Chapter 1: New Day

The street was nothing special, within the city of Lecnce; a small city 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 of the city.

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 an upstanding 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 could become an upstanding member.

As the gates were opened, the sound of the bells echoed down the narrow street, it 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 as maids or servants, and the Ministree of Student Education had made a rule that the schools could not make a student attend schools for a long period or make them do 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 them tutoring the kids of the second tear.

*

The rusty gates of the school creaked open, as I waked out with the many pushing me aside as to race to their works. I could taste the dust in the air, and the sound of the crows fighting for food near the litter box, it all 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 the 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 is a waste of money for them as the backpacks 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.

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 faded advertisements, and then the same gate to enter the rich-filled region of the middle class.

As soon as I came near the gate a guard in heavy armor asked me for my identification, as soon as I showed him my proof of workplace, he left me to continue to walk to my workplace.

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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.

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 name “Leon.” Then continued “Why are you late today?”.

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

He was wearing a tall top hat which was black in color, a black coat, he was also wearing a high waist pants along with his black boots made with wood and leather.

As he came near me and stopped walking, he continued “I and my wife will be away from the house for the next two days”.

As he was explaining the situation my mind wandered off about something else, it was about the 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 shoulder, causing me to flinch momentarily.

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 red building, by the front door, a boy came running out holding a little red box, it was red in color indicating danger, the boy was showing moments 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 a decrepit material store. He bolted towards the market and towards the shop which he had set his eyes on. With all his strength he ran and slammed the door shut behind him.

He then quickly ran inside the material store; 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

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

The letter had been torn in half. The only word the boy could understand in the whole letter was ‘Ink’

*

The prayer house was a white building near the center of the west region, close to a bustling 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, and as I went near the driver a group of men wearing brown coats and pants occupied the seats on the cab, the old-looking man among them showed a badge to the cab driver.

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

I then looked 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.

Ms Wall’s older sister was Margret Huffily, she was living near the flourishing eastern region, she was living in the city of Strrufle, which was the name of the capital city of the kingdom. It was also the region where his majesty lived together with her majesty.