Berserk of Gluttony (Light Novel) Vol. 1 Page 10

  “Is something on your mind, Fay? Shall we head out soon?”

  “I think that’s a good idea. We’ll want to be home before evening.”

  The more I pondered it, the more I realized Lady Roxy could only really chat like this with me. In some ways, this whole adventure was similar to the teatime we occasionally shared at the manor. I thought I understood the issue. Rank aside, Lady Roxy didn’t really have anyone her own age to talk to. There was only me, a servant one year younger than his master. I couldn’t really say how I’d ended up in this role, but if Lady Roxy was happy, I couldn’t ask for anything more. I mean, it was fun for me to spend time with her, too.

  We paid the bill, and the barkeep called to us as we headed out. “Hope to see the two of you here again soon!”

  Of course he did! He couldn’t wait to snoop, pry, and nose into the business of his favorite customer. Next time, we needed to go someplace else—but just as I thought that, Lady Roxy waved right back.

  “I hope so! I’ll be expecting more stories from you, too!”

  The barkeep bellowed with laughter. “Aha, a young lady who knows the game! I’ll be sure to gather more juicy rumors!”

  Lady Roxy had said exactly what the barkeep wanted to hear, and now he was all delight. I’d have to come back tomorrow and warn him not to start cooking up tall tales. For now, we parted ways with him and headed off. Regardless of any troubles we’d had, I felt full and satisfied. We’d been at the bar for more than four hours. Perhaps a little too long.

  “What would you like to do now, Lexie?”

  “Hm. Well, we do have to make sure we get back before dark. As you know, she has no idea I left the manor today.”

  She meant the head servant. Since that young woman was also Lady Roxy’s secretary, she’d surely go looking if Lady Roxy happened to disappear. I thought she might be searching for Lady Roxy right now, even. I could just picture her, the frustration seething on her face as she fixed her glasses.

  “Ah…you know,” I said, “I actually don’t know what you’re talking about—you snuck out? Why, I never.”

  “You can’t just pretend you’re ignorant and leave me! No fair. If she gets angry, we have to bear the brunt of the lecture together!”

  “Whaaaaat? But she destroyed me just yesterday for a slipup on the lawn. I can’t handle that kind of heat two days in a row!”

  “Sure you can!”

  “Really, I can’t.”

  “Just a little would be fine, wouldn’t it?”

  “You think she does ‘a little’ of anything?”

  “Oh, I give up!”

  Lady Roxy’s play-anger melted into a bright smile, and we continued our banter all the way back to the Holy Knight District.

  Chapter 14:

  The Corpse That Lurks on Moonlit Nights

  A S LADY ROXY AND I returned to the manor, I noticed a boy crying in a shaded corner just off the main street. His parents didn’t seem to be anywhere nearby; what had happened to them? With the kidnapping incident the other day still fresh in my mind, I was compelled to see whether the boy was okay.

  “Lexie, can you give me a few minutes?”

  “What’s wrong?” asked Lady Roxy.

  “Look over there. I’m worried that boy might be lost.”

  “Of course! Let’s go.”

  Lady Roxy’s sense of justice strikes again. If a person was in trouble, she could never leave them to it. As she approached the boy, she walked with the air of a holy knight. Even in her disguise, it was overwhelming; she unconsciously parted the crowd before her. I followed close behind.

  “Are you lost, little one?” asked Lady Roxy. “Where are your mother and father?”

  The boy remained silent.

  “There’s nothing to fear. It’s okay. I’m here to help!”

  The boy burst into tears, and the more Lady Roxy talked, the more he cried. It was her aura, really: the aura of a holy knight. It was too much for the boy, who couldn’t handle the pressure of being confronted by someone so strong, even if that person was a beautiful young girl like Lady Roxy. What the boy needed now wasn’t the dignified and honorable air of a divine protector but the entirely ordinary air of a commoner like me.

  “Hey,” I said, “did you lose your parents somewhere?”

  The boy stared at me suspiciously, then nodded. “I came here shopping with my mother…and I got lost.”

  “Well, how about I help you look for her?”

  “You’d do that for me?”

