Inside the house, we went to another room—the kitchen—and whilst Alice was looking around, I caught a smell that immediately caught my attention. "Alice, wait here for a moment—there's something dangerous I need to check."
Hearing that, Alice replied, a little worried, "Something dangerous? If so, wouldn't it be better if we checked it out together?" She was right, but even so, I couldn't let her see what I wanted to see.
I turned round and placed both my hands on her shoulders. "Alice, as my best friend, trust me and stay here until I tell you to." She nodded, somewhat hesitantly, before letting me float into the air and head towards the dining table near us.
Alice waited, tapping her feet repeatedly on the floor—her worry almost overwhelming, as she'd rarely seen me this serious before. Five minutes passed but I hadn't returned; unable to bear the wait any longer, she decided to fly up to catch up with me.
"Red…" She called my name, and when she looked up at the table, she was startled by what she saw.
"Hey, I told you not to—munch—follow me," I said between mouthfuls; Alice found me eating a giant strawberry doughnut served on a plate. All that worry vanished instantly, replaced by anger.
She flew closer before shouting, "YOU'RE EATING A DONUT?!" I'd expected her to be angry that I hadn't shared the donut—but I wasn't about to share this giant donut; it was enough for breakfast, lunch, and even dinner.
"I was so worried about you down there, but it turns out you've been enjoying your life up here!" she said, and hearing her grumble ruined this happy moment.
"You were really worried? That's so sweet of you—perhaps as sweet as this donut," I replied before swallowing the doughnut in my mouth, "Is that your way of hittin' on me?"
"Of course not! Don't you realise what you've done?! At least say sorry!"
"Thank you."
"For what?!"
"Thank you for waiting so patiently."
"You're so welcome!"
I heard a noise from far below. "Alice, there's someone running about down there," I said, but Alice was already having trust issues with me.
"Yeah, right," she said, rolling her eyes. Seeing that, I walked over, took hold of her head, and turned it to look far down below.
"Oh, You're right." There was a man with brown hair and black eyes.
The man was running whilst holding a big gold ring in his hand. "I'm rich!" he shouted, but he realised he wasn't moving—he looked down and saw his feet were tied up by roots.
"Huh?" he echoed.
"Heh!" Alice replied; the man turned round and saw two girls, one of whom was holding a large piece of doughnut in her hand.
"W-who are you?!" he asked as we walked closer and stopped in front of him. I pulled out my shotgun and aimed it at his head, but Alice immediately pushed the gun down.
"Hold on! We need to get information out of him, you idiot!" she whispered, covering her mouth with her palm. "Don't you remember our pay being cut because you killed Bricky straight away that day?!"
"In that case, I'll leave the negotiating to you, oh clever girl" I replied, which only served to annoy Alice further.
Alice turned back towards the man; she walked closer and scrutinised his face. "You've got a decent face… Disgusting, actually," she sneered, but the man didn't seem offended; he looked more bewildered.
Besides, why was she suddenly judging his face? What did that have to do with anything?
A vine crept up and wrapped itself quite tightly around his neck. "I want you to tell me what you're doing here. And if you refuse to answer or are caught lying—you'll be able to see your neck much more clearly," she said; though her tone was sweet, it was laced with cruelty.
And they say I'm the crueler of the two of us.
Jack Spriggins was a young boy from a poor family. He didn't have much talent; the only thing that could be called a talent was his ability to run faster than the average person.
That's why he became a pickpocket on the streets, though he didn't always get good results—like yesterday, for example. He managed to steal a bag of beans, and just for that, he ended up being chased by the police.
Whilst being chased, the bean seeds scattered everywhere, and by the time he got home, he found the sack was empty. Jack threw the sack on the ground in frustration; he'd nearly been caught by the police just for an empty sack.
But the very next day—or rather, today—the roots from those beans had grown into roots that scraped the sky. Jack thought that atop these roots there might be a giant fruit he could pick and sell, but instead he found this giant house.