Chapter 16: 14 : Tsuki Reaches The Village

Tsuki was grilling a fish she caught with an improvised trap she had worked on whenever she needed to rest. It was ‘Infernal box of doom: version 23’ as she called it. She wasn’t the best at naming things but finding strange names was something that brought joy to the girl.

“Sinorous, Sinorous~,” said the girl as if she was singing to the necklace dangling at her neck. “You need to take a knife and cut the little fishy’s head and soft belly. But not too deep. Look at me Sinorous… Just – like – that… Then, you put your finger inside close to his neck and pull the tube thingy. Remove the inward and clean the fish with water.”

Although the girl was alone, she was still talking to the necklace as if it was someone. After impaling the fish with a stick and showing it to her necklace, as if it could somehow see it, Tsuki delicately placed it above a fire she had worked for a really long time to make.

“Sinorous isn’t a cat, so no fish for you.” As if a canine wouldn’t jump on a freshly caught fish.

Tsuki was beginning to have an easier time surviving alone in nature because she now understood how her knife worked. Her current understanding was that the knife was magically formed whenever she pulled on the cloth. The moment the knife was created, if she mentally focused on it as being strong, then it would be strong. Her intent played a crucial role in how useful it would become. It was also the reason it could cut the wolf’s neck and the strange thread around the flower. The only thing that existed in her mind at that time was for the blade to cut. Every other time she manifested her knife, it was similar to getting one from a cupboard and nothing more.

There was one disadvantage with this kind of knife. It was the cost. Every time she manifested it, she would feel more tired, and her strength would slowly drain when it was out, faster if the blade was of good quality. At first, because of her interest in magic in stories, she thought it was a sort of magical pool of some kind that was slowly being spent. But after playing with her knife for so long, she concluded that she had no clue as to what the real cost of using the knife was. Her body would feel tired in a different way than running around or not sleeping. It was odd and she didn’t like the feeling at all. It was as if her mind and body would become strangers to one another…

❀

 

The fish had been over the firepit for more than 15 minutes already, but the smell of roasting had yet to be present. That is because a light grizzle caused the fire to die. As for Tsuki, she was watching the fish ‘cook’. In her mind, the fire was still present, and would occasionally create wild animals with the dancing flame which entranced her. She knew it wasn’t real after all, the rain did fall on her as well. Out of boredom, she simply wanted to look at the strange spectacle her mind was creating.

The burning hands, outreached to the sky and turned into dark snowflakes; the laments of pain from the cracking woods turned round and round to anger, sadness, fear, and pain again; the smoke like a cloud of insects that would enter her lung whenever she breathed… None of that was real, yet she observed it all out of acceptance of her fate. She knew it would only get worse. Maybe a day will come when she tries to look at her own hands and she needs to deliberate if they are even real… A day will come when she’ll see Alice in front of her and wonder if it isn’t just her mind playing tricks on her. She didn’t know anymore if she should pity or envy someone insane yet happy.

Tsuki had enough of the fake flame and wanted to move on. She tried to take her uncooked fish but *splat* her vision became red as something hit her face. Something exploded on her face in a cold and viscous liquid that spread over her eyes. She coiled back thinking someone was attacking her and tried to clean her vision in the same movement. *splat* Another unknown object was thrown at her causing her vision to return to red.

This time, she defended herself with her left hand while the right one swiftly tried to rescue her vision that was taken by an invasion of red. *fwish* She could hear another projectile whistling in the air and aimed at her; another blob of red was deployed to resupply a blinding screen. Luckily, Tsuki was able to catch the intruding object in its advance and surrounded it with her fingers at once before crushing it and causing a red liquid to cover the ground. She then finally managed to rescue her vision by brushing the disturbing red liquid with a few brushes of her sleeve.

