Chương 46: Chapter 44. The Upper City

"Oscar, hurry up, I don't want to keep Olin waiting," Ariesa said, turning around to look at him, but not stopping. It had been her idea to stop at Bill's Meat Hut for a quick breakfast, not his. Whatever meat Bill had provided for them, it had not left Oscar in the mood for a brisk pace to the upper cities lift. It hadn't seemed to affect Ariesa as her movements were still quick and she was lithely dodging the crowds of people in the streets. How fortuitous that he was the one to get poisoned...

"…I'm right behind. Don't worry about… me" Oscar huffed out. Ariesa stopped and ran back towards him and grabbed his hand.

"I'll force you to match my pace, and if you don't… I'll pull your arm out of its socket!" She began to return to her prior pace, forcing him to match her. A few times he almost stumbled, but somehow he managed to maintain a fairly close speed to hers. At least, it was fast enough for her to stop dragging him around anyway. As they approached the wall, Oscar stopped and plopped his butt on the dirty ground. He was almost tempted to lay there, but sitting was a far as his brain would let him go.

His lungs burned and his calves doubly so. Ariesa was merciful enough to allow him this bit of respite. His hand reached into his pocket and pulled out the gloves that Bruno had given him. He'd told him that noble men opted to wear them. He slipped them on, figuring that he'd need all the help you could get to fit in. The rest of his outfit was his regular attire he'd gotten from Plank, but he didn't particularly feel like he looked poor wearing it.

Oscar watched as Ariesa pulled out her relic pocketwatch-thing and tapped the side button twice. A faint glow shimmered out of it in response, and once she was satisfied with whatever it was that it had done, she put it back into her coat's pocket.

"What does that thing even do?" Oscar asked.

"Tells time? Have you never seen a watch before?" Ariesa said, smiling lightly.

"Okay, okay, before you get pissy, it's just a silver-tier relic that can communicate simple messages with the person who holds its counterpart." She pulled it out once more to demonstrate.

"Without setting up a system, it's effectively worthless. Olin and I made it so that clicking the top part twice signals "I'm outside the lift", three times for "I'm ready to return" and five times for "Oh my god, help me, I think I'm going to die" or something to that effect."

"Huh, neat." His mind returned to the man in the gambling hall and his warning of someone with a name that started with 'O'. He shrugged his worries away as this was someone Ariesa trusted.

"I'm surprised you've been able to do this second life of yours for this long. I mean… I know things aren't the best for you at home, but still…" The faint sound of the elevators mechanisms whizzing silenced any response Ariesa was going to give, causing the pair to look up at the descending lift. It was a lift of much higher quality than the one in the bank. It was fashioned out of a shiny and sleek black metal, which featured gaudy engravings that would only be seen in rich people houses.

As the lift reached the bottom, a tall man stepped out and bowed upon seeing the [Princess] approach.

"Madam Hargrave, it is a pleasure to see you have fared well in your time away," Olin said.

"I trust this individual to be a… friend?"

"Yes, Olin," Ariesa confirmed.

"I trust you can find him some nicer clothes to wear? I don't want to hear any snide comments from anyone up there. Not that we'll be staying long, but still."

"Of course, madam," Olin said, bowing once more.

"Shall we go up? I'm sure your father will be most pleased to see you again."

"We'll see if I have time for… him," Ariesa said, as she stepped into the lift.

"This is Oscar, by the way. Him and I have some business we'd like to conduct, so I don't know if I'll have the time to see father. So please don't tell him I've returned, for it is most likely I will be going back down later."

"Business with him?" Olin questioned, his eyes going wide with whatever realization he must've came to.

"Madam Hargrave, do please be careful. I shall support you in anything you do and anyone you pursue, but understand that I do still serve the [King]. Please, do not bring a scandal his way..."

"Olin! What in the world are you talking about!" Ariesa said, blushing deeply. Oscar ended up blushing as well.

"Uh, no, I think you have the wrong idea, sir Olin…" Olin cleared his throat and apologized.

