Chapter 17: The New Tenant
The new tenant reception was held in Room 52. Thanks to the wide stone door and the high roof, the Rose Knight and his unicorn could stay in the middle of the room. The room leader’s great body curled up in front of the window, blocking the sunlight. A petite girl was sitting on his shoulders, dangling her legs in the air.
“Uncle, what’s the name of this guy?” the girl said and contemptuously glanced at Jonah’s thin arms.
“No, no, don’t be so rude! Be polite.” Toba nervously covered her mouth with his hands.
“D Jonah Jr. I’m an Astrologer’s apprentice.” Jonah straightened his chest and tried to show some dignity.
“Well, I see. A rookie. What’s your strength? It seems that I can kill you twenty times with a fork.” The girl spun the fork in her hand.
Jonah looked at the girl calmly, but in fact, he was pained in his heat.
She was right. How should he protect himself? In his long student life, he had just come into contact with star power, and then he had to leave the Astrology tower. The knowledge he learned were geometry, arithmetic, chart and geographic measure – none of them were useful in this situation. His self-defense skill was close to zero.
Jonah began to think of his deerskin handbag. He must get it back. Except for gems and crystals, there were also several Astrology books in it – “Only power mastered in my own hands is true power, and I have to become as strong as possible.” Jonah thought.
“Sibi, be polite.” Elliot cut off a piece of food and said.
“I Sibi, come from Bazelaire. Bro, your colour looks a bit off. How old are you?” The girl asked and used her chin to point at Jonah.
Jonah noticed that she also wore a shiny silver collar on her neck the same as Toba. Her wheat colored hair was banded in the silver collar, hung down to her shoulder and shined like the sun. She wore a green jacket and black short pants. Her healthy legs was exposed to the air, and she wore a pair of buckskin boots. Her left arm hugged Toba’s thick neck, her right hand waving the fork. A dark red piece of food was stabbed onto the fork – Jonah thought that it was a sort of meat.
She was Toba’s compatriot. Jonah considered, then he answered her question, “I am 17 years old this year.”
Swoosh! Before Jonah realized, Sibi stood in front of him. She used the prong of the fork to poke Jonah’s nose and asked questioningly, “17 years old? Really?”
“As the God of Stars is my witness, I don’t have to lie to you, lady.” Jonah said and endured the displeasure in his heart. He took a step back, and felt his leg hurt again.
However, Sibi came close to him, her chin almost put on his chest. She held up her head and asked angrily, “Lady? Who?”
Jonah panicked, looked around and found that Toba has covered his eyes. The Rose Knight put food into his mouth and implied that it was not a good time to speak.
“Lady? Open your eyes and see clearly, am I a lady? Do you think I’m so old? You say? You say? You say?” Sibi’s green eyes stared at Jonah and used the fork to poke Jonah’s forehead.
“Uh, wait, no, I didn’t mean it. Listen to me…” Jonah was forced to step back. He tripped and fell on the bed.
Sibi’s cute face became bigger and bigger in front of Jonah’s eyes, and she still used the fork to poke him. “Well? You say, you say, you say, you say, you say, you say, you say?”
“…I was wrong, little sister!” Jonah suddenly realized and shouted.
“Very well, bro! I hope we can get along well.” Her wheat colored hair popped up in the sky. While Jonah stood up by using the staff, Sibi returned to Toba’s shoulder and concentrated on eating meat.
Elliott gave him a thumbs-up.
Toba took off his small round hat and dabbed his sweat. “This… sir, she is my compatriot, a never-grow-up little girl. Please forgive her, especially don’t mention her age…”
“Huh?” Sibi glanced at him.
“No, nothing, hahahaha.” Toba lowered his head and rubbed his hands.
“I’m Long Ji.” A girls clear voice spoke to Jonah. (Long – Dragon; Ji – Princess)
Jonah turned his head. A girl was leaning against the wall, as if she has melted into the shadows. However, when she took a step forward, she attracted everyone’s sight.
“I’m Jonah.” Jonah said. He had never seen a girl who has eyes as dark as hers, as if they were a pair of black crystals with the magic power of stars.
“I know.” Long Ji said. Her black hair flowed down over her shoulders, and some complex silver lines wrapped in her hair – this made her hair look like the Milky Way in the night sky.
“Nice to meet you.” Jonah said. He had never seen such a beautiful girl. She simply wore a suit of austere black clothes, but it looked suitable on her body.
