88 SCORES OF SECRETS (1/2)

”Last chance for you to change your mind and throw that packet in the bin, or you'll face the consequences.” A group of forty or so members of the plunderers guild blocked Lirzod's way ahead, and even though all, except their leader, had masks covering their noses and mouths, the folding of the skin on the side of their eyes showed that they had strange smiles on their faces. Everyone was wearing large wooden baskets on their sturdy backs. On all their shirts were printed a few words: Hope High. Expect Low.

At the moment, the street was full of hungry folks, and their eyes were all on one lad.

Lirzod, however, blurted out without hesitation, ”Last chance for you all to change sides and stop looting people, or you'll all face the consequences.”

”Hoh… you dare to threaten us the Dustbin Diggers?” the leader of the group, a tall man with a rough bearded look, showered an uppish smile. He had king-sized nails piercing his whole torso, and he struck as a fearsome fellow and gave off a threatening vibe. ”You think you can throw garbage in any dustbin on this belt without our permission?”

”I'll take my chances,” Lirzod replied in a positive tone.

”Take your chances?” the leader of the group narrowed the windows of his view. ”Those who won't factor in our words into their way of living will suffer from our spleen. I'm not going to ask again. Give us the meat, or I'll nail you to the wood!”

”You're welcome to try,” Lirzod said dauntlessly. ”I'm not the type who fights without rhyme or reason, but at the least, I'll test your testiness.”

”Hmph,” the leader glanced at his underlings, and they all took out various things from their baskets.

Lirzod blinked numerous times upon seeing the 'things' they had taken out. ”W-Wait..”

Without wait, the underlings hastily tossed many nasty items at Lirzod.

”Wait, stop! This isn't fair!” Lirzod danced around trying to dodge the banana peels, rotten eggs and tomatoes, fungus-housing loaves of bread, and much more. After more than a hundred of such spoiled items got hurled, the leader signaled to his underlings; they stopped.

All of them sported a smug look with their hands in their pockets, even though they were quite surprised in truth.

”Not bad,” the leader said, looking amusedly at Lirzod, who was perfectly alright, though he was panting audibly, ”you dodged the first wave, but the second one will be much more entertaining. Do you want to dare face that?”

”Not as long as I have legs,” Lirzod turned around and put all his concentration on fleeing.

”Trying to escape?” the leader was slightly surprised. ”Is this the 'consequence' you alluded to a minute ago?” He immediately pulled out one of the nails pierced in his arm, but no blood leaked out, only a bit of transparent liquid. He swiftly flung the nail at the boy. It spun like a drill as it whizzed through the air.

The nail scraped past Lirzod's calf muscle and hit the floor in front of him, then stood upright and continued to spin. In that fraction of second, Lirzod's foot stepped right on the flat top of the nail, and before he knew it, the spinning nail took him along for a ride. ”Bambarammm!” Lirzod cried out as he was carried away like a spinning top.

”What?” the leader and all the underlings were thoroughly slack-jawed.

”T-That's so cool!”

”I've never seen such a thing.”

”I want to try it, too.”

The underlings were quite impressed by what they were witnessing. Still, the leader quickly shoved the shock aside and ordered, ”Stop admiring and chase him, idiots!”

”Y-Yes, Boss!”

However, after traveling for more than fifty meters like a spinning top, the direction of the nail changed, and it came back toward the Dustbin Diggers. Lirzod bumped into the wall a couple of times, and the momentum died out. He fell off the top of the nail, then stepped on a banana peel and crashed onto the floor. The nail was still spinning. Lirzod felt like the surroundings were spinning. And so was his mind.

Before he could get back to his feet, he got surrounded from every angle. All of those men together tried to shamelessly snatch the meat packet away from him, and despite his efforts, they readily overwhelmed him and plucked it out of his hands.

Though Lirzod tried to get it back, they kept tossing the packet from one to another and made him run around like a driven dog.

”I need to give it to someone,” Lirzod yelled. ”Give it back!”

”Give it back?” The leader smiled. ”Fine. Let's give him what he wants.”

”Hehe,” everyone snickered, and then a storm of garbage came at him. The sounds of foul eggs cracking, and rotten tomatoes breaking, combined with the foolhardy laughter of men was all that could be heard in the street. Though Lirzod initially tried to dodge, he eventually got sick of it and dashed straight at them, in the direction of the packet-holder.

