“How much longer are you going to take?” Mulyk was sitting outside the clinic, wearing a sleepy face. She had woken up a few minutes ago, but Hundred was still cleaning inside. And the door had been shut all this time.
“I’m almost done,” Hundred’s voice came from the inside. Only the four uppermost corners remained, but they were a bit too high for him to reach even after he stood atop a stool stationed on a chair. There were spiderwebs at the corner, so he had to clean those, but it was out of his reach. So he threw the broom like a spear repeatedly and took care of the webs little by little. And he caught the broom before it fell down. “Hehe,” he felt proud that his tactic was working. “I can’t catch bullets, but I can catch brooms. Wow, that sounded nice.” After the dry dirt and webs were taken care of, he switched to using a wet mop. He quickly took care of three corners and was working at the fourth corner, the one near the door.
Mulyk stood and rubbed the dirt off her back. “I ended up sleeping on the floor.” After stretching her arms abroad to the point she ended up standing on toes, she swiveled and pushed the door open.
Just after Hundred tossed the broom up, the door slammed against the chair, and the stool was thrown off. “Wuooh!” Hundred fell to the side, and his face hit the wall.
“Just what are you—” as Mulyk stepped in, the base of the broom hit the top of the door and overturned, and the bristles fell on top of Mulyk’s head. All the dirt and spiderwebs were adorned to her hair. And she stood frozen, with fury flickering in her eyes. As Hundred stood and barked at her, her body temperature rose, so much so it gave off the impression that if there was a shallow river nearby, it would've evaporated. “You wooden-head!” she picked up the broom and began to beat him.
“W-What are you doing?” Hundred ran around, but she chased him. “Wait, no. Ah! Wait!” He jumped on and off the beds, but he couldn’t escape the sentence of the elf or the smell of the broom.
A few hours later.
“Just what did she do to him?” Hundred, who was sitting in a chair beside Lirzod’s bed, couldn’t help but show his frustration. “More than six hours have passed, and he’s still sleeping like a baby.”
“Just waste a mug of water, and he’ll be up in no time,” Mulyk said, looking somewhat pleased. After all, her clinic now looked cleaner than it ever was. Hundred had done a better job than she had expected, and he also shared apples, so her demeanor toward him changed a bit, but still, because of him, she had to go and take a bath. In any case, since she punished him, she seemed to have already forgotten the broom-incident. “Didn’t you say you were thinking of becoming his offsider?”
“Yes,” he looked heavenward for a moment and then glanced at Lirzod.
“With him as your nipper, you are not going to go far,” she said and softly simpered.
“What?” his forehead puckered as he lifted an eyebrow at her.
“I’ve warned you,” she gave a half-shrug. “Consider that a gift for cleaning the clinic well.”
Hundred didn’t even know what to say, but he sniffled a bit.
“Hey, would you go out for a minute?” she brushed her palms together.
“Why?” his expression hardened.
“I have some work to do,” she said, her breath held. “Just close the door while going out. Count to fifty and then come in.”
“For what?” Hundred’s face contorted.
“Just do it,” she wore a poker face. “This is my clinic.”
“Alright, alright,” though he felt lazy to move, he had to get up and walk out. After counting to sixty, he came back in, but to his shock, she was nowhere to be seen. “What the… where the heck did she go?” He looked under the beds, but she wasn’t there. He placed his hands on his head, with a great amount of shock flickering in his eyes. “Just what sort of trick is she playing?”
“Look out!” Just then, Lirzod shouted, scaring the living daylights out of Hundred, who fell back in the chair and rolled over and crashed on his head. “Hhm?” Lirzod slowly moved his mouth, and then his eyes opened, thanks to the sound that the chair and Hundred together made. Seeing Hundred, he was surprised. “You... why are you in my hometown?”
“Who’s in your hometown! Come out of your damn dreams already,” Hundred barked. “And stop shouting in your dreams! You almost scared me to death!”
“What, so…” Lirzod slowly got up and sat on his bum and looked around to confirm his position, “I’m still on the ship.”
“Of course. You don’t look too happy about it.”
Lirzod yawned a little and rubbed his eyes. “Hm?” Just then, he noticed that something was in his hand. When he opened it, there was a small folded paper.
“What’s that?” Hundred looked intrigued.
Lirzod unfolded it at a slow pace, raising Hundred’s interest even more, and what they saw were a few words: My story isn’t unique. Maybe, one day, if fate has it, I might feel like sharing it with you.
“Who wrote that?” Hundred asked. “Whose story are we talking about?”
Lirzod replied a bit late, “The turtle-haired woman.”
“T-Turtle-hair?” Hundred raked his fingers through his hair. “What sort of title is that? Wait, do turtles even have hair?”
