Shambala Sect

"Please, ma"am! Listen to me, your child needs this kowa[1]!" a man"s voice reached his ears. When he looked to the side, a clean-shaved, gray-haired man dressed in full white, carrying a hymnal in one of his hands was chasing after a woman who was running down the corridor, holding her newborn child in her arms.

"Forgive me, Brother!" the 32-year-old lady in blue was hastening in an aberrant manner — the after-effects of giving birth — but worry visibly showed on her visage. "G.o.d never told me to take kowa. Only people in white coats did. I"m sorry."

In great haste, the two eventually evanesced.

"What was that about..?" He scratched his chin and looked around before his eyes set on the neighboring rooms, which seemed to be locked from the inside. "Those two are still inside? That devil must be mugging the words out of that pocketbook." He locked his room, and then walked away, in one of the routes of the corridors. After making sure his pockets were filled with nuts and something else, he began to whistle and shape melodies with his mouth, his shoulders dancing to his own tunes in unison.

Soon after Lirzod left the room, two thumping men reached the spot, bouncing eggs into each other"s palms. Looking exactly similar in physique and attire, their white jackets had expressive egg tattoos painted on their backs divulging their ident.i.ties.

"This is 10-K43. Mm? And it"s locked," said the guy with a stony expression, and he had a tag of 251 at his bicep region.

"Maybe he went to the Test Hall," said the other guy gently biting the lip, and he had the tag of 252 on his bicep.

"Even if we go there, we don"t know how he looks," the guy heaved a sigh.

"Hmm..." He rubbed his belly, making it grumble. "First, let"s go find a Bread Booth[2]."

The took of them took a walk in the corridors.

Meanwhile, Lirzod was at the Bread Booth — a green tent without frills and resembled a trekking camp — with a Hollow — an orange-haired youth who wasn"t much older than Lirzod — supplying bread for whoever asked for it. On the backside of the booth, there was but a single table and a bench for people to ensconce oneself. Natheless, they were rarely used as most people just took a packet of bread and made themselves scarce.

"What? There"s nothing but bread?" Lirzod frowned, staring at the vendor who stood on the other side of the counter, arms limply hanging at his sides. "There"s at least jam, right?"

"Bread with jam is given from 15th deck," The slender and simple looking Hollow said, speaking only when spoken to, and he glanced at the tattoo on Lirzod"s outer palm, which was the symbol "ten." In a flat tone — the way he would speak to most new customers — he continued, "Sweet buns or sandwiches, or for any sweet stuff, you must reach that deck. All you get here is plain bread. One packet a day for free."

Lirzod let out a bark of laughter. "What?" But after discerning the blank stares of the Hollow, his laughter vanished like a whirlwind. His eyebrows lifted, "Are you serious?"

"I always am," the Hollow raised his voice a bit. "I have a party to cope with. So, I don"t wanna waste my energy chewing over random rubbish. Either take the bread or walk away."

Lirzod turned away touching his throat. (Can"t eat proper food until I reach the 15th deck? These shoddy rules are giving me slapsticks one after another, but these are anything but funny.) He turned back and cleared his throat, before stretching his hand forward.

The Hollow handed him a packet containing twenty slices of brown bread.

Looking down at the food, he bit his cheeks. "What about spicy stuff?" he couldn"t help but ask.

"I don"t sell it."

Shrugging his shoulders, Lirzod walked past the tent and occupied the s.p.a.cious bench. Though it appeared ancient, it didn"t creak or shake to his weight. He unfastened one end of the packet and got his hands on a piece, before placing the remaining packet on the varnished wooden table in front of him. The table contrasted the bench in its appearance.

His focus was not on his surroundings but on the brown bread, which didn"t feel soft upon touch. It didn"t have any discoloration which may occur because of the acc.u.mulation of fungi. Wondering for how long that packet had been stored in the booth, he dared to sniff it once. Only after his nose confirmed the smell to be up to snuff, did his tongue roll out for a touch and teeth dug in to rip a slice out of it. A couple of bites later, his expressions gradually worsened, and he put the piece aside with all the speed his hands could move. "Ugh, this is trash. I shouldn"t have tried the top slice." He picked up another slice which wasn"t as rough and roasted as the last one. After tasting it in a tentative manner, he nodded many a time. "Hmm, not bad for a free good. This thing"s tastier than Johr."