“Nice to meet you.” Long Ji said. She wore a silver badge, and the pattern on the badge was an unknown monster standing on a cloud. A black dagger was hanging on her belt, and a sparkling sapphire was studded into the handle of the dagger – it was also the only bright light on her body.
“Where are you from?” Jonah asked. He had never seen such a girl – she was a girl and very feminine, but she also didn’t look like any girl he had seen in his seventeen years life.
“The far away Eastern continent.” Long Ji said. Her slender eyebrows slightly wrinkled, looking like she was a little worried; Her mouth slightly looking like she was a little worried; A few scattered strands of hair covering her crystal-like ears, looked like she was a little worried; her eyes was so deep,they made him want to find if any worry was hidden in them. She made him want to degenerate.
“She’s the second girl of my silver rose. In order to find that man, we left the Eastern continent and came here, after many difficulties.” The Rose Knight looked at her and said with his hands pressed against the handle of his sword.
This sentence hit Jonah’s heart as if it was a five hundred pound boulder. A big bang was exploding in his head.
He shook his head and pulled his eyes away from Long Ji. He suppressed his pounding heart and tried to pretend as if nothing happened. He asked Toba, “Room leader, who is next?”
“He is. He doesn’t like to speak. Let me introduce him to you.” Toba stood up. Sibi lightly jumped down from his shoulder, in case he touched the ceiling..
Toba lowered his head and moved to the door with a struggle. “His name is Ye Kong. He came from the South continent.”
Jonah thought that he was a strange young man.
He should have been here a long while ago, but everyone didn’t look at him or talk to him, as if he was an invisible man; Jonah looked at him, but a voice told him – don’t talk to this man.
When Toba’s great body covered Ye Kong’s, Jonah felt relaxed and woke up – this feeling, people normally called it a “sense of danger”.
This was a dangerous man.
The man called Ye Kong was a tall, thin person. His red, flame-like hair waved in the air. His face was thin, and he has a pair of slender, grey, vacant-eyes. A scarf tightly wound around his neck and covered his mouth; there were some unknown words, or charms embroidered on it.
“Hello.” Jonah said and nodded to him.
No response, his grey eyes even didn’t focus on Jonah’s body.
Toba smiled and answered for him, “He is a guy of few words. Well, this is all the people in Room A52. Let’s have dinner. Your honour, you should try the black geomyidae’s meat.” He handed a plate to Jonah.
They stopped talking and began to enjoy the belated lunch.
Jonah opened the cotton bag. He took out a piece of dark red jerky and put it on the plate, then he pulled out a water bag, a bottle of salt, a bottle of pepper, a piece of hardtack, some unknown wild fruits, a knife and a fork.
The meat has a strange smell. Jonah tried to cut out a small piece – it wasn’t as hard as he expected; he hesitated for a moment, then put the meat into his mouth. It tasted unexpectedly good.
Jonah didn’t eat anything last night. He devoured the food quickly, and the sense of satiety made him feel as if he were never more alive than at this moment.
After drinking the last drop of water in the bag, Jonah laid on the bed and touched his tummy contentedly. However, others were still chewing their food in a leisurely manner.
The dining etiquette of the Rose Knight was the most aristocratic; Sibi was still biting the small piece of meat on the prong of her fork; Toba was holding a piece of bread; Ye Kong was still staring at the empty void fifty yards away while he was slicing the meat; Long Ji has eaten her food and was standing in the corner of the room, looking at Jonah with great interest. Jonah felt her sight. He went crimson and turned his neck and looked away.
“Y…Your honorable! Have you eaten all of the meat?” Toba suddenly laid aside the bread and frightenedly stood up. His head hit on the roof and made a “boom” sound. The dust rustled, falling, but he didn’t pay any attention to it. He just opened his eyes and stared at Jonah’s plate.
“Meat? Yeah, it tastes good.” Jonah answered , puzzled.
Sibi threw down the fork and laughed aloud. Elliot was also surprised and made a helpless expression.
Toba came striding toward Jonah and grabbed his arms, shaking him. He asked loudly, “Do you feel uncomfortable? Are you okay? It’s all my fault. I forgot to tell you the characteristics of the black geomyidate’s meat!”
“Ah? What?” Jonah was being tossed from side to side, as if he was a lonesome boat in a storm. He vaguely saw a smile lifting in the corner of Long Ji’s mouth.