Her eyes welcomed light once more as it came with offerings of color but hiding in its many gifts was the form of her interloper. She had to decipher its shape as the light dared to work for both sides. It wasn’t hard; nothing she hadn’t done before. But her foe still managed to mystify her as its shape didn’t conform to anything she was used to seeing. But one thing was certain: it was a thief who had taken what was rightfully hers. It was holding its ill-gotten prize in front of its flappy mouth which lauder its own exploits as they all travel in the air like rumors mocking the girl for her inadequacy. Was she to truly believe what the world reported her when a moment ago, a burning fire was showing her demise? Or maybe it wasn’t her demise she was watching but those of others.

Be it just in her mind but the flame of war burned the brightest for the girl and the fear of her mysterious enemy completely dissipated when her hand touched the warm leather of her weapon.

*fwish* Another projectile was coming at her with less strength than the last. Her foe had quivered at her declaration of war and its strength deserted in part. This attack was her turning point if she could withstand it. Doing so would allow her to go on the offensive and finish this affront to her person once and for all. Thus, she decided to meet the fast offensive herself. Armed with her weapon, she guarded herself until it came within her range and aimed with strength amidst its rank in an attempt to cut the advancing force in twain.

*splat* She missed and was hit by another tomato. In front of her was a humanoid fish-like creature that was laughing and dancing while holding the skewered fish in one hand. It was a meter in size with a body similar to a turtle but with the head of a fish donning a transparent sac filled with liquid. The sac would expand in the same manner as lungs do.

The creature danced and laughed at what it had done but ran while screaming when it saw the girl wildly swinging her blade at it. “Bruuuiiiiiiiiiiiiii!”

“My…food,” said a defeated Tsuki who saw the creature leave in the distance with the small fish she had worked so hard to catch.

❀

 

The next day, morning rose, and the girl was still walking. She could do so because of the light-gray sky, and she believed that the village was close by. Following Yuu’s recommendation, she had collected in her small journey a few herbs and other strange objects in the hope to sell them for a few coins. If nothing, she could sell her dagger and simply return it with the dark smoke. But this was something she wanted to avoid in the case that strange returning knives were common in this world.

She was annoyed that she would be forced to face her weakness of sunlight from now on since most people she would have to interact with ought to sleep at night, unlike her. As such, she absolutely needed to improve her wardrobe. It wasn’t an excuse to wear cute clothes at all, she kept repeating to herself…

But soon enough, the river led her to a small bridge which upon crossing presented the village built like a crescent moon around a clear bay. Houses with white roofs were closer to the water while more rustic buildings were constructed higher in a similar way as seats in a theater: the spectacle they watched every morning was that of peaceful boats leaving the bay.

The village was moving about with people beginning to open shop. The road was kept busy with people of all kinds walking about. The dirty and tired girl didn’t stand out at all in this mass of unique strangers and her eyes kept moving all over the place. She wasn’t ready to see a kid with hands for hair walk to school on the back of something similar to a komodo dragon. And this was something pretty tame next to the living, breathing wall with hands, eyes, and a door that people would sometimes use.

Yuu did say that most people Tsuki would meet would be human but in truth, they only amounted to 15% of the population in this town.

“““Totomo. Totomo. Totomo.””” Chanted many children agglomerating around a show of some kind. It intrigued Tsuki and she came closer to it and sat next to a tall blond boy. In the middle of all the kids and parents was a muscular man wearing a long woman’s dress similar to a yukata, a wig of long black hair, and a monstrous mask of a demon. He was moving in all kinds of exaggerated ways as if he was in love with a small, skewered fish that was strangely familiar. After the man tried to express his love to the fish in the best girlish voice he could muster and was harshly rejected by the fish whose voice was played by the kids watching, he pulled a simple wooden knife from his sleeve. Tsuki was starting to worry for the small fish’s safety, not realizing it was the same one she had caught…

“Sinoho, Sinoho,” squeaked the man as he moved his blade along the fish’s body. “I am no cat, so why do you h-a-t-e me such? I only a-t-e your e-i-g-h-t brothers and nothing more! My h-e-i-g-h-t is great, so why don’t you love me?” He made sure to fully articulate the similar words while mimicking their meanings and waited for a response from a kid he pointed to.

