xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Hemlock, 3:31 p.m. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
With the rainfall continuing to pound the town of Hemlock, Bernard and his Celestial Spirit companions continued to walk in the downpour on the way to one of his father's investments in the local area. Stopping in front of the ramen shop, the trio looked at the small business with a sliding door in front and a sign on top that read; "Sea Noodles."
"Heck of a name..." Corvus commented as Vulp raised an eyebrow in similar disbelief at the strange title.
"Hmmmmm..." Bernard muttered as he looked around and saw that a majority of other businesses on the street had their lights on but noted this particular place was dark. "It's the middle of the afternoon, why is this place closed?" He said as Corvus looked at a sign on the window of the restaurant.
"Yo, kid. Look at this." Corvus said, catching Bernard and Vulp's attention. '"Monday through Saturday: open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Closed on Sunday." This place is only opened for three hours a day?!" The crow said with a surprised tone.
"What the heck...?" Bernard said in similar bewilderment as he looked at the business. "Considering they have a loan with my father, they obviously don't have the money to operate on their own. But even if business was going smoothly, they're only open for an eighth of a day. The place doesn't look that "high-grade" so it's probably not doing well monetarily either." He thought, analyzing the outer quality of the ramen shop before raising his fist. "Hello! Anyone in there?! I'm looking to talk to someone about Barnum O'Halloran!" Bernard said, knocking lightly on the screen door to no response.
"Hey, kid." Corvus said, catching Bernard's attention. "Why exactly are we here? Shouldn't we be back at the guildhall with the others trying to argue your job back from that "profit prophet?"' He said, referring to Bernards wealthy fortune teller mother as the trio failed to notice the sliding door opened slightly.
"Well, there's- hauh!?" Bernard said until a hand reached out from the door and grabbed Bernard by the collar of his shirt, pulling him inside of the restaurant and slamming the door, leaving the Celestial Spirits outside.
"Kid!" Corvus exclaimed as he and Vulp's eyes widened in shock.
Inside the dark restaurant that consisted of a small number of tables mounted to the wall and a long counter that separated the kitchen space from the dining area, Bernard was pinned against the wall by a man in a white chef's outfit and a tall hat with his arm pressing against Bernard's neck. With Bernard placing his hands on the arm that was against his throat, he quickly stopped struggling as the man lifted a cleaver close to his face, prompting Bernard to sweat out of concern for his life.
"Who are you?! What do you want!?" The chef dressed man said with a voice filled with paranoia.
"Uh! Uh!" Bernard muttered in a fearful tone. "Crap! I-I gotta speak up or I'm a goner!" He thought. "I-I'm from Psycho Circus!" Bernard said as the wide-eyed man continued to pin Bernard against the wall, failing to notice the sliding door opening as Corvus and Vulp had entered.
"I need more time! There are setbacks right now, but I just need more time!" The chef dressed man said in a frantic tone as Vulp outstretched his tail quietly towards Bernard and releasing some of Bernard's magic from within his body around his master.
"What the hell are you saying!?" Bernard replied in a confused tone as he kept shifting his eyes back and forth between the man and the cleaver near his face, failing to notice Zaphkiel's coins disappeared from around his neck, Hoyabembe's pin turned white in his beanie and Baur's bracelet was no longer on his wrist.
"You! You're here for something I don't have, and I just need you to leave!" The chef dressed man said with tears in his eyes as Bernard noticed his sad face.
"What's wrong with this guy?!" Bernard thought.
"We'll leave after we kick your ass..." Corvus said with a hostile tone as the man heard the unfamiliar voices and turned backwards slowly.
Dread appearing on his face, the chef dressed man stopped applying pressure with his arm against Bernard as he was stunned by the sight of the sparking crow, blade tailed fox, large lizard made of stone, big white gorilla and wing antlered deer, all looking at him with malicious intent on their faces for harming their magical benefactor. Dropping the cleaver from his hand on the ground, the terrified man stumbled backwards to make distance, falling onto one of the nearby wall mounted tables as Hoyabembe reached his left hand behind Bernards back, lightly nudging him into the middle of the group with Hoyabembe standing behind Bernard, Corvus and Zaphkiel on his respective right and left sides and Baurs and Vulp in front of him.
"Aaaahhhh!" The chef dressed man cried out in fear as Bernard looked at him.
"Guys!" Bernard said as he looked at all of his pets, catching their attention.
"You okay, kid?" Corvus asked out of concern.
"I'm fine..." Bernard said as he put a hand on his neck. "How'd you three come out?" He asked towards Hoyabembe, Zaphkiel and Baurs.
