5 WOMAN OF HIS DREAMS

As the three children of the Faceless clan climbed the staircase, the stairs behind them disappeared at the pace that matched their climbing speed. As they got closer, it gave them the impression that the ship had grown a lot in size.

All the clansmen waved their goodbyes and made their children do the same; however, the children were more interested in seeing the stars or birds like usual, but neither birds nor stars graced the skies at the moment.

"The stairs behind them are fading away. Will they be alright?" some people from the crowd were worried.

Sariyu was the first to notice that the stairs behind them were disappearing. "Look behind."

Hearing her words, Burton glanced back, and his eyes widened a little before his feet picked up the pace.

"Why is he running, so sudden?" Lirzod chortled, as he glanced back when he saw the stairs turn into nothing. He looked at Sariyu. "Well... Crap."

He bolted ahead, and so did Sariyu.

The shore was one thing; however, if they were to fall in a place where the water depth would easily exceed a couple-dozens of feet, those snakes and crabs which acted passively at the shore may very well act like monsters undergoing starvation.

Crabs ate flesh. Sea snakes drank the blood that leaked out of the wounds. Even certain fish would want to bite a few chunks off them. That thought alone made the people, and those three to be cautious and worried. Sariyu and Burton only looked ahead, while Lirzod turned back at times and waved goodbye to his people.

Time flew by fast, and they almost closed the distance between them and the ship. To their clansmen, it appeared as if the three of them might be out of breath from climbing what seemed like the stairs of success.

Allda, in the meantime, vented his intestine-twitching envy by choking a snake and killing it then and there.

Syam, on the other hand, sculpted a snake using a crab's scissors. The snake hissed in pain as its skin got sliced over in a serpentine fashion.

With lips curled down to the max, silent tears streamed down Duera's cheeks. Her arm mechanically moved and said goodbye. Memories of the past flashed through her mind.

"I've got that dream again where I'm gonna go out of our town one day and explore the whole world and become someone great by the time I come back," Little Lirzod said to Duera, "someone our people will truly honor. Since this dream is coming so many times, I think I will surely bring glory to you, to our people and our clan. I can see myself doing that, you know, becoming a good example for others and leaving a sublime legacy. One day—"

"Wait, what? You want to go out without me?" Duera, who was about to hand him a bag full of nuts, hid it behind her back.

"I-I was just joking."

"That's a bad joke." Her eyes turned icy, though only on the surface like the thin sheet of ice covering a lake through the wintertime.

"T-That's a bad dream," he persuaded her. "Why would I ever go out without Puchuk[1] by my side?"

"Mm, that's good," she folded her arms and said in a slightly demanding tone, "but, you know that I don't like cold places or things, so I'd rather not choose the sea route for our journey."

"Eh? No sea travel?"

"Yep. Otherwise, I'm not coming!"

"What? Who will supply me with nuts then?"

Duera's brow jerked repeatedly. "Am I only a nut supplier in your eyes?" she barked and tossed the packet in his face. After striking his cheek, many nuts spilled out of the bag and fell to the ground.

"My nuts!" Lirzod began to quickly collect them, which only made Duera get angrier.

"Those are mine, not yours!" she stomped on the nuts lying on the ground, making sure he didn't get to pick them up. Though Lirzod was greatly upset, she had great fun out of it. "Besides, you shouldn't eat food spoiled by the dirt."

"They are not spoiled but only got kissed by the ground. Don't destroy them, please!" Lirzod had teary eyes while one of his hands covered his mouth.

After seeing his eyes, she withdrew from stomping on the nuts. Lirzod hurriedly picked up all the nuts that were still intact.

"I-I didn't mean to make you cry, Young Master," Duera looked worried and tried to help him pick up the nuts. "I'm sorry."

After taking the remaining nuts from her, Lirzod rubbed his eyes.

"I'm really sorry," Duera apologized again with a deepening worry dancing on her face.

"It's okay," Lirzod blankly stared at her for a moment before bringing his tongue out to tease her. Out of startlement, she didn't move. Lirzod, however, ran away immediately.

