Two Cautious People Finally Took a Step

A quarter of an hour passed, and the wooden chips were still at the center line.

Xie Yue stood on the left, Pawniard on the right. One had his hands empty, the other's arms hung slightly at its sides. Even the direction of their toes had not changed.

Yan had already finished a loaf of bread.

Magby ate more slowly, clutching half of its own bread and tearing off the crust bit by bit.

"How much longer are they going to stare at each other?" Yan asked.

"You asked that just now," Hu Liena said.

"A long time has passed since then."

"Asking again will not make it faster."

Indeedee brought tea and afternoon snacks from the kitchen. She set out cups for everyone, glanced into the stone room as she passed, then placed two extra small plates by the door.

Xie Yue smelled the tea, but his gaze did not move.

Pawniard acted as though it had not seen it either.

Xia Che took the last soft bread roll. "Stand there a little longer, and lunch will be gone."

"I'm not hungry," Xie Yue said.

His stomach gave a very soft growl.

The stone room was too quiet. Everyone heard it.

Yan raised his teacup and slowly hid the corner of his mouth.

Xie Yue finally turned his head. "If you want to laugh, then laugh."

"Elder Yue Guan said the same thing yesterday," Hu Liena reminded him.

Yan set down his teacup and stopped smiling.

Pawniard's gaze shifted from Xie Yue's face to his stomach, then toward the small plates by the door. The plates held Berry strips and a small piece of hard bread, still some distance from the yellow soft rope.

It did not go over to take any.

Magby watched for a while, then broke off a piece of sweet bread from its paper bag and toddled over to the entrance of the stone room.

"Don't cross the line," Yan said.

Magby stopped outside the yellow rope, placed the bread on the floor, and gently pushed it forward.

The bread slid into the stone room, stopping exactly where Pawniard could reach it.

Pawniard lowered its head and looked at it.

It did not use its blades. Instead, it extended its claw tips and lifted the bread. After pausing briefly, it split the bread in two, kept one half for itself, and pushed the other half back along the floor.

Magby happily caught it.

The two little ones ate together from opposite sides of the yellow rope.

Seeing this, Xie Yue's shoulders relaxed somewhat. "Looks like it's faster than we are."

Pawniard looked up, as if it had expected that.

The slow-walk test finally began in earnest.

The rules were simple. Xie Yue and Pawniard would each take a different-colored wooden chip, walk from opposite ends of the stone room to the center line, then hand their chips to the other. Neither could suddenly accelerate, nor could Pawniard's blades touch a person.

The red chip was in Xie Yue's hand, while Pawniard held the blue chip flat on its claw.

"Begin, Rotom."

Xie Yue stepped forward with his left foot first.

Pawniard stepped forward with its right foot at the same time.

Both moved slowly, yet their feet landed almost at the exact same moment. The second step was the same, even the angle at which their bodies slightly turned was extremely close.

Halfway there, Xie Yue shifted to the right.

Pawniard also shifted right.

They blocked each other perfectly.

Xie Yue switched to the left.

Pawniard followed him to the left.

Blocked again.

"You know, one of you could just not give way," Yan said from outside the window.

One person and one Pokémon looked at him at the same time.

"I'm only suggesting it."

Xie Yue withdrew his gaze and made a gesture for Pawniard to go first.

Pawniard also lifted the claw holding its wooden chip, indicating that Xie Yue should go first.

Now neither of them moved.

Zorua sprawled across the windowsill, its tail already wagging furiously. It conjured three paths between them, each marked with forward-pointing arrows. The middle one even had a red carpet.

Xie Yue did not even look.

Pawniard, however, lifted a foot and stepped on it. Its claw passed straight through the carpet, and the ground offered no sensation at all.

The illusion was exposed on the spot, so Zorua had no choice but to withdraw it.

"One refuses to fight for the lead, while the other fears the first has a backup plan," Xia Che said. "They both think too much."

Xie Yue did not deny it.

Pawniard's eyes remained fixed on his shoulders as well.

Just then, Magby ate its bread too quickly and its nose started itching.

Pfft.

A small puff of hot air slipped through the vent beneath the observation window and into the stone room, blowing directly onto the spare wooden chip at the center line.

The chip spun as it rolled toward Xie Yue's feet.

Pawniard moved first.

It turned sideways and gently flicked it with the unbladed underside of its claw. The chip changed direction and slid through the gap between them.

Xie Yue bent down at once and steadily caught it in his palm.

The two sets of movements connected smoothly.

When the person and Pokémon stood straight again, they had already passed each other.

The problem of endlessly yielding to each other was gone just like that.

Magby still had no idea what it had done. It rubbed its nose and lowered its head to continue eating bread.

Yan patted its head. "Good job."

"Magby?"

