The night sky covered the busy metropolis Cerillia, the city was filled with bright yellow lights from candles and fires, and yet the streets were getting darker the further from the city center you went, in fact you could see a clear line where the city ends and the southern slums start.

  And yet in the southern slums laid a church, that is said to work as a cafe for the poor in the day.

  On top of it's roof sat a kid with a book looking into the endless and starless night sky.

  The book was not opened instead the child kept it close to him, it was a simple notebook that he kept.

  A journal filled with ideas and thoughts that he did not wish to forget.

  Steps were heard, they weren't silent instead they were kind and soft "Tesla, you know that you can get sick." Father Luka sat next to him

  The child did not turn nor did he seem to mind "I know but I want to stay here for a little longer if at all possible."

  Luka seemed lost whenever he talked with Tesla, compared to Jean he was the opposite, silent, quiet and always thinking. "What are you looking at?"

  "I don't know, I guess I am just wondering how it'd feel to fly." it was a simple thought that many often experienced yet from him it felt different, as if he already knew how to fly.

  Father Luka looked to the sky wondering if he himself could fly or at very least redeem his own past sins "..." he was worried about the future of the children he took in, he wondered if he was a good father figure for them.

  "You seem troubled father" as if sniffing out the worry from Luka, Tesla immediately asked if there was a possibility of help.

  Luka looked at the sky and said "I am worried if what I am doing is what is truly needed at the moment, what if-"

  A weak snore was heard, it seems that Tesla fell asleep but Luka did not seem to mind.

  Luka picked up Tesla and went downstairs to where both Jean and Tesla slept, he put him in bed and put his journal on the nightstand next to his bed and as silently as possible closed the door and went to his room.

  In there he sat in his chair and took out a square bottle from a compartment under his table, the bottle had a dark brown liquid with a label that screamed BURN in short it was most probably a strong alcoholic spirit that came from the eastern archipelago far beyond the horizon.

  As he poured the drink to himself in a small glass it looked like a very strong cup of tea.

  He took a sip with the liquid going down his throat and he felt a burn like no other, it wouldn't be wrong to say that it felt as if someone lit a fire in his throat and then decided to put more firewood for the heck of it.

  "Ahhhh... that's the spirit." he felt relieved as if stress that he held for so seemed to disappear but of course he knew better.

  The stress and responsibility will not simply leave just because he took a swig of alcohol but at the very least the feeling seemed to be better than being swallowed with sadness.

  And as the night continued so did he continue to drink until the bottle was empty and his head laying on his table sleeping soundly and smelling not so well.

  As the sun rose from the horison filling the inside of the church with colorful shapes and colors from one of the few expensive thing left in this church, that being the colored glass.

  Church was brightly lit to the point where it was difficult to imagine that just a day ago a torrential rain was pouring down on the streets.

  And so the trio slowly started waking up, with Tesla being the first and he did not hasitate, fo he immediately ran to the basement of the church where he made his shelter from planks, pillows, cushions and a carpet scattered all around, he'd sit there for hours on end reading through books of all kinds of topics, from famous drama plays to scientific research papers published by the Imperial College of Science and the only thing lighting up that whole room was a small candle.

  Luka was the second to wake up and he went preparing to open up the cafe, after the Librarian visited him more than several months ago the cafe operation has been in full swing in fact it became quite popular with in certain times, mostly around breakfast times when they'd give out free meals to all who come and on times between lunch and dinner since that is when students would come for cheap and somewhat lackluster food.

  It became a popular spot for students and professors alike since Tesla became a so called "book maniac" reading almost anything given to him.

  The books that were usually brought were nothing too serious, mostly some magazines, newspapers, poems but sometimes they'd bring some scientific papers and based on that Tesla would go absolutely haywire to the point where he would create his own theories and methods, though they were usually wrong or already tested, but it did not stop him at all.

  Jean was still in bed during all this, mostly because he couldn't get a good any sleep even after sleeping for what seemed like an eternity.

  But nonetheless he still had to wake up, and so he did with a tired face and a body so weak that even a toddler would be stronger but he pushed on and went down the spiraling stairs of the church overlooking the prayer room and continued outside, where people already drank tea and coffee while having snacks, it was quite the change of scenery compared to the slums just several streets over.

  As Luka was resting and chatting with customers and people he saw Jean and decided to give him something to do, after all he was sleeping up until this point so surely he had more than enough energy.

  "Jean come here real quick." Luka had his hands on his hips and a smile that basically said: you will get the worst job imaginable

  reluctantly he slowly came up to Luka already knowing that escape was far from possible. "yesss..."

  Luka looked at Jean with what seemed like the desire to beat him to pulp "I need you to go the city center and give this to the owner of Babel's libray" he pulled out a letter and gave it to Jean. "Also while you are there..." worried eyes appeared on Luka's face "be careful, okay?"

  Jean knew that while Luka acted like an ox he still cared about both him and Tesla, it was just that he cared in his own way "I will, I promise"

  "Thanks and here buy yourself something while you are there." Jean got a bag of coins for his own personal use, which will most probably be used to buy new clothes.

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  before departing Jean had one last question "Is there a possibility of me taking a carriage with me"

  "no"

  a stern no felt much more painful than anticipated "But it would take me more than 8 hours to get there and back."

