Dusty (6): Yellowed Teeth, Kindness Masquerading as Malice
The man was eyeing my body up and down. "Not bad looking for a kid. If you're lost, you should accept help from an adult, right?"
Ah, I could practically see the price tag. At minimum, human trafficking.
I glanced at Evel. "The uncle said he'd buy me candy."
I wanted to punch him. "……"
I subtly scanned our surroundings. A dim back alley, long deserted by any sign of life, tucked into a shadowy corner where light barely reached. Even a burly adult would shrink in fear here.
But I stayed calm. Part of it was my detached nature toward everything, but mostly, the man in front of me didn't feel threatening at all. After all, the Black Dust Dragon was slumbering in my left arm.
"What, scared? I won't hurt you, so come here."
I'd just been thinking, Where's a goblin when you need one? No goblin appeared, but something with similar intelligence did.
What to do? I fiddled with the bandages on my left arm.
"Evel, come here."
"Okay."
She trotted over obediently.
"Turn around, close your eyes, and cover your ears. Count to ten."
"Huh? Got it. One, two…"
As Evel started counting brightly, the man snorted in disbelief. "Ha, these brats playing games? When I tell you nicely to come here, or I'll just—"
Slither.
I peeled back one layer of bandage with my fingertip.
"Dusty, come out."
Shraaa!
Black ink oozed from the gaps in the bandages, solidifying in midair and taking on physical form. Clack, clack!
"Three, four…"
Geometric shapes interlocked, forming a long chain.
"Wh-what is that?! What the—?!"
The man's face twisted in horror. Of course it did. Moments ago, I'd been a meek little girl, and now black chains floated from my arm.
"A m-mage?! Ugh!"
He panicked and reached for the dagger at his waist. But the chains were faster.
Whoosh—!
The geometric chains shot toward him in unison.
"Five… six…"
"Gaaah! Help—mmph!"
As he tried to scream, the first chain sealed his mouth. The others wrapped around his arms and legs, slamming him against the wall.
Thud!
"Mmph! Mmmph!"
The bound man thrashed. But the chains didn't budge. Stronger than I thought? This could easily hold three or four adults.
"Seven… eight…"
His face drained of color, turning blue. A wet trickle ran down between his trembling legs.
"Ugh, gross."
It got on the chains. What now?
Vrrr—
My left arm shuddered. Dusty was pissed too.
"Calm down, Dusty. I get it, but we can't kill him."
Vrrrr!
"I said calm down! Shake it off first."
It's coming back to my arm, but in that state? Gross.
Despite my coaxing, Dusty's rage didn't subside. The soiled part of the chain binding the man twitched in disgust, then punched him square in the solar plexus.
"Guh…!"
Not satisfied, it grabbed his collar and shook him like a ragdoll in midair.
…It was really pissed.
"Guh, ack! Urk! Mmph…!"
"Hey, hey, enough. Stop. It's splashing, damn it!"
At my protest, the chains finally dropped him like trash.
Crash!
"…That's enough. Come back. Wait—no! Wipe it on his clothes first!"
At my shout, Dusty rubbed the chains clean on the unconscious man's hem before returning to my left arm.
Slither—
The shapes settled back under my skin as tattoos.
…Still feels gross.
"Ten! All done!"
Evel turned around with a cheerful shout.
"Huh? Why's the uncle lying down? Sleeping?"
"He said he suddenly got tired."
"Huh? Didn't hear."
I approached and gently pulled her hands from her ears.
"He said he suddenly got tired."
"What about my candy?"
I went to the fallen man and rummaged through his pockets, unhooking the worn leather pouch from his belt.
Clink.
It was satisfyingly heavy.
"He said buy it with this."
"Waaah."
That should do it. As I carefully rewrapped the loosened bandages around my left arm,
Vrrr—
My left arm vibrated sharply. Dusty's signal that it was hungry.
"……"
Much more irritable and intense than before. Makes sense—it used power, so it's hungry.
But whining for food at a time like this?
The shapes under the bandages writhed in protest. A red eyeball popped out from a gap, blinking.
Dusty's gaze was fixed clearly: the unconscious man on the ground. Precisely, his face—his eyeballs.
"…Tsk."