At the moment, two bulky men were advancing towards the booth. After catching sight of them, the Hollow"s heart raced and stomach rock-hardened. (T-They are... The Darling Twins! Why the h.e.l.l are they coming in this direction?) His arms began to shake uncontrollably, forcing him to hide them in his pockets.

Elder Darling, the one with the 251 tag on his arm, said, "We"ve faced 499 rejections till now. Is it worth trying for beautiful women? They are casting aside our love without consideration."

"These beautiful women are merciless — they tear the love letters and souls of their makers alike," Younger Darling uttered a rushed speech, adding an impatient snort in between. "Hmph, that"s why I have been telling you, we should go for the uglier women if we want to get married and have many children."

"Why are you bringing up children now when we can"t even get married?" Elder Darling softly shook his head, pursing his lips.

"Because women who care more about their appearance don"t want to have more children," Younger Darling"s hands made jerky movements as he replied in a sharp tone.

"... Yeah, you might be right this time. Our aunt was like that," Elder Darling said and sighed. "Guess we"ll have to change our priorities then. No more compulsion to propose to beautiful ladies."

"Hha, yes, finally!" They both chest b.u.mped each other — the sound of which reached all the way to the tent. "At the end of the day, every egg"s worth the same, won"t you agree?"

"Of course, I do."

Laughing nonchalantly, they reached the booth who"s owner leaked out a forced smile, tried his best to constrain his shaking limbs. "What do you two want, Sir Diggers?"

"What"s the best thing you got?" Acting hyper, Younger Darling darted a serious glance at the owner and spoke in a rough voice, lot hoa.r.s.er than when he just chatted with his brother.

"I happened to import a case full of eggs," The owner hurriedly said, his heart far from beating at a normal rate. "I can make bread omelet... w-with added jam and cheese of course."

"Hmm, turn them into sandwiches and bring them quickly," The brothers were about to move.

"H-How many, sirs?" The owner didn"t want to ask, but his tongue slipped. "I"m extremely sorry. I will keep making them until you order me to stop."

"Hmph, they better be tasting good, or else you know what will happen." Saying that the two of them sauntered to the side.

The owner breathed a sigh of relief but then had to control the anger building up in his stomach. (How can bread omelets be turned into sandwiches? These pigs will even eat s.h.i.t if it"s coated in cream.) While continuing to swear more and more in silence, he began to prepare the ordered goods. (At this rate, if I get stuck here, what about the party?) He shook his head. (I gotta hurry.) Though his hands visibly sped up in their motion, after he placed the bread slices on the heating twenty-inch black rock, all he could do was wait for them to roast. AHH! He tightly grabbed his hair and almost pulled his scalp out in aggravation.

In that time, the two brothers reached to the spot where the only bench there was.

Lirzod at the time was daydreaming about the days when Primera stuffed his stomach with Johr as a punishment for things he did. Whenever Primera didn"t spend enough time with him in a week, he purposely angered her so that she would punish him and at least be with him for some more time. Though he liked her punishments, he never liked Johr. After tasting a bread which was comparable in looks yet a cut above in taste, he couldn"t help but remember some things of the past. (If Johr tasted like this, Primera would have always been with me.) His chin poked forward and face reddened a bit.

A sudden jerk shoved him to the side and brought him back to his senses. When he turned his head in puzzlement, he saw a boulder bulldozing its way to plant itself next to him. Only a second later, did he realize that it wasn"t a boulder but in sooth a human. His eyes never beheld someone so round not in just body but face as well. A slight activity of his b.u.t.tocks made the bench creak and crack like a decrepit dog"s spine would if it tried to swim a centimeter in the summer.

Before Lirzod"s mouth even opened for utterance, another hefty nudge ran against him from the opposite direction. "Ngh! What the —" Upon turning around with marked effort, his eyes descried another kindred figure who looked almost the same as the other abnormity. It was hard to distinguish one from the other.

