There was one thing that stayed in Tar’s mind. The White Fox.

He had heard this name before from his father. His memory was hazy, but he felt like his father and the White Fox were on good terms, or at least not hostile to each other. On one side was Lya, the girl he met not long ago, saying the White Fox was the man who killed her family; On the other side was his father, who was an acquaintance of the White Fox.

“The White Fox, huh…” Tar muttered.

“Yes!” Lya’s face turned sinister. “I’ll eventually kill him with my own hands! I’ll…”

A sneeze interrupted Lya. She turned toward Tar to see him shivering. Tar had been wearing nothing but a thin undershirt ever since he lost his clothes trying to save the sisters from Muckley and Iplomir. Although it was already spring, the nights were still cold. It was to be expected that Tar was feeling cold.

Lya kicked Tar lightly in his shin. “Don’t interrupt me with your sneeze!”

“My bad.” Tar smiled bitterly.

“It’s good that you know you’re the one in the wrong,” Lya said as she crossed her hands. “Whatever. I’m going to sleep. Don’t bother me.” She leaned on the wall and closed her eyes.

“If only she wasn’t so unruly, she would’ve been cute…”

“What did you say?” With her eyes closed, Lya asked.

“Nothing.”

Tar snuggled up to the wall and hugged himself. Gradually, his shivers stopped, and he drifted into the land of the slumber.

*

Tar felt warm. Was it the sun? Perhaps. But his whole body was enveloped in warmth as well. It was nice.

Slowly, Tar opened his eyes. The sunlight in spring was very gentle, but what made him feel so warm wasn’t because of the sun, but because of a coat on top of him.

The coat was made from sheep fur and had multi-layered paddings. It was big enough to cover Tar’s entire body from neck to toe.

“Do you like the coat?” A sweet voice spoke out to Tar.

“It’s… it’s very warm.”

“Of course! It’s a good coat.”

“Where did you get this from?”

“…”

Did Lya not hear him? Maybe Tar’s morning voice was too soft.

“Where did you get this from?”

Before Lya could answer, a black-haired man far away could be seen running toward them, panting. He was short and fat, and judging by his clothes, he looked like a merchant.

Lya widened her eyes in shock and immediately grabbed the coat.

“What are you doing?” Tar asked, but Lya didn’t answer. She then proceeded to hide the coat behind her.

Tar’s gaze jumped between Lya and the approaching merchant.

“Don’t tell me… You stole it?” Tar asked gravely.

Lya wiped some dirt on her face and did the same to Tar.

“You stole it!”

“Yes, I did! Now shut up and pretend!”

Lya hastily grabbed the beggar’s metal bowl next to them. She started shaking the bowl and muttered, “Spare change? Please give us some spare change!” The coins inside the bowl made some clanking noises.

“Hmm… Where did that thief go…” The merchant stopped in front of the two children and looked around. He saw Lya and asked. “Hey, little girl. Have you seen a person with a coat go through here?”

Lya kept her head low and kept muttering “spare changes”.

“Here.” The merchant took out a piece of ragged cloth from his pocket. “If you tell uncle where that person went, I’ll give you this.”

Lya pointed to the left.

“Good girl.” The merchant put the piece of cloth into her metal bowl.

As soon as he started to run in the direction given by Lya, someone grabbed his robe. It was Tar.

“Sorry.” Tar bowed. “Sorry for stealing your coat.”

“What?” The merchant had a confused look.

“Nothing!” Lya shouted. “This dumb brother of mine likes telling jokes…”

“Lya, apologise.”

“… Sorry… S-Sorry for not sharing the piece of bread with you earlier! I can’t believe you remembered that… Hahaha…”

All that talking and moving revealed something behind Lya. The merchant peered at it.

“You know what I’m talking about, Lya,” Tar said, sternly.

“The bread! The bread! Of course!”

“Kid… Did you steal my coat?” The merchant asked coldly.

“N-no… What coat?” Lya laughed nervously.

“Then, pray tell, what is that?” The merchant pointed at the coat behind Lya.

“R-right! What is this? I don’t know! I’m sure someone left it here!”

“That’s my coat, you thief!” The merchant roared as he walked toward Lya.

Just before Lya thought she was going to get hit, Tar stood between the merchant and Lya. Lya smiled when she thought that Tar was going to defend her.

“I’m sorry! We’ll return it.” Tar picked up the coat. “Apologise, Lya.”

Lya was too shocked to make a sound.

“Apologise!”

“No!” Lya screamed. “I stole it for you! You were shivering!”

“Does that make it right for you to steal!”

“Yes, it does!”

“Lya, you…” Tar clenched his fist. “How difficult is it to apologise?”

“I don’t care! I don’t care!”

While the two of them were arguing, the merchant looked at Tar. This black-haired boy had nothing on but an undershirt. Even when he was arguing with Lya, he was shivering. The cold early morning was not kind to this boy, who was no more than thirteen years old.

The merchant stared at the two children’s hair. Thick, black hair, characteristic of any Eustacian. As if his consciousness was sucked out from him, the merchant stood still, lost in contemplation. It wasn’t until a solid minute later he came to.

“For the last time, Lya. Apologise.”

“I will n-”

“Shut up! Shut up!” The merchant shouted. “Argh, I don’t care anymore. Keep the damn coat if you want it so much!”

Lya beamed. “See? He says we can take it.”

Lya snatched the coat from Tar and looked at Tar. She was expecting Tar to praise her for getting a coat for free, but what she did not expect was Tar’s response.

“Give. It. Back!” Tar looked daggers at Lya.

“You… You…” Lya felt like the world shattered.

Biting her lips, she suddenly threw the coat at the ground and started stepping on the coat repeatedly.

Shocked, Tar immediately grabbed her arm. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” But Lya shook off his hand and gave him a furious glare.

“You think the coat is more important than me, right!?” She shouted as she stepped on the coat even harder. “Stupid coat! Stupid coat!” Finally, she spat on the coat and ran away, leaving the tattered coat behind.

“Lya! Lya!” Tar shouted. “That girl…”

Tar turned to the merchant and bowed. “I’m sorry. How much was the coat?”

Being asked a question, the merchant finally came to. “T-two bronze coins. Why ask?”

Tar breathed a sigh of relief. He pulled out his two remaining bronze coins from his pocket and handed it over to the merchant. “I’m sorry.”

“I-I told you it’s fine. You don’t have to give me money. Argh…”

The merchant decided to put on an act. “What a terrible luck it is for my coat to be here randomly…” He inspected the coat. “The coat is too damaged anyway. I guess I’ll just leave it here.”

Once again, as he was about to leave, someone grabbed his robe. Who was it other than Tar? Tar stuffed the two bronze coins alongside the ragged cloth into the merchant’s hand, before running after Lya.

“B-boy! I told you I don’t need it!” But the boy in question was already out of sight.

What the merchant needed is your good ratings! Give a good rating so that the merchant can feel happy over the loss of his coat!