The Ranch

Phillip's Master (2)

Phillip tries to cough away his embarrassment," Actually, as I was about to greet Tih after the tournament ended, I got to see a bunch of people congratulate him."

"Oh? It seems you're quite good at forming connections? Maybe you have some talent in the business industry." Sinclair offers a soft chuckle.

Phillip nods like a child, telling his teacher," I saw him talk to Major Jax and Instructor Kane. I also heard rumors that the two bet on Tih, and the payout was huge. They made a fortune."

"Major Jax should be in charge of A dorms, right? Instructor Kane is fairly famous among sword users. I don't know too much about either, since I don't specialize in their fields."

"No no no, it's already amazing that you can remember them so quickly based off of name alone m- Sensei!"

Sinclair raises a soft eyebrow while a playful smile lands on his lips,"Your attempts at buttering me up have heightened over the past month. You don't need to hug this old man's thigh. Honestly, you already have the capabilities to surpass be. I cannot understand what keep you by my side, but I'm forever grateful."

The blush spreads," ...please stop teasing me. I'm nowhere near as good as Sensei. I do not dare try to overestimate myself." Phillip lowers his head, hiding his expression.

Sinclair looks at the hunched man's figure and lets out a melancholy sigh, shaking his head slightly. Tih stares at the adult sized nineteen year old huddled in a ball.

The room is left in an unnatural silence. Most outsiders would feel awkward, but Tih remains unfazed, unaware of the invisible tension between the two.

Zoning back in, Phillip notices Tih, who's presence was completely ignored for a few moments. "Then... I'll go escort Tih back down."

"Okay." Sinclair gives a perfunctory reply, returning his attention to the papers on his desk.

Phillip drops Tih off at the reception hall," I still have a couple of shops I need to head to, it'll be pretty boring and I won't really have time to converse with you. Come find me next time and I'll take you out to eat." The people in the reception hall fully believes Phillip was flirting with Tih, when in fact, that's just how he normally talks. Phillip's words had no deeper meaning, he's just too used to being a sugar daddy and expected to be the one to pay for everything when he asked someone to hang out.

Tih nods and turns to leave. He exits the building and starts walking around aimlessly once again before seeing a large crowd of people huddle together, blocking the path. Tih has no choice but to go through the crowd. He easily slips through like water, hearing murmurs as he passes.

" There another one? Didn't this already happen recently?"

"That guy didn't die though. I'd say he got lucky."

"I heard his you know what got chopped off."

"...so maybe this guy got off easy. At least he doesn't have to live with shame."

"Idiots, it's not like this guy's thing is gone. He  must of messed with the wrong people. He got what he deserved."

Tih finally slid to the front of the crowd to see what exactly happened. He's met face to face with a bloody corpse. It's lifeless eyes stare directly at Tih, mouth agape in helplessness.

Tih observes the unmoving human that's different from others with a straight face along with the rest of the crowd. Then, he hears shouts," Excuse me! Excuse me! Please get out the way, I need to inspect the body before it's composition before it deteriorates any further and I lose vital clues!"

Sherlock's head pops out of the crowd. As the others maintain a few feet of distance from the body, Sherlock steps closer. He starts inspecting it for clues with a straight face. The thick rust smell enters his nose but doesn't faze him.

Mumbling to himself, Sherlock notices Tih," You're here too? Did you get to see what happened? It'd be much easier to put the puzzle pieces together if there's a witness." He first starts talking to Tih before referring to the crowd with his last two sentences.

The crowd continues to chatter among themselves, no one steps forward. Sherlock frowns," Seriously? We're in the middle of the market, in daylight, and none of you saw anything? Do you plan to let his murder run free? Where's your sense of justice?!"

The crowd looks at the child that's very obviously a newbie and looks at him with pity. An onlooker sigh," No such thing as murder on this island, and justice? Ha. Don't try to apply your sense of justice on this island's laws of the jungle. It's survival of the fittest, plain and simple."

Sherlock grimaces,"But-"

"Look, just give it a rest kid. Stuff like this happens all the time, though they don't usually occur in populated places since there's rules against it, but sometimes accidents happen."

Another person pipes in," You better get used to it, it doesn't happen in populated places, but you gotta remember, a large part of the island is empty stretches of land with no one in sight. Disappearances are a natural occurrence. Why, you ask? Grudges, revenge, loot, power, fun, you name it. If it's a feasible reason, then it's probably already caused someone's death."

Sherlock looks at the man that spoke with a piercing stare and calm expression. The man got the chills," Stop looking at me like that kid. That's just how it works here. You'll get used to it eventually."

"...get used to it, huh?" Tih hears Sherlock mumble under his breath as he gazes at an empty space with a void-like expression. Tih walks over and moves in front of his view, bringing his attention back to the current situation.

He nods towards Tih," Lets go. I already got what I need." The two shuffle out of the crowd and leave the market, walking back to the dorms. Sherlock hesitates before telling him," I don't plan to let this go...I'll keep investigating. Maybe...it'll amount to nothing but wasted time and effort but... I feel like if I do nothing and watch from a distance like everyone else, I'll lose something important. Do you get i- no, never mind." He sighs, relaxing his body," Get used to it eventually... I don't think I want to."

Tih looks at his serious expression unlike that of a normal child before parting ways. He walks around the island for a little longer before heading back to the apartment suburbs when it turns dark, falling into a dreamless sleep.