Baru didn't understand why Sheeta was staring at the photo of Laputa in a daze.
Until the following night, when a group of Soldiers in green uniforms rudely kicked open his door.
At that time, Baru was happily engaging in his three-times-a-day luxury dining activity with Sheeta—following Sheeta's tastes, their meals had upgraded from small pieces of bread and meatballs to lamb chops, stews, fresh fruit, and tender vegetables.
Besides the plates, there were even two bottles of sweet fruit juice on the table.
There was no helping it; Baru had bought them for Sheeta to drink.
When the Soldiers kicked the door in, holding long rifles and aiming them at Baru and Sheeta, he was just pouring juice for the girl.
"Found her!!" The Soldiers were speaking in a strange tongue; Baru seemed to have heard his sister speak this language before: "Found her, Captain!"
Then, the Soldiers rudely overturned the small table, spilling juice all over the floor.
Baru tried to rush forward to stop them but was knocked to the ground by a rifle butt, his head bleeding.
Blood mixed with juice, seeping into the ground.
"Come with us! Be good!" The leading Soldier fiercely grabbed Sheeta's braid. After she accidentally slipped, he dragged her by the braid all the way to the door: "Captain!"
The Soldier then stepped on Sheeta's head with his leather boot, let go of her braid, and saluted.
The newcomer was their Captain, wearing a more refined military uniform—green clothes with a row of shiny gold buttons.
He didn't carry a rifle; instead, he wore a pistol at his hip and a dagger holster on his leg.
"It's her." The Captain crouched down and sized her up. The girl was in great pain from being stepped on, her hands grasping the Soldier's ankle, shouting things like 'Baru' and 'Don't kill him.'
"What a lovely little girl." Behind the Captain, a A graceful shadow appeared..
If Jonathan were present, he would surely have called out her name instantly.
"Miss Afawaf, thank you for your help." The Captain gave a deep bow. "I will inform Mr. Muska of everything you've done for him."
"I don't care about Muska's gratitude." Afawaf was wrapped in a black veil, her seductive eyeliner flicked upward as she looked at the man before her with affection: "I care more about... your..."
"...gratitude."
The man looked embarrassed.
Clearly, he didn't know how to face this woman who had once been hidden behind Mr. Sheikh as his mistress—she had now begun to navigate between Muska and those military officers, as if this enchanting lady was born to be dissatisfied with the ordinary.
She always wanted to climb higher, stepping on ladder after ladder.
"Take this brat away first," the woman licked her lips: "When she's no longer useful, you can hand her over to me..."
"Yes."
A salute, a wave.
The Soldiers rudely pulled out hemp ropes, tied Sheeta up, and took her onto a truck.
Sheeta struggled violently: "Baru!"
"Sheeta!"
Slap!
Afawaf gave the girl a slap.
"Hurry up, I'm a bit tired, sir." The woman's beautiful eyes shimmered, piercing the man's heart like a hook, constantly pulling at him: "What will you be doing later?"
"I'll go..."
"To report? And after that?"
Afawaf revealed her palm, sliding it down from the man's chest: "You know where I live, don't you?"
..."You know where she lives, don't you?"
Mori Tsukisa asked crisply.
Half an hour ago, the girl had pushed open the door, bringing Nagini and Imhotep with her, excitedly holding a steamship-shaped lollipop.
He saw Baru lying in a pool of blood.
Nagini picked him up and placed him on the bed, stopping the bleeding and bandaging the wound. When the Boy regained some consciousness, this was the scene he saw:
A palm-sized... red-haired little monster was crouching on his neck, sniffing around.
"Don't make a fuss." Arrietty held down the shaken Boy who was trying to roll out of bed. "I don't suck blood."
As she spoke, she gathered the faint smell of dust remaining in the room into her head. Then, feeling the vibrations beneath her feet subside slightly, the Little Sprite bared her fangs and looked at Baru with pure malice, adding, "But... I like the flesh of little Boys."
The helpless Child looked pitifully at Mori Tsukisa.
'Big sister!'
His mouth formed those words.
Mori Tsukisa beckoned to him. "Baru?"
"Big sister?" Baru called out to Mori Tsukisa tremulously, wondering if that rifle butt to the head earlier had caused him to hallucinate?
