77. Arrival!

77. Arrival!

An urban sprawl of golden buildings ran as far as the eye could see. They were designed to stand no more than two stories tall and were highly reminiscent of renaissance-era buildings much like the previous town.

Except these were grander. Larger, and there was far more structural diversity. Massive, almost castle-like buildings ran up to hundreds of meters alongside the black, brickwork paths. Signs illuminated with magic floated across various stores as merchant companies roamed these streets alongside Adventurers and normal everyday people, easily numbering in the tens of thousands.

The streets themselves were colossal in scale and spanned up to a hundred meters wide. Each Sector possessed at least one of these major highways which ran up all the way to the City’s walls, meeting at one major intersection known as the Diamond Square.

Caravans of differing aesthetics, whether they were made from wood, stone, metal, or thatch were tugged around by horses, giant chameleons, and wolves similar to the Scarlet Wolves. Some wagons were even dragged around by hand by muscular individuals, such as Orcs, Dragonkin and the Beastkin.

Apparently, these wagons were either one of two things. Merchandise to sell by these roaming companies, or they were the belongings of their clients. They were the equivalent of removalists from Earth. That, or they were armed guards escorting high valuable goods.

Their work according to the triplets were highly regulated by the Golden Index subsidiary: the Golden Thumb. In fact, all work was regulated by the Golden Thumb to some capacity.

They were responsible for coordinating and monitoring both businesses and the general state of the Diamond Sectors. All materialistic possessions were given a designated value by this body, and were tweaked to reflect supply and demand on a daily basis.

Frost did not understand the world of business well, and she highly doubted that would change here. Not to mention that stocks, stakes, bonds and lending firms thrived in this city of gold. How these worked were absolutely beyond her, but the triplets explained nevertheless.

“The Golden Index is exactly what their name implies. Were you thinking of the finger? Hah! Rookie mistake.” Cer belittled Frost as all eyes were glued to the world beyond the windows. “The Golden Index compiles every imaginable transaction within the entire Nex Megalopolis. Every merchant, every seller, every single buyer, and every completed quest is written down somewhere. So long as they’re within the Guild or one of their Brokers of course! If you notice the Guild receptionists writing something down, then it’s just the transaction they closed.”

“The Nex Megalopolis has a highly regulated market, huh.” Frost said, half-interested by this.

Money wasn’t something she adored to begin with, so this hardly sparked her intrigue. The prospect of the casino on the other hand? Sign her right up!

“Regulated implies control. The Golden Index don’t control it. They’re trying to keep it alive. Take the City of Spades for example. Your wealth means little to them. Power is what rules its Sectors.” Res then explained.

“Can you imagine what those Sectors are like~?” Cer then hummed. “Depending on your luck, murder becomes the norm.”

“I thought this place was supposed to be a paradise.” Frost was instantly confused by the mention of casual murder, causing Ber to shrug as if it couldn’t be helped.

“The actual cities are what you’re probably thinking of. We’re currently in the D3 Sector. An outskirt of the City of Diamonds.” She simply said.

“... Meaning they’re not obligated to help anyone beyond their walls?” Frost tried to make sense of this puzzle.

“Nope. Why should they? The Golden Index is about the only Atelier that’s hand’s on, aside from Justica Arms and Inflow Direct. But then again, Inflow Direct’s more concerned about their precious healers.” Cer sadistically grinned. “I know what you’re going to say. Why do they insist to maintain all this infrastructure? Who the fuck knows. And it doesn’t change that it’s one of the safest places in all Elysia.”

“With rampant murder in the S Sectors?” Jury had to prod. “That hardly sounds safe.”

“For normal people, well you’d be right. But us? What’s a street rat to a Moon? To one of us?” Cer painted a picture of the sheer power differential they had compared to the ordinary people of this world.

“Besides it’s only just a handful of the City of Spades’ Sectors.” Res added, speaking regretfully.

“And it’s not like those kinds of people can spill over to the Sectors of other cities. Peasants of the S Sectors can’t leave. Think of it as the slums of Nex Megalopolis.” Ber then concluded.

“... fucking hell, and here I thought this city was perfect.” Frost spat.

Cer then further clarified that people could not move freely between city sectors.

For example: a person from a D sector could not move to H or S sectors without the money or a valid reason. One such reason was partaking a quest from a Guild that required them to travel across these borders. Another was status alone, such as possessing a high Adventure Rank, or just by being a healer.

However, misconducts outright banned individuals or groups from travelling at all. And that was the ‘good’ outcome.

Serious offenders were never seen again once Justica Arms had their hands on them. There weren’t any incarceration sites like prisons here. Instead, the Nex Megalopolis utilized these brutal sectors to mass dump these problematic individuals.

Luckily, or perhaps unluckily for them – they were only outright killed if they resisted capture.

These criminals were then boarded into a train similarly built to theirs, stocked with food and all the necessities to live for upwards of a decade.

Then, they were left to their own devices for days, months or even an entire year before they reached their destination. And suffice to say, the number of survivors were rarely in the double digits.

It was essentially an express train straight to hell, and it served as one of the pillars that gave birth to the One Way Ticket to Hell urban legend. Whether these two were connected or not was hard to say, but Frost took every opportunity to allow as many of her trains of thoughts to interact.

With the existence of fate-predicting objects like the Scripts, Frost would be an utter moron to believe in such coincidences.

“This city has its own share of nightmares, huh. Man... I hope we all enjoyed the last two days of peace while they lasted.” Frost grumbled as the scenery quickly changed to vast cultivation lands, growing near endless fields of bountiful harvests.

Homes built like castles sat in the center of these lands with towering spires. People of all kinds worked these fields, whether they were the normal everyday person, or an Adventurer donned in plated armor.

