Behind three mountains and two rivers, two bounty hunters, Kairo and Arubi, are traveling to Waslan City to pick a bounty. Their empty stomach pushes them forward, but they may hit a roadblock in the desert inside the bandits' lair.
Wacky adventure...
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The building towered above everything and everyone like a sore thumb. The patches of different sizes interrupted the wooden walls. The biggest one had to be left by an angry Elepmoth, majestic but clumsy descendants of Mammoths.
It seemed like the architecture tried to retain something from every period it had been through, creating a patchwork of wonders. The rectangular, oval, hexagonal, tall, slim, arched, and broken windows didn't help to convey this was serious business. Especially if the vagabond clowns advertised their party pooper services on old papers hanging from rusty eaves.
Stone gargoyles sat on a balustrade, and the pillars of Ionic, Corinthian, and Tuscan style supported the overhanging roof, and the climbing roses with poison ivy held them in one piece.
The incessant chirping and annoying cries proved that the skylights on the mansard roof turned into homes for the pigeons, crows, and kiwis. Only once in a while, an ostrich took refuge inside as the other birds started to charge them for leaving a white mess under the skylights.
A gong rang from the third tower, signaling another fruitless hour. A cloud of shadows flew from the skylights, covering the scorching sun for a few seconds. Kairo lifted his head, his red eyes trailing toward the Post Office Logo on the gable with no accident. It was famous for the spot-on resemblance of the services; a big bag with a hole, losing letters.
How could anyone be so eager to come here, wasting half of their lives in endless lines? Kairo shivered as his body reacted to that silent whispering. He slipped through the crowd, reading the board next to the door aloud, "Oversea Post Service?"
That made no sense indeed; in fact, it was completely, senselessly nonsensical. This city lay at the edge of the largest desert with no lake, let alone an ocean.
Nevertheless, people waited in a long line, handing letters enclosed in bottles to a postman, who looked resembled a humanoid fish with a dragonfly's wings and thin limbs. One pair of his hands moisturized his skin, and the other tucked the bottles inside a special bag with pockets for only one flask. Kairo and Arubi shook their heads, puzzled by such a crazy idea.
"Are you new in the city?" a jolly man in his forties asked them. Both of them nodded, checking the man with raised eyebrows. "This desk opened here half a year ago, but there's no better way to send letters to your family behind the big puddle. Do you have somebody like that?"
They shook their heads instead, too speechless to muster a few words.
"Me neither!" The man burst into laughter, holding his big belly with his hands. "But it's such an awesome feeling to do so!" He quickened his steps, giving the Fishman his bottle while his other hand wiped small tears out of his eyes.
Once the strange postman tucked the last bottle into the backpack, his dragonfly's wings buzzed, raising big clouds of dust as he soared toward the sky.