"Oh, right. Of course. Well, if you should need my services lady Ariesa, you only need to send the signal." Ariesa was still mortified by his accusation so all she could do was grunt out an affirmative. Once the lift reached the top, she bolted out, leaving Oscar to scramble away. Olin watched in his own embarrassment as they both scurried away.

"Whoa, the upper cities are… gorgeous… and clean," Oscar said. Once he had caught up with her, they had begun a leisurely stroll through the upper districts. Neither had mentioned the incident, preferring to pretend it never happened. As they walked through District Two, Oscar couldn't help but notice how lavish everything was. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

While everyone down below was living in squalor or adjacent to it, these people were living in heaven. He had seen a park in District Five that had been left to die, but just up ahead, there was a park overflowing with fauna and life. Hell, there was a tree in the middle that was bearing fruits that a bunch of children were picking at. It was just comical how drastically different everything was.

"It's nice isn't it?" Ariesa asked, seemingly unaware to how Oscar really felt.

"I always forget what it was like to breathe clean air again." That sounded a little dramatic as the air down in the lower city wasn't bad. Okay, well, actually… District Seven was a little funky. And that bar over in District Five had a certain scent around it as well.

"Doesn't that concern you though? As apart of the leading class in Dynarus… shouldn't the state of the lower city upset you at all?" Oscar asked.

"It does, of course," Ariesa said.

"At the same time, it's all my fathers fault. Once I help him get better, I'm sure I can convince him to improve things down there." He wanted to ask why the city was even divided to begin with. To him it seemed like that would just breed more resentment amongst the different classes. Back on Earth, it had pissed him off immensely seeing how much wealth the top elites hoarded for themselves. It was saddening to see the same thing happened even in other worlds.

"Where does Veo live?" Oscar asked, changing the subject.

"Can we even barge in on him uninvited?"

"He's in District One. I just need to head home first and change," Ariesa said. She was still in her thieving outfit, but just slightly watered down. The mask and hooded cloak had been left behind, and all of the small pouches and accessories she adorned herself with gone as well. Leaving her with just a simple black outfit. Once they made it to her home, the royal palace, Oscar had to restrain himself from reacting too crazily. The place was not only beautiful, but also insanely huge.

They approached from the side, giving him a small glimpse into the gardens. Large hedges and decorations littered the place, with one large fountain being able to be seen ever so slightly above the hedges. Ariesa led him through to the gardens after a quick word with the [Guards] at the entrance. As they wandered through the lush area, she stopped him in front of a plain looking door.

"This takes us through the kitchen. My room is four floors above, a spare room is right across from mine. I'm sure Olin already set out an outfit for you, so once we both get changed into something more… appropriate for the area, we can head off for Veo's estate." The delicious aroma of food hit him and made him even more annoyed that they had to stop at fucking Bill's to eat instead of here.

The two made their ascent up the winding stairs, and as Ariesa disappeared into her room, he did the same for the room that he was given. Lying on top of the extravagant and enormous bed was a pair of black and red robes. The fabric was ridiculously soft feeling, no doubt of expensive material. He particularly liked the intricate gold patterns on the front. It reminded him of the same type of fashion he'd dress his characters up in his games.

Once he got dressed and put away his clothes in a bin that had been left at the bedside, he walked out of the room and waited for Ariesa to emerge. After waiting for what felt like twenty minutes, he finally knocked on her door.

"Hello? Ariesa, what's taking you so long…" Oscar said, letting off one final loud knock. As no response came, he reached for the handle and turned it. He kept his eyes closed as he entered and called her name once more. Once again… no response.

"Okay, I'm opening my eyes now, so… be warned," Oscar awkwardly said. As he opened his eyes, he saw Ariesa sprawled out on her bed in the same clothes… asleep.

"This girl…" Oscar muttered. God, her bed was even larger than the one he had seen in the guest room. She was practically drowning in the damn thing. It was an awkward spot she was in as well, as in order to shake her awake—which he'd need to do given how much of a dead sleeper she was—he'd have to crawl on the bed to do so. Which obviously would look strange if anyone were to walk in. On the couch next to her window, there were a few throw pillows strewn about.

Honoring their namesake, he picked up one and chucked it at her sleeping form. It smacked her right across the face… but still she slept.

