The One and Only Sami Chapter 4

“There are even more people than before…”

After visiting his usual shops while running errands and buying a handful of frankincense and a bottle of jasmine-scented flower oil, Sami’s once-heavy pouch of pocket money had suddenly grown thin.

Still, there was a certain joy in being able to give someone a gift. Sami turned back, clutching the items—wrapped tightly in palm leaves—dearly to his chest.

The sunset plummeted quickly, and a deep blue light began to bleed into the sky.

As always, the market was bustling. Brightly colored carpets glowed reddish, soaking up the last rays of the sun, while foreigners inspected them closely, haggling with the shopkeepers.

Heavy rugs hung from the walls, while thin silks were draped over poles. Every time the wind blew, the hanging silks fluttered like a fortune teller’s tent. It seemed they had treated the poles with a subtle incense so the scent would seep into the fabric; a fragrant herbal aroma tickled Sami’s nose, overpowering the smell of the palm leaves.

“This is the power of Marut, you sorcerer!”

“What? Why am I the sorcerer? You be the sorcerer!”

“No way! You’re the evil sorcerer! I shall vanquish you!”

Boys wearing nothing but baggy trousers ran around, clacking dried firewood together like swords.

“Last chicken! A hen caught just today! First come, first served!”

The voice of a woman holding a plucked raw chicken upside down rang through the market alleyways as she shouted her price.

People brushed past Sami’s shoulders in a hurry. Without realizing it, Sami clutched his bundle of frankincense and oil tighter, looking around the market.

“Ugh…”

A camel with a lazy expression plodded through the alley, and the man holding its reins walked along chewing on something, wearing the exact same expression as his camel. Dust rose in a pale cloud and then settled.

“I hear the wine from the east is quite good these days.”

“It’s got a nice kick to it.”

Two guards wearing red turbans, with curved swords at their waists, chatted about the latest popular wines and oils. Even though he’d done nothing wrong, Sami’s heart always thumping whenever he encountered the guards.

I’ll slip out that way…

Just as he turned the corner, thinking it better to walk where there were no guards even if it was a bit of a detour—

Someone.

It felt as though someone had suddenly breathed a cold gust of air.

“…Huh?”

The bustling noise that had filled the air until a moment ago simply vanished.

It disappeared without a trace, as if someone had blown out a brightly burning candle. In an instant, everything was gone.

The sunset glow, the stalls, even the dust kicked up by the passing crowds.

“…?”

Panicked, Sami looked around. The boisterous atmosphere was gone, replaced by a chilly current of air flowing past his back in a single direction.

It was hard to even call that flow a “wind.” It was stealthy and chilling, like a snake slithering by.

Was… was there a path like this here?

No, he didn’t know it. It was a path Sami had never seen in his life.

“It’s… it’s not the fruit street, and it’s not the silk street…”

Sami could find the quickest way to the quince merchant or the home of the old woman who sold rugs with his eyes closed. He considered himself quite well-versed in the market’s geography, yet this path was entirely new.

“…”

Fear gripped him, and he tried to step backward, but strangely, the alleyway seemed to stretch out endlessly behind him as well. He had only just turned into the alley; a few steps back should have brought him right out to the main street…

It was just like a prank played by a Djinn.

A Djinn’s trick.

“…”

I have to get out of here.

Trembling, Sami spun around. He didn’t even have the presence of mind to look ahead. No, he was too afraid to look properly, so he kept his head down and ran.

However, Sami’s desperate dash was cut short after only a few steps.

“Ack!”

He never expected a wall to be there, but he slammed into something right in front of him.

Sami scrambled to his feet as soon as he hit the ground. This is strange, I was going back the way I came, so there shouldn’t be anything here…

“…”

The moment he looked up, Sami froze solid under a pair of bright yellow eyes staring down at him.

A man was looking down at him. He stood perfectly still, while Sami, who had crashed into him, was sprawled on the ground like a shriveled bean pod.

Until he started running, he hadn’t sensed a single sign of anyone being there.

