There was a time when 'Xalintros' continent was known as the leader to other continents.
In terms of strength and resources, it stood at the top. But all it took was one plague to bring it down to its knees, to the point that it barely managed to survive.
Other continents eyed their resources, but even in the weakened state, they didn't launch any attacks, at least not directly.
Xalintros continent is connected to several small cities that are outside its parameters; they are still connected to the empire, but they don't fall under the direct rule of the emperor.
Qortern is one such city; they also suffered from the effects of Sand Rose Plague, but with a small sacrifice, they were able to cut this plague in its roots.
So many of the cities connected to the continent were in much better shapes.
Even though the Qortern city is much smaller compared to the Xalintros continent, there still live thousands of people.
Often, people from the continent would come to the Qortern city to escape from certain things or hide, since the empire had little influence here, and it isn't exactly easy to move from the empire to the city and vice versa.
There isn't a specified route; instead, people would have to cross a long way through the forest to get into the city, which helps many people to live peacefully here after running away from the continent.
The Qortern City is controlled by an Archon, who is an affiliate of the Empire but also possess a certain amount of freedom.
Inside the city, the Monethian Sanctum also wields considerable influence, which had grown over the time. But Qortern City is still under the rule of the Archon, who makes all the big and small decisions.
From one of the servant's rooms in the Sanctum, a boy wearing a neat white robe walked out; his movements were unhurried.
His tousled black hair waved slightly in the air as he looked around with a calm gaze.
Despite seeing it all for the first time, Vritra was familiar with the space around him.
After walking out of his room, he looked to his right where the corridor continued for over a hundred or so more meters before coming to a dead end.
' There are hundreds of servants here and this is just one of the branches of the Sanctum, ' Vritra thought.
He was sure that the Archon must not be very happy about the increasing influence of the Sanctum in the city, but he can't do much about it.
' Not even the emperor can remove the Monethian Sanctum and other such groups from the continent, let alone the Archon. '
Vritra turned his gaze to his left. There were more rooms and the path to leave the area.
He normally had cleaning duties.
There was a group of servants that often threw their duties onto others, so Vritra had to work twice.
After walking out of the corridor, the blinding warm light of the sun hit his face. It was a little rare to see the sun in the month of November.
After pausing for a few seconds, Vritra began to walk.
Even though he had seen this building in his memory, Vritra still felt astonished to see the beautiful main building of the Sanctum.
If it were on Earth, it would have become one of the wonders, probably, though it was not as rare on this planet.
It was a large building painted in white entirely, while six gigantic poles stood around it, casting their shadows over the field around.
The top of the building was round with a pointy tip, and an intricate pattern was drawn all over it.
On top of the circular roof and the six poles, the symbol of the Goddess of Hope and Strength was created from some kind of shiny white metal, that looked quite expensive.
In one word, it looked beautiful. It even glowed in the night.
' My mind feels at peace just by looking at this building. Hmmm, there probably is a reason behind this feeling too, ' Vritra thought as he stopped to look at this building.
There was a big field around the building, and then a fence made of flowers and bushes separated it from the houses surrounding it.
Vritra wasn't the only one who stopped to admire the beauty of this building.
The worshippers were already entering the building from the main door, since the prayers would be starting soon.
Without wasting any more time, Vritra began to move towards the building. It had three entrances.
One was from the front, which could be used by anyone and anytime. The second one, which was located on the back of the building, was mostly locked and was used by selected people.
And the third entrance, on its left, which was quite close to the rooms of the servants.
People were constantly moving in and out of that door. After walking for a few minutes, Vritra finally arrived near the large door.
As he walked into the building, the look inside seemed even better, and the peaceful feeling was palpable.
The walls on either side were full of beautiful paintings and expensive jewels. There were unique and old antiques, and... light bulbs?
Vritra glanced at the light bulbs of this planet. They looked quite similar to the fluorescent bulbs used on Earth dozens of years ago.
But they didn't have any filament, so their working principle seemed to be completely different. And to have so many of them, it showed how much money the Sanctum had.
' Was the person who came here before me from Earth not aware of the CFLs and LEDs? ' Vritra was almost sure now that he wasn't the first to travel to Gritorge planet from Earth.
He decided to look into this matter later on.
After taking a few turns and walking for almost ten minutes, he finally arrived at his destination.
The stout old man with a chubby face stood in front of a grey-coloured door, along with two other boys.
Sigh, the typical bullies that exist everywhere.
These two boys, who were both in their early twenties, were like underlings to Bonnie. They wore white robes similar to Vritra's but their emblem looked different from his.
" You are finally here. Go inside and start cleaning. Make sure to finish ten shelves by the end of today, from number 211 to 220. " Bonnie spoke as he saw Vritra walking closer.
Normally, one servant is tasked to clean a total of three shelves each day, and Bonnie was making him do more than three times the work.
' Yet the authority that attendants hold here is next to nothing, especially someone like me who is literally a slave here. ' Vritra thought.
Even if he is murdered, there probably won't be any investigation.
The two boys both had chubby bodies and, unlike Vritra, they took this job by choice and earned much more money than him without doing any work.
" Okay, " Vritra nodded. He could only agree for now.
Cleaning all ten shelves would take the entire day, and he wouldn't be free until late at night.
" Good, good. If you keep working hard like that, then I'll reward you with two extra 5 'paiso' coins at the end of this month. " Bonnie spoke, patting Vritra's shoulder, who was slightly taller than him.
' So a total of forty paiso. That still amounts to nothing. '
Vritra gets thirty paiso worth of coins every month.
In the Qortern city and even the Xalintros continent, paiso is the currency while hundred paiso would amount one Orum.
And even a piece of bread costs exactly 2 paiso.
If the Sanctum wasn't providing food for them all separately, then he would have been starved to death, while only getting one piece of bread every two days.
A simple meal would cost around ten to fifteen Paiso at least.
Coins are used for one, five, ten and fifty paiso, while notes are used for bigger quantity like 1 Orum or higher.
Even these two boys gets more than 1 Orum every month maybe even two, not to mention the bonuses they would recieve from Bonnie.
"..." Vritra nodded.
" Bless the Brave!! " Bonnie added while touching the emblem on the left side of his chest with his right hand's palm.
The two boys behind him following the action, big smiles on their faces.
" ... Hope will lead!! " Vritra replied similarly, then ignoring the three, he turned towards the door and pushed it open.
He had seen this exchange in his memories.
Bonnie and the two others chattered and laughed as they walked away.
' This place is strangely similar to a corporate office. Anyway, I need to change my status as soon as possible. ' Vritra thought, as he gazed at the several lines of shelves present inside.
There were hundreds of shelves, and quite a lot of attendants were already doing their duties there. These shelves were filled with different kinds of things, from antiques to bottles of precious healing water.
Sighing, Vritra got to work. This was going to be a long day.
" I can do this!! " He mumbled with resolve in his voice.
[ Perdurist trait activated. Your stamina has increased by 10% temporarily. ]
"..."