Never did his heart pump blood in such a feverous manner. I-Is she coming for a kiss? T-This is too sudden. I'm not fully prepared yet. He was suddenly shocked. What if my cheeks taste bad? Wait, I haven't brushed either! His feet instantly stepped back twice and made the distance. "I'm sorry. I can't do this now!" he quickly walked past Sariyu, leaving her in puzzlement.
He came and stood behind her.
"Why are you hiding behind me?" Sariyu stepped aside, but he did as well. "Stop being so shy. It doesn't suit you."
Her scent—it's more potent than Primera's. Lirzod firmly stared at the floor. There's something unusual mixed in it. If I go near her again, I might not be able to control myself anymore.
On the other hand, Burton observed the workers in the vicinity, all of whom had their heads tilted down. Something's not right. All of them were wearing white and blue dress code. Are these guys all workers or not?
Stussy stood right where she was. She pulled back her sleeves, just a bit, which slightly exposed the strangely-nice ink patterns on her forearms, though only by a little, and especially the white tattoo on her wrist, made her appear all the more intriguing. Though it was a bit dark around, the ornaments that subtly decorated the exquisite cloak she wore made her look like a savage princess of heaven. "I'm the navigator of this ship. It will take about four months before we reach the Shambala Sect's headquarters, so you'll be here till Mitdood. Till then, you three must do your best to reach as high as you can on these decks, given that interests you." She pointed her finger toward the workers. "These hollows will show you the rooms and will also help answer your questions. Have a happy voyage."
She turned around, and the gray-haired fat man from before came over to her. “Chief, the three entries have boarded. We are good to go now.”
“Make it four,” she said.
“What?” he looked puzzled. “Did someone else get on board?”
With but a propel off the floor, barely making any sound in the process, she soared into the skies and eventually landed on one of the wings of the figurehead.
“Uh, well,” the fat man scratched his chin. “I guess I’ll have to check the smokecast. That’s part of my job anyway.”
Sariyu and Burton left with two of the workers, i.e., hollows. Lirzod, however, stayed their gaping at Stussy. That was quite a jump, but why did she suddenly leave? I couldn't speak.
A guy was waiting for him. With an average build and 177cm height, that blue-haired guy had a face that wouldn't really stand out but wouldn't go unnoticed either. "Hey, are you going to move or not?" His voice was neither sharp nor soft.
His attempt to interact with Lirzod miserably failed, for he didn't even get a reaction. He walked up to Lirzod and patted his shoulder, but there was no response.
He patted again. "Hey, are you listening?"
"Mch," Lirzod waved his hand and pushed that guy's hand away without even looking.
"Hey, I'm talking to you!" he placed his hand on Lirzod's shoulder.
"What's this nuisance?" Lirzod pushed his hand away without even looking again. "I'm busy. Go and beg elsewhere."
"B-Beg?" that guy frowned. Slowly but surely, his hand clenched into a fist. "Nobody has ever called me a beggar." He controlled his anger as best as he could. "But I guess there's a first time for everything. So I’ll let this mistake of yours slide..."
"Just what's your freaking problem, huh?" Lirzod finally turned back and made eye-contact with the guy. "You've been nagging in my ears nonstop like a bee! Can't you see I'm busy?"
"Busy?” he was puzzled. “You are?"
"Yeah. I am. So go and mind your business," Lirzod was about to turn back toward the figurehead, but he was held back by the guy, who placed his hand on Lirzod's shoulder again, and used a bit of force. Lirzod glanced over his shoulder. "What are you doing?"
"I'm told to take you to your assigned room.” His voice turned a bit icy. “You should come with me."
"Yeah, I will," Lirzod stepped away from him and stared up toward the top of the figurehead. She must be bored there alone. He looked back at his luggage and reached there. He pulled out a five-kilo somewhat-see-through cloth bag that's full of a mixture of nuts—cashews, almonds, peanuts, groundnuts, walnuts, and hazelnuts—and walked toward the figurehead.
"What's he doing now?" the blue-haired guy looked perplexed, his shoulders somewhat flailing. A sword amulet loosely hung around his neck.
Lirzod stopped at the base of the figurehead and looked straight up. "These nuts... They are grown by a Nut Specialist. Will you take these?"
"Hmph," the blue-haired guy shook his head. Does he really think he can get on her good side with that? The nuts do look tasty. He slowly shook his head again, "But they are not enough."
Lirzod stood there for almost a minute, but there was no reply.
"You seriously can't expect her to react for offering something so simple," the blue-haired guy spoke just loud enough that his voice reached Lirzod's ears.
Lirzod looked at the packet for a few seconds before placing it down carefully on the floor. He looked up again, "I'm keeping them here. So try them. I hope you got it." He turned back and hurried over to the blue-haired guy with a happy face. "Let's go."
