by Ennki Hakari
Mia flipped through the air and readied her blade, though her face contorted in pain with the effort. She wasn’t able to lift the sword with her injured arm.
A look of what could have easily been happiness flashed in the monster’s bloodred eyes.
A strong wind rustled through the trees as the dark mist expanded, enveloping the monster. With a powerful lunge, it tore off into the shadowy forest.
Mia was still staring after it when she suddenly sensed something behind her—the monster.
It had used the rustling leaves to cover its movement and was now bearing down on her again, fangs the lengths of her arms gnashing as it ran.
“No!”
“Body to wind, gale shuriken!”
Right at the last second, a voice called out, and a glowing gust of wind slammed straight into the monster.
“Gyraaaaagh!”
The monster was struck hard on its flank, a large gash appearing on the left side of its face as it tumbled to the ground. It had been moments away from tearing open Mia’s throat.
She suddenly noticed a person in front of her.
“Mia, are you okay?”
“Sasuke!”
Sasuke, likely on his way back from a mission, stood before Mia with his sword drawn. It wasn’t often that she saw him outfitted in full ninja garb, since he rarely wore it around the village.
After letting out a sigh of relief, Sasuke turned his attention back to the monster. “What’s an umbra tigris doing out here in these woods?”
No sooner had the words left his mouth than the dark mist surrounding the monster began to expand again. The creature slunk back into the forest, its bloodred eyes the last to fade away into the darkness.
They could still hear its heavy breathing as it continued stalking its prey. The umbra tigris wouldn’t give up so easily.
The rustling trees calmed slightly, replaced by the sounds of insects. Sasuke looked around at the trees behind Mia, steel in his gaze.
“Can you use your water magic?”
Mia nodded.
“Good. I was just on my way back from a mission, and I don’t have a lot of strength left. It’s too dangerous for you to go back on your own, so we’ll have to wait for it to come in for another strike. When it does, we’ll make our move.”
Mia nodded, sheathed her sword, and turned her back to Sasuke. She squinted into the forest and focused on her left hand, trying to summon a water spirit.
The monster was much more cautious now that it was injured. It carefully stalked through the dark trees, waiting for the wind to pick up again and mask the sound of its footsteps.
Mia swallowed hard. She could feel a tingling in the back of her throat.
“Hah?!”
“Wha?”
A powerful gust of wind swept through the forest in the blink of an eye, swirling from the blades of grass at their feet all the way up to the tops of the trees. The entire forest shuddered.
Mia could barely see anything in front of her. She focused on the sound of Sasuke’s voice.
“Body to wind, spiral tempest!”
A vortex of glowing air formed around Sasuke before shooting off toward the umbra tigris.
“Gyaaaaaaugh!”
Bright red blood gushed from the monster as the wind cut deep into its flesh.
The gashes themselves weren’t very deep, so this technique only served to slow the creature. It didn’t look ready to retreat just yet.
Mia turned to face it head-on.
A small cone of water rested in the palm of her hand. She closed her fist, and the water launched forward, drilling deep into one of the countless cuts that marred the monster’s body.
“Body to water, bloodstream hell needle!”
The monster’s body started to inflate as pins of water stabbed out of its skin, giving it the appearance of a large porcupine.
The monster spasmed, water needles taking on a tinge of red as they filled with blood. The umbra tigris collapsed.
“We did it! I killed my first big monster, Sasuke!”
As Mia began to come down from the adrenaline high, she was overcome with a giddiness she could barely contain. She jumped up and down with joy. Sasuke walked over to her and solemnly raised his hand.
The dry crack of flesh hitting flesh reverberated throughout the forest. Mia brought her hand up to her cheek in astonishment.
The stinging sensation grew as her cheek burned red. She dropped to the ground and broke down into tears.
“Waaaaaaaah! Waaaaaaaaugh!!!”
Fat tears rolled down Mia’s cheeks as she sobbed. Sasuke, tears welling up in the corners of his own eyes, leaned down to pull the young girl close.
“I thought you were going to die! Don’t you remember what Master Hanzo told you? Don’t ever go out into the woods alone! Do you want me to lose my family all over again?!”
Mia continued to sob as she wrapped her arms tightly around Sasuke, his voice now coming out strangled as he fought back tears.
“I’m… I’m s-s-sorry!!!”
Sasuke ruffled Mia’s hair as he patted her head.
Now that the tense moment had passed, the two could hear their stomachs grumbling. Mia, her face still buried deep in Sasuke’s chest, let out a soft laugh. This brought a smile to Sasuke’s lips.
“I picked up some wheat while in town. Why don’t we head on back and have some soup?”
Mia nodded, though she still didn’t look up at him. “Okay…”
Sasuke pulled up one her ears, which had flattened against her head, and leaned in close to whisper. “But first, Master Hanzo is going to have a few words with you.”
Mia’s ears and tail stood at attention as she looked up at Sasuke, her eyes wet and puffy.
“Eek!”
Sasuke laughed and ran his hand through Mia’s hair.
Once they got close enough to hear the sounds of the other villagers, Mia’s tail slumped back down.