"We felt you giving off your magic, I assumed you were in danger." Baurs said calmly as Zaphkiel nodded in agreement.
"Ooh-ooh-ooh." Hoyabembe said as he loomed over Bernard.
"Well, I was kinda in danger, that's sweet of you for caring..." Bernard thought before he looked at the man cowering on the table. "Excuse me... Are you Mr. Pavernact?" He asked with a plain tone as the pets all glared at the chef dressed man with bothered eyes. "...Stop it..." Bernard ordered as he noticed all of his pets were giving off hostile vibes towards the man.
"...Huh?" The chef dressed man muttered. "Ye-yeah?" He continued as Vulp gritted his teeth at him.
"My name is Bernard. Bernard O'Halloran." Bernard said, introducing himself and motioning for Vulp to calm down with a wave of his hand.
'"O'Halloran?"' Mr. Pavernact reiterated. "You... You related to Master Barnum?" He said as he moved off the table, getting on the far side to make distance from Bernard's pets, who were still agitated with him.
"Does the guild logo on his hat look familiar?" Corvus said as the ramen shop owner looked at Bernard's beanie, vaguely making out the Psycho Circus guild logo in the darkness.
"Ah! Oh, my goodness, I'm sorry!" Mr. Pavernact said as he moved away from the table, got on his hands and knees and bowed with his forehead touching the floor, causing all of Bernard's pets' expressions to soften. "I'm so sorry, I can't make the payment and it's been hell lately and-and-" He said in a frantic tone until Bernard spoke up.
"Hey! Hey!" Bernard said as the sobbing chef lifted his head up. "I'm not here to collect anything!" He said as he moved out of the group, walking past Vulp and Baurs to get closer to Mr. Pavernact.
"You-you're not?" Mr. Pavernact questioned with snot dripping down his face.
"It's a bit dark in here." Baurs commented as Bernard looked around and spotted a switch, flipping it to turn on the lights in the restaurant.
"I'm sorry for my actions... I've been a bit... Disturbed, as of late." Mr. Pavernact said as Bernard helped him to his feet before sitting on one of the stools in front of the counter.
"Very disturbed..." Corvus commented as the other pets nodded in agreement.
"Just to be sure... You're not here to get a payment for Master Barnum?" Mr. Pavernact asked as Bernard shook his head. "...Oh, thank goodness..." He said as he leaned back against the counter in a showing of relief.
"Well, I am here about the loan but I'm not here to ask for something like that." Bernard said as Mr. Pavernact raised an eyebrow.
"Okay...?" Mr. Pavernact said.
"...Can I ask about the nature of your loan with my dad?" Bernard said as the chef raised an eyebrow. "Like, what's the specifics about it, terms and such? I'm a bit curious." He said as he walked over to one of the stools near the wall mounted tables and sat down on it.
"Uhhh...?" Mr. Pavernact replied. "I... Guess I can discuss the terms. Master Barnum- wait, he's your dad?!" He exclaimed loudly as the pets continued to stare at the chef. "Guh, they're looking at me like they want to rip me apart!" Mr. Pavernact thought in fear.
"Once again, not here for a payment... And no one is attacking anyone!" Bernard said before turning towards his pets with a tone of authority to get them to stop looking at Mr. Pavernact like they were going to assault him.
"Our apologies but we don't trust this man after holding a blade to your head." Baurs said as Zaphkiel and Vulp nodded.
"What she said..." Corvus said.
"Ahh-ahh-ahh." Hoyabembe said as Bernard sighed.
"Guh..." Mr. Pavernact said with a scared tone as Bernard waved his hand to catch his attention.
"So, the terms?" Bernard asked as Mr. Pavernact calmed down slightly.
"...I came to town over a year ago and wanted to open up a ramen shop with a nautical twist. Business town like Hemlock, thought there was an untapped market for seafood mixed noodles." Mr. Pavernact explained. "Master Barnum came to the door and offered me some money for a minor investment in the place. Said "the selfishness of shellfish need to be brought down a peg in ramen bowls" or something like that. I think he was trying to tell a joke." He continued as Bernard and his pets lowered their eyes.
'"You don't say..."' Bernard and his pets that could speak said with annoyance at Bernard's fathers' sense of humor.
"He was very generous with the money... And we came up with a decently small payment plan. I was shocked. Usually banking guilds or loan sharks charge outrageous levels of interest with short deadlines but he gave me a modestly small requirement to pay and a loose level of time between payments for me to meet it." Mr. Pavernact said as Bernard raised an eyebrow. "It felt less like he was giving me a loan and more like he was actively wanting to help me build up my place, even though we were complete strangers to one another..." He continued.
