The Boy Living Beneath the Bridge

Buzz~

Buzz~

Feeling the sounds of one metal four-wheeled vehicle after another rolling across the road overhead, Mu En Scarlett slowly opened his eyes.

"I'm back again."

After letting out a sigh that was neither disappointment nor delight, Luan turned to look at the secondhand alarm clock he had picked up beside a dumpster during the day.

The blue alarm clock had only two hands. The longer one had just passed three small marks.

"Seven days in Xilin Town, and only three minutes have passed here."

That was right. This was not Luan's original world, because the night sky here had only one moon.

In Xilin, the red moon and white moon always appeared in turn. Every so often, there would even be the spectacular sight of two moons hanging in the sky.

The old people in town said that when the twin moons appeared, the Demon King had opened his eyes. Whenever that happened, the monastery's alarm bells would ring.

Luan had also been pulled into this unfamiliar world on the night the twin moons appeared last time.

Throwing aside the blanket he had collected from the relief station, Luan sat up and knocked his boots against the ground. Sure enough, a spider scurried out from inside.

He watched the spider crawl back into a crack in the wall before putting on his shoes and stepping onto the stone floor.

The solid feeling of being able to touch the ground was wonderful.

It eased the sense of unreality brought on by his cross-world adventures every seven days.

Thump, thump~

After he stomped his feet twice, two squeaks came from a fist-sized hole in the wall, as if reminding Luan not to disturb its sleep.

"Sorry, Bouncing."

Hearing his familiar friend's cry, Luan knew he was in the new world called London.

When he had first arrived two months ago, Luan had been utterly lost and helpless.

He could not speak the local dialect. He had never seen metal four-wheeled vehicles that could run without horses, powered only by farting. He had never seen buildings as tall as four or five Xilin monasteries, nor enormous Iron Birds that flew through the sky with a constant buzz.

Adjusting to all of this was difficult, but at the time, solving the problem of food had been far more important.

For an entire day, Luan had wandered everywhere following the people on the streets. Perhaps it was because his felted wool coat was rather beautiful—or so Luan thought. In any case, the people around him had all stared at him with curiosity.

His luck had been good as well. That evening, a neatly dressed man had given him some food.

A bowl of thick porridge made from some unknown grain and a soft loaf of bread.

Luan swore it was the best bread he had ever eaten. Not only because he had been hungry all day, but because he had never tasted bread that soft before.

In Xilin, even the best bread he ate was hard enough to use as a hammer for driving nails into wood.

This kind of Black Bread could last for several months. When eating it, one had to use a toothed saw to cut it into finger-width slices, then toast it over a fire or soak it in goat's milk before it tasted good.

Perhaps because he had been starving, Luan accepted another five portions of bread and two bowls of porridge from the man. Those foods had been the first warmth Luan felt after arriving in this unfamiliar world.

That night, Luan spent his first night here on a bench in a noble-style garden.

But beautiful things were always brief and fleeting.

When Luan returned to the place where food was handed out the next day, he found that the man who had fed him yesterday had called over two uniformed men. While Luan ate, they occasionally pointed at him and whispered.

When Luan saw the two uniformed men walking toward him, he ran.

With the quick reflexes he had developed chasing Hazel Grouse through Hazelnut Forest, Luan quickly shook off the two adults pursuing him.

He did not know how this world treated an eleven-year-old boy, but whether it was an orphanage without freedom or being dragged off to fight on a battlefield, neither was a good option for him.

Finding food, finding clothes, finding shelter.

Luan spent his first seven days in London repeating those three things over and over.

Seven days later, he returned to Xilin. He told no one about this miraculous event, because he did not have a single friend he could confide in.

He simply treated those seven days as a strange journey through a dream. He had thought that would be the end of it.

But seven days later, he came back again.

More than two months had now passed, and Luan had become familiar with this strange world of London.

No, yesterday—no, seven days ago—he had learned that this world was called the United Kingdom.

