576. Aquagale Solitude

576. Aquagale Solitude

Tall fields of corn and wheat were divided by an unwelcoming road.

Groups of hardened men and women alike worked the fields as part of a repayment system. Debt was paid off with manual labor and special service for those that lacked coins, or as a form of punishment since despite the city possessing ‘Solitude’ in its name, this place was no longer a prison.

But was half of the truth. Aquagale Solitude was a special prison when compared to most in Elysia. It was a city large enough to house over 150,000, or 175,000 if one were brave enough to cram this massive number of people behind its granite walls.

Today only roughly 90,000 people live in Aquagale from an estimated 135,000 at its peak. Purges of heretics and vice versa were all too common during that decade of despair, and 45,000 from Aquagale were claimed by the maelstrom that swept Grandis following the fall of Paradise.

Whether they left Aquagale altogether in a mass exodus or were slaughtered was a blip in Grandis’ history. The fields were vast enough to sustain the heavily isolated population.

Beyond the farms were the ruins of what used to be slums, homes and other unneeded structures where rats and giant insects such as that of the Triranuchla Bird Eater; an eight-legged spider that was half the size of human adult.

The ‘Tri’ in its name came from how the ends of its legs split into three finger-like appendages which were used to grab prey. They were harmless to humans since their jaws were rather soft and full of bristles. In fact, they were used as tools to groom hair like living hairbrushes.

That being said, they were a very affectionate and clingy arachnid that had the tendency to leap at people unexpectedly. As a result, visitors to Aquagale were usually greeted by these things before its inhabitants.

However, none dared to even cast their eyes in Frost’s direction as she strode past their dark abodes. Animals were keenly aware of her dominating existence and obeyed their instinct to pretend they were dead.

“Weird. I was kind of hoping to see what kind of face Miss Benefactor would make when a spider clung onto you. Would you have gone “Aaaah~!” Or maybe, “Naaaaagh~!?”NewW novels updates at novelhall.com

“We just came from an Anid Nest. Those things are cute in comparison.” Frost reminded.

What were regular spiders to the Anids?

“Cute? You really have strange tastes. I can’t get a good read on you all. But that’s a good thing! That means you’ll blend right in. This city’s Patron of the Highway office isn’t that big either, so if you’re worried about attracting attention then you’ll be fine.”

Autumn was quite perceptive. She was aware that Frost didn’t want to stand out unnecessarily. Her goal was to receive the information and leave. Any trouble thereafter can be dealt with a simple squint.

“I’m more worried about you. This city doesn’t bode well. I’m guessing those same inmates are the ones running the city, right?”

“Oh yeah. It was a correctional prison if that makes any sense. More than that, the city was an experiment to see what would happen if criminals were to run a city on their own. It did surprisingly well until there weren’t enough Demi-humans to go around.”

Frost’s stomach sank.

The reason did not need to be stated. Her gut wrenched at the thought that she adamantly suppressed, the air becoming hot around her as chills ran down the spines of every single living thing in her vicinity.

“How sickening.” Frost spoke coldly.

“It is, but it’s history. It’s hard to get upset on the things that happened in the past. I just don’t want to be burdened with the guilt of something I never did.” Autumn spoke like Frost was also blaming her in a way, but this was far from the truth.

Autumn was aware that many people in Grandis were blamed for the atrocities committed to Demi-humans and Healers alike. The issue was that innocent people like here often took the full brunt of the guilt and blame, and at some point, they stopped caring altogether.

Not that it’s a bad thing either. No one can change the past. Everyone wants to escape their stigma. But the only way to do that is to change things moving forward.

“A very low chance in Grandis.” Nav didn’t have high hopes for this Region at all.

Neither did Frost, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t any hope.

Frost was deeply reminded by how alien her morals were compared to most. Sympathizing with the Demi-humans was seen as strange and at worst heretical to those that were still fiercely loyal to Puritas.

At the end of the day, normal people wanted to live their lives normally. To do that, they had to obey the rules of the strong less they wish to be persecuted.

It’s a recipe for creating all kinds of awful emotions. It’s no wonder Grandis is plagued with the Corrupted.

“You’re right. History should be seen through an objective lens. But it’s different when it wasn’t that long ago. Plus your perspective changes when you know people that personally experienced it.” Frost said as they approached the fortified, grated gates of the city. “So it’s hard for me to overlook.”

“I guess I can relate to it when you put that way. Getting close to a Demi-human is heartbreaking. It’s so much easier to just stay away from them. There’s not many here anyway.” Autumn chose the easy path.

“You arrived... alone?” The grey-haired receptionist adjusted her glasses from behind a wooden desk.

She was not old by any means, but her hair had already grown so grey. A stern, frigid aura surrounded the receptionist who didn’t give them a second glance and went on to continue sorting out various paperwork.

“Teacher will be arriving later. I was told to go on ahead to let you know that the designated eight caravan was destroyed by the Anids. Also! I need access to my personal vault.”

“I see, for payment, correct?”

“Something like that.” Autumn nodded.

After scribbling down something, the woman placed her pen down and nodded.

“Go ahead. And dear guest. Please don’t cause a scene.”

“Of course.” Frost was surprised by how easily they let her in with Autumn.

Wouldn’t it have been better to wait? Or is that she can’t bring personal items out from this place?

Autumn climbed a staircase beside the receptionist. As Frost was about to take her first step, the receptionist glanced up at her with suspicion.

“... And you’re a mage, correct?” She sounded uncertain, as if to test Frost.

“I specialize in fire magic.” Frost, after moving her lips incomprehensibly to simulate a chant, snapped her fingers and summoned a small fire at the tip of her finger. “Convinced?”

“Hm. I assumed you were a fake with that apparel, but you’re indeed a real mage. Go on then. I apologize for interrupting.” The receptionist was satisfied with the answer.

Though the suspicion oddly didn’t leave her eyes, like she couldn’t trust Frost at all. Similarly, Frost couldn’t trust this person and simply left without uttering another word.

* * *

After moving through several hallways, they finally reached a door that required Autumn’s presence to be opened. Inside was a messy assortment of papers and steel lockers containing her personal belongings.

All sense of organization was lost, and the air of this windowless room was heavily stagnant as if it hadn’t been disturbed for quite some time.

“Why is a map being kept inside of a vault?” Frost asked.

“Because we’re the only ones that have mapped most of Grandis’ highways. Without these maps anyone can be a Patron of the Highway. I’m not really one myself. My cousin is, but life is all about connections. You got yourself a good connection right here.” She patted herself on the shoulder before rummaging through the paperwork.

There wasn’t anything to note from what Frost saw. That until her eyes linger on a paper detailing the existence of a Corrupted called ‘Scented Thoughts’.

Scented Thoughts – Corrupted – Highly Dangerous – Death Toll Estimate: 56,780

Found near the western highway leading to Bellum. Last known sighting was near one of the cities following the highway near the Forbidden Lake. Highways to Bellum through the Southwest will remain closed until further notice.

Sounds like something we’ll be coming across since we’ll be taking that highway anyway.

A number of monster sightings were also detailed amongst the documents. None were as concerning as the Scented Thoughts. On top of that were the Mad Slippers in Paradise. After a few minutes a dust-smothered Autumn raised a paper map to the sky in triumph.

“Found it! Miss Diamond Ranked! Take a good look at the cartography of the Patrons of the Highways! It was last drawn a month ago. Are you lucky or what? Also, please don’t copy it. I don’t want to call anyone up here to punish you.”

Finally, Frost now had her hands on a reliable map of Grandis.

“It’s fine. I just need to look at it once.”