Prologue

[Lion City – Commoners District] 

Austen, a young man with auburn hair, knocked on the door before him. The door creaked ajar, and an old man appeared. Austen smiled.

"Good morning, Sir," said Austen, presenting a neatly folded coat. "Here are the clothes you've ordered."

The old man opened the door further. He stared at the still smiling Austen, then at the clothes the young man held in his hands. He frowned.

"You're late."

As though he had practiced it a thousand times before, Austen immediately bowed his head. "I'm sorry, Sir! I've ran into a bit of trouble along the way. Again, sorry!"

Now that he had taken a careful look at the young man, he noticed that Austen's clothes were tattered, with dirt and mud here and there. His left cheek was swollen, and his lower lip was busted. Surprisingly, however, the coat he presented was in perfect condition. 

The old man realized that the young chap must have been telling the truth. He turned to the dark skies above. The rain stopped only a few minutes ago – yet the coat was dry, as though not a single rain drop fell on it.

The old man sighed, "How much was it again?"

"Three silvers, sir."

The old man pulled out some coins from his pouch then handed it to the young man. 

Austen handed the coat over then quickly counted the coins. He realized that there was an excess of twenty coppers in there.

"Sir, the amount—"

"—They're yours," said the old man. "Keep it." He stared again at the young man's clothes. "They're selling cheap tunics, around fifteen coppers near the slaughterhouse. Use the money to buy yourself one."

Austen's eyes glimmered. He breathed in a gust of air then loudly said, "Thank you, Sir!"

Those words reminded the old man of a military salute, and a small grin formed on his face. 

Austen was humming after he delivered the product to the customer. He was an errand boy, a young man with quick legs. 

Although the old man told him to buy himself a new tunic, Austen did not have such thoughts in the slightest. What he needed right now was food that is enough to feed his five siblings. As the eldest child, he has been the family's supporting pillar ever since their parents died. 

He was about to go back to the tailoring shop to deliver the payment from the old man when he suddenly came to a stop. 

"Damn it," he mumbled. With his keen eyes, he spotted the same thugs who were chasing after him several hours ago. They were huddled in a corner on the street, their burly bodies tall and menacing. 

Austen was about to stealthily go back and find another route towards the tailoring shop when one of the thugs noticed him. The man quickly then told his comrades, and soon, everyone was staring at Austen's direction. 

"Crap." 

Austen took several steps back before turning around and running away. Behind him, he could hear the thugs shouting at him.

"Stupid little shit! Stop! Come back here!"

Austen knew of no one who actually stopped after hearing those lines. On the contrary, it propelled him forward even faster, his eyes quickly swiveling left and right as he tried finding a way out. 

When he first encountered the thugs several days ago, they were bullying him into paying a 'protection fee' for entering their 'territory', for which he obviously refused to do. Who knew such as small dispute would lead to this? Had Austen known better, he would have just handed those fifty coppers in exchange of a month's worth of tranquil.

"God damn it!" he cursed under huffing breaths. The area where he worked was within the thug territory. He knew that his life would only become increasingly harder from now on. 

Over there.

He decided to run into an alley. This place was a maze, but it would eventually lead him to his safety. 

Or so he thought. 

At the end of the alley, several men were waiting for his arrival. The moment Austen got out, he was struck by a wooden pole at the head, and a kick came flying right at his stomach. 

Like hyenas, the thugs surrounded him at all sides as he remained sprawled on the muddy ground. 

Austen coughed several times. Although his head throbbed, he still gingerly tried to stand up. 

"Hello, little pup?" One of the thugs smiled, showing a rotting set of teeth. "Enjoyed the chase, didn't you?"

Enjoyed, my ass.

Austen wanted to retort, but he was afraid that it would aggravate these guys' fury even further. 

"If you just paid the protection fee, this wouldn't happen."

Another thug quipped, "A little dumb, aren't we?"

As though it was the most hilarious joke they've ever heard, the guys around Austen laughed boisterously. 

"Hey boss, look." One of the thugs pointed at the tattered pouch on Austen's waist. A small hole revealed the silver coins Austen earned, which made the thugs grin from ear to ear. 

"We'll be having beer tonight," said the boss. "My treat."

The thugs whistled as they looked at Austen with eyes full of greed. 

Without warning, a kick came flying at Austen. It struck him right at the stomach, making him kneel down upon impact. He vomited on the ground. 

I can't let them take the money. If the boss finds out, I'll be fired. 

It was hard to find a job nowadays. He could not afford to leave it out of his grasp. He had several siblings to feed, after all. 

Austen's thoughts came at him one after another, just like the punches and kicks flying at him. The thugs were evidently enjoying this, chuckling at every hit. 

Still, Austen did not let go of the pouch on his waist. He gnashed his teeth as he did his best not to fall unconscious. He knew that the moment he gives in to the pain, he loses his money, and everything would be over. 

Forget the beatings. His family would die from hunger. 

"Fuck? What the hell's wrong with this bastard?" 

The thugs who saw the fierce glare of Austen were momentarily taken aback. Despite the beatings, his eyes continued to blaze with life. Even with hit after hit, the young man refused to give away the pouch. 

