Next Day
"Wait so you were in another world?"
Kalni asked. Hands on her hips and eyes wide with bewilderment.
Arken was back in his slum dwelling, surrounded by Kalni, Vizer, Rutma, the priest brothers and the Scarves who were half in and half out of the rooms.
For the past hour after gathering them all here, he had explained the circumstances of his brief disappearance.
He had no plan to tell her or the others about how it was really a chapter but not really one, of a book still in writing with an erratic writer which would only confuse them.
So he decided to keep things as simple as possible.
"Yeah and that's where I met these two," he pointed to Vizer and Rutma who bowed to the rest.
"And that creature you saw before."
Kalni had this inquisitive look that people who had millions of questions to be asked at once had.
"How many worlds are out there?" She settled on one.
Arken shrugged and sat back, "God knows, depends on the architect of this universe."
"Architect?!" Almost all of them asked together.
Arken wanted to spin it a little but was a bit undecided on how to go about it for now so he said, "it's complicated but as time goes, I'll reveal it in better ways."
"For now all you need to know is that we are at a crucial point." He pointed outside, "the slum is largely unaffected by the rampage but the town isn't."
He leant forward with a sly grin, "this is an opportunity for the populace of this petri dish. Imagine, hundreds of able bodied slum folk working hard to restore the town back to it's original shape. Vizer?"
Vizer stepped forward with a thinking look and held his chin with a folded finger, and a frown, "it does have merits. Economically it could sustain the people with a temporary job which could also be extended indefinitely by deliberately slowing the progress. As it is I believe they lack skilled workers. Plus, the jobs could divert the minds of idleness."
"But there's the issue of treatment. There's no love lost between the slum dwellers who have been ostracized and who witnessed first hand the 'otherness' during the rampage so hurt sentiments might provoke questions like, 'why should we help ungrateful people?'"
Arken slapped his thigh, "ah but there's your answer, we aren't helping. We are offering help in exchange for something aren't we? Kalni how much did you figure it would take for reconstruction?"
Kalni paused amidst her fingering her sword hilt and cleared her throat, "it could last months at this rate. The entire gate is also going to be closed down so it might affect overall dungeon operations."
"See?" Arken began, "we could provide an alternative. Through the slum. We had already begun to work on the sewers below and now we can do it undetected while allowing the main slum street to accommodate the shops and markets of the main town."
Rutma who was juggling with a few mini balls he had made eyed them all, "that is if you get the people on board. Is that vow really working?"
The Scarves leader, a young lad named, Erom spoke up, "magnificently boss," he addressed Arken, "we gave them a few tasks and they stumbled a little but otherwise, they're yours to command."
"As for the sewer work..." he hesitated before continuing, "I think you should come look." Then he eyed everyone, "all of you."
☆
The sewers under the slums were merely an extension of the main city and town, that ran from the main markets right upto the river between that separated the slums into two parts.
One where Arken operated from and the other which contained a separate quarter made entirely of the mayor's loyalists. A no go zone for now but Arken believed his talk with the mayor had changed things.
The entrance to the sewers were at the very end of the slum buildings that were all clumped together at the end and all of them covered their faces as they descended the low slope into the mild darkness.
Led by Erom who held up a magic torch, smuggled out of the guilds, he led them through carefully marked and preciously mapped out paths of the vast underground caverns lest they get lost.
Many workers greeted them silently while struggling to breathe under the fumes.
"So like you wanted Lord, we have been diverting them down a main drain channel but it's been a challenge what with the fumes and smell. We lit up a few paths and expect to completely divert the drain under the main slum street away."
The idea was to beautify the main slum road in hopes of bringing the shops that the Scarves had earlier targeted in the extortion rackets or robberies, with guarantees that they wouldn't be touched if they shifted there.
The rampage had only helped them further in this endeavor as the entire space was now a goldmine for development. If done properly, the face of the slum or at least a part of it, would change drastically.
Erom pointed to a low hanging arch that led further to a small space further inside. "Here."
"They are a bit wary since their discovery but figured it would be best to let you deal with them and decide."
Arken stepped forward, closely followed by Kalni and the priest brothers who palmed their weapons in the ready.
They saw hooded figures wearing what seemed to be like bird masks with long beaks made of cloth and huge holes for eyes except they were covered in glass.
They numbered around at least a dozen and all of them had the same attire. Bird like masks with long gowns with thick material.
"What am I looking at Erom?"
Kalni answered, her own tone holding surprise at the sight, "they're disperse mages. Never thought I'd see them outside any magic cities. What are you all doing here?"
One of them stepped forward and immediately raised his hands in alarm as Kalni pulled her sword out.
"Kalni, it's fine." Arken relaxed her and met eye to eye with the hooded figure.
The figure sighed and pointed to a small blue cross in his chest, "if need be you can identify me by this. I am Caleb. I was chosen to lead our group after our previous leader passed away."
Arken folded his hands and studied them, but his memories clicked nothing.
"What are you guys really?"