After several days of meals and resting in a tavern, Darius started to feel relaxed and well. It would take him months to get all the strength back, but with his current lifestyle, he could make it happen. The only problem was that he lacked money. The problem was that the sewer where he had been blocked with some broken caravan wagon that was too big to lift. Darius had tried to find other hatches and a way to get to his loot, but it would take more time to find the exact location with the ancient sewer system. Currently, he had waited that someone would do something to the wagon, but nothing had happened for days. He had not been lazy either. Mapping Ardon city sewers and different junctions had given him a large picture of the sewers in the city, but it seemed that some parts were remotely built at other times. It was apparent that there was no city-wide sewer but only semi-connected or not connected at all parts, depending on the elevation of the land. It seemed that different parts of the city also contributed to this difference. Slums had the worst sewers. It seemed that the city had grown at some point extensively, and sewers had been made, but in the area of slum, these works had been halted, and the materials were worse. Some parts had even caved in.
Underneath the market square and merchant district, the tunnels were more functional and cleaner. There was no connection from there to the slum sewer, but Darius had found one tunnel that connected the merchant district sewers to the nobility area. This area was in the deeper part of the city where also city lord lived. But it was still within the scope of the sewer because the land didn’t have as high elevation. The biggest difference was the Black Arch Academy area for mages. This area was like a city within a city, enclosing almost as large area within it as the rest of the city combined. Academy was also built from more expensive materials. Stones of its walls were a black stone gleaming in the moonlight, and large portions of the academy were constructed with red bricks, the kind of material Darius did not find anywhere else in the city.
In comparison to the stone walls of the city and the whitewashed walls of the nobility area, the academy area looked like aristocrats would live there. Academy area was a close neighbour to the Nobility area, but there did not seem to be a connection with the sewers or at least Darius had not found it within several days. Although he had been collecting information on Ardon city, he had heard that the nobility area was forbidden to go without permission and even more so in the case of Black Arch Academy. Still, Darius viewed sewers as an excellent practice to avoid these limitations. After being stuck in his home village for years, he did not like any artificial limitations.
One of these limitations was money, which Darius wasn’t as custom to handling. At this rate, Darius had only one month to get more money to keep himself in the tavern. There was no work he could be hired for that would pay well. He could try to make potions, but the materials also cost, and he did not have money for even alchemical tests and failures, not to talk about actually making potions. Also, those alchemy tools he even had were locked underground by the damn heavy, broken wagon. Making money with potions was an excellent choice in the long term, but Darius did not have the luxury of time or resources to achieve this goal. His other options were to do dangerous work for guilds with meagre payments, pickpocketing, making some busywork in the city, distributing newspapers, doing chimney cleaning, and other tedious works without proper payments. Pickpocketing was risky, as he could see first-hand when he grabbed one thief's arm. No, it was dangerous and stupid. At the same time, there had to be better ways to make money.
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No proper work would have paid well, and some of the shady works were more dangerous than others. While in the slaver cage, Darius had turned 13 years old. It did not help much in a city full of people ready to work on any work. Also, living in the city seemed to cost more money than everywhere else. Darius started to become sceptical about his chances in the city. Still, despite this, he knew he had many other things going for him if he could somehow get enough tools and materials for alchemy. That was his best bet since woodcutters didn’t really have work here. Instead, most of the wood was bought from elsewhere. Pickpocketing was easy but too dangerous. But he could go back to the hideout of those slavers to loot more stuff. Maybe there was something worth the coin. But during the day, he would need far more information on the city and different works, people and stores.
After washing himself once more after going to sewers, Darius went to eat at the main hall of Green lantern. Edwin was there but not alone. A scattering of people was eating late meals after work in the main hall, road workers, one rich guy with two slaves, and a quiet girl in the corner. After glancing at everyone in the room, Darius went to the counter and smiled at Edwin.
“Larger crowd, hu? Can I get my meal Edwin?”
“Hehe, yes Darius, it has been a good day now. It seems that some road work was finished.”
“That is great, almost double the usual crowd. Do you happen to know how much they are paid for it?”
“Well, it's hard work boy, around 10 coppers per day, and half of it is spent here on food,” Edwin smirked. “Are you trying to find some work? I know some houses that would need servants for 15 silvers a month.”
“Thanks for the offer, Edwin, but I am too occupied with alchemy. I have been trying to get all the materials for potion making and all manner of tools.”
“Oh, I didn’t know that you are into potioneering, boy, but now I know how you can afford the room” Edwin smiled almost in a relieved manner, “Just tell me when you need a bigger room or storage room for rent.”
“Thanks Edwin. I will come to do business with you when I can.”
Darius had given a broad excuse for having money, his occupation, and why he had to wash himself all the time. It's important to give people something to consider instead of not telling them anything to avoid questions. It was better than leaving his manners and money unexplained. It was a half-truth, after all. Darius would just have to conquer many problems before he could make potioneering profitable.
In the evening Darius did not have any better ideas. He went past the street with the hidden loot. Sadly he was met again with the unfortunate sight of the broken wagon on the sewer hatch. He even asked some questions about the wagon, but the shopkeeper just said that the wagon was broken. It had taken almost a whole day to get the wagon where it now was. The store owner needed some weeks to be able to fix the wagon. Also, it would require several men to lift it back up. Darius did not have a few weeks to wait. While stores were closing, and the sun could not be seen, Darius took a hooded grey cloak from his travel sack and put it on in a deserted alley. Then he walked slowly to nearby remains of the slaver building. Darius only saw collapsed roofs and walls burned to cinders in various parts of the building. While waiting a while without hearing any noises, he walked inside.