  “Absolutely. Why, just the other day, I helped a lost girl get home. We’ll find your mother in no time!”

  “Wow, thanks!”

  The boy at last dried his nose on his shirt. We had his trust now. I was about to ask him where he’d last seen his mother when Lady Roxy grabbed my sleeve. She wore a dissatisfied expression—like I’d just cheated her of something.

  “I wish kids liked me that easily.”

  “Well, I mean…I’m pretty much just a big kid, so the icebreaking is easy…”

  “Is that really it?”

  “Probably, yeah.”

  But if I were forced to call it like I really saw it, I’d say that Lady Roxy maybe needed to loosen up a little. If she didn’t, people would always be on guard with her. Kids were especially sensitive to that kind of thing. I knew part of the difficulty came from Lady Roxy’s rank and upbringing, but it wasn’t my place to comment on that.

  “In any case,” I said, “let’s look for the kid’s mother. It’s only going to get harder when the sun goes down.”

  “Yes, you’re right. Of course. But later I will have you teach me your technique for winning children’s hearts.”

  “Sure. Just don’t go too hard on me, please.”

  I felt like the answer Lady Roxy wanted was already in front of her. If she wanted to make friends with our new companion, it would just take time. Her sincerity would show in her words and actions. They might even bond before we found the boy’s mother.

  Lady Roxy reached for the boy’s hand, but he slipped from her grasp. In the next instant, he appeared next to me and took my hand instead.

  “Fay…that’s not fair…” Lady Roxy muttered.

  “Don’t blame me,” I said.

  Thus, I found myself placating a sulky Lady Roxy while I asked the boy where he’d lost his mother. The problem was that it was hard to lock down a location.

  “It was somewhere over there, where all the people are,” he said, but “over there” didn’t yield much, in the end. I got the feeling it was going to be tough getting a clear answer out of such a little kid.

  I was at a loss, but Lady Roxy smiled like she knew something I didn’t. “He’s still young,” she said, “which means he can’t have gone too far. And judging by what he said, I don’t think he’s been lost all that long.”

  “That makes sense,” I replied.

  “I think he wandered off somewhere in the crowd along this main street. I’m certain his mother is looking for him, too, so if we take him up and down the road, there’s a good chance we’ll bump into her.”

  “Lexie, you’re a genius!”

  Lady Roxy giggled. Feeling useful seemed to make her happy, and her expression relaxed. At the same time, the boy thoughtfully watched our exchange. He seemed hopeful he really would find his mother, and he slipped his free hand into Lady Roxy’s. With me on his left and Lady Roxy on his right, we almost looked like a family. Well, probably more like three siblings.

  “Fay, what are you waiting for? Let’s go!”

  “Uh, yes. Sorry. Okay, let’s go find your mother!”

  “Yay!” the boy cried.

  It was the cusp of evening, and the streets were quieter than at midday, but they were still bustling. I gripped the boy’s hand firmly; I didn’t want him to get lost a second time. The boy told us his mother’s name, and we called it out as we walked. We spent a whole two hours like that, but we didn’t find her.

  “Mama! Mamaaa!”

&nbs
p; The boy had been so energetic before, but he began to flag. After all, he’d been looking for his mother even before we found him. He had a lot of stamina in that little body of his.

  But what to do now? Perhaps his mother wasn’t on this street anymore. If she thought he’d strayed, she might be searching for him off the main road. If that were the case, we’d never find her by sticking in the same place.

  “What should we do?” I asked Lady Roxy.

  “There’s still time before sundown. Let’s continue the search for a little longer, Fay.”

  Her words made me rethink my approach. The boy was the most anxious and uneasy of all of us. If we didn’t plan on helping him to the end, why had we even talked to him in the first place?

  I ruffled his hair. “Let’s try walking down the street once more. I’m sure we’ll find your mother this time.”

  “Okay…”

  Lady Roxy frowned at me, and I wished she hadn’t. I could read the look in her eyes: Why are you saying you’re sure?! What do we do if we don’t find her?!

