The street was nothing special, within the region of Lecnce; a region with a population of about ninety-seven thousand, having spent its primary resource in education and hospitals.
The sun had set, and there was the sound of crows, which was the only main problem in the city called Rugia.
There was a long shadow across the old rusty iron gate of the school, the school was nearly seventy years old, the gates were covered in rust, the walls and windows were covered in dust and mud, and the building was enough to make a middle class/tear, citizen puke, the air around it was polluted enough that the street and the part of the city was of the lower class, the third tears of the society, it offered a single school for the whole area, and it was also the only place where an kid from the third tear/class could become an upstanding member.
As the gates of the school were opened, the sound of the school bells echoed down the narrow street, the sound was the signal informing that the school had ended for the day and the kids could go back to their respective places, to work for the remaining time, till going to bed.
Homework was not common in schools for the poor as the kids had to spend most of their free time working in their homes or the homes of the upper class (middle-class or nobles or royals) as maids or servants. The Ministree of Student Education had made a rule that the schools could not make a student attend school for a long period or make them do it in their respective homes, it was only for the third tear as they could not afford to hire private tutors, nor they had time for that, as most of the tutors of Rugia were busy tutoring the kids of the second tear.
*
The rusty gates of the school creaked open, as I walked out with the many others pushing me aside to race to their workplace, hoping to get some sweets or snacks. I could taste the dust in the air, and the sound of the crows fighting for food near the litter box showed that the day had ended.
For kids like me from the third tear, school was the only place for a better life, after graduating, if we got a scholarship our life was set, but even that came with a price.
Most of my classmates would spend their evenings working as maids or servants for the upper class, trading their precious moments of childhood for a better life.
I tightened the straps of my worn-out backpack; it was a dull black one. I had been using the same one from the first grade to the current one.
Usually, most families use a second-hand backpack as buying new would be a waste of money, for them as the backpacks would usually cost about two days' worth of meals for a single person, and the backpacks had to be purchased from the Ministree of Student Education itself.
As I started to walk to my work, my stomach started to grumble, it was the remainder for me to eat some food.
I started to walk fast, the same old walkway, the old narrow street, the old bridge, the same dusty buildings with old and faded advertisements, and then the same gate to enter the rich-filled region of the middle class, the region was called Grastow.
As soon as I came near the entry gate, a guard in heavy armor asked me for my work identification card.
I shook my right pocket and took out a boring brownish-yellow card, after verifying with the other guards, he left me, to continue my walk to my workplace.
As I walked the street, I took my pocket watch from my bag and checked the time. The time was 5:17, and I had to be at work by 5:10, as soon as I reached the house of my employer it was 5:21, and I was late by 11 minutes late.
As soon as I entered by the back door connecting to the kitchen, I heard a voice calling me, it was the owner of the house, Mr. George M Wall, he called me by my given name, "Leon." Then continued "Why are you late today?".
Mr. George came near me with his cane in his right hand, he had his thumb placed on the handle of the cane and his fingers on the top of the cane. As he came near me, with his step he made a noise with the cane.
He was wearing a tall top hat which was black, a black coat, he was also wearing a high waist pant along with his black boots made with wood and leather, in his hand was a cane, it was made with cherry wood.
As he came near me and stopped walking, he continued saying
"My wife and I will be away from the house for two days, so you won't have to come this Saturday and Sunday to work".
As he was explaining the situation my mind wandered off to something else, it was about a little red mark on his face, it had the shape of a hand, and it looked quite new.
As I was staring at his left cheek, I felt a sudden pressure on my right shoulder, causing me to flinch momentarily. I came to my senses.
I realized it was his cane pressing against my shoulder, I quickly focused my attention back on his words, and he continued, his expression unchanged. The pressure of the cane remained, to make me not lose focus.
* *
From the old red building, by the front door, a boy came running out holding a little red box, it was red indicating danger, the boy was showing a small moment while running, it was of changing the small box from one hand to another, it looked like it was quite heavy.
The boy glanced over his shoulder at the group of men in pursuit, numbering no less than six. His eyes darted towards the bustling market, where many people were shopping, before settling on an old-looking, abandoned potion store.
He bolted towards the market and towards the shop, which he had set his eyes on. With all his strength he ran and then threw the box on the floor before slamming the door shut behind him.
He then locked the store with the old lock that was hanging in the door. Scared, he locked the door, hoping it would stop the persuaders. Luckily for him, it worked. He then started to open the small red box; it contained just a single page of a letter. It read
Xx/xx/xxxx
Leorg Fryndo,
I oop et d cleter fins u whel, Mai Leorg Fryndo, butt me M iting D cleter, D un ooks Beutyfal, Meas, Mai oop at u ell.
Ien mai palce, thner a er, Mai ops u shaf, cep fuyl, oops mai ink, ai oop het dhda ell b a gud God
The boy struggled to understand the words on the page. They were written in Old Jepwsn, a language he couldn't comprehend, despite being familiar with Modern Jepwsn. The letter was also old and looked like it had been damaged by water, and was also covered in dust, The letter had also been torn in half, it looked fragile as if it would break the moment the boy used some force.
The only words the boy could understand in the whole letter were 'Ink' and the remaining last words, the words which he understood 'be a good god'
*
The prayer house was a white building, near the center of the Grastow, close to a bustling horse cab stand on a large, open ground, where there were numerous hackney carriages lined in the area waiting for passengers.
I approached a well-kept cab, as I went near the driver of the cab, a group of men wearing brown suits and pants occupied the seats on the cab, the old-looking man among them showed a pendulum with the imprint of the kingdom to the cab driver, as the stand was owned by the kingdom.
The pendulum acted as a badge, it was the proof of the Patrolling guards. It had many perks, with it a person could get free food from any kingdom-operated office, the person could ride any public cab for free, and it had many other perks too.
I then looked around to find another cab.
I was searching for a cab because Ms wall and her husband had to go to a party hosted by her older sister this Saturday and Sunday.
Ms Wall's elder sister was Margret Huffily, she was a woman in her forties, as I had not seen her I only knew this much as my employer did not like her and was making crude jokes about her. She was living near the flourishing Garten region, she was living in the city of Strrufle, not an important city to the kingdom but had good health care. Strrufle was the old capital of the kingdom, so it also had an enormous castle.