"People from the Undercity are worse than you think. Good people are rare. You can't expect to run into someone like that every time, so it's better to be careful."
Even as a Zaunite himself, Van could not bring himself to defend the people of the Undercity with a straight face.
Besides, this girl called Caitlyn had done nothing to him. Giving her a friendly warning was the least he could do.
"Oh... You seem to know the Undercity pretty well."
"Of course. My family are... merchants from Ionia. We do business in the Undercity all the time, so I've seen plenty."
Van lied without even pausing to think, and his face did not change in the slightest.
"So did you learn that self-defense stuff down there? I saw you kick that man all the way across the street."
Caitlyn seemed strangely excited when she brought it up, like she had just witnessed something amazing.
"Self-defense? Uh..."
"That was incredible. He even coughed up blood! Uh... I mean... it was just very different from how Enforcers handle things..."
"Different how?"
"They use nets, or shock batons, and pin people to the ground... This is the first time I've seen someone just flatten a person like that!"
Van looked at Caitlyn's excited face and raised a brow.
Was that really something to get this worked up over?
"It's nothing special. It's just a way to stay alive... at least in the Undercity."
Seemingly noticing the look in his eyes, Caitlyn gave an awkward little laugh.
"Sorry, I just... I haven't seen much. My family never lets me go out, and they definitely wouldn't let me go down to the Undercity. They act like it's full of man-eating monsters."
"Your family's concern isn't wrong. The Undercity really isn't safe... but I don't think Enforcers are as gentle as you imagine either."
Van had seen the horror of the Bridge of Progress with his own eyes. He had still been very young back then, but already big enough to swing an axe and keep up with the crowd rushing the bridge.
At the time, he did not understand what any of it meant. He had only heard that the other side of the bridge had food, clean water, and fresh air.
Then he saw something he would never forget for the rest of his life.
Zaunite corpses everywhere. Many of them had not even had proper weapons. Some had simply grabbed their work tools from the mines. They gathered together, thinking that if there were enough of them, Piltover might finally listen.
Instead, the Enforcers had been far crueler than any of them imagined.
Van's thoughts drifted further and further until he finally snapped out of it at the sight of a shop nearby.
During all that, Caitlyn had been talking away beside him, as if she had suddenly found someone she could pour everything out to. Van had not really been listening. He had just nodded now and then, making the occasional vague sound as though he were following along.
"Did you hear a word I said?"
"Hm? What?"
Caitlyn glanced at the shop in front of them and asked, "What are you buying?"
"Liquor."
With that, Van stepped straight into the store and very naturally left Caitlyn standing outside.
"Uh... what a strange guy..."
From Caitlyn's point of view, "Blast" had been chatting with her just fine a second ago, and then suddenly turned and walked into a shop for no reason at all.
His complete lack of logic left her a little lost, but after a brief pause, she followed him inside.
"Welcome! What can I get for you, miss?"
The shopkeeper had been yawning from boredom, but the moment he saw a well-dressed young lady walk in, he perked right up.
"Uh... I'm with him."
Caitlyn pointed at Van, who was standing by the shelves carefully looking over the bottles.
The shopkeeper's expression cleared at once, and Van's plain clothes suddenly became understated and refined in his eyes.
"Oh! I was so sleepy just now that I didn't even notice this gentleman come in. My apologies!"
The shopkeeper hurried away from his beloved counter and came over to Van.
"So, sir, have you found a bottle you fancy?"
"Uh, not really. I don't know much about this stuff. This is my first time trying Piltover liquor..."
"Oh? Then you're from out of town?"
"Mm... Ionia."
Van had not expected the lie he made up offhand earlier to come in handy again so soon.
"If you're here to buy liquor, this really isn't a very good place. These all look pretty... low-grade."
Caitlyn had come over by then and offered her opinion.
"If you want a proper drink, I know a few famous wineries. My family happens to know them..."
"Uh, no need, Caitlyn."
Van shut that down immediately. He had no idea what kind of place she was talking about, but he could guess well enough that if he drank even one or two glasses there, he would probably have to sell himself just to stay and pick grapes for the rest of his life.
As much as he longed for Piltover, staying here that way was another matter entirely... especially with people he cared about still waiting for him in the Undercity.
Besides, just looking at the bottles Caitlyn casually called "low-grade," the long rows of zeroes on the price tags were already enough to make his heart skip.
Piltover people really were rich. Some random girl he met on the street treated liquor that expensive like it was nothing.
"And anyway, saying that right in front of the shopkeeper is a little rude."
"Oh... right..."
Caitlyn had only been trying to be helpful, so being lightly scolded left her smiling awkwardly. Still, she lowered her voice and apologized to the shopkeeper.
"Think nothing of it, miss. I don't mind."
The shopkeeper looked almost flattered. He was just an ordinary citizen, and one look was enough to tell him the girl standing before him came from money and status.
As for this young man... gentleman... just who was he, showing up dressed so simply?
Of course, Van was neither special nor a gentleman. He was simply blind.
He had no experience living in Piltover, so he had no idea how to judge someone's status from their clothes or the way they carried themselves.
In the Undercity, even Vander, the man who ruled the Lanes, walked around in dirty suspenders and an oil-stained brown shirt.
And at that moment, Van's blindness took on a much more literal form.
He suddenly realized he did not really know how to read Piltover writing.
Maybe it was because most of the words in the Undercity were carved into wooden boards with knives. Maybe it was just because the place itself was rough by nature. Either way, the writing down there tended to be hard-edged and blocky.
Piltover's script had far more curves and flourishes. It looked prettier, sure... but Van was starting to realize he could barely make sense of it.
[End of chapter]