Not long after Nanao left the library, she spotted Silas waving at her from a distance.
Honestly, it surprised her a little.
The boys’ dormitory was a fair way off, yet he had made the round trip in that short a span.
Had his Shunpo gotten that fast?
“What is it? That’s quite a startled look.”
Catching the curiosity on Silas’s face, Nanao scratched her cheek.
“Has your Shunpo improved again?”
“No. I just walked a little quicker.”
“Is that so…”
Meeting Nanao’s suspicious stare, Silas laughed it off.
Then, with Nanao leading, the two of them walked briskly toward the spot where the older man had set up his stall.
It wasn’t far, and they were there soon enough.
The fruit seller was squatting in an out-of-the-way corner with a bamboo basket set down in front of him.
Inside were those strange purple fruits, glints of fragment light scattered among them.
Before they could get close, though, the sound of a fierce argument reached them.
“Huh?! One thousand? Why don’t you just rob me while you’re at it, baldy!”
A crisp voice with a roguish edge to it carried across the way.
Silas sharpened his gaze.
It was the black-haired girl with the white headband, the one who had trailed after Shiba Kaien yesterday.
Shiba Kūkaku stood with her hands on her hips, glaring daggers at the stall owner.
“Wild fruit that grows all over the back hills of the Rukongai, and you’ve got the nerve to charge that? Two hundred a pound, take it or leave it!”
The seller had an honest enough face, but there was shrewdness in his eyes.
The girl in front of him plainly knew what the fruit was worth.
Otherwise she would have turned and walked off instead of standing there arguing.
He pulled a pained expression at the thought, though his tone stayed firm.
“Now, young lady, you can’t put it like that. I went to a great deal of trouble picking these deep in the mountains, and they’re good for the body. One thousand isn’t dear at all. Look at the color on them, the size…”
“Spare me. I tried one. It tasted good and that was it, nothing special about it. Three hundred, and that’s my limit!”
Shiba Kūkaku wouldn’t give an inch.
Beside her, Shiba Ganju closed ranks with his sister and bared his teeth at the seller.
As the pair made their scene, a ring of onlookers gathered.
The seller grew flustered.
He had set up here on the sly, and if the patrol guards found him, he would be lucky to escape without a fine.
He dropped his voice.
“Miss, please, stop shouting. Eight hundred is truly the lowest I can go. Any lower and I won’t sell at all!”
While the two of them haggled, a pair of guards in simple protective gear noticed the growing crowd and came over, impatience written on their faces.
“No stalls near the gate of the Shin’ō Academy. Pack up and clear out this instant, or we confiscate the lot! And you two, quit making noise. Move along!”
The guards’ arrival drained the color from the seller’s face.
He bowed quickly, smiling in apology.
“Yes, yes, I’m going, I’m going…”
He started throwing his bamboo basket together in a panic, his face full of dejection and fear.
Kūkaku was thrown by the sight.
She had only wanted to talk the price down, not get the whole stall shut.
“Hey, don’t…”
Watching the seller pack up to leave, she felt it would be a waste to buy at the high price now.
Her small face screwed up in conflict.
Silas surveyed the mess in front of him and decided he had turned up at exactly the right moment.
He walked over to the seller, his tone calm but carrying a steadying weight.
“Don’t worry, sir. I’ll take the whole basket.”
“Huh?”
The seller, Kūkaku, and even the two guards were struck silent for a moment.
The guards sized Silas up.
His looks were exceptional, but he wore no costly ornaments and his manner was modest.
Not the young master of some noble house, most likely.
The two guards traded a glance.
Worth a gamble.
“Hey now, even if you are a Shin’ō Academy student, you can’t go interfering with lawful enforcement…”
Silas stepped in front of them and slipped a small pouch discreetly into their arms.
“For your trouble.”
One guard cracked the pouch open for a peek, and his expression eased at once.
“No problem at all. No problem.”
Silas smiled and saw the two guards off, then turned back to the seller and drew a bulging money pouch from his robes.
“At eight hundred a pound, I make it about twenty pounds left in the basket. Here’s sixteen thousand. Count it if you like.”
He counted the money out and pressed it into the hand of the somewhat dazed seller.
The man took it nervously, his fingers trembling a little.
He hadn’t expected things to turn around like this.
“You’re a savior, sir. Thank you, thank you kindly!”
Watching the two of them close the deal, Shiba Kūkaku stood stunned, and then thoroughly annoyed.
She had clearly been the first one interested.
They just couldn’t agree on a price, and now somebody had swooped in over her head.
Then again, she had nearly gotten the stall shut down, so she felt awkward enough not to know what to say.
Watching Silas lift the basket of fruit, Shiba Kūkaku scratched her cheek, restless.
Silas found the conflict on her face rather entertaining.
“Miss, I take it you wanted some of this fruit yourself. It would be cold of me to walk off with all of it. So how about this.”
He shifted his tone, asked the seller for a bag, scooped two handfuls out of the basket, three or four pounds’ worth, and held them out to Kūkaku.
“Everyone here gets a share. Take these and try them. Call it a friendly gesture.”
“Eh?”
Shiba Kūkaku, caught off guard, took the bag without thinking.
As it settled into her hands, the scent of the fruit drifted up.
She looked at the sincere smile on Silas’s face, then down at the dewy fruit she was holding, and scratched at her messy hair.
“I recognize you. I saw you yesterday when I came along for my brother’s entrance exam. My name’s Shiba Kūkaku, and this is my little brother, Ganju. What’s yours?”
“Silas. Fifth-year at the Shin’ō Academy. This is Ise Nanao, my classmate.”
Silas made the introductions with a smile.
“They let students in this young at the Shin’ō Academy?”
Kūkaku blurted it out as she looked at the petite Nanao.
“Age isn’t a strict requirement. Anyone who passes the assessment can enroll at the Shin’ō Academy.”
Nanao answered.
“Huh. That really is impressive, Nanao.”
Kūkaku praised her without holding back, then lifted the fruit in her hand and turned a bright, forthright smile on Silas.
“You’re a pretty interesting guy. If you ever land in trouble out in the Rukongai, use my name. Shiba Kūkaku!”
She weighed the fruit in her palm and asked, curious, “But why spend that kind of money on fruit?”
“Well, about that…”
Silas glanced toward the seller.
“Sir, could you tell me where this fruit comes from?”
Seeing that Silas was a major customer and pleasant with it, the seller weighed his options.
“I picked them in a very remote spot northwest of West District Two. You have to go deep into the mountains. Might I ask why you want to know, sir?”
Silas smiled faintly, noting the man’s caution.
“I’ll be direct, then. I think this fruit is good. If you can supply it at scale, I’m willing to pay well for it.”
“Ah, well, that’s…”
The seller scratched his head.
“I may have to disappoint you. I found these by chance. I searched that whole area, but the fruit on the other trees was sour and bitter. Only those few trees bear anything worth eating.”
“If you want to see for yourself, I can take you there and prove I’m not lying.”
“It can’t be scaled up? That’s a real shame. Still, I am interested in this fruit. Just being able to go and take a look would be enough, and I can pay you something for your time.”
The seller smiled at Silas.
“No need for that, no need. You just got me out of a tight spot, sir. Consider it returning the favor.”