James, seeing the light in the boy's eyes, simply nodded and pushed him out of the way seemingly deep within his own thoughts. Enzio glanced at James' back as he left their home and a strange thought popped into his mind.
James walked out of the building onto the busy streets of the residential district and frowned.
"VVV's that's the company that those three mentioned. They're responsible for the industrial boom of the Garden. How is his death related to them? More importantly, how is it related to the Dandy Man? '
James quickly decided to head to the Southern Outskirts of the Garden, not waiting for Ethan.
James had once again made his way to the Southern District, where buildings branded with the symbol 'VVV' puffed out smoke and young men hauled concrete and slag to and from erected structures. Carriages marked with the same three V's were loaded with supplies and dashed off into the distance.
James continued on his path following the trail of the carriages until he arrived at the southern border of the garden. It was an expansive patch of land, covered in dirt and gravel, that separated him from the silent forest.
It was almost uncanny as James heard the stomping of the overburdened horse-cockle carriages suddenly grow silent as sounds were being devoured as they entered the thin treeline between him and the forest.
James looked around before he spotted a young man lounging on a large block of waste concrete. James waved at him, and the young man waved back, signalling James that he was free to come over.
James stood in front of the man, shielding the shine from the spoked sun. He had returned to his resting spot with his hands behind his head.
" Hey, I actually like the heat. It gets cold at nights" the young man attempted to shoo James.
James lightly sidestepped, allowing for a glimmer of sunlight to shine on his face. " Where are those carriages headed?"
" 'posed to be headed to the Buddhist Temple South of the Garden, but traffic's been fucked up since the starfall incident. No shipments have been making it in from the temple or out of the garden to them. They're just being dropped off at the outpost, waiting to be collected. We're basically cut off from the rest of the world until either things settle down or Juraman kills that overgrown dog."
"Hmmm?" James caught a contradiction in his words
"If no shipments have been making it in or out of the garden, why are there still so many carriages being driven out of here? Where are they going then? Would it also not be safer to keep supplies inside the garden than an outpost inside the silent forest?
The young man furrowed his brows, seemingly not thinking too much about the discrepancy but then immediately returned to his relaxed demeanour. " I don't know, it must be one of life's greatest mysteries. Although Vivian's the one sending out these shipments. Most of them are boxes and barrels containing rocks, gravel, kiln ash and concrete. The only outpost that connects the Garden to the Temple is Outpost #16."
James furrowed his brows, contemplating what he heard, then something flashed behind his eyes as he looked at the youth. " You seem both uncaring and well educated. How do you know so much about what's going on?"
The young man sighed and didn't respond, merely shooing James out of his light. " James agreed and stepped completely out of the way, watching the tension completely fade from the youth's face as he closed his eyes.
James decided that he needed to hitch a ride to outpost #16. However, he wouldn't do it alone.
" Looks like I'm going to find that kid after all. And I wonder where Uquinn would be?" James slowly made his way back into the Garden, making strides towards Ziggy's shop.
The young man who was lounging on the rock suddenly stood up and watched as other carriages loaded with supplies left the Garden and delved into the silent forest. " What are you planning, Vivian?"
He quickly shuffled his way into the industrial district, blending into the crowd and disappearing from sight.