At the Entresol, Jayce saw the rough side of Zaunites.
People here were covered in tattoos. They spoke crudely. Now and then you could see Zaunites shouting insults at each other from a distance.
Jayce stood among them—tall, nearly two meters—so some of the Zaunites literally climbed onto things to get higher, leaning over Jayce's head to keep yelling at the person on the other side.
Vulgar. Reckless.
But what was strange was… there was no violence.
Jayce had wandered the Entresol for almost half an hour, and he hadn't seen a single brawl. He even saw something genuinely odd.
When he passed a small market, he bent to look at the food on a stall. Behind him, the stall owner and a customer started arguing—necks stiff, faces red, the kind of shouting match that looked ready to explode.
But the moment two people wearing colorful petal-fragment outfits walked up, the two of them immediately turned friendly, acting like nothing had happened.
"Th…"
At a glance, it reminded Jayce of Enforcers. Piltover merchants argued with customers all the time too, but once Enforcers arrived, both sides would back down.
What he'd just seen felt exactly like that.
He went down flight after flight of stairs, and at last he reached the Sump.
From what he'd read, Jayce knew the Sump was smaller than the Entresol by a ring, but it was also where most of Zaun's population lived. Zaun's poor, gangs, and every kind of person packed into the Sump—and the Lanes were its innermost core.
Jayce tightened his grip on his bag, holding it to his chest, and started forward.
"Damn!"
The moment he stepped out of the narrow alley and truly entered the Sump, Jayce froze.
A girl's voice rang in his ears. Visibility was clearly better than up at the Entresol. The air still smelled bad—but it didn't have that sharp, stinging bite the Entresol had.
Breathing it in… didn't hurt.
Looking ahead, the buildings had the same irregular style as the Entresol—dense and crowded—but along the main road there were streetlamps and white walls. Those walls separated the houses and kept the main thoroughfare clear, and they were covered in murals—beautiful paintings in all kinds of styles, obviously not the work of just one person.
It was messy, sure, but it felt like…
A big neighborhood.
Those paintings made the place feel strangely warm.
"Stop! Stop! Hey, tall guy—help me catch it!" the girl shouted again.
Jayce turned his head and saw a small girl running toward him. She wore rough linen clothes, her hair tied into two little buns. Her face was flushed red, her eyes big, and she looked up at him anxiously.
"What are you standing there for? Help me—help me catch my chicken!" she demanded.
Jayce blinked, then looked where she pointed.
A red-and-black chicken stood on a rock, chest out, head high, looking ridiculously proud of itself.
"That's your chicken?" Jayce asked.
"Yeah! We've got guests at home today—Mom told me to kill it!" the girl shouted.
"But it—you…" Jayce tried to form words. His mind was a mess.
A chicken ran off in Zaun—in the Sump—and you, a little kid, chased after it alone?
Weren't you afraid something would happen?
Weren't you afraid you'd lose both the chicken and yourself?!
"Aren't you scared it's dangerous?" Jayce finally managed.
"Dangerous?" The Zaunite girl froze, then put her hands on her hips and looked him up and down. "Oh." She nodded. "You're from the topside, aren't you?"
"There's no danger. Zaun's changed. All the gangs got dissolved, and there are Sump Enforcers patrolling everywhere to protect us. What danger could there be?" She frowned at Jayce. "So are you going to help me catch the chicken or not? If you won't, move. You're blocking the road, you know?"
"Enforcers… protecting you?"
"You ask too many questions, tall mister." The girl ignored him, ducked under Jayce's legs, and sprinted after the chicken.
She couldn't outrun it at all—especially with how short she was. And when the chicken flapped up to higher ground, it was even more impossible.
Jayce thought for a second, set his briefcase aside, and rolled up his sleeves.
A moment later, Councilor Talis—now a bit filthy—was grinning as he handed the chicken to the girl.
She snatched it with practiced speed—one hand gripping the neck, the other supporting the body—and flashed Jayce a smile. "Thanks, tall guy! You thirsty? Hungry? Just so you know, I don't have money to thank you."
"No need," Jayce said. "I just have a few questions I want to ask."
He turned and saw his briefcase still sitting there. Only then did he breathe out. He picked it up and looked at the girl, who'd followed him over. "What you said earlier—Sump Enforcers, and the gangs dissolving—what's that about?"
"Councilor Logan said it himself. Starting yesterday, Zaun doesn't have gangs anymore." The girl sniffed, hugging the chicken as she sat on a stone. "My dad drank a ton last night. This morning Mom had to smack his butt to keep him from missing work on the factory's very first day."
