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The five slum dweller districts were allocated in a somewhat proportionate fashion, save for two districts. The Maon District and the Zandra District.

Four main streets connected the outer walls to the center castle, so if you thought of Yarzon City as a crudely baked pie, then these thoroughfares acted as dividers for each quarter slice.

From what I could recall these four main streets had names...

Barbajou, the eastern road; Alvosti, the southern road; Nogdrum, the western road; Syamil, the northern road.

Oh, and for your information, the Lakua District owned the northeastern slice. We did however hold authority over the Barbajou and Syamil streets, making us the largest of the districts.

Kayn owned the southeastern slice, Hlanu owned the northwestern slice, while Maon and Zandra had to share the southwestern slice.

What's with the territory difference? Were Maon and Zandra duped or something?

I hadn't the slightest clue.

「How admirable. Do the other District Masters have any cases of border violations to report? Slum dwellers make up one-third of the Yarzon population, so I seldom hear a month go by without issue.」

What?! One-third..?

Yarzon City held over 60,000 people. If one-third of them—a whole 20,000 citizens—were struggling below the poverty line then...

I must've landed myself in a real dump of a city.

This municipality had to have been in dire straits if these many people were barely scraping by.

The financial situation was one thing, but this revelation led to an even bigger question—one I'd been keeping at the back of my throat ever since I'd first met Rysef...

「Say... if we make up one-third of the population, and we're a collective force... Couldn't we just overthrow the government and take over the city for ourselves?」

Upon releasing my inner thoughts to the discussion table, the atmosphere quickly darkened. Once again, all eyes were fixed on me.

This time, it was a mix of furious glares and surprised stares. The pressure nearly suffocated me.

Melyn tugged my sleeve and nodded her head. Rysef simply scratched his head in subtle awe.

What on earth were the implications of what I said..?

The heavy silence was broken by a loud guffaw on the other side of the table. The Viridescent Queen slapped her knee as she burst out laughing.

「HAHAHA!!! I already like this kid Rysef! He'd fit right in with us in the Hlanu District! What do you say, Ashen Thief?!」

The Ashen Thief stood up and sighed.

「I know I asked you to stop being so reticent but... out of all the things you could've said...」

At that point I started sweating bullets, unaware of the significance in my thoughtless words.

「Haha! My apprentice is still learning about the way things work in the world, I ask that you pay no heed to them.」

「W-what was so—」

「Instead, I'd like to take this opportunity to educate my confused little protégé on the importance of not mindlessly getting ourselves into conflict.」

Rysef grabbed me by the arm and pulled me up. We were about to have a small debate in front of the other District Masters.

Melyn stuck her tongue out at me. So much for not saying anything stupid. We were now about to do something stupid to boot.

Seyna and Nabal in particular were visibly intrigued. It was written all over their faces.

「What makes you think we can take on the count and his men?」

「Strength in numbers. We can overwhelm them.」

「By numbers, do you also mean non-combatants?」

And there was my first mistake. I had forgotten the majority of slum dwellers were useless when it came to fighting.

Hell, most of them hadn't even heard of magic.

「E-even disregarding the non-combatants, the Sentinels are a formidable force. If we all band together, we'd easily be able to take over Yarzon City.」

「On that point, I agree with you. We Sentinels alone could easily storm the castle and clear it out.」

「Then..!」

「However!」

I flinched.

「What do you think happens next?」

「We become the de facto rulers of Yarzon City and begin by improving its overall infrastructure. It's a long-term solution right—?」

「Wrong! We'd be infringing on the sovereignty of the country, Jazga. Governments hate it when they lose property.」

I wracked my brain for any response I could think of.

It was strange... I usually didn't have any difficulty arguing with Rysef before.

Something had definitely changed.

「You're telling me they'd make a fuss over a city in shambles?」

「It doesn't matter if it's in shambles or not. It's still the Jazgan nation's sovereignty. If they turn a blind eye to thieves hijacking a city of theirs, what kind of message does that send to their enemies?」

The realization hit me.

