Chapter XLIX (49)

  Sam the clown wore a scowl on his face underneath the painted red smile. He glared at every nonhuman that crossed his path.

  Mitsuko went completely unnoticed by his scrutiny. She supposed there were simply so many things of distaste in front of him, that she was just a piece of the scenery in comparison.

  Unlike Coleo, she didn’t need to follow him far before he created a spectacle worth viewing. She watched on with fascination as he approached a small menagerie and screamed at the Kemon deer woman running the stall.

  Her big eyes darted about, desperately seeking help. Her hands rose up in a defensive, placating posture in front of her.

  “Oh? The angry clown? An interesting new lead you’ve found here,” Sterling commented. “Do you believe he’s connected to the island’s guardian?”

  Mitsuko didn’t respond, instead continuing to spectate from the sidelines. And she was far from the only one now. Sam never once slowed down his tirade, the red of his face showing even through the white makeup as he loudly berated the woman for attempting to encroach on their territory and for creating competition for the circus. Then he ripped his oversized shoes off and started smacking the taller woman with them.

  She fled.

  Sam didn’t even try to chase after her, he definitely wouldn’t be able to keep up with her inhuman speed without magical enhancements. Instead, he sneered and threw his shoes at her retreating ass. They bounced off and fell to the ground. Then she was around the corner, safe from him.

  Mitsuko struggled to resist the temptation to step in and put the clown in his place. She still owed him a sword through the gut for his comments to her in a previous loop. But she held herself back. She wanted to get through a loop on Mauve Island without a run in with the law for once.

  The clown then snatched up a rock from the ground and smashed the lock of a cage containing a few colorful birds. He then proceeded to open the cage and threw the rock at them, scaring them into taking flight and leaving their cage behind.

  Moving over to the next cage, Sam picked up another rock with the clear intention to repeat his previous crime.

  The Kemon man who arrived next was not as timid as the deer-woman. Her partner charged around the corner, stag antlers down and pointed lethally towards the clown. Mitsuko truly believed she was going to witness Sam gouged through the neck.

  And then Sam tumbled away, the antlers passing harmlessly by him. At the end of a cartwheel, the clown turned and began to mock the Kemon man.

  “Barnyard musk behind you.” He pinched his fake red nose and waved his freehand in front of his face. “Fowl. Climb into one of the cages with your friends, beast-man.”

  The Kemon man howled in outrage.

  “Crocus City official guards!” someone shouted behind them. “Make way, now! Or risk arrest yourselves!”

  The crowd split and two human guards quickly dashed forward. Their uniforms hummed with enchantments, likely assisting their speed.

  “Stand down! Both of you!” one guard yelled. He stood between the clown and the Kemon man, a wand in hand.

  “Look who decided to show up.” Sam sneered. “Now you decide to do your job? Didn’t seem so urgent when my troupe contacted you yesterday.”

  A vein bulged on the guard’s head as he addressed Sam. “We have other concerns to deal with. Look above your head, clown! In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve been sealed inside a dome! An unlicensed display of animals has not been a priority for us at the moment. We have urgent matters to attend to!”

  “Now this is urgent too. Chop, chop. Lock ‘em up.”

  “Vigilantism is also an illegal act here in Crocus City,” the guard warned. “You have no authority to take the law into your hands and enforce it as you please.”

  The short clown showed his teeth, but cut off his response as a large gray man burst into the square. Blok, the circus’ half-goliath, had arrived. If people made way for the guards earlier, they practically ran from the sight of Blok. The half-goliath stood half a person taller than the average man and his muscles bulged under his gray skin. A sight on open display as he currently wore his circus outfit, which consisted of little more than fur shorts.

  The guards readied their weapons and took defensive stances at the sight of a charging goliath. But Blok halted his charge a meter before barreling into them.

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  “Sam!” a woman yelled from in Blok’s wake. “You know better than to run off into nonhuman cities! You just can’t help making trouble for us, can you? Get back here!”

  Ophelia strolled up. The ringmaster’s wife wore a puckered face as she approached.

  “Hag.” Sam sneered. “I am not a child to be locked away in timeout.”

  “Then stop acting like one! Blok, restrain him and bring him back to the circus.”

  “Alright,” Blok said. The big man wrapped an arm around the clown and lifted him effortlessly.

  “Hold up,” the lead guard said, stepping forward. “We need to take that man into cust—”

  “We cleared it with your mayor before our arrival,” Ophelia said, cutting him off. “He accepted that this might happen. Our lunatic clown is largely harmless.”