Jayce walked over and sat beside her, listening as she told him what had been happening in Zaun lately.
The more he heard, the more stunned he became.
"Everything you're saying is real?"
"Of course! My dad saw Lady Janna with his own eyes!"
"Even Heimerdinger is your fourth councilor?"
"Isn't he super cute?"
————
Jayce didn't even know how he ended up walking into Hope Community. He only knew that he was in a daze the whole way—and after asking some Zaunites for directions, he arrived here.
It was nothing like what the books said.
Dirty? Yes.
Chaotic? Yes.
But… was it bad?
Jayce stared at Hope Community in confusion. As Zaun's largest community, it wasn't necessarily far more bustling than the others, but the population was dense. The streets were clean. You could actually see sunlight. The air even smelled better.
And most importantly—everyone here was smiling.
Their tone might not be polite, and their language might be rough, but there was no malice in it.
Jayce walked into Hope Community.
No one stopped him. Unlike Piltover's upscale neighborhoods and villa districts, this place was open—you could enter freely.
As he went in, Jayce looked at stall after stall, watched children racing along the street, watched women sitting beneath an artificial tree chatting and resting…
And his expression finally cracked.
You call this Zaun?!
No—how could Zaun look like this?!
The Entresol had already exceeded Jayce's expectations, but the Sump—this place that Piltover's books and Piltover's adults described as the worst of the worst—
How could it look like this?
"Would you like a free cup of lemon water?"
A voice sounded beside him. Jayce turned and saw a gentle-looking woman holding a tray, blinking at him.
Jayce froze, then reflexively reached out. "Uh—thank you. I'm actually pretty thirsty."
He'd just fought a whole battle with a chicken, and since arriving in Zaun, he hadn't had a single sip of water. Add his tight nerves on top of that—of course he was thirsty.
What Jayce didn't notice was that he'd originally planned that once he entered Zaun, he'd prepare all his own food and drinks and never touch anything offered by Zaunites—because he feared poison, feared Shimmer, feared ruining his life in one mistake.
But now he took the cup without even checking whether the paper cup was clean, lifted it, and drank.
After two swallows, Jayce's expression turned strange.
"Haha—does it not suit your taste? Sorry. It's hard to buy fresh lemons in Zaun, so I used lemon powder and a bit of concentrate." The woman smiled when she saw Jayce frown. "Is it bad?"
Jayce shook his head and took a bigger gulp, then put the cup back onto her tray. "No, it's really good. It's just a little sour. If you added a bit of sugar, it would be even better."
"Sugar?" The woman nodded. "I'll think about it."
Then she moved on to someone else, taking a fresh paper cup and pouring them lemon water.
Jayce watched her—then he heard the conversation nearby.
"Oh, Councilor Marna, you're handing out water for free again?"
"It's all I can do right now. Here—don't be polite with me."
"I won't be. Come on, fill it up. I've got ore to haul this afternoon—no water and I'll be dead." The Zaunite man laughed loudly.
Jayce stood there, mouth open, stunned.
"?"
Wait—what did he just call her?
Councilor… Marna?
"Marna!" A loud voice rang out.
A whirlwind of a figure charged up to Marna. Red hair. A pretty face with tattoos. A piercing hole in one nostril—like it used to hold a nose ring, but it was empty now. Bright blue eyes smiling. Sweat beaded in the red hair at her forehead as she reached straight for the lemon-water jug.
Smack!
Marna slapped the girl's hand and scolded her with a laughing voice. "Vi! If you drink straight from the jug, how is anyone else supposed to drink? Behave. Use a cup."
"Tch. A beauty like me drinks from the jug, and they get to drink my spit—lucky them," Vi said carelessly, but she still pulled her hand back and waited obediently while Marna poured her a cup.
Vi chugged it down—gulp, gulp, gulp—while Marna took out a towel and wiped the sweat off Vi's cheeks and neck.
Mid-drink, Vi turned her head and met Jayce's eyes.
"?"
"Hey, pretty boy—what are you staring at?" Vi narrowed her eyes and barked.
Jayce jolted, caught in the act. He looked away like he'd been caught stealing—then immediately felt irritation spike.
He'd only glanced over. He hadn't stared anywhere inappropriate. He had standards.
Did she really have to insult him like that?
Zaunites really had no manners.
"That dumb pretty boy over there—what's his deal? He doesn't look like one of us," Vi leaned close to Marna and muttered.
"You don't know him?"
"He's that handsome and I don't know him… huh. No, wait, he does look kind of familiar? Where have I seen him…" Vi leaned against a wall, propping one foot up, frowning as she thought.
"Jayce Talis. Zaun's eighth councilor," Marna said, amused.
