Act 2: Seaside Blue Port
Chapter 8: Girl, Admonishes
SEASIDE Blue Port: a key transportation city connecting the protruding peninsula to the opposite shore. Oswald gazed down at the city built in a semicircle from the top of the hillock and exhaled a heavy sigh.
“You know, that city there has a good brothel,” he brought up.
Nichika swiftly shot down his casual remark with a confident smile. “We have no business there. I won the gamble, so I’ll follow you wherever you go—whether you like it or not.” She blissfully descended the hillock, humming a catchy tune.
Indeed, Nichika had remarkably drawn the ace of spades during their gamble. She couldn’t help but crack up laughing every time she remembered the sore expression on his face.
Oswald screwed his face up like a child who had been made to eat sour candy, but he trailed behind her and spat out in resignation, “Fine, fine, damn it. I’ll be your guardian for a bit.”
He then began listing the conditions of their master-apprentice deal.
First, Oswald was to provide Nichika with some form of bodily nutrient once every day. Second, he would guarantee her safety to the bare minimum necessary for survival. In return, Nichika was to undertake any odd job she could handle as Oswald’s apprentice.
“You can count on me! I might not look the part, but I’m good at chores!”
“Argh, damn it! How did this happen? I know that card was rigg—”
“What’s that?”
“Nothing.”
Ignoring the stifled grumbling coming from behind her, Nichika cocked her head and stared down at the nearing port city. The contrast of white stucco against bright-blue rooftops was dazzling. Refreshing, salty breezes from the sea tickled at her longing for home.
It was the kind of port city found in picture books. But, contrary to Nichika’s sentimental feelings over the view, Oswald appeared to perceive something off about it.
“Strange.”
“What is?”
“Why isn’t there a single ferry flying?”
“Flying?”
Nichika thought she had misheard him, but immediately thought twice about it. After all, why would it be strange for ferryboats to fly in a world where witches took to the skies on brooms?
They decided that wasn’t enough of a reason to avoid checking out the city and continued their steep descent toward the city.
✦ ✦ ✦
NICHIKA gasped when she finally set foot inside Seaside Blue and was confronted with its abnormal atmosphere up close. Tension hung over the entire city like a thick cloud, and the residents looked haggard.
“I’ve got a real bad feeling about this place…” Nichika mumbled, scanning the faces of the fatigued shoppers and the worn-down shopkeepers.
“It is strange. This city is usually full of energy.”
“Nichika! Look! Look! I found them selling this!” a perky voice announced behind her. Something jumped on her back, knocking her off balance.
“Whoa!”
Nichika moved her right foot forward to catch herself. When she looked over her shoulder, she found a boy with unruly brown hair and a friendly grin clinging to her back. He looked around the size of a third or fourth grader and wore a large cap low over his twinkling golden eyes. He attentively gazed right at her like an obedient dog. The pointy canine tooth poking out the side of his smile was adorable too. But obviously, she didn’t recognize him.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Wh-Who are you?”
“Eh? It’s me.”
It couldn’t be, but she had no better guess, so she uttered the name of the companion who’d been gone for some time, “…Wolfie?”
“That’s right!”
How can that be? How could my four-footed friend turn human in an instant?
Oswald broke through her confusion to curtly explain, “I can’t have him walking around the city in his wolf form.”
He’s got that right, Nichika was thinking, when the high-spirited Wolfie reached forward and hugged her with so much force that she thought his bushy tail would pop out.
“Hey! Hey! What do you think of my human form? Is it cool?”
“Agh, Wolfie, you’re heavy…”
Though he had the appearance of a child, he felt heavy on her back as he nuzzled her neck. She was trying to escape his wolf hug when Oswald turned to them.
“Oh yeah, what were you saying you found being sold?”
“Right! Take a look at this!”
The wolf boy finally hopped off her back and loudly tugged a newspaper from under his shirt. He unfurled it and held it up over his head for them to see, pointing out a tiny advertisement printed on the bottom right corner of the page.
“See this? This article here is—”
“Wait,” Oswald spoke over him, suddenly suspicious, “Where did you get the money to buy that from?”
“Money?”
From around the street corner right behind the blank-faced wolfboy, a big man in an apron angrily raced in to the shopping street. Impatiently raking his gaze from one side of the street to the other, his eyes locked with Nichika’s. His expression furiously transformed into that of a rampaging bull.
“GET BACK HERE! YOU LITTLE THIEF!” The man came charging at her with a club raised overhead.
“Eep?!” Nichika jumped backward.
She frantically turned to ask what to do, but the other two were already running down the street!
Déjà vu surging through her, she took after them while screaming, “You’re doing this AGAIN?! Is this a pattern for you guys?!”
“Wolfie, you damned mongrel! Didn’t I teach you that if you’re gonna steal, you have do it in a way you won’t get caught?!”
“Aren’t you disciplining him for the wrong thing?!”
✦ ✦ ✦
SOMEHOW, they succeeded in shaking the furious shopkeeper off their tail and escaped in to some backstreet that was devoid of activity.
Nichika was rapidly coming to regret her decision. Panting heavily and bent forward with her hands on her knees, she muttered remorsefully, “It was a mistake to follow this guy after all…” But right after the thought had left her mouth, her optimistic personality rebounded, and she clenched her fists and strengthened her resolve. “No! It should be possible to rehabilitate this man’s horrible, broken personality! That’s right! Maybe I was dropped into this world with that as my purpose!”
“What are you mumbling to yourself about?”
Nichika lifted her gaze from the ground and saw Oswald leaning against a wall, shamelessly reading the stolen newspaper. Despite his brazen attitude, she offered him her honest opinion. “Um! It’s not too late, so I think you should apologize to the shopkeeper and pay for that!”
“Is your brain smaller than a water flea? Do you want to get tossed in jail?” He flicked her head.
“Ouch!” She staggered back from the stinging pain.
Oswald narrowed his eyes on her, lowered the finger he’d flicked her with, and continued in exasperation, “You don’t seem to have any common sense, so let me fill in whatever hole you have in your head. Shoplifting is a capital crime in this city.”
“It is?!”
“What would you do if it were? Don’t offer careless advice if you don’t know anything about the area.”
“Wait, so that was a lie?!”
“At worst, we’d get a stern warning and pay a fine. But I’m not paying.”
“You really are the worst of the worst!”
Wow. Just wow. I have to give him credit for his skill in talking his way out of things. But, right as Nichika decided that she needed to change her approach with him, she realized they were missing something—the boy who was supposed to be right behind them was gone.
“Hm? Where’s Wolfie?!” She poked her head back into the main street and glanced around, but she couldn’t see his unruly brown hair anywhere. The blood drained from her face as she grew worried. “Wh-What should we do? Did he get caught?”
“Not my problem,” Oswald answered, unconcerned.
She leveled him with a sharp glare. Then, forgetting his warning from only moments ago, she voiced the first thing that came to mind, “Aren’t you worried? Aren’t you family?!”
Oswald’s eyes narrowed to slits. “That animal is my servant. Don’t get the wrong idea. I have no family.” His low growl, tight with restrained emotions, reverberated through the backstreet.
“You don’t…?”
“Let’s go. You don’t have to worry about that stupid wolf. I don’t need him if he kicks the bucket over this.”
Reluctant to say more in the face of the icy aura around him, Nichika followed him in silence.