Chapter 135 - Gambling For A Clue

If one had to make an estimate, the population of Saints' Vigil island did not exceed more than two hundred mostly adult Kitsuna: some of them children, but none of them elderly nor infants or toddlers. All of whom were female, existing together in idyllic workmanlike harmony.

For several hours a day, life in the village completely revolved around the magic bean farms. Starting out early, before the crack of dawn, with teams of young Kitsuna descending upon the marshlike rows of water-steeped soil and bright green stalks, uniformly wearing wide-brimmed sun hats with their blouses pulled up past their knees, to pluck and replant the exotically shimmering blue crop. After which, the yield is all gathered into sack clothes and handed off to the older Kitsuna to be processed, to be used as cooking ingredients for all kinds of soups, pastries, fried dishes, deserts; just in time to be eaten for supper, when the sun is at its highest peak in the sky.

While Mina was cleaning the house—standing by for her job of cooking later—Hotaru was hanging over a wooden fence, watching the young Kitsuna work, making sour observations about the deeper intricacies of this world he'd fallen into.

Every MMO has "Life Skills" these days, I guess. But I never was really a huge fan of them...

After all, why would someone go onto a multiplayer game just to engage in chorework? It seemed, to him, like a waste of precious time one could better be spent killing monsters, grinding up skills, raiding dungeons and fighting strong bosses. All while constantly progressing their character into higher tiers of power, to access even greater challenges—a never-ending cycle of what Hotaru would genuinely call 'fun."

'What's the fun of just planting beans all day?!" he blurted out in frustration, burying his face against the fence with a huge sigh.

"Hey, outworlder! Aren't you going to help?"

Looking up, he saw that one of the girls tending the field had called out to him—and now was standing there, waiting expectantly on a reply. 

It was true that she bore a childlike appearance: with short cropped, light pastel pink hair, garbed in a dirty sky blue blouse. But, through her strict tone and large eyes of green, peering out at Hotaru through the shadow cast by her tattered and worn sun hat, an impression of authorial maturity was exuded: a powerful and unbudging old matriarch, in the body of a little fox girl.

"Umm…" Hotaru murmured in reply, immediately in a fluster.

Such was the intimidation he felt, in the presence of this bold little miss, as she trudged through the field of mud to get closer to him. 

He blurted out the first thought that came to his head:

"Actually, I'm just waiting for—"

SLAP.

Hotaru fell back from the fence, gasping in shock at the sudden blow to his face.

A hot stinging sensation spread all along the side of his face where the fox girl had just harshly struck him with a flung sandal, as he slowly raised a hand to touch the struck area with one finger...dipping it into warm blood.

As sat up and looked, he saw the fox girl was unmoving, glaring at him, while maintaining a stance with her dominant arm held outward…

Clutching her second sandal.

"If you wanna eat, you have to work!" she yelled.

Hotaru was still in a daze. 

"N-no...but, I'm only—"

"A visitor? Just passing through?" she snapped, filling in the blanks for him, her long ears flailing and sticking out straight in anger. "Doesn't matter! The rules apply to everyone who sets foot in our village—so quit being a dead weight and start earning your keep!"

'What a ball of rage, that one,' thought Hotaru, nursing the side of his face with his palm.

"What's your name, lazy?"

"Ho...taru," he replied, wincing from the sharp, stinging pain of his wound.

"Ho...taru," she repeated, with a curious look, before showing a disappointed look. "That name's weird; I think I'd rather still just call you lazy."

"That's fine—but really, I'm no farmer. I'd only get in the way."

The little fox girl smiled, placing her little hands on her little hips. "Hah! It's nothing hard. Just a bit of hard work and sweat is all." She narrowed her eyes, frowning in a look of disgust. "Though...you're looking mighty pale. Like you just crawled out of a cave somewhere."

Hotaru stood, looking embarrassed. "Well, that's not too far from the truth. Where I come from, kids our age don't have to work for any of their meals."

The fox girl gawked. "What! Are you trying to make me jealous or something?"

"N-no! Not at all. It's the truth."

Eagerly, she walked up to the opposite side of the fence. Where she then hoisted and lifted herself up, above the topmost bar, to appear taller.

"What's with that ridiculous stutter?" she asked.

"W-what stutter are you talking about?"

"Is it 'cuz you're nervous while talking to a little girl?" she questioned, cutely tilted her head. "Were you getting a thrill out of watching me work up a hot sweat?"

Hotaru gave a startled yelp.

"Ah! Miss, please…! Do I really look like that much of a creep?!"

She beamed, giving a small giggle. "Well, things are not often what they appear to be, here in Saint's Vigil island. Liiike"—she started digging in her pockets—"this!"

She produced a small green pebble, tiny enough to fit at the center of her palm, happily displaying it to Hotaru. Possessing a smooth, rounded surface, like one of the smooth marbly ones that often line the bottom of fish bowls. Being, otherwise, devoid of any distinct qualities.

"Isn't that just...a rock?" Hotaru inquired, bringing his face closer to look.

