The street was nothing special, within the region of Lecnce; a region with a population of about ninety-seven thousand, having spent its primary resource in education and hospitals.

The sun had set, and there was the sound of crows, which was the only main problem in the city called Rugia.

There was a long shadow across the old rusty iron gate of the school, the school was nearly seventy years old, the gates were covered in rust, the walls and windows were covered in dust and mud, and the building was enough to make a middle class/tear, citizen puke, the air around it was polluted enough that the street and the part of the city was of the lower class, the third tears of the society, it offered a single school for the whole area, and it was also the only place where an kid from the third tear/class could become an upstanding member.

As the gates of the school were opened, the sound of the school bells echoed down the narrow street, the sound was the signal informing that the school had ended for the day and the kids could go back to their respective places, to work for the remaining time, till going to bed.

Homework was not common in schools for the poor as the kids had to spend most of their free time working in their homes or the homes of the upper class (middle-class or nobles or royals) as maids or servants. The Ministree of Student Education had made a rule that the schools could not make a student attend school for a long period or make them do it in their respective homes, it was only for the third tear as they could not afford to hire private tutors, nor they had time for that, as most of the tutors of Rugia were busy tutoring the kids of the second tear.

*

The rusty gates of the school creaked open, as I walked out with the many others pushing me aside to race to their workplace, hoping to get some sweets or snacks. I could taste the dust in the air, and the sound of the crows fighting for food near the litter box showed that the day had ended.

For kids like me from the third tear, school was the only place for a better life, after graduating, if we got a scholarship our life was set, but even that came with a price.

Most of my classmates would spend their evenings working as maids or servants for the upper class, trading their precious moments of childhood for a better life.

I tightened the straps of my worn-out backpack; it was a dull black one. I had been using the same one from the first grade to the current one.

Usually, most families use a second-hand backpack as buying new would be a waste of money, for them as the backpacks would usually cost about two days' worth of meals for a single person, and the backpacks had to be purchased from the Ministree of Student Education itself.

As I started to walk to my work, my stomach started to grumble, it was the remainder for me to eat some food.

I started to walk fast, the same old walkway, the old narrow street, the old bridge, the same dusty buildings with old and faded advertisements, and then the same gate to enter the rich-filled region of the middle class, the region was called Grastow.

As soon as I came near the entry gate, a guard in heavy armor asked me for my work identification card.

I shook my right pocket and took out a boring brownish-yellow card, after verifying with the other guards, he left me, to continue my walk to my workplace.

As I walked the street, I took my pocket watch from my bag and checked the time. The time was 5:17, and I had to be at work by 5:10, as soon as I reached the house of my employer it was 5:21, and I was late by 11 minutes late.

As soon as I entered by the back door connecting to the kitchen, I heard a voice calling me, it was the owner of the house, Mr. George M Wall, he called me by my given name, "Leon." Then continued "Why are you late today?".

Mr. George came near me with his cane in his right hand, he had his thumb placed on the handle of the cane and his fingers on the top of the cane. As he came near me, with his step he made a noise with the cane.

He was wearing a tall top hat which was black, a black coat, he was also wearing a high waist pant along with his black boots made with wood and leather, in his hand was a cane, it was made with cherry wood.

As he came near me and stopped walking, he continued saying

"My wife and I will be away from the house for two days, so you won't have to come this Saturday and Sunday to work".

As he was explaining the situation my mind wandered off to something else, it was about a little red mark on his face, it had the shape of a hand, and it looked quite new.

As I was staring at his left cheek, I felt a sudden pressure on my right shoulder, causing me to flinch momentarily. I came to my senses.

I realized it was his cane pressing against my shoulder, I quickly focused my attention back on his words, and he continued, his expression unchanged. The pressure of the cane remained, to make me not lose focus.

* *

From the old red building, by the front door, a boy came running out holding a little red box, it was red indicating danger, the boy was showing a small moment while running, it was of changing the small box from one hand to another, it looked like it was quite heavy.

The boy glanced over his shoulder at the group of men in pursuit, numbering no less than six. His eyes darted towards the bustling market, where many people were shopping, before settling on an old-looking, abandoned potion store.

He bolted towards the market and towards the shop, which he had set his eyes on. With all his strength he ran and then threw the box on the floor before slamming the door shut behind him.

 He then locked the store with the old lock that was hanging in the door. Scared, he locked the door, hoping it would stop the persuaders. Luckily for him, it worked. He then started to open the small red box; it contained just a single page of a letter. It read

Xx/xx/xxxx

Leorg Fryndo,

I oop et d cleter fins u whel, Mai Leorg Fryndo, butt me M iting D cleter, D un ooks Beutyfal, Meas, Mai oop at u ell.