  “Harmless!” The Kemon deer man spoke up for the first time. “He freed a priceless golden pheasant with phoenix blood!”

  “Your opinion doesn’t matter,” Ophelia replied coldly. “You’re not legally supposed to even be here. Go pay your fine and get lost.”

  “I will tentatively release this violent man into your custody," the guard said. He clearly didn’t want to get in an altercation with Blok. “But if the paperwork doesn’t match your words—”

  “Yes, yes,” Ophelia said dismissively. “You know where to find us. We’re not going anywhere. Especially with that thing over our heads.”

  The circus members walked away without any further acknowledgement of the island’s authorities.

  “I want a sandwich,” Blok muttered as he carried off the angry clown.

  “You can go into town with the others and get food later,” Ophelia replied. “Just get Sam back to the circus before he causes another scene.”

  Then the menagerie owners were brought to task by the law enforcement. Mitsuko watched as the guards marched the pair out of the town square. With the drama over, the crowd around them dispersed.

  “An entertaining sequence of events,” Sterling commented. “Do you wish to follow Sam to the circus?”

  “No,” Mitsuko said. “I don’t think he’s likely to be the guardian or an acolyte.”

  “Obviously not the guardian,” Sterling agreed. “He’s been with the circus for years. But why not an acolyte?”

  “Just a hunch. He doesn’t seem the type to let someone boss him around. I have no idea how Alberto manages it. But, if nothing else, I’ll admit that nasty clown has willpower.”

  “An interesting assessment,” Sterling replied. He didn’t meet her eyes. Which either meant she was exactly correct, or completely off.

  Mitsuko stepped up to one of the remaining guards. “What happens to the animals now?” she asked.

  “Hm?” The bitelas guard’s face was unreadable.

  “The animals. In the menagerie. What will you do with them?”

  “Oh. Well they’re currently the property of the city until the fine is paid in full. I’m just assigned to stand and watch them until the owners get back with the proper paperwork.”

  “Can I buy one?” Mitsuko queried.

  “What?” Sterling said. “No! I’m not dealing with some random critter trying to eat me for the rest of the week!”

  The guard clacked his mandibles in thought, then looked over his shoulder at the collection of animals caged in the menagerie. “Perhaps if one were to escape we could blame it on the clown with no repercussions. How much is the offer?”

  “Let me take a look at what’s available and I’ll let you know.”

  The guard waved her forward, granting her permission to view the animals.

  The selection was limited mostly to imported animals from Tross and nearly all were of the mundane, non-magical variety. But there were a few unique critters amongst the mix.

  “This is a terrible idea,” Sterling said. A three-armed chimp threw itself at the bars in an attempt to reach the cat. He hissed, his back arched and fur on end as the ape grasped at him.

  Mitsuko ignored the sage’s many complaints as she browsed. A small little clump of ice caught her attention. Little reptilian legs squirmed from under the ice. This was a baby magical critter from the northern reaches of the Tross tundra. A tortoise with a shell of ice. She’d seen them before, but only full grown ones. Poor thing was huddled in the shade, desperately trying to not let its shell melt in the sunlight. She dropped a nearby sheet over the cage. Hopefully that would help keep it cool and alive until the owners returned. With the constant sun overhead, it wouldn’t be able to get relief while trapped in the Prismatic Spiral.

  “If you must pick a creature, you should choose something like this,” Sterling said.

  She glanced over her shoulder to see what the cat was commenting on. A pile of clams in a tank.

  “What?” Sterling asked upon seeing her blank look. “They’re easily transported. Can be eaten in an emergency. And cause minimal mess. Perfect pet.”

  “I don’t need to eat anymore,” Mitsuko reminded him flatly. “Did you forget? Your spell remedied that mortal ailment.”

  Then she spotted the creatures beside the clam tank. She approached and examined them closely.

  “This is perfect,” she said.

  “Those are disgusting!”

  “They’re exactly what I’m looking for.”

  “You know, a dog actually doesn’t sound that bad anymore. How about a puppy? Surely there’s a pet store in this town with a normal selection of beasts.”

  Mitsuko reached into the tank and the animal scurried over and onto her open hand. It swayed back and forth, as if dancing. The blue carapace gleamed in the sun.

  A few silvers later, and Mitsuko had her own pet crab.

  15 more chapters on my !!