"I knew it. That was all an act!" Duera's expression warped with embarrassment and anger. "Wait! You… Just wait!" She chased him. "You don't need to explore the world. When I catch you, I'm gonna kick you out of this world!"

After quite a bit of chasing, she eventually caught up to Lirzod after he had stopped in a garden for grapes. By the time he finished plucking out a few grapes, she had materialized behind him, panting audibly.

"You are here," Lirzod put his hand forward, trying to offer some grapes, but she squinted her eyes. Waves of anger thrashed her stomach while her eyes scrutinized his expression. "You've expended some energy. Take them, or you will feel weak during the working hours."

"Who wants your grapes!" she tried to swat his hand away, but he pulled his hand back in time and tossed all the grapes in his mouth.

Duera was audibly breathing through her nose. "My nose is burning. All the powder I've applied is gone, too. I'll have to go back home again. All this... because of you."

Just then, Lirzod noticed a butterfly, which landed atop Duera's head.

Lirzod chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Duera fumed.

"Haha, nothing," Lirzod responded while his mouth was filled with grapes. He lifted his hand and gently rubbed his fingers on the wings of the butterfly.

"Are you trying to put some grapes on my head?" she swatted his hand away and searched her hair only to find nothing, for the butterfly had already flown away. However, she was convinced, "You... what did you put on my head?"

Lirzod then swallowed all the crushed grapes in his mouth before speaking, "You don't have to go to your home again."

"What?"

"Because you don't need to worry about your makeup."

"And why is that? Can't you see that my face and neck are all sweating now?"

"I can, but... I've got color," he lifted his hand and slid his fingers on both of her cheeks. "There... the finishing or enhancement or whatever you may call it. It's done." Her cheeks sparkled orange under sunlight, and it looked as if she was blushing a little even though she actually wasn't. "And it's cool. You can go to work like this."

"What nonsense are you saying?" she pulled him closer and pulled his eyelids apart and used his eye as a mirror. "What did you apply? I can't quite see it. Don't tell me that it's rust or something."

"Aw, are you done?" Lirzod hurriedly said, "My eye is burning."

She let go of him and was about to rub her cheeks, but she held her hands, startling her. "Don't do that, or the butterfly will hate us."

"Butterfly? What butterfly?" Duera's eyes quickly enlarged. "Wait, don't tell me you've crushed a caterpillar and rubbed it all over my face?"

"Eh?" Lirzod felt a shiver run down his spine, and he immediately let go of her hands. "No, no. What? That's not what I did."

"No, you did just that," Duera's blood boiled, and rage set her nostrils ablaze. Just imagining what he would have used, she trembled with abhorrence. "How dare you—" she cracked her knuckles and clenched her fists so hard her knuckles turned white.

"No, wait! I can explain!" said Lirzod, but she attempted to punch in his face; however, he evaded her fists. "There are no orange caterpillars, right?"

"Actually, there are orange caterpillars!" Her gaze scared Lirzod.

"Eh?" His eyes enlarged. "Wait, you can lessen one from the thousand and thirty-two kisses you owe me."

"Not happening," she cracked her knuckles, and he immediately tried to run away.

"Don't run," Duera threatened, wearing an evil smile, "unless you want to find a new nut-supplier!"

"W-What?" Lirzod's feet came to a halt, but when she came to punch him, he moved away.

"Don't dodge, too!"

"That's not fair!" Lirzod made a crying face.

"Life isn't fair, Young Master!" Duera's fists rained down on his face, and she sported a smile that could cut grass.

Coming back to the present, her heart beat irregularly, but with each time, it grew heavier. Even her robotically waving hand was affected by it.

(Though it's only the beginning, I never thought that your bad dream would become a reality.) Duera's streaming tears only strengthened in their course. (Maybe, without me around, you'll at least learn to control your nutty appetite.) She lifted her head and raised her hands into heaven and prayed. After the prayer finished, she took a deep breath, with assuaged effort. "Please watch over him, Dearest God."

Primera curled her arm around Duera's shoulders.

