Shambala Sect

"He"s gone for a bath," the narrow-chinned man replied in a somewhat disappointed tone. "You can go and fetch some bread if you want."

"No, no, I didn"t come here for bread, but... wait, I can have bread even though the booth owner is absent?"

"Mm," he blinked slowly. "No one keeps track of how much bread is sold every day because it"s free."

"Oh, I didn"t know that," Sariyu"s heart gladdened a little. "This makes things easy."

"Indeed," the narrow-chinned man nodded, "I"ve been on this ship for well over a year, but I have never heard of someone dying from starvation."

"Mm, bread is cheap, but giving it for free on a large scale is still a costly affair, and by doing that, the chances are they are not only filling many stomachs but also healing some hearts." She tapped a foot to an easy beat, "I don"t really like bread, but I guess I should appreciate what the management is doing here," As she was saying, her eyes just noticed the dead animal. "Hey, that fox…"

"Ah, this rascal, a good kill, isn"t it?" the narrow-chinned man"s expression brightened a bit. "It"s been months since I last tasted a fox. I can"t wait to treat my belly once more."

"Y-You killed it?" Sariyu hesitantly asked, pressing her hand against her breast.

"No, I wish I did, but I don"t have sly-boots like Viktor."

"Then..." she felt a quiver in the stomach, "why is it with you?"

"I"m just guarding it here in return for a chunk," the narrow-chinned man plainly said, "but if you want to taste it, you have to ask him though."

"Ew, no. Can foxes even be eaten?" Sariyu had shivers spread throughout her body and curled her toes up.

"Of course," the narrow-chinned man said and laughed. "Their hearts are delicious. Oh, come to think of it, there"s something special and strange I can show you, only if you are interested."

"It"s nothing eerie, or is it?"

"It depends on how one sees it," the man put his hand into the fox"s body, startling Sariyu, making her look away. He pulled out something, "Have a look."

Sariyu cast a glance from the corners of her eyes and cringed away. "I-Is that…"

"Magnificent, isn"t it?" the narrow-chinned man brought his hand closer, and in his palm was a beating heart covered in hot blood.

"I-Is it truly the fox"s heart?"

"Indeed."

"Then why is it still beating?" she had a bewildered look on her face, "Do you mean the fox isn"t dead?" she couldn"t believe what she was seeing. Though she wanted to touch the heart, the fresh blood on it made her shy away.

"It probably is dead," the narrow-chinned man said while still seated on the bench, "but it"s my first time seeing a heart in action even outside the body. Want to hold it?"

"No!" Sariyu took a step back and clutched her face in confusion. "H-How is this possible?"

"I have no idea," the narrow-chinned man bent down, put the heart back in the fox"s body and rubbed the blood off his hand to the fur.

"Maybe," Sariyu"s mouth began to dry up, "if we take it to some healer, the fox may still be saved."

"I don"t think any healer would go through a troublesome procedure to save a fox," the narrow-chinned man said, "especially when there"s no guarantee." His expression grew solemn, and a deep stillness settled over the surroundings. "Forget about the outside world, miss, it"s not easy to get our wounds treated on this ship either. Most healers and even priests here demand unreasonable prices to heal minor wounds. I"ve met dozens of healers, and some even asked for ten silver to lightly heal my leg. There"s no way I can earn such an amount with just one working leg. I tried my luck in betting only to realize that luck has long left me..." he sighed and looked at her with a wavering smile tugging his lips. "If a human like me is unable to get treated for a fair price, do you think anyone would show fairness to a fox?"

"You…" Only now Sariyu realized that he was using a walking stick, and it briefly froze her, "did you help Viktor hunt the fox?"

"I can"t even help myself. How can I help others with a broken leg?" the narrow-chinned man smiled helplessly before his look and voice turned severe. "Are you trying to play a joke on me?"

"I think, yes."

"What?"

Sariyu paused a moment and then put her hand forward. "Consider this an apology," she dropped ten silver coins in his hand.

The moment the narrow-chinned man"s gaze fell on the coins, he was too stunned to utter a word and looked at her with eyes that spoke for themselves through the wetness. "Why?"

Sariyu slightly smiled. "When that Viktor comes back, tell him that he missed a hearty help for butchering what could have turned into a furry friend." Saying that she turned away and walked.

