The next day, Derek visited Old Man Ma’s pawnshop for the first time in a while.
He had to get back to his “work,” which he’d neglected for several days while taking care of So. The rice he’d set aside for his little sister was running low, too.
“Been a while.” Old Man Ma peered at Derek over his magnifying glass.
“Haven’t seen you around these past few days. Go somewhere nice?”
“Nothing like that.” Derek brushed him off as he spread a few odds and ends he’d brought along across the vendor’s stall.
The old man picked through the goods one by one, then suddenly stopped. “You heard the strange rumor going around the market streets lately?”
“What rumor?”
“They say there’s a kid going around who uses some strange power. Something about stepping on air.” The old man discreetly watched Derek’s reaction.
“Know anything about it?”
Derek’s heart dropped.
“How would I know something like that?”
“Hmm.” The old man didn’t press him. Instead, he lowered his voice.
“Just something I heard, but the Black Dog seems interested in that rumor, too. I heard people talking about the kid like they were dealing in goods in the back alleys.”
Derek’s face hardened. “The Black Dog… why?”
“If it’s a kid who can use strange powers, wouldn’t they be worth something? They could sell them off or exploit them.” The old man spoke as if it were nothing important, but there was nothing light about the weight of his words. Derek couldn’t say anything for a moment. It was the first time the possibility that So might be in danger had taken on a concrete shape.
“…Hypothetically,” Derek asked carefully. “If I wanted to protect someone like that, what should I do?”
Old Man Ma stared at Derek for a while, then let out a low chuckle.
“Why are you asking me something like that?”
“I was just… curious.”
The old man let the silence stretch for a moment before pulling an old protective talisman from beneath the stall and holding it out.
“This is just a freebie. Some customer left it here a long time ago and never came back for it. Supposedly, it wards off bad luck. No idea if it’s real or fake, though.”
Derek accepted the talisman without thinking. “Why are you giving this to me…?”
“Just because. Lately, you’ve got the face of someone who’s found something worth protecting.”
The old man grinned and adjusted his magnifying glass again.
“Go on, get out of here. You planning not to do business today?”
Derek shoved the talisman deep into his pocket and left the pawnshop. Behind him, he heard the old man’s final warning.
“Watch out for the Black Dog. Lately, it looks like someone’s backing them. Those people aren’t your ordinary thugs.”