Ien mai palce, thner a er, Mai ops u shaf, cep fuyl, oops mai ink, ai oop het dhda ell b a gud God

The boy struggled to understand the words on the page. They were written in Old Jepwsn, a language he couldn't comprehend, despite being familiar with Modern Jepwsn. The letter was also old and looked like it had been damaged by water, and was also covered in dust, The letter had also been torn in half, it looked fragile as if it would break the moment the boy used some force.

 The only words the boy could understand in the whole letter were 'Ink' and the remaining last words, the words which he understood 'be a good god'

*

The prayer house was a white building, near the center of the Grastow, close to a bustling horse cab stand on a large, open ground, where there were numerous hackney carriages lined in the area waiting for passengers.

I approached a well-kept cab, as I went near the driver of the cab, a group of men wearing brown suits and pants occupied the seats on the cab, the old-looking man among them showed a pendulum with the imprint of the kingdom to the cab driver, as the stand was owned by the kingdom.

The pendulum acted as a badge, it was the proof of the Patrolling guards. It had many perks, with it a person could get free food from any kingdom-operated office, the person could ride any public cab for free, and it had many other perks too.

I then looked around to find another cab.

I was searching for a cab because Ms wall and her husband had to go to a party hosted by her older sister this Saturday and Sunday.

Ms Wall's elder sister was Margret Huffily, she was a woman in her forties, as I had not seen her I only knew this much as my employer did not like her and was making crude jokes about her. She was living near the flourishing Garten region, she was living in the city of Strrufle, not an important city to the kingdom but had good health care. Strrufle was the old capital of the kingdom, so it also had an enormous castle.

*

I finally found another well-kept carriage. After discussing the pay and handing over the unethical fees, I felt defeated as I left for my employer's house.

As I reached the house, his wife welcomed me. She was a wonderful person and sometimes I wondered how my employer had won her heart. My employer was the type of person who liked displaying his wealth and boasting about his successful printing business. With a happy, cheerful tone she then informed me about my uniform.

It was common for middle-class households to avoid paying for uniforms as they were expensive. So, they would usually instruct us to wear some simple, clean, light clothes. Commissioning custom-made uniforms from a skilled tailor was considered a luxury as many would not be able to afford them- the expense would usually cover a person's monthly meal cost.

As such, middle-class households were forced to strike a balance between maintaining their appearance and keeping their finance in check, as even for them, they would only spend it for special occasions.

She then presented me with a silver-colored box, which had the branding of the city's most popular tailor, Mr Lexmon. The silver box contained 12 sets of clothing. The garments lacked any particular patterns, they bore a closer resemblance to school or normal clothing than an attire typically worn by household staff.

With a gentle reminder, she instructed me with her cheerful smile, "Don't forget to wear them to school, so you can come to work in them from tomorrow."

Suddenly, the distinct sound of a cane resonated through the air, it was that of my employer. From the sound of his steps, it was evident that he was in a joyful mood.

Whenever he was feeling cheerful, he would make sounds with his cane, and steps, he would try his best to create noise, leading to an almost theatrical quality to his entrance.

Clutching his cane, he strode into the house and proceeded to his room. The atmosphere was punctuated by a resounding thud as he placed the cane in its cherry wood holder, which he had custom-built a year ago during the visit of a famous woodworker.

After some time there was again the sound of him removing the cane from his cherry wood holder, then again was a little sound of him walking while making the cane with the floor.

He emerged from his room and addressed me, "Isn't it getting rather late? Do you intend to linger here?"

His query caught me off guard. Confused I reached for my pocket watch, seeking clarity in its needles. The hour hand was at 6 while the minute hand was between 9 and 10, it was 6:47, only deepening my uncertainty. Sensing my hesitation my employer commented, "Ah, it appears there's still time left. You may continue your work till 7 o'clock."

Silently, my employer's wife checked my watch then she moved towards the nearby desk. On the desk, there was a lamp that was lit by Kerosene, some books that were printed by my employer, and some other things. She then pulled the drawer which was on the left side of the desk, the drawer contained some niche items along with a watch.

The time on the pocket watch was 7:13, My employer had a pressing engagement in Lecnce that evening, with only two available hackney cabs servicing the route—one early in the morning and the other set to leave around 7:30 in the evening—the urgency of the situation intensified.

My employer's wife turned to me and expressed her concern for my safety as I was quite young to travel alone at night, she advised me to accompany her husband, my employer on his journey till it nears my house.