"What the fuck…" Once more, he threw another pillow, and this time with more force. It hit her it the face once again and this time, she awoke. In a daze, she muttered a jumbled collection of syllables, none forming anything remotely close to an actual word.

"Huh… oh, hey Oscar. Are you ready?" She asked, as she wiped the sleep out of her eyes.

"Uh, yeah. I was ready an hour ago," Oscar said, lying about the time to make her feel bad.

"Why the fuck did you go to sleep?"

"Hey, don't get mad at me. Don't you know that all of the prettiest girls sleep a lot…" Ariesa said.

"Also, I just wanted to lay down in a nice bed again for a change, don't fault me for that!"

"Whatever, just get up already and… Hey! You're not even dressed! Did you fall asleep right away?"

"…Give me five minutes." Oscar marched out and manually counted each second. If she went even one second over… Oh, he'd make her regret it. Somehow. He probably wouldn't do anything except be annoying, but still, he'd be crazy annoying about it. Four minutes and thirty-eight seconds later… she emerged out of the room. She was wearing a casual sundress that looked honestly pretty comfortable.

"See, under five minutes," she said with an elegant bow.

"Barely…"

"Ah! So I was under?"

"Let's just go already…" The two made their way out of the palace, and once again onto the finely paved roads of the upper city. He had to admit that she looked like a true princess dressed like this. Even though the dress was simple and had very few decorations on it, it was her that made it look rich.

"Veo's is not far at all. Maybe like a minute or two away," Ariesa said.

"Oh, you can keep those clothes by that way. If you want, that is. They won't be missed, I'm sure."

"Uh, yeah maybe," Oscar said. He was about to say something else when something caught his attention. In between one of the houses, there was a cat hissing up a storm. Oscar got closer and saw the cat was pawing at a cute squirrel that was in a custom made outfit. He didn't say this lightly but… it might've been the cutest fucking thing he'd ever seen in his life.

"Shoo! Go! Leave that little guy alone!" Oscar shouted. The cat hissed at Oscar before it climbed up the house and left. The squirrel laid on the ground, its small form wrapped upon itself. Tentatively, he sent out a helping hand. The squirrel, upon noticing it had been saved, looked up at him with eyes that genuinely seemed thankful.

"Hey there, little guy. It's okay, I scared away that big dumb cat," Oscar said gently. To his surprise, the squirrel climbed onto his hand and then up to his shoulder. It sat there and just rested, its little breaths faint, but noticeable. Perhaps a bit too trusting on the squirrels part to so readily accept him… but he wasn't complaining. As a kid, he and his family had rescued a baby squirrel from their dog and raised it until it was healthy enough to return back to its family.

"There you are, I thought you got lost," Ariesa said, returning after having noticed Oscar wasn't with her.

"What do you have there?"

"I saw this little guy being beaten up by some mean ol' cat," Oscar said.

"Look! He has his own outfit tailor made just for him… and look! He has a little needle! How didn't I notice that before?"

"It is cute… but surely you're not planning on keeping it? I mean, I don't know anyone up here who'd have a pet squirrel, but someone made that outfit for it right?"

"If they were irresponsible enough to allow it to almost be killed by a local cat, then they clearly don't deserve it."

"Fair enough, just make sure it behaves. Veo's is just up ahead, c'mon!" The little squirrel perked up and looked at Oscar… and unbelievably, the critter pointed at Ariesa. It's intention of wanting him to follow her clear.

"Wow, you're a smart one, aren't you?" Oscar said.

"What am I going to call you…" In response, the squirrel hopped down and grabbed its needle. Scraping it against the ground, it miraculously spelled out the word 'Mook.' It wasn't the most elegant of handwriting and required a good bit of focus to read, but then again, this was a squirrel after all.

"I've seen a lot these past few days… but this? This is might be the most incredible thing yet," Oscar remarked.

"Well, c'mon Mook, let's catch up with Ariesa." Mook scurried up his leg and back onto his shoulder and pointed once more towards Ariesa. As he lightly jogged to Veo's house, he couldn't help but smile at having the little squirrel with him.