Book of the Seven Celestials: The Third Prophecy

Chapter 3. What It Feels Like To Have A Father

* * *

After the conversation about the old man, the two continued with their meal. As El ate his second portion of meat along with other dishes, he looked up to see the man already on his tenth portion, with all the dishes being different types. Even after more than an hour had passed, he was still going strong, leaving El speechless.

'Is he... starved or something?'

El had already waved goodbye to the kind mother from earlier, whose cute sons and daughter had curiously looked at him while hiding behind their mother's legs. After finishing her meal, she purposely passed by El's table, taking a moment to ask if he was fine while occasionally eyeing the man, who was ignoring their interaction. Finally, she patted El's head before leaving, causing his heart to flutter.

After waving his shy goodbye, the corner of El's mouth involuntarily lifted into a smile.

Suddenly, El's attention was drawn to something else. He noticed a staff member at the eatery struggling to bring numerous package boxes in a large transparent plastic bag to the side of the restaurant.

Then, two children emerged from the shadows of the alleyway. El raised his eyebrows, not out of suspicion, but because the two children looked pale and sickly. They were a girl and a boy around his age. They wore tattered clothes with many uneven stitches. The boy had fading red hair, while the girl had black hair.

"Umm, excuse me, sir?" El said, pulling the man's attention away from his "oh-so-big feast."

After taking a swig of his beer and swallowing a mouthful of food, the man responded, "… Yes, what's up, boy?"

"Is it normal for people living in the city to look like that?" El asked, discreetly pointing at the boy and girl, who were now happily opening the packages. It was food. They used plastic utensils to eat on the spot.

El noticed a female staff member hurriedly taking chairs from an empty table and asking them to sit, which the two hardly complied with. After much persuasion and faint angry noises, they reluctantly sat down. The guests, whether inside or outside, hardly looked at them, as if it were a common occurrence.

The man turned his head over his shoulder to glance at the children. After a moment, he turned back to El.

"You mean them?"

"Yes," El replied.

Still holding his fork, the man explained, "They are people from the underside…"

"Underside? What do you mean? Are they living under the city? In the underground?" El asked, curious about the topic.

"Yeah, you could say so."

Frowning, El pressed on. It seemed the meaning behind the man's words was vaguely bad to him. "You didn't tell me the whole truth. I'm sure of it. Please tell me what you mean by 'people from the underside,' sir?"

The man raised his eyebrows and eventually sighed to reply.

"… Things happen. Some families fall out of favor. Their children—descendants—are the ones who pay the full price," he paused for a few seconds before continuing, "They are also called 'rodents.' People who were purposely neglected by the whole empire, just like rats on the street."

"… You mean they are just like me and the villagers?"

"Hmmmm. Hypothetically, yes. It's like… if the village you lived in before is ranked as number three, the worst place to live in all of Threa, then the underside is number four on that list."

"… What are the number one and two then?"

For a whole minute, they engaged in a staring contest until El couldn't hold it any longer.

"You won't tell me, will you?"

"Yes. If you want to know more, you know the rows of books in the room where you sleep, right? Read them all. You'll gain a basic understanding of the history of the empire we're currently in."

Shrugging his shoulders, El replied, "Alright then…"

"How long until you finally finish your meal, sir?" El pointed back to the matter at hand. It had been close to two hours since the man started eating.

"Calm down, boy. Let me tell you something. As someone who has lived much longer than you, I'll give you some advice—a worthy piece of advice! You need to always enjoy your food, no matter how long it takes, especially if you're going to become an adult like me. That… is the basis of how you're going to enjoy life, you hear me?"

El absentmindedly nodded his head, only half-listening as his attention returned to the two children. Meanwhile, the earlier female staff member was back to work.

A few moments later, five more children emerged from the dark alleyway and proceeded to take the packaged food that had been placed on the table. They ate it with relish. One of the children looked small and fragile, but still bore the same sickly appearance as the others—gaunt cheeks and dark circles under their eyes, reminding El of his sleepless nights, not only from mosquitoes but also from the two elders who had initially sheltered him.

