31 The way in

Yes. She was a slave right now. And the system was helping her level up. She needed to concentrate on that for now. Her life depended on it as well as another's. Determined, she turned to him with a serious look on her face.

"Leave the sneaking to me. Where are their palaces?" Beth asked, raising her chin.

"In the innermost circle of the upper town." The system said, drawing a tiny circle on the bedsheet with his index finger.

She looked towards the direction.

"How do I get there?" She asked, narrowing her eyes at the folds on the bed that now made the circle.

The boy laughed. Shaking his head, he said, "As I said, you cannot. Every wall after the outermost layer of the upper town is guarded with at least a hundred tasked gods." He paused, looking straight into her eyes. Seeing her expression, he frowned. "Even if you manage to get past the fourth wall, how do you plan on portaling to the A districts ?" The system asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Human language please," Beth said, giving him an annoyed look.

The guy wasn't being exactly encouraging. And he dared to use technical jargon with her. 'Stupid system', she thought, pursing her lips in irritation.

The boy sighed. Putting his hand on the bedsheet, he started drawing circles inside circles. "Each layer of the upper town is divided by walls, guarded by soldiers." He explained, pointing to each circle. "Every layer has different districts. The one where you sneaked into was E3, one of the districts in the outermost layer of the upper town." He said pointing to the outermost circle.

Beth nodded, starting to understand the layout of the city. "How many districts are there under 'E'?" She asked, raising her brows.

"Four in total." The boy replied with a smile. Seeing that she understood the basics, he continued, pointing to the second circle biggest circle. "Beyond the second wall are the D districts where tasked minor gods and a few servants live. After the third wall, are the various C districts where the military personnel and higher royal servants live." He said, pointing to the space between the third and the fourth circles.

"Let me guess, after the fourth wall comes B districts and if I'm right, the noble residences," Beth said, guessing the order of the layer names.

It was pretty simple. The layers beyond the walls were named alphabetically from the innermost to outermost, consisting of A, B, C, D, and E. That meant that there were five layers in the upper town in total, with the hierarchy deciding where gods of various statuses lived. The districts inside each layer were then further divided by numbers. The gods suddenly seemed like a bunch of lazy people to her, not wanting to bother to name the places.

"Yes." The boy replied, his smile widening at her deduction. "But beyond that is an endless trench like that between the heaven's gate and the lower town. Nobody knows where it will lead you, but no one who had fallen down the edge has ever returned alive." He said, pointing to the area between the fourth and the fifth innermost circles. "The only way to get to the A districts are portals. They can only be opened by guards. There is no other way to get there."

Beth huffed at his reply. "Then are you telling me that it's impossible? I thought you were smart." Narrowing her eyes at him, she said, "You should know that before I die, I'll make sure to melt you."

His eyes widened at the threat. he shook his head hastily, saying, "There is one way."

"What is it?" She asked, raising her brows.

"The Feast of the light." The system replied, beaming at her.

The term rang a bell inside her head. Beth leaned towards the boy excitedly, grabbing his hand.

"Wait, I overheard some gods say that there was a festival that was coming up." She said, squeezing his palm.

The boy nodded his head with an awkward smile, pulling his hands back. "Yes. In one week's time, on the next full moon, the Feast of the Light would take place. The celebration would go on for a whole week." Dragging his finger outward from the innermost circle to the outermost one, he continued, "That is the only time the royalty would come down to the E districts to drink and dance with the rest of the gods. But most of them would abandon their golden garbs and dress as lower gods to blend in with the crowd."

"Then how do I find them?" Beth asked, intrigued by the idea.

Finding one of the kings in the E districts would be her best bet. She wouldn't have to put in half the effort that she would have had to if she were to sneak into the other districts. Seeing how she had already sneaked into an E district before, it wouldn't be much of a hassle, she thought to herself. Now the only problem was to know how to find the royalty in disguise.

"They will stand apart from the rest of the gods with their demeanor and a particular characteristic." The system replied, his dark gray eyes lighting up, "They are far beautiful than any gods you've seen. A golden tattoo would be etched on their body. If you're lucky you would find a royal member who has his tattoo on a visible spot." He said with a chuckling.

Beth frowned. Any of the royal members would have such an appearance by that logic. What if the kings had the tattoo in a place covered by his clothes? How would she know then? What if she were to chance upon any of their relatives?

"If I find any royal member and present the issue, would that place me in an advantageous position?" She asked, raising her brows in question.

The boy nodded. "Yes, it would grant you an audience with one of the kings. But again, spotting them wouldn't be easy," he said, smiling widely at her.

"At least I can give it a try," Beth replied with a shrug.

The system reached out to pat her head encouragingly. She looked at the boy in surprise. That was a first.

"The Feast of the Light is the only day slaves are allowed into E districts." He said with a warm look in his eyes, "Make sure that you secure a spot among the chosen slaves. You will be tasked with the decorations."