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Evening, Central district, Wolfsteeth

'This will take quite a bit.'

Ocilia was leaving the hotel and had a long way ahead. She needed to go through the central region to the north till she reached the red-light district in the northern section of Wolfsteeth. So her pace was swift.

She was cloaked and hid the lower part of her face with a mask. Her whole attire was tailored by herself, and even the materials were bought from the estate's tailor. The reason was simple: She wanted to avoid anyone tracking her should she lose her clothes for some reason. That was also why she decided against a carriage.

Why did she go through all this? She wanted to avoid her parents finding out what she was about to do at all costs. Her Father warned her all the time about going to the underworld, with her Mother agreeing strongly. Would they find out, she would get her ass beaten up and never be allowed to leave the estate in the following years.

Fortunately, her Master didn't know about this. Otherwise, he would not give her the task in the first place, as peace inside her family was important to him, which she could already see in how he protected them when the thing happened with her brother.

Yet, the nay-sayers were put quickly into the back of her mind as her long walk through Wolfsteeth distracted her from her worsening conscience of what felt like betraying her parent's trust in her, as the nostalgia she felt made it relatively easy to ignore.

When she walked from one of the wealthiest parts of the city to one of the most dangerous and impoverished, it was quite the whiplash and brought out the memory of the emotions she felt when she moved to the estate for the first time.

Ocilia started where her hotel was located. Clean streets with pedestrians who wore ugly but expensive clothes made of the finest materials, houses painted in dull colors, and businesses that would only sell to the richest, like boutiques where one hat would cost Ocilia one-tenth her wage. There were also offices of accountants, notaries, pharmacies, artificers, and healers who would not even lift a finger without a hefty compensation.

However, she quickly forgot about all the boring stuff when she walked beside an alchemy shop. The potions she saw on display were clean, but through the display window, she could see an alchemist mixing something in front of a customer. Ocilia used her [Mana Sense] and tried to see how others used their [Mana Manipulation] skills, but what she saw baffled her.

Her Master's mana control felt natural as he guided all the elements into a contraption. Even when he showed her while slowing down, it was like a fine calculation so the elements would come together as fast as possible while looking elegant. The alchemist she was looking at, though, was terrible. Just awful.

The alchemist used the mana to force the elements to turn into a ball of water, which was building up slowly. It was too slow for her taste since she saw what was possible. Yet, speed wasn't even the important part, as one usually used alchemy to conjure water because they needed it pure, without anything else in it. This one, though, was already dirtied as the alchemist couldn't control their mana and pushed some dirt into their contraption.

Ocilia herself wasn't much of an alchemist and mostly used magic. Still, even she learned how to conjure essential contraptions like water and fire at much faster speeds and finer controls than what the hedge mixer was doing, 'Are my standards too high?'

Suddenly, the alchemist dissolved the contraption and stared at Ocilia through a window. She was obviously angry as Ocilia observed her, but instead of diverting her eyes, she pulled her mask down and said silently so the alchemist could read her lips,

However, before something happened, Ocilia quickly walked past the shop, 'I have stuff to do. Can't have some stupid argument with a lizard who can't even control a simple ball of water without burning their mind to smithereens.'

As she walked for some more time, the city slowly changed to what she would describe as worker's quarters. These parts were all over Wolfsteeth and usually close to the more wealthy neighborhoods, like where her hotel was located.

Primarily, apprentices, workers, ordinary artisans, simple merchants, mercenaries, etc., lived here, and their houses were also mainly where they worked at the same time. Either they were an apprentice with nowhere to live, or it was just the shop of an artisan or merchant. Mercenaries or adventurers usually worked as guards for free lodging when they weren't out there.

The streets she walked through were much more dirty, littered with bottles, cups, and more, while the reason for the littering was frequently trying to grab her ass. Since it was evening, many would walk around here and party their heart out. It was quite a lively atmosphere. Every bar and restaurant was open and mostly filled to the brim. Street vendors had long lines of youth with their partners in arms, obviously from the recent mating season.

Sometimes, she could identify the ones from the wealthier parts in how they acted and how reluctant they were sometimes to try out the food or drinks, 'Hm, would Master actually eat the stuff here?'

Ocilia put the thoughts away as she saw a specific street vendor: Her only true love since she was little. It was a dolphin-kin who sold an unidentifiable and suspicious-looking shashlik. Yet, it was one of the tastiest things she had ever had, and the smell alone made her almost immediately salivate, 'I can get some tomorrow... is he using a new sauce?! It smells so good.'

She very slowly walked past the stand on purpose and returned to Orbis only after she was out of range of the smell. She liked the worker's quarters around Wolfsteeth much more than the posh neighborhoods. However, she wouldn't want to live here as it was always loud, and some of the apprentices were basically like her Master. Thus, many explosions, poisonings, or worse, happened there. Even now, she could see how pharmacy or alchemy apprentices tried to sell self-made drugs to others, making some extra coin, and with a lot of luck, the buyers wouldn't die from them.