Recalling those past days filled with fatigue, hunger, thirst, and danger, El began to feel hungry again, even though his stomach felt like it was going to burst from how much he had already eaten.

Suddenly, the first girl with black hair turned her gaze to El. Their eyes locked for a few seconds until she nudged the boy beside her, who wore a serious expression. The trio exchanged glances, observing and evaluating one another.

It all ended when El caught a sneer from the boy, who subsequently turned his face away. The girl followed suit, this time without a sneer.

At last, after finishing his last bite, the man seemed satisfied. After paying the bill, he left with El, who couldn't help but steal one last glance at the "kids from the underside." Their eyes met again—El's emerald eyes locking with the girl's and the boy's.

While the girl showed no expression, the boy sneered at him once more for no apparent reason before looking away.

'What did that even mean?' El tilted his head to the side, genuinely confused. He tried to mimic the boy's sneer and then showed it to the man while they walked down the street.

"Sir, sir. What does this mean?" El asked, his mouth awkwardly attempting to form a sneer.

"What the… What are you trying to do? Don't tell me you're sick?"

"Who's sick? I'm not…"

"Then don't do it. There's this disease called stroke."

"Stroke?"

"Yes. One of the late symptoms looks exactly like what you just did."

"Symptoms? What are symptoms?"

"Symptoms are… something you did earlier."

"What did I do? What do you mean exactly?"

"It means… ummm, it means being dumb…"

"What? Dumb? I'm not dumb," El retorted.

"What you did earlier was dumb," the man countered with a sidelong glance.

El's mouth formed an "O," and added inside his head, 'Oh, it means that boy is being dumb, then. Such a pity…'

"I see. I'm actually not being dumb. I was just mimicking someone from that restaurant."

"Then don't do it if you don't want to be called dumb. The dumb label isn't very appealing these days."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing."

"Sir, I have to say this: it seems you really like to leave your words unfinished or say things that are extremely unclear."

"Am I? I always finish things, though."

"Huh???"

"Nothing…"

"Right…" El rolled his eyes.

"By the way, where are we going right now?"

"Where? To the area where there's street food, of course…"

"Street food? You mean we're eating again?"

"Of course. After a little walk, we eat again. You especially need to eat a lot so you can grow big, strong, and tall like me."

"Oh, umm… okay then… It's still free, right?"

"Don't worry, your sir here has a lot of money…" the man said, proudly hitting his chest twice with his palm. His expression was once again obscured by the mask.

The two then spent time together, eating various street foods.

At one point, El dazedly watched a harmonious scene: a young mother holding her son's arm, sharing an ice cream with him. Soon after, the father playfully tapped the mother on the shoulder, making her flinch in surprise. The two began bickering playfully, while their son seemed uninterested, busy looking left and right.

From the child's expression, it was clear that if the mother weren't holding his hand tightly yet gently, he would have run away by now. El understood this feeling well; he could sense the child's desire to run around the market, away from his parents.

El didn't know why, but watching that happy family was actually painful for him.

Out of nowhere, a big hand tapped El on the shoulder.

"Hey, kid. Here, try this. It's called ice cream. It's really good."

"Oh… thanks," El said, dazed again as he looked up at the man's intimidating figure towering over him. Two kids nearby were already crying just from seeing him on the street.

"What's wrong? Is something on my face?"

"No, you just… look cool."

"Oh, I am indeed. Too bad I'm already old now. If only you could have seen the young me…"

"Uh-huh…" El swiftly lost interest as the man began to go into storytelling mode. After spending only a day with him, El had a general understanding of one special trait of the man.

And that was…

He brags a lot, El thought. Even so, his eyes curved, not only from the delectable sweetness of the ice cream but also because of the man. El secretly smiled while stealing glances at him.

'Is this what it feels like… to have a father? It's not bad. It really is not bad at all…'

* * *