Previously:
"Hey… 'Morgiana-san' is kinda long, so can I call you something else?" Aladdin asked.
"… Whatever…" Morgiana said, not really sure how to respond.
"Then, 'Morg-san!'" Aladdin suggested brightly.
"…" Once again, Morgiana didn't know how she should respond to that. Aladdin and the twins sweat-dropped at the lengthy silence.
"Don't like it?" he asked.
"… It's fine." Morgiana told him. She just wasn't used to it yet. Her three new friends smiled.
"Okay, let's go, Morg-san~!" they said cheerfully.
Chapter 35: The Road to Balbadd
After Aladdin, the twins, and Morgiana's activities, the fortress's band of thieves was also no more.
"I will bear our hardships, younger brothers." S Nando, the former head thief and the oldest son of his family reassured his little bros as they trudged through the desert.
"Nii-chan, I'm hungry~" the second and largest son, L Nando cried miserably.
"All of our stored goods and subordinates… all of them lost…" lamented the beautiful third son, M Nando.
"Don't worry…" S Nando told them. "We'll head to Balbadd and gather new underlings. Right now, there is a rebellion and terrorists are there… So let's take advantage of that."
"But, even so, we'll need funds…" said M. "The only thing we managed to grab was this strange bag…" he added, holding up the twins' tote, which was mostly full of a bunch of nonsensical items that the brothers couldn't make heads or tails of. He doubted they'd be able to sell any of it, since it seemed like a bunch of useless junk.
"Nii-chan, over there, over there." Said L, pointing at something lying on the ground in the shade of one of the trees in the oasis they had just entered.
"Hm?" S said as they moved closer to get a better look.
"It's a person…" said L.
"He's sleeping." Said M. "He smells like alcohol, though… is he drunk?"
"…" S stroked his beard as he stared at the passed out drunk, thinking.
"Nii-chan, I want to drink, too~" L cried, suddenly remembering how hungry and thirsty he was again.
"What should we do…?" M asked S.
"Fufufu…" S chuckled with a grin. "Brothers… It seems luck is still with us. Look! This man's clothes!" he said, pointing out all the expensive jewelry and fine fabrics the sleeping stranger was wearing.
"Wow~ That's really expensive!" M and L said, impressed.
"Let's steal it all…" S said with a smirk.
"Hey, hey… Morg-san is heading to Balbadd so that you can take a boat back to your homeland, right~?" Aladdin said as he strolled along through the oasis with the three girls.
"Yes… and… I wanted to meet you and Faith-san and Alibaba-san again." Morgiana replied softly. "I wanted to thank you…"
"Thank??" Aladdin and the twins said curiously.
"… That's right… by using the treasure, Alibaba-san liberated me from my social position…" Morgiana explained. "He liberated two slaves without asking anything in return… In order to fulfill our promise, I will return to my hometown where he could not… I will do what I want to do by my own will… Before I met the three of you, I didn't think about anything… You granted me a free future… I am really grateful… Thank you, Aladdin-san and Faith-san." She said, bowing deeply as she kneeled on the ground before them. "You too, Hope-san… for the things you said back in the fortress… You didn't know me, and yet you both rushed in to help…"
"Oh, hey! You don't have to go that far…!" Faith told her with a wry smile as Aladdin and Hope got a bit flustered upon seeing her prostrating herself like that.
"That's right, there's no need to thank us… rather, I think we should be thanking you! You helped us all escape, after all." Hope reminded her.
"That's right, I'm glad you're happy!" Aladdin said with a smile. "I'm sure Alibaba-kun feels the same way, we don't need any praise! Because, I think, Alibaba-kun is a really kind person!" Morgiana smiled slightly at that.
"Though, it is nice to receive some proper appreciation from time to time…" Faith said with a grin, earning herself a light elbow in the ribs from Hope for ruining the moment.
"Ah~ I really want to see Alibaba-kun soon…" Aladdin said as Morgiana straightened up.
