Chapter 168: Meet The Homeless (Part 2)

Sarah's perspective

Okay, now I was inside my carriage with 2 soldiers staying inside and two others riding the horses, Litra had too overprotected me when I told her that I wanted to go outside to see the homeless's lives. She also insisted I let her follow but I stopped her, Litra was kind but she must not protect me that much, I would be fine, only going to see the people's lives, nothing was scary.

Well, the number of guards was first estimated to be 20 soldiers but I managed to order Litra to reduce the number of the soldiers to 4 soldiers, now I was on my way to Horusk town - a town in Stansa region. During the traveling, I found out that I could not let my identity be exposed to the people, I would wear as a wealthy woman while seeing the people's lives, it would be more comfortable than showing myself.

Because if I let the people know that I was their ruler, they would surely keep their distance from me, disguising myself as a wealthy woman would still make their and my social statuses a big distance while contacting. But at least, I could freely talk to them without being seen to be a powerful woman, maybe those people would think I was a wealthy traveler who randomly stopped by in Stansa, I hope my plan would work, I hope so!

Well, I also ordered these women soldiers to wear thick tunics and carried daggers to disguise as my bodyguards, I also brought my Warsaw crest in case I have troubles with the Peacekeeper police. Haahh, I didn't want to prepare that much but I had no choice, I would like to be friendly with all people but seemed like I could not do it this time, sigh!

I was wondering what would a slum look like, when I was in my previous world, I rarely searched for those things on the internet, I was scared of seeing negative stuff. Well, I knew about poverty, starvation in Africa, wars and terrorism in the Middle East, but I rarely made research on those things, why we are all humans but we treat bad to our fellows?

I must not hide anymore, I must face the scenes in front of me, I could not ignore but look at the others living miserable, there is always a way to help those poor souls, I must help them, I must help them. Suddenly, I felt like I had forgotten something so I looked around my body, maybe I have forgotten something, I was still wondering what I forgot to bring with me...ahhhh, my SA!

My SA had been forgotten, I forgot to bring her with me...maybe that would not be a big loss, I could remember the roads after all, but I was wondering what was her thoughts about me when I left her, hehe. My carriage was escorting me out of the fields to come to Horusk town, the destination was very near now, I hope my journey would be fine.

I kept sitting inside the carriage while reading a book - which was about a magic subject, I could not use magic but I think spending my time learning about it would not waste my time at all, it could be helpful somehow. This was the way I was doing recently, packing some books inside my carriage and would read some of them while traveling, very helpful for me.

This world didn't have internet and didn't have many things to entertain me so I felt...bored, I could spend my time speaking with SA but still bored. The people in this world sleep very soon, at the time the sun goes down, they would have dinner and then do some of their personal affairs and then go to sleep, about 7 or 8:00 PM.

The latest time that people in this world would go to sleep was 9:00 PM, I think so, hardly have people who would stay up late, I was very bored at first but now have used to it. Because...I was quite lazy to read but when living in a world without entertainment things, reading become a good hobby for me, I was enjoying reading, hehehe.

It would be good if Stansa has a library or a book shop, I would not waste my time riding to the Capital to buy books, since this place was the Commoner Zone, no education features were seen on the streets. Now I have come to Stansa, my carriage must be the most attractive thing to the people's eyes, I could see many glances were looking at my carriage.

After 6 months of holding power, the three of us have changed Veta and Stansa, I could see the improvement in my region, it was improving though not as developed as I expected. Some of the roads were being reconstructed for wider and safer roads, I would like to make stone roads because the taxes were far enough to construct these things.

There were no word signs on the roads or buildings, just simple figures drawn on them, the illiterate statistic was still very high, develop without education, not good at all. Anyway, I could see the people were wearing better clothes, lowering the taxes on clothing was the best idea that I had ever made, the people could have warm clothes to wear.

Ummm...I could see some black horses on the road, those horses were a cheap horse breed that was imported from Attenta Kingdom. Seemed like some residents have worked hard and saved enough money to own these horses, though I could see not many horses on the road, most of the people were still on foot.

Now I was thinking about using my collected taxes wiser, the effort to develop this region was not good enough, I closed my book while looking outside of the carriage while thinking about the solutions. To do everything, we need the people's help, education must be most prioritized for the future...people need hobbies like reading books.

