The capital-labor divide was one of the greatest drivers of inequality in the world of Alaria. Most of a nation’s growth in gross domestic product went to capital income that was mostly concentrated in the hands of the rich as opposed to labor income which was what the working class and the poor earned. Dividends, profits, interest, and rents rose far faster and greater than fixed salaries which required active pressuring and continuous performance for even the possibility of a reluctant bump.

Cæ was crystal clear that labor income could never help him reach his impossible goal.

The only way he could get to where he wanted to was by ownership of magicapita; capital which bestowed its mana to its owner. He needed to have capital income and lots of it.

And that obviously begged the question.

“How do I get my hands on all the capital income I need?”

Simply getting one’s hands on capital income was not the hard part; that could easily be done by purchasing equity on the Elendir Stock Exchange.

The issue was that he needed to own a lot of magicapita that yielded a lot of income to eventually give him the power he needed. Enough to be the richest and thus the most powerful man in the world. Purchasing all of that on a public stock exchange would require him to already own all the money that he was looking for in the first place.

“How in the world am I supposed to get my hands on all the massive amounts of magicapita I need?” Cæ’s eyes narrowed.

Very few people had ever achieved even a fraction of the impossible goal he had set for himself.

The handful of the most powerful and rich people in the world.

That begged the question.

“How did they get their hands on all their magicapita?”

That was easy to answer.

“Luck. Inheritance. Success.”

Cæ could rule out the first two pretty firmly.

His mother had died giving birth to him and he hadn’t the faintest fathoming who his father was; he had absolutely no inheritance whatsoever. His life, on the other hand, felt like the world had conspired to play a sick game to test just how much misfortune it could stuff inside one person before they broke.

He could not count on luck or inheritance to get him to the top of the world.

That left just one other option.

“Success.”

Some of the single most wealthiest people in the world obtained their wealth through commercial success. They started what were initially small businesses before those small businesses went on to become the largest magicorporations in the world. Simply by retaining ownership of most of the company, they obtained absolutely gigantic amounts of magicapita in the form of extraordinarily precious equity.

If he was going to become the richest and most powerful person in the world to then tear it down and create a new world without injustice and inequality, then this was the only path forward.

He would need to endeavor on commercial ventures in the hopes that he would eventually be able to hit it big.

The very thought of it stimulated his mind. His imagination flared out of control, dreaming up countless visions and possibilities emerged in his mind that offered a multitude of paths that he could potentially walk to eventually achieve his goal of becoming the most powerful man in the world.

There was just one problem.

“Even the cheapest possibilities require at least some financial stability and venture capital.”

In the past twenty four hours after his discharge from the hospital, he had gotten a good grasp on his current circumstances.

His job was long gone, obviously. There was a good chance that the diner that he used to work at would welcome him to his own position once more. His little flat room was also long gone, having received no rent, it most certainly wouldn’t remain registered to his name. He was sure that his misanthrope of a landlord had disposed of all his personal belongings as well.

He could feel the lack of mana in his mana core, indicating that he had lost all his savings too. The bank had most likely claimed his savings to cover his student loans.

Thus, at the moment, the only magicapita he owned was his clothes, the cash in his wallet and, of course, his sovereign ownership over his body and his skillset. The debt he had undertaken most likely canceled that as well, resulting in almost no mana in his mind.

Aside from that, he had nothing.

He had absolutely no way of starting a commercial venture or start-up of any kind.

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On top of that, he was in debt for not just his own medical bills but also for Lilia’s, a fact that truly enraged and festered the hatred that lingered in his heart.

“I need a job immediately to start paying off that loan. I don’t want to end up as a slave.”

As much as he disliked it, he would need to go back to working a job for the time being. He simply did not have the prerequisites to start on a venture.

“Back to struggling just to survive and save once more.”

A scowl emerged on his face at the very thought of it.

He had done it shortly after graduating high school when he applied for college. Commuting across districts on his cycle was truly tiring, but alas, it was something that he would need to do again until he had enough money to live comfortably.

And thus, it began.

The struggle of a lifetime.

He knew that it would be tough.

He knew that it would be the most difficult thing he had ever set out to do.

Perhaps one of the most difficult things that anyone had set out to do.

But, he didn’t intend to fail.

For now, his primary goal was to secure his most basic needs.

“I need food and shelter.”

Both required money.

Money that he didn’t have.

“Food can be handled, but shelter…” His expression grew complicated. “It’s a luxury that I can’t afford for now. I need alternatives.”