The fox girl smiled mischievously. "You dummy! Would you really assume that, after what I just said...? That nothing here is as it seems?"

Hotaru scratched his head. "Uhh…"

Was this some kind of puzzle? Because it really did just look like a normal rock.

"Lemmie show you!"

Bending down, she dipped the hand holding the pebble into the muddy water. Then, after keeping submerged for several seconds, drew out the hand again—now clenched into a fist—and showed it to Hotaru.

"Guess what I'm holding inside of my hand!"

Hotaru glanced at her hand, then her face.

"Guessing it's something...other than a rock?"

"Obviously! Be more precise."

"Little girl, you still haven't even given me your name yet."

"Guess right, and I'll tell you."

Hotaru groaned, looking amused. "Eh…? Is that supposed to be my reward?" He turned his back, holding up his hand in dismissal. "Because that's hardly worth playing your game for..."

While he was starting to walk away, the fox girl gave a slight, devious chuckle. "Guess correctly, and I'll also tell you something that other outworlder said."

Hotaru's eyes widened, his legs locking in place.

'Other outworlder...? That must be—'

He turned to the fox girl. "How can I be certain if you're telling the truth?"

"Noriko," the fox girl said.

"You know her name?!" Hotaru said, taken aback. "Even though Mina said Noriko left without telling anyone her name…!"

The fox girl shrugged, with a nonchalant expression. "Is that so? I guess Mina-san feels the need to lie to you for some reason or another—'cuz Noriko-san made a lot of friends for the few weeks she was here."

It was one surprise after another, for Hotaru.

"What? Weeks?! She was here that long?"

He held his head in his hands. 

"We were originally planning to play at the same time, but now you're saying she came here weeks before I did?!"

"Mm." The fox girl nodded, her tail flowing sneakily behind her. "She stayed with Mina, on the first night, just like you. But, UN-like you, she actually offered to help us till the fields the next morning—which was how I first met her, and we talked a bunch. Until—"

"She left without saying anything," Hotaru whispered, looking off with an absent look. "But is that part of the story even true…? Did she really not tell anyone where, or why she was leaving?"

The fox girl giggled, holding up her ball-fisted hand again. "You'll never know unless you guess right!"

Hotaru was sweating, feeling the pressure.

"Okay, I'll make a guess. But I should be given a hint, first."

"Huh?" The fox girl tilted her head. "But Noriko-san didn't need a hint."

Hotaru was silent for a moment.

'It's not surprising, considering Noriko-san has always been a straight-A student, at the top of the class. So, it makes sense she would easily be able to figure out some little girl's lousy riddle.'

On the other hand...

'I'm...not clever, like she is. I barely pass any exams, and my own friends tease me for being stupid.'

Hotaru swallowed nervously.

'Still, I have to try. For her sake. Because, no matter how smart she is, I'm sure I can still be of some help to her—no matter how small—in a totally unpredictable world like this.

"I'm guessing it's…"

Something small, that fits into her hand…

Thinking in fantasy world terms: by her touching the water just now, he figured that it must have served as the catalyst for some kind of transformation to take place...

Then again, it could be something as simple as a clump of mud; so simple, he would never guess.

'But her hands would be covered in mud if that were the case, right? Instead, they look pretty clean...definitely not the hands of someone who just stuck their hands in the mud.

Something small. Fits in her hand.

...and is of the color green.

Hotaru had no reason to think so, but he considered the color of the rock as a clue in itself. Along with its smoothness; like a stone dug out of the bottom of a stream…

"It's a frog," Hotaru blurted, risking it all on a hunch. 

The fox girl immediately frowned, making him wary. Then stayed like that for a while...for seconds, that felt like minutes, as her fellow fieldworkers could be observed and heard continuing on without her.

"A frog...hmm…" she incoherently mumbled.

Then, finally, opened up her palm:

Revealing…

RIBBIT!

A leafy green frog: fully alive, and slick with moisture! Its entire body crisscrossed with unusual, runelike, shining turquoise markings.

"You got it right, lazy idiot!"

It hopped from the fox girl's hand, falling into the water with a tidy splash.

Hotaru smiled, feeling proud of himself.

"I...actually did it.' He had guessed right—without needing any hints!

The fox girl patted him on the head. "Wow! I'm impressed," she said. "But anyway, my name's Lea: sorry I hit you with my sandal earlier, but I have a strong zero-tolerance for lollygaggers."

Hotaru sighed with relief. "It's fine. Now, tell me what Noriko-san said."

"Well…" Lea looked down, wiping her dirty, wet hand off onto her blouse. "It's something she told me not to pass on to anyone else, except for a boy named Hotaru that might come looking for her…"

Hotaru, grasping the fence forming a barrier between the two of them with one hand, leaned closer intently.

"Yes…? And what did Notiko-san say?"

At once, Lea's face darkened.

Her voice, as she then spoke, was filled with foreboding:

"Noriko-san said...you mustn't follow her."