Chapter 3: Leaving
After leaving through the huge front gate of the orphanage Ivan now stood outside of the walled city, which was the orphanage.
He stretched and took a deep breath. "The smell of freedom.", he exclaimed. Finally, he was free. Now he could go wherever he wanted.
After enjoying the feeling for a while longer he slowly walked towards the train station which was the only other building besides the walls of the orphanage. According to the schedule he had checked beforehand, the train would come in about 10 minutes. He would then be able to take it into the city.
He already had a plan as to how to proceed. First, he would work as an adventurer until he reached age 20 and then he would go to the military. His long term goal was to reach a high enough rank in the military and get a nobles title. As for after that? Maybe create a family or maybe something else. He didn't really have any plans for that yet. Getting a noble title would be hard enough.
Entering the military was the most reliable way for a commoner to get a noble title. Although there were other ways, they required luck and opportunity, which wasn't something he could rely on. As for his reason for getting a noble title? To him, this was the only way he would be able to feel safe. As long as he was a commoner there would always be people who could treat him as nothing. But as a noble he would have rights, rights nobody could go against, not even the emperor.
But since one could only enter the military after becoming twenty, he had to do something else for two years. The Adventure Guild was the perfect entity to join for this time. It didn't force its members to do anything. It would only relay quests and take a part of the commission.
And those quests could be anything legal, thus providing a wide range of possible jobs. It would be impossible not to find something he could do. And with his professions there would also be jobs that he could do, which would enable him to live at least half-decent.
Initially, he had planned to directly go to the Adventure Guild and register before using the guild network to find a cheap place to stay, but now his plans had changed or at least been delayed. Even if he first went to visit Mrs. Lucia he would still have enough time to register and find a place to stay. Thus he decided to first visit her and check what she wanted.
12 minutes later the train arrived. It was one of the electric trains found commonly in the empire and which were used to transport commoners as well as goods. Only rich people, as well as nobles, would use the magic-powered trains which were much more comfortable.
After getting on the train he used the terminal to pay for the ride until Hestrow Station which was the closest station to Mrs. Lucia's address. The ride cost him 10CP which was a lot for him at the moment but was still considered cheap for such a long ride. It would take him a few hours to reach the station since the orphanage was quite far away from the city.
Having gotten his ticket he selected a seat and sat down, before making himself comfortable. Here the train was still empty so he had a large selection of available seats and could take one of the more comfortable ones, which allowed for a reclined position, which would allow him to comfortably sleep a bit more.
Since he didn't have to care much for his luggage, after all, who would steal this worthless crap, he could comfortably close his eyes and sleep after setting the alarm of his System Interface.
When the alarm of his SI woke him up, the train had nearly reached Hestrow Station and was now filled with people. Although the prime time was already over, there were still a lot of people taking the train. Inside the city, the train as well as all the public transport was free to use, so many would take them to go wherever they needed to.
The seat beside him, which had been free, when he had fallen asleep was now filled as well. A young woman was comfortably sleeping there. She had put her slim legs, which were clad in black leggings against the seat before them and was thus blocking his way out. He contemplated waking her up but when he saw her beautiful, sleeping face he decided against it and instead pulled himself up with the bars at the ceiling, which originally were there to provide those standing with something to hold onto, and then swung his legs over her.
During this maneuver, he missed the fact that the young woman's eyes had opened and watched him doing so. He also missed the small smile appearing at her lips when she saw how thoughtful he was behaving.
After getting out of the train he found himself at a modern, clean, and luxurious looking station in the center of the city. The station was filled with many different shops and seemed more like a shopping center than a train station. He guessed that it served both purposes. Besides the train station, there was also a metro station below. On the floors above there were even more shops, displaying a dazzling variety of items.
He only glanced at some of the prices of these items and couldn't help but swallow. Even a single piece of pastry costs at least 1000CP, an unimaginable price for him.
"That woman must be really rich.", he whispered to himself. Seeing the prices for even something like a simple piece of pastry made him realize how expensive living in this area should be.
While walking towards the exit he felt that the people around him looked at him weirdly. At first, he didn't realize why, but a short comparison of their appearance and his solved the puzzle fast. He was clothed just too shabby.
While his clothes weren't worth even 10CP those of the others would surely cost a multiple of this. Of course, he wasn't able to estimate their true price. And it wasn't even the price that made the difference. It was the material, the color, and the fit.
At the orphanage they would only rarely get new clothes, so with them growing up, most clothes would either be too large or too small. Only rarely would they truly fit. Hell, most of them were even second hand. If they weren't damaged too much, then why not have someone else continue using them? Especially if they had to be changed because the original owner had grown out of them and not because they were worn for too long and had been damaged.
His current clothes were a bit too small since it had been a while since he had gotten new ones and he was still growing a bit. So together with the cheap material, they definitely would stand out.
Since Ivan couldn't change anything about it, he just decided to ignore the stares and with his head held high, he continued towards the exit. The torture in the orphanage had strengthened his mind so much, that these stares were nothing to him after realizing the reason for them.
When he left the building he found himself on a large street, filled with all kinds of expensive cars. With its wide green areas and pedestrian areas, it didn't seem too cluttered and instead looked impressive and grand. This was Hestrow Street which was one of the premier streets of the capital. Surrounded by highrises it offered a living space for the rich and the powerful. It counted as one of the centers of the capital, together with the Imperial Palace and the Imperial Academy. Both of which were also located on the street. To be exact they served as the respective endpoints of the street.
The address the manager had given him was located close to the station which was at the center of the street and together with the endpoints counted as the best area on the street.
When he reached the address after a short walk he first thought that he was at the wrong location. While the street was framed by gardens and then highrises, the address seemed more like a park. A red brick wall separated an areal from the bustle of the street and only the metal gate allowed for a view on the park behind it.
It looked foreign in this area of buildings made from glass and steel. And only a single look would allow one to understand that whoever lived here had to be someone special. Making him wonder if he had underestimated that woman. She shouldn't just be a high ranked executive of the Sunsiert Corporation.
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