Lirzod crumpled up the paper and tossed it into his mouth and chewed.
“W-Whoa, why are you eating that?” Hundred got bewildered.
“I’m hungry,” Lirzod said, scratching the neck region with the forefinger. “Did you bring any food for me?”
Hundred’s eyes broadened. “N-No.” He almost wanted to slap himself on the forehead.
“C’mon, man,” Lirzod looked a bit displeased. “You didn’t even think of bringing some food for me? Is this how an offsider cares for their nipper?”
“U-Uh,” Hundred couldn’t even reply this time. Though it was hard to come across any good food on the lower decks, he felt guilty for not even thinking of bringing some food. Sariyu did bring a bag of apples, but the thought didn’t cross his mind that she brought them for Lirzod. After Sariyu left, and after the broom-incident, he shared the apples with Mulyk.
“Though there’s food in my room on the tenth deck. I don’t think I can get fast delivery to this place. Mm?” Lirzod’s eyes then fell on the bottle placed on the desk. “Oh, at least you got some water. Thanks.”
Hundred squeezed his lips together. He had to bring it over and hand it over to the boy. Actually, Hundred brought that bottle for himself and not for Lirzod, so it made him feel even more guilty.
Lirzod finished the one-liter bottle in one go. “Whew, that hit the spot, but…” he rubbed his abdomen, “my stomach still feels like a furnace. Is it because of what I think it is?”
“I-I will go and bring some food for you,” Hundred whirled toward the exit.
“No, wait,” Lirzod said. “We’ll go together.”
“Can you move?” Hundred doubtfully asked, his head tilted to the side.
“Of course, but…” Lirzod paused for a moment. “Where’s Sariyu? I didn’t see her before either.”
“She, she was here until a few minutes ago, but you weren’t waking up, so she left.”
“She left?” Lirzod drew in a long breath. “She couldn’t wait till I got up.”
“You’ve slept for many hours, you know,” he bit a nail and was about spit to the side, but then spat in his own hand.
“Then what about you? Didn’t you wait for me?”
“W-Well, I…” Hundred rubbed the back of his head and embarrassingly smiled.
“Yes, I get it,” Lirzod sighed. “You want to become my offsider, so you stayed beside my bed. I get it.”
Hundred frowned. “Yeah, I did, but... that’s not all there is to it.” He loomed closer. “Even if that’s the whole reason for me being here, then tell me, who doesn’t keep tabs on who helped who?” he spoke back in a mild temper. “Didn’t you just get disappointed that your friend wasn’t here now?”
“That, I just wished that she was here now,” Lirzod slightly pouted. “That’s my feeling. It’s just what it is.”
“Well, wishing alone is okay, but any more would be drivel. However, if you can prove to me that what you’re saying is true,” he stopped by the bed and stood straight, “then I’ll agree that I’m here now solely for selfish reasons.”
“Look,” Lirzod lifted his chin up, so his eyes met with the other. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“You’ve said what’s in your mind,” Hundred’s expression was rather settled, at least for appearances. “I’m totally fine with that. Actually, it’s good that things turned out this way,” he took a seat. “We’ll know if we’re really compatible with climbing the ship together or not.”
“What do you want me to say?” Lirzod’s expression softened, and he gave a half-smile. “I wouldn’t be talking to you right now if I really think of you as a bad person.”
“You don’t think of me as a bad person, huh,” a line surfaced between Hundred’s brows. “I was in the hall when the Hardy Brothers attacked you, but I couldn’t step in. I just watched from afar, and that was all I could do.” He clenched his fists and drew his lower lip between his teeth. I’m not strong anymore.
“It’s alright,” Lirzod didn’t even think much before responding.
The tension in Hundred’s face eased up at once, at least most of it. “R-Really?” he couldn’t help but ask. “You mean it?”
“Of course,” Lirzod nodded. “That thought didn’t even cross my mind until you said it, so it’s not worth worrying over.”
“I-Is that so…” Hundred wasn’t expecting such a response. His shoulders slumped a little, and his eyes shifted downward. “Still…” He thought about what happened in the hall. “You were in real trouble back then. I wish I could have helped you. But to be honest, I expected that someone would step in to save you, given how much profit you’ve handed to hundreds of hollows in that hall. However… not a single soul came forward.” His stomach turned sour. “That’s reality.”
Lirzod smiled and massaged the back of his neck. “They must have their reasons like you. What I did with them was just business, so there’s no real reason as to why they should trouble themselves for me. Of course, I’d have liked it if someone stepped in for ending the ruckus, but those who came only did so for other reasons.”
“Those bastards only involved themselves for money,” Hundred ground his teeth. “It’s worse than not helping. It’s directly disregarding your existence. How can they be so selfish like lizards?”
