The bustling and prosperity of the Capital City, Lumeria, never fails to amaze me.

The city itself is built on top of a sloped hill, with the Evermist River running right through the city and cutting it in half. A great bridge is built, connecting the two parts of the city, with two large statues depicting a heroic Knight and a master Mage standing on either side as the bridge's support, holding eternal vigil over the city.

The statues are of the Kingdom's founder, King August de Camilier the First, a great and noble king that liberated the old Kingdom from the Empire's grasp almost 300 years ago. And his right hand, Acardia the Miraculous, an Archmage with a commoner background that was said to be Blessed by all elements.

The Capital then was merely a fort, occupying the area that is now named the Administrative District, more commonly known as the Noble District, with the Royal Castle in the very middle. Over the years, the city had expanded beyond the river, requiring the construction of the Summer Liberation Bridge.

The Academy itself is located right near the bridge, so I don't have to walk very far to reach the other side of the raging river. The reason for this placement is to emphasize the Academy's core concept of equality, a middle ground where nobles and commoners interact as equals.

The sun is just shining overhead, signaling the start of a busy day even if this is the weekend. Or is it because it's the weekend, the wave of Academy students seeking fun is making the city feel extra packed today?

Regardless, dodging the wave of people and carriages crossing the bridge, I finally make it over.

Flashing my Academy student tag, the guards at the end easily let me through to the true heart of the city, the Central Area.

===

The Central Area, or just Central for short, is the place in the very middle of the city, while the Nobles are at the north, facing the steep hill.

Central is then divided into different districts such as the Residential District in the south that's reserved for the middle class. The Commerce District is in the middle with the Temples to the west and the Guilds to the east of the city. Further away, tucked between each of the districts and reaching all the way outside the walls, are the lower-income Worker's District, otherwise known as Slums.

I walk my way east while remembering such information.

Within my school's uniform jacket are two letters, one meant for Billin the dwarf, and one for my family.

I absent-mindedly touch the pocket that holds the more ornate letter.

It wasn't easy, writing it. But with no small amount of encouragement coming from Yermen, I finally finished it.

I wrote as sincerely and direct as I can, apologizing - no - begging for forgiveness for what I've said in the past. I just hope that it's enough.

This letter, I need to send through the Messenger's Guild, so that's why I'm moving towards it now.

If only I remember where it is.

===

Stepping out of the guild, I sigh a little.

Since I wanted the letter to be sent by Swiftwing Messengers, I had to pay an extra gold coin as a premium. Luckily, it's only a letter, so the fee wasn't that bad, and it's guaranteed to arrive at my family's manor in less than three days.

As for the money, I used the reward money I got from killing the Hobgoblin.

Since it was technically the Academy's fault for neglecting the maintenance of the Dark Forest wards, Yermen and I got rewarded for finding and dealing with the problem, with a promise to not let anyone know.

It's basically hush money.

The Academy had to keep its reputation, after all.

So we both got 100 gold pieces as a team, which means each of us got 50 gold. Which is a lot of money for a commoner or even a poor Baron's son.

Converted into Credit, it should be 50000, with each gold at 1000 C.

The old Kingdom used a lot of different coins, ranging from copper to silver, to electrum, pewter, and more. This was the system used by the Empire and was super confusing. So after the Kingdom's liberation, economic reforms were made, and the Credit system was introduced to streamline the calculations.

The smallest denomination is still the copper coin, which is worth 1 C. Then it comes to pewter coins, which are worth 32 coppers, or 32 C. Silver is 100 C, and electrum is 780 C. Then it's gold, then white gold, then platinum, with crystal coin at the very top. Such currency is only used on the scale of a large country, such as the Empire, doing business with each other though.

For a commoner, 5 C is enough to eat well for a day, or maybe even 3 if you really stretch it. So 5000 should be about... Uh... Shit, I'm bad at math, hold on. It's 10000 days, so about 30 years? Something like that.

Anyways, the gold was deposited in my and Yermen's bank account, so I had to visit the Bank to do some withdrawals first, which is also in the Guild District, thankfully.

I walk towards the Slums with heavy steps, lamenting the loss of my precious gold coin.

===

Before reaching the Slums proper, I stopped at a nearby alley and changed my outfit to something more fitting.