"...So, my father's not gouging the townsfolk if this guy is an example... It... It almost feels like I don't know much about my parents or their character..." Bernard thought as he silently listened.
"...Until last month..." Mr. Pavernact said as he put his hands on his face.
"What happened?" Baurs asked.
"Ever since last month, I was forced to change my hours to what the sign says outside... I can only be open for three hours a day..." Mr. Pavernact said with his depressed voice returning. "I asked Master Barnum for an extension on the payment, and he gave me an okay on the delay, but I still haven't made the Jewels I owe him..." He continued.
"I don't know how you could make any money in that short of a period." Bernard commented. "Unless your ramen was blessed by the gods..." He thought.
"You lose your edge or something?" Corvus asked as Mr. Pavernact looked at the crow with an offended face.
"No! I want to cook! I close on Sundays to go out and get produce but... My restaurant..." Mr. Pavernact said until he made a bothered expression towards Bernard.
'"But?"' Bernard reiterated.
"...My restaurant has become cursed..." Mr. Pavernact said as Bernard and all of his pets in the room all raised their eyebrows.
"This place is haunted?" Corvus said as he flew over to the table near Bernard and landed on it, Vulp also moving towards his master whilst taking a position near his legs.
"I'm not going to be attacked by a dead guild master in here, calm down." Bernard thought as he noticed the Celestial Spirits were getting protective of him.
"Yes..." Mr. Pavernact said as Bernard released some of his energy and returned Zaphkiel, Hoyabembe and Baurs back into their traveling forms as accessories on his person. "It's been that way since I tried my newest dish last month." He said as Bernard raised an eyebrow.
"...You cooked some ramen... And then suddenly your place was haunted...?" Bernard said as he and the Celestial Spirits looked at each other with bewildered expressions.
"Correct..." Mr. Pavernact said.
"...Okay, I'm genuinely confused." Corvus said as Mr. Pavernact looked at the crow.
"Same..." Bernard said as Vulp nodded in agreement.
"Want proof?" Mr. Pavernact said as he stood up.
Walking around behind the counter and into the kitchen area, the trio looked on as the exhausted looking ramen chef stood next to a low cupboard whilst facing Bernard, Corvus and Vulp. With a deep breath and a heavy sigh, Mr. Pavernact grabbed the handle and quickly threw open the door before jumping out of the way. Looking on, Bernard and the Celestial Spirits were taken aback as they noticed something emerged from the inside of the cupboard.
"What the heck?!" Bernard shouted in surprise at the sight before him.
Sticking out of the cupboard was a ghostly crab-like claw that was completely incorporeal and was opening and closing its pincers around the air in a violent manner. With a scared expression on his face, Mr. Pavernact quickly kicked his leg outward towards the cupboard door and forced it shut, the crab-like claw disappearing into thin air as Bernard and his pets looked on in shock.
"...You have a lobster problem..." Corvus commented as Mr. Pavernact got to his feet and walked over to a nearby sink.
"...Not "lobsters," crawdads..." Mr. Pavernact said with a defeated tone as he lifted up a bag filled with dozens of living red crawdads.
"Crawdads?" Bernard thought as he looked at the pile of small crustaceans moving around in the bag.
"These obnoxious things..." Mr. Pavernact said with a disgruntled tone as he put the bag back in the sink. "I wanted to experiment with a crawdad ramen bowl. Had the whole thing planned out: a single crawdad, a single pork cutlet, ramen, tofu pieces, chunks of cabbage and green pepper. It was beautiful the first day I sold it as a new special!" He explained as Bernard and the Celestial Spirits listened. "But then after that first day... This started happening!" Mr. Pavernact said as he quickly opened another cupboard, another ghostly crawdad claw popped out only to disappear when he shut it.
"...That's certainly a business killer..." Corvus said as Vulp raised an eyebrow at his comment.
"I can't get to anything in my kitchen anymore. I've been forced to lower the operating hours and serve a miniscule number of customers by comparison to what I used to get here because of these weird ghost claws popping out!" Mr. Pavernact explained. "Sometimes in that short period I'm open, I accidently hit one of the cupboard doors and one of these damn things flies out and boom, a customer leaves in terror without paying! The stupid claws pop out even when you open the door to the latrine or the closet!" He said as Bernard winced in response.
