Chapter 249 - 242. Retracing Steps
"Are you alright?" Zein asked Naomi, who got paler and paler the further they stepped into the red-zone.
What she saw from the gate were the ’robust’ ones; espers and workers. But going further, they started to see the weaker civilians. And children. Scrawny children walked around in a heartbreaking condition; thin clothing, some barefooted and dirty, a lot had faces that did not belong to children.
They did not look at the three strangers with caution, but fear. They immediately scurried off to hide inside or behind a building, between the alley, or clutching to the nearest adult.
"Sometimes higher-zone people came down to take children away," Zein explained this reaction to the real high-zone dwellers.
He too, always hide immediately whenever those strangers came--it was something that Alma and the grandma next door adamantly ordered him to do. Fortunately or unfortunately, because Marshal Tadros had promised him to Umbra, no one ever looked for him.
Naomi pressed her lips and asked carefully. "Take them...where?"
"The slum, the brothel, the slave trader--"
"The what?!"
Zein glanced at the shocked woman and shrugged. He continued to look around and, to Naomi’s further horror, made a bright comment while kicking his heel on the surprisingly sturdy road. "This place has actually gotten a bit better."
"Right?" Laz looked back to show his wide grin. He had given the gate duty to someone else so he could guide Zein around. "We try our best to improve things now that Umbra isn’t around to mess things up,"
Things had gotten better? So it was worse before?! Naomi almost couldn’t keep her lips closed as she listened to the lighthearted exchange.