“Sibi, take him to the Pit Number Six, immediately! Hurry up, hurry up! You know I can’t go there.” Toba said hurriedly.
“Uncle, I’m a girl!” Sibi couldn’t stop laughing, but she still tried to make a shy expression.
“Go. Be good.” Long Ji said.
“All right, Sister Long Ji. In the case I can’t return soon, you should pay attention to your safety.” Sibi said and nodded to Long Ji. She held Jonah’s neck in a single hand and ran like wind. “We are going. See you later.”
Toba opened the door. Shining sunlight poured in the room, and Sibi has gone away. There was just a light footprint left in the house.
“Titter.” Long Ji was unable to suppress her smile. She laughed out gently.
Toba was in distress. “Stop laughing, it’s not funny. Mr Jonah is my only hope. If he encounters an accident, I will never have a chance to get my family name back anymore!”
Elliot also smiled. He said, “Don’t worry, Toba. People won’t die just because they eat a little black geomyidae’s meat. I’ll go and have a look.” The unicorn lightly sprang out of the door.
“Why don’t you laugh?” Long Ji shut off her smile and asked Ye Kong. The red haired man chewed his food and murmured some unintelligible words.
“Don’t annoy him.” Toba waved his hand and sighed. “Why am I the room leader? I’m really tired.”
Jonah heard the whistling of the wind and past by endless stone houses. Finally, he felt Sibi relax her grip on his neck and threw him on the ground. He took a short break for a while, then shouted, “You… What are you doing?!”
Sibi heard his words. She struck the ground with her heavy fist and laughed loudly again. She pointed to the front.
Jonas was still suffering from the shock, but the nearby environment made him shocked again. Here is the edge of the Cherry Ferry, and in front of Jonah, with a radius of about one hundred feet was a bottomless pit. There were a lot of broad-leaved plants growing in the fertile brown land. Surrounded by these plants, the big, ugly pit was very abrupt.
“What is it?”
Jonah has found the answer before Sibi said anything.
Feeling violent abdominal pain, his face paled, he looked at the uproarious girl, then he stumbled to the pit, selecting a flat place and untied his pants.
Diarrhea was the most painful thing. However, there were also some people that thought that in some ways, it was a little refreshing, as if water was rushing down and covered hundreds of miles of land.
No matter what happened, Jonah had never used such a fathomless toilet, so, it was not really a happy thing.
“Bro, this is the first lesson you’ve learned in the Cherry Ferry.” Sibi watched the Holy river flowing at great speed from a distance and said leisurely.
Jonah was busy pooping and unable to answer her. The girl didn’t care. She kept saying with her hands behind her back.
“You must be a noble’s child, because you are lacking in experience concerning independent living.” – I was a farmer’s son, Jonah thought.
“When I was your age, I was robbing meat from the mouth of wolves in the wild.” – Wait, if that’s true, how old are you this year? Jonah captured this detail with surprise.
“Food and water are the first elements of survival. The person who doesn’t check food and water isn’t a qualified adventurer.” – I was not an adventurer. I was an Astrologer’s apprentice, and there was a demon in my body. Jonah thought in dismay.
“Black geomyidae is a kind of native product on the north shore of the Holy river. It’s one of the most popular foods in Colombo, and the main food of the Cherry Ferry. Geomyidaes have long life. They can live up to about 80 years. When fall comes, they go out foraging, and the rest of the time they stay in the burrow. Their body can store enormous amounts of energy.”
“The people of Colombo are good at finding their hiding places. They dig the ground to capture them, kill them and air-dry them. Their meat can be saved tens of years, and every pound of black geomyidae’s meat is enough for an adult to eat for a week.”
“If you eat too much geomyidae’s meat in a short time, your stomach cannot digest all of it. Then the meat will absorb water and become semi solid. They will crowd and crowd until finally, they find a way out. That’s your situation.” Saying this, Sibi couldn’t pretend to be serious and continue to laugh out loudly.
The endless starry sky, as well as the great unknown prophet, and all the gods in the heaven – was this the first test for me? Jonah bemoaned in his heart. He remembered Long Ji’s knowing smile, and felt that his fate was worse than death.
Elliott watched them from a distance. The spirit gently moved to the Rose Knight’s shoulder. Elliot smiled to the little spirit and said, “Mr Jonah is an interesting person, right?” The unicorn contemptuously shook its ears and snorted.