"Yeah, I think most people would run for their lives if every time they went to the toilet, a claw comes out and tries to grab them." Bernard thought. "...Why haven't you made a guild request to Psycho Circus or the other guilds?" He questioned.
"I don't have the money to make a request for a job like this, enough money for a wizard to be convinced to actually come out and help... And I'm already indebted to Master Barnum monetarily, my mind under that much debt would crumble..." Mr. Pavernact said as Bernard bit his lip.
"...I can sorta relate... Well..." Bernard thought, thinking back to his own predicament. "...Hey, Corvus, Vulp." He said towards his pets.
"What?" Corvus said as Vulp looked at Bernard.
"What do you think of all this?" Bernard said as he pointed at the cupboards.
"Hmmmm... Well... My guess is that one of those crawdads he made the first time was cursed or something." Corvus said, giving his opinion.
"What? Cursed?" Mr. Pavernact said in confusion.
"Yeah, there's a lot of magical means for it be done." Corvus said. "Little crusty clawed thing was either cursed by some angry wizard who dumped it back in the water or the tasty bastard was born with some magical energy of its own and wanted some postmortem anarchy." The crow explained further.
"...That's insanity..." Mr. Pavernact replied in bewilderment as Bernard curiously walked behind the counter to join Mr. Pavernact in the kitchen.
"It's an answer, be grateful." Corvus said as he folded his wings over his chest as Vulp shrugged in a similar reaction to the chef's disbelief.
"What, so I just happened to pick up a batch of crawdads and one of them had a curse on it?!" Mr. Pavernact replied in anger.
"Stranger things have happened." Corvus replied bluntly.
"Open the door, out comes a ghost claw... Hmmmm... I wonder..." Bernard thought as he motioned for Mr. Pavernact to step backwards a few feet and Bernard reached for the cupboard he opened earlier. "Vulp, get a blade ready." He said as the fox jumped onto the counter.
Opening the door quickly, a ghostly crawdad claw emerged and begun to violently snap at the air around Bernard and Mr. Pavernact until Bernard raised his fingers and pointed at the claw, discharging some of his magic at the crustacean appendage. Upon his magic coating it, the ghost claw was starting to become less and less incorporeal, prompting Vulp to turn his tail into a broadsword-like blade and slice the claw, severing it. Landing on the ground, the pincers and the leftover stub in the cupboard flailed around until disappearing into particles with Bernard closing the door.
"Wha-what!? How did you-" Mr. Pavernact said in surprise as he approached the cupboard door, opening it up and nothing coming out. "Nothing's happening... It's a regular storage cupboard again!" He thought as his heart pounded in excitement.
"Remember Oak Town?" Bernard said towards Corvus.
"Oh yeah, when your power made us able to touch Jose Porla's ghost. Similar scenario." Corvus thought. "Your magic is still freakishly potent, kid." The crow said with a smirk on his face.
"Get out of the kitchen, I'm going to see if we can clean this up." Bernard said as he looked at the other cursed cupboards.
"Ye-yeah! Sure!" Mr. Pavernact said with an anxious tone as he quickly rushed out of the kitchen space into the dining area.
"Trust me, this is going to be a minute." Corvus said towards the now seated Mr. Pavernact.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Psycho Circus Guildhall, 4:04 p.m. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Arguh!" Alfana, her clothes all scuffed up and her face slightly bruised from the fighting, grunted as Camilla had punched her in the face with her barrier orb covered fist, pushing her backwards while still standing and clutching her knife tightly in her right hand. "She's tough..." She thought while wiping her cheek with her free hand.
"Haa... Haa..." Camilla muttered tiredly, her clothes sporting several rips and her body featuring several superficial cuts. "She's tough." She thought as Alfana rushed at her again.
Lifting her knife for an upward slash, Alfana attempted to slash Camilla with the S-class head of security dodging by stepping backwards before Alfana tried to attack again with a downward slash with Camilla still dodging via backsteps. Continuing her assault, Alfana did a one-handed cartwheel to try and strike Camilla with a downward kick with Camilla blocking it with both of her forearms. With Camilla pushing her legs up and forcing Alfana back to her feet, Alfana tried a third time for another slash before throwing her knife into the air.
"Guh!" Camilla muttered as she looked up at Alfana's weapon, distracting her for a moment.
"Heads up!" Alfana said with a smirk as she swung her right hand for a punch.
Ducking, Camilla swiftly evaded the punch with Alfana following up by attempting a leg sweep on her with Camilla hopping to dodge another attack from the fortune telling show manager. Quickly getting back to her feet, Alfana grabbed her knife from the air and tried to downward stab Camilla.
