Beneath The Surface

Act 14 - Who the hell is my employer???

Normal text
Thinking
Onomatopoeia

Caitlyn's POV
"We're here, Miss."

"Got it. Thank you for the ride," I said while giving the elderly man a handful of Golden Hexes.

I hopped down the donkey-drawn cart, dusting off the stray hay strands that got stuck in my outfit.

The grandpa looked at the glittering coins in his hands and hurriedly shook his head, "No need to give me these. It's just a matter of passing by."

I smiled and closed his fingers around the coins, "It's okay, Sir. Just a little appreciation for your help."

It would be really embarrassing to take things for free. Ionia doesn't have an established payment system like Piltover. They're more primitive, using a bartering system to exchange for goods. So I can't exactly pay him anything of use. The least I could do was give him a reasonable sum just in case he wanted to trade with Piltovans. After all, he's the only one willing to let me hitch a ride. Hexgates could only get me as far as the capital. The rest had to be done by foot. But no Ionian dared to come within a metre radius of me. Even when I donned myself in conservative Zaunite street clothes, wrapping my white rifle in brown cloth. Probably my silver hair threw everything off but it's definitely more of them being terrified of any new visitors. Which was understandable since they're currently in a rocky relationship with Noxus. So they obviously wouldn't treat newcomers warmly.

I quickly pulled up the hood over my head and left before the elder could insist any further. The warm sun bathed everything in its glaring rays. A cool breeze blew, ruffling the green grass beneath my feet. The air smelled fresh, without the stench of metal and oil, side effects of industrialisation. I stood at the outskirts of the village. There wasn't any safety perimeter erected around the place. Everything's just out in the open.

From what I've gathered, the population here isn't large, around 500 inhabitants. They're reclusive and don't really engage in any outside trades. Slinging my rifle to the back, I walked in. My appearance instantly garnered a lot of attention. People looked at me, some with curiosity while others with suspicions. I gave a faint smile, hoping they wouldn't be too alarmed. Fishing out a map from my bag, I quickly located the orphanage. It should be somewhere near the centre of this settlement. Fortunately, there's only one main orphanage in Ionia. Otherwise, things would get a lot more complicated.

My leather boots crunched loudly on the unmaintained path as I headed deeper into the village. Weeds grew from the cracks between uneven stone paths. Potholes littered the ground. Children in dark stained overalls squealed in delight as they chased each other across weather-beaten dirt paths. Most of them gave me the occasional curious glance before they went about their plays. Unlike Piltover with towering skyscrapers, most houses here were at most one or two-storeys tall. Makeshift stalls were set up along the way, selling an assortment of goods—cooking ingredients, snacks, along with trinkets from the odd pedlars. Besides that, there were also animal pens. Sheep, cows, chickens, everything one could need to survive in the middle of nowhere. This village was completely self-sufficient even without coming into contact with the outside world. Which was impressive in itself, seeing as how underdeveloped they were.

I stopped in front of a plot of land that was supposed to be that of the orphanage. But what greeted me wasn't the joyful giggles of children running out in the lawn. In fact, nothing greeted me. Just a blackened patch in the middle of grassy plains. Even the brown soil was charred. A fire must have broken out. But that's the strange part. Usually, fire outbreaks would leave behind rubble. After all, it's impossible to completely incinerate concrete. There should be charred remnants of infrastructure—torched brick walls, caved-in roofs, crumbling plaster. Anything. However, no traces were left. The fire literally burned down everything, only leaving behind soot and a charred patch of ground that strangely didn't have any weeds or flowers colonising the area. It's just an odd discoloured pit that stood out from the surrounding green grass.