Chapter Eighty-Eight: Princess Shasa

“It’s almost twelve, and there are still barely any customers.” Heath glanced at his old, battered phone and sighed. He had wanted to make a little money today, but to his surprise, business was just as sparse as ever.

Still, that was normal during the damp southern season, especially when the fog was this thick. Stepping outside meant coming back with your hair beaded with moisture, as if nature had given you a free wash. Naturally, not many people were willing to leave either home or the office.

And besides, Heath felt that although his cooking tasted good, it was not so irresistible that customers would become obsessed and crave it every single day.

In truth, if he ever managed that, Officer Maple would probably be the first to arrive with a whole squad to inspect his food cart and see whether he had slipped in any banned substances. It was no different from those shady restaurateurs in his previous life who mixed extraordinary things into their food to make customers addicted.

“Farfetch’d, come to think of it, you know quite a bit about knife work, don’t you?” Heath asked, glancing at the duck, who was still practicing pan-tossing with an iron wok.

“Scallion?” Farfetch’d tilted his head at Heath in confusion, then nodded with a look of absolute confidence.

“Scallion says his knife skills are incredibly strong,” Zorua said, rolling over in the chair and lying there with a book in her arms.

Heath smiled in satisfaction. He liked confidence like that. With that thought, he opened a cabinet and pulled out the blade he had won before in a drawing: Mist, the Peerless Blade Under Heaven.

“Try this and see how it feels.” Heath handed the long sword to Farfetch’d. The duck took it and ran a hand over the blade with evident interest before gripping it. The way he held it, however, was rather strange, making the weapon look difficult to use.

“No, no, that’s wrong. Hold it like this.” Heath took the sword back and demonstrated a longsword stance like one from a game. Farfetch’d immediately understood, took it again, and copied Heath’s grip.

Heath nodded approvingly. Farfetch’d’s arm strength looked pretty solid now; he could even lift the sword. The trouble was that the weapon was far too long, and the League did not seem to permit Pokémon to use blades like this in official battles.

“What a pity this world doesn’t allow those techniques, or I could’ve pulled off an iai draw.” Heath sighed regretfully, then put the longsword away. It was not much use to Farfetch’d. He was still better suited to fighting with his leek.

When they returned to the food cart, Zorua looked at Heath curiously and said, “Trainer, you really have a lot of strange and unusual things.”

“Mm. Collecting oddities is one of my hobbies,” Heath said with a nod.

Then he noticed that, at some point, Zorua had taken the Sweet Dreams Microphone out of the cabinet.

The instant he saw that she meant to use it, Heath lunged forward, snatched the microphone back, and only then breathed a sigh of relief.

“But isn’t it just a microphone? Why won’t you let me use it?” Zorua looked at him pitifully.

“Because that thing is a little dangerous.” Heath put the Sweet Dreams Microphone back into the cabinet and set a fingerprint lock on it. Otherwise, Zorua would definitely sneak it out again.

Seeing how aggrieved she looked, Heath rubbed her head, then took out his phone for a glance. It was already noon.

Ordinarily, he would have been busy serving customers by this time, and people usually enjoyed eating at his cart. The problem was that this cursed heavy fog showed no sign of lifting. Heath had a feeling lunchtime business would be poor as well.

“So you’ve been secretly setting up shop. You’ve got some nerve.”

The voice sounded vaguely familiar. Heath looked up in confusion and saw the Officer Jenny he had met only yesterday standing before his food cart, smiling.

“Are you an inspector?” Heath asked, recalling what Sister Maple had told him the day before.

“Heh, so you figured out my identity. But let me warn you—don’t tell anyone I came here.” The officer paused in surprise, then put on a stern face as she spoke.

Heath nodded. Of course he would not tell anyone. He chose instead to send Sister Maple a text and let her know.

“Do you have a vending permit?” Officer Jenny asked him with a serious expression.

With a helpless sigh, Heath took out his permit from the cart. She looked it over and then nodded in satisfaction.

“So your name’s Heath. Then we’re rather fated, you and I. Let me introduce myself—I’m Officer Jenny Celine.” She smiled warmly as she spoke.

Looking at how casually familiar she was, Heath obediently greeted her, “Sister Celine.”

“Little Heath, what do you usually sell here? Nothing prohibited, I hope?” Celine asked with a teasing smile.

Heath looked at her with half-lidded eyes. This woman was practically a devil. Wasn’t this blatant entrapment?

“Sister Celine, you’ve got the wrong idea. How could I possibly sell contraband? Everything I sell here is proper and legal,” Heath said helplessly. He had no desire to end up with a charge for dealing in banned goods. If that happened, his tools of illegal trade—such as his food cart—might very well be confiscated.

“Hahaha, of course I know that… Mm, someone’s coming. See you next time.” Celine laughed brightly, waved at Heath, and left with a smile.

And almost the moment she departed, a customer walked over and ordered a plate of egg fried rice. As Heath cooked, he marveled inwardly at how capable Celine was. He had not seen anyone at all, yet she had already sensed someone approaching.

Being an inspector truly was no easy job. No wonder the other Officer Jennys jokingly called them little informers. That extraordinary perceptiveness alone was enough to make anyone envious.

After serving that customer, Heath once again sank into a long stretch of idleness. To pass the time, he simply stayed inside the food cart and studied for the written portion of his driving exam. The test was tomorrow.

“But if I pass the written exam, doesn’t that mean the road test is right around the corner? Taking that in weather like this really would be thrilling.” Heath glanced out at the thick fog. Evergreen City now looked like some waterside town drowned in mist. Apart from the occasional cry of a bird Pokémon, there was scarcely any sound at all.

Heath took a deep breath. His mouth filled with a trace of dampness, and the cold wet mist striking his face cleared his mind at once.

“All right. I’m fired up now. Time to study.”