The rat plague in Pumpkin Town had been resolved. This news seemed to grow wings; not only did the town residents see it clearly, but even Travelers stopping for a rest and merchants pushing their carts gathered by the river, craning their necks to peer into the water.
Someone squatted on the riverbank, watching the rat carcasses being swept away by the current—some with their bellies up, round and looking like balls of gray fur;
Others were entangled in water weeds, their limbs still paddling in vain before being quickly carried off into the distance by the rushing water.
Others stood on the stone bridge, watching the struggling rats. Their claws pawed frantically at the surface, yet they couldn't swim to the shore, only bobbing up and down with the waves until they eventually became small black dots and disappeared around the bend of the river.
"Finally, some peace and quiet!"
A merchant slapped his thigh; a hole had been gnawed in the fabric in his cart just last night, and he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"This Man in Colorful Clothes is truly capable. I'll have to invite him to our town to play sometime."
The crowd gradually split into two groups: some stayed by the river, pointing at the movement in the water and muttering, "It should have been done long ago";
The others turned and walked toward the town, following Jack, who was surrounded by the crowd, and the Mayor, whose face was as dark as the bottom of a pot.
Gwof and the others also mixed into the crowd and headed back.
Lia tugged on Gwof's sleeve, her eyes sparkling. The scene of the rats jumping into the river had been both novel and a bit frightening to her. Now that the commotion had settled, she couldn't help but smile.
"That flute-playing fellow is going to make quite a lot of money, isn't he? Two chests of gold—how many new clothes could that buy!"
Little Bottle followed behind, still clutching half an unfinished ice cream. Hearing this, he curled his lip and muttered:
"Hmph, it's just playing a flute. Who couldn't do that? If I had that flute, I might even play better than him."
As he spoke, he imitated Jack, puffing out his cheeks and blowing twice with a \"wu-wa\" sound. It sounded worse than a broken gong, making Lia burst out laughing.
Ben walked beside them, listening to their bickering and couldn't help but laugh, warmth filling the fine lines at the corners of his eyes.
"This isn't just simple flute playing. Being able to make hundreds or thousands of rats obey and even jump into the river is his skill. Anyone else wouldn't be able to do it, even with the flute."
Gwof's gaze fell on the Mayor's deep purple brocade robe ahead. The hem was stained with a bit of river mud, but he deliberately dusted it off, still maintaining his dignified air.
He suddenly spoke, his voice neither high nor low: "I wonder if the Mayor will actually give him the money..."
Hearing this, Ben immediately frowned and paused his steps. "The Mayor wouldn't give the money? He promised it publicly, with so many people watching and traveling merchants and Travelers as witnesses. If he goes back on his word, who would dare come to Pumpkin Town to do business once word gets out?"
"But some people,"
Gwof glanced at the Mayor secretly winking at the burly men, a faint curve appearing at the corner of his mouth.
"They only have gold in their eyes. To them, dignity is worth less than half a copper coin."
Just then, Jack ahead suddenly stopped and turned around, calling out to the crowd: "Gentlemen and ladies, the rats are gone. It's time for me to collect my gold!"
His voice was full of laughter, his colorful clothes dazzling in the sunlight. The bells on his hat brim jingled, as if urging.
The Mayor's steps visibly stiffened for a moment before he regained his composure, though his face grew even darker. When he turned, the sound of his gold bells carried an impatient urgency.
Lia pulled on Gwof's hem. "Will the Mayor really go back on his word?"
Gwof didn't answer, only watching the back of the Mayor as he walked faster and faster, and the string of jingling gold bells at his waist—sometimes, the louder the appearance of dignity, the more it hides unspeakable schemes.
They followed the crowd toward the Square in the center of town. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting dappled shadows on the ground like a web filled with suspense.
The dampness of the river still lingered in the wind, mixed with the aroma of baked bread from the town, yet it couldn't dispel the inexplicable gloom in Gwof's heart.
Just as he expected.