The narrow-chinned man was left in puzzlement for a moment. "Wait, I"ve never asked your name," he queried; however, he didn"t get a reply or even a look back. "Whoever you are, miss, a big thanks to you!" the man cheerfully said and counted the coins. "With this, I can finally hope to walk freely again!" As he was saying, he saw a red-haired man across the street and was surprised. "That guy…" Upon seeing the silver band on that man"s bicep, his eyes enlarged. "He"s from the silver-cla.s.s suites. He should be on the twentieth deck. What"s he doing here?"

Everything that sparkled on the red-haired man was either silk or silver. His eyes had been locked on Sariyu for the past few seconds. "Mm," he licked his lips. "A pretty face with natural curves and a cla.s.sic bone structure—just like a princess out of a fairytale. We"ve got the same hair as well. A rare find, hehe." Feeling thrilled, he whistled, causing Sariyu to look back. Many other nearby men also looked at him. "Hold on, you red-haired one!" he immediately walked toward her and kept scrutinizing her all over with a subtle yet weird smile on his face.

"What do you want?" Sariyu"s brows furrowed, not pleased with the face he made.

"Hehe, I"ve met much meatier ones, but none brought me into the mood as you did with your looks alone," he took out seven silver coins out of his pocket. "This is just a slice of the cake. After we spend some quality time in my room, you can have the whole cake. Your moans shall be music to my ears, and with every wonderful posture you perform, I"ll shower extra silver on you." He spoke with ease as if he had a habit of speaking similar things. "Your service is required only till sunrise, and you"ll have become rich by then." He raised his hand, "What do you say, dear—"

Sariyu swiveled on her foot like a whirlwind and heeled into his jaw in a boom, careening him to the wooden wall. The seven silver coins flew out of his hand, fell and rolled on the floor whereas the man coughed out a couple of teeth and some blood. Many men, who were standing nearby, had their eyes on the silver coins, but they didn"t make a move, not wanting to make an enemy out of both the red-haired man and the girl. Sariyu eyed him with a disgusted look. "Have some manners when talking to strangers, yeah? If you want to shower silver so badly, go find someone desperate." She snapped her braid to her back, "Hmph, even then, don"t a.s.sume no one"s gonna kick you in the face."

"You b.i.t.c.h!" the red-haired man collected his two teeth, stood with effort and hurried away while roaring his lungs out. "Wait here, you just wait here, b.i.t.c.h! If you dare, then wait here! When I come back, I"ll cut your leg and feed it to my dogs, and then I"ll cripple you for good!"

A shade of darkness swept over Sariyu"s eyes. "Cripple who?" she clenched her fists and dashed ahead, sending chills down the red-haired man"s spine.

"Stop her! Someone stop her," he shouted desperately, "whoever stops her gets a silver each!"

More than twenty men were in the surroundings, but eight of them moved and attacked Sariyu from all directions. The narrow-chinned man who was watching that felt bad because he couldn"t help her given his condition; however, to his surprise, the red-haired girl stormed at the incoming men, thundered her foot into a man"s chest and bounced off his chest, stomped on another man"s head and broke his neck, landed on another"s punching arm and footed in his face, rolled back in midair and countered the another man"s kick and defeated him to the ground using her momentum.

The other four men stopped in their tracks and hesitated to charge at her.

"What"s wrong?" Sariyu coldly gazed at them. "I thought you all wanted silver even if it took ganging up on a girl." As one of the men stepped back, she tightened her fists. "If you try to run away, I"ll make you all pay dearly." Her words forced them to stand even though they were thinking to flee in different directions. "But you four didn"t attack me blindly like the other four, so I will give you all a chance."

Her words sprouted hope in the hearts of the four men. "What is it, ma"am? We"ll do anything if you are willing to let us go."

"The mission is simple," Sariyu said, looking at the red-haired man, "Break that b.a.s.t.a.r.d"s leg, and we can all leave peacefully." Though she said that, it didn"t seem like they were willing to risk such a thing, so she continued, "One more thing. I don"t mind if you take all the silver he has during the mission."

Hearing that, the four men turned their heads toward the red-haired man who had a horrified look.

."I-If anyone touches me," the red-haired man blurted out, "I"ll have them crippled!"

The four men were left conflicted. Whose words should they listen? Under pressure, one of them literally wet his pants.

"Ew, leave," Sariyu waved his left telling him to leave and glanced at the other three men who had similar expressions. "Tch," she gestured them to leave, too.