"Haha, you really like Alibaba-kun, huh?" Hope asked with a smile. From the way Aladdin liked to gush about him, he must be a great guy.
"Yeah, teasing him is fun~!" Faith said brightly.
"… We'll meet him if we follow this road." Morgiana said, pointing down the path they were on.
"Yep, that's right!" Aladdin said excitedly. 'At the end of this road… are Alibaba-kun and his hometown!' he thought with a smile, imagining his friend waiting for them with open arms. As they continued on, they did indeed meet someone who was waiting for them with open arms, but it wasn't Alibaba. The young travelers froze like four deer stuck in a pair oncoming headlights when they found a naked man blocking their path. He was tall and extremely handsome with purple hair, amber eyes, and lean, well-defined muscles; but he for some reason he was only wearing a pair of gold hoop earrings and giant leaf to cover the front of his crotch.
"Hey, you guys! Nice weather today, huh?" the strange man greeted them pleasantly with a dazzling smile.
"!" they gasped, quickly snapping out of their stunned stupor.
'Hallelujah, it's raining men~!!' Faith thought with a Cheshire cat grin while the kids started to freak out.
"This is bad, stand back!" Aladdin immediately told the girls, concerned for their safety. "It might be a monster!!" he said seriously, causing the man to flinch in shock.
"It's all right! Leave this to me!" Morgiana said, keeping her eyes squeezed shut, as she assuming a fighting stance.
"Huh!? No, you're wrong! Listen to me!" the man said urgently.
"No, leave this to me! This is a job for an adult!" faith said seriously as she stepped forward.
"?" the man said when she marched straight up to him, stopping only an inch away. She looked up at him with a gleam in her eye and smirked.
"Well, hello, sailor~!" She purred, letting out a whistle of appreciation, as she lightly ran the tip of her finger up his abs of steel.
"No! It's dangerous, Faith-san…!!" Morgiana exclaimed.
"What if it bites!?" Aladdin cried in alarm.
"Oh, I hope he does~" Faith teased with a carnivorous grin, making the kids (who clearly didn't get the innuendo) flinch in shock.
"Okay, Y'all to calm the heck down. It's just a naked man, for crying out loud!" Hope said firmly, trying to be the voice of reason. She was sure they'd all seen much stranger things than this on their journey. "… Especially you!" she snapped as she grabbed her sister by the ear to pull her back to a more reasonable distance away from the stranger. "What are you doing? You don't know where he's been, much less whether he's had all his shots or not. Control your hormones, woman!" she scolded her sister in a whisper-yell, as if they were talking about a stray dog.
"Um… I can hear everything you're saying…" the man said a bit chagrined, sweat-dropping.
"Aw, but he's hot! Can't we keep him?" Faith asked with a pout while she massaged her poor ear.
"Well, I suppose that depends…" Hope said, eyeing the stranger critically. "Who are you? What are you doing wandering around naked like that? Are you some kind of pervert?" she asked the man bluntly, also a little on edge. "Depending on your answer, we may have to kick your ass."
"Sure, but… before that, I don't suppose you have any spare clothes I could borrow? I'm not walking around like this by choice…" The man said, laughing a bit awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his neck. The way Faith was staring at him so intensely was a little unnerving… Normally he wouldn't mind being ogled by a pretty girl, but something about this one made him feel really uncomfortable… Instead of attraction, the chill he felt earlier when she touched him had been the kind you get when your body instinctively senses danger.
"Eh? You want to borrow Hope's clothes!?" Aladdin gasped in as the four of them stared at him with expressions ranging from mild surprise/amusement to shock and fear at his (imagined) preference for cross-dressing.
"I was talking about you! Please try using a little more common sense!" the man snapped impatiently with a vein throbbing on his forehead. The hell was wrong with these guys!?
"Thanks for lending me these clothes, Aladdin!" he said brightly, in a much better mood now that he had been clothed and fed. Despite their initial hostility and harassment, these kids had turned out to be pretty nice once they had calmed down.