As long as I know, Warsaw and all other Kingdoms on this continent use the furs from animals to create papers, it costs very much of money to make a book, only nobles could own those things. I was wondering how was the printing system in Warsaw looked like, this affair was quite a headache for me, I could not solve it alone, must ask someone to help me for sure...ummm.

King Ralla, maybe asking him to help me was a good idea though I didn't know if the elven people would willing to share with us their methods to create papers by using tree materials or not. Wait a minute, maybe I would not need King Ralla to help me with making alternative papers, I could use the knowledge from my previous world to make books instead, hehe.

But wait a minute...after cutting down the trees, how could I create a paper by using the woods? I didn't know how to solve this problem, maybe I should ask John or my sis. Firstly, education for children must be created, the second, I must find alternative sources to make books and widespread them to the people, everyone must have books.

Suddenly, when I was thinking, the carriage's door opened and I was wondering why did the drivers do that, I slowly stored my book under my seat while looking around.

"My Lord, we have come to the destination that you want to go, the slum is over the alley." - A woman soldier who opened the door said to me

Wait a minute, I have already come to the slum that I wanted to go to? So fast!

I later walked outside of the carriage while two other women soldiers followed me outside and then one of them closed the door, I hope my disguise would work well, I hope so. Because I was wearing a wide coat so my pistol, my M9 bayonet and my flashbang had been hidden behind the coat, I slowly wore a blue cloth cap because it was starting to snowfall.

I would like to go inside the alley alone to meet the homeless but maybe I would be in danger if I do that, I would order a woman soldier to guard the carriage. Going with the least soldiers would make me talk with the homeless easier, I think so...I hope they would be no harm to me, I come to meet them in peace.

"Umm...you two guard the carriage." - I pointed to two soldiers to order them to guard the carriage

"Umm...about you two, please follow me, okay?"

"Nod! Nod!"

Walking into the slum with two bodyguards, though the security was not so safe but I hope there would be no problem, I hope I would be safe. Okay...I slowly stepped my feet toward the alley, two soldiers were following me, one was taking the lead while the other one was staying behind me, I felt unpleasant now.

"Ummmm, stay behind me, soldier...I must take the lead."

The soldier who was taking the lead turned around to see me and then nodded, she later walked beside me, still unpleasant as always but at least, I would not be covered while walking in the alley. The snowfall was not too much, it was just a little, while looking at the alley, I took a breath to calm myself down and then walked inside.

The area around this alley seemed too rare for people walking across it, I kept thinking about that, the people really looking down on the homeless that much?

I could hear my footsteps sounding clearly while walking inside, the alley was not too long, it later led me to an entrance which appeared to be a hole, I hope I have found the right place to go, I hope so. The woman soldier who was walking beside me suddenly took the lead so I felt a bit struggling while trying to convince her to stay behind me.

It was lucky that the woman soldier obeyed me once again so she walked beside me, I slowly walked to the entrance and then walked through it, going through the wall to see what was inside it. At the time I got in, in front of me was a bunch of people who were sitting together in the corners of the wall, the place was a bit dark when there was a lack of sunlit.

As I could see, those people seemed very bewildered, some were nervous when I walked in, they sat together in the corners while covering themselves with long brown cloths. Are these people homeless? I wondered while trying to look closer at the people, they seemed to be old people, cowering themselves in the walls when they saw me.

The way they were covering themselves with the cloths, maybe that was because of the cold, the snowfall was quite much in the previous days and had just reduced in these days, poor these old people. Ummm...the homeless were staring at me, especially my soldiers, I saw an old lady from a group of the homeless stand up and shook her head while looking at me as if she hoped I would not do anything bad.

I should have told the soldiers to stay outside and I go inside alone, maybe the appearance of the people like my soldiers made these homeless scared of us, I must do something.

"Ummm...people, please don't worry! I'm just a pass-by traveler, I come here in peace and...in the hope to see if I can help anyone of you." - I was a bit nervous now, but I kept calming down while comforting the homeless

The old lady later nodded and then sat on the corner with her people once again, maybe there would be a chance that I could ask people here how I can help them. I slowly walked around the room while looking at the homeless, those people kept cowering in the corners and covering themselves with cloths.