This is a bit much. I could tolerate it eating field mouse eyes, but human ones? No.
Even for human scum, leaving him with gouged eyes in the street would bring guards running and cause a scene.
"No. Rejected."
I pressed the protruding red eye back under the skin with my finger. It blinked shut, a tear welling up.
Later, I'd hunt some wild beast in the forest for it.
"Let's go. Grandpa's waiting."
"Yeah! Let's buy candy!"
I followed Evel, who skipped ahead lightly, out of the dim alley.
Back on the bustling street, the warm smell of fresh bread and people's energy enveloped us.
As we rounded to the tavern square, I spotted Zepeto approaching from the shop district.
He must have sold everything; the huge sack on his back was much slimmer.
"Oh, little one. Evel. Perfect timing."
Zepeto spotted us and approached with a kind smile.
But his eyes were sharper than expected. His gaze landed on the unfamiliar leather pouch clinking in my arms.
"Heh heh. Your pouch got quite full in that short time?"
"Evel found it."
"Yeah! The uncle gave it to me for candy!"
Not a lie. Evel found an uncle, and he ended up giving this. Just skipped a tiny physical process.
"Heh heh, is that so? You must have met a very kind person."
Zepeto chuckled good-naturedly, brushing off my excuse.
Whether he was pretending not to know or actually bought Evel's innocent reply, I couldn't tell…
But there's a way to check.
"Grandpa."
"Hm?"
"Hand."
I extended my bandage-wrapped left hand toward him. The signal to hold hands. A cute gesture only little girls that age could pull off. I even tilted my head about 15 degrees.
My studies of Evel weren't wasted; Zepeto's face lit up instantly.
But only for a moment. His gaze reached my outstretched left arm.
The hand from which the chains had emerged earlier. The same one that had reabsorbed the piss-soaked chains.
His grandfatherly, melting expression froze.
"Uh, um… You want to hold hands?"
I knew it. So that's why I'd felt eyes on me. As a life magic master, he'd probably been watching secretly with something like that flame bird familiar from before.
"Why? Something wrong?"
As I stepped closer, thrusting my left hand forward, Zepeto's pupils shook.
"A-hem! Hm! Y-yes. Of course, I should hold my pretty little one's hand. But with the crowd here, it might be safer to hold the other one for walking."
He coughed awkwardly, turned smoothly, and grabbed my right hand instead.
Refusing the left to the end, huh. It wasn't even piss-stained anymore? Dusty shook it off clean on his clothes.
I'm not dirty.
"Grandpa! Me too! Hold my hand!"
"Heh heh, of course, of course. Come here, Evel."
Gripping my right hand tightly, Zepeto took Evel's pudgy hand with his other.
"Candy! Let's buy candy!"
"Yes, yes. Let's go."
Me on the left, Evel on the right, Zepeto in the middle. We walked hand-in-hand down the lively market street.
The sweet scent of fresh cinnamon rolls, aged parchment, faint herbal aromas wafting from somewhere. Passing all those pleasant smells, we stopped at a large stall in the market corner.
A colorful lollipop as big as Evel's head. Zepeto chuckled and opened his wallet readily; Evel hugged it like she'd conquered the world.
After finishing our errands and exiting the town bounds,
The sun dipped low, painting the sky soft orange.
We walked home hand-in-hand. As we crunched over fallen leaves, I spoke up.
"You're awfully quiet."
"About what?"
"What I did in that alley."
Zepeto smiled at my direct question. So he had known and just played along.
"Heh heh. You didn't mention it first, so I didn't pry."
"No scolding either?"
As I tossed it out casually, Zepeto smiled softly and gave the slightest squeeze to my right hand.
"I know you're not the type to hurt someone without reason. And… sometimes, your child's safety matters ten times more than some shallow morality."
My child. The old man sure knows how to tug heartstrings.
"Besides, that was gentlemanly compared to some. You know how many cranky, ugly mages there are? Taking one eye is downright ordinary."
"Didn't take it."
"You thought about it."
Not wrong, so I shut up. Honestly, curiosity had tempted me briefly.
At a loss for words, I glanced away. Under the sunset sky, our three shadows stretched long.
I idly followed the end of one with my eyes.
And there, at the far edge, under the tree shadows, several dark silhouettes stared right at us.