The young kid cried with every eye turning on him. His mother and sister encouraged him with the help of those around him. His sister whispered something in his ear which made him laugh and his tears were replaced by a smile. He tried to repeat what his sister told him to say but he stumbled on his words. It was only with more help that he managed to say loud enough: “Because you stink.” It wasn’t much of an insult but the actor reacting as if he was dying made everyone laugh.

“Huuuugaaaaa! This can’t be! But I can wash myself for you. Is it the only reason you hate me, my love?”

The same interaction happened many more times and for Tsuki who had been pretty depressed since she came to this world, this simple show designed for kids way younger than hers was enough to put a smile on her tired face.

“Then, I must eat you so that no one else can have your love,” said the man after five rounds of being rejected by the fish.

His words, even if his mask had no opening for the mouth, caused a riot among the kids. “NOOOO”, “Leave Sinoho alone!”, “No one loves you. Stuuuupid”…

“Hahaha. Not like any of you can stop me!”

“Totomo will!”, “Yeah, Totomo will stop like-like always.”, “You big stinky, ugly demon. Totomo will be the one to eat you.”, “What? Totomo doesn’t eat demons.”, “Yeah he does.”…….. “““Totomo, Totomo, Totomo”””

So did the kids began to chant the name of their hero and so did he come running from an empty street with his cape in the wind… and so did Tsuki ran away and left upon seeing the fish, Totomo, equipped with a long red cape and throwing tomatoes towards the man on the stage.

❀

 

For some reason, Tsuki was mad at the existence of tomatoes in this world. Maybe it was something different but nonetheless, she now detested the red fruit with a passion.

She made her way to a secluded street to avoid the oppressive movements all around her. From where she stood, she had a good view of the sea because on one side of the calm street, the buildings were built lower to the point where she could even walk on their roof.

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There was a small bakery close by which smells haunted the hungry girl. She looked in her small bag that was filled with many curious objects that a shop like this one wouldn’t be able to trade for. She thus walked further, looking inside a few buildings for the things they barter with but none caught her attention. It was only when she was close to reaching the end of the path, giving way from the stone building to the wild forest outside the village, that a small shop caught her interest.

The building was modest and a few flowers growing around made it seem more like a house than a shop, but a sign saying: ‘Goods and stuff, selling ‘bout everything and nothing’ begged to differ. She went inside as discreetly as she could, and she was welcomed by the soft ringing of a bell. There was no one inside even as she waited a bit for someone to show up at the counter. It wasn’t something that annoyed her much since she was absorbed by the many wares on display.

The inside had a completely different feeling than the rest of the village. The latter one was filled with simplistic design spurt up with decorations relating to the sea. They almost gave feelings of warmth even in poverty. And poor were the villagers. A few houses were falling apart, and people didn’t seem to care much about it. So, the shop Tsuki just entered which had a floor made from large chunks of rock connected with sand was strange. Although the outside was made of wood, the inside was filled with hard stone that made the interior feel cold.

The store seemed to be divided into two distinct parts with one focused on anything that didn’t originate from the village ranging from books to strange flowers. The other part was mostly focused on leather-related items with some rare wool or silk clothing in the mix. Every single piece of clothing was filled with small details similar to indigenous culture.

She tried to call for someone, but no one responded to her. She thought that they might be taking a break and would soon return. Thus, she sat in a corner with a book she took at random and waited her time.

❀

 

After a long wait, Tsuki, who fell asleep, was woken up by a loud sound like a door slamming shut coming from the back of the store. She wanted to call out to whoever made the sound but became afraid to do so when two men began to scream at one another.

“We had a deal, outsider! Did you think we would allow you to back out of it that easily?!” Screamed someone who had a really low and bass-like voice.

