Chapter 5: Sister's Worry

"Sister, what is that? Why does it look different from Uncle Andrew's vehicle?" As Athena walked on the roadside, Raven suddenly noticed a unique luxurious cart running in the opposite direction and asked.

"That's the Lord of this Town's Landua Carriage, my sweetheart. Unlike ordinary carriages, it's made for high-status people to ride on." Athena answered.

"High status? Is he a rich person?" Raven asked with wide eyes.

"He is the richest person in this territory. Not only that, but the carriage, this street, our home, the school you are studying, the railway station, the factories, and all the land you see are being overseen by the owner of this carriage. And he also owns four more towns like Darkgrove and even one large city named 'City of Highhold.'"

"Wow! Amazing sister! But who is he? Why does he oversee us?"

"Hmm, He is Baron Alexander Whitbard and also a Noble of the Zenith Empire. Unlike us commoners, he has many privileges and can do many things in the territory. So, if you see him upfront, you must greet him politely and even pay respect to him." Athena explained everything to him calmly and even started to teach him about a few other things along the way. Although Raven saw multiple types of carriages like dog carts, broughams, and cabriolets passing by, he didn't find it interesting because he saw them often.

Before she could end her teaching of the worldly stuff, she noticed they had already arrived in front of a large compound gate.

It was one of the seven elementary schools of Darkcross called 'Silverhelm School,' where they taught basic studies and guided the kids to choose a path in their lives.

A school for commoners and people experiencing poverty was impossible a few centuries ago on the Ivory Island continent. But around a century ago, another elite group of wizards came from the mainland continent and started investing more money in educating children, improving lifestyles, and even introducing new technologies. That was how many Elementary Schools were created in every town and city. Although not everyone could enroll in elementary school, almost 60% of the commoners could send their children to school as long as they worked hard.

That was mainly because the wizards from the mainland continent not only provided education but even shared some of their advanced technologies to improve the lifestyles of the people. One of the few technologies were railways and steam locomotives, sewing machines, photography using technology, steam-powered printing press, Electric lighting, steel production, long-range communication artifacts, normal guns, artifact rifles, etc.

'Mysterious wizards from the other continent... Compared to my father and the previous Emperor, those foreigners did many things for the common folks.'

If it were a few centuries ago, wizards were revered as mysterious and scary people and caused fear among the masses. Even uttering their name in public caused restlessness among the people.

But as more time passed, people also progressed to the new era and grew accustomed to the presence of mysterious people.

Alas, a farmer or a shopkeeper in the rundown alley meeting a wizard in his lifetime should be only around once or twice.

That's how rare they were. (Wizards and Walkers are different.)

Even though Darkcross town had a total of 100,000 people, only 20 wizards stayed there. Of course, almost all of them still hide their true identity and always blend among the common folks and Walkers to not cause any disturbance.

If not for Athena staying in the palace during her childhood days and learning a few things about wizards, she wouldn't have believed that the wizards were hiding in this rural town and monitoring the town itself in secret.

While thinking about random things, Athena saw many small kids walking inside, one by one, in uniforms, greeting each other.

"Raven!!! Good morning!" A chubby-faced male child ran from the opposite side of the road with his large school bag and almost crashed into Athena. He had emerald green eyes, blonde hair, thick eyebrows, and appeared shorter than Raven.

"Robert!" Raven also raised his hand and waved his hand at him.

On the other hand, Athena slowly let Raven climb down from her waist and quickly adjusted his messy hair using a small comb. Then, she gave him the small lunch box bag and gave him a warm hug.

"Today is the first day of this semester. Don't fight with your classmates, and listen to what teachers say. Got it?"

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"Yes, sister." Raven nodded before grabbing the chubby kid's hand and running into the school compound gate. Once she saw him disappear from her vision, her smile faded slowly and was soon filled with worry.

'His health is getting weaker day by day even with all the healthy foods, and he is getting sick once a week. It seems I can't delay any longer. I must feed him Walker's spirit potion to see if there is any effect.' In truth, her aunt aimed to buy a miraculous life potion from the auction and try to cure Raven's soul. But it was easier said than done.

To buy such a miraculous potion, they needed lots of money.

Although her aunt was earning more by doing dangerous tasks as a mercenary, it still wasn't enough.

On the other hand, Athena barely earned 30 silvers per month and took care of household expenses.

'If I want to earn more, I must increase my Knight rank.'

During the past five years, she has been training endlessly and has progressed her swordsmanship considerably. However, her progression in Knight Training barely improved.