Luan had learned some of the local dialect so that he could survive more easily.

He learned the words related to money especially quickly. He knew that people here used two kinds of coins to buy small things: pence and pounds.

As for those blue, orange, purple, and red banknotes, he had only seen them from afar and had never received one himself.

After all, one did not need banknotes to buy animal carvings.

That was right. Selling all sorts of animal wood carvings was how Luan supported himself in the United Kingdom.

In Xilin Town, he was responsible for guarding a hundred-acre Hazelnut Forest. He had plenty of free time, so he had learned wood carving from Uncle Neil.

His carvings of Red Squirrels, Hazel Grouse, and hummingbirds had now surpassed Uncle Neil's, because those animals were frequent thieves who snuck into Hazelnut Forest to steal food.

Of course, he now also carved elephants, rhinos, alpacas, and penguins.

Those were all animals Luan had seen in the United Kingdom.

The people in this world were strange. They kept animals in enclosures not to make them work or eat their meat, but purely for viewing.

They called the places where these animals lived zoos, and ordinary people actually had to pay to enter.

Luan's current works drew inspiration from the zoo, and he sold them right outside its entrance.

It was a fine place for business, a treasure spot he had spent three days finding.

At first, he sold things above the bridge arch where he lived, but there were not many pedestrians crossing the bridge, and most of them were adults driving cars.

Later, he moved his stall to the roadside. After that, he came to the zoo entrance.

There were many children here, and he could sell around ten wood carvings every day.

Of course, it was not that Luan did not want to sell more. His carving speed simply could not keep up.

While running his stall during the day, he carved whenever he had time. At night, he slept only six hours, yet he could still finish only five little penguins a day.

As for the rest, he carved them after returning to Xilin.

This was perhaps the greatest reward he had received since arriving in the unfamiliar world: Luan could bring things from Xilin Town into the United Kingdom.

However, he could not bring anything back to Xilin, even if he kept it clenched in his hand the entire time.

Still, that was not bad. Luan now had a full extra seven days compared with everyone else.

Looking out through the narrow opening of the bridge arch, he saw a faint light on the horizon. The darkness had quietly slipped away, and it was time for Luan to set off.

Today, he had to see what a monkey's nose looked like so he could add another subject to his carvings.

As for why he had to leave so early, it was because London Zoo admitted children under three for free.

At this time, he could slip in through the back entrance while the garbage vehicle was leaving.

"Bouncing, I'm leaving. Remember to keep an eye on our money."

"Squeak!"

(Bouncing)

Only a crisp cry came from the hole in the wall, but Luan knew it meant he should not worry.

Bouncing was a black-furred, long-nosed creature and the first friend Luan had made in this world.

Back then, it had been cornered against a wall by four or five large black dogs. Luan had driven the dogs away with his slingshot and saved it, after which it had latched onto him.

Luan had not refused. He happened to need someone to talk to, even if that someone was a creature that looked like a rat.

As for the name "Bouncing," Luan had given it that later.

He discovered that whenever Bouncing got hold of something shiny, it would happily bounce around as though springs had been fitted to its little paws. That was how it got its name.

Bending down and crawling out of the bridge arch, then pulling out the bag containing his wood carvings, Luan dragged over a broken door panel to cover the entrance. Only then did he dust off his hands and leave.

It was not far from Regent's Bridge to the zoo. He only had to cross a park.

There were few pedestrians on the road at this hour, but the ground was damp. It seemed a light rain had fallen last night.

After arriving early at the zoo's back entrance, Luan hid behind a stone pillar beside the gate. Taking advantage of the gap when the garbage vehicle left, he slipped inside with ease.

After entering the zoo, however, he did not go to see the monkeys first. Instead, he headed into a secluded white building.

This was the zoo staff cafeteria, where Luan had been freeloading breakfast for over a month.

After washing his hands, Luan picked up a spotless white tray and began selecting today's breakfast.