"I don't think so!" Camilla thought as she reached her hand up, a layer of energy coating her whole body as she reached out with her shielded left hand.
Grabbing the blade itself, Camilla tightly held it so as to keep Alfana in place for another strike, lifting her right fist and punching her boyfriend's mother directly in the stomach. The force of the punch knocking her back and onto her side, Alfana held onto the handle of her weapon, but the blade was still stuck in Camilla's grasp as all of the Psycho Circus wizards watched on and cheered from the fight.
"She got her!" Anatoli exclaimed in an impressed voice.
"Aim for the eyes, Alfana!" Mary said with an enthusiastic voice.
"Don't support dirty fighting..." Kawazu commented towards a fellow member of the security team.
"The blade was separated from the handle?" Harriet questioned as her brother rubbed his chin.
"Given what I've seen of its variety of uses, I'm assuming that's the "important" part of her weapon." Pietro commented as Alfana got up to her feet.
"Not down and out yet, young lady." Alfana said with a smile forming on her face as she walked over to her discarded sheathe.
Picking it up, Alfana connected the handle to the sheathe, reconstituting her cane before proceeding to slap the cane against her other hand in a sleight-of-hand trick, a second cane appearing in her other palm before clicking a button on her right-hand cane. Opening her mouth, Alfana put her teeth on the cane and pulled on the sheathe with her mouth, revealing a katana style sword blade was now connected to the handle.
"Pftoo!" Alfana muttered as she spit out the sheathe onto the floor.
"Thought you were going to use the kali sticks like last time. Instead, you're choosing to wield two swords?" Camilla said as she put her fists up and entered a combat stance.
'"Two swords?" Please, I'm not a "dual wielding" cliche..." Alfana said as she lifted her left-hand cane and clicked another button on it.
After clicking the switch, a series of four small yellow crystals had appeared from tiny compartments along the cane and a pair of small prongs had extended from the tip. Pointing her left side at Camilla, an electrical current suddenly appeared between the two prongs, showcasing another form of Alfana's trick cane.
"The cane became a cattle prod?!" Marlene shouted in surprise as Camilla winced in annoyance.
"That cane must have Lightning Lacrima embedded in it." Chester said as he watched on.
"I have to cover myself in more layers to block Lightning Magic... I don't want to admit it... But I'm starting to get into this..." Camilla thought with some hesitation forming on her face that was hiding her enjoyment.
"Come on, Camilla! Show me what you got!" Alfana shouted with excitement in her voice as the two female Psycho Circus wizards rushed at one another to continue their fight in front of a captivated audience of fellow guildmembers.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Hemlock, 4:26 p.m. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Last one!" Bernard said as he stood next to the door to the closet in the Sea Noodles ramen shop.
"Yes! Yes! That's the only spot left to be done!" Mr. Pavernact said in a joyful tone as Tavio stood near the door.
"Smart to have me finish off this work, "Ber-nerd!"' Tavio said with his fake deep voice. "An alpha always deserves the final showing!" He said as Bernard rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, yeah. Just get ready." Bernard said unenthusiastically before swinging the door open.
With a ghostly crawdad claw popping out, Bernard sent out more of his magical power into the claw as it solidified. Seeing the opportunity to attack, Tavio jumped into the air with his legs extended for a dropkick against the ghost crawdad claw, but the arm bent slightly and caught Tavio mid-attack.
"Ahhhhh!" Tavio screamed between the pincers as the arm started to violently swing him around.
"Oh god damn it." Bernard said as the claw started slamming Tavio against the sides of the door.
"Haglh! Gahfa!" Tavio grunted out in pain.
"Pffft!" Corvus muttered as he started to laugh at Tavio's suffering.
"Mr. Pavernact, hand me that cleaver." Bernard requested as the chef handed him the utensil. "Hiya!" He exclaimed as he sliced into the ghost claw, slamming the blade multiple times into it until eventually severing it, causing the claw to land on the ground and Tavio along with it.
"Ugh!" Tavio said with his shrill voice upon hitting the floor, the last ghost crawdad claw disappearing.
"...You're welcome." Bernard said towards Tavio as the tiger furred Exceed looked up at his owner with annoyance.
"That's the last one!" Mr. Pavernact said as Bernard recalled Tavio back into his pin on his beanie.
"Can't believe we cleared all those cupboards in only an hour." Corvus commented as Vulp approached Bernard with the beanie wearing wizard bending down and lightly scratching him behind the ears.