Their sheer size alone could frighten the wolves and tip off the bears. Lirzod"s heart was thrown into a panic at the possibility of suffocating to death in between two mammoth physiques. Yet, he took a deep breath and brought his heart rate down. He acted like he didn"t mind them and put his hand forward but it didn"t touch anything. When he looked at the tabletop, it was without contents, except for the few flies that chumbled on bits and pieces. At that time, chewing sounds came from either side, making him freeze. As the flies exerted more and more energy, he caught glimpses of each of the brothers stuffing five slices of bread at a time into their capacious mouths as if they were snacking on them to satisfy their pit-like stomachs, even if by a little.

Lirzod narrowed his eyes and stared at them, one by one, but they totally were into stuffing their mouths and paid no attention to him whatsoever. Lirzod blew a breath of air, shrinking his shoulders in.

PUYYKK~!

A revolting pulsation akin to a calamitous thrumming rang in Lirzod"s ears, working over his eardrums from the right, whose source was the b.u.t.t of the miscreation seated next to him. Pressing his lips against each other, Lirzod turned his head to the right with a heavy heart, when Younger Darling grinned unbecomingly while his mouth still ran like an autonomous machine.

Lirzod turned back, having not taken a breath in the past half-minute, and sat stiffer than before.

PUYYKK~!

Another a.n.a.logous reverberation — only twice as long and loud — echoed around and vibrated the bench which further brought the table into a resonance.

Lirzod"s nostrils flared but he showed no discomfort on his face not until he turned to his left, only to receive a similar fleer and further shoving from Elder Darling, all of which quivered Lirzod"s lower lip as one of his hands shut his nose with his index and thumb. The creaks birthed cracks on the bench.

At that moment, the owner of the booth brought four sandwiches, startling Lirzod. "Here are your bread omelets, I mean, sandwiches." He placed them on the table, and they did appear like sandwiches with the only difference being the addition of a few tomato slices to a bread omelet. Lirzod"s eyes widened at the sight of the sandwiches. Before he gathered his thoughts and moved his arm, the two brothers s.n.a.t.c.hed two each into their hands at blistering speeds like cranes would catch fishes, and they waste no time in eating, for they simultaneously exchanged bites with the food in each of their hands. While eating, both of them who had already occupied most of the bench"s area further squeezed Lirzod from either side.

Lirzod struggled for a few seconds before he forced his way out of their oppressing waists. Towering more than eight feet, they dwarfed Lirzod even while sitting. In a matter of seconds, the sandwiches vanished from sight.

"Hey, go and help the owner!" Elder Darling said in a hoa.r.s.e voice, giving a darting gaze to Lirzod.

Lirzod stood like a rock, exposing to view a pained stare and an elevated body temperature.

"What"s wrong? Can"t you hear us?" Elder Darling repeated himself. "Move!"

A second later, Lirzod"s feet birthed into motion.

At that moment, Younger Darling sniffed twice and tilted his head downward, his gaze stopping at Lirzod"s pants. He grabbed Lirzod"s pockets. "Hiding valuables in there, are we? Why don"t you share them with us?"

"No. I need them." Lirzod tried to move away but instead got pulled in.

"Now, don"t be like that. On this ship, it"s common for the hungry to feed on others," Younger Darling pulled out nuts out of Lirzod"s pockets and was elated. "Oh, what do we have here?" he barked out a reckless chuckle, "As my nose notified, these are cashews."

As Younger Darling was about to throw dozens of them at a time into his darning mouth, Elder Darling brought his hand in between. Younger Darling glanced at him and said, "I only swept one of his pockets."

After realizing the meaning behind the words, Elder Darling chuckled, "hehe," He looked ahead. "Hmm?" His eyes caught the sight of Lirzod having already reached the tent. "Fine. Let him come back and then I"ll get my share as well," Elder Darling told to himself.

The front end of the tent wasn"t in view from where the bench was as it"s located on its back. Lirzod looked at the owner who was busy in making sandwiches. "You said you only sell bread."