Now I could smell the smells around me, they were quite stinky, these homeless people seemed to very smell, their faces were dirty and their bodies seemed to lack eating. Ummm...now I was wondering how could these people become homeless, did their kids leave them and they have no one to care about them so these old live together as the homeless?

I could see that there were no youth people here, only the old people as the homeless, they seemed to be 40 to 50, some seemed to be a bit younger, maybe more than 30, I guessed. The soldiers who were protecting me were quite cautious, both of them kept grabbing the daggers' handles while their weapons were still in their holsters.

"Guards, stop! You are scaring these poor people, stop doing that, we come here to ask them what we can help."

The soldiers stopped grabbing the daggers but kept staring at the homeless cautiously, I accidentally saw a bit of light lit down on the floor, the light's source was from above. I looked up and saw there was a wooden roof which had some broken holes on them, the cold winds could fly inside through those holes, no surprise when these people feel cold, poor them.

I kept looking around while seeing a bearded old man who was sitting together with the others, they were covering themselves with a long brown cloth. But I could see there was the part which the cloth didn't cover completely, that was the old man's legs, both of his legs had been lost, this poor homeless was handicapped.

I crouched down while looking at the old man, I would like to ask someone from these homeless to talk with me, I would like to know how could I help them, I wanted to help at all costs. But seemed like the old man and the other ones beside him had nervous when I crouched down, maybe they were scared of me, I must calm them down, there would be a way for everything.

"Ummm...hello, please don't be scared...I'm just a pass-by traveler, if there is something I c-"

"Young lady, please go away...we don't want to have any troubles, please go away." - The old man shook his head, I looked at the other ones beside him and they kept silent

"Understood, I'm sorry for disturbing you, old man." - Maybe I should not convince these people anymore, it would lead to nothing, I would ask the others

I stood up and then headed to the other corner to see the other homeless, but they immediately rejected me at the time I walked to their positions, now I could not find anyone that would willing to talk. Wait a minute, I found an entrance to another room, it was located on the corner on the right side, I walked toward there when the homeless people sitting around staring at me.

Seemed like these people didn't do anything against me, I walked inside another room and saw similar scenes, only the room was wide than the previous one.

"Hello, everyone! I come here in peace, just a pass-by traveler who wants to do something to help...I hope you people would not mind if I went around here." - I bowed to the homeless and then looked around

The homeless also bowed to me and then I walked around the place, still the old people as always, I kept looking around and then crouched down some other people to ask them but they refused straightly.

Suddenly I heard sounds from the previous room so I stepped outside and saw a man who wore raggy clothes, both of us seemed to be bewildered but I later bowed to him and he bowed to me.

"I'm sorry for my strange appearance, old man! I'm just a young noble who is a pass-by traveler, coming here with the purpose to help."

"I hope you would let me go around here, can I?"

The man nodded to me and then looked at the people around him, he was old, his right hand was holding a small brown bag that seemed to be carrying something. The old man later crouched down and then stepped toward the others while pulling out things that looked like potatoes and giving each of the groups a potato to eat.

After giving the people in the room the potatoes, the old man stood up and looked at them.

"People, I can only buy this much, I'm very sorry but all of you must share to eat, I'm sorry." - The old man apologized to the homeless and then walked to the next room

"Please stop trying to help us, young lady! You should return to your luxurious life, there is no hope for you to help us." - The old man talked to me and then headed inside the next room

I also followed him and then saw him give the other old people the potatoes and then apologized to the people in the room, he later sat on the corner with a group when his hand was having half of the potatoes. I kept standing while seeing if I could do something, I later saw a group of two people sitting together on a corner, they looked like an old couple quarreling about something.

Ohh, I understood! Half of the potato was not enough to share for both of them so the old man was convincing the old woman to let him starve and let her have food to eat but she strongly rejected it. But after a long time of convincing, the old lady forcefully accepted the old man's wish so she took half of the potato and ate it when the old man had to stay starved.

By the way, the old lady seemed to be skinny, maybe 40 or more, she was white, had short dark green hair and slight blue eyes, she seemed to be shy while staying beside the old man...wait a minute. This old lady's behavior reminded me of someone that I knew, maybe I was wrong, maybe I should ask the old man if I can help him with something or not, I hope I could help at least a person from these old homeless.