A second later, Duera leaned on Primera's shoulder, and her eyes still reflected the disappearing Windy Way.

Standing a couple of feet away from those two, Trirera just watched Burton. She glanced at Duera. "Is crying worth it?"

Primera looked at her and patted Trirera's head. "It is if the relationship matters to you."

Trirera pouted a little. "Young Master Burton matters to me the most. Then why am I not getting any tears?"

"It's difficult to express how one's feeling on the inside through the face. Not everyone can do that," Primera said. "You do it by staying silent, don't you?"

"I don't know," she started playing with her fingers, her head tilted down. "The feeling in my heart… it's so complex. Relationship sucks."

"Haha, at times it sucks—at times it rocks. Got it?"

"Got it?" Trirera teasingly glanced at her, although only subtly. "You got his habit as well."

"No. I didn't."

"No. I'm shore of it."

"Not shore. It's sure," Primera pulled her cheek.

"I sea. My bad."

"Did you say 'see' or 'sea'?"

"I said 'C.'"

"Playing word games with me, huh..." Primera twisted her cheeks. "You are ten years too early to do that."

"My zeeks! V'm zwarry!"

The clouds began to rumble, and tiny droplets of rainwater greeted those standing at the shore.

"This stupid weather, it's never good when we take a day off," most of those in the crowd, however, were disappointed and waved their hands at the clouds, telling them to leave. "Go away."

To their surprise, the clouds drifted away as they wished, and a soothing melody came from the ship and pleased the ears and eased the hearts of whoever heard it. Even the animals weren't an exception. The snakes, crabs, fish, starfish, and all the aquatic creatures in the vicinity whirled, twirled, swayed, shook their limbs, spun, and expressed themselves in exuberant styles, seemingly having forgotten the threat they were fleeing from just moments ago.

"What wonderful notes," Primera was impressed. (To be able to send the musical waves this far without compromising the quality, her control over 'outer might' is even more outstanding than I thought.)

"A send-off song just for us? Nice." Lirzod giggled as he continued waving his hands with added enthusiasm.

"Hurry up, or you'll fall," Sariyu went past Lirzod, startling him.

"Eh? Wait!" he chased her, and they competed against each other as the melody picked up its tempo and entered the climax.

As they got closer and closer to the ship, Lirzod and Sariyu were busy competing with each other, whereas Burton observed the figurehead of the ship and the words written carved under it.

"HE WHO HAS NO EGO, HAS THE WORLD."

—DEREUS GARRFINN

Upon reading the words, Burton was a bit lost in thought. The figurehead was of a sculpted lady which initially seemed to be looking down on mortals now held a different meaning after Burton got a closer look. On her head were human figures hidden in her flowing hair, and at her feet were beasts and many other hideous creatures trying to devour her, and her feet up to the ankles were already gone. Burton's brows knitted. "She's probably a fictional being, but still, someone who's extraordinarily strong is protecting the ordinary people at the risk of losing her own life. I guess that's what makes her extraordinary. But… can I ever match that?" He had no definite answer to that question at the time.

Moments later, the three youngins stepped foot on the wood, and the melody stopped. The staircase, whatever was left, behind them vanished without a trace, and the ship set sail without a moment's wait. Everybody from their clan still waved goodbye to those three, wearing bright smiles on their faces.

"I'm first."

"No, I'm first."

"Didn't you see? My foot first landed."

"No, mine did!"

Lirzod and Sariyu argued with each other, and Burton had to come in between them and softly push them away to put an end to their squabble.

As the three of them then took a look around, they saw dozens of workers dressed in blue, scattered on the open-air area of the deck called Exterior Slice. Some of the workers got the luggage off the horses while the rest stood by trees.

As the ship distanced itself from the shore, three heads turned around, and their hands waved back at their people. The faces of the clan heads were filled with hope and worry. Still, they managed to smile and wave back.

"Let's hope they come back home victorious…" Picazo said aloud, then glanced at the other two clan heads and said in a low voice, "and in oneness."

