CHAPTER 43: THE SLUMS

As a proud member of the orphan community, Ash was proud to say that his orphanage was located inside the city.

Behind the tall walls that protected the city.

His life was considerably pleasant, if you didn’t count the fact that any parental love was absent in his life, that is.

However, as an orphan, Ash also learned a few things here and there about the side of the city that many children might not possibly know.

One of them was the existence of a slum area just outside the city.

It was located outside the protective walls of the city. No police entered the area unless they were doing some investigation, and it was the place where all kinds of people met.

Despite not having the protection of the wall, the place was relatively safe from monsters because it was located on the other side of the wall.

The opposite direction from where the city faced the Verdant Necropolis.

It faced the direction of another city instead.

Which meant that not a lot of monsters or mutated animals roamed around the area since it was located between two protected cities.

Contrary to people’s belief, although it was called the slums, the place wasn’t as bad as you might think.

Ash walked through the stone-paved road of the slums.

His flexible titanroot made a makeshift cape that covered his whole body, and a cape draped over his head.

All around him, concrete and brick buildings filled the area.

Though some of them clearly looked like they hadn’t been treated well, they were far from dilapidated or being straight up barely-standing straw shacks.

But the clear difference between the slums and the main city was the distance between buildings and the concentration of people inside.

There was barely any space between one building with the others, and the people were literally walking shoulder to shoulder throughout most of the streets.

And that’s the exact reason why Ash decided to create a fake cape using his titanroot.

He might expose the peculiar details of his body if he didn’t cover them well enough.

There weren’t any skyscrapers blocking the sky, but the sheer denseness of the buildings and their irregular shapes filled his sight.

Keen stayed perched on top of Ash’s head, not wanting to do so on his shoulders because he kept bumping into other people.

So, what was Ash doing in the slums?

First of all, despite not literally entering the city behind the walls, the slums were still part of the city.

If he knew where to look and ask, he might find a way to get inside the city without having a proper identification.

Or even better, he could even get a whole new identification instead from the slums.

But to do that, Ash still needed to be somewhat a part of the society.

Whether it was knowing the right people or having the required resources to be able to do what he wanted, Ash currently had none of the two.

His plan was simple.

He often heard his caretakers and the people at his school talking about diseases breaking out in the slum area.

Telling the students and other people to stay away from the area.

What did that mean?

There were diseases here. And people were suffering from these diseases.

Ash was no doctor.

But he sure as hell could ’cure’ people, or at least, save them from the suffering these diseases gave them.

He just needed to find a place for himself to start his operation.

And this was exactly what he had been doing.

Searching for a space in this area fully packed with people.

A feat harder than searching for the immortal slugs in the Verdant Necropolis.

And with him walking around in his dark cape in the middle of the day, he was bound to get some looks from the people around him.

You might think that Ash’s looks were inconspicuous in the slums.

But that wasn’t the case.

The people there, though they looked unkempt and slightly dirty, didn’t cover their whole bodies and half of their faces with capes.

And for such a tight community, people were bound to have seen each other a lot.

Newcomers like Ash were bound to be noticed as soon as they stayed long enough.

And one of the nosy bunch eventually decided to come and say hello to welcome Ash.

"Well, well, good day, sir, never seen you here before. Is there anything we can help you with?"

Three men, well, barely adult enough to be called men, walked up to Ash with smiles on their faces.

Their hair was longer than their jaws, but no one would mistake them for girls just from the sheer fact that their hair looked worse than a monkey having a bad hair day.

Ash sighed. He already met too many of these kinds of people in his childhood to know where this was going.

"Yes, I just came to this city. I’m looking for an empty place for me to stay."

The smile of the man who spoke to him became even wider.

"Well, sir, you meet the right guy. I’ve been living here ever since the first brick of the city was laid down. I can show you around.

But unfortunately, there wasn’t any empty space here for newcomers. They were all already filled."

His hands began rubbing into each other before he continued,

"But I can definitely help you to find a place for a little donation."

Ash rolled his eyes.

"Sorry, I don’t have any money. I just got kicked out of my city."

The man’s smile faded slightly, but he kept showing a little of his teeth.

"What an unfortunate incident. Then I will just ask for a small token of gratitude for helping you."

Ash’s eyebrows rose. "Help me? With what?"

"Well, we’ve taken our time to speak to you despite not knowing who you are, we at least deserve some compensation for you wasting our time, right?"

Words of insult almost spilled from Ash’s mouth, but he knew it was useless for these people, so he just turned away and started walking.

He didn’t want to get any unnecessary attention yet.

Despite the urge to release some phantom bloom straight into these people’s noses, Ash just shook his head and memorized their faces into his mind.

Alas, these people really couldn’t appreciate his self control.

"Now, now, don’t be hasty." The man put his hand on Ash’s shoulder, holding him in place.

Ash’s hands began twitching.

"I really didn’t want to do this." He released the man’s grip and turned to face him.

The man’s smile rose once more, and his eyes stared deep into Ash’s.

"Do what, exactly?" He said as he flashed a kitchen knife in Ash’s direction.

Sensing the problem brewing, the people managed to avoid the place where Ash and the three men stood despite the cramped space.

Leaving them alone in the middle of the road.

Ash finally returned the man’s smile with his own.

"Keen, please remind me if I went overboard."

Caw?

"Overboard, meaning you wasted precious meat for my growth?"