42 FLOPPED BURIAL (2/2)
”Mm,” she nodded and turned back when she felt an abnormal gust of wind blow past her face. As she rubbed her face with one hand, she felt the coldness in the air. The increased whiteness in her breath also distressed her a bit. ”It's getting much colder now.”
”Try to hang on,” Burton voiced support, albeit his tone lacked enthusiasm. ”if you keep moving, you won't feel as bad.”
”I know that, but...” she crossed her arms and at the same time rubbed them.
At that time, Lirzod joined them. ”I'm back.”
Sariyu glanced at him coldly and spoke with a tinge of anger in her voice, ”I will take care of you after this event ends.”
”What are you talking about?” Lirzod reproved her words. ”I took care of Uncle Pig for you.”
Her blood boiled instantly, and she stomped on Lirzod's foot. ”I fought him for your sake in the first place, fool!”
”Ouch, my foot!” Lirzod took a step away from her, his mouth blowing air at his foot, while he hopped on a single leg. ”Y-You are right, Sour Sariyu. My bad.”
Some of the audience envied Lirzod. ”Not only did she save him from Brown Hill, but she also waited for him. He's the luckiest bodyguard I've ever seen! I want to trade places with him!”
”Hey, I forgot to stuff my pockets with some nuts,” Lirzod asked Sariyu. ”Do you have some?”
”This isn't the time for snacking!” Burton hastily replied.
”Who asked you?” Lirzod snorted. ”Mind your business, got it?”
Burton ignored his words and glanced at Sariyu. ”Don't give him any.”
”Forget about giving him, but who would even carry food to a place like this?” Sariyu barked at Lirzod, ”And stop lying! I don't believe that you forgot to fetch some nuts on your way here.”
”I did fetch some…” Lirzod uttered in a dejected tone, his expression taking after a sad and starving squirrel that hadn't even seen much less gotten a sniff off of nuts in quite a many days, ”but before I could stuff them in my pockets, they got stolen.”
”Stolen?” Sariyu raised a brow. ”By who?”
Lirzod pointed his finger at a particular spot on his face. ”This thing called my mouth.”
His words lit a spark of rage in Sariyu who instantly got triggered and swept her hand into his mouth. ”Thief Thrashing Slap!” The dorsal side of her palm smacked his mouth vivaciously, making Lirzod right away cover his mouth in suffering.
A slap straight to Lirzod's mouth eminently entertained many of the audience.
”Haha, she sure knows how to put a bodyguard in their place.”
”Now, I like her even more.”
”Slap him again, please!”
Lirzod paid no heed to the voices of the crowd but still made a long face as he spoke to Sariyu. ”When I die from hunger, don't come to my grave and offer some nuts, because a buried man eats nothing but dirt … and maybe worms, too. That's why I wanted you to give me some nuts.”
”No problem. I will leave some extra-large worms for you,” Sariyu shrugged half-heartedly, deepening the pitiful look on Lirzod's face.
Meanwhile, Boksa slowly rose to his feet and brushed off the ice shards stuck to his body before exercising his limbs as his eyes worked to locate Lirzod. Seeing him stretching his body poorly, some people subtly shook their heads. ”I ended up taking a nap. Where was that little rat again?” Because he had been underwater, he didn't hear Lirzod's words or even the riotous laughter of the crowd.
”S-Sleeping?” the crowd who heard his words felt not only stupefied but perplexed at the same time.
”That's impossible. How can one sleep underwater?”
”Yeah, he's surely lying.”
”Oh, so he's hiding the embarrassment this way huh…”
”Pfft, he shouldn't have put up such a facade. Most people probably already forgot about his fall. He's simply reminding us again and possibly also unintentionally helping this memory get etched in people's minds.”
HAHAHA~!
As the laughter of the crowd came across his ears, he initially didn't believe it was addressed to him as he wasn't used to being laughed at, but as time passed, his thoughts changed and so did the fake composure, which chagrin notably traded places with afterward. ”I will get back my face by the end of this race.” He marched onward like an eminent wolf. The crowd got goosebumps, yet they didn't know why.
The emotions and feelings of despair in those who had fought with Boksa, now surfaced out, reminding them once again that this sole remembrance will not fade away as long as they lived.
Tarkan narrowed his eyes as he observed Boksa. (The Alpha never cries, because it only knows how to make others cry. Now, will this Alpha succeed in making his enemy cry before the event ends?)