In the carriage, my employer sat on the corner seat, the seats in the carriage were two rows, the carriage was not for families or friends, to travel together, but also the rows were facing each other. My employer was holding his cane in his right hand while leaning on it in an ungentlemanly way.

As the carriage reached near my house, my employer started to speak, he told me while pointing towards the box with his cane, "If you don't wish to wear them, then it's fine we won't force you to wear them". He also spoke with me about how boring it would be to visit his wife's sister's party, he said that if I did not find a carriage it would be fine as he does not wish to attend it.

I wanted to ask "Why do you treat me differently? Compared to other families, you see me as a child and not your servant?" I knew that if I had said that he would be heartbroken, as they did not have a child of their own, they thought of me as their son. I did not mind it and was a little happy about thinking about my good life.

A normal servant would typically get around 1 to 3 medium coins, it was handed out each week, and a loaf of bread would cost about 2 small coins. A normal family of 3 would need nearly a medium coin for a month if the expense of everything they needed is included.

Each week I was getting about 43 small coins. Normally servants of my age get nearly 7 or 10 small coins.

A small coin has a bronze color and the imprint of a little dog, A thousand small coins are equal to one medium coin, a medium coin has a bronze color, medium coins have an imprint of a torch, and a thousand medium coins are equal to one low coin, low coins have the imprint of a fairy and are covered in silver colored paint, one thousand low coins would be equal to one high coin, high coins are covered in real golds and have the imprint of the royal court, and one thousand high coins are equal to one gold coin, it had the print of King Lucar the IV.

I walked near my house, clenched my fist for a second, because of the cold, and used my right hand to pull the door, to open my way into my house. As soon as I entered, I was hugged by my little brother, he had no name, the reasons were simple a naming ceremony would take about 20 or 50 medium coins depending on the priest, and a name would only be given to a person's 10th birthday after that the person would need to pay a number of taxes to live, under the protection of the kingdom.

 ***

Lione Herfelt was the name of an upcoming author from Britain, she was 24 years old.

"Miss Lione", "Miss Lione Herfelt has won the newcomers writing award". There was applause, Lione walked up to the stage, Mr. Newman was the host, he was known for his clever and humorous remarks.

They chatted about her award-winning novel, Dream of Two, a novel about two boys named Edward and Eleven, both in their early teen life, when Leven dies by jumping from their school roof. What will happen to Edward?

Mr. Newman asked Lione "How did you get the idea of the story?" to which Lione answered "It was when I was in ninth or tenth grade, I and my best friend Kishan, we were talking, and when he said because of the exam he might die, and then he said that he will haunt me, for which I said then you better help me copy answers from others"

On the morning of 25/10/2007, there was an incident Lione's best friend Kishan died because of some mysterious circumferences, the news did not come in the headlines, and it was not even left in the memories of people, it might be because Kishan was not a popular author or might be because something tried its best to not make it known.

Slowly but surely, something had made everyone forget about him. Lione had forgotten about her best friend, Kishan's parents did not remember him, and the world was the same old one, except there was no Kishan, who was the author of Eye of Space and A Survival Guide to a New World.

 *

As soon as he hugged me, I felt my tiredness fly away, he was 6 years old, and he was my little brother. My mother came near us and said to my little brother that he should stop doing it as soon as I entered our house, and then she asked him to watch over the milk as she was chopping the potato and carrots to make soup.

Soon came the sound of someone walking, it was my father, as soon as he opened the door and came inside, the person who should have been watching over the milk jumped and hugged Father.

Soon was a cry from my mother screaming at my little brother as the milk was spilled from the heat. She scolded him not to leave watching the milk, to which he replied that he had left the job to the big man, he was referring to our cat, which was a stray one, it had many scars on its face, and its body was quite weak.

*

I woke up from my sleep, and my legs felt a little hard, it was my little brother, he had fallen asleep using my legs as a pillow for his head, and his drool was all over my legs. I sighed and slowly and calmly moved his head from my legs, and my legs were free again, I slowly got up, from the thin mattress, then went towards the outhouse.

The outhouse was a small building not connecting to our house, normally lower class people would not have a sewage system instead they relied on cesspits, luckily My family could afford the rent for a good home, and compared with other families from our side we were quite fortunate.

After finishing my business and cleaning my hands with soap, it was a homemade one, it had no particular smell or details, but it had a yellow tint. As I entered my house by the backdoor, my mother greeted me, she had a smile on her face, she had gone to her friend's house. She then took out a container, and as she was about to pour the remaining oats from the day before into a bowl, I told her that I had to attend school a little early, mother asked then what time I had to reach school. I answered that I had to reach school by 6:30 at least. She then took the pocket clock from my old bag's pocket, it showed the time as 6:47, my mother asked about it, and I answered that it had broken, for which she asked "When did it break?"

