Mizuki woke up. Someone was urgently nudging her shoulder. She opened her sleep-blurred eyes and clicked her tongue in displeasure. Instinctively, she searched around for her luggage and gradually came to.
Of course, it was nowhere to be found.
She sat up so abruptly that the boy who had woken her jumped back in fright. She fixed him with a venomous gaze and hissed like a native snake.
"Listen, brat, you better give me my things, or you'll regret it!"
The boy cringed, and Mizuki experienced a sudden sense of déjà vu so strong that her eyes widened in surprise.
"M-my luggage is outside, ma'am," he stammered, and then he vanished from her sight.
She pushed herself up on her hands, opening her mouth as if to say something, yet remaining silent. She glanced around and calmed down as she saw the familiar interior of the cheap transport wagon she'd been riding in from Randerwound for the past few long days. The wagon was dark and stuffy, the only light coming through the cracks between the wooden planks. She instinctively reached for the waistband of her trousers and, to her utter relief, felt a bulge beneath her shirt, signaling that her purse hadn't been stolen. If what the henchman had said was true, then she was truly blessed.
She jumped down from the wagon onto the dry gravel and shielded her eyes from the glaring sun, high in the sky. Summer continued unabated, scorching and scalding with each passing day. Mizuki felt a stinging sensation on her cheeks as soon as her skin came into contact with the rays. She'd been sitting in the sun for far too long.
She looked around for the boy, but couldn't see him anywhere. Instead, she saw a far more important sight, one that restored her spirits and inspired her to continue her journey. Like a deer, she leaped for her backpack, which lay beneath a pile of other luggage, but before she could grab it, someone gripped her wrist.
"Hey, girl! We're here for a checkup! You can't bring any riffraff for export, this, to Anflux."
The broad-shouldered man with a few days' stubble released her wrist and straightened to his six-foot-six frame. He gave her an irritated look and returned to his quiet conversation with his companion, a fellow as tall as himself with impossibly large paws.
Mizuki frowned, but relented. With lazy resignation, she made her way to where the other travelers were gathered and stood to the side, not even trying to eavesdrop. She rocked back and forth on her heels, then tiptoe, staring blankly at the red gravel of the road. She was tired, a slight lumbago had set in, aching with almost every movement. Her hair was a complete mess, and she'd lost her glasses somewhere along the way between Owl Pond and Deucen Lake. This event was deeply disturbing, as her eyes had already begun to ache and sting, becoming a general nuisance. She blinked, frantically trying to think of a way to earn enough money to buy new ones. Nothing but completely inappropriate methods came to mind.
Three women, seven children, and a young boy suddenly burst into indignation and moved toward the two thugs. Mizuki looked up and saw the two men tearing apart the luggage lying on the road. Two drivers stood nearby, shrugging at two other uniformed men with swords rummaging through the wagon. One of the women, a stout woman with a square face and a neck invisible beneath her fat, began to argue heatedly as starched white sheets fell to the red earth.
"Sir, do you know how long I've wasted on this? No! And you're here with your filthy hands on my sheets!"
Two younger and infinitely prettier ones joined in when not only the children's clothes but also their most beautiful formal outfits landed on the dusty gravel. Mizuki, witnessing the scene, began to fear for her own belongings. With considerable difficulty, she squeezed through the group of children who had surrounded their mothers and pushed her way up to the one who had previously prevented her from grabbing her own backpack. Meanwhile, it was time for the children's bundles, from which all sorts of wonders fell out. From wooden blocks, horses, and soldiers to rag dolls and animals. Suddenly, something lit up, reflecting the sunlight. Mizuki, horrified, saw a pair of wire frames spill out along with the rest of the mess and fall haphazardly to the ground. With a squeal, she lunged forward and snatched the glasses in a split second, glaring at the man with the large hands and daring him to interrupt her. He didn't.
Mizuki, holding her breath, examined the glasses from every angle, and seeing that they had only a few new scratches and were otherwise impossibly dirty, she breathed a sigh of relief. She glanced around at the group of children surrounding her, frowning as one of them blushed and shifted from one foot to the other. His mother pulled him up to her skirt and glared at the girl reproachfully. Mizuki chose to ignore this.
Any hope of avoiding her backpack vanished the moment the first man opened it and turned it upside down. She stopped dead in her tracks, watching the scrolls of papyrus, the case with the inkwell, and the eagle quill with the sharpening kit Five had given her for her birthday, fall to the gravel. Her mouth dropped open in silent protest as her favorite book fell to the ground, Cornelia Strauss's "Luminous Beliefs," a worn-at-the-edges leather-bound volume with silver, engraved runes that she'd spent over six months saving for. She groaned softly at the sight of her only dress lying in the tangle of black and red, crumpled and soiled. When the guard had tipped everything out, she leaped forward without a second thought and gathered everything up almost reverently.