About the old man, he was white, long brown haired with some of the grey colored, had a brown full beard, he looked to be 50 or more, this old man seemed to be the healthiest compared to the previous people. Only his left hand seemed to be lost, his arms seemed to have many scars, maybe caused by the fighting, the old lady was tilting to his body while sitting beside him, what a nice old couple, I guessed so.

"Ummm...hello." - I bowed to the old man and then crouched down to see the old man, he also bowed to me, I hope I could ask his old man

"Ummm...hello, old man! I'm just a pass-by traveler, if you don't mind then I hope you would willing to let me ask you some questions."

"Nod!"

"Thank you very much." - I slowly sat on the floor while the women soldiers were standing beside me, I felt very unpleasant now, hmmph!

"Ummm...at first, may you share me your name, old man?"

"I'm named Rer, little girl! Call me Rer if you like."

"Nice to meet you, Rer." - So this old man was named Rer

Wait a minute, the old lady who was sitting beside Rer was glaring at me heavily, maybe she was jealous when I asked her husband...ummm. Let's hope that I would end up asking this old man soon, the old lady seemed very scary when she gets jealous...I must concentrate on asking the old man.

"Ummm, alright! May I ask you when did you become homeless, old man?"

"Uhhh...about 11 years ago when I got divided from my family during the coup in the Capital, little girl."

"Well, I was a Capital's citizen and a soldier back then, during the coup, there was a personal reason that I got lost from my family and moved to Jager."

"After coming to Jager, I lived there as homeless, I worked many jobs, after living there for 10 years, I decided to go back to Warsaw to find my family and lost my hand during my journey."

"But how did you lose your arm, old man?"

"Some bad people chopped it off, I got robbed and beaten while returning, little girl."

"When I returned here, no places hired me to work for them because...handicapped people are always be looked down upon by the other people."

"Even the low salary jobs like a street cleaner or a waiter, they didn't hire me to work for them too."

"As you can see from the people around me, little girl! Some of them are older than me, most of them were the veterans from the 30 years ago war."

"Those people were mostly handicapped due to the injuries of the war, they were thrown away by their relatives and their friends...we met up with each other and live together."

"Umm...can you tell me how is your daily life look like, old man?" - Maybe that was the reason I never saw the handicapped people in the Capital or my land till now, this government was very bad when they didn't care about these poor old

"Sigh...in the morning, we would wake up and then ask if someone of us is unwell or not and then would set up our shelter protection, like the way you see we are doing to prevent the cold from outside."

"We would...wait for our people who have jobs outside to return here with bought food, we would have breakfast by that way."

"Very less of the people in our homeless group is capable to work, most of us are handicapped so could only wait for the ones who can work to return here and feed us."

"Well, I and some of these folks have done volunteer jobs on the streets but never get paid, not even a coin to buy food."

"All of us would wait till it comes noon to get out of Warsaw border to head to No Man Zone, some still have citizen cards but those cards are out of date so we have to pay a small fee to get out of the border."

"When we head to the forest, we would...find a river nearby to bathe and to clean our clothes, these clothes are the used cloths that the people threw, we use those things to wear."

"Well, about doing sanitary things, we would pay a fee to use the public restrooms in the town, but we would have to wash out clothes and bathe in the river."

"We would return to our place when we have gone to the river and then clean our shelter, there would be trash that young people throw into our place so we have to clean them."

"So you people would not have enough meals to eat?" - These old people need more help than I thought

"Yeah, little girl! At least we could have 2 meals or only one a day depending on the salary our people get paid, we work a part-time job so the money we earned would mostly not much to feed all of us."

"Ummm...can you tell me the thing you need the most now, old man?"

"The thing I want most?"

"Actually...the personal thing that I need the most now is...reunite with my family."

"I want to find my niece, my nephew, my second wife and both of my daughters."

"During the coup 11 years ago, both of my parents died, my first wife and my little son died and I got separated from my daughter and my grandchildren."

"I also stopped keeping in touch with my second wife and my second daughter, they are my illegitimate family, I stopped meeting them to keep them safe."

"Now I lost all of them, I just want to find them, that's all."

"Ummmm...so, the woman who is next to you is not your wife, old man?"

"She is my friend, named Horo, the one who found me when I got here, she is very kind though...a bit weird and unpredictable." - Why did this old woman keep glaring at me?

"Ummmm...are you hungry, old man?" - Well, he was the one who didn't have anything to eat

"Nod!"

