Arcane: Let's Burn Down Runeterra!

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Chapter 41: So Many Visitors Today

Looks can reveal much—take Justin, for instance. Just standing there, everything about him screams that he's not from the lower city. This is a sentiment shared by many. From a young age, he aspired to run away to the upper city. Justin is not someone with lofty ideals or ambitions; he just wants a comfortable life. Initially, he couldn't find a way to the upper city, and then he was taken in by Vander. Though it wasn't a luxurious life, it was manageable. Plus, he got to be friends with Jinx and the others, which shelved any plans of running away for a while. And now?

Justin scratched his face. He had just encouraged Jinx to bravely face any potential changes, yet he himself wasn't ready for any change. "Perhaps… it is a decent choice?" Justin glanced at Jinx. No matter what, they couldn't sleep in a bathtub forever.

"I'll go with you," Jinx blinked. She didn't really want to go to the upper city. With her carefree nature, she'd rather stay where there are no restrictions. School wasn't for her—it might end in disaster. But if Justin went, she'd go.

"Yeah, Jinx is just the right age for school. She's so smart. If she studies hard, she'll become an amazing scientist! Justin, haven't you always complained about the air here in the lower city? In the upper city, you could finally breathe fresh air!"

"Let's all move there together! Leave behind this place full of sorrow, forget the past, and start a new life!" Vi seemed very excited.

"Vi…" Justin realized she might want to move not for a better life but to escape. After all, now she had no ties left in the lower city, only painful memories.

"We'll see." Justin was still hesitant: "Your little girlfriend might not even help us settle in the upper city. For all we know, her mom might lock her up when she gets back."

"Or she might be tricking us. Planning to lock us up in prison!" Jinx still didn't trust Caitlyn much. Justin patted Jinx's head. From her perspective, it was a reasonable suspicion.

"Someday, we might truly leave here." Justin stood up and stretched. The weather seemed nice today; bits of sunlight filtered through the clouds and windows, casting a little brightness into the gloomy café. "But not now—we've still got scores to settle, don't we?" Justin winked at Vi, who immediately understood he was referring to Silco.

"Someone's coming!" Jinx suddenly alerted them. "It's Isaac," Justin knew without looking.

"Am I that bad at sneaking?" Isaac awkwardly jumped down from the ceiling, where an unpatched hole remained, revealing his route.

"The scent of your cologne is too strong…" Justin rubbed his nose, sneezing multiple times.

"Is it?" Isaac awkwardly averted his gaze, catching sight of Vi and Caitlyn: "You have quite a few guests today. Earlier, I heard a lot of gunfire—was there a gang shootout nearby?"

"It's the enforcers... It's a long story," Justin explained to Isaac and then asked him, "How come you're here? Weren't you supposed to take care of Granny Enya?"

"Our place got raided," Isaac replied, pouting. "Silco sent people to take it over. The old lady refused to leave, so I had no choice but to knock her out and come here for refuge. I found out there was a fight here on the way, so I put her in a safe place and came alone to see if I could help."

"What happened to Granny Enya?" Vi remembered her well. Although the old lady seemed eccentric, she was one of the few kind-hearted people in the lower city. She even gave Vi some sweets back then. Granny even asked if Vi wanted to work in her shop, saying there's always someone who has a taste for such things.

"What else could it be? The shop got taken by Silco."

"That bastard again..." Vi clenched her fist, pounding it on the coffee table. She held back a bit, fearing she'd wake Caitlyn; otherwise, the table might have splintered.

"It seems if you don't go looking for trouble, trouble finds you," Justin sighed. He'd mentioned settling scores earlier, and it was Silco he was referring to.

Vi had a deep-seated hatred for Silco, but Justin didn't. To be honest, he didn't hate Silco. After all, it was Vander who initially wanted to kill him; right and wrong are hard to judge. What he cared about were the people before him—Isaac and the others. Vi had spent five years in prison, and outside, she had little attachment except for Powder and himself. He, however, had quite a few friends. Justin wouldn't stand by and watch his friends in the lower city be oppressed to death by Silco. That guy's appetite was insatiable... It was inevitable they'd clash sooner or later.

"Can we still stay here?" Isaac, being smart and perceptive, knew that Justin's place was safe due to its unusual mechanisms and large ammo reserves. But since they just fought with enforcers, their setup was mostly gone. If Silco's people came now, everyone would be in danger.

"No problem, we were just thinking of causing Silco some trouble." Justin smiled, Vi clenched her fist even tighter, and even Jinx had an excited look on her face. She loved causing chaos!

"I seem to smell death again..." A raspy voice echoed in the hall. Justin got goosebumps but relaxed when he turned around—it was a strange combination, yet familiar: "Black and White? How did you two get here?"

Although Zaun was full of odd characters, Black and White were among the few Justin couldn't quite figure out. They both wore half masks, Black and White. Gender... seemed to be male and female? You'd often see them in Granny's brothel. Generally, people were there to either spend money for fun or to earn it, but these two liked to book a room alone, showing unparalleled loyalty to each other. Yet they didn't seem like a couple...

"Granny Enya's shop was shut down. We didn't know where to go, so we came here together." It was White who spoke, her voice ethereal, contrasting the raspy voice of Black.

"You two were there just now? Why did it take you so long to get here?"

"We were sending off the souls of the departed."

"You're priests?" Justin was shocked. A real priest in the lower city was something he hadn't expected.