"Yeah!" The clan members roared. Their roar reached all the way to those three before the fog in front of them thickened and blinded their view of the shore.

The three clan heads, though they weren't looking at each other, still stood in a similar posture with hands placed on their backs, and the same thoughts ran in their minds. (Three youngins of different ages going on a journey with the same goal in mind. If they don't come back as one, whether they have victories on their back or not, they probably won't make good clan heads. Their fate and of the clan's is in their hands.)

Almost all the mouths of the clansmen suddenly went silent as their eyes still stared at the sea. The fog and the clouds slowly parted and drifted away, and then all the people on the shore bathed in the first soft rays of sunlight, but that didn't bring any response from them, not until the roosters in the background crowed one after another and cast their stillness away. Everyone then hugged each other for having successfully sent three biggest rays of hope out on a mission.

Picazo looked up at the skies. (Will the three rays merge into a bright light, or will they lend their ears to the wind and go their own way like the clouds?)

In the meantime, on the ship, three young faces had been staring at the fog. Both Sariyu and Burton had left their town, Helenia, multiple times before, but it was their first time leaving on a ship. Moreover, this time, they were unsure of their return. They might never be able to see the faces of their parents, friends, and other clansmen again. That thought alone brought forth sadness from their hearts up into their faces.

Unlike those two who appeared broken-hearted, Lirzod wore a mirthful smile on his face. (Hehe, I'm finally free. I'm no longer a young master of a clan. Now, I can see for real if I got what it takes to get into a girl's heart with my heart and not by my background. My real adventure, my real struggle for love... starts now.) He resolutely clenched his fist. (Father, Mother, I will not forget about our clan and its needs. Becoming a member of the Shambala Sect is also one of my top priorities. I will do my best to help our clan gain face.) "Hmm?" he glanced at the other two who looked saddened. (Huhu... are these silly billies getting emotional? And here I thought I'm a pretty soft-hearted fellow.)

"I didn't know that only a hundred kilos of luggage were allowed," Sariyu sighed with some level of disappointment packed in her face. "More than ninety percent of it was left behind."

"You were worried about that?" Lirzod was startled. "Just what kind of things did you store in them?"

"You shouldn't question a woman in that regard," Sariyu put her index finger on her mouth.

"Okay. What kind of things did the bags let you store in them?" Lirzod asked, jerking his brows up and down.

"Inmi. Oumi. Fumi." Sariyu showed three of her fingers. "Choose the type of pain you want to be put through."

"None," Lirzod shook his head, blocking the space between them with his hands. "Besides, you aren't capable of using—"

"You three! Enough chattering, and get going!" one of the workers standing nearby the horses put his husky throat to work. "You shouldn't stay here for long."

"Huh?" Lirzod turned to the fat man with gray hair who just spoke. "Why is that? Do those horses' farts and poop smell so bad that we won't survive if we stay here for long?"

"Don't ask questions, and just go," the fat man ignored Lirzod's words and looked at a few other men and nodded before looking back at Lirzod. "These three men will show you the way to your rooms. You can ask them anything regarding the journey."

"We can't ask questions?" Lirzod raised his eyebrows. "You think you're my father? Or, are you the captain of this ship?" he asked, but there was no reply. "Why aren't you saying anything, man? Is this ship some kind of prison?" he looked around, and tens of varieties of trees caught his eyes. "Those are some strange trees. Some have beautiful curves, but some look just like your face."

"Lirzod!" Sariyu twisted his ear and pulled his head closer. "Stop running your drainage of a mouth. We are not in our town anymore, so keep that in mind!"

"Y-Yes," Lirzod hurriedly said, and only then did she let go of his ear. "But still, telling us to not ask questions without giving an explanation is silly. Who does he think he is? I don't like him." He looked in the fat man's direction and sniffed once. "As I thought, he smells shitty, too."

