# Chapter 5
The awkward exchange of gazes lasted only a moment. Before much time had passed, an enormous rumbling sound began approaching from the distance. A carriage? Ethan briefly considered, but it was far too fast and loud to be a carriage. It sounded more like a tank, though he couldn’t imagine how something like that would fit in these narrow streets. Whatever it was, Ethan was certain it couldn’t just be a carriage.
“…A carriage?”
It was indeed a carriage. A massive horse-drawn carriage was somehow managing to navigate the narrow streets of the slum, cutting through the muddy path at tremendous speed. Ethan was quite impressed when the carriage made an almost right-angle turn at a corner.
No, before that—why on earth would anyone drive a carriage down these pathetic streets?
Ethan turned around. The entire day seemed filled with subtly abnormal situations. When he looked at Del, he was casually putting a handkerchief back into his bag. Ethan seriously considered that perhaps this was just some capital city fashion trend that he hadn’t yet adapted to.
The carriage that had approached with such tremendous noise came to a precise and clean stop in front of Del.
“Young master, it seems your business has been successfully concluded.”
Ethan’s eyebrow twitched at the term “young master.” There was someone with poor eyesight here.
The coachman had a strangely refreshing appearance. Ethan carefully observed the emblem on his uniform and on the carriage. He was a ‘Desert Coachman.’ His sky-colored eyes and hair were like a badge of identity. Ethan could be certain that his choice hadn’t been wrong. Though some things remained questionable, in this miserable city—an island in the middle of the desert—Del clearly had the ability to get him out. The coachman glanced at Ethan standing beside Del.
“It seems like this could have been handled without you coming personally.”
That felt extremely devaluing. Although his pride had never been greater than his survival instinct, that didn’t mean it didn’t exist at all. He felt a surge of indignation, but soon couldn’t figure out where it was coming from, so he kept his mouth shut. Del answered indifferently:
“Pearls are worth retrieving from the mud personally.”
“Wouldn’t it be sufficient for someone in your position to just sit comfortably?”
“It’s nice occasionally.”
After this brief reply, Del climbed into the carriage. For a moment, Ethan wondered if he should offer a hand, but seeing Del jump lightly onto the carriage, he lowered his half-raised hand. Though he had confidently stated earlier that Del was “obviously a boy,” his appearance was definitely girlish, which had unconsciously made Ethan extend his hand. Was it an occupational habit? If the way he had lived until now could be called an occupation, perhaps it was.
“What are you doing? Get in.”
When the gaze from inside the carriage reached him, Ethan quickly climbed aboard. After closing the carriage door, it began to move moments later. When the coachman shouted “Giddyup!” Del suddenly remembered something and hurriedly opened the window to shout:
“Slowly! Go slowly!”
“As you wish, young master.”
Seeing Del’s oversensitive reaction, Ethan tilted his head. Somehow, it seemed like laughter mixed with the sounds of hoofbeats and carriage wheels. The feeling wasn’t clear enough to mention. Instead, he was more interested in Del, who was now rummaging through a large travel bag beneath the seat. After scanning Ethan’s body up and down while searching for something, Del said:
“Take them off first.”
Ethan blinked at Del’s words.
“So I was hired for that kind of purpose after all…”
“No!”
Along with the denial came a wet towel, which Ethan caught reflexively. He wondered if everything Del did was this abrupt. Soon after, Ethan understood Del’s intention. Indeed, his clothes—though he had tried to keep them relatively neat—didn’t match the luxurious carriage. To be honest, they were at the level of rags. He began undressing down to his underwear and wiping his body, when suddenly underwear flew toward his face. After barely catching it, he sighed and removed his underwear as well. Feeling awkward being the only naked one while the other person remained fully clothed, he glanced at Del, who looked him up and down once and said with an indifferent expression:
“We seem roughly similar. What I have should work well enough.”
“What’s similar?”
“Your height and mine.”