Just as they reached the edge of the Square, the two burly men guarding the red-clothed chests were nowhere to be found. Only a shallow indentation remained where the chests had been.
The smile on Jack's face stiffened, and the sleeves of his colorful clothes fluttered in the wind like a butterfly that had suddenly stopped its wings.
"Where is the Mayor?" He took two steps forward, his voice still carrying a bit of breathlessness from the walk.
The crowd automatically parted, and a girl in a light red dress stepped out.
She wore an exquisite bun with a pearl hairpin. Her features bore some resemblance to the Mayor, but her chin was held higher, her mouth curled in a sneer, and her face was full of arrogance—she was the Mayor's daughter.
"My father is ill,"
She didn't even glance at Jack's colorful clothes, her tone as dismissive as if she were talking to an ant in her way.
"He was just called by the doctor to rest in bed."
Jack clearly hadn't expected this. He froze for a moment before pressing: "Then what about my gold? Two chests, as the Mayor promised."
The Mayor's daughter laughed as if she had heard a joke, reaching up to brush a stray hair by her ear.
"Gold? You must be crazy to think you're getting gold." She scanned the surrounding crowd, her voice suddenly rising.
"Wasn't it just playing a few tunes on a flute? What Child wouldn't know how to do that? And you dare open your mouth wide for two chests of gold?"
Jack was dumbfounded, his eyes wide as copper bells, and his flute struck his knee with a \"thud.\"
He looked at the woman's face full of disdain, then suddenly turned to the people nearby. The bells on his hat brim jingled wildly with his movements, as if pleading for help.
"You all saw it! The Mayor promised! All the rats have been driven away!"
The crowd immediately erupted into a commotion.
A few old men whose grain had just been stolen by rats were the first to stand up, their canes thumping on the ground.
"This won't do! That gold was pooled by us; it was agreed to be given to him!"
"Exactly! One must keep their word, otherwise who would dare help us in the future?"
Indignant discussions surged like a tide. Someone even threw a small stone at the woman's feet, cursing, "Outrageous!"
But the Mayor's daughter only sneered. She pulled a coin pouch from her sleeve and emptied it onto the ground, dozens of copper coins rolling out.
"The money everyone pooled, right? I'll refund half of it to everyone. The rest will be considered the fee for the town's hard work in helping you get rid of the rats. How about that?"
As soon as she said this, the crowd fell silent.
The men who had shouted the loudest just now saw a copper coin roll past their feet. They subconsciously bent down to pick it up, their lips twitching, but in the end, they didn't speak again.
The merchants and Travelers in the corner of the Square couldn't bear to watch. A merchant in leather boots stepped forward.
"Miss, this isn't right. He did the job with his skills; the reward should not be withheld. If word gets out, it will ruin Pumpkin Town's reputation..."
Before he could finish, the woman glared him down. "Outsiders should mind their own business! Any more chatter, and don't blame me for having your goods seized!"
The merchants looked at each other. After all, they were away from home; it was better to avoid trouble. They silently backed away.
The Square was completely silent, save for the sound of the wind swirling fallen leaves.
Jack's face gradually darkened, turning from initial shock to expressionless. The light in his eyes was like a candle flame blown out by the wind.
Looking at him like this, the woman felt an inexplicable panic—this man had looked like a clown just a moment ago, so why did he suddenly make her feel a bit apprehensive?
She feigned composure, pulling two copper coins from her pocket and shaking them between her fingertips. The coins glinted with a cheap luster in the sunlight.
"Here,"
She threw the copper coins at Jack's feet with a crisp \"clink.\"
"I'll give you your reward then, you filthy beggar! Take it and get lost, don't dirty our Pumpkin Town's land!"
The copper coins spun twice on the ground and stopped by Jack's boot.
He looked down at the two cold-glinting copper coins, then looked up at the woman and suddenly, slowly, very slowly, he smiled.
That smile was not like the exaggerated flattery from before; it carried an unspeakable chill that made the woman instinctively take a step back.