Aqueo and his Water Spirit

Chapter 5 - Catch Me If You Can

    Aqueo still had time before the time Hermina gave him, so he walked around the part of the townsquare that he hadn't reached yet. He found himself at the far end of the place that he couldn't see clearly from the elevated road because of the high buildings that were blocking this part.

    There were more shops here but they were located way too closely with each other. The whole place was actually a wide road that the merchants just occupied, so the pathways were narrow and convoluted. Despite that, the place was livelier than the rest of the townsquare. The bright light of the day reflected the energy and the noise of the people buying and selling things here, including the occasional waving of the colorful fabrics that were used as the ceilings and decorations of most of the shops caused by the strong breezes of wind.

    Aside from live animals and magical beasts that Aqueo couldn't recognize, there were many interesting things here that he didn't find at the other side of the townsquare, like whole meats of animal carcasses, giant fishes and other seafoods, fruits and vegetables, foods and other products that were completely new to him even with Aquifer's memories, and things he had seen in the memories but didn't know what they were for.

    But there was something that had been bothering him for a while. Three people seemed to be following him. Wherever corner he turned, the three would follow. In fact, there were only two of them before. And they were all wearing similar clothes—brown fabrics that even covered their heads and faces as if they were in a desert.

    Aqueo moved faster, away from the townsquare in the hope that more people around would deter them. He was quite sure it wasn't part of the townsquare anymore, the pathways here were getting wider. The merchant stands were now neatly arranged into four lines unlike the convoluted arrangement of shops where there were even dead ends in the middle.

    Aqueo stopped when he noticed that there were four of them now. They didn't even try to be discreet the way they were looking directly at him. If he wasn't being tailed right now, he would have tried the meat that was being roasted on burning charcoal in front of him. The smell would've been too appetizing to resist. And then he got an idea. Food. There were restaurants all over the place. Betting everything to the chance that they won't follow him there, he ran himself to the nearest one he saw.

    The door shut loudly behind him when he entered and Aquifer just passed through it as if it wasn't there.

    The waitress, Aqueo was sure because of her attire, approached him immediately. "I'm sorry, our dear customer. This restaurant is for reservations only!" the waitress kindly said.

    "Don't you have an empty slot for today? I'll pay for the inconveniences I might cause," he said while looking warily outside. His stalkers weren't trying to follow him inside.

    When he looked at the waitress again, it looked like he didn't need to try so hard to convince her. She was holding two of the flowers that the merchant didn't buy and was looking at it so intently, she must've taken them from his shopping bag. Aqueo wasn't quite sure if she recognized them.

    "H-hey! I'll give you a hundred of that flower, just let me hide here for a while," Aqueo said in a rushed negotiating tone.

    "H-hu-hundred?" Her eyes widened. "No way! You already have a bunch of them here," she exclaimed. Now, Aqueo was sure.

    Her reaction was understandable. Aqueo knew they were rare himself.

    "Yes, a hundred. I'll give them to you free of charge," he smiled at her while glancing a bit at the glass window behind.

    Her mouth fell, but she recovered quickly. She remembered she was in the middle of work. "Come with me," she said and led Aqueo to a slightly hidden compartment farthest from the entrance.