"Arrietty doesn't eat people." Mori Tsukisa reached out to take the Little Sprite and placed her back on top of her head. "How did you end up like this?"
These words suddenly snapped Baru out of his distraction over Arrietty.
"Sheeta! They kidnapped Sheeta! Big sister, Sheeta is..."
"Is she your new girlfriend who got snatched away by someone else?" Mori Tsukisa licked the sugar coating, sitting on a tall cabinet with her feet swinging. "How is she? Is she pretty?"
Baru:...None of those questions were on point.
"She's not my girlfriend," the Boy argued, propping himself up on the bed. "We've only known each other for two days!"
Mori Tsukisa covered her mouth in surprise, as if seeing the Boy, who was younger than her, in a new light:
"Two days! It happened in just two days?! What should I say? Has the little one grown up?"
"No need to be surprised," Nagini interjected from the side. "Master, two days is not a short time."
Imhotep agreed as well. "It happened the first time Ann and I were alone together. In my private chambers."
Was it really that impressive?
Mori Tsukisa glanced at Imhotep, who instead raised his chin proudly and puffed out his chest.
"Big sister..." Baru rubbed his temples, his face full of confusion. "So what does 'happened' mean? What happened between us?"
The three of them turned their heads to look at him simultaneously.
Startled, the Boy shrank back. "W-what's wrong with me..."
"Is she pretty?" The girl curled her lips. "Hurry up and tell us, what exactly happened?"
Speaking of the girl who fell from the sky in the evening, Baru ignored the wound on his head and gave Mori Tsukisa a vivid account.
'I went to buy food.'
'She was like a firefly, and like the moon!'
'I felt the wind supporting her body!'
'She was wearing a navy blue dress, slowly descending like that, with a stone on her chest glowing.'
Imhotep suddenly looked up at Mori Tsukisa; he opened his palm, his lips moving.
His voice was very low, and Baru didn't catch it.
"Oh... is it a stone like this?" Mori Tsukisa raised her foot, her toe pointing toward Imhotep's palm—
In the man's palm lay a teardrop-shaped blue stone.
Baru identified it at a glance.
Yes, that sapphire blue little teardrop was very similar to the one Sheeta wore. The only difference was... "Except for the golden patterns being a bit different, everything else is almost identical!"
Having received a positive answer, Imhotep nodded with satisfaction, closed his palm, and turned to Mori Tsukisa. "Your Excellency the Mage, your dragon is right before your eyes."
Actually, with the flying stone in Imhotep's hand, they didn't need the so-called descendant of the Children of the Wind. They could just activate the flying stone, reveal the light path trajectory, chant the incantation, and have Imhotep fly her up.
—Mori Tsukisa just wanted to take Baru along before going to Laputa and take a ride in the aircraft he built.
As it turned out, there was an unexpected surprise.
"That girl should be a descendant of the Children of the Wind. If the pattern on her flying stone is different from this one..."
"She must be royalty."
Baru didn't understand Imhotep's words. Everything today exceeded the young Boy's understanding of the World. Perhaps his big sister wasn't simple, and those strange things she said weren't entirely false... but... "I'm going to save Sheeta!"
After Nagini put on Mori Tsukisa's shoes, she hopped down from the cabinet and pressed Baru back onto the bed.
"Get some good rest, weakling."
"We'll just go save Miss Lin!"
Baru looked at the little one who was tying her coral-colored ponytail, then at the tall and robust Imhotep, and the gentle and considerate Nagini... He shook his head with a worried expression.
The girl who fell from the sky, the terrifying Soldiers in green uniforms... "I can't... that's too dangerous for you." Baru clutched the corner of the blanket, suddenly realizing something. "Wait, who is Miss Lin?"
"Sheeta's last name isn't Lin, is it?"
————
At this time, the Black-Robed Figure was still wandering in the desert, with the camel caravan carrying a group of dazed men. The yellow sand was flat and stretched as far as the eye could see.
Where is our massive... Hamunaptra?
What happened to the High Priest, the appearance of evil, and the Ten Plagues of the Apocalypse?
Why is the air so peaceful, and the small meat ribs so golden-brown and sweet?!
Sigh... Might as well... call the boss back to drink some strong liquor and eat meat...
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