man turned the knob and walked in before closing the door behind him.
The smell of musty newspaper and garlic entered his nostrils causing him to scrunch his nose while his eyes captured a few disturbing images placed on the walls of the office that were barely large enough to fit 15 people.
"Billy, you may save your comments on whatever you smelled just now and tell me why you are here." The female voice came again.
The man, no, Billy let out a sigh before glancing at the one that had spoken.
Seated on the other side of a wooden table was a lady that looked to be in her thirties, dressed in a male suit with auburn colored hair and similar colored irises.
She exuded a certain amount of pressure with her posture revealing her status as a noble.
Billy found himself unable to say anything for a brief moment, however seeing as she was waiting for him to speak, he quickly composed himself.
"Uhmm, morning ma’am."
"Skip the pleasantries. What is it?"
"News... from the Extensions," Billy replied with a slightly worried expression.
"The black market for each Extension was destroyed overnight with every member except their leaders left to spread the word."
"Wait, the black market was destroyed?" The Liaison found it hard to wrap her head around the concept.
Sure she never really liked the black market for all the illegal stuff that happened there but it was no mystery that it was also helpful for certain reasons.
Pursing her lips, she shook her head before focusing on the latter part of Billy’s statement.
Her brows furrowed, she inquired. "What word was spread?"
"...That humans and Vampires will no longer be treated equally."
"I think the Vampires of Krobridge might be planning a revolution."
"They wouldn’t be so dumb as to go against the Peace Accords, no?... Except they have found something that makes them confident enough to face... the Great families." The Liaison dragged out the last part of her statement as she understood the implications.
"They have found something to strengthen their resolve in doing this." Billy mouthed out what she was already thinking.
"Damn it!" The Liaison slammed her palms on her table as she rose to her feet. "We have a big problem. Gather the others, measures have to be put in place before this gets out of hand."