He would wouldn't he

would wouldn't he he

Hehe, wouldn’t would.

Would would would he he he.

Would wood nut tree he

he he he

he would nt would he

*a confused woodchuck rocks back and forth*

Those weird bugs keep showing up all over the place. Especially the keep. They are spies. I know it. Buggy little bugs, relaying information.

THey must be Sleepless Hordelings. Keeping an eye of the goings on in the city...

(Stormlight Archive/Cosmere reference)

Those are Ivenmoths! Pretty harmless as far as spy drones go...

Viracroix uses them like Varys does.

I do appreciate seeing this side of Ran. Underneath that fervent desire to learn and share... he's just like us; anxious, nervous of his decisions, full of regrets.

I've no doubt that he has a poison specially marked for that eventuality.

the green tie thing is highly poisonous just for that eventuality.

Ironically, I think that's exactly why Ran would actually be a reasonably good Trademaster (if he didn't kill himself before doing anything of course). Those who don't want power are often the most suitable to wield it.

I agree

It takes a certain sort (who would hate it)

A public servant should have the good of the public be their chief concern, after all. Anyone that desires power for personal benefit is unlikely to value the common good higher than their own.

And a man that thirsts for knowledge will always be a better option than one that thirsts for power. Eccentricities are just an acceptable trade-off for the mentality.

The irony of democracy. Anyone who runs is by design not the best candidate.

But a system where the most capable end up in charge would just encourage people to stop striving so hard.

Well at least we know she's... somewhere and not dead

I'm pretty sure that poison is water. :3

Technically, anything that's processed by the body can be poison in large enough doses, it's just that for water that dose is consistently drinking more than a litre per hour for several hours.

Water is the universal solvent. It czan solve anything.

At least there's no corpse (yet). Buggo gal might still be alive and possibly calmed down.

That 5th panel is basically me with the stuff that's been going on at work.

I HATE IT

And Viracroix wouldn't blame Ran one bit. :p

I imagine getting Buizel's help would be, well, a big help.

And also, Yannit does have a safe place out in the city: Isher's house.

Viracroix's also the type of guy who would have Ran's poison supply taken away before appointing him

"Of course, I am honored to accept this appointment. I simply need to return to my personal quarters for a moment..."

Ran returns home, opens his hidden drawer for his emergency cache, only to find a note from the late trademaster.

"NOOOOOOO!"

It would be like a dieter and their hidden caches of snacks. A game between dieter and whoever is making them diet, with both trying to outsmart the other, only with poison and deadly consequences instead of food and body fat at stake.

The house in plain sight covered in bloody handprints! It's so obvious, they'll never think to look there!

Seriously though that's a really good idea, I'd totally forgotten about it but Yannit would totally think to go there even if for no other reason than her instinct to seek out the hive. Isher's house was the first place she spent the night among her new family, it's not just physically safe it's -emotionally- safe.

That is fairly sound reasoning there.

Here's hopes she'll run into Kass somewhere around the city, and hope Baxxids won't be around.
I don't wanna loose the precious Buggo. :(

God fucking mood tho.

that kind of thing would make me lose my mind.

That makes so much sense for Ran now.
Learning new and unexpected things is still a semi controlled environment.
This is too random to deal with.

There's no CONTROL GROUUUUP

Your dialogue always feels so grounded and authentic. Really interested to see what happens next.

Hey, thanks! It's an aspect I really put a lot of effort into, to have it sound like natural speech, rather than "narration"

Dey better fine da buggo cute soon! And buggo big should be kept well away… though he’s a good guy. Maybe slow exposure? Like when you are introducing new pupper to new kitty?

Hehe. Ten thousand years ago a mod on a fairly large forum asked me if I wanted to be considered as a candidate for future staff recruiting.

I responded by making a short animation of smashing the Nope! button and blasting off into space. Should upload it one of these years but I'd need to edit out the text (also there's one frame where half the image is slightly misaligned and it's super obvious).

Never, never let yourself get shoved into a position of responsibility, that's my motto.

I can only hope they find our good bug friend

I'm still holding out hope for Yannit.

Seriously how the Trademaster holds his hand in the back, i kept looking for a knife that isn´t there

I think we all know Ran enough by now to know he wasn't making a joke.

Ran doesn't have any sense of humor that ordinary people have been able to discern. He derives some satisfaction from the people he torments, but that's just experimenting on them.

huh... strange to hear a silver lining out of this but.. it is true.. still..

:(

Hadn't considered what kind of accent they'd have compared to IRL accents, but the "Ach..." bit made me think German briefly. Any hints on what the reader might reference in their mind when reading?

That is a big bug on that chair

That's an Ivenmoth, which is what House Ivenmoth is named after. They're harmless and all over Valsalia. They taste bad, but they are edible, making starvation a non-concern even for the most destitute within the city

Honestly? Mood.

