A building that counted as towering by Undercity standards had become the new leader of Zaun's den.
Silco's temporary office had been set up in the brightest room on the top floor.
The décor had a strange character to it. It carried the elegance and refinement topsiders preferred, but also the rough flavor unique to the Undercity.
There were not many things in the room. Aside from a few simple decorations, there was only a desk and two chairs.
After all, Silco would be moving again before long. Recently, he had been sending people to begin construction on a building tall enough to truly look out over Piltover.
"Hah…"
Silco set down the document in his hand and rubbed his eyes, exhaustion weighing on him.
The work lately had been complicated. Compared to taking the whole Undercity, governing the whole Undercity was the truly difficult part.
He had expected as much, but until he handled it himself, even Silco had not realized the Undercity had fallen into such chaos. His idea of using Shimmer to force the Undercity together and raise Zaun's standing only grew firmer.
Of course, part of his exhaustion came from the work itself, but another part came from the fact that he had been distracted these past few days.
Irritated, Silco tossed the document aside, then took a strange-looking injector from a drawer.
It was a Shimmer-laced medicine, used to suppress the toxins in his left eye.
The wastewater toxins had eaten into him so badly that without it, his left eye would become unbearably painful, and the skin around it would itch like madness.
Click!
After struggling for a long time to line it up properly, Silco finally pressed the injector. Violent pain hit him at once, making him clutch his eye and bend forward.
Just then, the office door suddenly opened. Silco, caught in that miserable state, jolted in fright and snapped angrily.
"How many times have I told you to knock before—"
The moment he saw the little blue-haired figure, Silco's eyes widened in shock. Even the pain in his left eye seemed to vanish in an instant.
"Jinx?!"
Powder walked in unsteadily with little Blitzcrank in her hands, then threw herself into Silco's arms.
Silco held her, his eyes still filled with shock and disbelief.
"I could never get her hair right," Van said. "So I thought it might be better to leave it to a professional."
Silco turned and saw Van standing at the office doorway, leaning against the frame with a faint, teasing smile.
…
…
"What is this supposed to be? A short-stack party?"
After returning from Silco's place, Van opened the doors of the Last Drop and found the entire tavern occupied by a group of kids around Ekko and Zeri's age.
"I remember closing for the day… Let me guess who's responsible."
At that, Zeri shot her hand up in the crowd and answered first.
"It was Ekko!"
"Hey! Weren't we in this together?"
Ekko stared at Zeri in shock, as if he could not believe he had been sold out that fast.
"Huh? But didn't you say you wanted to be a gang boss?"
"…"
"A gang?"
Van made his way through the crowd of brats and went behind his bar.
"That's right! We gathered every kid nearby who's around my and Zeri's age, and we're going to form a gang."
Ekko propped his elbow on the bar, struck a smug pose, and said proudly, "And I'll be the gang boss for now."
"Heh. Great idea. What are you forming a gang for? Picking pockets in the street to help pay for food?"
"Don't say that, Van. We can help with plenty of things… The Lanes are short on hands right now, aren't they?"
"They are, but not so short that I need a pack of snot-nosed brats holding the place together."
"Come on! We're not—"
"Who wants juice?"
Van raised a small barrel of juice and shouted. In an instant, the whole tavern erupted.
"I do!" "Me too!" "Can I have lemonade?"
Van set the barrel on the bar and took out a pile of wooden cups.
"Pour it yourselves if you want some. And wash the cups when you're done."
The brats rushed forward at once. Even Zeri, Ekko's so-called second-in-command, joined the line for juice. Van raised an eyebrow at Ekko, who could only cover his face.
"We're just small right now… Sooner or later, we'll be able to help."
"Mm-hm. I'm already looking forward to it."
Van looked at the noisy, lively kids, and a faint smile of relief tugged at his mouth.
This was probably what Granny Meira had meant by vitality.
Zaun might not be a place fit for raising children, but it could still give birth to Zaun's sons and daughters.
"Right, where's Powder?"
"Her? She went to get her hair done. She'll come back often… Since you started this, take good care of these little ones. They can drink as much juice as they want."
With that, Van patted Ekko on the shoulder and headed down to the basement.
…
…
"Whew…"
Van dropped onto the basement sofa and thought back on everything that had happened lately. It felt like a lifetime had passed.
Just two months ago, he had still been a carefree Zaunite brat. Now he had become the Lord of the Lanes, carrying the fates of countless people on his shoulders.
Even now, none of it felt quite real to Van.
He raised his head and looked at the wall in front of him. Powder's original graffiti had been wiped away and replaced by Van's own work.
It was a girl with waterfall-like white hair, with a tiny, delicate bluebird perched on her shoulder.
This was Van's imagined image of Janna, drawn from rumors and his own thoughts. As for his drawing skill, that was a basic requirement for any Zaunite brat.
Van was satisfied with his work. Looking at the holy girl before him, he touched the bluebird pendant on his chest and slowly lowered his head.
"Vander, Vi… I kept comforting myself, telling myself I was only compromising for the sake of your last wishes, for the safety of the Lanes. But I'm slowly realizing my ambition goes further than that."
The texture of the bluebird pendant was finely made, smooth against Van's fingertips.
"Silco was right. Zaun's children deserve more. I can't accept Powder, Ekko, Zeri, or these little brats continuing to live the same hard lives we did. I can't stand it anymore… Zaun and Piltover were supposed to be one, like sisters born from the same mother."
Van raised his head, his gaze devout as he looked at Janna's portrait.
"Goddess, can you not love every one of your people equally? Can you not let that fresh breeze blow into every corner of Zaun?"
Faintly, Van seemed to feel a breeze brush past him, calming the restlessness in his heart a little.
He lowered his head again, pressed the bluebird pendant to his lips, and prayed softly.
"No matter what it costs, I will try to change all of this until the last moment of my life… Janna above, for the Undercity, for Zaun."
"Hey! Van, think of a name for our gang!"
"A name?"
Hearing Ekko call out, Van stopped praying. He took one deep look at Janna's portrait, then got up and walked out of the basement.
"How about the Firelights?"
"Firelights? That's a good name. Does it mean giving off light in the dark?"
The firelight was a strange kind of firefly that lived in the fissures, giving off a unique green glow in dark places.
"No, I just think you all look like firelights. Small and dumb."
Van teased Ekko as he walked to the bar and poured himself a full cup of liquor.
Right then, he noticed that the juice barrel had barely gone down at all. The beer barrel that had been full, however, had somehow been drained to the bottom.
His eyes swept over the brats holding cups in their hands. Van smiled knowingly, but did not expose them. Instead, he raised his own cup.
"Then let's drink to the newly founded little-brat Firelights!"
"Awoo!"
As Van raised his cup, the brats in the tavern raised theirs too.
"To the Firelights! And to the Lanes!"
Van tilted his head back. A full cup of strong liquor slid down his throat and into his stomach, filling his whole body with a burning warmth.
"And above all… to Zaun!"
[End of chapter]