“Yeah, we had! That’s until I learn what feces you guys love to gorge on! Y’all worse than pigs,” responded the other who had a strong projecting voice.

“What’d-you say, bastard? It’s ‘cause of you we in this shit!”

“Because of me? Are ya insane?!”

“Insane? You’re insane! You killed three of our guys carrying marchan—” The man wasn’t able to finish his words before he was punched by the other person. “Buuuga--- Ya did it, you bastard. You really dare hit---Buhaaa”

“WHAT DID YOU CALL THEM!!!” Yelled the one with a projecting voice which was so loud Tsuki was sure the whole neighborhood had heard it.

“Puha haf haf.” He seemed to have a hard time catching his breath after being punched in the guts. His harsh breathing slowly morphed into a sort of strange evil laugh that rewarded him with another punch. “Pah wha ha ha--- Buhaaa… huf… huf… I see. So that’s what gets to you. I’ll say it clearly so that small brain of yours can understand”

“I’ll kill you.”

“How cute, boy. Those eyes of yours, you’re still going to kill me either way. Ya just want an excuse to dirty your hands. My pop will avenge me anyway. Your also dead--- Buhaaa… huf…huf…huf…Bastard…”

“Talk already and you won’t suffer.”

“Nah…I’ll talk, and you’ll kill me slowly. I know ya well. Just like my pop. But just like him, I’ll talk, and you’ll be the one to suffer.”

“Shut up and talk already!”

“Come on man. You’re making it too easy to insult you. Every single one of those packages we had you deliver. Hyahahah! Chop Chop Chop. All nicely cut and packaged! Did ya know how much those kids sold fo-haag…gaahhh---” the man’s voice cut off as he was being strangled. Only a few panicked movements and short breaths could be heard.

Tsuki was terrified of what was happening in the back. She did think to escape outside but the small bell at the door was bound to warn the dangerous man of her presence and there was no way she would be able to outrun anyone. Her only hope was to stay hidden in the corner until an opening presented itself.

Before long, one of the men was killed. The killer was breathing heavily for some time and began to walk when his composure returned. His slow and steady steps came closer to the storefront where he heaved a long sigh. Tsuki managed to get a glance at his bloody muscular chest before shifting her position slightly so as to not be seen. The man was about to go back after not seeing anyone in the shop, but before he could do so, the door was opened followed by a calming chime of a bell and the figure of a refined lady.

“Ho my, little Honghong. If you wanted to try some perfume, you should have called me.” Said the woman with a mocking yet daring tone.

“I told you to never call me that… What do you want?”

“Nothing much. I was just wondering if you knew where my uncle is. But alas, I don’t think he IS here. What shall I do my dear Rouhong?”

“If you’re not buying anything, then leave.” The man talked with a striking coldness toward the girl who seemed to not care about it at all.

“Thennnn, how much do you go for darling~”

“Leave.”

“Awwwww. This is no way to talk to a beautiful maiden like myself. Let me peruse your ware so that I may leave with something that may heal my broken heart. If it’s fine with you?”

“Just do whatever you want. Call me when you find something. I need to clean myself.”

“May you not leave yet? I have here what I want, and I shall not leave without.”

“I said ‘no’ enough time. If you keep going at it, I’ll have to make you leave.”

“My my. Bold of you to assume I’m talking about you honey~. I want an interesting story. So go and fetch me one.”

“Sorry but I don’t have anything you can actually read in there. Maybe next time you come I’ll have something for you in stock.”

Tsuki was having a bad feeling about what was going on. They would certainly find her if they were to get a book and the man would know she was there when he murdered someone else in the back.

The woman exasperated began to walk toward the books with a cane in her hand that helped her guide her movement. “Then if a cat scratches me, you shall be at fault…”

“Yeah right. There’s no cat in this pla…” And finally realizing that something was amiss, the man silently jumped over his counter…

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