Durin immediately decided to go to the Entresol Level to see the old miner Slaut and, while he was at it, return the IOU he had been carrying.
Although it was no longer important—the Renault Alchemy Workshop would have already withdrawn the debt collection task—no one would go to trouble Slaut anymore. The IOU had become a useless piece of paper, but it was better to return it.
Taking the public lift and paying the fee, Durin arrived at the Entresol Level and walked straight toward the apartment building at No. 23, 6th Street, North District.
An apartment like this, with one bedroom and one living room but no private bathroom, generally had an area of about eighteen square meters. The monthly rent was 7 silver lun coins, which was the most common type of residence for Entresol Level residents.
If one wanted to buy a single-story house with one bedroom and one living room, about 30 square meters in size, according to current housing prices in the North District, it was 8.4 silver lun coins per square meter. That would be 252 silver lun coins for the unit, or approximately 10.5 gold cogwheels.
Durin arrived at Room 603 and knocked three times with his knuckles, but there was no response from the door.
Hmm?
Not home? Had he gone out again?
He had to find someone to ask.
In the next moment, Durin immediately turned toward the opposite door and knocked on the neighbor's door.
"Who is it?!"
A raspy and impatient male voice sounded from inside the room.
Hearing the inquiry, Durin remained calm and spoke up, "Hello, I have something I'd like to ask about."
"..."
After a moment of silence, the door was slowly opened, and a head poked out. The man's hair was messy, his beard was overgrown as if it hadn't been trimmed for days, and there was a slightly faded bruise on his left cheek.
"You... why are you here again?" The man clearly recognized Durin and asked timidly.
"Is Mr. Slaut home?" Durin asked with a smile.
The man's gaze first scanned Durin, and after confirming there was no short sword at his waist, he immediately said unpleasantly, "How should I know! Am I his father?"
As he spoke, he tried to shut the door.
However, Durin used his left arm to press directly against the door frame. Whether it was because his strength was out of control or because the wooden door was too old, he actually crushed it until it made a cracking sound.
The man's face instantly changed with fright, and he couldn't help but mutter under his breath, "Damn it, how much money does that old man owe! It's only been a few days, and someone's at the door again."
Durin said in a flat tone, "The money he owed has been paid back. I'm here to return his IOU. Is he not at home?"
Only then did the man breathe a sigh of relief and replied with a bit more ease, "He's not home. He went out."
"Where did he go? To do what?" Durin raised an eyebrow and followed up.
"He went to Hope House, that orphanage at the end of 6th Street in the East District. He's probably there volunteering," the man replied, his body relaxing slightly after confirming that the other party wasn't there to cause trouble.
Volunteering?
That's right, Slaut had borrowed a gold cogwheel specifically to aid an orphanage called Hope House.
Then he would go and take a look!
After obtaining the information from the man, Durin left the apartment building. The journey from the North District to the East District usually took an hour and a half, but fortunately, Durin's body was much stronger than before, so it only took him an hour.
Durin arrived at the end of 6th Street in the East District. There was a small orphanage here, its iron gates creaking in the wind. Inside were several red brick buildings. On the plaque above the entrance, the words "Hope House" were written crookedly. The surrounding walls were covered in various colors of graffiti and twisted brass pipes, featuring things like an enlarged monkey head and a deformed shark.
It was typical Zaun style—metallic architecture that wasn't pretty and was covered in gray rust.
When Durin pushed the gate open and walked in, several children about seven or eight years old quickly surrounded him. Their eyes were filled with wariness as they kept looking him up and down with scrutinizing gazes.
------------------------
There are already 70+ chapters available on my Patreon!
The story will continue to update 1 chapter per day on Webnovel,
while early access chapters are posted on Patreon.
Maybe it's not worth it today but it could be later
[email protected]/Kazenova223
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"