”Stop persisting,” the leader said and smirked. ”It's useless.” he waved his hand. ”Commence the Fleeing Tactic 3!”

All the underlings suddenly blocked Lirzod's way, and, at the same time, got together. While the ones in the front lines blocked his vision, they concealed the meat packet in one of the baskets, and then they all dispersed and ran in different directions.

Lirzod stood right where he was with a blank expression on his face. After they left his sight, he eventually smiled a little. ”Spoony thugs. They are going to meet their expectations like never before.” He put his hands in his pants and took a small packet out. ”The real meat is here. Wearing underpants is uncomfortable, but it sure has its uses.” He looked around and scratched his head. ”Which way was that clinic again? Is it up ahead or on my rear? I was sure I was close enough, but those thieves made me lose my way, and now I'm confused.” Just then, he sniffed once, and his expression changed. ”What's this sense-killing smell?” he blinked twice and then looked down at his clothes. A couple of egg and tomato marks were left on his clothes. ”Oh, right. That's coming from me.” He shut his nose. ”It stinks.”

Meanwhile, the leader and the underlings of Dustbin Diggers gathered in the neighboring street.

”Haha, he stopped following already?” the leader laughed thoroughly. ”That was easy.” He looked at one of the underlings. ”Take it out.”

The underling promptly took a packet out of the basket, then tossed it to the leader, who was nestled among his men. When he opened the pocket, his smiling face froze and shriveled like aged wood on a summer noon. Everyone around was puzzled; they couldn't control their urge and took a peek inside, and their expressions soon metamorphosed into mortified monkeys. The leader soon pulled out what was inside the packet: Wet dough. He squeezed it in frustration.

”I-Is that dough?” the underlings had no more words to say.

”A work of art…” the leader squeezed the dough some more and then tossed it in his basket. ”He couldn't have gone far.” He took a meat pie out of his bag, grabbed a big bite, and strode forth in high dudgeon. ”I don't care what you do to him, but I want the fish meat!”

”Yes, Boss!”

A few minutes later.

Inside a child booth on the twelfth deck, a tall blonde woman in glasses was teaching five kids by asking questions rhythmically, and the children replied in a simple, avid fashion, and there was a rhythmic song in the air.

”Where is the sun?” the teacher, who was missing the left ear, asked, lifting the stick, so it'd point toward the ceiling.

”In the clouds!” the children replied together.

”Where is the moon?” she asked again, shifting the position of the stick into her other hand.

”In the clouds!” the children replied just as enthusiastically.

”Where are the stars?” she dotted the air with the stick.

”Also in the clouds!”

”Where are the clouds?” she drew rings in the air.

”In the sky.”

”What do they all do in the sky?” she asked and grinned.

”They give us light throughout day and night.”

”And…” she circled the kids and also moved her arm in a wavy motion.

”They cause the seasons and the waves of the oceans.”

”And…” she spun the stick on her fingers, making the shape of infinity with it.

”They tell us the time, day, and month of the year.”

”And…” she stopped and leaned closer toward the children.

”They shine for those who have eyes to see and sing for those who have ears to hear!” this time, the children replied in a strikingly loud tone.

”That's right,” the teacher looked pleased. She started walking back to her position at her own pace. There were drawings of the clouds, sun, moon, stars, and some other heavenly things on the board. ”To be more clear, they do different things. The sun gives away the time of the day, the moon gives away the day of the month, and the stars give away the month of the year. Seasons depend on the sun's position from us. Now that the luminaries in heaven are taken care of, let's move on to another set of questions. This time about battling. What do you do when you encounter an enemy you can't defeat?”

”Run.”

”Hide.”

”Surrender?”

The children kept giving answers that didn't quite please the teacher, so she kept shaking her head.

”Do whatever it takes to defeat the bad friend, I mean, the enemy.” Just then, a voice echoed through the room. Everyone looked toward the door where Lirzod was standing. He had washed himself using tap water, so he appeared okay, not counting for the wetness of his clothes.

”It's Brother Lirzod!” all the children sprang to their feet and ran to him.

”Whoa, calm down. I didn't bring you guys anything this time,” Lirzod hastily said.

