[Iris] “Huh??”

The explanation escaped my lips through no fault of my own. The situation was really just too incomprehensible. I mean, I could understand some punk coming to rob this place (though I doubted it would be worth their while), but the words they spoke dispelled most of my thoughts that were their attention. What in the world was a “manna stone”? My thoughts grabbed onto this term straight out of a video game. Despite this, it was said in all seriousness by the man standing menacingly in front of me. Besides that, their outfit didn’t make the situation feel any more serious. Hadn’t anyone ever told them that it wasn’t cool to dress like an 80s movie gang? Despite my desire to laugh, I could tell from their demeanor that they weren't joking. Though for once, it didn't look like I was going to be the focus of events. Dylan? That sounded familiar. It took me a moment to recall where I had heard that name before. Going through the all too short list of names I had heard since entering this world, I soon realized that Mariam had mentioned that her brother had the name.

I was lost for words for a moment as the realization struck me. My estimation of Mariam as a reliable person lowered a little bit, but I mainly had a newfound grudge against her brother. Hey, hey, it doesn’t matter if they're in the wrong or the right; he should have just done the gentlemanly thing and let these guys rough him up a little, or whatever. At the very least, don’t lead them straight to your sister’s shop to cause trouble for her otherworldly employees.

As my indignation somehow turned from the men causing trouble to Dylan, I noticed the lead man open his mouth again.

[Punk Leader] "Heh, most people know better than causing trouble for the Roaring Flame office. Guess you’re a real idiot then, huh?”

[Punk Leader] “Last warning kid, come out now if all you want is for us to kick your ass.”

He let out a ringing laugh before his words took on a newfound sharpness as he continued.

[Punk Leader] “Last warning kid, come out now if all you want is for us to kick your ass!”

To punctuate his words, he slammed his fist into a small table next to him.

His movements didn’t look like anything special; it was the kind of untrained punch that any average person could throw, so I wasn’t expecting much to happen; however, as the fist made contact, it was like a lead block had suddenly taken its place. The single leg of the table could only hold up to the force for an instant before it splintered in the middle, sending the top half crashing to the ground in a heap of jagged wood.

Witnessing this, my mouth, which I didn’t think could open any wider, found a new low. As I stared, the shorted man, apparently just as caught off guard as I was, took a step back. The taller man, on the other hand, looked in my direction with a condescending smirk. Although I didn’t know what he thought of me, I could tell his intentions weren’t pure as he took a step towards me. With the same look on his face, he opened his mouth.

[Punk Lackey] “Yo babe, have you ever seen the inside of a rift? After we handle things here, we’re heading to a level one rift. What do you say about tagging along? Don’t worry, with us there, it would be like going to a zoo. I hear there’s a new Albion-Zenistis fusion place that opened nearby too.”

Hearing his words, I almost wanted to look behind me to see who he was talking to. I had heard this kind of stuff before, though only as a third party. Part of me wanted to give the guy some advice. Just thinking about the rift I had been in, I highly doubted it would make a good place for a romantic evening. It was always my principle to look for women outside of work hours, something I think this guy could have picked up on. You're clearly conducting a shakedown here. Is now the best time?

My thoughts, which had previously been focused on the unfolding events, were thrown into chaos by this unforeseen diversion. I couldn’t say if I felt any different than if I had been asked the same question in my past life, a realization that did serve to tamp down one of my lingering worries about my new body; though I didn’t think his attempt had any legs to stand on in the first place.

While I was organizing my thoughts, my face had resorted to the same cold stare, my eyes shooting daggers in the man’s direction. The target of my gaze stood there, frozen into silence, his lip twisted to the side in a remorseful grimace, his eyes darting around the room as if trying to escape from my vision.

I was oblivious to this as I recalled the sad reality of my bachelor's life; however, I wouldn’t have much longer to do so. From the back came the familiar tapping of feet, and the door that Mariam had gone into earlier opened, and an irate female figure stormed out, shouting. At the same time as I looked towards the source of the sound, I heard a sigh of relief from behind me and caught the man out of the corner of my eye as he took two steps back while muttering something.

[Mariam] “What are you people doing here?”

Despite her indignant tone, her voice came out a little unsteady. I didn’t blame her; facing down three thugs wasn’t a position anyone would envy. I felt a pang in my heart as I sat there, silently, the light sensation of the tentacles lying against my skin reminding me of why I needed to push that feeling down. Letting out an entirely sigh, I resigned myself to not doing anything reckless. In this tense atmosphere where I still didn’t know what was happening, it was for the best. I could only vainly hope that Mariam had enough reason to call the cops.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Straightening her back a little, Mariam spoke again.

“I don’t care what you guys have against my brother, you’d better get out of here. I already called the Military Police.”

Hearing the phrase “military police” spoken in such a certain manner gave me a little confidence that the standoff would end quickly. Unfortunately, the group's reaction completely shattered that hope.

The leader started laughing, followed by the short man who was busy examining a painting he had carelessly taken off the wall. The taller man was the only one who didn’t join in.