There were no such things as homeless shelters in Elendir. The city and the country didn’t give a damn about the homeless. Not only did they not give care, but they even designed cities with the express purpose of deterring homeless people from taking shelters.

Hostile architecture was designed to prevent the homeless from being able to take shelter on benches, or vents. Often armed with inhumane means of preventing homeless people from being able to even rest.

“I’d sleep in a bag on the streets…” He gritted his teeth. “If not for the fact that I’d get caught and locked up by the police.”

Elendir actively spent taxpayer leenars to drive away the homeless who occupied the streets at night, all to ensure that the pristine image of the city was not sullied. Even the citizens of the more posh districts would go out of their way to report homeless people so that the streets could be entirely cleansed of them.

That cut out simply living outside.

“My old employer…” Cæ murmured to himself. “Would she let me sleep in the storage room at night?”

He had been employed at a family-run restaurant for several years before his accident and coma. They were among the few people who had ever treated him kindly.

“Maybe… just maybe…” Cæ dared to hope. “Mrs. Selvig would let me sleep there for the time being.”

That was how desperate his quest for shelter had gotten.

That was his only hope at finding shelter in the middle districts of the City of Colohen.

This was the only way he could avoid returning to the slums. It wasn’t too long back before he returned to the diner that formerly employed him with the hopes of obtaining a job and free shelter. He wound up finding himself in the office of his former employer, shocking the woman where she sat.

“Cæ…?” An elder woman with red hair and green eyes arose from her seat in her office. “Is that you…?”

“Yes, Mrs. Selvig.” His tone softened a little. “I have returned.”

She walked over to him with a dropped jaw, as if she was beholding a ghost. “You… You woke up?”

“Very recently.” Cæ nodded gently.

She arrived before him with a painful expression, wincing as she touched the scars that ran across his face and down his body. “They told me that you, that she…”

“…Yes.” Cæ’s expression crumbled with grief.

Mrs. Selvig heaved a shaky sigh as she shook her head with regret. “…What can I do for you, Cæ?”

“I was hoping that you could provide me with my old job, Mrs. Selvig,” Cæ softly explained. “If you are able to do this for me, I will be eternally grateful to you.”

“Of course,” she exclaimed. “You have worked at Selvig’s Ristorante for six years! We would love to have you back.”

A smile cracked at the edge of his mouth for the first time in six months. He had worked at Selvig’s Ristorante ever since he got into college, trying to pay off his student loan debt as a waiter. After he graduated with a degree in commerce, he became a manager for the company.

He wouldn’t have made it if not for the kind couple running a thriving family-owned business.

“One last thing, and I’m really sorry for imposing on you,” he continued with a hint of guilt. “I hope that you will let me sleep in the storage room tonight, I…”

His voice faltered. “…I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

She winced. “…I’m afraid that won’t be possible. Let me show you.”

And she did. Cæ’s eyes widened with surprise as the once spacious storage room of the diner was now entirely filled with all kinds of baggage and boxes, leaving almost no room for him. “What happened…?”

“Supplies that we had purchased with a loan to expand our business. It was an idea we came up with to capitalize on the completion of the magical carriage system a few blocks away,” she replied with a hint of melancholy. “Unfortunately… our venture failed. Shortly after you were gone, our revenue suddenly plummeted. Customers started eating less for each meal and our revenues per customer fell significantly. Not only were we unable to scale our business, but we are also falling back on the monthly interest payments on the business loan that we took out.”

Cæ frowned with a hint of surprise. “Business isn’t… going well?”

“We are barely able to make ends meet with the heavy interest and falling income.” She heaved a sigh. “I won’t lie to you, Cæ. We are seriously considering selling the business and the plot in a few months. I don’t know if we will be able to provide you with a job in the future. But you can work here for as long as we are able to keep things afloat.”

Cæ’s expression fell with severity.

He could hear the pain in her voice.

He hated to see the few people he cared about suffer from the cruel realities that the world thrust on them.

“…Why don’t you spend the night at our home?” she wondered with a concerned expression.

“No, I cannot possibly impose on you and your family more given the burdens that you are already facing.” Cæ shook his head. “I will manage. I promise. Thank you for the job. I will see you tomorrow at the same time.”

Despite her strongest insistence, he refused her offer to stay at her home. He knew that things were probably a lot worse for them than she let on. He merely accepted the little bit of cash that she gave him for basic necessities.

If he couldn’t stay at the restaurant, then there was only one place left to go.

The Colohen Slums.