#1 - The boy who lives under the bridge
Buzz ~
Buzz ~
Feeling the sound of iron-skinned four-wheeled vehicles passing over the road above his head, Moon Scarlett slowly opened his eyes.
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"I'm back again."
After uttering a sigh that was hard to tell whether it was disappointment or joy, Moon turned his head to look at the second-hand alarm clock he had just picked up from the side of a trash can during the day.
There were only two hands on the blue alarm clock, the longest one had just passed three small squares.
"Seven days in Xilin Town, only three minutes have passed here."
That's right, this is not Moon's original world, because the night sky here only has one moon.
In Xilin, the red moon and the white moon always appear alternately, and every once in a while, there is even the spectacle of two moons hanging in the sky.
The old people in the town say that the appearance of the double moon is the opening of the Demon King's eyes, so whenever this happens, the monastery in the town will ring the alarm bell.
And Moon was also pulled into this strange world on the night of the last double moon appearance.
Lifting the blanket he received from the relief center, Moon sat up and first tapped the leather boots on the ground, and sure enough, a spider ran out of them.
Watching the spider re-enter the crack in the wall, Moon put on his shoes and stepped onto the stone slab floor.
This feeling of being able to touch the ground is very good.
Because this can alleviate the sense of unreality caused by his inter-world adventure once every seven days.
Tap tap ~
After stomping his feet twice on the ground, two squeaks came from a fist-sized stone hole in the wall, as if to remind Moon not to disturb it from sleeping.
"Sorry, Bouncy."
Hearing the call of a familiar friend, Moon knew that this was the new world called London.
......
Two months ago, Moon, who had just arrived, was very confused and helpless.
He couldn't speak the local dialect, he had never seen a four-wheeled iron-skinned car that could run just by farting without a horse, and he had never seen a house as tall as four or five Xilin monasteries, and there were big iron birds flying in the sky that kept buzzing......
It was very difficult to adapt to these things, but at that time, solving the problem of eating was the most important thing.
For a whole day, Moon wandered around with the people on the road, perhaps because the woolen felt coat he was wearing was very beautiful, Moon thought so, anyway, the people around him were very curious to look at him.
He was also lucky, and in the evening of that day, a neatly dressed man gave him a portion of food.
A bowl of thick porridge of unknown grains and a soft bread.
Moon swore that this was the best bread he had ever eaten, not only because he had been hungry for a whole day, but also because he had never eaten such soft bread.
In Xilin, the best bread he could eat was hard enough to be used as a hammer to nail wooden planks.
This kind of black bread can be stored for several months, and when eating, it needs to be divided into finger-wide slices with a toothed saw, and it tastes better when baked on the fire or soaked in sheep's milk.
Perhaps because he was very hungry, Moon took five more portions of bread and two bowls of porridge from the man, and these foods were the first warmth Moon felt when he came to this strange world.
That night, Moon spent his first night here on a bench in a noble-style garden.
However, beautiful things are always short-lived and fleeting.
When Moon came to the place where he could receive food again the next day, he found that the person who gave him food yesterday had called two men in uniform, and when Moon was eating, they kept pointing at him from time to time.
Seeing the two men in uniform walking towards him, Moon ran away.
With the quick reactions he used to chase hazel grouse in the hazelnut forest, Moon quickly escaped the pursuit of the two adults.
He didn't know how this world would treat an eleven-year-old boy, but whether it was a relief center without freedom or being caught and taken to the battlefield as a soldier, it was not a good choice for him.
Finding food, finding clothes, finding a place to live......
Moon spent his first seven days in London in the process of constantly cycling through these three things.
Seven days later, he returned to Xilin, and he didn't tell anyone about this magical thing, because he didn't have a friend he could confide in.
He just regarded these seven days as a strange dream trip, and he thought that things would end like this.
But seven days later, he came back again......
Now more than two months have passed, and Moon is already familiar with this strange world of London.