"May I take you somewhere to eat? I know a restaurant that is newly opened recently in the town, can you come with me, old man?"

"Can I?"

"Ummm!"

"Thank you very much, little girl! Though if I do that then my folks would be the one who stayed starved, I would be fed well while they are living with their hungry bellies."

"So I think I would not...I would stay here with my buddies, I cannot eat when my guys are not well fed."

"Ummm..." - I could spend the money which I stocked from my basement to help these homeless, my taxes are very much

"How many people in your homeless group, old man?"

"55 of them including me."

"Guard, immediately return to Litra and order her to order 54 good meals from outside to this place quickly, it's an important order!" - I ordered to a woman soldier behind me

"Understood, my L-, my Lady! I will go now!" - The soldier later ran outside

Many eyes were now looking at me, these old people seemed to be shocked when I helped them without any benefits. Well, helping the people, especially the old was an obvious action that I think we should do, how can I leave these people miserable?

"Little girl, who are you?"

"Hehe, I'm just a rich woman who wants to help others...can you be relieved and go to eat now, old man?"

"Not until the food is brought to my folks, little girl...your kindness would be forever remembered, we would not forget you, little girl."

Well, because the meals that I ordered were quite much so it took me a long time to bring them to these old people, after seeing his folks ate well, the old man was finally willing to go to eat. But I felt a bit scared of the old lady named Horo, she kept glaring at me when I asked the old man Rer to go to eat with me, she even stalked me when both of us went out of the alley.

Luckily that she was stopped by my soldiers during stalking us so now I didn't see her anymore, old man Rer and I were sitting in the newest restaurant in Stansa. Well, the third restaurant which was opened in this region 2 weeks ago, when my land's economy and the people's lives went up, these structures started growing up.

Old man Rer seemed to be a veteran or something, he was also the leader of the old homeless in the alley, the old people should be well taken care of, must do everything to help them. During heading to the restaurant and even when both headed inside the restaurant, I saw many glances pointed at old man Rer as if they were very down looking at him or something like that.

Well, I ignored those people, how heartless they were, old man Rer was eating a pancake with a very happy expression, maybe he loves sweet things, didn't know if it was true or not but I guessed that. Though I said eat together but only old man Rer was eating, I didn't eat anything despite I was also hungry when I saw food, maybe I would eat later, hehehe.

Ohhh, old man Rer had finally stopped eating though the pancake was still not finished half of it, maybe he wanted to talk with me or something. Old man Rer later looked outside of the restaurant's windows, maybe he was thinking about the lives that all of the homeless want to have, poor the people who fought for their homeland and then being thrown away.

"You know, little girl! Though we are homeless but we...also need entertainment, we want to live like normal people." - Old man Rer said to me while looking outside of the window

"We want to buy clothes in the shops, buy food in the market, head to the market to buy everything we like, head to the restaurant to enjoy good meals."

"But...we cannot do that in reality, to have a chance to eat in a normal restaurant as normal people...is like a dream of our homeless." - Old man Rer later looked straight at me

"Most of the people when they think about the homeless, they would mostly think those people are bad but...bad things happened to us and we become like this, not all of us are bad."

"Well, we get to the clothing shops, we cannot buy clothes, we cannot be served in the restaurant even when we have money...sometimes they let us in but cheated the goods price."

"Ummm...old man, I heard that there is a subsidized organization that has been founded by the Lords in Veta and Stansa with the purpose to help the homeless."

"So umm...may I ask you that what have you people done with the subsidized money, old man?"

"We used to use that money for gambling, I warned my people many times to stop gambling but when they realized, everything has gone so far that we could not solve it."

"So some of them come to the gangsters to ask them to help, but those guys would come to find us without any notification to ask for the debt money."

"They would beat the one who is in debt to them if that person didn't have money to pay, but it's lucky that we didn't use the money to gamble anymore."

Well, my sis and John explained to me that they eliminated the big gangs in Warsaw but left the small gangs alive because we would need to use those gangs in criminal cases. Because our Peacekeeper police force would need to use the intel from the criminals to work to solve the cases, there were also other reasons but both of them didn't tell me.

"But, little girl...some of our people got fooled by the gangsters that we could have a job in Attenta border."

"They used sweet talks to introduce us to the carpenter job in Attenta border, that job is a bit struggle but would have a high salary."