"Sure, but there's one thing that needs to be done."
"What's that?” a flash of hope flickered in Lizod’s eyes. “Do you perhaps know of a way to get her to take those nuts?"
"N-No," the blue-haired guy pulled out a sticker from within his pockets. "I was talking about this one."
"That—so she likes stickers, huh. Just like Quadrera. Well then, let’s make her eat all those nuts."
The guy's eyes enlarged. "Watch your mouth. Chief Stussy doesn’t like stickers or anything. If she heard that, she'd slice your head into a hundred chunks."
"W-What? My bad," Lirzod partly shut his mouth, and sadness climbed up his throat. "Tell me, what's that for?"
"It's a temporary tattoo of the number 'ten,'" he placed it on Lirzod's little finger on the left hand. "Since we're on the tenth deck of this ship right now, and since this is the highest deck you've reached, you must wear this tattoo somewhere on your body to show your identity to others."
"Oh, it serves as an identity, huh. It's not permanent, right?"
"Of course not. Were you even hearing me?” he slightly stressed his words. “But let me warn you. If you try to remove it using silly means, it will cause you trouble."
"Hmm? How can a tattoo cause trouble—" Lirzod was about to say but stopped himself before finishing his line. "Never mind its importance, but it sure looks like your face."
The blue-haired guy lifted his head and stared fixedly at Lirzod, both holding each other’s gaze for a few seconds. "Is my face pretty or not?"
"Um, your face is fine,” Lirzod pointed his finger at the tattoo, “but this thing's not."
The blue-haired guy ground his teeth. "It's just number 10, and I gave you one small enough to fit on your finger. What's so bad about it?"
"I don't know,” Lirzod stared at the tattoo and shook his head. “It just doesn't evoke any emotions in me if you know what I mean."
"Relax. That's just a temporary tattoo. You are expecting too much.” He sighed. “Let's go. We've already wasted a lot of time."
"Sure."
Lirzod walked behind the blue-haired guy who also took the job of pushing the luggage cart other than just showing the way.
As they were walking, Lirzod casually looked around, and his eyes just happened to look at three horses that gorged on fresh grass. He recognized them right away. You damn fiends. So, here you are! Anger irked his eyes as he looked at them. It’s one thing that you made fools out of us three, but you even looked down on our clan. He squinted his eyes. And now, you are stuffing your stomachs out here like nothing ever happened? You deserve to be spanked seven times for kicking me. Four more times for kicking Sariyu, but since you lot also kicked Burton, you three earned a deduction of three spankings, which still leaves a total of eight spankings. But since you lot didn’t even want to be touched by us, I shall also teach you three a lesson without touching you.
The three horses Lirzod had his eyes on were in a separate stable together with similar-colored ones, as compared to other colored horses, most of which were grouped under larger roofs. Some stables had multiple floors, and dogs and many other animals could be seen on the upper floors. Though there were tens of horses other than just the three that came down the ship before, he just knew that it was those three horses in the separate stable which had messed with them.
“Is something wrong?” the blue-haired guy asked.
Lirzod looked to his right to face him. "By the way, I didn't ask your name yet."
"777."
"Triple Seven?” Lirzod blinked twice. “I didn't ask for your favorite number."
"That's my name."
"Name? What sort of name is that?"
"You will know why it is my name sooner or later," he turned around. “Let’s go.”
"Fine, but hey, can you tell me where the supplies for the horses are stored?"
"I can, but why should I tell you?" 777 asked without even looking back.
Though Lirzod was confused initially, he was then taken aback. A few moments later, he pulled out a copper coin and tossed it into the air, which crossed over 777's head and landed in his palm.
"Just a copper?” 777 snorted and glanced back. “Do you think I'm a beggar?"
Lirzod’s eyes drew in more light. This guy's got greedy eyes. Why didn't I realize this till now? "A-Alright." Lirzod handed another copper coin.
777’s stare only intensified, showcasing the slight anger building in his eyes.
Lirzod handed two more copper coins and exposed his palms. "I can't give you anymore over such simple information. Either take it or give it back."
"I don't have the habit of giving back what's given, especially if it's money," 777 slid the coins into his pocket.
“That’s one nasty habit you’ve got there.” Lirzod harrumphed. Four copper isn’t a big deal, but he made me give an excess of three copper for nothing. He pressed his lips against each other. Just wait, I'll get them back from you in time.
"Ahem,” 777’s voice toned down and got more formal. “Regarding the animal supplies, every deck has a special place built for it called a Storage Hall. You should consider yourself lucky. Our deck's Storage Hall is close by," he pointed his finger toward his eleven o'clock.
Lirzod looked in that direction and saw a wooden garage that was quite larger than the stables the animals were put in. "That's the..." He glanced back at 777, who nodded and said, 'yes.' Lirzod's anger only built up further. It was right here. How did I miss it? He could only gulp down his frustration and give an icy stare to 777. "What's your role on this ship aside from stealing money from the innocent?"
