102 The Fire
Disgruntled, Luke began to rummage through the timbers of what had once been the entrance to the shed; at the same time, memories of his past, which now seemed distant, began to well up in his mind.
That very entrance was where he last saw his friends and where he had to say goodbye to all of them. Now there was nothing there. Meredith managed to create the shoe rack with her own hands, the rug that some of them stole from some clothesline, and even the wood of the floor was almost gone. It was a long fire.
“Can you tell how many days ago that happened?” Alexis asked him, moving closer to see the destruction more clearly. The entire floor of the second floor had collapsed to the first one, and now only the plumbing pipes were left standing.
Inexpressive, Luke turned to answer her. “The smells from a fire only linger in the air for a few hours. After that, the soot from the smoke covers everything. Even if they died here, I’m not able to tell.”
“No, I don’t think they died here. The charred bodies would still be here.”
The half-dragon was right because even though the fire was long enough to consume much of the walls and bring down the second floor, some more oversized furniture still remained left.
“Don’t think the worst. It may have simply been an ordinary fire… Should we ask the people around if they know anything?” Alexis asked, pointing to a group of fishermen who were a little way off.
“No. The owner of the shed doesn’t live far away, I think I’d better go talk to him.”
Praying that Mr. Lombard hadn’t moved away, Luke walked with the half-dragon two streets up from the one he was on. When he found a large building with many wagons in front, he saw a short old man with gray hair inspecting them.
Walking at a strong and aggressive pace, Luke didn’t care about the number of people around and lifted the old man with a single hand.
“Hey, hey, what are you doing, brat!? Let me go!” The old man shouted in a hoarse voice, at the same time kicking Luke’s resistant abdomen.
“Pay attention and answer calmly, sir…where are my friends?”
“Hey, Luke. What are you doing? Let that old man go! He’ll die of a heart attack; he’s so old.” The half-dragon was worried and frightened at the threatening behavior Luke displayed.
Mr. Lombard felt as if a stone had just fallen on his head when he heard the word ‘old man’.
“Wait, she called you ‘Luke’?” So the old man looked at the man who was lifting him and was startled when he recognized the yellow eyes in the dark hood, “Is that you, half-beast?”
Luke released the old man and, this time, asked more politely, “Tell me everything you know about the fire that occurred in your old shed.”
“I think it’s best not to talk that sort of thing out here. Let’s go inside.”
Next, Luke and Alexis enter the old man’s modest home. Mr.Lombard has a large wagon and carriage shop, and thanks to this, he manages to survive well while doing what he loves.
As he walked through the front door of his humble apartment in the same building as the workshop, the old man said: “Lucky it’s late afternoon and all my employees have left. Otherwise, they would have kicked your ass, Luke.”
“Oh, excuse us again for that, old man. I’m sure it wasn’t his intention to hurt you.” The half-dragon said, a little nervous about the situation.
“Look, you are well-mannered, my dear. Why are you with a rude brute like that?” Mr.Lombard said, trying to ignore that she had called him an old man.
“I’m helping him find his friends.”
“Speaking of which, when are you going to stop blabbering and talk soon, sir?” Luke said while analyzing the furniture of the place. ‘He never invited me in. Is he doing this just because I’m with Alexis?’
The old man stopped with his back to Luke in the middle of the small room and answered:
“The fire happened a fortnight ago… I was told that during the night, a fervent group of people showed up. For some reason, they started shouting and banging in front of the shed, and apparently, no one answered them. That’s when one of them picked up a torch and threw it at the house.”
“And the guards? None showed up even with all the noise?” Alexis asked; after all, she saw many guards on the way to the shed.
“Huh!” Luke laughed wryly. “If the guards saw, they probably wouldn’t have done anything. There are no lazier guards than those in Oukiwa.”
Mr.Lombard continued walking and went to the small kitchen in the apartment, which could be seen wide even from the living room.
“If that was all…why did you want to come in here?” Luke asked the old man as he closed the living room door.
“Do you want to know why people were screaming that night?” Then the old man turned his face to look over his shoulder, just enough to see Luke’s face.
“Yes.”
“Apparently, they were screaming for someone called ‘The Beast’. Do you know anything about it?”
Luke pondered for a few seconds and couldn’t come up with any answers. He always took every possible care that his race was not found out, and the people who managed to find out unintentionally were very well-kept quiet. So he dismissed the possibility that it was someone who knew him.
Meredith was a little less careful about hiding her race, yet she had always had the same custom as Luke, of hiding her tail inside her pants and her ears under a long hood.
“I don’t know anything about that,” Luke answered him, discouraged. “Is that all you know?”
The old man was quiet for a few seconds and then walked back into the room, looking into Luke’s eyes. “That’s all anyone knows… I hope your friends are all right, Luke. I wish I could help more and even I miss seeing you guys wandering around.”
The half-wolf smiled and finally took off his hood. “I’m sorry about before, Mr. Lombard. When I find them, I’ll bring them in for a visit.” Soon after, Luke held out his right hand for the old man to shake, and the man shook it.
Blinded by anger and fear, Luke almost forgot that Mr. Lombard was one of the few people who was kind to himself and his friends. At one point, the old man even offered everyone a job in his workshop, but the pay was nothing compared to the thief’s salary, so no one chose to change professions.
As the half-dragon and half-wolf left the building where the former shed owner’s apartment was located, the redhead with horns questioned Luke:
“Where do we go now? We have no leads.”
“I know someone who knows everything that happens in this town. Let’s go to him.”