「'We lack the power to quash a meager uprising...' huh..?」

「Now you get it. If we were to carelessly wage a war with Yarzon City, all of Jazga would be turned against us. The neighboring cities of Hendoza and Lismuth would immediately send their forces to retake the city. There'd be innumerable casualties.」

「So that's how it is...」

Through engaging in confrontational dialogue with Rysef, I came to learn the reason behind the slum dweller's passive nature.

Although they possessed the means to topple governments, they refrained from doing so out of the safety of their subjects.

Slum dwellers—a state within a state. Living in the shadows to avoid getting burned by the light.

I sat back down and recounted all the information I gained from our exchange. There was more to the politics of this place than I'd thought.

「Hahaha! Run out of steam already boy? I figured you'd fight back without compromise!」

「No. I was in the wrong. My thinking was rash.」

Seyna's smug smirk disappeared completely. It seemed she was disappointed with my response.

Nabal too had a frown more pronounced than before.

「Your protégé has a good head on his shoulders, Rysef. I was entertained by your vehement exchange. Vel has truly gifted you with a bright apprentice.」

「Haha! He's a good kid when he ain't schemin'!」

「In any case, it appears we've reached the end of our general discussion. If any of you would like to add anything further, please raise your hands.」

What remained were impatient faces staring down the Silver Saint. They were all eagerly waiting on the findings Kayn had promised during the introduction.

I too was curious about the situation brought up a month ago.

「Brahm, Yent, please rise.」

The dark-skinned man and the prepubescent ginger-haired boy stood up straight. Their movements were very smooth, almost unnaturally so.

Even standing still, it felt as though they were using every fiber of their bodies to maintain an attentive form.

「In last month's meeting, concerns were brought up over a potential drug peddling racket. They were brought up by none other than Rysef.」

I whipped my head towards the Ashen Thief. He'd never told me anything about it. I raised a brow over the news.

「His apprentices, Lorenzo and Melyn, had apparently encountered evidence of such deplorable conduct.」

「W-w-what..?」

When was this? I don't remember finding a stash of narcotics with the thief girl...

I whipped my head to the other side and was met with a wink from Melyn. It was at times like this I wished she ran her mouth.

「Barrels in the northeastern marketplace. Filled with a suspicious pink powder. Traces of it were found on young Melyn's shoes after she ostensibly jumped over an open barrel containing the strange dust.」

「O-oh... it's from back then...」

I had flashbacks to my first day in Velatya. The barrel I had jumped atop to get onto the market stalls. In retrospect, it was a miracle I even made it out of there.

Wait didn't grab a handful of it and chuck it at some storekeeper..?

On one hand, I felt guilty for potentially narcotizing an innocent man. On the other, he would've killed me had I not acted accordingly, so really my consciousness overruled it.

「Since then, I've entrusted my two apprentices, Brahm and Yent, with investigating signs of drug activity in the city. I've also provided the dust samples to an alchemist friend of mine.」

「So? Is there a drug problem in the city or not?」

The Viridescent Queen sounded serious this time. There was no hint of hostility, only uneasiness.

All the District Masters braced themselves for the answer.

「Yes. There is a good amount of evidence that suggests the appearance of a new drug peddling gang.」

「DAMMIT!」

Rysef kicked his chair back and placed his hands against the surface of the table. It was the first time I'd seen the Ashen Thief so exasperated.

「Where can I find these assholes? I'll crush them.」

「Calm yourself Seyna. I understand your rage, but I need you to listen with a clear head. Rysef, you too.」

「Forget civility! How long have these drug peddlers been operating?! A month?! Even more than that?! And right beneath our noses too! How many of our slum dwellers have they ruined?!」

Kayn, also suppressing his distress, took a deep breath.

Nothing could prepare us for what he was about to say.

「These drug peddlers... they purposely target slum dwellers.」

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