The One and Only Sami Chapter 9

Sami, who had been pointedly avoiding looking down, finally caught a glimpse beneath the carpet at those words.

“H-hukk…”

He thought they had just been zipping along for a bit, but they were already in the middle of the desert.

Just moments ago, they were in the market alleys! Now, the desert!

Sami looked back frantically. The kingdom where he had spent all twenty years of his life had already slipped past his shoulder; all he could see were the pale city walls and the rounded rooftops poking up above them.

They had flown this far? I mean, what kind of person just bolts upward and flies off without so much as a heads-up?

Whether Sami was horrified or not, the carpet simply sailed on.

“You should be looking forward, not backward.”

And there, at the tip of Razard’s finger, right beneath his feet.

“Oh.”

A shimmering, blue oasis was already rippling into view.

⚜️

“Don’t wash your face. It’s thanks to that gold dust on your forehead that the magician couldn’t lay a finger on you.”

Razard trudged toward the oasis and lay down in the shade of a palm tree. He looked as comfortable as he had earlier while lounging on the flying carpet.

Sami cautiously stepped off the low-hovering carpet. His legs were shaking, even though he wasn’t the one who had actually done the flying.

“This is unbelievable…”

Sami massaged his calves and walked to the water’s edge.

“…A real oasis?”

Really?

He couldn’t believe the sight before his eyes. Hesitating, Sami slid his foot forward. With every step, the damp sand wrapped around his toes with a heavy, cool weight.

“Want one?”

At the sound of the voice, he turned to see the man toss him a small pouch. Inside were a handful of dates wrapped in smooth paper. They were perfectly ripe, slightly sticky, and smelled so sweet they made his mouth water just looking at them.

“…”

Sami carefully peeled a fruit off the paper. The fruit followed his finger, trailing thin, syrupy threads of sweet nectar like thickened glaze.

Sami popped the fruit into his mouth. At that moment, a breeze swept through the palm trees. Carrying the scent of water, the wind lightly brushed the surface of the lake and ruffled both Sami’s and Razard’s hair as it passed.

As if his earlier trembling had been a lie, Sami quietly dipped his feet into the lake. Even though the water was freezing, he felt dazed, as if in a dream. Since nothing felt real, his mind felt empty and calm instead.

“…This is the first time I’ve ever been outside the city walls.”

“I figured. All sorts of nasty things roam the desert, so they don’t let kids out for no reason.”

“An oasis outside the walls. I never thought I’d see one in my life.”

Dipping his feet in the cold, clear lake and splashing lightly, Sami suddenly looked back at Razard.

The shimmering ripples kept changing shape as they caught the sunlight. The clear, wide lake reflected the sky like a mirror. The color was wetter and colder than if he were just looking up.

It felt as though there was no need to count out the names of gemstones he’d never seen to describe this sky. That was how Sami felt.

Not for the sky that swayed with every gust of wind, nor for the fragments of sunlight that sparkled and shattered atop every tiny ripple.

He was certain there was no jewel color that could represent this scenery.

“Everything is a first for me.”

The shadow cast by the towering palm trees and their sharp, wide leaves fell across Sami’s gentle face and rounded shoulders. Under a sky as clear and blue as if dye had been poured into it, Sami blinked with a quiet, unreadable expression.

The joy of knowing more. The delight of his first escape.

Somehow, a faint sense of excitement seemed to be rising in his eyes.

Even Razard, who had been acting bored and arrogant the whole time, didn’t even take a breath at that moment. Their gazes met in the space between breaths.

Splat. The sound of water droplets hitting the surface rang out. It was the sound of Sami wringing out his shirt. Sami squeezed the wet hems of his trousers and rolled them up, speaking honestly.

“I’m not even that young. I’m twenty now.”

“…Is that so?”

Razard replied only after a long pause.

After a couple of blinks, the steady gaze that had been fixed on Sami vanished, replaced once more by his usual relaxed look. Lying back, he let his eyes wander over Sami’s slender frame, his round eyes, and even his small feet before nonchalantly pulling a date from the pouch and chewing.

“You look like you’re not even seventeen.”

“Everyone says that. But there are less than ten days left until my twentieth birthday.”

“Ten days, huh.”

Razard leaned his chin on his hand, lost in thought.

“Really isn’t much time left.”

Razard acknowledged Sami’s words in a tone that was half-indifferent, half-languid.

A conversation about his birthday with a man who performed magic effortlessly. Sami kept tilting his head in confusion.

The man had appeared out of nowhere, performed bizarre magic, and dropped him off at this oasis after flying through the sky—yet strangely, his previous fear had vanished, replaced by a sense of comfort.

“…Are you a good magician, Razard?”

The question was sudden, but his voice was as steady as someone who had been preparing it for a long time.

“No. Is there even such a thing as a ‘good’ magician?”

And Razard’s answer popped out instantly, without a moment’s hesitation.

“Then as I thought…”

“I’m not a magician.”

“But you fly, you use magic, and you know so much about magicians?”

“Magic is about deceiving, concealing, disguising, and hiding. I simply give orders.”

“…”

Razard, who had been staring at Sami, let out a chuckle.

“You look pretty cute right now. You look so gormless.”

“It’s only natural not to know these things… I’m not gormless.”

At Sami’s quiet but firm protest, Razard sat up, taking his hand away from his chin.

“…You, with that blank face, you really say everything you want to say, don’t you?”

“I’m not blank either. I’m a hard worker.”

“Really? Well, that’s good to hear.”

Splash. Razard waded toward the lakeshore where Sami had his feet dipped. Circular ripples spread across the calm oasis.

“Then you’ll probably do a good job with the price for me helping you today, right?”

That’s right.

Sami’s mouth hung open at Razard’s words. He recalled making a vague promise to repay Razard in exchange for escaping that terrifying magician.

“B-but the reason that magician came after me was because of you—!”

“Razard.”

“Right, Razard. He came to harass me because he said he lost you after I spilled perfume on you!”

“Honestly, I would have escaped just fine without you. He just doesn’t want to admit it to his own ego, so he thinks you ruined things. Though I don’t know why you got caught up in Bisan’s magic in the first place.”

“Either way, it’s not like Razard isn’t at least partly… responsible…”

“Not at least?”

“Partly…”

Razard, still resting his chin on his hand as he listened to Sami, narrowed his eyes and sighed. A faint, mocking smile lingered on his lips.

“And here I saved you from becoming a magician’s slave.”

“I didn’t mean I wouldn’t repay the favor!”

Sami spoke up quickly before Razard’s eyes could turn sharp.

“I’m just a servant with no money, no power, and no influence. Usually, magicians…”

“I told you I’m not a magician.”

“Then, uh, people as suspicious and strange as magicians.”

“…”

“I mean, people like Razard.”

“You’ve got a bit of a bite, don’t you?”

But his attitude suggested he was willing to keep listening. Courage flooded Sami’s voice.

“When you try to win over a servant like me! It’s because you want me to do some dangerous errand, right?”

“Keep talking.”

Razard gestured dismissively with his chin, and Sami spoke faster.

“I mean, what I’m saying is! I can’t do things like, ‘Go into a cave alone at the risk of your life, weave through poisonous mists, pass the temptation of serpents, dodge the Jinni, and bring back an old lamp.’ That’s what I’m saying.”

With every phrase Sami uttered, the space between Razard’s eyebrows crumpled a little more.

“And, um… I don’t have a monkey or a parrot to save me if I fall into a trap and get in trouble.”

“Pffft—hahahaha!”

In the end, Razard couldn’t hold it back and burst into a loud, boisterous laugh.