Prologue: Beat 1

Dark clouds had been glooming in the blue sky above since morning, foretelling an eminent downpour. However, rain was hardly a justifiable reason for the common populace to take the day off.

The marketplace, still a little damp from the rain the night before, was still as busy as ever. Stall vendors were either trying to gather customers or busy serving one. A crowd was walking down the street, browsing from stall to stall to see what they needed. From time to time, a cart would stop before a stall, and brawny men would quickly unload goods from the cart.

As this marketplace was located near the docks, it tended to be a little windy. There was a slightly salty and fishy smell lingering in the area, but most of those living in the region were too used to it to pay any heed.

The market was bustling with people, to the point that some were facing difficulties breathing. That was how crowded the market was in the afternoon.

"Salted smoked fish, ready to be served! You'll find nothing better than this in this marketplace! Definitely a good choice for today's lunch! Only 7 bronze coins for one!"

"Fresh grilled prawns, still piping hot! 6 bronze coins for a portion!"

"Fresh bread right out of the oven! Only 4 bronze coins!"

The fragrance of bread and grilled seafood coated with garlic sauce lingered around the stalls. The sea breeze fanned the enticing aroma of the food to every nook and cranny of the marketplace, tempting those who hadn't had their lunch yet.

A dirty skinny boy, looking to be around 8 to 9 years of age, rubbed his growling belly as he tried to stave off his hunger. He was dressed in a dirty greyish hood, brown dirty pants filled with stitches, and a pair of old dirty brown leather shoes which he had just found this morning from scavenging through the trash, presumably thrown away due to a hole that exposed the big toe. He sat by the corner of an alley, staring at a middle-aged woman amidst the crowd. His eyes had been on her ever since she slipped her pouch into her pocket.

His eyes scanned the vicinity intently, taking in all of the details in his surroundings. He noticed a guard dressed in iron armor and holding onto a spear in hand standing not too far from him. A flicker of hesitation flashed across his eyes before he lowered his hood and walked into the crowd.

He slowly approached the woman. The bustling crowd that stood between them was an obstacle, but with his small body, he managed to find a way through eventually. Finally, he arrived right behind the woman. He carefully looked around him before slipping his hand inside the woman's pocket to grab her pouch.

'Got it!'

He hurriedly walked the other way before diving into a small alley.

He took a look at his surroundings, and after confirming that there was nobody around, he sat down on a nearby rock and opened the pouch.

"One, two, three…

"That should be enough for today's target. I should save the rest in case I need them later," the boy said to himself.

He placed a portion of the coins back into the pouch and slipped the remainder into his own pocket before he continued walking again.

…

City of Vrircaster, that was the name of this city.

It was known as the capital of the Eglustan Kingdom, the kingdom of humans. The City of Vrircaster was the biggest trading city, attracting young men from nearby municipalities with the dreams of making it rich.

This brought about swift development for the city as productivity reached new heights. The king and the nobles were delighted, the merchants celebrated their increasing wealth, and the country prospered.

Unfortunately, this joy wasn't shared by anyone as the wealth was mainly monopolized by those who had managed to climb to the top. There were always plenty of unemployed people around, which meant that merchants could hire workers at a cheap rate and exploit them. There were opportunities around, just not for the poor and the newcomers.

Those who came from outside the capital, if they were unable to become adventurers, they eventually found themselves left with no choice but to return to their hometown despondently or serve as cheap laborers with merchants.

As for the extremely unlucky ones who had no money to return to their hometown, no jobs, and were unable to become adventurers, they ended up residing in the slums.

Eventually, the city turned into a place where the rich became richer and the poor became poorer. Many of those who came to the capital with great dreams in mind eventually got crushed by harsh reality.

…

The boy stood up from the boulder and began walking elsewhere. He continued observing his surroundings sharply as he always did, keeping a lookout for guards and hoodlums. This time, his destination was his secret spot, the place where he hid his savings.

He headed back to the main street and walked by the left side of the road, which was still packed with people. There were usually no carriages on this road around this hour because it would be impossible to pass through this crowd. He continued walking onward before suddenly slipping into a small alley which only children could fit into.

At the end of the alley, there was a city wall. This was the wall that marked the boundary between the downtown district and the west side district, where the Port of Jörgen was.

He walked to the right side where he could slipped his body through, and there was a black blanket on the wall, he took the blanket and a hole, big enough for his hand to go inside was discovered, he took the pouch and put it inside the hole, put the black blanket back and get out from where he was, back to the streets.

'Phew. I should head to the docks now and try to grab something to eat.'

He chose the docks instead of the marketplace because he knew that the lady whom he had pickpocketed would have noticed that her pouch had gone missing by now. It would be unwise to head back right now.

He began making his way toward the west gate, where the docks were. The wind was quite strong, tugging at his hood persistently. He had to hold it with his hands in order to keep it in place.

The soaked soil felt uncomfortable to walk on, and it only further dirtied his shoes and big toe. However, the boy was already used to it so he didn't mind it too much.

He began looking around the place to look for the remains of the sailors' lunch.

'There should be some around there.'

He walked towards the corner of the dock, which happened to be the dirtiest spot here as well—the garbage spot. It was filled with all kinds of trash. The stench was so bad that those who were not used to it would probably faint from the sme itself.

"Kshrak, kshrak, kshrak…"

He dug through the trash pile, hoping to find something edible, hopefully wrapped around paper or some other material so that it wouldn't be too dirty.

It was then that a deep but gentle voice called out to him.

"Hey kid, what are you trying to find here?"

The boy was frightened, he quickly stepped back and pulled his hood down. His body was shivering. The boy took a peek at the origin of the voice, he saw a grandpa with a cane on his right hand, and it seems that he lost his index finger and thumb on his right hand, but he still looked with much vigor. The grandpa was wearing a grey hat, a greyish coat, a black leather shoes, it looked old but it looked like it was taken care of really well, and the last was a grey long pants.

"Calm down kid, I ain't gonna hurt ya, ya know?" The grandpa said, his voice was clear and not that loud. The grandpa sighed as he extended his left hand to the boy, "You are looking for something to eat right? Here I have half of the bread for my lunch today, I'm quite full right now, you can have it."

The boy locked his focus on the half golden bread on the grandpa's hand, but he didn't say anything nor move even a bit. He stood there unmovingly like a statue.

"Hmm ya are afraid of me? What are you afraid of an old man like me," the grandpa took out something from his pocket, and it was a water bag made from leather, it looked old because the color already faded quite a lot, "Here, I will put the bread and this bottle here."

The boy was still silent, he just stared at the grandpa without moving or anything.

"Well, I ain't got a whole day to be here with ya, I need to go. See ya kid, be careful." The grandpa said as he smiled and walked away.

The boy was just frozen there, he couldn't say anything as if he was trying to figure out why the grandpa gave him the bread and the water bottle.

A while later, he snapped out of his daze and started searching for food again in the garbage dump.