I answered with a smile "I think it broke around 6:47", we laughed.

I started to walk to my school, and after some time, I stopped by the giant clock near the park to see the time, I then continued my journey, the time was 5:27 in the morning.

I picked up my pace, and as I walked for some time I saw a stray dog, it was covered in dust and mud, it looked weak and like it had no strength, I got sad after seeing its condition, but I knew I could do nothing as to have more than one pet a person should pay house pet tax, My family already owned a cat, I could not afford more than that, the tax was around 1 medium coin per month. I knew my family would adopt it if I asked but the part of asking them made me feel sad.

Soon I got an idea after seeing the stray dog walking towards the thief's passage. The Thief's Passage was the name of a small area, it had many businesses like assassination Shops, human butcheries, dog fight areas, and the black market.

I was about to use it as a shortcut, but the words of my father and mother made me not to, they had said that if the people from Thief's passage caught me, then I would be turned into a slave or would be sold by pounds for others to eat.

Most of the people from the Thief's passage were not kind to others, in that area there was a high crime rate and people would even get eaten, there were many cannibals, and they did not even leave kids or babies. So I stepped back and turned towards the normal path by the scholar's district.

But suddenly I heard a voice, "What are you doing here young boy?"I turned around and saw an unfamiliar woman standing beside me, she appeared to be in her early twenties, she looked pretty and was wearing a full brown suit with many pockets and she had brown hair, Her medium-length hair framed a pleasant face that seemed familiar yet distant at once.

"Excuse me," I began hesitantly, minding my parent's advice to avoid drawing unwanted attention from the elites of the society.

I thought for some time, about whether to run or to answer, as I did not want to end up dead in some alleyway or not to get publicly executed for saying something that might offend her.

I ended my thoughts of running away from her, as it would mean that I would have committed a crime, of not answering an elite.

The society had a cruel rule, A Royal or Noble could murder the middle, Low class/tear, and the Banished/Outcast, as they wished.

However, a Middle-class person could not kill any people from the Lower class/tear as they wished, but the Banished/Outcast, could be killed.

The killing of Banished/outcast was legal, there was no limit to it, as being banished meant, a person would not be under the rule of any kingdom, they did not have to pay tax, they did not have to follow the kingdom's rules, likewise they did not get the kingdom's protection.

"But I'm heading towards my school by the Scholar's District, why?, is there a problem?", I muttered, averting my gaze, as I did not want to reveal too much of myself. Regret immediately flooded me upon realizing that I had added a questionable line - why? is there a problem? She looked down at me before meeting my gaze again, and then said with a smile "My apologies, young man. I mistook you for a moment, and believed you were considering entering 'The Thief's Passage'.

She then asked, "Why do you look scared, it's not like I am going to kill you, why are you scared?". Her tone was stern but mixed with a little kindness.

From her words, I got a stupid idea, it was to act like a middle-class person, looking at her dress and face, I thought that she was middle class or mostly a noble but not a royal, the fact that the royals would not even think of coming to places, which they seem like filth.

As I was about to lie my way out by saying I was a middle-class child, my work identification card, fell from my right pocket, as my pocket was not sewn properly. As I bent down to pick it up, she picked it up and gave it to me with a smile.

I understood from her reaction that she did not read it, as she also had a pair of glasses in one of the numerous pockets of her suit.

She then said smiling, "It appears we share similar destinations today; please allow me to introduce myself properly. My name is Abyth."

"My name is Leon", As we were continuing, We heard a scream, it was from the stray dog, Abyth looked at me and commented, "Think they might be making a stew out of him". I did not like her comment on it. I had seen the dog walking all over the streets, the dog was a kind one, I remembered my days when I was about seven, I was playing with the dog and with my friends when I did not go to school and when I did not have a responsibility.

I thought about the dog's help, when I was a child I had been lost I don't remember much, but I still remember saying, "Don't leave me" to the dog, when it was guiding me to my home. I left her and ran towards the thief's passage. As soon as I was about to enter someone held my hand, I turned back, and it was her.

As Abyth accompanied me into the dangerous territory, The Thief's Passage, and after searching for a few minutes, we found him, together with an unknown person, the person was a butcher, as he was holding a knife in his left hand, and was wearing a blood filled dress. After seeing Abyth and me he went mad, and he started to run towards us while holding the knife. He was about eighty meters away from us.