[Punk Leader] “Ha ha, the military has nothing to do with a warden affair. Ha ha, what are they going to do, write us a ticket? Ha ha, you probably didn’t even bother calling, did you, huh?”

Hearing his words mixed in with unrestrained laughter, Mariam's face turned red with embarrassment, but she didn’t refute them.

[Punk Leader] “Well, anyways, you’ve really done me a favor this time.”

Mariam’s and the short man's faces became a little confused. I also couldn’t understand why what he was talking about, but something about the way he took a step closer toward the counter that Mariam was supporting herself on reminded me of the way a predator would stalk Its prey. It was a feeling I was all too familiar with. It was the type of constricting feeling that only those stronger than others could enjoy. As much as my mind hated to compare the human beings in front of me to the ants from the rift, my body had no such scruples. It tensed up as if prepared to launch a strike.

The man took another step towards Mariam, a ghastly smile stretched across his face.

“You’ve done me the favor of leaving your brother a message for me, tell him 'next time he doesn’t pay his due... it’ll be him in the hospital!'"

Before the last word had even escaped his lips, his arm shot out towards Mariam. Without much time to think, the girl stumbled over her own feet as she attempted to back away. The attempt only worsened her situation as she ended up falling in the direction of the man’s reach. In only a moment, the hand that had just crushed a solid wood table was going to reach the tender flesh of the woman in front of them; however, in the same instant, a form blurred across the room straight towards the man’s midsection. With a teeth-clenching thud, a steel stool slammed into the man's midsection. The impact caused the man to fall to his knees, but apparently either from his own lack of understanding or through sheer determination, he still reached out towards the girl a mere few feet away set on fulfilling his original purpose. A scream filled the room as one hand grasped another. Yet, contrary to what the onlookers had thought, it was the young man who had been so full of bravado who was now recoiling in pain.

'I’ve really done it now.' The words echoed in my heart as I looked down at the man squirming in my grasp. I was a blur, like time had frozen for an instant. Before I could even think, I had nearly lunged across the room while kicking my previous seat at him. Luckily, this guy didn’t seem all that strong when compared to the alphas and the lord ant in the cave who could easily toss boulders twice their size away. Still, at the moment I grabbed the man's wrist, I could feel a force trying to push me away; it was like pushing two of the same magnets together. I briefly looked behind me to see Mariam, a look of absolute astonishment plastered over her face. I couldn't see any signs of injury on her body; I wasn’t a doctor, so I couldn't be sure. Though now that I was blocking this guy, that was her concern, not mine. Right now, I had to focus on the problem in front of me.

Just as that crossed my mind, I let go of the man’s hand and moved backward as a foot kicked up into the place my chest had been. I could feel the air current from the movement hit my face. Clearly, even if he didn’t know what was happening, he was not going to pull any punches.

The man rolled backward, knocking over whatever was in his path as he put distance between us.

Standing up, he took a moment to straighten his clothes, narrowly examining me as he opened his mouth.

[Punk Leader] “Who the..."

Just as he was about to spit out a remark at me, a commotion from behind him cut his retort short. The short man had dropped the painting he was holding and was storming in the direction of the leader.

“What the hell was that, Garrett? I thought you said we were just going to talk to Dylan. You know the boss doesn’t want any bad press right now?”

His voice got a little lower as the man readjusted his wrist, sending crisp snaps into the room as he let out a shallow groan.

[Garrett (the punk leader)] “Let me worry about my cousin; just help me get rid of this woman.”

After his words, the taller man whose eyes had been fixed on me for a reason I couldn’t tell reached towards the back of his jacket shakily, as if in a trance. Seeing this, the small man's eyes lit up in panic.

“Whoa, Mitch, what do you think you’re doing? If we're doing this, we need to make it look like she was the aggressor. How do you think it’s going to look if we have our weapons out? Besides, if you use that thing, we’d have half the neighborhood's attention in a second.”

It looks like the guy named Mitch realizes that the smaller man was right because he reluctantly pulled his hand away and clicked his tongue.

“Mitch (the tall lackey), “I don’t like this, guys, something's not right here. Hey Garrett, why don’t you let me pay back those magic stones?”

I heard the man's offer like it was the last life preservers before a storm. It was hard to say I was scared; there was far too much adrenaline coursing through me. But at that moment, I wished for nothing more than to just let it go. Partly because no matter how sure I was that I was dealing with criminals, it doesn’t change the fact that I don’t know the laws. It was also my first time fighting my own kind. I couldn’t understand until this moment, but when I was fighting the ants, it's like I was disconnected from reality, like I was controlling my actions through a TV screen. I had figured it was just a reaction to the circumstances, but now, as I stood with my back against the wall and three of my own kind looking down on me, that it had nothing to do with the species. I heard the footsteps behind me, the closing door telling me that Mariam had taken this moment to escape. I let out a low sigh as the three men reached a decision.

[Garrett (the punk leader)] “Let’s get this over with, oh, and try not to kill her.”