  But there was no other way to keep our little friend motivated. I had to say something . And I could tell it worked, because the boy’s thoughts flowed through his hand into my brain thanks to my Telepathy. A spark of his hope had rekindled.

  We pulled him along until we heard the sound of a rumbling stomach. Lady Roxy glared disapprovingly in my direction. How could you be hungry at a time like this?!

  But it wasn’t me, and that meant only one other person could be the cause of the rumbling.

  “I’m starving,” the boy said, releasing my hand to clutch his stomach.

  Lady Roxy and I shared a glance; it was time to put the search on hold. We had to think of it like a battle. Food was energy, and we would rapidly become ineffective on empty stomachs. Gluttony had taught me that only too well.

  “If you’re hungry,” Lady Roxy said, “let’s get some food, and then we’ll look for your mother. Would you like something to eat?”

  “Um…is that…okay? Really?”

  The boy looked overjoyed. He was probably even hungrier than we knew. Lady Roxy smiled and offered some options, but couldn’t commit to anything by herself. She tried asking the boy for his opinion, but he kept saying he’d eat anything. He was clearly being polite. Soon, Lady Roxy was at the end of her rope, and she turned to me for help. Once again, it was up to me to cross the profound gap between holy knights and commoners.

  I considered the boy’s clothes. They were shabby, all patchwork, and too big for him. He was definitely from a poor family—not so different from myself only a few weeks ago. I knew exactly what he wanted.

  “Let’s go get you some tasty meat, shall we?” I said.

  “Yay!”

  The boy grabbed both my hands out of sheer delight, and the two of us sang a song of the feast that lay ahead. Roxy watched with a chuckle until my stomach rumbled its approval, at which point she and the boy both burst out laughing.

  “Looks like we’ve got more than one empty stomach on our hands,” Lady Roxy said.

  “We’re the same, mister!” laughed the boy.

  “Yeah,” I said. “I guess we are.”

  I felt the boy’s thoughts through Telepathy, and he was the happiest he’d been so far. He would be even happier after food. The question now was where to find it.

  Lady Roxy and I scanned the area. We ruled out eating indoors on the off chance the boy’s mother passed by while we were feeding him. That meant a barbecue skewer stall would be ideal. Luckily, we’d passed one earlier in our search.

  “How about that one over there?” I suggested.

  “Okay!” The boy pulled me along excitedly.

  I let myself be dragged as Lady Roxy whispered in my ear. “You really saved me there with your culinary input. Thank you!”

  “Don’t thank me. Getting food was your idea.”

  “But you’re the one who gave the idea real shape!”

  I felt my face go red at Lady Roxy’s gentle words of praise. I’d never been complimented growing up, so it inevitably made me feel awkward and embarrassed. Lady Roxy left me with the boy and went on ahead to make sure it was open. She didn’t need to, in my opinion; as far as I remembered, the stall did business all-year round. There was no way it would be closed today.

  As expected, the stall was overflowing with the delicious smell of grilled meat when the boy and I caught up. It wasn’t quite dinner time, so the line wasn’t very long. Lady Roxy was already waiting and she waved.

  “Fay! Over here.”

  It was the first time I’d ever seen her wave so enthusiastically. She was always so modest, and her hands rarely moved far from her chest. I wondered whether her townsperson disguise also offered her a physical release of sorts.

  I waved back in response. “We’ll be right there!”

  “Miss!” the boy shouted.

  We joined Lady Roxy in line. There were only three people in front of us, so we’d get our skewers quickly. Meat fragrance wafted deliciously in the air, and my stomach rumbled once more.

  “Mister, your stomach’s grumbling again!”

  “Unbelievable,” said Lady Roxy. “Fay here is quite the glutton. Ha ha!”

  The boy and Lady Roxy laughed together. I didn’t think it was that funny. As we waited, my stomach continued to rumble.

  Eventually, we made it to the front of the line.

  “Welcome. What can I get for you?”

  We ordered one skewer each. The trouble was deciding on flavors. There was the standard gravy-sauce skewer, the simple spicy-salt skewer, and the herb-roasted skewer. It was an agony to choose between. Then Lady Roxy made a genius suggestion.