There were not many people eating at this hour. Most keepers took care of the animals first thing in the morning, and there were several children in the queue as well, so Luan did not stand out.

Luan had long become familiar with the staff cafeteria's food. Since it was Monday, there should be fried sausages.

He first took a fried egg, cheese toast, and a cup of juice, then went over to the person frying the sausages.

Luan gave what he believed was his most innocent smile and thanked the man, earning himself two extra slices.

"Whose child is this? Amy, he's so polite."

"Oh, maybe he belongs to Winnie from the penguin enclosure. You know her situation isn't great. Just look at what the child is wearing."

Ignoring the conversation between the fat cook and the woman in charge of soup beside him, Luan had already begun enjoying his delicious breakfast.

After finishing breakfast and washing up, Luan went to Monkey Mountain. His memory was excellent; after only a few glances, he had already formed a monkey carving template in his mind.

By the time he finished carving it, scattered visitors had begun appearing in the zoo.

"Puff~"

Blowing away the wood shavings, Luan gave the newly completed carving a satisfied look before quickly running toward the zoo entrance.

"How much is the little monkey?"

"Fifty pence, ma'am."

The sun was already setting, and Luan's stall had grown much emptier.

He had sold twelve wood carvings today. Everything had gone smoothly. There had been many children, no unexpected incidents at the zoo, and no animals escaping to frighten away his customers.

Luan remembered clearly that on the twenty-third of last month, a python had escaped from the zoo. One customer had run off with his alpaca carving without paying, and it was also that day that he had discovered someone of his own kind.

A bespectacled, gentle-looking little boy.

Like Luan, he had a blank bar floating above his head.

This was the mark of a Spellcaster. Luan had originally thought he was the only one with it, but after seeing a Spellcaster from the Federal Military Academy in Xilin, he had learned that he was not unique.

That person had two long horizontal lines within the bar above his head.

During the conversation between the Xilin Town administrator and that man, Luan learned that he had come to assess the aptitude of all children of the appropriate age.

That was also the day Luan decided he wanted to escape Xilin for good.

The test had two parts. Out of more than five hundred children, Luan and one other girl advanced to the second round, but he was ultimately eliminated.

He could sense magic but could not cast it. He was a Spellcaster with the worst possible aptitude, not worth cultivating.

"A half-baked spiritual sense user."

That was the Spellcaster's evaluation of Luan.

Someone spread that title around, and Luan became famous throughout Xilin. Later, people simply called him "Half-Baked."

He did not know whether they were jealous or regretful, but he was not used to the title. He hid away at York Farm, guarding Hazelnut Forest alone so he could have some peace and quiet.

But Luan was unwilling to accept it, especially after learning that he had missed his chance to study magic at the Federal Military Academy.

Who would not yearn to become a mage?

The Federation's most mysterious combat force, the Mad King of the Empire's cruelest killing tool, the Church's messenger of justice.

None of it had anything to do with Luan anymore.--

On the day the python escaped, Luan had given a carved knight's sword to the boy like himself. He hoped the other boy would pull himself together.

When the little boy thanked him, Luan noticed a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead. It was extremely eye-catching.

After selling the last little monkey, Luan packed up and prepared to head back.

He had to sort out dinner himself, and he also needed to bring Bouncing some snacks. Once a week—this had become routine.

When he passed a bakery, Luan spent forty-eight pence on a bag of the cheapest sliced bread and a bottle of water.

Then, at a pet supply store, he bought a hundred-gram bag of dried mealworms for one pound.

Eating bread as he walked home, Luan felt that everything was improving. With his carving skills, he had finally gained the means to survive in this unfamiliar world.

Even if it did not have the magic he had longed for.

But sometimes, change came without warning.

When Luan returned to the bridge arch beneath Regent's Bridge, he found a calico cat blocking the entrance.

A calico cat with a five-slot bar above its head.