Although the bed was comfortable, Lux and Ino didn't rest well that night.
As a result, when they woke up the next day, both girls' eyes were swollen.
In this situation, they could only awkwardly postpone their plan to explore Piltover—the two of them spent the entire morning training magic under Klein's supervision, and everyone tacitly avoided mentioning what happened last night.
It wasn't until noon that they left their room, had something to eat in the hotel's restaurant, and then dragged their two huge suitcases out of the hotel.
They needed to store some of their belongings in the vault first.
Spending ten gold hex, Lux rented a large safe deposit box at the Ecliptic Vaults and then stuffed her two suitcases inside—her daily necessities and two sets of armor had already been taken out, and the remaining items, except for some gold exchanged for gold hex, Lux didn't touch.
Upon receiving their exclusive keys, Lux and Ino both let out a long sigh almost simultaneously.
★ ヾ ( ω ` ) o
Finally, with these things stored away, they could move freely!
"What's next?" Ino walked shoulder to shoulder with Lux, resting her hand on the hilt of Lux's sword. "It's almost dusk—Klein isn't going to make us go back for evening self-study, is he?"
"I'm not that strict," Klein snorted. "Next... investigate this city carefully. No investigation, no right to speak."
........
Investigation sounds complicated, but for Lux now, it's quite simple.
When she was in Silvermere, she had already tentatively investigated the lifestyle of Demacia commoners—although her main purpose at that time was to understand the frost conditions, during her stay, she still learned a lot about their way of life from the locals.
When promoting the Disaster Relief Knight, she learned a lot of information and data about farmers' cultivation.
Later, on the Taiyin Stone, Lux, under Klein's guidance, engaged in extensive communication with people from all walks of life.
Lux was naturally optimistic, cheerful, and easy to get along with; after this journey, she had truly become a social butterfly—the kind who could chat with almost anyone.
In Piltover, the direction she needed to investigate was the daily life of Piltover people, including their clothing, food, housing, and transportation. These matters were trivial and detailed, but usually, just by buying something and chatting with the owner, she could get a lot of useful information—this level of communication was simply a piece of cake for Lux, not worth mentioning!
Prices, product quality and source; salaries and specific job content; land prices, geographical location, and surrounding environment...
Through these seemingly casual chats, Lux obtained a large amount of information, while Klein quickly organized the data.
During the day, Lux went sightseeing, and at night, Klein compiled the data alone.
The proactive attitude of Piltover residents towards business greatly accelerated Lux's investigation speed.
Here, various shops would display job postings in the most prominent places in their windows; many houses for transfer or sale would also openly display prices—while these prices might be inflated, the data itself was still sufficient for reference.
At first, Lux didn't quite understand why Klein insisted that she investigate Piltover herself.
However, as she and Ino explored for several days, even without comparing it to the data Klein obtained, Lux could clearly perceive the unique nature of this city.
It seemed that in Piltover, there was nothing that gold hex couldn't solve—if it couldn't be solved, it just meant there wasn't enough gold hex.
For example, within the entire Piltover area, the manor district in the north of the city had the fewest shops, but the prices were astonishingly high, and the variety was enough to dazzle Lux.
She even saw Earth Dragon Lizard for sale in a pet shop!
Looking at these little creatures marked with six-figure prices, Lux couldn't help but think, "In Piltover, as long as you have money, you can buy anything."
And when Lux explained her tourist identity, she often heard Piltover people proudly boast about Piltover.
"We have no nobles, and commoners don't need to become fuel for the empire like Noxians. Here, everyone is equal before gold hex—oh, thank you for the tip."
Yes, in Piltover, gold hex was everything, and even political power was influenced by money—in Piltover's newspapers, someone was soliciting sponsorships in very direct language, hoping to raise enough collateral to join the council, and he promised to give investors "equivalent returns" upon success, and so on.
Everything seemed incredibly beautiful, everything seemed to be just as those Piltover people said: everyone was equal before gold hex.
But... was it really so?
According to the survey data, the further south one went in Piltover, the lower the land prices, commodity prices, and wages, and the reduction ratios were extremely mismatched—in areas near Zaun, the work remuneration was not even one-fifth of that in the north of the city, yet commodity and land prices were still one-third of those in the north!
For the same job as a waiter, one could earn about ten gold hex per month at the Lavender Manor in the north of the city; but in the south of the city near Zaun, one couldn't even earn two.
So if they went to Zaun...
Thinking of this, Lux shook her head—unconsciously, it had been the tenth day of their investigation in Piltover. Now only the Academy District remained, and once they finished there, she would go to what Klein called "another world" to see.
........
The next morning, the sky was clear and bright.
Lux, with something on her mind, woke up very early; the sun hadn't even risen when she opened her eyes.
But Ino was up even earlier than her. By the time Lux had hurriedly washed up, Ino had already returned with a small notebook.
"I just asked the front desk for information about the Academy District," Ino held up her notebook. "He said it's almost Piltover's evolution Day, so there's a large public performance at the theater, and the Science and Progress Academy has several open classes—I've already copied down the course schedule."
Lux put on her sword while taking Ino's notes.
"Open classes? Does Piltover have such a tradition?" Klein was a little surprised. "It seems Piltover people are quite generous with knowledge. Let me see what they teach—oh, never mind."
"What do you mean?" Lux obviously didn't know why Klein suddenly changed his mind. "Is there something wrong with the course schedule? Did Ino copy it wrong? Why do I feel like I don't understand any of these course names?"
"Not understanding is precisely the point. What a cunning trick. They call them open classes, but normal people can't understand them at all," Klein sighed. "Sure enough, I shouldn't have expected them to genuinely be willing to share knowledge."
"So are we going to attend the classes?"
"Attend what? None of us will understand," Klein said helplessly. "Look at this course schedule: 'Compound Tidal Power Engineering Machinery.' Can this even be taught as an open class?"
"So?"
"So you two should still go to the theater. Leave early, and you might even get a good seat," Klein chuckled. "The investigation mission is more or less complete, and I haven't finished organizing the data here. Today, you two can just go to the theater and relax."
"Well then, it's time to go!" Lux picked up her hairband and put it on her head. "Hurry, Ino, we need to make good time!"
After a quick breakfast, the two girls left the hotel hand in hand and headed straight for the Piltover Grand Theater in the Academy District.
Then, about a block away from the Grand Theater, they saw a despairingly long queue.
Everyone was there to collect tickets.
Tickets for the evolution Day performance were so cheap they were practically free.
And for free things, naturally, there were plenty of people scrambling for them—plus, being close to Zaun, many Zaunites would also come at this time to "see the world."
Looking at this winding, looping queue that stretched for several turns yet still seemed endless, Lux was dumbfounded. She knew Piltover had many people, but compared to the calculated data, the direct impact of such a shoulder-to-shoulder crowd was even greater.
Then, just as Lux was hesitating whether to give up on seeing the play, she heard a hawker's cry beside her.
"Inner circle tickets available? Last two!"
Scalped tickets with a markup—hmm, very Piltover.
Klein's Small Class · Piltover Avant-Garde Art:
The Piltover Grand Canal, which monopolizes trade between the two oceans, brought astonishing wealth to Piltover. This wealth, while greatly stimulating Piltover's economy and supporting technological research, also promoted the development of Piltover avant-garde art. Artists here broke free from the confines of classicism and developed a unique Piltover avant-garde art form—however, this art form is seen by traditional classical artists as "a sensational gimmick caused by having too much money."