"Mm! Sorry about my clothes being so small, though." Aladdin said. His pants were so ridiculously tiny on the man that they looked like little short-shorts. Which Faith did not mind in the least. Hope seemed relatively unfazed (decided to just treat it like seeing a statue in an art museum since he was sculpted like one), but poor Morgiana had received a big shock and was too embarrassed to look directly at him for some time after that.
"My name is Sin." The man continued with a smile, finally introducing himself. "I'm a merchant heading to Balbadd, but I got totally cleaned out by some bandits along the way."
"Ah." The twins said, nodding in understanding. They'd just had a bad experience with thieves themselves.
"I see… No wonder…" Hope said thoughtfully, holding her chin. That seemed plausible enough.
"Wow, even your clothes? That really sucks." Faith said sympathetically.
"Sorry for not listening to your story…" Aladdin apologized, feeling a bit guilty now about how he had overreacted earlier. "There are many dangerous things when crossing the desert, so I guess I've become a little paranoid…"
"Oh, so you're crossing the desert at that age?" Sin asked, impressed.
"That's right! We've crossed the central desert together all the way from the Kouga Village in the Northern Tenzan Plateau!" Aladdin said brightly, throwing his arms around the twins. "There are tons of rare plants and animals!"
"Yes, and we've met lots of interesting people, too!" Hope said with a smile, remembering all the different cultures they were able to sample along the way.
"Yeah, and there was lots of other cool stuff, too!" Faith added, thinking of all the shiny things, treasure, and good food they had seen and eaten along the way.
"Good for you!" Sin said with a smile, sounding a little envious. It had been a while since he was able to enjoy an adventure like that. "I love adventurous tales like that." He continued, stirring the campfire. "That sense of euphoria from seeing unknown lands and the knowledge you come across… Nothing can replace it. It opens a path from which self-confidence, experience, and important friendships, from the sharing of life or death situations, are born… But hearing it just isn't the same… I want to create my own magnificent story! A great adventure! Because an adventure… is a man's romance!" he said passionately with shining eyes as he looked up from the fire, staring off into the distance at a vision only he could see. Aladdin and the twins stared at him in astonished amazement. Aladdin was lit up with childlike wonder and admiration, while some more mature and less pure emotions stirred in Faith.
"You, me. Those bushes. Now." Faith told Sin with a straight face and lustful gleam in her eye, earning herself a swift Gibbs slap from Hope.
"Cut it out." Hope deadpanned while Aladdin and Sin sweat-dropped. "None of that in front of the kids, okay?"
'That Faith girl is really aggressive…' Sin thought, taking a moment to note which twin appeared to be the more dangerous of the two. She made him nervous, and not in a good way.
"Umm… Aren't we hurrying to Balbadd?" Morgiana spoke up after a moment. "We wanted to arrive before nightfall, but…"
"Ah! That's right!" Hope said, surprised when she realized how easily she had lost track of time.
"Oh! I'm sorry, young lady!" Sin apologized politely to Morgiana while the twins put out the fire so they could get going again. "We got a bit carried away talking about adventures."
"I know. I understand how you feel, ojii-san!" Aladdin said excitedly as they started to walk.
"'Ojii-san?' Aladdin, shouldn't it be 'onii-san' instead?" Hope said with a wry smile. The man didn't look any older than his late twenties. Upon hearing that, Sin immediately decided that Hope was his favorite twin.
"Yeah, but I think adventures are a woman's romance, too!" said Faith as if she hadn't heard a thing. "Remember that time with that huge sandstorm, when the axle on the cart broke, and we went land yachting in it to get away!? That was awesome!!"
"Yeah, that was fun!" Aladdin exclaimed, getting an adrenaline rush just thinking about it. "How did you know that would work, Hope?"
"Well," Hope said, "we'd done it before with our father, so…"
"Excuse me, did you say 'land yachting'?" Sin asked curiously.