Abyth reached out to her front right pocket and took out a revolver, it had a wood-colored handle, and it looked quite dark and heavy. she shot three times, one was to his right leg, the second bullet hit his left hand, more precisely to his left wrist, from the pain he dropped his knife, but there was no scream, then was the last shot fired, the bullet which flew with a spark hit the stranger's head, there was no sound of pain or scream, the only sound was of the bullets, which were already fired. She spoke "Ha, first kill of the year, quite satisfactory", Her face looked like she was having fun as she killed him, she then went near the body and took out her glasses and she wore them, she then looked. She laughed and continued saying stuff that made me sad.

The scene was so gruesome, because of which I got scared and fell on my butt as I could not bear seeing a person die. Deep inside, I knew she saved me, but it might be my fate next to die, I thought. She came near and said "At least the dog is safe" and smiled at me, while still holding the gun, with her index on the trigger.

She then went near the poor dog, held its body, and hugged it, the dog was smart and brave but was paralyzed by the sound of the gunshot. She then came near me and dropped the dog on my body, it knew not to run away from her or to move when she had held him, as he knew how not to die from a bullet.

In my mind, I thought the dog was safe. She then looked down to put her revolver in her pocket, she saw her suit, covered with dust and dry mud, she laughed and gave me a hand to stand up, she then used her hands covered with gloves, to remove the dust and dry mud, and then patted the dog.

As I stood up with her help, still shaking in my shoes from witnessing a death in front of me, she then saw my work identification card, again, it fell, while the dog was trying to move, from his nose poking my pocket. She then took it from the ground and saw it, she then gave out a little laugh and said "I understand why you were afraid of me, I now also understand why you are still shaking, you have no experience of killing"She then took out a pendulum and swung it in front of my eyes, I slept with no fear for some time.

Someone was standing in front of me, I could feel it, I slowly opened my eyes, expecting to see Abyth, but I saw a man wearing a brown coat, a tall hat, and a pocket watch which was sewed into his trousers, which was neatly kept inside his pocket, standing in front of me, with his cane on his right hand, it was the old man from yesterday? he then gave me a bottle of water and helped me stand up.

He then asked me "Boy, Did you witness what happened at the thief's Passage?". To my surprise, we were near the entrance of the Thief's Passage.

I thought of lying, but it had a risk, Patrolling Guards had many artifacts, one of them was the Truth Pendulum, using a Truth Pendulum, they could force a person to answer truthfully, and to use it they had to be suspicious of that specific person, otherwise they would not get an answer, as the artifacts need some conditions to be fulfilled.

I answered, truthfully, "Yes, I did witness". After some more questioning, I peeped at his pocket watch, the time was 9:14. I knew I was going to be punished for coming late to school, for today my school's timing was from 6:40 to 12 as today we had to decorate and clean our school as tomorrow an important figure would be visiting my school today. The old man then offered to take me home, I rejected his offer at first but then accepted it.

We walked for some distance, We went near his private tram, it was a small but well-kept carriage that moved on tracks specially made for Luthorian type of machines, It could not move on coal train tracks and coal trains could not move on Luthorian trams tracks, and it ran on steam, it had an artifact called Luthorian, which needed water and would send high pressured steam which would then pass to a small box to distribute the steam to the eight wheels, to make it move.

He then pressed the big green switch on the box, and then instructed the driving team, to take us to Grastow. The Luthorian machines did not have a driver present on the machine, as they would control the machines from a building somewhere else. To start the machine, the only thing the person inside had to do was press the green button and use the small mic on the box to communicate, as it was a one-way communication, they had to trust the people operating it.

Grastow was a middle-class region of Lecnce, and it was also the place where my employer Mr and Mrs Walls lived.

I then said to the old man named Elrich, that I did not live in Grastow but lived in Rugia. As soon as I revealed that I was not from Grastow or another region like that, but from Rugia, he got shocked, then calmly asked about the dress I was wearing, I revealed that it was my uniform, he had thought from the dress, that I was from a middle-class background.

Old man Elrich, then changed his way of treating, from speaking concerning speaking with a boy of a low age, but not in a bad way.

But then he said, "Even if the lady, who killed that man was from a noble family, still I need to report it in the records."

As I asked why

Just then the tram stopped. My stop had arrived, and I noticed a small little detail: the audio was still transmitting.

"I don't know who she is except for her name, If I get to know more about her, I will say it to you", I said with a reassuring smile.

As I was about to walk to my home, Old man Elrich called my name, he then said: "Boy, don't say about today to your parents".

I smiled and continued on my way.