Crete City, The Royal City of the Pristine Kingdom inside of which stood the majestic palace of the King as well as all the other elite. A magnificent harbor city that welcomed a plethora of merchants from the seas. Ships made from iron pumped white smoke through their chimneys. The newly built factory district of the city had recently started trying coal-powered engines and airship prototypes could be seen going in and out of big warehouses.

The markets of the city were always bustling. People walked to and from. The rushed or run. They carried heavy cargo, fish of all different kinds stood on stalls set up every morning by the fishermen.

While during the night all the streets near the harbor filled with nightlife establishments.

Dark orange and red lamps shone on the walls of plenty of the buildings. Men and women of different ages would enjoy their drinks and their gambling with friends or escorts.

Gorgeous tanned ladies let their dark black or brown hair flow freely to their waists. Colorful dresses and pearly white teeth dazzled all men passing outside of the different establishments. On the other hand, the well-groomed and well-dressed men of this city walked through the clean and paved streets. The posh and expensive clothing went well with the trimmed mustaches and carefully washed hair. Truly a city of utmost tidiness and luxury

Jhin had just landed. He said his goodbyes to the crew of the ship he had spent the past few weeks on. His golden hair fluttered in the morning wind of the harbor as his dark green eyes shone brightly amidst the thin mist hanging in the port.

"The air here sure smells nice, doesn't it?" Jhin said to another fellow disembarking with him.

"Is it your first time here?" Answered the man back.

"Yeah, it is. Why?"

"I sure hope everything goes well." Jhin watched on as the middle-aged man walked off the boat and disappeared in the bustling streets among the many stalls and shops. People talked and laughed. On Jhin’s right, a stall was selling wooden sculptures. Small and delicate while also clearly made with care by the hands of someone with experience.

 Right after that stall, a very exciting smell wafted all around. A big establishment for the commoner market, the food stall was packed with people. Even meat was being sold there. Jhin couldn’t hold himself back and lined up for some of that food that invaded his nostrils.

It was only half an hour later when he could finally get his hands on that cooked rabbit meat. It had been lightly salted and then mixed with a juice from a variety of herbs, after which it was cut into bite-sized pieces and skewered with a stick.

“Ma’am this Rabbit skewer is Delicious!”

“Well, thanks, son. It’s the specialty of this little shop.”

“Could I perhaps get you to teach me how to make it?”

“Trade Secrets must be kept secret for them to hold meaning Son.” The cook answered to Jhin’s question.

“Thank You for the Meal!” Jhin replied with a smile before finishing the sewer and living the stall as he picked up his pace and walked further down the street. Jhin asked around for directions in this unfamiliar city.

Very quickly a kind old man led him to a pretty little building that stood in the corner of the street. It was built on wood and rocks like any other building but the deep red and white paint covering its walls as well as the small pink leather tent placed neatly above the entrance door made it stand out from the rest. Jhin walked in with big strides and was welcomed by the waitress.

“Welcome! How may I be of service?” A young woman with a blood-red apron tied on her around her normal and stained working clothes. Her very well-developed curves practically overflowed. Her attractiveness was exactly what Jhin had been expecting from the city of passion.

“I would like to book a room in this inn,” Jhin answered.

“Very well then, come over here.” She beckoned for Jhin to follow her. With her now standing behind the counter in front of a wall with many keys.

“There aren’t many free rooms, so I can only provide you a single room on the ground floor.”

“No problem I’ll go with that. How much is it?”

“It’s 5 Denars for a night only for the room and 10 for lunch and dinner.”

“That’s splendid. I’ll pay for the second deal. 5 nights.” Jhin picked out the 50 coins needed from his dark-brown leather pouch and stretched forward to place them on the designated wooden plate. In a very swift motion, the waitress reached forward while pulling Jhin closer to her by the arm.

“I saw you looking. For 15 Denars a night I can keep you company... Monica, nice to meet you." Jhin pulled his arm back and looked at Monica in the eyes. She winked and smiled innocently. Jhin smiled back without giving placing any more money in the plate. He didn't need it and wasn't particularly interested in Monica either.

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A few of the men that were paying attention grinned to themselves and sighing after witnessing the transaction. Though eve among them, there were a few that furrowed their brows. Some even clapped their hands together and prayed for the young man's well being 

Jhin entered his room and threw his leather bags, except his money pouch, next to the bed before jumping down on it and stretching his arms wide. The room was small. A wooden table with one wooden chair, a bed, and a little closet. It was tidy and clean though which was much better than the accommodations Jhin had experienced on the boat to the Capital.

It was still early and so Jhin decided to go out and walk around the town. He took a few things and left the inn, nodding at the waving Monica as he went through the door.

He took a right, the moment he left the Inn and walked down the unfamiliar path. The aura the city had so far was pleasant, to say the least. People seemed relatively happy. The streets were clean, the clothes were washed and there was no fear in the eyes of the many men he had seen in the pubs and the stalls.

