Chapter 19 Chapter 19 But, My Trash Can...
Chapter 19 But, My Trash Can...
About a few dozen minutes later, the two carrying medical supplies arrived at the Rock Town mentioned by Seele. The journey wasn't without its troubles; they even encountered quite a few people trying to snatch the supplies. However, upon getting closer and seeing Seele, a core member of the Wildfire organization, they all ultimately gave up without exception.
This wasn't due to any deterrent power of the 'Wildfire' organization itself, but rather the reputation Seele had genuinely earned through her actions.
In the Underworld, where there are no established laws, fists are the best weapon to protect oneself.
If it weren't for the 'Wildfire' organization stepping up to take on the responsibility of maintaining basic order after the Silvermane Guards withdrew from the Underworld, the Underworld might not have lasted until the Fragmentum's erosion or resource depletion. It would likely have become a living hell much earlier due to a complete collapse of order.
However, a spontaneously formed civilian group, no matter how well-managed, could never compare to a government unit with a well-established set of rules. Even though they proved their fairness time and again, many people would still condemn and resist them from their own perspectives.
Even the former MOTHs, when they gradually took over governance from traditional governments during the later stages of the disaster, still faced countless instances of rejection.
And even in this Rock Town, which serves as a Wildfire stronghold and is a focal point for protection and order maintenance, its reality is far from what those who have always stayed in Belobog's Overworld could imagine.
Chaotic, crowded, backward... This was Kevin's first impression upon seeing this small town with his own eyes.
It's not that Rock Town's streets were packed with people; on the contrary, the streets were quite orderly under Wildfire's management. But... it was also a fact that this small town couldn't accommodate so many people.
Not only were temporary shelters piled up around the outskirts of the town, but the numerous buildings within the town also clearly housed residents far exceeding normal capacity. Various daily necessities almost occupied every bit of usable external space on these buildings.
Of course, having a proper shelter was still considered a good situation. Some inevitably 'rested temporarily' in dark, narrow alleys. Everyone wanted to change this state of resource scarcity, but... how could it be changed?
Apart from these, Rock Town also had no shortage of children. Aside from those running wild in the streets, the remaining children almost unanimously stationed themselves beside various trash cans, seemingly trying hard to search for something inside.
"Don't worry, they're not searching for leftover scraps of food in the trash cans."
Seele keenly noticed that most of Kevin's gaze was fixed on those children, the only vibrant presence in the entire town. Unfortunately, her words weren't very comforting: "Because Rock Town's trash cans simply don't have that kind of thing. Everyone wishes they could split a single flatbread into eight pieces to eat; how could they possibly waste food?"
"But if they're lucky, the children might still find some useful parts inside, fix them up a bit, and then sell them for money."
When adults struggle for their own survival, they naturally have no way to focus their attention on these children, even though they are the true future in every sense.
"Is there an orphanage here too?"
Just from appearances alone, the number of children far exceeded normal levels. In such an environment, those willing to have another child to burden themselves were actually an extreme minority.
"Orphanage? No, you're overthinking it. After all, Rock Town doesn't have a big mansion like Rivet Town; where is there a place that can hold so many people at once?"
"But one thing is correct: the children in Rock Town are also basically taken care of by Natasha. Most of their parents are miners; sometimes they go out for over a week without returning."
However, there was one more sentence Seele didn't say out loud—many children's parents entered the mines and never came out again.
"This makes me even more curious about what kind of person that Natasha really is."
———— ————
Meanwhile, in the Overworld, the problem child group with little Elysia had just been escorted into Belobog by that Garrison Captain Gepard. Though 'escorted' is the term, this upright Garrison Captain hadn't actually restricted their freedom at all.
In fact, for questions they found puzzling, Gepard chose to answer them one by one, allowing these alien visitors to gradually gain a substantial understanding of this 'City of Preservation'.
Wouldn't it be a bit unreasonable not to say thank you to Brother Gepard?
"Look over there! What are those kids throwing into the fountain?"
March 7th, who had been intently admiring the novel architecture within the city, was suddenly drawn to the children gathered around the square fountain and became very curious about what they were doing.
"What they're holding should be... coins? Indeed, many places have legends similar to wishing wells." Dan Heng's words weren't very certain as he speculated and spoke.
After all... have you ever seen anyone throwing coins into a wishing well by the handful?! If you didn't know better, you'd think they were feeding fish.
"Belobog does have some playful children who like to treat the central fountain as a wishing well. But since it's just throwing some coins, the Silvermane Guards generally rarely bother to clean out the fountain specifically."
Gepard just mentioned it casually. But unintended by the speaker, certain individuals' eyes began to gleam with greed upon hearing this.
Of course, now was clearly not a good time for any mischief. After this small interlude passed, everyone continued forward under Gepard's guidance and finally arrived at the foot of the tallest castle in the city center.
"We're here, everyone. This is Qlipoth Fort, where the Architects reside."
"Even though it's a solitary city in the ice and snow, the architecture here really looks magnificent." After hearing Gepard's introduction, March 7th looked up at the fortress towering nearly a hundred meters high and couldn't help but sigh in admiration.
"That being said, don't you think we're missing someone?" Seeing that everyone seemed completely unaware, the only clever one, little Elysia, kindly reminded them.
"Huh? That's right! Where did Stelle go?!"
"Look, isn't she right over there?" Before March 7th could even start panicking properly, little Elysia had already pointed out the direction for her.
Following where little Elysia pointed, they could see Stelle standing beside a trash can on the street at that moment, lowering her head and staring intently at its lid.
Look at this trash lid—so flat and round... like... like a pie?
The longer she stood there staring at it, Stelle inexplicably felt that this trash can must be hiding some good treasure inside. It was an intuition others couldn't understand.
But just as she finally resolved to reach out and lift this lid representing the unknown, March 7th's hand grabbed her wrist first.
"What are you standing here dumbfounded for? Let's go!"
"But... my trash can..."
"Ugh! What good stuff could possibly be in a trash can? Let's go!"
(There is an accompanying image here; it can be viewed after updating to a newer version.)
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