While the two children were walking and chatting, the environment around them was changing. As they got closer to the southwest area, the building changed from looking sturdy and well-maintained to being mostly made of wood and having thin walls. Some entire streets were made of large grey stones and didn't leave any space other than a tight corridor only capable of letting one people pass at a time.
Nem glanced with interest at a large building with a high chimney on its roof. No smoke was coming out this time, but Nem could see that this was probably a factory that used coal. He wasn't quite clear on how those worked, but he knew that this was an important sign of industrial development.
Here, the atmosphere was a lot less busy than at the entrance of the city, and Nem could sometimes see people tending to their clothes or seemingly wandering aimlessly around their houses. Even though the inhabitants of this neighborhood were poorer, they didn't seem too unhappy, and Nem thought that it was probably because there were people close to them who had it much worse and they were still protected by the law.
After all, this wasn't the southwest area yet, and the people here wouldn't be much of a target to the criminals considering how poor they were.
'All things considered, this might not be a bad place to live in.' Nem thought.
After walking a few more minutes, Nem suddenly opened his eyes wide with surprise. There were no visible buildings at all anymore, only black ash pilling on the ground, forming a tall line separating this area from the rest of the city and shielding the interior from view somewhat.
This line was only symbolic thought, as they were many holes where people could pass through. Watching Pat continue without any care, Nem hesitated for a second, then hurried to follow.
'This city is so crazy for having such a place.' As this thought passed through his head, he realized that was probably crazy for going there too.
'Can't be helped, if I don't do what Carl wants for too long, he will grow suspicious. So I might as well go now that I've got such a convenient guide.'
As interesting as the mission could be, since he now knew that it wasn't just about getting a criminal arrested, Nem had no intention of finishing it. He would leave when he could and live on his own. After all, he was full of good ideas from his previous world and now had supernatural powers, so what could go wrong ?
Nem was absolutely sure that with enough time, he would be able to replicate a few important inventions of his world. Although it was true that he didn't really do anything or study at all for a while before his death, Nem possessed a great memory after he reincarnated, and he had originally been a very good student.
Clearing all the hesitation from his mind, Nem continued to observe the landscape of Lunhart.
'It really is like a jungle in there.'
The southwest area was, putting it straightforwardly, a mess. There were no sense in the disposition of buildings, their architecture, size and age. In Nem's eyes, it was more like the slums than a legitimate area situated in the city walls. It was really odd that they would have permitted this to be included in such a busy and developing city.
'Something probably went really wrong during construction, this isn't just a mistake but complete disregard from the very beginning.'
Nem suddenly got a strange idea. Maybe they planned for the appearance of slums when they made the wall ? As weird as it sounds, it's more plausible than the higher-ups wasting time and resources to put an already existing hell like this inside the walls.
'If this is the case, then the people who did this are really interesting... Not in a good way though, I guess.'
As he was thinking, Nem spotted the locals of this area here and there. There were women with light clothing standing there in the open, apparently supervised by a group of men playing cards on a random table, men in rags sitting in visible desperation and normal-looking people who just passed through without making any waves.
He didn't manage to spot other orphans for now, but the sight was already pretty rough.
After a while, Pat stopped and his eyes kept looking at his surroundings in fear.
"This is it, I'm not going closer ! It's not my problem anymore !"
Just like that, he left in hurry, towards the direction where the "orphan safe house" was located according to what he told Nem.
Just before disappearing behind a rock wall, he turned back and said with a serious face :
"Be careful."
Nem looked at the boy leave and let out a sigh. 'How come this little guy isn't completely rotten yet ? Truly a miracle.'
Even thought this fact made him a bit happy, he started to feel really mad towards the authorities of the city.
'I wonder if the Red Empire is making the situation worse on purpose ? After all, Lunhart is pretty much under their control, so they have to know what is going on here...'
Nem was always the kind of person who would assume the worst first. But before he could get lost in internal deliberations and play the game of who was the most untrustworthy one, Nem concentrated back on the situation at hand.