Chapter 3:
The Tiger Clan
Off in the distance, the sun began peeking up above the horizon, shining its light across the vast southern continent, and, of more interest to the ship’s passengers, on the massive town that hugged the coastline.
Despite the incredible length of the ship we rode on, it felt small in comparison to the sprawling town that lay before us. It was bigger than any human town I’d seen thus far.
The village of Landfrea, where we’d left port just the day before, was pretty large in its own right, but the town of Plymouth was something else entirely.
The tree-trunk high rises that were a common sight in elven villages were nowhere to be seen, instead replaced by mammoth buildings that put even the Rhoden Kingdom to shame. Somehow, they managed to fit in naturally with the rolling hills the town sat on.
Chiyome let out a gasp of surprise at the sight, while Goemon stood at her side, arms crossed in silence.
Ariane let out a sigh, wonderment clear in her voice. “I’d heard of Plymouth’s size before, but this is truly something to behold. It makes human towns look like little more than hamlets.”
I nodded in agreement. “I bet they could fit 100,000 people into a city this size.”
The closer the Rievbelta drew to Plymouth’s port, the more ships we passed, hailing from both here and afar. The ships were all crewed by mountain people, suggesting that cargo was often transported by ship here.
The Rievbelta arrived at one of the slips at Plymouth’s dock and several burly men came running up to pull the ship in.
The crew began the work of preparing the cargo to be lowered down while the captain greeted the dock workers. We went back to our cabins and grabbed our bags before taking a wooden gangplank from the ship’s deck down to the dock.
As we stepped off, we were met by several mountain people dressed in light armor and armed with spears—the port’s guards—who subjected all passengers to an inspection before allowing them to enter the town.
Ariane handed over the letter of introdu
ction she’d been given by Landfrea’s elder. After a cursory inspection, we were allowed to enter Plymouth proper.
The town was buzzing with life. It was like nothing I’d ever seen.
The majority of the people we crossed paths with had some sort of beastly characteristics, including ears, tails, and more, though there were more than a few dark elves as well, like the ones we’d seen aboard the Rievbelta.
Up ahead of us was a market filled with row upon row of shops and stalls stocked with all manner of products, which had probably just come off the boats. Customers rushed in to purchase their wares.
The crowd was dense, like what you’d find at a summer festival, though we still managed to draw more than our fair share of attention. Apparently, a man fully decked out in armor with a green-furred animal on his head tended to stand out.
Goemon, the one who’d normally stick out in a human town, managed to blend in easily with the crowd. His bare-chested figure looked identical to many of the people around us.
I served as the group’s leading edge, pushing our way through the throngs of people.
“I can’t believe how many people are here,” Ariane said. “We’d better not lose sight of each other. If one of us got lost, it would be near impossible to find a way back to the group.”
This was probably the first time she’d ever traveled so far from home, to say nothing of the massive crowds we had to fight through.
Even for me, someone used to congested cities, it was difficult to get back into the hang of pushing through such large masses of people.
Ah well, I’d get used to it.
We were surrounded by stalls filled to the brim with fragrant spices and all sorts of food, the likes of which I’d never seen. This, at least, helped me forget the bustle around us.
Ponta’s tail whipped as it looked around excitedly at all the unique and interesting things the market had to offer.
I walked with my head on a constant pivot, inspecting all the interesting sights that lay before us. I overheard a conversation at one of the stalls and stopped to listen closer, looking for the source.
“No way! You’ve never charged that much before, Grandpa! What gives?”
The customer, a man who looked like a werewolf, was yelling at the old shop owner, a bear of some sort, while waving his hand toward one of the spices lining the counter.
The bear man raised an eyebrow at the ornery customer, looking more annoyed than anything, as he explained curtly. It looked as if he didn’t really care whether or not the man bought anything.
“Whaddya want me to do about it? The tiger clans off to the west haven’t been around as much as they used to. These are the last red nails I’ve got.”
The customer muttered a few more objections as he shoved his money back into his pouch and stalked away.
Once the argument was over, I turned my attention to the source of the men’s conflict. As soon as I caught sight of it, I made my way toward the stall.
“Hey, wait a minute, Arc! They’re selling tomatoes over here!”
Ariane had apparently spotted the literal fruits of our labor, the item that had brought us down to the southern continent in the first place. As soon as she saw me heading off in the opposite direction, she began yelling after me.
I raised my hand to signal for her to be quiet and continued toward the stall.
Once I got close enough, I examined the “red nail” that had been the source of the men’s conflict. The talon-shaped object was about the size of an index finger. Its dry surface was a bright shade of red, and it was covered in wrinkles.
I’d seen this food…spice before.
I picked one of the red nails up. “Excuse me, sir. Is this spicy?”
The old shopkeeper was taken aback at the sudden appearance of a large armored figure before him. Gauging that I might be a customer, he slowly nodded.
“I, ah, yes. They aren’t that popular, except for those who’ve got a taste for them, but they get their name from their spicy burn.”
That was all the confirmation I needed.
This was almost certainly a chili pepper back in my world.