Lirzod thought back of Murugan and Muttia. “Being selfless isn’t simple. What they did might be wrong, but...” He remembered how he briefly helped Hardy so that he could beat him on his own. It was not the best thing to do at the moment, but he let his emotions get the better of him. He now lightly pressed the back of his neck out of frustration. “I’m not in a position to point my finger at others.”
“But…” Hundred also looked frustrated and wore a pale expression. From his point of view, he wasn’t even eligible to have this conversation, given how he stood at the sidelines throughout that incident. Even though he wanted to step in during many instances, thinking was one thing, but executing was another thing. Though his heart was willing, his body just didn’t allow him back then to throw himself into their battle. Now, he was so angry at himself, he wanted to run his head through a wall.
“Still, I’m glad that you’re feeling bad for how things turned out,” Lirzod loosened the grip on his neck and placed his hand on Hundred’s shoulder. “That’s more than enough.”
Nevertheless, Hundred’s countenance didn’t brighten by much. As an offsider, he should be the one guiding his nipper through the journey, but he felt like he failed his duty before he even became an offsider.
“I wouldn’t say that I’m happy for everything that happened, because so many people got injured, and so many cats lost their lives, all because of me,” Lirzod pressed his lips against each other, and he gaped at his own hands. “Nothing I do will bring those lives back.”
“Don’t blame yourself. You tried to stop him, didn’t you?” Hundred voiced his mind. “Besides, had the authorities shown up earlier, things wouldn’t have turned out this way.”
“Why blame them for my fault?” Lirzod had not breathed in the past minute or so, and he found it hard to take a breath. “I only wanted to end the rumors flying around about those brothers by revealing the truth of their past from their own tongues, but…” he sucked in a breath through the mouth. “I guess life is not all plain sailing, whether your heart is open or not… whether you bust a gut to do some good or not.” His shoulders lowered quite a bit.
The last few words resonated with Hundred, especially because he had failed to step in to help Lirzod when he was battling the brothers alone. “You just told me that it’s okay, and now you’re feeling down? Sometimes when we try to help, people take it the wrong way. There’s nothing we can do about it, other than changing ourselves for the better.” His voice sounded certain and sanguine, “It is hard to do good, sure, but it is harder to find a good friend in this world. I don't know how you gauge good or bad in people, but I gauge it through my father’s words, ‘He whose happiness derives from that of others is unlikely to suffer alone.’ Those words alone have greatly helped me study people and learn from betrayals.” His eyes bore into the boy. “Now, I don’t know much about you, but seeing how your friend went so far to get you treated, I can somewhat safely assume that she sees you as a good person. If you ask me, that’s good enough for me to bet on you. Whether I win or not comes next.
“Your friend might not be here now, but she was there when you were in need. Monks also don’t help someone just because they were asked to, especially something as exigent and extortionate as healing others. Still, for whatever reason, that monk chose to help you out of her own will. Now, both those people aren’t here, but at least, the fact that they helped you... shouldn’t it be enough to make you feel a bit better?”
Lirzod paused for a moment, and though his face gained a bit of color, he slightly shook his head. “I’m really thankful for the help I’ve received to recover to this state so quickly,” he stressed his words a little, “but how can I feel better after I let others get caught up in my mess?” He took a breath through his mouth, “And as for you… You were selling test tokens for higher prices, weren’t you?”
Hundred’s shoulders jerked. “I-I never said I implemented my father’s words without failure, b-but still, weren’t you happy even after buying the token in black?”
“I won’t say I didn’t. However...”
“I was a fool, okay?” Hundred said, his words gaining weight, “I’ve never listened to my father until I lost everything, except this useless life.”
“Now, you’re hoping to turn things back, huh.”
“I’m not sure about that, but maybe… I do, or maybe I don’t,” Hundred couldn’t speak with certainty. “The world has robbed me of my strength soon after my eyes were opened. I don’t know if I ever can dream of doing exciting things again, but I don’t see any point in regretting my past decisions anymore. I thought it’s time I try climbing the ship once more after meeting you. Though I haven’t done much till now, I’ll do my best from here on out and will help you climb the decks fast.”
Lirzod eyes went out of focus, “Why do people hurry so much in climbing the decks?”
“What do you mean? Isn’t it obvious? The faster you climb the ship, the easier your fame spreads across the ship, and it will get you invitations from powerful guilds on the upper decks. With their support, you won't have to worry about getting bothered by goons at every corner of the street. Also, the higher you climb, the more uses you’ll have, be it on this ship, or even in the outer world.”
“Guilds… I’ve heard about them. They are a union of people with similar interests, right?”
“Well, that’s how guilds started, or so they say, but now, it’s more like an association of people for mutual aid and securing money through missions. These guilds are everywhere, not just on this ship but in the world as a whole. Some top guilds even pay their members just for being part of their guild.”