"Yeah, that"s what a tenth-decker is eligible to buy," the owner replied without even looking. "Didn"t you read it in the guidebook?"

"Oh... You mean that pocketbook?"

The owner nodded while he flipped the bread slices.

"Why so many rules even regarding food?" Lirzod scratched his head.

"Isn"t it obvious?" the owner, only now glanced at Lirzod and leaked out a hurried smile. "Rules align people."

"I know that, but..." As he was saying, the owner lifted his arm and exposed his palm, while arranging sandwiches in the plastic plates.

"Enough talking and take these to them," He handed the four plates to Lirzod.

Muttering something under his own breath, Lirzod stood still for a moment.

"What? Didn"t you hear me?" The owner frowned and finger-tapped the tabletop. "They"ll beat you if you don"t hurry up."

"They have already taken my food without my permission," Lirzod said, later pressing lips flat.

"They always do," the owner said, slipping in his own smile, "just go."

"... Yeah. I am." Lirzod turned back and scuttled away, picking up his pace in a swift manner.

"Hmm?" The owner puzzled for a moment. "Why are you running in the opposite direction?" There was no response to his shout. His eyes then enlarged bit by bit. Straight away, he wanted to come out and chase after Lirzod, but Lirzod had already made enough distance that catching him wouldn"t be an easy affair, and even if he did, the owner was afraid of getting punished by the Darling Twins for not supplying food at the desired pace.

"Oy, cashew boy! What"s taking you so long?" A booming voice came from behind the tent, making chills crawl across the owner"s spine and he sweated profusely. But he strengthened his heart with a deep breath and came running to the brothers.

"Hmm? Why are you here?" Elder Darling looked behind the owner, but no other guy was present. "You shifted places with him huh... Just send him here once."

"T-That... I..." Having nerves stretched to the max, the owner couldn"t speak out his mind.

"Brother, he didn"t bring any sandwiches with him," Younger Darling"s stare glued to the empty hands of the owner. "Something"s not right. Did you mess up with your cooking? Even if you over-roasted them, it"s fine. Just bring "em here."

"N-No, Sir Digger," The owner gulped the empty air and spoke, "T-T-That boy with the scar… He…"

"Yeah, he"s making the sandwiches. So what?"

"He, he ran away with your sandwiches!"

"What?" Younger Darling got up from the bench at once, his eyes instantly beaming spleen. "That little s.h.i.t dared to take our bites?"

"Include my cashews in them as well," Elder Darling stood as well, leaving the bench behind in multiple major cracks. From within their jacket pockets, they took out eggs and bounced them in each other"s hands. He looked down at the owner. "You go make sandwiches with the rest of the eggs, while we go and boil that raw egg a bit."

"Y-Yes sirs," Staring down at his own hands, the owner had a saggy posture. (Whew… I"m safe. It would have been miserable if I were beaten on this day of all days.)

The brothers strode away, thumping the wooden floor with every stride. They entered the corridors and discerned the trails left by Lirzod either by sniffing or by grilling the pa.s.sersby. The flies also tenuously helped their cause. Jam and cheese were rare delicacies on the tenth deck. No wonder the flies were desperate in their attempts to trail Lirzod.

Meanwhile, Lirzod just made a short work of one sandwich and drifted in daydreams, reminiscing the times when he stole sandwiches together with Duera when they were kids. All the memories filled his heart with warmth. He looked at the second sandwich in a doze, as he traveled through the maze-like corridors. After finishing the second one as well, he felt content. His focus shifted from food onto something else and his eyes glistered with a fevered stare. "Those two, they better be sleeping right now. Just wait, your papa is coming to put you two in your place," Lirzod said in a steady low-pitched voice as he took fast-paced strides. "Papa"s heart is urging for a dance show."

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[1] Kowa: A pill that provides immunity to multiple diseases. It"s typically given to every child in the first week of their birth.

[2] Bread Booth: A temporary structure built to sell bread for people who belonged to the lower decks. In the outside world, these are established at different places just for the lower cla.s.s people.