The Surface World

When Heka arrived in this world and took over this body, he retained fragments of memories of Valin. Those memories, combined with the natural language environment he had been immersed in since then, allowed him to use Valin fluently for simple communication.

But writing was a privilege of scholars and the middle class. Heka had only managed to guess the meanings of a few words from the signs and markers on the streets.

Valin used a phonetic script, and everyone around Heka pronounced the same words with their own accents.

That made it difficult for Heka to determine the exact pronunciation of each character. He could only confirm that Valin commonly used thirty-two characters.

Now that he had found a teacher, how could Heka let him go?

"I-I only know a little."

Tuft of Hair was somewhat at a loss in the face of his boss's sudden enthusiasm. In his memory, the boss had always been a cold and decisive fellow, even somewhat sinister and cruel.

"A little is enough."

Heka had Tuft of Hair wait where he was. Unable to wait even a moment, Heka tossed the wood shavings he had gathered over the past few days into a small plate, then took out a little wooden stick and placed both before Tuft of Hair.

He himself sat obediently across from him, staring intently at the boy in front of him.

Tuft of Hair took a deep breath, then began writing and drawing in the plate with the wooden stick in his hand.

To think he could acquire such precious literacy here—Heka felt that he was probably lucky after all. Bringing him down here had indeed been the right decision.

"So, that little pickpocket called Heka brought his lackey into the sewers, and now we can't find either of them."

The sheriff sat in a chair padded with a layer of fur, tapping his temple with a steel pen ringed in gold.

"They probably haven't left Seapeak Port yet. Every gang keeps a strict hold on its own little pickpockets.

"There are only a few routes out by land. Setting aside the gang lookouts at the city gates, even if they got out by luck, they couldn't get far without a carriage. The gangs have checkpoints at several transit points outside the city. A little pickpocket would be far too conspicuous. They can't get through.

"It's the same at the harbor. Of course, we can't rule out the possibility that they slipped onto a ship amid the chaos, but leaving by ship normally is impossible."

"Looks like the gangs know this city better than we do."

The sheriff released his slightly greasy mustache and returned the steel pen in his hand to the pen holder on the desk.

"They previously bought a large amount of food in other districts. They must have prepared it specifically to hide. Should we issue a wanted notice? The Investigation has been kept entirely under wraps so far, and some of the brothers below are getting impatient."

The sheriff looked at his trusted subordinate, his fingers once more settling on his mustache.

He had originally thought the gangs had simply swallowed the goods.

For others, once copper coins fell into the streets, they truly were not worth looking for anymore. But he was different.

His Lineage had operated Seapeak Port's underground businesses for generations. He was the real backer behind these gangs. Thirty gold coins was no small sum. While it was not much once it sat in his pocket, spending it all in a short time without drawing his notice was impossible.

As long as it was in the city, he could recover even a button the duke's daughter had lost before. There was no reason this should be any different.

But this little rat seemed craftier than the previous ones. He had somehow slipped free of both the gangs' surveillance and theirs, as though he had vanished into thin air.

"Not yet. Once this is done, you and Ait will each get two gold coins. You're married already, right? It would be much better to choose your marital home in the wealthy district. At the very least, your father-in-law won't keep wagging his tongue.

"Any other developments?"

The sheriff leaned back. These days had brought nothing but bad news, and he was starting to feel like going on a killing spree.

"We interrogated several members of the Graytooth Gang and verified the places that were robbed with the prisoners. It has been confirmed—the ones who did it should have been that Heka and his lackey.

"Also, Father Elwin has been constantly demanding the dozens of children we previously seized from the gangs."

"Release them. The old men above are currying favor with the church right now, so don't go against the current at a time like this.

"By the way, have those three little pickpockets already been tortured?"

"Yes." The subordinate making the report answered calmly.

"Don't hand them over. Dispose of them, cleanly. We don't want word getting out and giving people something to talk about.

"Oh, and that Fat Pig is useless now. Go give their new boss a hint. Since the man's gone, he should be dealt with. Increase the first month's payment by another eight hundred silver coins. If he doesn't have it, let him figure out a way himself.

"Damn it all. Isn't he a priest of the Wealth Church? Why does he love meddling in other people's business like a cleric of God Mulga, the God of Fertility? Since when did their god, who only cares about money, start caring about street children?

"Why doesn't his god keep that fellow in line?"

"Deity."

In the dark sewer, the only light between the two of them was the secondhand glow falling through the drain above. The walls on either side stripped it away layer by layer, leaving only the faintest trace by the time it reached them.

Heka repeated the character along with the boy before him. Earlier, he had seen the miracle in the church that could restore severed limbs to their original state.

He had also heard the bard in the tavern tell stories of heroes fighting evil dragons.

Now that he knew this world also had lofty deities, there was not much left to surprise him.

After all, life still had to go on. Whether this world had gods or not could not change the fact that he was currently being hunted by both the underworld and the law.

After finishing today's lesson, Heka selected a piece of wood, then took out his carving knife and looked at the boy in front of him.

He could probably get away without paying, but he had made a promise, and this was not difficult to accomplish.

Heka still intended to carve him a toy.

"What do you want? A little wooden sword, or something else?"

"A rabbit."

"Fine, it's your toy anyway. A rabbit it is."

Heka shrugged and sat down, placing the plate full of wood shavings beside him.

He had been using the shavings to start fires before. Fortunately, they did not have much fuel, so even for kindling, they did not use much of it. Otherwise, Heka did not know where he would find something to write on.

After all, they were currently in one of the sewer's main tunnels. If he wanted to find some dirt, he would have to go into one of the side passages or search through some underground tombs.

That was a little too far away. Heka was afraid of running into people looking for him.