“It sounds nice, but won’t we waste our time by joining these guilds? I thought climbing the decks was the priority for everyone.”
“You see… It takes a lot to adapt to the changes in the decks and their tests. Not many are good enough to climb to the top in one go. You can count such characters on your fingers,” Hundred said as if speaking out of some experience. “But most will end up settling on some deck, looking to boost their strength or rethink things. So, during that time, joining guilds is the best option. Not only will they gain a number of connections, but also their life on this ship will be more secure. However, those who don’t like doing missions would either join some organizations or gangs and whatnot. It’s all up to their choices and needs.”
“So, which deck do you think we should stop for our first settlement?”
Hundred slipped into thinking for a moment. In the Atom Belt, the Deck of Trade and the Deck of Circus are good, but… He took in a deep breath. “It has to be the hundredth one,” Hundred said without any hesitation. “Any lower just isn't worth it. Once you’ve been to the hundredth deck, you’ll be respected by those on these lower decks, well, at least by most. That’s why many people who’ve been to the hundredth deck end up settling on these lower decks and share them as they see fit.”
“Hundredth deck is what I’m after, too,” Lirzod excitedly said.
“Good to know. Shall we get going then?” Hundred was about to get off his seat.
“Yeah, but let’s go to this deck’s commander first.”
“Mm? Why?”
“He invited me to lunch. Let’s go there first,” Lirzod was almost drooling. “Given his job, he should have some good desserts with nut-toppings.”
“What? You want to eat desserts now?” Hundred was slack-jawed. “That monk may have healed you, but you should avoid sweets for a few days.”
“Eh?” Lirzod was disconcerted. “Then let’s avoid sweets, and eat the rest.”
“That…” Hundred couldn’t come up with a countermanding reply right away. “Wait, can you even eat nuts with missing teeth?”
“I only lost four of my front teeth, so crunching can be done with the back teeth. As for foods that need biting, I’ll somehow manage with the rest.”
“Still...” Hundred shook his head vehemently. “No crunchy food until you get your teeth back.”
“EHH?” Lirzod’s mouth was agape.
Meanwhile, inside the Drill Hall.
One trainee was especially working hard compared to the rest. He used the flesh and bones of the prisoners for his target practice.
“It looks like Big Nick’s going after her even though he lost badly.”
“He has suffered a loss in the hands of many women, but then he ended up beating them all in the end, didn’t he?”
“Yeah, that’s how this bloke managed to raise his strength—by making a mess of fresh flowers. Most believe that he’s the closest to knowing the might among all the trainees.”
“Wow, then his strength is going to spike soon.”
“Certainly. He’s been working on it for more than half-a-decade after all.”
Many other trainees waiting in the line kept on talking about Big Nick because he used the hard-earned drylls to get extra time for practicing his techniques on the prisoners. Drylls were points earned when a trainee won over another trainee during formal competitions known as Dryll Bouts. The winner would receive a quarter of the points the loser had. In case the loser didn’t have any, they should later give a quarter of the points that the winner had at the time. These points brought many luxuries in the hall; one, for example, would be to get oil massaged by other trainees by offering them points and whatnot. So every trainee loved to have some drylls under their belt.
Each dryll could get them a liter of water, but since every trainee was allowed to freely drink two liters of water every day without having to wait in the lines, nobody really used the drylls for water, although many outsiders always urged the trainees to give them water for a certain amount of money, Sean strictly condemned that practice. He even imprisoned some trainees who had been caught in the process of selling water, and they eventually became practice targets for other trainees. Having said that, the trainees were still allowed to donate water to outsiders without expecting anything in exchange; however, only rarely any trainee would ever freely give water away, for two liters wasn’t really enough for them who practiced for twelve hours a day. Still and all, some trainees would often secretly sell water to others, sometimes even inside the drill hall itself because it was often teeming with people.
Currently, in the drill hall, Big Nick was the one with the most number of points, 269. Just by using the maximum-allowed ten points, he gained an extra hundred minutes of practice time with the prisoners.
Soon after he was done with the practice, he looked tired. He downed a full liter bottle and poured the last bit on his face.
At that moment, an almost four-feet-tall boy walked up to him. “You are Big Nick, right?” his voice contained a subtle sense of indignation.
“Mm?” Nick glanced down only to see a little fellow, who kept his face hidden by tilting it down a bit. “Yeah. That’s me.” He bent down and brought his face closer while smiling. “Did you come here for water, kid? But, too bad, I’ve finished all of it.”
The little boy lifted his face and spat straight in Nick’s face, startling everyone. He then pulled out the knife he had been hiding all along and thrust it at Nick.
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