"Hah, you still have the mood to read novels?"
"Are you and your sister planning to never pay the months of rent you owe me for the rest of your lives?"
The fat landlord jingled the long string of keys at his waist and barged through the door of Levi's home—if this dilapidated rental room of less than five square meters could even be called a home.
Levi had to put away the old book and bent-nib pen on his lap, pulling his legs back onto the bed to leave the landlord some room to stand.
At the same time, he reached up to carefully shield the little blue bird resting on his shoulder.
"Hmm?" Looking at the strangely endearing little blue bird, the fat landlord frowned deeply. "Levi, why are you keeping a bird? Didn't I tell you that pets aren't allowed in the apartment!"
"I apologize, Mr. Bill."
"Forget it, forget it. I won't pursue such a trivial matter. Tell me, when exactly do you plan to pay back the rent you owe me?"
"Mr. Bill, I'm sorry, I—"
"My money was all spent on my sister's medical bills," Mr. Bill interrupted him impatiently, mimicking Levi's excuses. "I was extorted by my fellow Zaunites recently. I was harassed and blackmailed by the Enforcers. I accidentally broke something at the factory and the boss made me pay for it. Blah, blah, blah."
"By Janna's winds,"
"Why are you Zaunites all so indecent? You lie without even blinking an eye!"
Levi was left speechless.
Lying? He actually wished those words were lies.
But according to the memories he inherited from this body, the bizarre stories in the eyes of Mr. Bill, a true "Old Piltover" resident, were actually just the daily life of Zaunite apprentices.
Left with no choice, he could only throw his hands up. "But I really don't have any money right now, Mr. Bill."
"If you don't have money, write a letter back to Zaun and ask your parents for it!"
"My parents are long gone."
"What about your grandparents?"
"Not many people in Zaun have grandparents. They don't live that long."
"What about relatives? You must have relatives!"
"I had an uncle. He tried to sell my sister and me to a brothel, so I killed him."
"I sold his corpse to an alchemy shop to get enough money to come to Piltover as an apprentice."
Mr. Bill fell silent.
"You Zaunites really are savages. Hmph, consider this an act of kindness. I-I'll give you one last day!"
He stepped back twice with a huff, retreating from the bed to outside the door.
"Levi, I will bring the Enforcers here directly tomorrow afternoon. If you still can't pay the overdue rent, then wait to be evicted by force!"
"When that happens, you'll no longer be qualified to stay in Piltover as an apprentice. You'll have to pack your bags and roll back to your hometown in Zaun, do you understand?"
These words gave Levi a headache.
The original owner's hometown of Zaun and his current location of Piltover were two city-states separated only by a river.
But being close in distance did not mean their situations were similar.
The situation between Zaun and Piltover was roughly like Mexico and America. A single river separated the two cities, dividing hell and heaven.
Levi was very lucky. He managed to bring his sister to Piltover alive. Without selling his body or his kidneys, he made it over in one piece.
However, he came as an apprentice.
An apprentice was roughly equivalent to a foreign trainee recruited by Japan from places like Vietnam—legally imported cheap foreign labor.
It was just that the life of a Zaunite in Piltover was a hundred times harder than that of a real-world trainee in Japan.
But even so, no Zaunite apprentice would ever think of leaving Piltover to return to their hometown in Zaun.
Because no matter how bad life in Piltover was, it was still far better than Zaun—a city of sin so wretched that even a Gothamite would shed tears of sympathy, a place where merely surviving relied on luck.
And now, Levi was about to face forced eviction by the Enforcers brought in by his landlord due to unpaid rent.
If an apprentice committed such a crime of "dishonesty" in Piltover, the Enforcers would immediately revoke their apprenticeship and deport them back to Zaun.
Naturally, Levi did not want to go back.
He was still too weak, and his good looks made him quite valuable. Returning to Zaun would be extremely dangerous.
"Mr. Bill, one day is simply too tight. Could you please give me a few more days of grace? I will do my best to find a way to get the money."
"Besides, you know my sister is very talented. She is currently studying at the University of Piltover, majoring in the highly sought-after Hextech Mechanical Engineering. Once she graduates—"
"Enough!" Mr. Bill interrupted him impatiently. "I know your sister had dumb luck last year and got accepted into the University of Piltover."
"But how many years will it take for her to officially graduate? Do you expect to live and eat here for free, and pay the rent three or four years from now?"
"Not to mention..."
"The University of Piltover isn't a place where just any random stray can coast by. A Zaunite? Hah, who knows if she'll even be able to graduate smoothly!"
Mr. Bill scolded sourly, his attitude growing even worse.
"Anyway, this one day is your final deadline!"
"Either you pay the overdue rent, or you pack up and get out with your sister!"
With that, not waiting for Levi to reply, he slammed the door and left, cursing under his breath.
Levi wanted to say more, but he could only hear the heavy thudding of footsteps and the jingling of keys in the hallway. Obviously, Mr. Bill had already gone to open the door of the next tenant.
Then, not long after, through the thin wall that offered almost no soundproofing, Levi heard Mr. Bill's booming howl once again.
"By Janna's winds—why are you Zaunites all so indecent? You lie without even blinking an eye!"
"Haha." Levi couldn't help but chuckle.
But he didn't say anything else. He just silently picked up the old book, along with his notebook and bent-nib pen, reading while earnestly writing something down.
The landlord thought Levi had been reading a novel just now, but he actually wasn't.
Because the title marked on the cover of that old book was *A Brief History of Piltover and Zaun*.
Yes, he was reading a dull and tedious history book, and he had been reading it for a long time before the landlord arrived.
Piltoverans were always dreaming of the future.
Zaunites struggled to survive in the present.
Therefore, the residents of both cities had no time to study the past. Historical research was not a popular subject here.
Yet Levi was studying it with utmost seriousness. Not only was he reading, but he was also taking notes.
Not only was he taking notes, but he was also consulting his teacher as he wrote.
"Janna."
Levi called out the name of that teacher.
If the landlord, Mr. Bill, heard this, he would definitely be astonished. How could this person share the same name as the legendary Wind Spirit, the Goddess Janna, whom he always mentioned?
And if he saw the true form of that history teacher, he would only be even more shocked.
Because this teacher of Levi's was not human at all.
She was a bird, the adorable little blue bird resting on Levi's shoulder.
"Janna?"
"I am here." The blue bird actually began communicating with Levi through telepathy.
She lazily stretched her wings on Levi's shoulder and asked,
"What strange question are you going to ask me this time..."
"...Mr. Summoner?"