"It's like sailing, but on land." the twins said in perfect unison, as if it should have been obvious.
"I see…" Sin said, sweat-dropping.
"I calculated the size and angle the sail would need to be in order to be able to lift the wagon using the strong winds from the storm coming up behind us…" Hope explained.
"… And then I helped her make it out of everyone's blankets!" Faith finished.
"Oh, amazing!" Sin praised them. These twins were pretty handy. "You must be very proud of your big sisters." he told Aladdin. They didn't look a thing alike, but they seemed very close.
"Hehe~" Aladdin smiled happily, blushing a little, as he beamed with pride.
"Um … Are you three really related?" Morgiana asked curiously. Come to think of it, their friends from the caravan had referred to them as 'siblings' too, but the twins and Aladdin didn't look alike at all, and their scents were way too different…
"Uh, no, not really…" Aladdin admitted a bit sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.
"The people in our caravan just assumed we were, and we didn't bother correcting them, 'cause we've sorta ended up adopting each other, right?" Faith said with a grin.
"Right." Hope agreed with a smile as they both put an arm around their 'little brother'.
"I see!" Sin said with a smile. "One of the perks of going on a journey is meeting sweet young ladies like yourselves."
"Heh~" Faith said with a smirk. "You really do sound like an 'ojii-san' when you talk like that." she teased to his chagrin.
"…" Sin glanced at Morgiana, who had remained silent the whole time. With that hair and those eyes…
"Umm… what is it?" Morgiana asked when she noticed his staring.
"Hm?" said Sin, realizing a little too late that he had been caught.
"Ah!" Faith said suddenly, snapping her fingers, as if she'd just had a brilliant epiphany. "You're a lolicon, aren't you?"
"I was just thinking about how interesting this journey has been so far, and how quiet and well-behaved this young is!" Sin ground out through a brilliant shit-eating grin as a vein popped on his forehead. "You should try it sometime!"
"Hey, are we there yet?" Aladdin asked.
"I don't know…" Hope said, raising a hand to shield her eyes from the glare of the sun as she looked ahead. "From how it looked on the map, I thought we'd be able to see it by now…"
"Just over that hill, you'll be able to see the town." Sin informed them, pointing out how the land in front of them was beginning to form an upwards slope.
"Really?" Aladdin asked excitedly. "It's not invisible?"
"I can smell the sea…" Morgiana said, sniffing the air.
"Oh, now that you mention it…" Hope said, inhaling as a light sea breeze reached them, while Aladdin and Faith rushed ahead. Standing at the top of the hill, they could see a very lively and exotic port city stretching out below them.
"Cool!" Faith said.
"So this is…" Aladdin said, amazed.
"Balbadd!" Morgiana finished as she and the others came up from behind, staring in astonishment at the amazing scene before them. The twins grinned. They couldn't wait to explore!
"That's right, this is the Kingdom of Balbadd. But, being the smallest country on the continent, rather than calling it a country, one should be calling it a city. Its independence can be solely attributed to its good diplomatic relations with the other the other countries on the continent. Though it's capital city, Balbadd, is on the continent, the country is actually comprised of several hundreds of small islands. It is a great oceanic nation. Balbadd is part of the northern oasis countries and has been trading with Western Partevia since long ago, thus allowing it to flourish." Sin explained brightly as he guided them through the streets of the city. The market was very colorful, and filled with all sorts of sights and sounds. People seemed to be doing trade everywhere they looked. It reminded Hope of their vacation in Saida, Lebanon. Although they were from different worlds, the two cities appeared to share many traits, including similar architecture, trade, and fishing. "Various races. A blend of cultures. Balbadd once differed from surrounding countries, but, though it has changed, it still holds the feeling of a country. For generations, the royal Saluja family has been ruling and serving the country wholeheartedly. However, since the last king passed away…" Sin continued, pausing when he spotted some graffiti calling for the abolishment of the monarchy on a wall near a particularly run-down street. "… The country has become disheveled."