After another two hours of fast walking, she could see her old neighborhood. The streets were broken and dirty, usually due to some cave-ins, as the underworld spaces were built mainly in the north and some in the south. So, the earl stopped maintaining these parts at some point as it was too expensive having functioning sidewalks and streets if they ran the danger of frequently breaking down because of some morons. Thus, they were only roughly rebuilt.

The moment she entered the northern red-light district, the smell of potent aphrodisiacs and cheap drugs invaded her nostrils, making her cringe, 'I really hate it here.'

The houses here were cheap-looking. Even though some tried to make it more appealing by painting on them, it was terrible nonetheless. Even the place she liked to look at when she was little, which had a giant sunflower painted on it, was built so badly that the drawing made the crooked and bulged walls only slightly better.

It was as lively as at the worker's quarters but looked much more miserable. Orphans, homeless, thugs: It was the dirt of Wolfsteeth, and she hated almost all of them. It wasn't even that many of them couldn't find anything else to work and needed to live like this, but they chose to. Many thugs could become okay-ish adventurers or mercenaries, and thieves could be great scouts or spies. She felt disgusted and apprehensive toward such people who would hurt others for one more copper coin, especially after what happened with her former friends.

The moment she walked beside an alley, she glimpsed at how some older youth tried to harass some hatchling, one of the few groups of people she didn't hate, and hoped that her Master could help them get out of this Outer Circle, 'Till then, I will gladly help.'

She became enraged. In her opinion, it could be such a great place without the vermin. All those who chose to stay and destroy the hopes of others, dragging them into this hole and making it much harder to live a peaceful and honorable life.

Mana flowed into her hand, and threads suddenly wrapped around the thugs who harrassed the hatchling. After another moment, her rage reached a peak she barely felt before. They started to burn, and the hatchling ran immediately away in fear.

She quickly walked away, ignoring their screams, as she didn't care for such trash but also wouldn't kill them. It was only a tiny lesson so that they would become more humble. If it worked in making the thugs think through their life choices, besides helping the hatchling, she would be joyful, but she doubted that they would change.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Regardless, there was something else that quickly switched her attention away from the misery she witnessed and back to what truly captivated her, and this was how fast she could conjure her spell, 'My threads are getting more flexible, huh.'

Besides her [Mystic Skills], which were perfect for making constructs with threads, she also had her [Essence], which was even better. Everything her mana or energy touched, threads could be conjured out of there, so with some tricks, she could now build the constructs extremely fast and use them as if she were a mage.

However, her conjuring style had some apparent drawbacks, as she wasn't able to manipulate mana items or conjure her threads where other energy was blocking them from appearing. A test with her Master showed that if someone surrounded her with mana, it would be impossible to cast her threads without brute forcing it, but even in such a situation, there were certain things she could do to avoid it.

Before she could further contemplate how to build more efficient constructs, she almost bumped into the sex workers who were running around, trying to earn their wage, 'Okay, not the time to daydream.'

Fortunately, they ignored her. Usually, they would try to grab her arm and woo her. It was obviously because of her clothing, which made her look suspicious, 'Okay, where to go... ah, here!'

She entered a side alley and went deeper into the district, 'First, I need to find the broker.'

Broker was a general term for middlemen who would profilate the deals between two parties. Reputation was everything, and if one didn't have any, they wouldn't get any customers. Luckily for her, she knew of one from when she lived here.

After twists and turns, she exited the rat-infested side alley and looked around to orient herself. It was a small, relatively empty plaza with shabby bars and establishments. Far from the buzzing and partying, it seemed somewhat sad, which was also the goal, as this place had another purpose in mind than to get customers.

She walked to a bar called the Toxic Fox, which was also a brothel. It was easy to see as women and men smoked half-naked, taking their breaks on the balcony on the second and third floors.

Without hesitation, she entered the bar and saw a sad sight. People without any goals were sitting and drinking. Most of them looked depressed and on the brink of suicide. They gave up on their lives and were waiting for their death, trying to live another day without hanging themselves. This made her suddenly think of her Master and how he wanted to help them. She suddenly felt sympathy toward them, too, 'Damn it, I guess helping them, besides the hatchlings, would be fine, too.'

Most of them were ordinary workers who were here because they lost something in life. Be it the death of their hatchling, spouse, or something else entirely. All they needed was a helping hand and a new goal, but she knew many wouldn't recover and would most likely drive deeper into the abyss till nothing was left, 'I should get going before I get depressed myself.'

Ocilia walked past the depressive scene, which reminded her of one of her Master's plays, only much less happy, to the bar counter and sat down. The bar was a shithole, as seen by the poor souls who visited it. However, it was also a front for an entrance. Such places were not uncommon in the north, but they also did something else: They would be there to bring illegal coins into the economy.

She knew merchants, brokers, and other folk who dabbled heavily in the underworld had a problem when they made a tremendous amount of gold through illegal means: They couldn't spend it.

It was highly suspicious if someone suddenly bought a house in the better parts without any wealthy family, education, or sought-after trade and invested other amounts of immense wealth in legit businesses. Nobody would let them buy properties or invest in businesses without a clear history.

