"Take this one."
Seeing Van hesitate for so long, Caitlyn simply reached up and took down the bottle from the top shelf, the one with the fanciest decoration.
"This is the only one here I've even heard of... though I've never actually had it."
She turned the bottle over in her hands and frowned slightly. She could not remember where she had seen this liquor called "Poppy Spider Lily" before.
The liquor she usually drank was on a completely different level. Under normal circumstances, she would never touch something like this. But in Caitlyn's eyes, the fact that she even recognized the name already meant it was far better than the rest.
Van raised a brow. He still could not read all the words, but he knew numbers well enough, and that long string of zeroes was way beyond him.
"You've got excellent taste, miss! This is the finest bottle in the whole shop—"
As the shopkeeper kept praising the liquor, Van felt his heart sink lower and lower.
What was he supposed to do? Say something? That would be humiliating...
In the end, poverty crushed what little pride the boy had left.
He let out a small sigh and opened his mouth, ready to ask for a cheaper bottle.
"Cait—"
"Alright. This one, then."
Caitlyn cut him off without hesitation. She casually pulled a few round, gleaming coins from her pocket and scattered them across the counter with almost exactly the same swagger Van had shown back at the Last Drop.
The only difference was that Van had thrown down battered low-grade coins that even normal shops did not like to take, while Caitlyn had just casually dropped real gold onto the counter—freshly minted coins engraved with beautiful patterns.
Gold. Actual gold.
Van kept his face calm, but his eyes widened on their own. He had probably never seen that much money in his life, let alone all at once.
"Hmm... keep the change. I still have class later. Carrying too much loose change around is inconvenient."
"You're very generous, miss..."
Caitlyn turned and handed the bottle to Van, who was still too stunned to react.
He clutched it on instinct, as if he were not holding liquor at all, but a pile of gold.
At the sight of that, Caitlyn let out a quiet laugh and could not help teasing him.
"So even someone who's seen a lot can still run into something new, huh?"
"True enough... merchants are always counting every coin. You do not often meet someone as generous as you."
By then Van had finally recovered, but he still did not forget the role he had made up for himself.
It's my way of thanking you for helping me. Though it still feels a little cheap."
"No. This is already more than enough.
Following Caitlyn out of the shop, Van found himself re-evaluating the girl in front of him.
So she was not just some ordinary rich girl...
He had seen rich people before, but not like this.
With money to throw around like that, her family background... it might rival a Chem-Baron's.
"I should get going," Caitlyn said. "Like I told you, I still have class."
She looked a little disappointed, and a little irritated too.
"More etiquette, more posture, more things I don't care about."
"Yeah, I can tell. I don't think those classes suit you at all..."
Van had no idea what most of the things Caitlyn was talking about actually meant. Words like that simply did not exist in his world. But that did not stop him from showing a little token concern.
"You'd be better at something like... uh..."
He racked his brain, but his poor imagination could not come up with what a noble girl was supposed to study.
Then he suddenly thought of Vi and Powder.
As the adopted daughters of the man who ran the Lanes, they should... probably... maybe... count as something similar?
"Fighting... or shooting? Some target practice, maybe... uh..."
Even Van felt that sounded ridiculous.
But just as he was about to stop, he saw Caitlyn's eyes light up.
"You think so too? Seriously... I thought no one understood me. My parents did hire the Sheriff of the Enforcers to teach me marksmanship, but I know they don't really think this suits me..."
"How could it not? You look brave, and..."
Van suddenly froze. The words in his head started running backward.
The Sheriff... teaching her?
The Sheriff? The one in charge of the Enforcers?
Van could not help remembering that night on the bridge, those Enforcers in their breathing masks, like faceless devils crawling out of hell, cutting people down without mercy.
"What's wrong, Blast?"
"Uh... nothing. I was just surprised. The Sheriff's a big name... I mean, especially for people in trade."
"Don't worry. Enforcers don't eat people. As long as you're not breaking the law, you have nothing to fear from them."
"Always follow the rules, sir."
Van let out a dry laugh.
"So shouldn't you be getting to class?"
"Huh? Oh! I'm almost late!"
Caitlyn looked at her watch and immediately panicked.
"I really liked talking with you..."
"Same here. But I guess this is where we part."
"Then it's settled. Next Friday, meet me in the square?"
"Sure... huh?"
Van blanked. Settled? Since when had anything been settled?
"We already talked about it. You agreed, remember? You're taking me to the Undercity next time... I really, really, really want to see it."
Van scratched his head. He did vaguely remember something like that.
He had assumed it was just polite talk...
"I don't have class that day either... oh, class! I really am late. Then it's settled! See you next time, Blast!"
Caitlyn glanced at her watch again, flustered, then flashed him a hurried smile and took off running.
"Wait..."
Caitlyn was clearly not as soft as she looked. The moment she ran, Van could even see the muscles in her long legs tense. In the blink of an eye, she was gone at the end of the road.
"Ugh... this is a pain."
Van scratched his head in frustration.
"Next Friday... which day was that again?"
...
...
The Undercity. The four kids' hideout.
"Hah!"
Bang, bang, bang!
Vi was drenched in sweat in front of the boxing machine. Her punches came faster and harder with every strike. Her body moved lightly and cleanly, slipping past the machine's attacks and firing back just as fast.
The score display on the wall shot upward at high speed, and when Vi drove in one last heavy punch, it finally stopped on an unbelievable number.
"Woo! Congrats, Vi! Another new record!"
Mylo was sprawled across the sofa in the middle of the room, fiddling with the parts of a pistol as he shouted in an exaggerated voice.
"Too bad it's still only second place. Give it up. You're never beating him. That guy's a beast."
Claggor nodded in strong agreement. Powder, meanwhile, was busy messing with Blitz. She had no idea what they were talking about, but she nodded along anyway like she understood.
"Shut up, Mylo!"
Vi wiped the sweat from her chin and looked up at the scoreboard.
"There's still a gap... but it's getting smaller!"
"Mm-hm. Sure. The gap between a beast and a person."
"Was somebody talking about the next Hound of the Lanes?"
At that moment, the wind chime gave a soft jingle and the door swung open. Standing there with his arms full of loot was Van.
"Look at that. The man of the house is back from the hunt."
[End of chapter]