That little grammar correction makes me think Viracroix -did- know the trigger.

Also I am now shipping Yannit x Kalgkur and I would not be surprised if Viracroix is too.

Surely they'll ultimately become the best of friends.

If it makes Ran feel any better, I am also unhappy with things.

Are those... Baxxid Skulls!?! <Ó\/ò>

The one on the left is shaped like a birb, which can be seen here!

Ah yes. Also, WHAT!?! Lol. <^\/^>

They got big birds and big other things in Val Salia, it would appear!!!!

Indeed! <^\/^>

"Mastocat" and... looks like an "Ogran?" Could this be associated with Ogres? Did you just find Isher's forehead-horned, raptor-esque race?

You can see it better in the high-res version, it says "Hyralix" and "Mastocor".

omigod you're right it -changed!- I was looking at page 033, where the high-res version says Hyrax (or possibly Kyrax? Looks like a K to me) which probably means that somewhere in the weeks since the story started, Ran decided either the identification or the naming conventions were wrong and put a new plaque up. A truly authentic scientific process xD

(also kudos to koof1313 for noticing the parallels between the two scenes)

(also don't even get me started on living language, and what we could speculate about the etymology of this name >,.<)

I spotted the moth! What do I win?

Hemlock time!

Viracroix is an absolutely ruthless bastard... but he does seem to be a good-hearted one. One of them philosopher kings that don't exist but once in a century.

Maby hes using empathy for manipulation?

He's a true Machiavellian Prince. Of the highest caliber. He is feared, and loved. He does much to cultivate both. Because fear alone can lead to rebellion, and love alone invites coups. So he keeps the grain houses full, and any self-centered middle manager caught lining their pockets selling grain surplus is beheaded.

Yo, OOPsites! I'm here to remind you once again that there's a place called "Top Web Comics" https://www.topwebcomics.com/?home=3 that compiles comics from various places. There's a bunch of cool stuff there. They have monthly votes, so you can support OOPs there. You can vote once a day per device, so your PC, laptop, tablet, phone, etc.

I've noticed that you can sometimes even get in extra votes from different IP addresses, or if you're disconnected from your IP and open up again later.

It closed out last month at 904 votes and 33rd place. It's currently at 70 votes and 33rd place. The highest it's reached is 24th place, and the top vote getters seem to end up with something over 20,000+ votes, at least recently.

Vote early, vote often! Help OOPs get noticed!

I like those “prove you are human” tests. I am interested in a couple strips from them.

They know each other all too well.

He would.

I knew this page was gonna get me as I was shading it, I just KNEW it.

As much as I always look forward to actually reading the next page for the silly hee hoo funnies that will be there, you have a knack for capturing moments between characters. Light moments, tense moments, and also very heavy and sad moments.

I also love the detail that Ran is sat in the chair that Viracroix was sitting in on page 33 - giving up his place of comfort and station for an old friend, indeed.

Ayyy you noticed! And yeah I love me some characterization; I'd be doing entire years of this sorta stuff if it didn't mean bringing the entire story to a halt

Val there is little in your comics I don't notice, it's just the context points I don't always have. And honestly just makes me excited for if you ever get the opportunity to do that kinda characterization stuffs!

It is a smart man that knows what he really, really doesn't want to do—EVER.

Daw, a cute lil Ivenmoth.

"There were still SO MANY things I wanted to make that insect smell..."

congratulations ran you're being promoted to trade master

Hmmmm....

Fifth panel as meme material. Ultimate relatability.

Moth spotted

The kind that dreads responsibility is SOMETIMES the best type to wield it. Sometimes.

Ah so still alive enough to slip away and hide, VERY interesting. Presumably wouldn't leave the city outright, probably wouldn't have a clue which direction anything was and was willingly exiled so even if she could find her way back its unlikely she would be able to rejoin the hive.

Goodness though, if her former family found her body still somehow smelling of Baxxid and that prompted some bizarre one sided species war against the city. Very much hope it doesn't somehow result in that. *shudders*

At most all I can hope for is she'll have a swift passing, the scenarios of her truly surviving and the matter of the scent trigger being worked around just seem far to faint a hope to ponder.

While for Ran, lets hope that with the infrequency of Indrel ending up there that his distant future successor will be able to learn enough from his works that a solution could be discovered.

No fear of Ran ever becoming Trademaster though. He's gotta become the future new husband of Lady Kella Talleraine.

Real hours

Another commenter made a good point that Yannit would likely hide in Isher’s house for safety, which is something I agree with. I imagine she’ll tend to her injuries there as well.

Poor, Ran. Much like him, I am also filled with uncertainty as to what will happen next. I’ll stay tuned till next time!