“What will you have today? Brisket with a dash of basil powder?” A red-haired, big-nosed youth laced the meat skewers quickly with spices. The aroma of cooked meat wafted across the marketplace, and the young man who was right beside took a whiff of it.

“Sure, Emil. Let’s go with that. Give me more of the heat. It’s getting colder these days. The weather’s not letting up.” Roy’s face was red from the cold. He brushed the feathers off of his body and looked up at the overcast sky.

Three days had passed since Roy had come to search for a job. It was almost the eleventh of November, and Saovine was drawing near. Roy had gotten used to the jobs in the marketplace over the last three days. The poultry booth provided him thirty EXP per day, and the herb booth was doing well too. Roy made friends out of Tross —  his boss —  Emil the grilled meat seller, and Ruhr the poultry booth owner. His days were spent between his jobs and night training. If nobody knew better, he was just an ordinary young man who’d come to the big city to better his life. The traces of the witcher life were almost gone from his.

“Here’s your brisket.” Emil handed him a smoking, piping hot meat skewer the length of a forearm. “Since you’re a regular, I threw in some more meat for you.”

Roy went to a quiet corner and kept the skewer in his inventory space. He didn’t buy the meat for himself, but for someone else. He was going to leave when dusk came, but Tross stopped him. “Roy. A washerwoman called Trish ordered a bag of honeysuckle. Can you make a stop at her place?” Tross asked. “She’s staying at number eighty-nine in the lower part of the city. I have to watch over the booth, so I can’t go.”

Tross had asked him to run errands over the last few days, but that was the first time he’d asked Roy to deliver something to the lower part of the city. That reminded Roy of the Sparrow Triad and Hank’s warning. It has been a few days though. I can’t be that unlucky, can I? “Sure.”

Roy exited the marketplace and went east, where the slums were. The sky was gloomy, dark clouds congregating in the horizon, covering the blazing, setting sun. Once Roy stepped past the narrow, acrid ditch, he was met with short huts that extended as far as the eye could see. It was the slums, where everything foul was dumped.

It didn’t take long for Roy to cover his nose after he’d entered the place. Most of the huts were rickety and almost in shambles, and the ground was flooded with putrid water flowing from the sewers. The narrow alleys between the rows of huts were filled with garbage.

The people who went past Roy looked pasty and tense. They were in nothing but rags, and when the autumn breeze blew against them, their expressions turned blank. Roy saw men who were just a few years older than he was, but their backs were already starting to deform from the strenuous labor they had to undergo. The air was filled with nothing but the stench of fish and the fetor of excrements.

Compared to the clean, proper, affluent area, the slums were pure hell. Calling them dirty was an understatement, and even Kaer was much better. But the slums were what the world was in that era.

Roy held down his desire to leave. He went to the washerwoman’s house and handed the honeysuckle to the gaunt woman who was washing blankets outside her house. He was going to go back once he was done, but alarms started ringing in his head, and it felt as if something was pointing at him. Roy turned the corner and threw a furtive glance in the direction he came from.

Just as he suspected, two thuggish men in gaudy clothes were tailing him from a distance. “What are they doing? Why are they following me?” Then he recalled Hank’s warning. “Just my luck. And this is my first time here too.” Roy took a deep breath and kept walking. The men went on with their trailing, unaware of the danger the boy posed.

In the slums of Aldersberg, a boy walked straight ahead on foul streets, his head hanging low. Two men trailed him from a distance, their expressions dark. Some residents who were taking their clothes off the balcony noticed the scene, but all they did was lean forward and watch the show. Some hurried past the boy and spared him a glance before quickening their pace, unwilling to get into trouble. No one wanted to help.

Roy quietly focused on his hidden hand crossbow and estimated the remaining space in his inventory before running ahead all of a sudden.

“Come here, boy!” His train of thought was interrupted by a sudden call. Roy looked up and saw a young, beautiful maiden waving at him not far ahead.

Is she calling me? He looked back at the thugs and hesitated. “Very well then. There’s too many people here. It’d be hard to get away if I killed them.”

The moment he approached the woman, an aroma assailed him, and he almost blacked out. She quickly grabbed his left arm. “Don’t worry, boy. As long as I’m here, those bastards won’t do anything to you.”

The woman winked at him, and the men who’d been following him stopped in their tracks. One of them had a tattooed neck and he spat at them. “You got lucky today, brat.” The men left in a hurry, but not without cursing.

