Chương 99: The Kichan Gang Game

Kichan first received a cup of molly tea at the entrance to the temporary market the day after the bridge was repaired. The woman who handed him a cracked cup introduced herself as Marena.

"How much for the tea?"

"Not today. I made it while I was here correcting the ration sheet." Marena checked the number of people listed for the market, crossed out three lines, and added shares for three children who had moved into the shelter.

"Everyone has been talking about the northern cliffs. They say lights appear there every night."

"Lights?"

"They also say there are black stones that swallow sound. Some people even claim the Forty Thieves hid things there." Kichan drank the tea without much interest. A bitter sweetness lingered after the molly fragrance. From that day on, more children gathered in the empty lot below the shelter. At first, Kichan thought they came to pick up beans that fell when wagons passed. Whenever he went out to wash a pot, the children hid behind the stone wall.

By the time he returned, branches and an old pot had appeared in the center of the lot. On the third day, Kichan crouched behind the wall and waited for them to come out. A girl with only one horn appeared first. Her name was Tira. A reed-woven pouch hung at her waist, and she carried a broom handle.

"I am Kichan." The girl lowered her voice.

"If you're hungry, beat everyone up." Kichan blinked behind the wall. Next came a human boy with an old pot lid strapped to his back. A white chicken feather was stuck in his hair.

"I am the dragon Argaon."

"Why are you Argaon?" Tira challenged him.

"I'm the biggest."

"Dragons have horns."

"You said you were Kichan."

"Kichan doesn't need horns."

"Then dragons only need chicken feathers." The other children poured out. A long-eared child draped cloth over one shoulder and became Riphiel. The smallest human child crawled on all fours and claimed to be Batu, while a short-tailed demihuman child clung to the other's back and insisted on being Valkyrie. No one played Dust. Instead, they placed an empty can on a stone.

"Is that Dust?" Kichan asked as he stepped from behind the wall. The children froze. The child playing Batu tried to flee on all fours, caught a foot in the pot lid, and fell over. The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Kichan picked up the can. Inside were three buttons, a shiny bottle cap, and one silver nail of unknown origin.

"That's accurate." The real Dust climbed onto Kichan's shoulder. The moment it saw the inside of the can, its eyes widened.

"No." Kichan hid the can behind his back. Dust tried to climb down his arm. Tira raised the broom handle.

"I'm Kichan, so I have to stop Dust." She blocked its path. Dust tugged once on the girl's horn, then gave up on the can.

"You're good at being Kichan." Kichan spoke.

"Better than the real one, right?" Riphiel asked from atop the stone wall. When the children turned, Kichan's real party had gathered there. Argaon's expression hardened at the sight of the boy with the chicken feather.

"Why am I that?"

"He says he's the biggest."

"I am much bigger." Argaon stood before the human boy.

"My true form is larger than a village, and my horns stand higher than a gate." The boy tightened his grip on the pot-lid strap.

"Then I just need more chicken feathers." Riphiel turned away. Her shoulders trembled slightly. Argaon stood in the center of the lot to reclaim his role. Tira held out the broom handle.

"Argaon has to listen to Kichan."

"Why?"

"If he doesn't, Kichan won't feed him." Argaon looked at Kichan.

"Did you spread that story?"

"I didn't say anything."

"They already understand everything." Riphiel spoke. The children pulled the real Batu into the game as well. They tied red and blue strips of cloth through the gaps in his armor. Batu shook himself at first, but when the children rushed back, he planted his forepaws and stood still. Valkyrie dipped its palm-sized body into a bowl of water. When a child told it to grow, it expanded to the size of the bowl, then shrank again. Water sprayed in every direction, and the children laughed as though caught in rain.

Parents watched from the edge of the lot. A few days earlier, they would have called the children away. Now they only checked that no one crawled beneath Batu's tail. One parent offered Kichan a loaf of bread.

"Payment for watching the children."

"I wasn't watching them."

"Take it anyway." Once Kichan accepted the bread, other homes brought dried fruit and bowls of water. He put everything in the material bag with an expression that said he did not understand why food had suddenly increased. The game resumed. The children stacked stones beneath the bridge to make a cave. A sack serving as the Demon King went inside. Charcoal eyes and a mouth had been drawn on it. The false Kichan raised the broom handle and shouted,"Give me the meat!"

"When do I ever say that?" Kichan protested.

"Often." Argaon answered. The child playing Batu kicked the Demon King sack over. The child playing Valkyrie leaped onto it, while the false Riphiel whipped the strip of cloth through the air.

"How rude. Die." The real Riphiel stopped laughing.

"I do not speak that way."

"Close enough." Kichan spoke. A stranger's laughter burst from beyond the lot. Two men with bandages around one arm stood behind the fence. They were former thieves Kichan had beaten when they tried to raid a border wagon. The children did not recognize them. One thief clapped.

"That's where the dragon breathes fire!" The boy with the chicken feather thrust the pot lid forward.

"Fire!" The other thief cheered loudly.

"Good! The Demon King is dead!" The children's attacks grew fiercer. The charcoal sack died and rose several times. Each time, the false Kichan demanded meat. After laughing for a long while, the thieves left a bag of dried fruit beneath the fence.

"Payment for the show."

"You didn't steal this, did you?" Kichan asked. Both men looked offended at once.

"We bought it this time."

"Where did you get the money?"

"We carried stones for the bridge." Kichan made them show their palms. Fresh scrapes from stone dust crossed the old skin.

"Then it's fine." Each child received one piece of dried fruit. The false Kichan received hers last. The girl broke it in half and gave one piece to the child playing Batu.

"Kichan shares his own things." Kichan had no answer for a moment. Argaon held out one hand beside him.

"Me too."

"You're the real one."

"The real one should get more." Kichan pushed Argaon's hand away. Another cheer rose from the lot. The Demon King sack died twelve times that day. Kichan heard eight things he had never said.