If it came out that, for example, an investor in a business was a broker for assassination hits, the Leonandra household would confiscate everything, not caring about the business's owner, practically ruining them. Thus, many were very careful in this aspect and would rather not risk it without a lot of assurance, like a notary note saying that all their wealth was legit and that they did their due diligence in inspecting the potential investor.

So, what would the people with illegal or suspiciously acquired coins do? They would open up bars, restaurants, shops, etc., bringing the illegally obtained coins through the businesses inside the economy. Such places were easy to spot as they had barely any customers but ran for years without any problems, making immense profits in their books.

They aimed to pay taxes on legit earnings to use the coins as they wanted. Otherwise, it could primarily only be used in the underworld. The rulers were mostly in the known and were okay with such an arrangement for apparent reasons.

Ocilia saw how the bartender, a cockroach-kin, came over. She immediately straightened up and tried acting as professionally as possible so they would think she was new here but just from a different city. Yet, from all the smirks she got while sitting at the counter, it wasn't working.

The bartender asked her, "What do you want?"

Ocilia started to do sign language with her gloved hands,

Through her Father, she knew that most shady business was done through sign language, as hiding their intentions would be easier. Sign language was much more obtuse; one sign could mean many different things, much more than a word. So, even if caught, she could trick some lie-detection skills through this. It was no trick that worked 100%, but it was part of many more she would use to obscure her intentions should she ever be caught.

However, she was somewhat known and would probably be immediately returned to the estate, only to be beaten up by her parents and punished by the Lady. There was some line not to be crossed, and dabbling in the underworld while getting the Lady's son dangerous manuals was one.

The bartender came closer, "Listen, missy, I can see that you are a bit too young, so go and play somewhere els..."

Before he could end the sentence, thin threads restricted the bartender from moving, "What the..."

He struggled to move but had no chance, so she tried again,

The bartender started to sweat and nodded at her. With that, she released the threads and held only some in place in case he would try something.

The bartender massaged his neck and signaled her rather nervously,

This was a code and a little test for everyone who wanted to enter,

The bartender smiled at her, <5.>

She threw ten small gold coins on the counter without even blinking. With the funds she had, she would be fine paying a little more so he could be of help later on,

He quickly swiped the coins and showed her the way,

"Martin, tend to the counter. I have a special guest!"

He walked to the backroom with Ocilia behind him. She was somewhat tense but also calm. After killing and getting partially over it, she became much more aggressive but could also somehow stay more clear-headed in situations like this. Before, she relied only on her instincts should something happen, but now, her actions were more purposeful and thought-out.

While following the cockroach-kin, besides being on edge, she also felt some disgust when she saw the backrooms. Many people were there, enjoying drugs, sex, and gambling. She was immediately reminded of the charity, and she would rather kill them before her Master could give them even a loaf of bread. Helping hatchlings and the genuinely desperate ones? Fine. But helping these scum who would rob even their parents to have another cheap drink? She would instead set them ablaze.

After what happened with Sarah, Ocilia thought she would never return to this shithole. But because her Master needed many manuals, she was willing to do it and come back. He did too much for her and her family, even though they basically betrayed him. He always helped her in every way possible while she did, at most, some errands or work which also servants could do perfectly. So, her being of use was the most important to her, even going as far as returning to this rat's nest.

However, even though she loved to be helpful, something inside her also dreaded what she was doing. She had dreams of being akin to a knight for her Master, but now she would crawl through drainage water and endure the presence of scum. She told herself repeatedly that it was for the greater good, 'Endure it. With the manuals, we can create so many great things.'

Fortunately, at some point, there were no people anymore. They arrived at a storage room full of nasty and rotten produce. She wanted to cast the anti-gas spell but decided against it as it was a dead giveaway for others who she was. There were not many who weren't dragon-kins and could do magic, especially in Wolfsteeth. Instead, she needed to control herself not to hurl at the smell.

He pushed away some of the crates full of rotten food and opened a trap door. He pointed there and smirked at her,

She nodded and walked forward. As long as no crazy strong assassins were looking for her, she could at least ensure her escape route, 'Tier 2 came just in time.'

After killing her former friends, she became Tier 2 and got a fascinating [Mystic Skill]. However, it also pushed her away from anything like direct combat, where she could earn honor and pride, which was even now her goal as she walked through the door, past rotten produce, cheap beer, colorful flowers used to seduce customers, and tobacco which had visibly mixed in hard drugs and ordinary twigs.

The moment she exited the floor that led from the bar's storage room to the sewers, she immediately used the anti-gas spell since the smell was something she couldn't stand. After casting it, it became bearable, 'It's all for Master and our research.'

She hated it here even though she only arrived. Yet, she took her first step into the underworld, 'The Lady also raided the underworld and killed hundreds of assassins, so it should be at least somewhat honorable... I think.'

If she wouldn't try to find reasons to be here, she wouldn't know if she could stay at such a place. Even trying to compare herself to the Lady barely helped anymore.

After taking a couple of steps, her apprehension of this place reached a new height when a rat, as large as an average cat, jumped into the sewage water before her, only to swim against the flow to the other side and onto the opposite stone path, running inside some nook which was in the wall, 'I don't think using the cleaning spell only once will be enough after today...'