We had visitors?

Sakura hadn’t mentioned anything about guests coming in the morning.

Max rubbed his eyes and took in the apartment.

Sun was shining through the windows and Sakura was leading a man with a yellow hard hat over to the windows.

The man double-tapped his fingers against the glass, then held his two fingers against the window and turned them like he was turning the lock of a safe.

A blue arcane rune appeared suddenly on the window.

“Ah,” said the man. “Looking good here.”

He tapped the window and the rune disappeared.

“All good, Ms. Sato,” said the man, heading towards the door. “See you next month.”

Max looked back and forth to the now empty doorway and Sakura.

“What the heck was that about?”

Sakura laughed. “Wow—you don’t think about all the little things that must be different over beyond the wall in the outer-rim. Having some culture shock, are you?”

Max scratched the back of his head. “Maybe...”

It was hard to describe what he was feeling. Waking up on the couch, forgetting where he had slept had made him feel—if only briefly—oppressively alone. Homesick, maybe.

But could he really be homesick for Mr. Grimes’ group home?

Perhaps it was the sense of unknown versus the comfort of routine. Even if that routine was terrible.

“Why the long face, mister?” said Sakura with her hands on her hips. “We got a big day today. So get dressed and let’s get going.”

They picked up coffee and croissants at a small café on the street below and started walking towards the center of the city.

As they walked, Sakura explained the odd visit from the man with the hard hat.

“So that man works for the city climbers,” said Sakura. “Once a month, after every monster wave, a team of inspectors, such as that man you saw today, is sent out across the city to check and make sure all the defensive runes are still working.”

“Oh neat,” said Max, munching on his croissant eagerly.

“That’s why it was so surprising when I saw you in the battle with the minotaur,” explained Sakura. “Those runes are very powerful. People can’t exit or leave them once they’re turned on for the monster wave. Since so much of the city’s infrastructure is prepared for those attacks, it’s weird when something so inconsistent happens.”

“What other jobs can people have in the tower-zone?” asked Max, swallowing the last of his croissant.

“All sorts,” said Sakura. “Just like in the outer-rim. A city needs doctors, firemen, policemen, janitors, garbage men, cooks, and the list goes on. Some of those jobs here in the tower-zone are aided by the use of climber technology or climber magic themselves.”

Max had always thought every single citizen of the tower-zone was a climber, but that was clearly proving not to be the case.