  “Why don’t we each get a different one and share?”

  “That’s a great idea.”

  “Yay! I agree!”

  “One of each, please,” I said to the man at the stall.

  “Coming right up! Here you go!”

  I took the three skewers, and then it hit me. I didn’t have the money to pay. But Lady Roxy swooped in to handle the transaction as if she knew exactly what I was thinking.

  “Thanks, Lexie.”

  She glanced around and leaned in to whisper. “It’s fine. I am your master, after all. I ought to provide for you, yes?”

  We moved to the side of the stall to eat. I had the standard-sauce skewer, the boy had the spicy-salt one, and Lady Roxy had the herb-roasted one. They all looked mouthwateringly delectable.

  “Let’s eat!”

  The skewer was melt-in-your-mouth soft, and the sauce perfectly enhanced the meat’s natural flavor. It was no wonder the stall was so popular. The boy blissfully chewed away at his own skewer. The tears welling in his eyes told me everything I needed to know about its taste. However, Lady Roxy still hadn’t tried hers.

  “What’s wrong, Lexie?”

  “It’s just…I’ve never eaten anything that wasn’t on a plate before… I don’t…I don’t really know how.”

  Lady Roxy wasn’t used to ripping straight into her food teeth-first. She might’ve found it embarrassing. The skewer was a far cry from the refined cuisine holy knights were accustomed to. After all, it was common grub for common folk. The food stalls here generally aimed to hit three points: quick, cheap, and delicious. A sophisticated, elegant meal this was not.

  “Well,” I said, “you just…you open your mouth wide and bite off a chunk. That’s all there is to it.”

  “I guess… Well, I guess I’ll try my best, then…”

  Lady Roxy shyly turned away from the two of us and started nibbling. It took her a moment, but after working out a plan of attack, she got her first bite.

  The boy and I watched intently.

  “Hm? This is…this is most delicious,” she said, turning back to us as she took more bites from her skewer. “The meat is so tender, and the roasted herbs drift over the tongue. I might go so far as to say this is superb. Let me have one more mouthful…”

  “Uh, Lexie…? Did you forg
et we’re all sharing?”

  “Oh! Excuse me,” she said, poking out her tongue apologetically. “I guess I was the glutton this time.”

  She pointed her skewer at me expectantly. “Here, have some.”

  “Um…I can eat it myself, Lexie. You don’t have to hold it for me.”

  “You don’t want me to hold it?”

  “Ah, it’s not that, it’s just…”

  “Well, go on, then. Have some!”

  Lady Roxy held the skewer ever closer. Now I had no choice. I took a bite—and it was amazing. Exactly as she had described. The roasted herbs spread in a refreshing flash of flavor through my mouth, which was followed by the rich aftertaste of succulent meat.

  “This is amazing,” I said.

  “It is, isn’t it?” Lady Roxy giggled.

  I tilted my head in confusion at her laughter. Perhaps there was meat on my face? I wiped at my mouth as Lady Roxy chuckled.

  “No, no, it’s not that, Fay. It’s just that you look so pleased when you eat. Seeing it up close… Hee hee!”

  “Do I really look that happy?”

  “You do. But I’d like to make sure one more time!” Lady Roxy playfully thrust the skewer toward my mouth again.

  “Wait, I’m not ready!”

  “No waiting! Eat!”

  Suddenly, I felt an uncomfortable gaze from nearby. The young boy was staring at us in utter upset. Brought back to reality, I cleared my throat.

  “You can’t just feed me, Lexie,” I said. “Share some of your skewer with our friend.”

  “Uh…yes. Of course, yes.”

  It was like we’d forgotten the whole reason we bought the skewers in the first place: because our young friend was hungry. We spent the rest of our time swapping skewers between all three of us as we ate. Afterwards, with a slightly fuller stomach, the boy looked like he had some of his energy back.

  “Mister, miss… Let’s go find my mother.”

  “That’s the spirit!”

  “Yes,” Lady Roxy added, “Let’s do our best!”

  We went back to scouring the main street, searching for the boy’s mother. For another two hours, we searched everywhere we could, but we never found her.