"Good boy." Bernard said towards Vulp as the fox Celestial Spirit wagged his tail.
"Finally!" Mr. Pavernact said as he rushed towards all the cupboards and opened them one by one, grabbing all of his cooking supplies and putting them out on the countertops in the kitchen. "I can finally open up and cook all day!" He said as he approached Bernard. "I can't thank you enough, Bernard. Because of you, I can finally get back to my payments!" Mr. Pavernact said as he grabbed both of Bernard's hands.
"It was nothing, don't worry about it." Bernard said as he pulled his hands away.
"Can I offer you and your pets a meal at least? On the house?" Mr. Pavernact asked as Bernard looked at Corvus and Vulp.
"I could go for a bowl." Corvus said as Vulp nodded.
"Well, it's still raining out and a hot bowl of noodles sounds good." Bernard said as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm not even that hungry but free food for the guys sounds alright." He thought.
"Great!" Mr. Pavernact said as he went to the sink and lifted up the bag of crawdads again. "You are going to love my signature bowl of crawdad ramen!" He said with a chipper tone as the smiles on Bernard, Corvus and Vulps faces disappeared.
"...On second thought..." Bernard said.
"...I'm "crawdaddied" out..." Corvus said as Vulp nodded in similar disinterest.
"Also, cooking crawdad ramen got you into this mess in the first place..." Bernard thought as he looked at the chef.
"...I have other options on the menu..." Mr. Pavernact said in a defensive tone. "I got mung bean sprouts." He continued as he opened a cupboard that was no longer haunted and revealed a bowl filled with vegetables.
"Hey, kid. Got a minute." Corvus said, catching Bernards attention as the beanie sporting young man approached before Mr. Pavernact happily walked over to his "closed" sign and flipped it to say "open." "All that questioning about the bowling pins deals with the folks in town... Why did we stick around here and help this guy?" The crow asked out of curiosity.
"A part of me wanted to know about the nature of my father's dealings... Or maybe I just needed a distraction, I don't know..." Bernard said with an unsure tone as Vulp looked at him. "I'm still reeling from the knowledge my family was so business savvy, and I'm no longer needed..." He thought.
"Felt like having "spur of the moment good deeds?"' Corvus said as Bernard scratched his face.
"Would you rather I just sit around moping about being jobless?" Bernard questioned.
"Nah, this is a much better look for you. Any place you go, I go." Corvus said with a sincere voice as Vulp looked at Bernard with a smile.
"Hard to believe people really look to me for leadership... Though, I wonder about that Mr. Nygmus guy Mrs. Kiernan mentioned. He's also got money from my dad." Bernard thought as a smile briefly appeared on his face. "...Hmmm?" He muttered as he heard something from outside.
"You hear something?" Corvus said as he also overheard a noise.
"What was that?" Mr. Pavernact said as he walked towards a window and looked out into the rain.
"Heeeeeeeellllppp... Meeeeeeee..." A voice said as Mr. Pavernact looked around.
Opening the door to the restaurant, Bernard and the Celestial Spirits started searching around for the source of the voice until looking down at the water flowing downstream and seeing something unusual. Catching the group by surprise, they saw a face made of two eyes of coal and a mouth formed from the same mineral, a pair of three branch twigs, another pair of branches with fake duck feet on them and a single carrot, all traveling down the street in the current.
"Heeeeeeelllp! Aaaaaahhhh!" The coal face said with a scared voice as the beanie sporting wizard and his magical companions looked on.
"...Kid..." Corvus said as they watched the branches and rocks flow down the street.
"Move it!" Bernard said as he and the Celestial Spirits rushed out of the restaurant in the direction of where the water was going. "Today just got weird!" He thought while running in the heavy rain.
Crawdad ramen actually does sound delicious! Oh, even better, PRAWN RAMEN. Delicious. Totally would go for some of that. Well, Bernard decided to spend his day doing stuff. Wasn't expecting to see ghost crawdad claws haunting a ramen shop of one of his father's debtors but still, our creature taming hero with altruistic tendencies decided to assist this shop with clearing out its supernatural problem. Meanwhile, back at the guildhall, Alfana and Camilla's display of combat skills against one another has kicked it up a notch as Alfana has swapped out from a dagger to a katana/cattle prod combo. I wasn't expecting that on a Tuesday! Will the battle reach its conclusion next chapter? And what the ever-loving hell was that face in the water that Bernard and his pets found flowing downstream? Well, next chapter should be fun!
Author's Note: (Yeah, I decided to be weird lol)