"Oh—it's him." Vi waved it off. "Alright then, I won't grab him and interrogate him about what a Piltie's doing in Zaun."
"Anyway, Auntie—if my sister comes through the community, tell her for me: once I'm done working and get home, she's in for it."
"Huh? What did Lady Jinx do this time?" Marna covered her mouth.
"She stole my nose ring! And she left a damn cow nose ring on my table instead—like I'm supposed to wear that! I'm gonna lose it!" Vi jumped in place, furious.
Who could understand the feeling of waking up, washing your hair, fixing your face, flipping your room upside down looking for your nose ring—
Only to find a huge iron ring instead?
Was Jinx trying to turn her into livestock?!
"Vi," Marna said, smiling, "I've noticed you talk about your sister a lot lately. Are you two finally completely okay?"
Vi let out a long sigh. "What choice do I have? I've only got one sister. I can only accept that she's changed."
"Like Logan said—no matter how she changes, she's still my most loved sister."
After saying it, Vi seemed to find her own words too mushy. She patted her butt and ran toward the edge of the community, shouting, "Squad Three—west river! There's scrap that needs hauling!"
"Yes, Captain!"
"Damn it—call me 'Captain,' not 'Boss Lady!'" Vi laughed and cursed back over her shoulder.
Jayce quietly watched the scene, then turned and walked away.
Different.
Zaun really was different.
Viktor had been right. Zaun wasn't what Piltovans imagined. It had ugly parts—wrong parts—but it also had beautiful things, and beautiful people.
Jayce had seen it with his own eyes. He didn't know what Zaun used to be like, but the Zaun he was seeing now was nothing like the books or the adults' stories.
A councilor carrying a tray and handing out water to Zaunites—Piltover would never allow something like that.
Not even as a performance.
Because Piltover's councilors couldn't lower themselves that far.
But that woman?
She truly cared. She truly didn't want people collapsing from exhaustion.
Jayce lowered his head and kept walking—and then bumped into something.
He looked up.
A small boot was planted on Jayce's thigh—black, with little metal pieces clinking from it.
"Talis?" A raspy but playful voice sounded.
Jayce lifted his gaze and saw a blue-haired girl, only tall enough to reach his chest, staring up at him.
The instant he recognized her, his pupils shrank.
"You've got the wrong person," Jayce blurted.
"No I don't. How could I possibly get you wrong?" She pulled her leg back and stood in front of him, pretty as a doll—big eyes full of scrutiny.
She grabbed one long blue braid, flicked it, and continued, "I stole your stuff once, remember? You even put a bounty on me. You forgot already?"
"You're so full of yourself. Your name's all over the books, and there are photos of you too. You really think I could mistake you?"
"…"
Jayce's teeth started chattering.
Because the girl in front of him was the Enforcers' universally recognized danger—Piltover's most wanted criminal—the blue-haired madwoman.
Kills without blinking. Unhinged. Maximum threat level.
That was Piltover's entire impression of Jinx.
But what was strange was that the girl in front of him looked far cuter than the photos—especially her face. Cute enough that Jayce accidentally looked twice.
"Hm, let me see." Jinx circled Jayce, leaning in and looking him up and down with a hand on her chin. After a moment, she clicked her tongue.
"Besides being tall, you're nothing special. Not handsome at all!"
"Who said you're the most handsome, most outstanding person in the twin cities? Bring them out. I want to have a serious talk with them about why my Logan isn't on that list."
Jayce didn't dare move. Not even a little.
He was terrified he'd irritate her and get a bullet through his head.
"Stop scaring him, Jinx." Another voice followed.
Jayce looked—and saw another Zaunite "dangerous figure."
Silco.
He walked up gracefully to Jinx, patted her shoulder, and in his other hand carried a bag filled with children's snacks.
Jinx huffed a couple times, then stepped back, giving Jayce space so he didn't have to hunch there like a quail despite being built like a tower.
"Welcome to Zaun, Jayce Talis. We've been waiting a long time for you."
"Come." Silco turned and headed toward the Spirit Blossom Gang hideout. "Follow me. I'll take you to see Logan."
Jinx hopped along after him, hands behind her back, bouncing as she led the way.
She was even humming some strange little tune.
That innocent, sweet look made Jayce feel dazed for a moment.
This girl… was she really the most dangerous criminal Piltover had ever wanted?
She didn't look frightening at all.
"Snap!"
One of the Zaunites walking with Silco stepped out, face displeased, and snapped his fingers right in front of Jayce.
"What are you staring at?" he growled.
"That's my sister-in-law."
Marsen said it just like that.
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