Free Web NovelChapter 12: Elicia’s Place
Elicia continued to drive for a few minutes before she took a turn, leaving the wide main road and stepping into another alley. After taking a few more turns, they arrived in a particularly narrow alleyway.
This part of the city was far less developed than the area around the main road. The streets and alleys were much narrower here. While not exactly dirty, it was definitely not as clean as the main road. Even the quality of the houses, buildings, and the shops and enterprises for that matter, looked cheap. If Ronan had to compare, the difference was as obvious as it was in his previous world between the area where his apartment was located and the neighborhood where his college was.
"We are here," Elicia declared as the motorbike came to a halt in front of a tall building.
It seemed to be a ten to twelve storied building, at the first glance. The building was old. Cracks had formed on the outer concrete layer. The paint was peeling off. A metallic gate was leading inside the building which had completely lost its shine and had rusted.
Ronan climbed down from the bike and Elicia parked it at the side of the narrow alley. She pressed the button on the dashboard. The boot space opened and she picked up the bag.
"You might not be used to such kinds of places," she said as she pushed the metallic gate open and stepped inside. "You must only be used to tall, shiny and glittery buildings. You know, The Sanctuary would surely not be having slums and crumbling buildings."
The staircase leading upwards was just in front of the gate. Ronan followed Elicia, climbing the stairs up.
"No place is as perfect as you might think," he responded instinctively.
He did not know about The Sanctuary. But surely it would not be an utopian paradise as Elicia was talking about. In fact, there was darkness just below the flame. Ronan knew it all too well. Places which appeared shiny, majestic and grand and even people for that matter had the most filth inside them. The Sanctuary would be no different. He was certain.
"You might be true," she responded, after a moment of silence. "But despite this, everyone’s dream is to settle at The Sanctuary. To live in that place."
"In fact there are people," she added with a distant sigh, "who have spent their entire lives thinking and dreaming about just setting their foot inside The Sanctuary, even if it is for once. Many would die just for the sake of walking inside The Sanctuary."
Ronan did not respond to this. He could feel that this comment of hers was related to someone personal. But he could not help but wonder about this so called The Sanctuary. What was so special in that place that people would die just to merely have a look at it? He did not really believe it. He did not take it as anything more than an exaggerated rumour.
Each floor had two apartments, one on each side of the Stairs. Elicia’s apartment was on the fourth floor which they arrived at in a couple of minutes.
A square shaped glass panel was built on the metallic door of the apartment. Elicia placed her left palm on it and the panel lit up with a white glow. A horizontal red line appeared on the panel which moved upwards and downwards scanning her palm.
A moment later, the panel turned green. A clang sound followed. It was the sound of the door being unlocked. Elicia pressed her palm gently and the gate was pushed open.
"Come inside," she said and Ronan followed after her.
The inside of the apartment was spacious. Ronan had stepped inside a big hall. He could spot four closed metallic doors. Ronan guessed they must be leading to other rooms, bathroom and probably kitchen. He was not sure if the apartment would have a kitchen. He was not sure what they did eat in this world? Did people of this world even cook food? And if they did, what did they cook? Meat? Surprisingly, he had not seen a single stray animal inside the city. Maybe livestocks were grown in some kind of facility in the city. He could only make wild guesses till he read and reached some conclusion.
In the centre of the hall, there was a sofa. But again like everything else in the entire city, its frame was not made of wood. But of metal.
"Welcome to my humble abode," Elicia remarked as she placed the bag of the goods on the metallic sofa.
She moved towards the other end of the hall and unlocked the window and pulled it open. He was expecting to get the view of the city but an old building two streets away was blocking the view.
"I will call my contact," she stated as she approached him. "Tell me beforehand what price you are expecting? And are you certain that you want the payment in the form of gold and silver?"
"I am not sure about the payment," he shrugged. "Honestly, I have no idea what people of Kovliar would be willing to pay for my bread and water. You are a resident of the city. You would be a better judge of it."
"As for the form of payment," he continued with a thoughtful expression. "I will have half in metals, preferably gold, and the remaining half in crystals."
"The second is doable," she said with a doubtful expression. "But are you sure about the first? You want me to decide the price?"
"Yes," he nodded his head confidently. "As I said, I have no idea what price I should ask."
"Besides this is a trial for me," he explained. "A way to take measure of the market and the people and their spending abilities. I can even suffer losses in the first few transactions. I do not mind as long as I meet my broader objective."
"Anyway, the higher the price of the goods, the better commission you will make."
"You can take the decision," he added.
"Very well," she nodded. "But if anything goes wrong, do not blame me. This is a decision you have taken. Do not come knocking at my doors later."
"I would not," he assured her with a smile.
She nodded before approaching one of the locked doors. She unlocked its latch and pushed it open. Ronan followed after her and peeked inside.
"Here are all the books that you might need to learn about the city and its people," she said. "And there is a computer in here too. Though I have not used it for a long time, it should work."
"If you need anything else, ask me," she added. "I will call you out when our buyer arrives."
Ronan nodded and stepped through the door inside the room.
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