"Okay, sir," the guard said to the elderly driver, nodding to his colleague as he jumped from the wagon. "Please drive slowly and don't hit any pedestrians. "
A moment later, the city of Anflux opened its doors to them.
VIII
Gabriel looked up from "The Unmagical Land" and cast a resigned glance at the frowning Apricot. The girl sat across from him, her gaze fixed on the fishermen bustling about in the harbor, returning from their catch on Lake Deucen. The stench of fish was so intense that Gabriel was forced to breathe through his mouth, which still didn't neutralize the stench. Apricot sat impassively.
The girl crossed her legs and arms, pursing her lips in silent protest and frowning. Gabriel sighed in disgust.
"Apricot."
She remained silent, making herself look haughty.
"Apricot, come on. You know I won't let you! I can't let you!"
At his words, she turned abruptly.
"What can you forbid me, right? If I want to, I'll do it.
" "Then why aren't you?" she asked in disbelief.
"Because I love you, you idiot!" she snapped, spitting in disgust on the sand. "I can't leave you, or you'll blame yourself. So I'll do what I want, another way.
" "How do you plan to take this revenge of yours with me by your side?" he inquired, outwardly unmoved, but smiling inside.
"I'll convince you, of course!"
"And if you don't succeed?
" "I will."
He shook his head.
"You're overconfident," he said, returning to his book and escaping her murderous gaze.
Several long moments passed, and Gabriel immersed himself in his reading. He lost touch with reality to the point he almost gave up when he heard Apricot's surprised voice.
"That's a story," she called, looking over his shoulder. "It's that girl from the bookstore."
Gabriel turned abruptly, feeling a strange pang in his stomach. It took him a few seconds to locate her, but finally he saw her a dozen or so meters away, amidst the crowd, getting out of a traveling wagon. She looked tired, and her small frame sagged slightly under the weight of her backpack. Gabriel frowned slightly as she glanced around, smoothing her ruffled hair.
He nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw her turn toward him and notice him. When she disappeared without a trace among the other travelers, he felt a strong sense of disappointment that she hadn't given any sign of recognition.
“Why would she remember me?” he asked himself, then shook his head to clear the thoughts, packed the book into his bag, and nodded at Apricot. “
Let’s go, if we want to eat before all the thugs gather at the diner.”
They both got up and headed deeper into the city.
IX
The tavern where she was staying was kept relatively clean and tidy. The crowd there was remarkably normal, showing no signs of nefarious behavior and not at all bloodthirsty. Mizuki took this as a good omen, so she allowed herself to leave her room and go downstairs for a snack.
The food was quite tasty and inexpensive, making up for the fact that it consisted mainly of fish and other aquatic fruits, which Mizuki wasn't particularly fond of. Exhausted from the long and uncomfortable journey, she didn't linger long amid the tavern's bustle and quickly decided to return to her room, where she planned to fall into a deep sleep as quickly as possible.
After finishing the last of her wine, she rose from the table, paid, and headed straight for the stairs that led to the sleeping quarters. She managed to reach the second floor without any problems, then a corridor lined with numbered doors, where she encountered a familiar face.
A tall Vihari was just locking one of the rooms when he saw her, seeming terribly surprised by her sudden appearance.
She lowered her gaze and was about to go inside without further ado, when the Vihari spoke.
"I didn't expect to see you here."
She looked up and smiled politely.
"I didn't expect to be here either. And I didn't expect to see you again either.
" "But why? I thought it was obvious I'd visit your bookstore again.
" "It's not my bookstore," she sighed. "Besides, I don't work there anymore.
" "Why?" he asked, frowning.
"I'd rather not talk about it."
He looked genuinely embarrassed.
"I'm sorry, it's none of my business. How long do you intend to stay in Anflux?
" "Soon... I'm leaving the day after tomorrow.
" "And where, if I may ask?
" "And you? Are you staying in Anflux or leaving?
" "I'm leaving. Home."
She frowned.
"Me too, home. Actually.
" "To Shibai?
" "Yes."
There was a moment of silence, during which the Vihari looked at her in a way that made her feel uncomfortable.
"I'll be going now," she said. "The journey from Randerwound was very long and tiring.
Goodnight, ma'am."
He turned on his heel and headed for the stairs. She watched him for a brief moment, until something suddenly compelled her to call out to him.
"Mr. Berry?"
The Vihari looked at her questioningly.
"Yes? Oh, and my name is Gabriel.
" "Mizuki Ashiya," she introduced herself. "Mr. Gabriel, I wanted to... offer you my condolences about... your sister..."
A pair of fleeing warriors flashed before her eyes, but she quickly managed to suppress the memory and focus on her interlocutor. His face was frozen.
"Thank you," he said finally, then bowed and hurried down the stairs.
Mizuki quickly went to her room and went to bed, but she couldn't sleep for a long time that night.
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