Since I'm from a very poor area, even if I'm a noble, I still had some very commoner-appropriate clothes. A faded white linen shirt, brown woolen pants that are fitting for the current season, a brown jacket over top of my shirt, and a hat to cover my hair. Oh, and some leather gloves used in sword training to hide my Stigma. That's the best I got.

If one looked briefly, I would no doubt blend into the crowd of people walking around. At least I hope so. I mean, my shirt even has holes.

Anyways, what I'm looking for are the many access points that lead to the Underground, of which I only know one.

The protagonist didn't ever use any of the Underground services, but there was a special quest that required one to enter it. It's the same quest that I'm looking to accomplish right now.

The entry should be a small pub, with a symbol of a rose painted in dark red paint, like dried blood. I know that it's on the southeastern side, and is closer to the Guilds than the Slums proper. It could be said to be a semi-official entrance used by most Adventurers to enter the Underground.

Looking around for almost half a day, weaving through streets and alleys while making sure to keep my Soul Sight as active as I could to help me detect any hostile intentions, I finally found my target.

A slightly run-down wooden building greets my sight. Its once colored walls are dilapidated and full of little knicks, with the paint chipped in places or completely faded in others. The pillars are rotten and the roof is missing quite a number of tiles. The front door is made from planks of lighter-colored wood hammered together roughly.

What's important though, is the symbol of the rose above the door frame, made from metal and painted dark red. The only bit of color that remains on the building.

I pushed the door in, the whole thing creaking loudly and threatening to pop out of its hinges. Oddly, what little clientele that this place has completely ignored the sound as if they're used to such a thing. Maybe they are, though.

I decide to just stomach it and move towards the counter.

The barkeeper is a burly-looking man, with scared, muscled arms and a bald head that is equally as scared. One particularly nasty one runs straight down his right eye, leaving it milky white. His face though rough, has a beaming smile the moment I reach the counter. He greets me jovially.

"Hello, customer, what can I get you on this fine day?" He's surprisingly articulate with his words.

"Yes, um, I'm looking to plant a new bush in front of my house next season. Can you recommend me a gardener?"

For the briefest of moments, the whole pub goes silent. Every customer who was eating and drinking previously completely stops. Even the hushed whispers and murmurs scatter, leaving nothing but stale air behind. It is suffocating, like a cold grave. Time seems to stop.

Then the next moment, everything returns to normal, like what has just happened was a dream.

I try my hardest to keep calm, but I can feel the clamminess of my hands and the cold sweat that's running down my back.

So scary!

The smile of the barkeep is still the same, but the feeling is completely different. Even though Soul Sight is saying that he's still happy, I just feel that he's threatening me somehow.

"It's almost time, isn't it? As for a gardener, I need to know which kind of bush you're planting, so I can know who to call."

"A bush of white roses is most beautiful."

"Haha, true that." The Barkeep says with a smile. He then jerks his head toward the tables, and a man cloaked in dark blue stood up and walks toward me.

With a simple nod, the cloaked man speaks quietly, "Come."

I can't help but notice a small white flower in his shirt pocket.

I sigh in relief. It seems I remembered the code correctly.

The code is not something fixed, but more like a set of keywords that you need to add to sentences to inform the barkeep that you know, and which services you want to ask of them. 

The keyword for this place is 'gardener', 'rose', and some form of color to indicate your intentions.

I only know the color for information trading, though, which is 'white'. Supposedly, 'red' is for assassination requests, but I'm not sure. It's one of the obscure lore knowledge that exists in the early parts of the game, so my recollection is hazy.

Following the man, we reach a door at the back of the pub. Opening the door, he leads me into what looks to be the storage area, with multiple kegs of alcohol, shelves with dried food like jerky and cheese, and some basket holding some vegetables and fruits that look a little over the edge of edible. The entire room is lit with torches that cast flickering lights and shadows everywhere.

At the far corner of the room is a small sconce that is missing a torch, and the man simply pulls the metal thing like a lever. A soft click rang out, and a part of the floor drops open, revealing a rusted iron ladder that leads into a murky abyss.

Looking at the man uncertainly, he simply moves towards that rickety thing and climbs down without a word.

Gulping, I can only helplessly follow, hoping that this tunnel isn't some kind of trap that drops me into the waiting maw of some monster.