Without a wait, the four men made a quick escape.

The red-haired man, meanwhile, was also fleeing as fast as his legs let him.

Sariyu hurtled like greased lightning, caught up with him in no time. He recklessly swung his fist at her, but she ducked down and kicked him in the shin-bone. The cracking sounds of the bone sang for a moment, and his shrieking followed it.

"Please, ah, please forgive me," he begged her while writhing on the ground like a lizard that lost its tail.

"I didn"t break it beyond repair. Be thankful." She grabbed his collar, "but if I ever see you looking to shower silver on women, I"ll shower all your remaining teeth on your grave."

"I won"t! I won"t!"

Sariyu took a deep breath and eased her temper. "I think you need a walking stick for a while," she bent and stretched her hand out.

"W-What?" the red-haired man was in shock, not knowing what she was doing, but when she grabbed his hand and pulled him up and back to his feet, his shock only deepened, for he expected a kick to his other leg, too; however, Sariyu patted on his shoulder twice to get the dirt off and then walked away, leaving him in utter puzzlement.

Sariyu looked at the four men who were still lying on the ground. "Do you guys need help getting up as well?"

"No, no," they disregarded their wounds and hastily got up and made her way.

The red-haired man, though his leg was hurting like h.e.l.l, hurried off in the opposite direction.

The narrow-chinned man made his way to Sariyu with a complicated expression on his face as the incident had reminded him of the time someone broke his leg during a quarrel; however, he covered it all behind a smile. "You were magnificent with those flowery movements you used to take out four men at once, miss!" Though he said that, he didn"t get any response. "Uh, but maybe you should have just refused his advances with a mouth instead of a boot."

"What?" Sariyu cast a hard glance at him. "He treated me as if I"m a woman of the streets, and you want me to just mouth him off in return?"

"Uh, that"s not what I meant," he leaked out a careful smile. "On some decks, you come across dorks like him all the time. It"s just that this guy is rich, and he"s from the twentieth deck. As far as I know, it"s a sea of traders up there. Who knows what sort of connections he has?"

"I don"t care who he is," she folded her arms and looked away while moving onward, "but he deserved that beating."

"W-Well, what"s done is done," he sighed. "At least, you should avoid falling in his eyes again. I know it sounds as if I"m telling a swan to be mindful of a frog, but some frogs are more than what meets the eye. As the saying goes, it takes a cautious swan to conquer a pond[1]."

Sariyu stayed silent as she stopped and looked at the seven silver coins.

"Those seven silver…" the narrow-chinned man slowly said, hiding all the expectation under his skin, "can I have them as well, miss?"

"Silver shouldn"t be left on the streets, yeah?"

"You are absolutely right, miss."

"Ahem," Sariyu paused a moment before picking up the coins and calmly continued to walk.

"Uh…" the narrow-chinned man embarra.s.singly scratched his chin and just walked off in a different direction.

At the same time, elsewhere on the twelfth deck.

Burton was strolling in a dirty street with cautiousness, for he didn"t want to step on concealed cat c.r.a.ps. Men of different fields dotted the street; some of whom could be seen playing cards whereas some others were hanging their clothes. Some were praying for mercy whereas a few stood guard.

A cat came sprinting into the street, and upon noticing the cat, most of them freaked out like rats that lost their minds.

"It"s Lord Bruiser!"

"s.h.i.t! Looking at his speed, he"s surely not gonna leave the street without branding us with bruises!"

Everyone took to their heels and endeavored to run back to their rooms, but still, some unlucky fellows faced Bruiser"s pa.s.sion, for his claws punctuated their skin with much-hated scars of varying redness. Some threw towels and clothes at him, but he tore his way through all obstacles and cut men"s faces, showing no hint of backing down.

Though Bruiser was coming in his direction, Burton stood still, and Bruiser went right past him and attacked others who were nearby and in motion.

"That cat… Isn"t it the one that fool chose? What"s it doing here?" Burton just watched the poker cards fly into the air as Bruiser brought a man down to the ground. As time pa.s.sed, Bruiser made more and more distance from Burton while still exercising his claws and eventually rounded a corner.

"I wonder who won," Burton mused to himself as he resumed his walk, not minding the wounded men lying on either side of the street. "It"s probably the cat."

.......

[1] It takes a cautious swan to conquer a pond: A saying originated somewhere in the eastern part of the world, modeled after the rulers of those times.