“U-uh, u-uh…”

As Sami stammered, the man furrowed his brow slightly. Even in his panicked state, the man’s face was strikingly beautiful—the kind you’d look at two or three times.

He had light, sand-colored hair, and eyes as intense as the sun he had seen today. Below the bridge of his sharp nose, the well-defined philtrum and full lips had a charm that made one’s eyes naturally sweep from his forehead down to his chin.

His closed lips parted slightly. And then—

“You are…”

“Gasp!”

The voice. The moment he heard it, Sami gasped for air like someone who had just managed to breathe after being suffocated.

He couldn’t believe he had been dazed by another man’s face in this situation.

Still sprawled out, Sami fumbled around on the ground. The frankincense was covered in dust from the fall, and the bottle of scented oil had shattered into pieces.

Sami looked at the leaking oil with despairing eyes, then forced his head to creak back toward the man. He was looking down at Sami with his arms crossed, motionless.

“H-hiieek…”

The man’s ornate trousers, fastened with a belt decorated in gold and silk, were thick with oil. The man’s gaze, like Sami’s, was fixed on his own trousers.

“…”

The man looked at the state of his clothes and smiled. One might call it a smile since the corners of his mouth went up, but what was mixed in that breath was clearly sharp irritation.

“I-I’m so sorr—”

Sami trembled like a newborn chick.

The further up he moved his gaze, the more his shoulders hunched. Not just the trousers, but the man’s bare upper body was also slick with oil.

The man stared at the trembling, helpless Sami for a moment and let out a short sigh.

“Ha…”

The man, now covered in oil, twisted the corners of his mouth into an even brighter, forced smile.

“H-huuuh…”

Even though he was smiling, it was somehow more terrifying than an angry face.

“I wondered what kind of stupid insect had crawled into the magic.”

His words were terrifying, too.

Even as errand boys, the workers of Salif the Scribe were taught proper manners. This was different from the foul-mouthed curses of the merchants; it was a much more frightening and cold way of speaking that made the back of Sami’s throat quiver.

“I’m, s-sor, sorr…”

“Forget it. I received some help, after all.”

“P-pardon?”

“I never asked for help, but since it’s come to this, it can’t be helped.”

Sami couldn’t understand a word of it.

Suddenly, the man strode toward Sami and drew a sword. There was no sheath, and nothing was fastened to his waist, so Sami had no idea where the sword had suddenly appeared from.

“Aaaaah!”

“Shh, I’m not killing you.”

The man raised the sword and slashed through the empty air above Sami’s head in a single stroke.

In that instant—

The quiet, eerie alleyway vanished.

Behind Sami’s back, the swarming noise returned. It was the same market street from before.

Sami’s eyes widened as he frantically looked around. He blinked hard and looked back at the man; in the blink of an eye, the sword he had been holding dissolved into smoke and disappeared.

Sami’s eyes were now as round and large as silver plates.

“Don’t bother with the thanks,” the man said with a haughty expression. “A sorcerer was targeting me, but since you stumbled into the labyrinth, I personally…”

“S-s-sorcerer…!”

“Yes, a sorcerer. And you, in that magic—”

“A sorcerer. A m-m-magician…”

“No, not me. I am…”

“H-hiieeeek!”

Terrified, Sami scrambled away and ran for his life. He didn’t even have time to think about picking up the fallen pieces of frankincense or the broken bottle.

From a distance, he heard a voice calling, “Hey, kid!” but he felt that if he made eye contact even one more time, his soul might be stuffed into a flask and his body stolen.

Sami squeezed his eyes shut, covered his ears, and ran.

A sorcerer. A sorcerer…

Those beings, whom one might see only once in a lifetime, were people you wanted nothing to do with.

It was said they threatened and enslaved all kinds of spirits, released snakes and scorpions to torment people, and enchanted beautiful women to keep as their lovers. It was said they could commit any evil deed with the power of their wicked magic.

“Huff, huff… sob.”

Sami ran so hard he almost cried, practically tumbling into the manor.