"Well, some of our people got fooled, they got there and then could not work well due to their weak age so they being beaten heavily."

"The Attenta people also ransom our people with a very high price so I have prioritized saving my people, most of the money that the organization subsidized us has been paid to ransom our folks."

"I hope I can do something to help all of you out of your homelessness, old man."

"The people can only make their words to the government, only the power people can solve the country's affairs through the reports from the people, little girl."

"But I think...we should not be helped because...we made the faults so we have to deal with the problems ourselves, cannot ask for help that freely."

"Sigh...I could leave my people behind to find my family but...those old folks are now part of my family, I must make sure they are all living well before moving out to find my relatives."

"Ummm...do you think that your life and your people's lives would be positive in the future, old man?"

"Though nothing is still in progress this time but I would step each step on my road to save my people, little girl."

"All of us need to find a job, it could be any job, I want all of my people to be fed up well and live well before I decide to leave them to find my family."

"I cannot blame anyone who drove me to this situation, little girl! I made the faults myself so now I'm dealing with it, I will save my people."

"Do you need me to help you find a job, old man?" - Maybe I should put a new law in Stansa to let the homeless have jobs, without a job, they would have to live depending on others, poor them

"I'm now waiting for my job's result, little girl! I would be accepted to work in tomorrow or failed, I hope my profile would be accepted to work there."

"Well, I registered to be a Peacekeeper police, its requirement didn't have age requirement but physical strength, I passed the physical strength test so now I'm waiting for my profile's results to be accepted to work."

"That work has an acceptable salary to feed my people, I would work well and save the money, I hope...tomorrow would be positive to me."

"Is there anything that I can do to help you, old man?"

"No, little girl! I think you have helped me and my people enough, please return to the alley every time you like, I would pay my debt for you daily."

Suddenly, old man Rer grabbed a pink cloth nearby the table and put the pancake inside a square wooden box and closed its cover, he later started wrapping the box. Wait a minute, this old man would save the cake and go home to enjoy it or what? He didn't have any intentions to finish it right here?

"What are you doing, old man? You haven't eaten half of the pancake."

"I would like to keep it for my old friend, little girl! She is waiting for me outside." - Wait a minute, I felt very shivered for some reason

I slowly looked behind and saw two eyes and a face looking at me, that was Horo - Rer's old friend, she was very scary this time, so scary. She had stalked me without being caught, only I and Rer in the restaurant, I had ordered my soldiers to stay outside to guard the carriage.

Horo was pressing her face to the window while staring at me, she stared at me with her threatful eyes, but why did she do that? I didn't do anything against her but why did she look so hostile toward me?

"Little girl, I'm sorry for disturbing you but can you wrap the box for me? I could not do that with my one hand." - Old man Rer asked me so I looked at him

"Nod!"

I fastly wrapped the box and then looked up to see old man Rer, he was staring at Horo and smiling at her, I later gave old man Rer the wrapped box and he bowed to me. I looked behind and saw Horo was getting into trouble with the restaurant's waiters, they were asking her to leave the place or something.

"I'm sorry if my friend troubled you, little girl! She is quite a freak and eccentric, never wants to keep me out of her sight...sigh!"

"Well, I hope she would sleep well after eating the cake, maybe...she gets paranoid because she only works at night and sleeps very less."

"Huh? Your friend works at night, old man?"

"Yeah, she has a job but it's quite...mysterious, she only works at night and would return to us before dawn, she always...returns home with her blood-stained clothes."

"I hope she didn't do any crimes, maybe she is a butcher employee of some meat store...though she is the one who feeds our homeless the most."

"The money she earns in her job is the most compared to us, I must go back to my old friend now, she cannot look far well so could easily fall while walking, little girl."

"I would remember your kindness till the rest of my life, little girl! Please come back to the alley every time you like, I would pay you my debts." - Old man Rer bowed to me again and then headed outside of the restaurant

He later walked outside and then patted Horo's head and then gave her the wrapped box, both of those old people later walked on the sidewalk to return to the slum - their temporary home would be more right to say. I also left the coins on the table and then headed outside to see those two, they looked like an old couple, how beautiful they were while walking, I hope they would be happy together, I hope so.

I would be very busy when I return, must put more laws and rights for the homeless, maybe now I have known how to use the subsidized money for the right purpose, hehe.