As soon as a person is out of danger, the tense muscles relax too violently. Dill opened her eyes again, shaken awake by Mrs. Cole.
"Good heavens, child, how did you sleep here?"
Mrs. Cole had slept so deeply last night from her day of labor that she looked pale as if she might pass out at any moment when she heard Dill talking about the bell and the screaming.
"Would you mind going to the mayor's for me later, child?"
Still barely able to keep her spirits up in front of her two children, Mrs. Cole made three simple breakfasts.
"I have a silver coin here, so you can deliver milk for me, and by the way, tell the mayor for me that I agree with what was mentioned before."
Dill declined the silver coin; she was thinking of going out for a walk to see what was going on, and without much questioning, she accepted Mrs. Cole's offer.
Last night's change was like a silent plague that changed the whole village and town. Dill walked into the marketplace and breathed in unusually heavy air. People were even more distant from each other, and the vendor even refused to sell things to people he thought were suspicious.
"Dead?"
"No. I heard mad."
"Cole... cursed..."
A familiar choking sensation rose in Dill's mind, and bad feelings of foreboding began to whisper in her ears like condensed watery dew, clinging to people's whispers and the dust of the air.
It suddenly occurred to her that night, when the silence was deserted and the werewolf symbolizing calamity was only a door panel away. The whispers of doom had not made a sound, but now that she was in a crowd of people, the doom flowed from their mouths like the wind.
There was one exception here, though.
The lacquered mahogany stringed piano strummed a beautiful soundtrack, the young singer mouthed wonderful words, and his bright smile had the shadow of a southern summer's day, catching the eyes of the women passing by.
Talent and faith were the most highly prized virtues of the age, and even the cold and hardened natives could not show malice toward the handsome and affectionate singer.
The Byfleetian singer was indeed capable of much, and within a few songs he had mingled with the bazaar-goers, and with sable hats on the ground filled with copper coins and even women's scented handkerchiefs, he had reaped a full harvest for the whole morning.
At the sight of Dill, Jose winked mischievously at her, reversed the stringed lute in his hand, and closed with a light and lively ditty.
"Ladies, intermission, I need a drink."
He walked obediently over to Dill, who gave him a friendly nod. With an air of natural familiarity, the other man tried to get closer to the young girl, but suddenly jerked and dodged the sharp beak of his mouth.
Jose glared at the fierce white goose in the young girl's arms and could only reluctantly distance himself from the little beauty.
The singer resumed her smiling face in less than a second and said, "Last night wasn't peaceful, right? I'm a person who can't see sadness, and when I heard the bad news early in the morning, I couldn't help but take up my old friend to soothe these lovely and innocent townspeople."
Dill's mind uttered a cry as she couldn't control her first thought: It mustn't be Mucha! Damn the Supreme God!
"I hear screams and bells; is someone really in trouble?"
The singer shrugged indifferently. "Unfortunately, it was an alarm bell, man. Is he crazy or dead? I'm not sure of the details; I only know that my master left the house early in the morning."
Dill subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief, though she quickly sensed something was amiss and chided herself for this ill-timed bias. She stroked the turnip lightly to hide her emotions.
There was a clamor from the crowd in the distance, and an alarmed man in black robes effortlessly stepped out of a path. The villagers' expressions of awe and fear.
Jose surveyed the scene with an amused face and couldn't help but scoff, "Do you think the people here are stupid? Ah, to think that relying on a small bell can repel a werewolf, it's not as good as this xylophone of mine screaming louder."
"But most people here have only heard hymns or children's songs; I bluffed them out of their minds with a few random old tunes." He winked at Dill, "Did you like that Rose Beauty song just now? Or Manu from Vanilla Harbor last night?"
Dill, who didn't know how many times she'd been hit on, was unusually calm, knowing that she was by no means a stunning beauty and that the men here couldn't keep their mouths shut when they met a younger woman.
"Too bad I'm not familiar with music; it all sounds the same to me."
Dill's nonchalant reply instead made Hershey's eyes widen as he marveled, "Yes, yes, these two songs are by the same author. My dear, perhaps you are more talented than you think you are!"
Dill: That's okay?
As if she had found her soulmate, Jose started to talk about poetry.
Both songs were from Jose's favorite authors. Rose Beauty was also a tragedy, but was forbidden by the church; it was about a beautiful princess with lips as bright red as flower petals who fell in love with a black monster and was finally burned to death together with the monster in a sea of roses.
After her death, a black rose bloomed on the scorched earth; curses and disasters spread since then, and people said that it was the child of the princess and the monster.
Jose speaks like a madman, seemingly immersed in a world of romantic madness, and Dill is completely unable to comprehend his bad taste.
Soothing the townspeople with forbidden church songs? It was fortunate that the people here didn't understand Byfleetian, or else Jose would have been burned at the stake a long time ago.
"What a talented author; too bad I don't know him. I think the people here might not be that keen on theater either; they're very religious."
Dill kindly reminded him to temper himself; this wasn't the Byfleet court of polytheistic beliefs.
"Oh dear, you must have heard of him; he's a very famous singer."
The singer stroked the "red mole" on his chin with a mischievous smile, and Dill had a damn good feeling about it.
"He pours out lyrics about disasters in the near future."
God, she'd heard enough bad omens already.
He lowered his voice and said, "I adore the author the most, Scarlet Poet A."
"You don't scare me!" Dill feigned fear and interrupted him.
She didn't want to pay any attention to this crazy singer and turned around to leave, but she heard the other person sigh softly.
"Ms. Moon, if even you are afraid of those demons, then who else can come to save us?"