"…" Hope frowned slightly when she noticed the increased amount of vagrants on the street and how serious his expression had become. Sin noticed her concern and smiled.
"But you'll be safe here." He said, perking up when they reached their destination, which was a very large and grandiose building that reminded the twins very much of a five-star hotel that they had once stayed at in. "It's the finest luxury hotel in the country, where I always stay!" Sin finished with a brilliant smile, confirming their suspicions.
"That's great, and all…" Hope said with a wry smile, sweat-dropping. But she and her sister weren't exactly made of money anymore…
"But, I'm worried about the cost…" Morgiana said, sharing her concerns. "I worked in a caravan for the past six months, so I have money, but I don't have that much…"
"Me too…" Said Aladdin.
"What if we put all our money together and shared a room?" Faith suggested, eager to sleep in a real bed with quality sheets and have a warm bath in a real tub for a change.
"Well, we might be able to afford one room if we pooled our resources, but I don't think we should spend all of our money on a room…" Hope said sadly with a sigh. They still had to eat and pay for other various expenses…
"Don't worry about any~thing." Sinbad said lightly. "Leave the charges to me. It's my way of thanking you for helping me. My subordinates should've arrived before us, so they'll pay. I really like this place, so I hope you'll stay here tonight." He said with a kind, reassuring smile.
"!" they all gasped in surprise and amazement at his generosity.
"You're the best!!!" The twins squealed gratefully, so excited that both of them immediately glomped him without thinking, though he didn't seem to mind. He had no idea how much the small comfort of a being able to experience a few familiar luxuries meant to them. As far as they were concerned, he was an angel!
"Thank you, ojii-san~" Aladdin said brightly, while Morgiana bowed repeatedly. "You're really rich, aren't you!" Sin just smiled and laughed in response. They had no idea.
"!?" He said, flinching in shock when he felt a sharp pinch on his firm behind, and he realized it had been one of the twins.
"Hey, Cut that out!" Hope scolded her sister with a vein throbbing on her forehead, pinching the offending hand. "Geez! Don't repay his kindness with harassment!"
"Tch!" Faith clicked her tongue, clearly disappointed that she had been caught before she could do more. Sin sweat-dropped. He really couldn't let his guard down around this one… With that, he waved goodbye and went on ahead of them into the hotel.
"During travels, even heroic young men need a helping hand…" he thought aloud with a satisfied smile on his face as he watched Aladdin talk excitedly with the girls. "All right! Then I should head to my own room!" Sin said, strolling bold as brass into the lobby. He didn't care at all about the strange looks the other patrons were giving him for his lack of proper clothing and shoes. Unfortunately, the hotel's security did, and they quickly rushed over to apprehend him.
"Hey, you! You're suspicious!" the men shouted, surrounding him.
"Huh!?" Sinbad said, flinching in shock. "How am I suspicious!?"
"You're suspicious no matter how I look at you!" their boss shouted with a vein throbbing on his forehead.
"…" Aladdin and Morgiana sweat-dropped as they watched, wondering if they should do something. Faith was really struggling not to laugh.
"Um, excuse me…" Hope said politely, stepping forward. "But maybe it would be better if you had one of your subordinates called down to vouch for you?" she suggested tentatively with a wry smile.
"Oh! That's a great idea!" Sin said.
"…" the two subordinates in question said as they watched the scene he was making from a safe distance away.
"He's here…" a tall, red-haired man with a piercing under his lower lip said.
"Honestly, what took him so long…" grumbled a silver-haired man with freckles. "Sin-sama!" he called out as they stepped forward to claim their troublesome master. "Where have you been up until now?"
"?" Aladdin and Morgiana said curiously.
'Hallelujah, it really is raining men today!' Faith thought, taking note of their good looks.
"… I see… so our master has caused you trouble." The silver-haired man said once they had finished relating the story of how they met. "In accordance with our master's wishes, leave the hotel charges to us." He told the young travellers with a smile.
