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BUT PECULIAR THINGS happen in a too-good city like the City of Spice. What are its secrets? What hidden darkness, if any, is veiled with its radiant riches? How can it stand on its own when its foundation is as fragile as human trust? As scholars they are to find what interests them, study it, document their findings and hopefully publish it after a series of hellish criticisms, and withstand more hellish criticisms after its publication. The City of Spice houses the best subjects for studies, because like the oceans of the World the knowledge about the City is very limited, despite being studied for centuries. The more they see, the more they have to look into, the more peculiar things become. Very, very wonderful, Phineleo mused to himself.

Nag-unat akong bahagya, at tinignan ang kaibigan kong malalim ang iniisip habang nakaupo sa gilid ng kama. Nakatambay na naman si Kael sa kwarto, pero hindi tulad dati ay tahimik lang siya. Buti na lang, dahil nakakapagsulat ako nang maayos.

They were docked on Galabach Port, one of its seven ports which are actually just seven of the numerous roots of the Tree of World that extend to the edge of the City. The busy trade of its inhabitants and outside merchants welcomed them: silk for tropical fruits, nuts for clothes, milk for fish, pelts for pieces of gold. But the most traded in the port were spices, as evidently as the aroma in the air. Some even made Phineleo tear. The Guardian led them through the crowd to the inn houses near the Galabach Port where they stayed for the night.

"Tol, ano bang pwede kong gawin?" Nagsalita na si Kael. Hindi ko siya pinansin.

The next morning, they rode a carriage and went to the busy center of the town of Galabach, named after the greatest voyager, Sir Nicholas Galabach of the City of Wood, who first discovered the beauty of the uncharted island, and the first one to settle in it. After years of exploration, he was laid to rest in the center of town where a monument was built for him. Now, it stands for almost five hundred years. There are many secrets in his exploration that are still unexplained or unproved; some are even denied by skeptics.

"Kailangan may maibigay na 'ko kay Wendy 'no?"

And one of the secrets is the fruits of the Tree of World. They are not only unwitnessed by majority, they are also said to be of two types: one that gives longetivity, and one that gives enlightenment. But the death of Sir Galabach proved their inexistence. The impossibility of it also led to the closing of the case. Phineleo's heart of a scholar was vexed by that. And he decided that his study worths the very essence of the Tree-its fruits.

...the very essence of the Tree...

"Ano, 'Tol? Hindi ko pa kasi alam gusto ni Wendy e."

Dahil wala na akong maisulat, kinausap ko na si Kael, "Ano bang meron, 'Tol? Kayo na ba?" Ipinahinga ko batok ko sa mga palad ko, at tumingala sa kisame.

"Hindi 'Tol, basta gusto ko lang s'yang bigyan ng kahit na ano."

"E bakit ba? Tsaka ano bang balak mo?"

"Ewan 'Tol, bigla ko lang naisip na dapat e may maibigay na 'ko sa kanya."

"Ewan ko sa'yo 'Tol." Binalikan ko ang sinusulat ko, pero kinikindatan na lang ako ng I-cursor.

"Wala ka bang ideya? Bulaklak kaya?"

May pumasok sa isip ko. "Ipagluto mo kaya s'ya?" Oo nga pala, ang kaibigan ko ay magiging chef na sa susunod na taon, sa June. Masaya ako para sa kanya dahil papalapit na siya nang papalapit sa pangarap niya. At oo, masarap siyang magluto at siya rin ang official cook sa bahay.

"Oo nga 'no? Pwede rin...e ano namang lulutuin ko?"

"Malay ko. Ikaw 'tong nanliligaw e, ikaw ang mas nakakaalam sa gusto n'ya," disclaim ko. Ano bang alam ko sa gusto ni Wendy?