“Um, thanks for helping.” Roy looked stiff, for he couldn’t get used to the soft feeling on his arm.

“Sorry, did I hurt you?” The woman let his arm go and patted his head. She stood at five feet eight* and looked around twenty-four or twenty-five. Her green top and pleated skirt that covered her thighs showed off her perfect body. Her wine red hair was tied in a ponytail, and a silver trinket hung from her slender neck. Her legs were as fair as snow, and a belt wrapped itself tightly around her torso. The lady’s most attractive feature was her glittering eyes and full lips. It made her look seductive.

*PR/N: Five feet eight is around 1.73 meters.

It was as if her smile drove off the dark clouds. 

“I’m Vivien. What are you doing here alone, boy?” Vivien asked curiously, her voice gentle. “Didn’t anyone tell you it was dangerous? The Sparrow Triad will do anything for money.”

Roy fell into a trance at the sight of her gleaming eyes, but since his body hadn’t fully developed yet, he quickly recovered. Roy gave her a smile of gratitude. “You can call me Roy, Vivien. I was out for a delivery, but I didn’t expect my luck to be this bad. This is my first time coming here.”

“Oh, and I thought those bastards were waiting for you,” Vivien mumbled. “Where are you going now?”

“The herb booth back in the marketplace.”

“I’m going there to get some stuff too. Let’s go together.”

Roy agreed to it after he stopped feeling the presence of those thugs. As they walked side by side, Roy eventually noticed that her hands weren’t as smooth as her face. They had frostbite and were covered in dead skin and calluses. “Vivien, does that happen a lot here? Isn’t there supposed to be someone telling them off?”

“No, everyone’s been preoccupied with the problems in the city center and the affluent area. The lower city is now a lawless place, so you have to be careful. Never come here alone.”

Roy asked anxiously, “Would those bastards come for you? You helped me.”

The lady stopped in her tracks, a look of gratification gleaming within her eyes. She looked at Roy as if he’d said something that had made her proud. “Don’t worry. They won’t do anything to me.”

Roy was surprised to hear that, and affection toward her welled up within him. They chatted as they went to the marketplace. Roy arrived at the booth a short while later, and Vivien waved at him, telling him to go before she left.

Tross looked surprised for a split second when he saw the woman who’d come with Roy. “Done?”

“Yes.” Roy paused. “Tross, do you know who Vivien is? The woman who came with me?”

Tross looked up, his beady eyes turning into slits, and he immersed himself in his fantasy. “Vivien is a good lady.” He made an outline of a calabash in the air and licked his lips. “She has better curves than most women in the city, no?”

“And she’s kind too. Thanks to her, I managed to shake off the thugs who were trailing me in the lower city.”

Tross realized something, and he said apologetically, “I should have told you the lower city was in chaos, especially as of recent.”

“Forget it. Nothing happened anyway. She doesn’t seem to be afraid of those thugs. Do you know why?” Roy asked.

Admiration showed on Tross’ face. “There’s a three-story house in the northeastern part of the city center that’s neighboring the lower city. It’s the House of Cardell. It provides education for the civilian kids of Aldersberg at an affordable price, and they provide free lunch for the children. Vivien’s the teacher, and she’s beloved by the people. No matter how many bastards the Sparrow Triad has, the people of the city outnumber them. Why do you think they gave her a wide berth?” He sighed. “But ill fate always shrouds the kind. Her mother’s mind is addled, and she has to support her father who’s a drunkard. Her life’s hard, since she has to take care of her family and the poor kids. Why does a kind, beautiful maiden like that have to live in the filthy slums?” 

Tross looked like he wanted to help Vivien out, much to Roy’s amusement. He knew Tross had a happy family. His wife and kids were healthy and alive.

“Can I ask for education in the House of Cardell, Tross?” Roy was interested in the House of Cardell. He had plans to learn common speech. Since he’d settled down at his job, he could take some time off in the afternoon to learn.

“I think so, since you’re young.” Tross rubbed his chin. “But the fees are going to be higher since you’re not a local. But of course, it’s still cheaper than asking for a scribe or someone else to teach you.”

Roy was delighted to hear that. He’d managed to find a place to stay and some good jobs, and then an opportunity to learn common speech was right in front of him. There shouldn’t have been any problems if he went with this plan, and he could surprise Letho when he returned.