  "and risk my carriage be stolen or destroyed because you decided to go through a 'shortcut'" Luka had a point, while Jean was smart, to some extent, he was far from responsible let alone good at accepting basically any critique without him trying to escape from getting a beating.

  "ugh, I promise that it won't happen"

  "And I promise that I won't drink today yet we both know that I will, now go I have customers"

  Jean looked around at all the empty tables where only 3 were filled "where?"

  Luka just so happened to have some state of the art cleaning tool by his side, called a broom "come heRE YOU EARLESS RAT" you sprinted towards Jean while he ran as far as the eye could see for there are only two things worse than death, and that is slavery and an alcoholic priest with broom.

  As Jean was panting from sprinting for what seemed like an eternity he looked back and as if the worry of death escaped him as he saw that Luka was not there at all and as such he continued forward.

  While usually he'd go to the city through a hole in a wall that was not so far from the entrance, today he decided to be a good citizen of the empire and went through the city wall guard, surprisingly it went better than expected, only issue was the wait time and considering that Jean had basically nothing but a bag of coins and letter it was pretty clear to the guards that he was just a postal boy so they let him through.

  Usually there aren't any issues regarding border guards or patrols, since every three months they change locations and tasks respectively ensuring that no person stays in one post for too long since that can result in corruption and harassment of the general public, while Jean doesn't know much about the overall social or political climate of the city, he knows that the Empire and in particularly the city of Cerillia have existed for so long that there are historians who specifically study only the city itself.

  But sadly such things were little of no interest to Jean, he was more of a act first and ask questions later type then a person who would ask thousands of questions before even taking a step.

  Usually this act landed him in a lot of trouble but there were moments when it saved him and his brother.

  As he arrived through the gates he saw a clear difference between the southern slums and the lower southern district, and this was still far from the city center, the buildings were made out of bricks, the streets were much cleaner and made from stone, houses had glass windows and not to mention the smell of sewage was gone.

  Although both him and Tesla lived in a more 'rich' part of the slums it could still not even get close to what layed beyond the walls, there were even trees planted for decorations but to Jean it wasn't a surprise for he came here quite often.

  But he still wondered how it looked beyond the lower district and so onward he went.

  Overall it was easy to see where to go, mostly because the inner district and the city center had extremely high walls, in short follow the walls and you will get to your desstination.

  He finally arrived to the city center, it took him 3 hours and that is with public horse carriage but nontheless he arrived to a... shack to say he was disappointed would be an understatement, after all the Babel's library was located in a center of the city surrounded by buildings picked straight from a fairy tail with nobles and merchants just walking around among the general population and yet this shack was like sore thumb, sticking out and drawing attention only to Jean but no one else.

  No matter he was only here to deliver a letter and that's that.

  He opened the double doors and saw a poorly lit interior with what seemed like a reception with a single bell on the table.

  No one seemed to be there and not to mention the dead quiet, usually that's what you'd expect from a bookstore or a library but this was a different type of silence, the type that someone is looking yet not speaking at all.

  Jean rang the bell, curiosity got the better of him, as always.

  Before he knew it there was a sound behind of doors opening was heard and as he turned he saw a figure with a dark green vest, black long button up with wide sleeves that matched the color of the pants he wore, dress shoes which paired very nicely with the vest and plague doctor mask.

  You could see his hair, they were brown with hints of black and while his hands were behind his back you could still see that he had gloves, it also seemed that he had a cane with a black gemstone and dark oak base.

  It was clear that he was some kind of noble, but the question is why would a noble have a shack for their library, let alone work there.

  Before he could even ask anything the stranger sat down behind the reception.

  "How may I help young man?" The voice was soothing and even behind a mask you could still clearly understand every letter he said.

  Jean pulled out a letter "I was told to bring this to you by Father Luka."

  "Ahhh right, how is he anyhow, I heard he opened up a cafe, I wonder how he got the money for that." it was a taunt towards the priest.

  Letter was put on the reception table by Jean and he was preparing to leave but got interrupted by the stranger.

  "There is no need to leave, I was wondering if you would like a cup of tea." As Jean turned towards where the reception was he realized something, this was a different room.

  The light was different for it was well lit up, there were paintings on the wall that if sold could buy you a castle and not to mention the aroma of the tea felt like he was drinking something that was grown with so much effort that it put Jean's entire life to shame. "Please sit" Stranger kindly asked

  "You see I am quite surprised that he sent you instead of coming himself." he took a sip through a mouth opening "Although considering our relationship, I must not be surprised that he would rather send someone else" he sighed at the end of his sentence, he acted as if he knew nothing.

  "I am sorry sir, but I am in a hurry to go home so-" before even finishing what Jean wanted to say, as if to taunt him the stranger spoke.

  "and here I wanted to give the young Tesla a way to go into a university." It was as if he was waiting for this, ridiculing Jean knowing that no matter how much Jean tries he will always do anything to give his brother a better life. "Don't you agree sir Vane."

  Chills ran down Jean's back, he that there is no coming back and so he sat and spoke "What do you want."

  "me? not much, I already got what I wanted but it sadly seems that there is something that you still want." he waved the letter in his hand "I can give Tesla a future he wants, a place to sleep, learn and invent things that would take millenia to make, in return for one thing."

  Jean looked at the stranger with determination he hasn't felt since escaping the farm and asked

  "What do you need me to do"