Alas, thanks to her physical fitness test and good written test score, she became a constable in the Police Department of Darkcrest town two years ago and was working as a Patrol Officer.

As long as she became an Official Knight, her position would rise to 'Head Constable.'

'But becoming an Official Knight isn't an easy job. My Knight techniques are flawed to be with.' No, it wasn't flawed, but the Royal Instructor didn't give her the proper technique for fear of hindering her body growth. However, due to her leaving the Royal Palace at the age of 13, she ended up losing her future.

'But I didn't even have a choice at that time.' Even if she couldn't progress, there was not a single regret in her mind.

'I don't care about that princess title or the Royal Family lineage.'

She aimed to rise in the government position somehow and slowly get recognition from Baron Alexander.

If she became an Inspector, she would get a lot of privileges from the Town Administration and might even be bestowed with the title of 'Knighthood.' It was basically one step away from becoming a commoner-born Noble!

Yes, she didn't have a single thought of becoming a Noble and getting caught by the Royal Family.

But getting the Knight title was important for her.

As long as he became a Knight of Baron, she would have the authority to possess' Aether Rifle.' Unlike the normal gun commonly used by police officers, Aether Rifles were one of the precious artifacts created by Wizards. They were capable of even killing a Magical Beast in one shot.

An average gun used by the Head Constable or Inspector was only around 15 to 20 gold coins and capable of killing low-rank monsters like goblins, wolves, kobolds, etc.

They were also pretty used to hunting down normal criminals and even the humans of apprentice Walkers.

But upon facing an Official Walker or higher Rank Monsters, the bullets released by the gun wouldn't even leave a scratch.

Even firing hundreds of bullets would do no fatal harm to such beings because of their hard skin.

To tackle such monsters, Wizards came up with a new idea and invented special weapons powered not by gunpowder but by magic stones.

Bullets of these magic artifacts were made of 'mana stone' or 'Magic Stone' and, upon triggering, could produce a destructive attack.

They were the Aether Rifles and other model guns. There were also ranks among the artifacts, with the lowest being common and the highest being Legendary.

Although swords, spears, and sabers were still the main weapons for many police officers, the appearance of normal guns and the magic artifacts made by wizards became more popular among high-ranked officers like Inspectors.

Normally, it would take more than two official walkers to take care of an intermediate-rank monster using swords. But as long as one had enough magic bullets, they could kill intermediate monsters endlessly using Common Rank Aether Rifles.

Alas, it wasn't easy to mass produce these weapons. Even in this whole Empire, there were only around 1000 weapons in a circle.

'And Baron also has a dozen in his possession.'

One of Athena's aims was to get her hand on such a weapon.

The reason was very simple.

Unlike most other towns, the Darkcross town they were staying in was very close to a dense forest named Mirage Woodlands, and monsters frequently appeared there.

But thanks to guns and magic artifact weapons, small-scale attacks by monsters were easily taken care of in the past.

Of course, if a High-Rank monster were to appear, it would be hard to kill it with the Aether Rifle alone.

During that time, the whole security department had to move to the frontline and face those monsters head-on.

'To protect my precious family, I need to find as many trump cards as possible.'

Thankfully, most of the high-rank monsters possess high intelligence to communicate and rarely leave the dense regions.

Alas, she decided not to get too relaxed.

Athena's other goal was getting the benefits of being the 'Knight of Baron.'

As long as she got that title, her current salary would become ten times or even twenty times higher!

'Every month, I get 30 silvers and 80 coppers as salary. But I spent five silvers on the house rent and five silvers on healthy food and medicine. I've also been paying ten silvers every month for Raven's studies for the past 12 months, leaving only ten silvers remaining as savings. Currently, I have savings of around 380 silvers. Aunt Shirley said a Walker Spirit potion will cost around 500 to 600 Silvers. To be exact, it costs around 5 to 6 Gold coins.' The Walker Spirit Potion wasn't a permanent cure, but it would help Raven strengthen his inner will.

If Athena actually drinks this potion, there is a high chance that she will break through the bottleneck forcefully and reach the realm of 'Official Knight.' But after seeing Raven's physical condition worsening day by day, she decided to spend everything on him.

'Alas, I still need more than 100 silvers.' Although she could ask for Aunt Shirley's help, she decided not to touch her savings money.

'Do I have no choice but to sell the gift I got from the Lord of the Crimson Fort?' She slowly raised both her hands and hurriedly slapped her cheeks harder.

'What are you even thinking, Athena? Is this necklace more precious than your cute little brother?' She took a deep breath to steel her heart and proceeded to move to Grey Street, where the black merchants' shops were located.