I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to come here in search of tomatoes and stumble across a chili pepper while I was at it.
Whereas tomatoes were incredibly useful in the ingredient world, chili peppers were something of a catch-all spice.
Put the two together and you’d get…arrabbiata sauce maybe?
My head was now full of all sorts of Italian recipes as I started inspecting the other items carefully arranged on the counter.
Just then, Ariane appeared. She took one look at the red nail and cocked her head.
“Oh, you’re going to buy that too?”
“Yep. I never imagined I’d find this here! I’d like to buy it if I can.”
Ariane inquired about the price. She responded in much the same way the werewolf man had.
“Whoa! Just because you don’t have many left doesn’t mean you can charge that much for it!”
Ariane was nearly beside herself at the price the bear man had quoted. Chiyome nodded her support. As usual, Goemon simply stood by silently, gazing curiously at this red nail we were fussing over.
As for me, I didn’t even give it a second thought. I pulled several gold coins from my wallet and tried to pay. Ariane stared on disapprovingly, the look in her eyes suggesting that she simply couldn’t believe I’d be willingly pay such an absurd quoted price.
“What a rip-off.”
The elven economy was focused more on bartering than on the exchange of money, which made her reaction seem a little strange to me. However, I wondered if she was more used to monetary transactions due to her technically being a citizen of Maple, the capital city of the Great Canada Forest. Why did women care so much about prices, anyway?
My mind started wandering toward the differences between men and women until the frowning shopkeeper opened his mouth and brought be back to reality.
“I told the guy before you…my already-limited stock isn’t getting replaced, since the tiger clan hasn’t shown their faces around these parts of late.”
This was exactly what I’d heard earlier, but at least it explained why he wasn’t interested in negotiating. Since the pepper was already dehydrated, that freed the shopkeeper from any concerns about it rotting. He could afford to wait until he got the price he wanted.
Ariane’s face screwed up into a scowl, but she seemed to realize the position we were in.
What surprised me most, though, was that the usually quiet Goemon’s eyes seemed to respond ever so slightly to this conversation. But that could have just been my imagination.
So long as Ariane showed such reticence toward the shopkeeper’s asking price, it was going to be difficult for me to buy the red nail no matter how long we stood around.
I decided to change the subject. “Do you know of any other shops that deal in red nails?”
Of course, I didn’t really think that the shopkeeper would introduce me to a rival. As expected, the man tensed up and shook his head firmly. “Like I told ya, the tiger clan to the west hasn’t been around lately to bring in any more red nails, so no one’s got any to sell. If you don’t believe me, feel free to have a look around the market for yerself.” The shopkeeper crossed his arms and let out a snort.
He seemed to be telling the truth. I turned my attention back to Ariane.
She nodded, as if something the man said had suddenly clicked. “Actually, I’ve never even seen them before, at least not back in Canada.”
“By the way, do you know where I can find the tiger clan?” I gave a quick glance around the market, but couldn’t identify anyone who bore any resemblance to a tiger.
Alas, my hopes of the shopkeeper telling me where I could find these people were dashed. He clamped his mouth shut and averted his gaze. It made sense, I supposed. After all, who would want to tell a potential customer how to cut out the middle man and do business with the producer d
irectly?
There was no point in pressing the issue. Instead, I decided to put a little pressure on the shopkeeper, but Ariane butted in before I had the chance.
She sounded exasperated. “What do you even plan on doing with that, Arc? Didn’t he just say that it’s spicy enough to kill? You’re always obsessed with the strangest things. First the kraken, now this…”
Before I had a chance to respond, Chiyome and Ponta beat me to the punch.
“The kraken was really good!”
“Kyiiii!”
Chiyome’s voice was clear and firm as she locked her azure eyes on Ariane. The little green furball chimed in as well.
Even Goemon was nodding.
The conversation was entirely derailed at this point, so I decided to explain the ways this red nail could be used.
“I can make an incredibly delectable dish with just this and a tomato…I think. So that’s why I’m hoping to find a steady, and hopefully affordable, supply.”
Ariane furrowed her brow at this, but the shopkeeper was the first to get a word in.
“You’re going to use the red nail in a dish?! I’ve heard stories of the tiger clan cooking them up in order to invigorate their fighting spirits, but I’ve never known anyone around these parts to do something crazy like that!”
The look of surprise on the shopkeeper’s face was surpassed only by my own. “Then what are these red nails used for if not for cooking?”
Honestly, I couldn’t think of any use that didn’t involve eating them.
Ariane and Chiyome seemed interested in the answer as well, and turned their attention toward the shopkeeper.
“Around these parts, people mix them into a liquid and use it to keep away insects or deter monsters by spraying it into their eyes. I’ve also heard that you’ll get stronger if you put slices of red nail up your nose.”
I recalled that the capsaicin in chili peppers, the source of their heat, could keep food from rotting and drive away insects, though, the thing about stuffing it up your nose was new to me. Maybe it was some kind of ritual.
But at least that answered one question. Even if the members of the tiger clan used it in their dishes, the red nails still weren’t considered a food elsewhere.