Chapter 289

  Moonlake City (III)

  Though the exterior reminded me of a post-war building left alone to serve as a grim reminder of what had taken place there, the building's interior was... surprisingly pleasant. There was a rustic, almost artisan feel to it, as all furniture was covered with pink satin, with the walls themselves being home to over a dozen paintings--some in watercolor, some in oil, and some with graphite.

  Only Lao Shun and I entered while the kids stayed outside; there was a set of dividing walls both to our left and right, and from the space between them soon came out a rather old woman, hunched and short, draped in a loose, white, cotton shirt and a long, dark skirt. She had a colorful bandana-like scarf wrapped around her head, though streaks of white and gray hair fell from the gaps.

  She eyed both of us rather suspiciously for a moment before Lao Shun opened his mouth and spoke... a language I've never heard of before.

  It was a bit of a whiplash, to be honest, despite the fact it shouldn't have been. I mean, of course there are other languages besides the one I was speaking at the moment; it should be more of a shock that I hadn't encountered one before today.

  It sounded, very broadly, like a mix of a random East Asian and sub-Saharan set of languages, though that's only loosely, at best.

  The woman's expression seemed to relax slightly as I glanced back and saw kids peeking in from the doorframe, their expressions coated with curiosity. I also heard Dai Xiu ask what language it was, and Wan Lan actually answer.

  "It sounds like L'tish," she said. "Madame mentioned it once or twice when she was teaching me history. Supposedly, most of the Ancient Clanfolk speak it, as it was once considered the common tongue."

  "Ooh! Why isn't it anymore?" Dai Xiu pressed.

  "I'm not sure," Wan Lan said, sighing. "Madame never said."

  "For the same reason most tongues fade," Long Tao commented. "There was a war. And then another. And then a hundred more. And, before long, speaking L'tish was a symbol of oppression--only those from Noble Clans would use it, while the common folk used Anvali. And then, in due time, the same thing happened to Anvali."

  As the kids ruminated on Long Tao's words, the old alchemist reached over and hugged the woman as she laughed, glancing over at me and then toward the kids, waving her arm as though inviting us in.

  "The Madame will take us in," Lao Shun said. "But..."

  "... what?"

  "I promised you'd bathe her late at night, under the full moon."

  "Alright," knowing full well he was yanking me, I agreed with a shrug. "Won't be the first time I have to bathe an elderly woman to have a place to sleep."

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  "... what?" His jaw turned agape, though mine did too, almost, as I didn't realize the kids had come in already and heard me say those words. Comically, Wan Lan reached out and covered Light's ears while Xi Zhao covered Xing Feng's. And Dai Xiu... she covered her own.

  And yet, they didn't look at me with disgust--no. Before I could even begin to offer an explanation, pity swelled in the form of tears, and as they looked at me with such sympathy, I felt my heart bleed.

  "Master... has suffered... so much..." Dai Xiu said.

  "And to think he is willing to suffer yet again, just so we have a place to sleep! No, Master! We are fine sleeping under the stars! Please don't sacrifice yourself any more!" Xi Zhao said.

  "Master, Xing Feng will bathe the woman! I have bathed Grandpa before, so I can do it!"

  ... Long Tao was on the verge of laughing, and even Lao Shun went from slack-jawed to teary-eyed (though for a very different reason than the kids), and I? Well... I could only sigh, rub my temples, and meditate on the reality that I really cannot say anything remotely out of pocket, as it always comes back to bite me in the ass.

  As the old woman ushered us into our rooms--one for me, one for Lao Shun, and one for all the kids—the old alchemist told me that the meal would be ready in about two hours and that he'd actually made the payment already in the form of a pill. What pill? Just a pill, as he was quite elusive about specifications.

  ... not that I pressed particularly hard, as it had nothing to do with me, ultimately. So long as we had secure lodging, I was a happy guy.

  But the prospect of a meal... it, it was calling out to me. I mean, I've had okay meals before, but I've mostly been eating plain rice and whatever monstrosity Long Tao cooked up that day for months now, it feels like. Well, there was that brief period where we stayed in Silvercrest City, where I did eat a meal or two that were fine, but aside from that...

  And I've always been the proponent of 'You'll never eat a meal as hearty as one made by a random grandma that you've never seen before or will ever see again in your life'.

  I spent the two hours until the meal unwinding, pretty much, and sort of mapping out what our lives for the next few weeks will be like. Truth be told, I'm not even quite sure exactly how we'll be treasure hunting. Do we just go to the ends of those piers and then jump off the ledge, dive down, and... I don't know, rummage?

  That can't be it, right?

  But I also can't figure out what else it would be.

  Regardless, as it turns out, I didn't have all that much to map or plan out--not that it had ever done me any good in this world, as plans have this remedial tendency to fall apart around Long Tao and the assortment of main characters that are accompanying me.

  I'm fairly certain it won't be much different here--at some point, something will stir a chaotic scenario, and the kids will somehow be at the epicenter of it.

  It was about an hour and a half in that my nostrils began to itch, picking up on something. As I opened the doors of my very simple room--a singular bed lodged in the corner against a small window darkened by a curtain and an even smaller nightstand on the other side--the scent became stronger.

  The doors opposite of mine parted, and Dai Xiu peeked out, grinning when she saw me.

  "Master! You smelled it too?"

  "I did," I nodded.

  "It smells so much better than when Senior Brother Tao cooks!" Oh, I can only imagine the twitching of those annoying eyebrows...

  But... it did.

  In fact, it was eerily nostalgic. Reminded me of late shifts on Friday nights, when I'd come back home beaten and bruised, with Yas having cooked a meal for me.

  It was always something simple, as she wasn't exactly a good cook, but it was one of my favorite moments in life, walking through those doors and having a scent of homemade food just blast me like air from a furnace.

  ... I thought, back on Earth, that I'd likely never quite move on for the rest of my life, but here... I don't have a choice, do I?

  Haah.

  Immortality, even if false, warps the sense of everything. More than I could have ever imagined.