As the dog came closer, Edgar smashed the dog with the can.
The entire hall fell silent instantly, and nobody laughed anymore.
The dog squealed and ran outside, and the rooster followed its trail.
“Stupid things,” Edgar said, but the people couldn’t tell whether he was scolding the animals or them.
“How dare you hurt my dog!” the innkeeper barked from his table.
“That’s your dog?” Edgar was startled. “Then what about the fowl?”
“That’s mine, too!” he barked.
“Oh, then teach them some manners, alright?” Edgar said. “If I had hit the dog harder, this water can would have broken, and then you’d have asked me to pay money for something your dog and fowl started.” Saying that he casually walked toward the easter corner.
Some people began to laugh. The innkeeper frowned, and though he wanted to scold him, he felt like it wasn’t the right time.
Edgar paid a bronze coin and exchanged the empty can with a new one, fully filled with water.
As he was going back to his room, the innkeeper was still watching Edgar. “Hmph! Not using room service. What stingy bread buddies.”
His voice was loud enough to reach Edgar’s ears. He glanced at the innkeeper and smiled. “My stinginess is nothing before some people’s greediness.”
“You…” the innkeeper could barely control his anger. If not for Edgar booking the room till the end of June, he would have long kicked the siblings out, but now, he could only wait. Though he didn’t have any enmity toward them, they still weren’t spending much and mainly bought bread, the cheapest item available, so the more days they stayed in his inn, the less profits he’d earn. So, it was only natural that he wished for their early departure, to the extent that he even tried irking and bothering them whenever possible. For one thing, he called them bread buddies.
Edgar waved him a goodbye as he left and further aggravated him.
When Edgar entered his room, Fabby was awake and was rubbing the crust around her eyes. He poured a glass of water and gave it to her. Afterward, he showed her the card and told her what had happened.
Her sleepy eyes lit up. “Finally! My wait has paid off!”
“Indeed. I was starting to get worried if they are going to call us or not, despite me visiting their place so many times, but, I guess, your one-time help was worth more than everything I’ve been doing these days.”
“Don’t talk like you’ve wasted your time. It’s because you frequented their place and earned some coins, we’ve managed to live rather smoothly till now. And who knows, someone might have noticed your actions and told the Zha family a word or two. So… don’t think lowly of yourself!”
Edgar started to walk away, sensing something stirring in his stomach. Moreover, he was afraid that if Fabby entered the bathroom, she wouldn’t come for at least an hour as she would brush and bathe for a ridiculously long time.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“Bathroom,” he increased his pace.
“Wait,” when she said that word, his heart pounded. “Go and bring something good to eat. I’m hungry.”
“Whew,” he breathed a sigh of relief. “You bought the sandals, right? From now on, you should go!” he quickly went into the bathroom and shut the door.
There was no bathtub inside, unlike what Edgar had believed. There was only a large can of water with no tap facility. However, VIP rooms had a bathtub and a tap facility. The first time Edgar bathed in this inn was in a VIP room. And back then, he thought his room also had a bathtub, given his sister hadn’t come out for a long time. However, he was quite wrong.
A few minutes later.
Edgar walked out of the bathroom, but she was still on the bed, wearing a sad face and rubbing her belly.
“Please, Eddie…”
“Eh?” he couldn’t believe she was still sitting on the bed. “How can you be so lazy?”
“You made me like this!” Fabby let her tongue roll. “Since we’ve escaped Shushui, you kept bringing the food for us both and didn’t let me face many beasts. Even after leaving those woods, nothing changed. You didn’t let me buy sandals because I wasted a lot of money on our clothes. And because I was wearing socks, I couldn’t go out and spoil them.”
“So many excuses!” Edgar’s eyes enlarged. “Didn’t you walk from the cloth shop to this inn while wearing those same socks?”
Fabby’s shoulders jerked. “T-That’s only a one-time thing.” She made a sad face again. “I’m hungry.”
“But I’m angry,” he turned around and ran into the washroom again.
“Eddie!” Fabby yelled. “I won’t eat anything until you bring me the food!”
A few seconds of silence passed.
Edgar opened the door and stepped out, looking like someone had rubbed salt in his face. “This is the last time, remember. From now on, you’ll bring food one day, and I’ll bring the next day. Otherwise, let’s bring each other’s food.” Saying that, he was leaving the room without even looking at her.
“Are you giving me ultimatums, now? And what do you mean by the last time?” she threw the pillow at him, but he dodged. “Maybe I should have said the same during all those times I cooked for you.” She looked for another pillow, but there were none. She jumped out of the bed.
Edgar’s heart skipped a couple of times, and he blitzed out of the room.
“Wait, you chicken!” she ran after him. “Let me hear those demands again!”