”Eh?” their eyes, however, were still set on the packet in his hands. ”What's in that bag?”

”It's not for you,” Lirzod lifted his hand and kept the packet out of their reach.

”We'll give you kisses.”

”S-Still, not for you.” He had to stand on his toes as they kept jumping to get their hands on the packet.

”Brother Lirzod, you stink!” the children finally caught the smell still lingering off his clothes. A couple of them moved back, but the rest did not. ”It doesn't smell like sweat.”

”Sorry,” Lirzod said and rubbed the back of his head, ”but that's not because of sweating. It's something else.”

”You must be working so hard.”

”Not really. Being a teacher here is perhaps much more toilsome and tiring than doing my daily affairs,” Lirzod opined.

The teacher, also the governess of the child booth, slowly walked over with a smile on her face. ”What brought you here again?” Anyone would think that she was a bourgeois lady, judging by the amount of gold on her body, but only the children of the booth knew that was all fake metal.

”Actually,” Lirzod scratched his jaw, ”I was heading for the clinic, but I somehow ended up here.”

”The clinic isn't far from here.” Her voice was quite kind and mature for someone who was in her late twenties. ”Want me to lead the way?”

”Thanks, but no thanks. You seem to be busy here. Besides, I think I can find my way from here,” Lirzod replied, as he was forced to spring about on his toes.

”Okay,” she observed him for a bit. He had a rakish, genteel look only a little while ago, but now his hair and clothes were all messy and looked anything but suave. Still, he had that genial bearing, which made up for the loss. ”What happened to the dough I gave you?” the teacher couldn't help but ask because Lirzod was holding a different packet at the moment. She gave him the dough in a packet made out of coconut leaves, but Lirzod was currently holding a palm-leaf one.

”Ah, that's a long story,” Lirzod said and then tussled with the kids. ”You guys can have this food if you can touch the bag.”

”So, there's food inside! Yay!” The kids excitedly endeavored to touch the packet; however, Lirzod didn't go easy on them. Some of them managed to pluck the paper that was in Lirzod's other hand and then ate it out of frustration.

Lirzod pressed the kid's cheeks and forced the paper out of her mouth. ”You shouldn't eat paper.”

”Eh? Why?” many kids looked surprised. ”Paper tastes good.”

”Still, you can't eat it,” Lirzod shook his head. ”I once ate a book and then couldn't release my bowels for two nights! Those times were nightmarish. Could you guys imagine yourself not being able to take a dump even for a day?”

The children clearly looked like they didn't want to experience such a thing.

”But we don't eat books, brother,” one of the kids replied. ”We only eat one or two sheets of paper. They go well with pencil leads and erasers. So we should be okay, right?”

”Not at all. If you eat a book at once, you'll only suffer severe pain for a few days, but if you eat a paper a day, things might look fine in the beginning, but then nature will one day stop calling you, and when it does, nobody can help you relieve yourself. If you add erasers and pencils on top of that, then...”

The children already had petrified looks.

The teacher looked pleased with the way Lirzod handled the kids. She had been telling the kids to not chew on paper, but they weren't quite listening to her. She was afraid that she wouldn't be able to change the minds of the paper addicts, but now, she felt at ease.

”You won't even be able to sing in the bathroom then,” said Lirzod.

”Eh? S-Sing in the bathroom?” the children looked surprised. ”Can we sing in the bathroom?”

”Of course,” Lirzod quickly said. ”Don't you guys do that?”

”No, no, that's it. Stop,” the teacher rushed hotfoot and intervened. ”Don't teach them weird habits.”

”What food is in that bag, brother?” the children still kept trying to get the packet from Lirzod again.

”Find it yourself, that is, if you can,” Lirzod continued to tease them.

How did these kids come to know Lirzod? A few hours ago, Lirzod brought a wounded little girl back to the child booth, and he gave papaya to the other kids, so everyone in the booth got quite friendly with him in so short of a time. The papaya was offered to him prior to that by a stranger whose father had lost all his wealth in betting while Lirzod was taking Cat Conflict.

Currently, Lirzod randomly ran about in the room, trying to escape from the kids, using one avenue of escape after another, and continued to own the meat packet.

However, when Lirzod arrived at a certain spot, he stopped and kept sniffing.

”Did you stop to distribute the food?” the children asked with full expectation. Their eyes glowed restlessly.

