At the exit, Yang Bo picked up Bor, whom he had left there, smiled at the ticket attendant, and nodded before striding away with Steven.
The man who had spoken to Steven earlier watched them leave with a dark expression.
He quietly told the people beside him, "Bring him back and find the Scarabs."
Looking at the enormous bat inside the carrier, Steven asked in surprise, "Sir, is this your pet?"
"This is the first time I've seen someone who likes keeping bats."
Yang Bo lifted the pet carrier with a smile, looked into Bor's little eyes, and said, "You could say that."
"His name is Bor. He works for me and doubles as a mascot."
As he spoke, Yang Bo opened the carrier. Startled, Steven hurriedly said, "But he can fly!"
Bor poked his head out of the cage and glared at Steven with his tiny eyes.
"Shut up..."
With that, Bor flew out of the cage and landed on Yang Bo's shoulder like a black bird.
Steven stopped in his tracks, disbelief filling his eyes. For a moment, he wondered whether he was having another episode.
"S-sir, did your bat just talk?"
Yang Bo turned and looked at Steven as though he were crazy. Steven came to his senses, too. How could a bat talk? It wasn't a parrot.
"N-no, sorry. I've been a little on edge today."
Yang Bo, who had been keeping up the act, couldn't help laughing. "All right, he can talk. You heard him correctly."
It was a sin to tease a fool.
"All right, let's head to the docks and see if there's a ship bound for Egypt. We can enjoy the scenery along the way, too."
The distance from Spain to Cairo, Egypt, wasn't all that great. Although the two countries didn't