Chapter 1-34 : The Girl Follows The Dark Elf To Her Workshop (part 2)
「I’m Ingrid from Fermete Forest. Nice to meet you.」(Ingrid)
「Ingrid… I’m… Umm…」(Elle)
「Elle, was it?」(Ingrid)
「Eh?」(Elle)
「Your cat called you that, so…」(Ingrid)
Elle glanced at Yoyo and squinted a bit angrily.
「Yoyo…」(Elle)
「Woops…」(Yoyo)
「Hm? You don’t seem to want me to know your name.」(Ingrid)
「To be honest, yes… My master told me not to tell my name to adult strangers.」(Elle)
「I see. I bet your master is a cautious person.」(Ingrid)
「He was…」(Elle)
「Was? Ah… I’m sorry.」(Ingrid)
「No, it’s alright.」(Elle)
Realizing that Elle’s master was no longer in this world, Ingrid immediately apologized.
Moritz was a high-ranked magician who knew hundreds of high-ranked spells including the forbidden ones. The actual reason why he told Elle not to trust strangers and tell them her name was because there was a forbidden spell that allowed the caster to manipulate other people’s minds by just knowing their names.
Moritz was worried that someday Elle would bump into an evil magician who knew that spell.
「Well then, let’s go to my place. Take my hand. You can barely walk, right?」(Ingrid)
「U, un… Thank you.」(Elle)
Elle had only a little stamina left to walk. She accepted Ingrid’s kindness and took her hand.
They then started walking while holding hands.
「You said you were an enchanter. Do you make magic stones for a living?」(Elle)
「Not really. I make magic stones sometimes, but my actual job is magic tool engineer. I make magic tools.」(Ingrid)
「Magic tool engineers… I heard that they live on the street called Magic Workshop Street. Is your workshop on that street too?」(Elle)
「No. The engineers who live there are mostly selfish people who think nothing but themselves. I’m different, and I don’t live there.」(Ingrid)
「I see.」(Elle)
「This way.」(Ingrid)
Magic Workshop Street was near the middle part of the city. If they went straight and followed the main street, they would reach there, but they turned left and entered an alley.
There were not many magic street lamps in the alley, so it was a bit dim.
Elle held Ingrid’s hand tighter. She didn’t want to get lost in that place.
「Ugh… The atmosphere here is kinda suffocating, and it smells bad too…」(Yoyo)
「Agree. I don’t like this place… Master, are you alright?」(Neige)
「I’m fine. It’s just a bit hard to breathe.」(Elle)
It was late at night but it was quite hot in the alley and the quality of the air was bad. It seemed to be polluted.
Listening to their complaints, Ingrid responded to them.
「Sorry about that. Magic stone vehicles and factories have been polluting the air in this city for years. The quality of the air is bad, especially in alleys like this. Ahh… It makes me want to go back to the forest where I grew up. I miss the clean air there so much.」(Ingrid)
Elle lived in the forest too, so she understood Ingrid’s feelings very well.
Unable to handle the polluted air, Elle remembered about the throat lozenges she got from Mr. Forster. She took out the can from her bag and put a piece of throat lozenge into her mouth.
「Ingrid-san, do you want some?」(Elle)
「Thank you, but I’m good.」(Ingrid)
Elle offered some of them to Ingrid, but she politely refused. She seemed to have gotten used to the air.
Elle put back the can into her bag and then took out a handkerchief. She pressed it against her nose and mouth and kept walking like that.
After walking for about ten minutes, they arrived at the downtown area.
The area was brighter than the alley thanks to the lights coming through the windows of the surrounding buildings, so Elle could walk a bit easier.
Unlike the area around the main street where you could find many fancy shops and buildings, there were only old and dirty wooden buildings in this area.
People hang out laundry on strings between houses facing each other, and Elle found it quite interesting. However, the street was wet because of the water dripping from the clothes. The ground was also dirty with litter and junk.
「This place doesn’t look very healthy… Why did you choose to live in this area? I heard that the downtown area was not safe.」(Elle)
「You’re right. It’s not, but I have my way of protecting myself and my belongings. I chose to live here simply because the monthly rent here is cheap.」(Ingrid)
「How cheap?」(Elle)
「Very, very cheap. I rent a two-story house, and it only costs me five copper coins a month.」(Ingrid)
「Only five copper coins a month for a two-story house!? That’s super cheap! How could it be so cheap?」(Elle)
「Haha! Wait until you see the house. Anyway, because the rent here is cheap, many lower-class people live here.」(Ingrid)
「Lower-class people?」(Elle)
「Hm? Ah, you said you just got to this city. You don’t know anything about the rules here, do you?」(Ingrid)
「Except for the rule that requires you to have an ID card just to rent a room in an inn, I don’t know any other rules.」(Elle)
Elle was still upset about the fact that she must have that mere piece of paper just to be able to sleep under a roof for one night.
「Ahaha… Anyway, let me explain. The community in this city is divided into three classes: lower class, middle class, and upper class. Lower-class people are workers or laborers. They are mostly commoners who make a living by working. Middle-class people are business owners and property owners. In short, bourgeois or wealthy people who make tons of money. Lastly, upper-class people. They are nobles and members of the royal family. The majority of the people living in this city are lower-class people. More than seventy percent of the residents here are lower-class people, twenty percent are middle-class people, and ten percent are upper-class people.」(Ingrid)
「I see. Does this class system thing have anything to do with ID cards?」(Elle)
「Of course. When you make an ID card, you write down your annual income and your total assets, and then your class will be determined based on that. If you’re a noble or a royal family member, you will be automatically classified as upper class.」Ingrid)
「I haven’t gotten any chance to make an ID card, so I have no idea about that at all. Are there any other rules I need to know?」(Elle)
「Let’s see… Under the new law, only people of the same class can marry. There are also some shops near the castle where only middle and upper-class people can enter. Lower-class people will be kicked out immediately. There are many other rules, but they are all shit. This city has too many shitty rules! …Ahem. Pardon my vulgar words.」(Ingrid)
「It’s alright. I understand your feelings. These rules gave me a headache too.」(Elle)
「Haha. Let’s forget about those pain-in-the-ass rules for now. We’re here. This is my workshop.」(Ingrid)
As they were talking about the troublesome city laws, they arrived at Ingrid’s workshop.
「Uwaah… It looks even worse than Moritz’s old log house…」(Yoyo)
「It looks… terrible…」(Neige)
Just as Ingrid said earlier, it was a two-story building, but it was so rundown and old that it looked like it was about to collapse at any moment.
「So… This is your… workshop…?」(Elle)
「Yup. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to my humble abode.」(Ingrid)
Saying that, Ingrid let go of Elle’s hand and approached the door.
Seeing how bad the condition of the house was, Elle understood why the rent was suspiciously cheap.
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