”My nose can smell anything nutty,” Lirzod replied, still sniffing, ”even if…” his eyes fell upon a book that was on the floor, ”it's hidden inside a book!” he quickly picked up the book and flipped the pages, and a nut fell. He let go of the book and caught the nut. ”An almond!” he tossed it into his mouth. ”Thank you very much.”

One of the kids immediately started crying and saying that it was his almond, but Lirzod continued to run away. The other kids kept chasing him again.

The teacher called for them, but they didn't respond, so she smartly posed a question, ”Tell me one of the riches of the world that can heal the creatures of the land and the water.” She said, but nobody replied. ”They are flat,” the teacher gave a hint.

Still, no child replied, for they were too busy chasing Lirzod.

”Flat lakes are truly earth's awesome riches that heal,” replied Lirzod.

”C-Correct answer,” the teacher was a little surprised. ”How did you know that?”

”Well, all life forms in the world can depend on lakes,” Lirzod replied while running away from the children and hurdling past all obstacles, including even the teacher. ”Of course, lakes are obviously not as spread out like rivers, but you don't find rivers in deserts. Lakes are cool in their own way for so many other reasons. Then again, I guess, water gets the credit in the end. After all, we all know—the world is in waters.”

The corners of the teacher's lips curved down as she nodded in approval. As she watched Lirzod run around in the room, she pondered. (Who's this boy with a babyface? If not for his height and the scar on his face, he'd have looked like a sixth-grader. No wonder, even though it's only their second time meeting him, he's already mingled with the children. It's as if he cracked immortality without even becoming a martial.) She put her hands on her cheeks. (He's such a cutie patootie. I hope he doesn't mind if I pull his cheeks.)

”Since I answered correctly, I'll get a gift, right?” asked Lirzod.

”Sure,” she said and smiled. ”What do you—”

Just then, Lirzod ran into the kitchen and climbed the ladder and entered the attic where many food items were stored. He quickly pulled the ladder up so the kids wouldn't follow him up. Teasing with the tongue followed.

However, all the kids had fearful expressions on their faces. ”Brother Lirzod, you shouldn't enter that place,” they said in a low voice. ”Come down quickly.”

”Haha, you are not fooling me with that,” Lirzod said and looked around. There was a lot of food stacked up nicely as if put for an exhibition. ”Wow, so many varieties.” There was enough room for him to freely walk, so he decided to take a look. The smell of fresh food made him close his eyes and take a deep breath. His tongue was already producing saliva.

Just as he opened his eyes, a door opened up in the wall right next to him. ”Mm?” he turned and looked to his right. A familiar face came climbing up a ladder. ”You are… the elf-impostor!”

”Eek!” Startled from his shout, the elf girl, Mulyk, let go of the ladder. She fell backward. ”Kya!”

”Oh, no,” Lirzod straight away took a peek down.

Mulyk fell on her back and hurt her head. ”Etetete.” However, she seemed to be alright.

Lirzod climbed down half the ladder, then turned and jumped. He landed safely on his feet. There were mickle trees and plants everywhere around him, so many that, for a second, he felt like he was in a forest. ”Wow, where is this place?” he was momentarily left in awe by the scenery. ”Wait, what am I doing?” he slapped on the back of his head and then advanced toward her.

Mulyk hastily got back to her feet and frowned a bit. (That was an inelegant fall. Did he see me fall?)

”You look fine,” Lirzod slowed down upon seeing her stand without a problem, ”even though you fell from tens of meters height. Your bottom must be tough.”

(He saw it!) Embarrassment washed over her face like the high tidal wave on a full moon night. ”You, you shouldn't be here. Wait...” She sniffed once. ”What's this raw smell that's rushing into my nose?”

”That's coming from me, haha,” Lirzod leaked out a broad smile.

Mulyk paused for a second, for she suddenly felt strange. She remembered her childhood days when her butler told her not to open her mouth in front of the guests because she had a missing tooth. (He can smile freely, even with so many missing teeth.) Unknowingly, she clutched her dress at the chest region, not feeling sure if she could ever do that. Just then, she saw Lirzod walk to a banana plant and clean himself with its leaves.

”What are you doing!” she ran half the distance and lunged. With a kick to the shoulder, she sent him rolling.