That was until he reached the end of the big street he had been walking down on. A big wall stood tall. The huge chunks of dark grey stone that made it up made it look grim. Jhin though admired it, It had probably been an extremely difficult project to complete and it served a very important task for the city.

“It protects from invaders… Right?”

“Yes. Doesn’t it?” Jhin turned around and spoke to the person that had suddenly said what he had been thinking. He asked as he saw the beginnings of a smirk forming on that person’s lips.

“Well… I can't blame you for being naïve.” The person wore old and ragged clothes, a big brown hood was used to cover her face but thanks to her voice her gender could easily be revealed.

“Naïve?” Jhin asked, his question curt and his tone deep.

“Are you not? Who is gonna attack this port city… and on the northern side of the wall at that?”

“… And why wouldn’t someone be able to do that? What if a rebellion happened?”

“Well said! You heard him right? Come here and do your job!!” The woman suddenly put down her hood and revealed her face. She yelled up at seemingly nothing, but the gates started opening. A group of guards marched slowly and rigidly out of the gate.

They didn’t speak a word, only the sound of their steel boots hitting the paves road echoed in the empty square. Jhin looked at the woman that had called in the guards and was shocked to find out that it was Monica.

“Would you care to explain Monica?” He said, trying to be and act calm. His full eyebrows now furrowed deeply as he glared at Monica.

“Only doing my job. Don't take this to heart. ” Monica said, a carefree smile on her face as she waved goodbye to Jhin. As if she hadn't just doomed a man's life.

“At the inn. And the service... Seriously?” Jhin pressed further, Had she wanted his money so much that even while knowing what was gonna happen to him she tried to bargain for more?

“Don’t worry. You’ll find out soon enough why I took that money form you… I talked with you long enough though. You were actually one of the cuter ones. A shame.” Monica said as she turned around and walked off. "Hope you survive in there. Jhin." She left those parting words as her high heels clapped on the paved stone.

Jhin wanted to walk up and slap her just once, but he couldn’t do anything as he was grabbed by the guards and thrown to the ground.

"Fight me! Right here! right now! Are you scared!" Jhin yelled at the guards, but he got no reaction. As if he was shouting at a stone wall.

He was tied up quicky enough as the guards dragged him past the 8-meter-tall steel gates that closed slowly right after he went through. Jhin looked on through the gates, the last sliver of freedom he had flown away the moment no light passed through those thick gates.

Jhin got up as he dusted himself off. The guards untied him and most of them stood aside or went back to whatever they had been doing before. Jhin couldn’t help but fall down to his knees, even though he had just gotten up, after witnessing the scene he was supposed to live with for the rest of his life.

A separate world within a city. Houses and tents made from different pieces of leather or more aptly put, a patchwork of fur and mud. The non-existent sewer system guided the nasty smell of shit and decomposing bodies and food stick on everything in the whole area. Heaps of trash had crowds of people rummaging through them in search of anything useful or edible. Most residents of these walled-off slums were brown or black-skinned people and every color of the pallet in between. Making it clear to Jhin that the reason he had been sent here was that his grandmother had been black in complexion.

“Welcome to Slum World! If you have any money on you then pay up. 15 denars and you won’t be sold as a slave right this moment. 50 Denars and you will get your own little hut to call home… or more specifically the land.” The leading guard said to Jhin without even looking at him. He had spread his arms wide with his back turned on Jhin as if admiring the scenery.

Jhin really didn’t like the sound of having to pay to not become a slave immediately but mostly for others since he hadn’t been foolish enough to spend all of his money. And even if he didn't like it he didn't have much of a choice. He was fuming with anger right now, but he had to calm down. He ha come here to see his grandmother's roots, which he already managed to do, though his stay turned a little more permanent than he would have liked.

“If I have the money to buy myself, the 20 Denars, where am I supposed to go?” Jhin said, looking up at the guard.

He was kindly greeted by the Fist of the leader, the iron-tipped glove smashing his face into the ground. Now on the ground the blood coming from his nose and mouth mixed with the dirt on the ground. Saliva also coming out of his mouth as the shock from the punch and the collision with the ground shook his brain inside his skull ever so slightly.

Jhin though had gotten in his fair share of fights during his life and quickly enough shrugged it off and pushed himself int a sitting position.

“Don’t be dreaming on me. You aren’t ‘buying’ yourself. That offer was just what we could offer to a previously fellow white man. If you had been black, I wouldn’t even be talking to you.”

{Ptew!}  

A thick glob of spittle came flying from the guard’s mouth and onto Jhin’s face. The guards left him there. They didn’t look back and they didn’t say anything else.

Jhin took some time, sitting on the ground, setting things in place. The pain from the punch not letting him drift off though eventually made him get up, slowly, as he walked forward.

He could not do much else than walk towards the closest community of people he could see. He could only hope that when he reached there, they would at least not attack him. Jhin though was doubting even that, he was still white after all, even though his beloved grandmother had been black.