Brave Story - Miyuki Miyabe [236]
“Dr. Baksan is a pankin!” Meena gasped.
“First time meeting one of them.”
“What’s a pankin?”
“A very small, and very smart, race. Long ago, they lived in harmony with the ankha,” Meena began.
“And then there was a war between pankin and ankha,” Kee Keema continued. “The pankin couldn’t hope to prevail against the ankha—giants from their perspective—and so they fled. After that they wandered the land and…” Kee Keema peered at Dr. Baksan, an unusually thoughtful expression on his face. “I thought they were all gone.”
“Well, my apologies for defying your expectations!” Dr. Baksan said, lashing out with a foot this time. He was wearing tiny woven leather boots. “Sasaya is a haven for quite a few races that don’t deign to live among the barbarians in Nacht, or the self-serving wretches of Arikita.”
“I’m sorry! We had no idea,” Wataru apologized, holding out his hands to ward off Dr. Baksan’s attack. “We’ve come here to ask you something. Shin Suxin sent me.”
Dr. Baksan’s fist stopped in mid-swing. “Eh? Shin Suxin, you say?”
“Yes. He’s your apprentice, right?”
“Apprentice? No. He’s my student,” the ancient scholar said, tugging on his whiskers. “It surprises me to hear that he would have any business with Highlanders. He was such a good-for-nothing punk.”
Wataru’s firewyrm band had not escaped Dr. Baksan’s notice, apparently.
“Shin isn’t a good-for-nothing at all, sir. When I met him he was carrying on his observations quite dutifully by the Swamp of Grief. I had gotten lost, and if it weren’t for him, I might never have gotten out of there alive.”
“Yes, yes, I see. Quite impressive, to be sure. Though one can’t help but wonder at a Highlander who gets lost in the first place.”
Wataru heard a snort of laughter from behind him. Meena!
“I don’t know why you’ve come, but as you can see, I’m quite busy.”
“We know, but if you could just spare us…”
“No, no sparing, not today. I’m busy. The door is right over there. Farewell!”
As nimble as a kitten, the scholar tried to slip between two mounds of books. Bracing himself against the onslaught that was sure to come, Wataru reached out and grabbed the pankin by the collar. Then he yanked him back by the nape of his neck, making the poor guy look even more like a kitten.
“Ack! What are you doing? How rude!”
“I’m sorry, but there’s something we really need to know, and I’m afraid you’re the only one who can tell us. You see, I need to know how to get to the path that leads to the Tower of Destiny.”
“The Tower of Destiny?” asked Dr. Baksan, spinning around in midair to look at Wataru.
“Yes, I’m a Traveler.”
Dr. Baksan’s eyebrows lifted and his eyes opened wide. It was actually the first time Wataru could see his eyes under those bushy brows. They gleamed with a fire that was anything but old. For some reason, Wataru found himself recalling Mitsuru’s eyes.
“If he’s supposed to know so much,” whispered Kee Keema to Meena, “why does he look so surprised to meet a Traveler?”
“I see,” Dr. Baksan said, his voice suddenly quiet. “Perhaps I might enlist your aid, then, in searching for my boots?”
“Your boots?” Wataru asked, frowning. “Aren’t they on your feet?”
“No, no, not these shoes. My boots. They’re around here somewhere. Behind the big waterkin, perhaps.”
The boots turned out to be something like platform shoes made out of wood. Once on his feet, the pankin could easily look Wataru in the eye.
“And this waterkin and the kitkin miss, they are your friends?” the scholar asked Wataru.
“They are.”
“Then they need to step out. You are aware of the situation downstairs? Ever since the messenger came, the ignorant and unwashed masses have been disturbing our studies, making these halls of research as noisy as a city bazaar. Perhaps your friends could go help with security, eh?”
The two gave Dr. Baksan suspicious looks, but Wataru nodded, so they left the room in silence.
“Close the door now,” Dr. Baksan said to Wataru. “When you’re done, come back here to me.”
Wataru returned, and the scholar lifted his bushy