Whale Folk

Eucali was blunt. "Where did you get the money?"

"...It's my money!"

In the struggle, neither of them noticed a hunched figure suddenly hurrying toward them. The schoolteacher was the first to react, letting out a stern shout of warning.

Eleven and Eucali both jumped. After standing frozen for a moment, they noticed that a ragged vagrant had already rushed to within two or three steps of them.

"Get lost, you hear me?" the teacher snapped in the District 12 dialect. "I've called the police!"

At the words "called the police," the vagrant visibly shuddered. She pushed aside her tangled hair, and her murky eyes lingered meaningfully on Eleven and Eucali for a moment. Only then did Eucali abruptly realize that this rather eerie-looking vagrant seemed to be an old woman...

The old woman quickly ran off. Kiki suddenly covered her nose—the old woman reeked of body odor.

Eucali looked at the teacher. "That was...?"

The teacher stuffed the wallet into Eucali's backpack. "Probably one of the Whale Folk from the south. She saw the wallet in your hand and wanted to snatch it."

"Whale Folk?"

"It's District 12 slang. It refers to vagrants, beggars, thieves, and robbers," the teacher replied. "There have been more and more people like that in Emangria lately... You all need to be careful."

Eucali looked back again, but the vagrant who had just been in sight had already vanished. She shivered unconsciously and quietly thanked the teacher.

By the time Hesta and Ligo arrived home that night, dusty and exhausted, it was nearly eight o'clock. The moment they entered, they asked about Eleven taking Kiki to skip school—Eucali had already told Hesta everything that had happened that afternoon.

"So what exactly did you two skip school for?" Hesta asked.

Eleven pouted and stared