As they continued beating Austen, the thugs suddenly felt chills crawling down their spines. They've heard of this saying before: a cornered rat will bite a cat. If glares could kill, they would all be dead by now.

"Hey, what are you doing over there?" 

They heard a shout from the end of the alley. Upon looking, they saw three men wearing leather armors, with swords dangling on their waists. 

"The soldiers?" said the boss of the thugs. "Damn it. Let's scram."

They looked at Austen one more time before they ran away from sight. 

The soldiers hurriedly went towards Austen. They froze the moment they saw his battered body. 

"Are you… alright?" The soldiers helped him stand up. "What happened here?"

Austen merely shook his head. The patrol in Lion City was corrupted. At least, that was the way it was for commoners. Nothing would change even if he reported those guys to these soldiers. Instead, he would just become a priority target for the thugs.

"It's nothing," he choked the words out. "I need to get going. Thank you."

As expected, the soldiers did not pry into the matter any further. They simply watched as Austin disappeared from their sight. 

***

After delivering the money to the tailor shop's owner, Austen immediately went towards the Market District to buy food for his siblings. His aching body could wait. His priority right now was to feed his starving family. It's been two days since they last ate, after all. 

Currently, he had sixty coppers with him. It was a pitiable amount, considering the fact that he had five more mouths to feed. The second oldest child also used to work as an errand boy, but after falling ill, the task of procuring food for the family all fell on Austen's shoulder. 

To make matters worse, the Black Famine has struck the Kingdom. The City of Mavas, which provided the supply of wheat for Lion City, was devastated by the swarm. As expected, the prices of food sky-rocketed. 

The price. Please, let these sixty coppers be enough to feed my siblings even just for tonight.

Austen's heart thumped as he approached the cheapest stall around. 

"Ah, Austen." The vendor was familiar with the young man and his circumstances. He has gotten used to seeing the young man's body in tatters. "Wheat or bread?"

Austen took out the coppers from his pouch. He resisted the urge to collapse to the ground. The pain enclosing his entire body was excruciating.

"Wheat."

The vendor understood. He took the copper coins then gave Austen a small bag filled to the brim with wheat. Upon seeing this, Austen's eyes grew wide to the point of popping out. 

For a moment, he thought that the vendor took pity of his plight and decided to add more wheat in the bag than usual.

"That face. You haven't heard of it yet, eh?" said the vendor. 

Austin didn't reply. He was still busy gawking at the wheat-filled bag. 

"It happened five days ago," said the vendor. "The Merchants Guild has secured a steady supply of wheat and poultry for the City."

Austen's body trembled. To a pauper like him, this was great news. 

"Blackstone Town, was it?" said the vendor. "It seems like that place was untouched by the swarm. And this is the interesting part" – the vendor lowered his voice, as though the next words he was going to say was something that could absolutely not be leaked out – "they say that the farmlands there have enough wheat for harvest to feed a small portion of the entire Kingdom."

Austen gasped. He almost shouted and praised the Gods for the existences of Blackstone Town. 

The vendor smiled, "Here. Take it." He pushed the small bag towards Austen, and the young man immediately grabbed it. 

"Ah, by the way." The vendor scrutinized Austin from head to foot. "You're still working for that tailor shop?"

Austen bobbed his head. 

The vendor took out a piece of parchment from his bag. "Look at this."

Austen could not read, so he merely stared at the words written on the parchment. The vendor was aware of this, so he said, "It says here that Blackstone Town is hiring additional hands. Farmers, miners, masons, even the military. Minimum payment's six silvers. For the military, it's eleven silvers."

Austen was stunned speechless. He immediately understood what the vendor was trying to say. The tailoring shop was paying him around two silvers a month. It was not enough to feed five more mouths. 

"You're still young, so this might be the perfect opportunity for you," said the vendor. "I've heard that a lot of people are planning on migrating to Blackstone Town. Oh, and there's also the rumor that their Lord personally crushed a Legion of beastmen several months ago. But I doubt that's true. Still, the Merchants Guild vouched for the authenticity of this recruitment, so the salary's probably real."

Six silvers. Those two words sounded so tempting that Austen stood frozen for a moment. 

And what if he got accepted in the military? He would be handsomely rewarded with eleven silvers each month – a dream he wouldn't be able to achieve in this rotten city. 

Furthermore, he had become the target of those thugs several days ago. The more he contemplated, the more it became apparent which choice he should take. 

"I'll go," Austen finally said. 

The vendor smiled, "I guess I'm losing a loyal customer, eh? Here. Take this."

Austen stared at the coin placed on top of the counter.

"That's a silver coin," said Austen. "Why?"

"A whim, I guess?" said the vendor. "Besides, your father was a friend of mine. Just think of it as a parting gift from this mister who couldn't leave Lion City."

Austen's body trembled. He willed the tears back from forming. He mumbled, "T-Thank you."

The vendor was still smiling. "The Merchants Guild regularly comes to Blackstone Town. I think the next caravan is in a couple of hours. Austen, use that silver coin to start a new life in that place. Take the other kids with you. You are still young. I'm sure you'll manage to get by somehow."

Austen was unable to contain his tears any longer. He bowed his head to hide it. "Thank you. Thank you very much!"

He decided to come to Blackstone Town.