An onsite healer could also be seen wandering these fields alongside men dressed in green suits. They also wore a matching tie and a jade ring on their thumbs.

“Are those green suits and ties important? And the rings?” Frost pointed out this one peculiar detail, instantly causing the triplets to look up at her in confusion before they scoured the fields again.

“How the HELL do you see that!? You see the rings!? Huh. Those damned eyes are pretty good as always. Listen up. Green suits and ties means they’re from the Golden Thumb. The ring is practically the same thing. An identifier!” Cer explained, tapping on the window with a thumb.

“They must be there to seal a deal with the quest giver and those workers. You usually see a lot of Stars do the same thing undercover.” Res further added as Ignis tried to get a closer look but sadly to no avail. “They’re information brokers as much as they are guides. Stars like to get the word around. Sometimes for the worse, like what happened with ‘warped stone that eats memories’ rumor. Idiots.”

The setting while largely unknown, felt oddly familiar as a result of this fixation on business and currency. The City of Diamonds was a merchant’s paradise and was where money circulated the streets of the Nex Megalopolis like its blood.

And just as she broke into an accepting smile –

“Jury says otherwise.”

Frost instantly entered a choking fit.

* * *

The Train Conductor announced their impending stop and to brace themselves. The massive hunk of steel slowed down at a rapid pace, causing various fixtures to slide around as if they were aboard the lounge of a tilting ship.

Everyone locked themselves inside of their rooms just to be safe as Snap and the Innocent made their rounds to make sure everyone was alright.

The little her rode its back, issuing directional prompts above its head which Snap ignored and went along its way, causing the Innocent to pout at every turned corner.

The world beyond the windows instantly became black as they entered a long tunnel, finally passing through the walls of the City of Diamonds. Frost was under the impression that they would be greeted outside of the city itself, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

The reception was actually inside much to her surprise. But this thought was short lived. As she sat at the side of a double bed, sharing a room with her companions and the Moon triplets – a prompt suddenly flashed before her eyes.

< Leaving – Entering – D – Leaving D2 – Approaching Epiderma D-J | 1 minute >

“... what just happened?” Frost had to ask.

The prompt was heavily fragmented. Or rather, it seemed confused as if they had simultaneously entered and left an area

“A minor hiccup~ Kind of scary, isn’t it?” Cer hummed, bemused by this.

“That doesn’t explain anything. What do you mean?” Frost questioned as the woman laid herself across the bed, sliding around to the whims of the train.

“We entered a minor spatial distortion. Nothing too major, but you can sense something went awry for just a split second.” Res answered briskly, as if somewhat shaken by this. She quickly grabbed the still slipping Cer by the collar and sat her upright like a child.

“Ahem... that was a close one.” Ber cracked her knuckles. “It would’ve been like those twins all over again.”

“Please do not be alarmed. We are on track to the reception of the City of Diamonds. Thank you for travelling with Caldera Industries. I hope you find an Atelier of your liking. Endorse Attachment.”

The Train Conductor spoke through a magical intercom after a musical tune, concluding with his Atelier’s motto. From where his voice came from was a mystery.

And thankfully in the end, nothing serious came out of this abnormal phenomenon. But it did raise a few hairs on Frost’s back... well, if she had any to begin with.

The train eventually arrived at a complete stop as light flooded back into the windows once again. One by one, they all gathered at the ground floor.

Frost thoroughly counted the people present and healed the injured, thankfully most being bruises and small cuts. Only after ensuring that everyone was here did the Train Conductor then bid them farewell.

“Good luck and do avoid these trains for a while if you can. Just my few copper coins.” He warned as Cara escorted them all towards the exit.

“Looks like Justica Arms isn’t the only one experiencing failures with their technology.” Cer stated, stretching her arms far and wide. “C’mon. Let’s go drown in the city lights already.”

Once the metal doors were twisted and pried open – the golden lights and the warm air of floral perfume instantly enraptured them. When their eyesight adjusted to the surge of countless lights; everyone’s jaws dropped.

Frost’s heart was instantly swept away by the breathtaking sights of towering, golden spires that reached up as far as the eye could see. There were a total of five towers, each representing a finger. The building representing the index finger was the largest and by far the most pronounced, making up almost an entire fifth of the city itself from what she could see.

The spires were built with marvelous golden stone and countless windows, appearing almost like a modern concrete megastructure, rising upwards to around 400 meters.

And to think all of that was dedicated to a fucking casino.

The lights here were enough to dispel every shadow imaginable. The darkness itself was non-existent even in the cusps of night. These blinding lights replaced the stars of the night sky.

The suits of playing cards were inscribed into its masterful architecture, beginning at clubs, and ending at what appeared to be a diamond at the highest peak. Her eyes were far too focused on these monumental structures to notice that people gathered around them to give gifts to the recently collected women, offering food, coins, and beautiful leather satchels filled with sweets.

“... Frost. This is unbelievable... I read a book about your world and this reminds me of it.” Jury couldn’t help but to utter as Ignis froze in awe.

“You’re telling me. Shit... it looks nothing like our buildings from Earth, but I’d be lying if I said that it didn’t at least resemble them.” Frost was entirely taken aback by this, her shoulder drooping as she fell into a mesmerized trance.

The angle of the train’s approach made it impossible to see these building in the first place. This was the very first time she was seeing the city for what it was worth.

And it was utterly gorgeous.

“Hmhm! There it is! The Golden Index!” Cer cried out at the top of her lungs, and with it, came the elated cries of the others.

They were finally here.

< Entering the City of Diamonds for the First Time >

< Welcome to the City of Diamonds >