No, yesterday, no, it was seven days ago that he learned that this world is called England.
Moon has learned some of the local dialect in order to be able to live better.
Especially the dialect related to money, Moon learned the fastest, he knows that people here use two kinds of coins to buy small things, pennies and pounds.
As for those blue, orange, purple, and red banknotes, he has only seen them from a distance, but he has never received them.
After all, you don't need banknotes to buy animal wood carvings.
That's right, selling all kinds of animal wood carvings is Moon's way of supporting himself in the world of England.
In Xilin Town, he is responsible for guarding a hundred acres of hazelnut forest, and he has a lot of free time, so he learned wood carving from Uncle Neil.
Now the level of his carved red squirrels, hazel grouse, and hummingbirds has surpassed that of Uncle Neil, because these animals are regular visitors who steal food in the hazelnut forest.
Of course, now there are more elephants, rhinos, alpacas, penguins......
These are all animals that Moon has seen in the world of England.
The people in the world of England are very strange, they raise animals not to let the animals work or eat meat, but only for viewing.
They call the place where these animals live the zoo, and ordinary people have to pay money to get in.
Moon's current works are inspired by the zoo, and the place where he sells them is at the entrance of the zoo.
This is a good place to do business, and it took him three days to find this treasure land.
At first, he sold them on the bridge where he lived, but there were not many pedestrians passing by the bridge, and most of them were adults driving cars.
Later, he moved the stall to the side of the street, and then he came to the entrance of the zoo.
There are a lot of children here, and he can sell about ten wood carvings every day.
Of course, it's not that Moon doesn't want to sell more, but that his carving speed can't keep up.
He takes time to carve during the day when he sets up a stall, and only sleeps six hours at night, so he can only carve five small penguins a day.
As for the rest, they are all carved after he returns to Xilin.
This may be the best reward he has received since coming to a strange world: Moon can bring things from Xilin Town to the world of England.
However, he cannot bring things back to Xilin, even if he has been holding the thing in his hand.
But that's not bad, Moon now has a full seven days more than others.
......
Looking out from the narrow opening of the bridge arch, a sliver of light appeared on the horizon. The night had quietly slipped away, and it was time for Moon to set off.
Today, he had to see what a monkey's nose looked like, so he could add another subject to his sculptures.
As for why he had to leave so early, it was because the London Zoo only offered free admission to children under three.
At this time, he could take advantage of the garbage truck's departure and sneak in through the back door.
"Boing Boing, I'm leaving. Remember to look after our money."
"Chirp!"
(Boing Boing)
The only reply was a clear chirping sound from the hole in the wall, but Moon knew it was the other party telling him to rest assured.
Boing Boing was a black-furred, long-nosed beast, and the first friend Moon had made since coming to this world.
At the time, it had been cornered by four or five large black dogs. Moon had used a slingshot to drive them away and save it, and since then, it had latched onto Moon.
Moon hadn't refused. He needed someone to confide in, even if that someone was a beast that looked like a rat.
As for the origin of the name "Boing Boing," Moon had given it to him later.
He discovered that whenever Boing Boing got his paws on something shiny, he would happily bounce around as if springs were installed on his little paws, hence the name.
......
Bending down, he crawled out of the bridge arch, then took out the bag containing the wood carvings and dragged a tattered door panel to cover the entrance before patting his hands and leaving.
It was a short walk from Regent's Bridge to the zoo, passing through a park.
At this time, there were few pedestrians on the road, but the ground was damp, indicating that there had been a light rain last night.
Arriving early at the zoo's back door, he hid behind a stone pillar near the entrance. Taking advantage of the garbage truck's departure, Moon easily slipped inside.
However, after entering the zoo, he didn't go to see the monkeys first, but went to a hidden white building.
This was the zoo's staff cafeteria, and Moon had been sneaking in for breakfast here for over a month.
Washing his hands, he picked up a clean white plate and began to choose his portion of today's breakfast.