"If you don't like me, then that's your problem, and you have to bear with it, just like how I bear the fact that most women don't give me a second glance, but I'm still trying to marry one anyway," the fat man sharply blew air through his nose. "Given that the ship has started to sail, you can't stay here for more than a fiif[2] of time. So get going quickly, half-boiled youth." He paused for a moment while putting up a poker face. "Now, if you excuse me, my work here is done." Saying that he left as if nothing happened. (I bought a ragron only yesterday but had to waste time receiving people like these instead of improvising it. Curse my luck.) As he was leaving, he glanced back over his shoulder at Lirzod and his two clan members. (These fools boarded the ship only today, yet they think they are hot stuff? Can't wait to see them get clubbed in the coming days, especially that wild lad.)

"That fatty..." Lirzod twitched. "I hope he hits his foot and falls flat on his face. A bump on the head or a broken nose would be a bonus."

"Why are you getting worked up when you're the one in the wrong?" Burton snorted.

"Don't butt in my business, Big Brother," Lirzod snorted back as well.

"I've had enough suffocation for the day," Sariyu put her palm over the head. "I need to go and get some sleep first." She was about to step forward.

A woosh followed by a soft sound came from behind, causing those three to turn back. Their eyes enlarged in bafflement as they lay on the figure that stood in front of them. Their daze deepened when that loose-limbed person pulled the white hood back, exposing her face in full.

Without a worry, Lirzod witnessed her grandeur, his mouth agape in incredulity.

Beauty didn't only come in shiny looks. It came in many ways, from how one showed compassion and kindness toward those that deserved it or not, from how one used their intelligence to achieve great things, from how one used their elegance to handle the hurdles to how one used their confidence to walk through the hurdles they faced.

If a girl didn't just have an external beauty, but also many other aspects like the ones mentioned above, then her beauty would multiply with her. Such was the case with the woman those three had their eyes set on.

Those slender eyebrows, velvety eyelashes, ebony-black hair, rapture-blue eyes, dainty nose, rubescent lips, nitid oyster-white teeth, non-sculptable nymphic ears, swan's neck, and the imp-thin yet shapely body under the seemingly speckless cloth—transmuted Lirzod's mind into thinking he was born just for that moment, just for watching a wonder.

Nothing he ever saw was as abstruse as the look of that woman. He had seen many magic shows, but all the tricks of those magicians paled in front of her subtle smile—which seemed slier than a fox's, yet veritable like that of a mother's—an immeasurable wealth. The raw effervescence that oozed out of her countenance before she even spoke a word was too much for Lirzod's wee-little heart to bear. His eyes didn't miss a single gesture made by her—be it the motion of her braid whose spools plunged her picturesque visage, or the movements of her pupils, the flight of her hands, the sparkles on her skin—every single one of those filled his stomach, and he wasn't able to even take a breath. All of it made him want to go mad, but he didn't dare look away, fearing that he'd come out of the spell that her God-given prettiness and self-earned beauty put on him. All in all, he was thoroughly— madly—satisfied, for that willowy woman was without a doubt, nothing lesser in greatness than the woman of his dreams.

(W-What is this scent? It's so vivid, yet I can't fully grasp it… It's as if she's a mixture of many things.) He stepped back in astonishment not just from how she smelled but much more. (And what cuteness! Knowing many wonders of the world, marked by life or not, is one of the main reasons for my journey. I didn't think my wish of meeting a living wonder would be fulfilled so soon.) Lirzod foud so much inner joy that he put up the expression of a blissful baboon. (Mother, Father... If she's an attentive soul, I might have found my life's goal. I might have found your daughter-in-law!)

"You must be Sariyu," the blue-eyed woman looked at Sariyu. Her voice was so pleasant to Lirzod's ears than the sound of cashews falling in a fruit juice. The waves of her voice traveled smoother than the ripples produced in the fruit juice. It gave an eargasm to Lirzod.

"Yes, I am. And you are..."

"I'm Stussy. Stussy Junksman." She glanced at Lirzod. "You must be Burton."

It took Lirzod a couple of seconds to force his throat into gulping all the air gathered in his mouth. "Yes, yes," Lirzod nodded in haste.

"What?" Burton weirdly stared at Lirzod.