Inside the stone room, Xie Yue put the chip he had caught back on the center line.

"Looks like improvisation works better than planning."

Pawniard lowered its head to look at the blue chip it held, then looked at him.

It took a step to the side first.

This time, it took the initiative to make way.

Xie Yue did not hesitate. He walked directly through the open space. They stopped at the center line and each extended a hand. The red and blue wooden chips lightly touched.

The exchange was complete.

No blades collided, and neither side suddenly tested the other.

Rotom displayed a green circle. "Slow approach test passed, Rotom."

Xie Yue returned to his original position without rushing to end things. He picked up the plate of Berries by the door, placed it on the center line, and tried one strip himself first.

This time, Pawniard did not wait long before taking one as well.

Yan asked, "Do you need to test the Berries for poison too?"

"I was telling it that it can rest."

"Wouldn't it be easier to just say so?"

Xie Yue looked at Yan and Magby's matching aprons. "Everyone has a different way of saying hello."

Yan lowered his head to look at the apron he had not had time to take off and said nothing.

After finishing its Berry strip, Pawniard did not get up right away.

It raised its right arm and examined it in the light shining in through the window. When it had stopped Zorua earlier, the side of its blade had brushed against a tiny breadcrumb. Though it did not affect the blade's sharpness, it still inspected it carefully.

Xie Yue noticed the movement. "Need to clean it?"

Pawniard nodded.

Indeedee took out a soft cloth and a fine whetstone from the cabinet. She had intended to place them on the floor, but Xie Yue took them first. Without approaching, he simply pushed both items inside the yellow rope.

Pawniard picked up the cloth and wiped outward from the back of its blade. Every stroke was steady. When it reached narrow spots, it lightly went over them with the whetstone instead.

Xie Yue watched for a while, then asked Indeedee for his requisition slip. "Can I take one of my short daggers? Unsharpened."

Only after Indeedee checked did she bring over the thin blade, still in its sheath.

Xie Yue sat outside the yellow rope and took out a cloth as well. He wiped the sheath first, then inspected the wrapping around the handle. His movements were as quiet as Pawniard's.

One person and one Pokémon sat a few steps apart, each maintaining their own tools.

Yan could not understand it. "Is this also a greeting?"

"At least it takes less effort than standing around," Hu Liena said.

Magby was already sleepy after eating its fill. It crawled into the empty paper bag, revealing only the three round bumps atop its head. A little white smoke occasionally drifted from its nostrils.

Zorua circled the paper bag twice and gave it four legs with an illusion. From afar, it looked like a small smoking stool that could walk on its own.

Pancham believed it and came over to sit on it.

The paper bag suddenly collapsed.

Magby shot out from inside, while Pancham jumped back in fright. The two little ones glared at each other for a moment before turning at the same time to look for Zorua.

Zorua had already turned into an ordinary throw pillow, lying quietly by the window.

Xia Che reached out and patted the pillow. "Stop pretending. My pillow doesn't have a tail."

Zorua had no choice but to return to normal and slink away from the window.

The commotion made Magby's nose itch, and it sneezed again.

A cloud of gray smoke passed through the vent beneath the observation window and drifted right in front of Xie Yue. His freshly cleaned short dagger and sheath were coated in a thin layer of ash, and several black specks appeared on his forehead as well.

Yan immediately picked up Magby. "It didn't mean to."

Xie Yue glanced at him. "I know."

Inside the stone room, Pawniard had already set down the whetstone. It used the flat side of its blade to support its own soft cloth and slowly extended it past the yellow rope.

Xie Yue accepted it, wiped the ash from his face, and cleaned his short dagger again.

"Thank you."

Pawniard nodded lightly.

When Xie Yue returned the cloth, their hands came close for the first time. The blades remained pointed outward, and neither suddenly tightened their movements.

Xia Che bit into his bread and commented, "Eight weapons gathered in one place, and this is the quietest moment of the day."

"Only seven," Yan said.

Xie Yue looked at Pawniard. "Who did you forget to count?"

Only then did Yan realize it. He shut his mouth and continued patting Magby's back.

After lunch, Xie Yue suggested taking another walk outside the shop.

Indeedee brought out the thick soft covers again. There were many people on the street, and Pawniard's blades could easily brush against passersby.

Pawniard still shook its head.

It did not want to cover its blades, nor did it want to force itself outside in a crowd.

Xie Yue did not persuade it. He only asked, "There are fewer people in the morning. Would that work?"

Pawniard thought for a moment, then pushed the blue wooden chip toward him.

It would.

They set the departure time for before the shop opened the next day.

When Xie Yue retrieved his seven weapons, he also slipped the blue wooden chip into his outermost pocket.

It was the eighth thing on him that needed to be carefully put away.