Almost every important person in Orseya was visiting the southern side of the Zha Clan’ residential complex where Red Night was being hosted. About four hundred people attended until now, and only those with the invitation card were allowed inside. As far as Orseya was concerned, this was an epic event. The full moon night made it extra special. It was drizzling a bit, but people weren’t worried because rains in summer wouldn’t stay for long. There were plenty of folks envying those who got cards because one could eat and drink as much as they wanted on that night. Whatever the outward reason stated for hosting Red Night, its main aim was to boost the Zha clan's businesses by attracting outsiders through their connections. Parties were historically used for explosive
The Four Masters of the Zha Clan, also widely known outside as Zha’s Four Dragons, were the most notable figures of the town, even more than the baronet himself. All four of them were red-haired people, for they were blood brothers and quadruplets. The youngest was Dubril Zha, the one with a long beard. The third eldest was Corio Zha with a long mustache. The second eldest was Bushin Zha with long eyebrows. The first eldest was Ashang Zha with a long beard, mustache, and eyebrows. They wore different colored clothes that represented the sects they were part of.Only when these four took the stage and gestured, everyone sat down.“We heard that there’s full attendance this time,” Ashang said, wearing a light smile on his face as he briefly glanced at the table Jorga alone was seated at. “And thank you all for sparing your valuable t
“He said he was a herbalist, wasn’t he?” Edgar’s eating pace had significantly decreased compared to a few minutes ago. “To think he was planning some crazy stuff… What do you think?” “Well, he never really talked much,” Fabby looked a bit unsure. “So what’s there to think? We can only feel glad that he didn’t pull anything nasty with us.” “Mm… you’re right.” Fabby looked toward Vino who was now writhing in pain next to the stage. Like a cockroach struggling on its back, he looked totally vulnerable, enough to raise pity in other’s hearts. (What was that beast-burdening thing they talked about? That man, Vino, was carrying a gel, and we asked him, hoping it’s good at repelling mosquitoes, but he told us that it was something he needed to eat to cure his health problem. S
Fabby was alone inside the room, looking dull. Even though it was around eleven o’clock in the morning, the humidity was high enough to make her sweat, despite the windows being open. She remembered the time when her mother once slapped her for beating her friends when they tried to bully her. And she still didn’t know the reason why exactly her mother slapped her. Compared to her mother, Raha looked insignificant all of a sudden. That woman didn’t say a word when her children were running their mouths, having a mouth-day, or maybe a mouth-night. “May be, I should’ve put my hopes on the baronet instead,” she thought. “If he didn’t mention the Zha family second…” She remembered the time when the old man from the cloth shop had mentioned the baronet’s name first and th
In the evening, Edgar and Fabby were aimlessly roaming the town, and there was cold wind blowing around. Even though the afternoon of that same day was like the hottest day they’ve ever experienced, thanks to the short but heavy rain, the atmosphere changed greatly. People of all ages came out into the streets. And they kept hearing different things. “Someone stole my duck’s eggs!” “Stop playing near the well!” “Oh, Damn it! The cow has got its head stuck in the fence again. It took me so long to get it out last time.” “Should I chop off the head then?” “That’s my water! Don’t drink it!” However, they had too many things running in mind to process everything their ears took
As night fell, the town guards dressed in black uniforms were patrolling in the streets and forced people who were sleeping outside their homes to go back in. They even went so far as to beat those who weren’t listening to them, starting with their legs. Even children weren’t spared. Some kids were especially stubborn, and they ran away from the guards, but after they got chased and beaten with sticks, they ran home, crying aloud.A group of four guards were roaming in a street, and one of them saw Edgar casually resting on top of a branch. “Hey, you!” he called out. “What are you doing up there?”The tone of the voice and that rashness dwelling in it reminded Edgar of the watchers back in Shushui, and his gaze darkened. “Mind your own business.” He didn’t even look as he responded in a cold manner.
At the crack of dawn, the poor women and children were going to bathe in the streams, and the shepherds led out cattle to graze in the fields.The jingling bells tied around the cows, buffaloes, and sheep brought Edgar out of his sleep and yawn from atop a tree branch. “Is it morning already?” he untied the rope around his waist, which was tied to the tree, so he wouldn’t fall during the sleep.The previous night, he got freaked out after entering another’s room and the lady there freaked the hell out. He ran out through the window he had entered. Afterward, he chose a tree in the backyard to sleep because the tree where he regularly practiced pull-ups was on the front-end of the inn, so there was the possibility of the guards bothering him again.Currently, the innkeeper’s wife was sin
Having worked in the fields, Edgar and Fabby knew exactly what they were getting themselves into, so they went in prepared. Wearing towels above their heads, full-sleeved shirts, and footwear, they came prepared to the job. The ragged clothes they wore gave off a strange smell because they applied perfume to it. The little perfume cost them three bronze coins. It was just too pricey, but they had no other choice, as they didn’t want to dirty their new clothes. And the perfume would last a few days, so it was worth it.As Fabby and Edgar wondered what kind of plants would grow in the heat of the late summer, they were taken to the buckwheat fields, which had mature seed crops grown in just eight weeks, waiting for them to harvest. They had never seen crops growing during such heat, so it was a mystery to them, until other workers told them that both earth and water were manipulated to fit the ne