Lirzod, who was smiling brightly, suddenly was startled. "Che, what? No! I'm not Burton. I'm Lirzod. Fourteen years old. I'm good at eating nuts and any food with nut toppings. I can do mimicry a little bit. I can sing and dance, too, though I'm still learning. And—these two are my followers."

"Uh…" Stussy didn't know what to say.

"We are your followers?" Sariyu snorted and folded her arms. "Stop dreaming." Afterward, she murmured. "And drooling as well."

"I'm not dreaming. I'm living! L-I-V-I-N-G. Living." Lirzod's words were like mud oozing out of a hot spring, "And I will not fall until I meet a billion beauties from a million places! Hahaha, there's no such thing as a coincidence in the world. So this meeting may very well have some significance in speeding up in fulfilling my fate. Still, I must say I didn't think I'd meet a solid soul, who can take my hand in marriage, with the first one itself." Saying that he turned to Stussy and put his hand forward. "N-Nice to meet you, Ms. Stussy." As he was looking at her, his face was filled with happiness. (She's as beautiful as Primera as far as looks are concerned. I wonder how Primera would have reacted if she were here.)

"So you are Lirzod," Stussy glanced at his hand and smiled before turning to Burton, "then, you must be Burton."

"Yes," Burton said and glanced sideways, not wanting to make prolonged eye contact with her.

"Those two seem to be fine, but.." she turned her head to Lirzod. "You look a bit young, younger than the number you mentioned."

Lirzod forgot to answer her and ended up losing his senses thanks to staring at her eyes, but a snap of her finger brought him back to the world. "W-What's wrong?" Lirzod looked around, readying himself to fight. "Did someone dared to tease you? Where's that fool? Let me face him."

Stussy furrowed her brows.

Sariyu sighed and lowered her head in embarrassment.

"No one's teasing anybody," Stussy calmly replied, sporting a faint smile. "I just asked you if you feel old enough to take the sect test."

"O-Oh, so no one's teasing you?" Lirzod was startled. (So that was a dream just now.) "Thank goodness. But if anybody teases you, just call me, okay?"

Stussy just stared at him with a blank face.

(That Idiot.) Burton somewhat frowned. (I can tell by her voice. She's the one who spoke to us from the ship while we were at the shore. Was it too hard for him to recognize that? At this rate, he'll get himself killed. Having said that, in a way, I'd also want to see how long he'll manage to stand his ground against her. My prediction would be that he'll fall in a second or maybe two.)

"Why don't you just answer my question?" Stussy said, stressing her words a little bit, but her expression showed not a silver of hostility.

"I didn't?" Lirzod blinked twice. "My bad. How can I not answer a question asked by a beauty?" Lirzod took a deep breath and made his chest as big as he can. "I'm glad that you're worried about me. You are a good woman as I hoped," he murmured and continued, "Ahem, the answer to Ms. Stussy's question is—a man may be safe at home, but that's not what he's born for."

"So, you consider yourself a man," she squinted her eyes a little. "Then what about women? What do you think they are born for?"

All the air in Lirzod's chest escaped out ten times as fast as it entered before. "Uh, w-well... I'm not a woman, but why not? Women, too, if they feel like it."

Stussy stepped in, her brows raised a little. "I was expecting a lecture. Can't say I'm not surprised."

"I..." Lirzod was unable to think straight, as her scent forced its way into his nostrils and jolted awake all of the neurons in his brain. "A-Are you married?"

Stussy narrowed her eyes upon sensing the expectancy in his voice. "Do you think someone with not even a hair grown over their lips to show for a mustache can commit themselves to married life?"

Sariyu signaled Lirzod from the side to shake his head.

"Maybe?" Lirzod hesitantly glanced at her. "Are you talking about me, or you?"

Stussy narrowed her eyes further and stepped forward, leaving only a distance of a foot between them.

Lirzod's heart began to beat wilder than ever. (I-Is she coming for a kiss?)

...

[1] Puchuk: A nickname Lirzod used for Duera, especially when they both were kids because she had often used this word.

[2] Fiif: A span of five minutes.