From the darkness, Dawnbreak, I saw the light!
Aaron said to himself, ending his first meditation.
Though his expression remained calm, he was actually overwhelmed with emotion.
After all, after planning for so long and enduring so many setbacks... he had finally seen hope!
And he had it firmly in his grasp.
Then he noticed that the people around him were looking at him strangely.
He heard words like "madman," "jumping into the river," and "bankrupt"...
"Fortunately, the language hasn't changed much. They have heavy accents and dialects, but I can just about understand them..."
Aaron paid no attention to the looks around him. He rubbed his stomach; he was even hungrier now.
"I arranged everything for my slumber, yet somehow forgot to prepare for when I woke up. A miscalculation..."
He felt around in his pocket. There were a few gold and silver coins inside—the pocket money he had brought with him before falling asleep.
He couldn't spend them outright now, of course, but he should be able to sell them as ancient coins. The coat he had been wearing before should fetch a decent price at a pawnshop, too.
Just then, Aaron felt two gazes fall on him.
In the crowd, two men in black uniforms with white stripes, dressed like patrolmen, began paying attention to him and looked ready to come over and question him.
This was an age that extolled ambition and glory.
Big businessmen and factory owners squeezed their workers for all they were worth, then spent the money they earned buying land or donating to charity to gain a good reputation. They also did everything they could to marry into the nobility and enter so-called "high society."
Ordinary workers and the middle class worked hard every day, suffered exploitation, and lived like the walking