He was now in hostile territory, and he could meet his target at any time. Nem had gotten a description of Mannie and even saw a pretty good drawing, so he was sure to recognize the criminal if they met. The real problem was to not get seen. After all, not mentioning the danger he would be in if kidnappers saw in their territories, it would make spying on the man a lot harder.
Although Nem could probably escape with his quick movements and change the color of his hair and maybe even clothes by stealing some on the way, he didn't want to do it until he was sure that Carl wasn't keeping an eye on him one way or another. He already had a plan for that, but he planned to wait for a few days to eliminate most uncertainties.
'So right now, I need to concentrate on the mission.'
Nem carefully looked around and, not seeing anyone, he walked up to the next intersection and peeked. There was seemed to have been a large stone and wood building, now reduced to ruins.
Nem waited a full minute in case they were anyone regularly coming to keep watch and headed to the ruins, thinking it would make a nice spot to hide and spy on people.
Although Nem wasn't one of the best at hide and seek back at the monastery, he still was quite confident in his ability to avoid detection in such a spot. Especially if the people he was supposed to avoid were random criminals who didn't even know he was coming.
'Actually, now that I think about it, I should be very good at hiding, it's just that those kids were too talented at finding people. It must be because they were living at this damn labyrinth for so long.'
As painful memories of himself getting lost in endless corridors passed through his head, Nem progressed in the ruins, mechanically checking everywhere a person could be and memorizing the best hiding spots for himself.
Without finding anyone, Nem had quickly cleared the place and even spotted a few footsteps that seemed to indicate regular movement.
'Maybe people do keep watch here, just not right now...'
After doing a quick round to check again, Nem finally turned to outside the collapsed building, where he had already something promising.
Right there was a round building, rather small, made with dark wooden planks and roof tiles. On top of its door was a flat sculpture of a snake with a very large body and his eyes looking at a caricature of a rotisserie chicken with intense desire.
The Fat Snake.
In front of the door were two strong-looking men standing guard in leather clothing, and they seemed rather bored. One of them kept looking towards the sun and stomping around with impatience. Nem guessed that it was almost time for the guards to change.
'Since this is the case, I will for it to provide me a chance to get closer. They are multiple windows on the side that's almost against the other building... It would be ideal to hide here, since I can easily climb the walls to escape through the rooftops. I can't spy on anything if I stay here.'
Nem was quite confident in his climbing skills as well, even if he never got to try it in an urban environment, he believed the result wouldn't disappoint, since his Curse's power was very well suited to it.
He started to wait even more impatiently than the guard at the door. His foot kept twitching in excitement and his other one in pain from the rock a while ago. A cloud passed in front of the Sun, casting its shadow on the street and its surroundings.
When the door handle turned from the inside and the guards turned towards it in reflex, Nem was ready and dashed towards a close empty building. He passed through the exposed ground in less than a second and hid behind a wall.
While calming his breath, Nem peeked again, observing the guards as they talked for a bit with two new men. While talking, it was natural for them to look around, so Nem couldn't use that opportunity to get close. At this moment, what was separating him from the street he wanted to get to was only an empty building, like all the buildings around the Fat Snake, and he could hear them talk. Still, they were not loud enough for him to hear any coherent speech.
The only thing he understood was curses and heavy laughter. He was waiting for the right moment, and he couldn't make a false start. At this moment, Nem was too close and he would absolutely get spotted if he failed to get his timing right.
Suddenly, the four men's expression turned a bit more serious and they nodded at each other. As soon as he saw that nod, Nem walked towards them, his back bent to use their big bodies as hiding spots for his small frame. That way, even if they suddenly turned towards him, they wouldn't see anything unless they changed positions completely.
This time, he took his time, concerned with making less noise and adapting to their movements. Still, he was definitely walking fast, just not supernaturally fast. When the first two guards went to open the door, the other two's eyes were still on them and Nem finally arrived at the small street.
When they turned back to watch the street with a relaxed face, no one was there and they didn't have reason to think otherwise.