"I told you. I'm a hollow," he casually replied, totally ignoring the words that were of no use for him.
"I know you are a hollow. So am I. I am talking about the—" His hand flighted and caught something that came from the side; however, the moment he caught it, it broke and spoiled his hand with its insides. “What the—an egg?” Lirzod glanced in the direction that the object came from, and a group of four men in white suits and yellow ties was sitting on the stairs of a stable.
"Oow. He caught it?” the one who just threw the egg looked disappointed.
“Haha, I'm right!" another one laughed. “Give me the money.”
“Tch. You got lucky this time. That’s all.”
“Luck or not, winning is all that matters.”
The four men laughed among themselves as they exchanged coins.
777 turned back. "Don't mind those Egg Diggers. They just rag the newcomers by throwing eggs at them.”
“Even though they are—” as Lirzod was saying, something struck his shoulder, and liquid stained his dress, especially the whole arm.
“It hit him! You failed this time! Give me the money. Twice as much.”
“I know. I know. Tch, I thought he’d block it again.”
“Haha, miracles don’t happen twice.”
The cackling of the four men was all Lirzod could hear, and his hands slowly formed into fists.
“You might not want to do that,” 777 said, causing Lirzod to glance at him. He then proceeded to lean closer and spoke in a low voice. “You find these kinds of groups on many decks. Though they may seem disjointed, they all work together under a name called Egg Diggers. They have a great influence on this belt. You can say that they are like a guild made of many guilds, which means if you so much as touch them, they’ll come at you no matter who’s in the right or wrong, but as long as you just ignore their projections, you will be fine."
Lirzod's face went expressionless for a few seconds, but then he smiled. He shook his arm a little, "I don't really like raw eggs. Next time, throw me a boiled one, guys!"
Lirzod’s words surprised 777 and even the four men.
Egg Diggers? Lirzod’s smile settled down as he went into pondering. That sounds familiar for some reason.
“Let’s go,” 777 insisted in a hurried tongue.
“Anyway, see you guys around.” Saying that Lirzod started to walk away.
“A soft boiled egg shouldn’t act like a hard-boiled one!” Suddenly, another egg came flying at Lirzod’s head; however, he caught it without even looking back, surprising those men.
777, who was observing Lirzod from behind, was also astonished a little. He managed to catch the egg without breaking it? Is it a fluke? A faint smile appeared on his face, and he closed the distance. "Oi, oi, where do you think you're going, huh? Without my guidance, you will lose your way inside."
“I wasn't going anywhere. You are just too slow. My followers had long left!" Lirzod looked ahead. Those two left without me. He pouted a little but continued to walk. “Let’s catch up to them. I should enter my room before them.”
“Eh?” 777 was surprised.
As those two left, the four members just bounced eggs in their hands as eleven strokes of pettishness painted their miens. These eggs looked different from the ones they previously hurled at Lirzod. These didn't have shells but seemed more rubbery. The four men had tattoos of eggs on the dorsal surface of their palms, and those tattooed eggs were painted with different human expressions, from laughter, anger, and sadness to fooling around.
“He caught it this time. That’s no fun.”
“Yeah. How are we going to pass our time now?”
“Let’s just change targets.”
“Haha, you are right. Whom should we choose?”
One of them glanced at a foal. “I found one.” He flung the egg at it. With a whoosh, the egg hit the foal's face, and a noise resounded about as if a rubber ball had hit it. That little horse neighed in agony.
Stussy’s ear flickered, and she glanced back at the foal.
At that moment, Lirzod stopped and turned around when the other three men also shot rubbery eggs at the foal, and it kept neighing in trepidation.
“Kekeke, this foal's legs can't compete in our Puissance. Maybe it’s not scary enough. If we throw more eggs, it might start jumping higher.” The four men laughed thoroughly, then peered at Lirzod with gazes that put on ridicule. “Heh, what are you looking at? Beat it, little shit.”
"Don’t bother," 777 said, but Lirzod didn’t seem to be paying attention to his words. "I told you, remember? Just don’t care about their actions. They just want to stir trouble."
"I can forget that they threw eggs at me," Lirzod clenched his fist, breaking the raw egg in his hand, "but, a mad sport made out of a foal to fuel their foolishness is something hard to overlook." He stepped forward in their direction. “I don’t know about its mother, but if they were thinking it’s alone, then it’s not.”
“Don’t fall for their trap,” 777 warned out of worry. “They probably hurt that horse to get to you. If you go now, you’ll be giving them just what they want.”
“Then let’s give them more than what they want—something special that they’ll never forget,” Lirzod said and grinned as he glanced at 777, puzzling him.
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