Del pulled out pants and a shirt from the travel bag and waved them. It strangely hurt Ethan’s pride, making his voice naturally grumpy. It felt odd that his height was similar to someone who looked like a girl. It wasn’t something to feel bad about, but still.
“I’ll grow taller.”
“Won’t I grow too while you’re growing?”
Well. That’s true. Now without much to counter with, Ethan accepted the clothes handed to him. Del sat down with a thud, crossed his legs, rested his elbow on them to prop his chin, and began to observe Ethan intently. It was quite bothersome. Though he knew Del was male, the person sitting across from him appeared to be a pretty girl at first glance. While Ethan couldn’t claim he had never seen someone else’s naked body or been seen naked himself, such a persistent scrutinizing gaze was rare. Feeling extremely uncomfortable, he turned his back, prompting Del to ask:
“Are those nail marks on your back related to that impressive thing attached to your front?”
“*cough!*”
The extremely serious tone made Ethan nearly choke. When he turned his head in surprise and saw Del’s genuinely curious expression, he couldn’t help but let out a hissing laugh. It was so absurd that he could only laugh. Ethan answered dryly:
“There’s no way for me to know that.”
“I suppose that’s true.”
“Want to verify it yourself?”
He made a joke that might have sounded like a pickup line to anyone listening, but Del continued to look at him with a serious expression. He pointed to several areas with his finger—Ethan’s side, back, and arms. They were particularly large and ugly scars.
“I’ll treat those wounds.”
“Is that really necessary?”
“They don’t look like medals to me.”
“I don’t have the honor to cultivate such things.”
“Then they probably won’t help with my work.”
“Suit yourself.”
These were scars Ethan had never paid attention to in his life. Although they came from extraordinary events, the pain was only temporary. While having this pointless conversation, Ethan cleaned himself and put on the new clothes. They felt better than any clothes he had ever worn. As he secretly marveled at the incredibly light and soft fabric, Del briefly showed an expression of wounded pride. Ethan wondered why his dressing would cause such a reaction, until:
“Our heights may be similar, but why are your shoulders so broad?”
It seemed the strangest things could hurt Del’s pride. Of course, the delicate shoulder lines visible through the dress were hardly what one would expect from a boy, so Ethan only responded with a slight shrug. Perhaps it appeared that way because of Del’s unusually slender waist. But even beyond the waist or shoulders, his entire build was quite thin.
When Ethan finished changing and sat across from Del, Del smiled with satisfaction. Seeing his employer in good spirits naturally made Ethan smile too. However, there seemed to be something important to clarify about the employment contract, so Ethan spoke up:
“You were being pretty vague earlier. What exactly is my job?”
“Hmm. There’s really not much to do.”
“In my experience, money earned for nothing tends to have serious consequences.”
That makes sense. Del, quick to agree, fell into quiet thought.
“Do you know what a crow is?”
“A bird?”
Wasn’t he referring to the black bird? It was a common and normal answer, but apparently not the one Del wanted.
“The one that stays beside a magician.”
“That’s still a bird.”
“It’s a bit different…”
A magician has a crow on his shoulder and a cat by his side. While Ethan wasn’t unfamiliar with such imagery, he wasn’t sure how it related to their current situation. Del also seemed to have trouble explaining, so after further contemplation, he pointed to himself.
“I’m a magician.”
“Oh?”
When Del unexpectedly introduced himself as a magician, Ethan blinked. This might somewhat explain the bizarre situations, though not entirely. Using all his imagination about magicians, Ethan had an ambiguous feeling that Del might somewhat fit the image. One thing seemed certain though—the unpredictable, willful aspect. Starting with that skirt. However, Ethan stopped all speculation when Del continued:
“And you are the crow.”
Was that supposed to be a joke? First of all, Ethan was human, not a bird. Though he had lived a harsh life, he had certainly lived within the category of humans. He couldn’t understand why Del would call him a crow. Filled with that sentiment, Ethan responded:
“Caw?”
Judging by Del’s expression, it wasn’t a particularly funny joke.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