"Thank you! Subordinate onii-sans!" Aladdin said excitedly.
"Yes, thank you very much!" Hope said with a radiant smile, while Morgiana bowed.
"Now, please don't stray from us again." The silver-haired man told Sin sternly, holding onto his master as if he was concerned he might wander off like a disobedient toddler as they herded him away.
"See ya later, guys! Let's eat something together tomorrow!" Sin called back to them with a smile and a wave.
"It's a date!" Faith agreed eagerly on everyone's behalf.
"…" The silent red-haired man stared at Morgiana as they parted.
"!" Morgiana said when she noticed, wondering why.
"… As I thought, that girl bothers me!" Masrur declared once they had entered a private room to talk.
"She's also a Fanalis… I was surprised, too." Sin said brightly.
"Yes. Well, it is uncommon." Masrur said.
"I see. I was also surprised when I first met you." Ja'far said with a smile. "By the way, Sin, it can't be that all of your luggage got stolen again, right?"
"It got stolen." Sin replied bluntly with a shit-eating grin plastered on his face. Ja'far stared blankly at him for a moment, stunned.
"… Everything but your clothes… No way… even all the tools…!?" Ja'far asked.
"Everything was stolen." Sinbad admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. Including is clothes. Masrur braced Ja'far when his knees buckled slightly, and he began to tremble, turning livid with rage.
"You… Did you somehow forget…!?" Ja'far demanded incredulously, wrapping his hands around Sinbad's throat, shaking him so violently that he looked like a bobble head. "Did you forget how this country is dying!?" he asked furiously while Sinbad just continued to smile and laugh like and idiot despite the fact that he was practically being throttled.
"Haha, it's fine, it's fine." Sin said calmly, rubbing his sore throat when Ja'far finally released him.
"It's not fine!" Ja'far snapped.
"Well, somehow or another, leave it to me!" Sin said, confident that he would figure something out.
"Honestly, you…" Ja'far said with a vein throbbing on his forehead. "Just when are you going to awaken to your responsibilities as king? King Sinbad!" Sinbad simply stared at him for a moment before giving him a light jab in the arm.
"Don't expose that~~~!" he said, imitating the way he thought Hope had sounded scolding her randy sister earlier. He'd had fun playing with their little group, and it was kind of refreshing not to be treated like a king for the first time in a long while.
"What kind of speech is that!?" Ja'far asked, grossed out to hear a grown man talking that way.
"This is your room." The maid said with a smile as she showed Aladdin, the twins, and Morgiana their room. The four of them had decided to stick together and share after all.
"Waaaah! It's gorgeous!" Aladdin exclaimed excitedly as he dashed into the dazzling room.
"Mwahaha~! Come to mama!!" Faith cried as they both leaped onto the beds and rolled around, enjoying the soft, cloud-like mattresses and bedding. Hope just stood in the middle of the room, smiling blissfully, as she enjoyed the feeling of being surrounded by luxury again, while Morgiana walked over to the windows and opened them for everyone out of habit.
"If there's anything you don't understand, please don't hesitate to ask." The maid said with a smile.
"Then, onee-san, I have a question for you…" Aladdin said as the maid turned to leave.
"Yes, what is it?" she asked pleasantly.
"Do you know a guy named Alibaba? He's my friend." Aladdin said with a smile.
CLANG!
They were all bit startled when the maid suddenly dropped the tray in her hand, and it hit the floor with a clatter.
"… Are you all right?" Hope asked.
"What's wrong…?" Aladdin asked, puzzled by her odd reaction.
"Excuse me, that name just surprised me a bit." The maid said with a nervous smile. "Now that I think about it, that name isn't so uncommon. Your friend has the same name as a famous person in this country…"
"A famous person?" Faith asked.
"Right now, 'Balbadd's Alibaba'… refers to… 'Wonder Man Alibaba'. This country's number one criminal."