There were fewer people eating at this time, as most of the zookeepers would take care of the animals first thing in the morning. There were also a few children in the queue, so Moon wasn't very conspicuous.
Moon was already very familiar with the staff cafeteria's menu. Today was Monday, so there should be fried sausages.
He first took a serving of fried eggs, cheese toast, and a glass of juice, then went to the person in charge of frying the sausages.
Moon gave the other person what he thought was his most innocent smile and thanked them, and was given two extra slices as a result.
"Whose child is this? Amy, he's so polite."
"Oh, maybe it's Winnie from the penguin enclosure. You know she's not doing so well. You can tell from the child's clothes."
Ignoring the conversation between the plump chef and the lady in charge of the soup, Moon began to enjoy his delicious breakfast.
After finishing breakfast and washing up briefly, Moon went to the monkey mountain. His memory was excellent, and after just a few glances, he had already carved out a monkey template.
By the time he finished carving, there were already a few scattered visitors in the zoo.
"Poof ~"
Blowing away the wood shavings, he looked at the newly born artwork with satisfaction before quickly running towards the zoo entrance.
......
"How much for the little monkey?"
"50 pence, madam."
The sun was already setting in the west, and Moon's stall was much emptier.
Today, he had sold 12 wood carvings. Everything had gone very smoothly. There were a lot of children, and there were no sudden incidents in the zoo, nor did any animals escape to scare his customers.
Moon remembered very clearly that on the 23rd of last month, there had been a python escape incident at the zoo. A customer had taken his alpaca wood carving without paying. It was also on that day that he had discovered one of his own kind.
A bespectacled, refined little boy.
Like Moon, he had a blank frame above his head.
This was the mark of a spellcaster. Moon had thought that only he had it, but after seeing the spellcasters from the Federal Military Academy in Xilin, he knew he wasn't the only one.
At that time, the frame above that person's head also had two long horizontal lines.
During the conversation between the administrator of Xilin Town and the other party, Moon learned that they were there to test the qualifications of all children of age.
That day was also the day Moon wanted to escape Xilin completely.
The test was divided into two parts, selecting from more than five hundred children. Moon and another girl had entered the second round, but in the end, he was still eliminated.
[Able to sense magic, but unable to cast it, is the worst kind of spellcaster, with no need for cultivation.]
"Half-baked Awakener"
This was the spellcaster's assessment of Moon.
He didn't know who had spread this title, but Moon had become completely famous in Xilin. Later, people even directly called him "Half-baked."
He didn't know if these people were jealous or pitying, but Moon wasn't used to this title. He hid in the hazelnut forest of York Farm, guarding it alone, so he could have some peace and quiet.
However, Moon wasn't resigned, especially knowing that he had missed the opportunity to study magic at the Federal Military Academy.
Magicians, who doesn't yearn for that!
The Federation's most mysterious combat army, the Mad King of the Empire's most brutal killing tools, the Church's messengers of justice......
These had nothing to do with Moon anymore......
-----------------
On the day of the python escape, Moon had given a carved knight's sword to his own kind, hoping that the other party could cheer up.
When the little boy thanked him, he noticed that the other party had a lightning-like scar on his head, which was very eye-catching.
......
After selling the last little monkey, Moon packed up his things and prepared to go back.
He had to take care of dinner himself, and he also had to bring snacks for Boing Boing, once a week, as was the custom.
Passing by a bakery, Moon spent 48 pence to buy a bag of the cheapest sliced bread and a bottle of clear water.
Then, he bought a 100-gram bag of dried mealworms at a pet supply store, costing 1 pound.
Eating bread and walking back, Moon felt that everything was developing in a good direction. With his carving skills, he finally had the capital to survive in this strange world.
Even if there was no magic he yearned for here.
However, changes sometimes come unexpectedly.
When Moon returned to the bridge arch of Regent's Bridge, he found a calico cat blocking the entrance.
A calico cat with a five-section frame above its head......
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