- VOL 1 – THOSE UNITED BY THE FATE -
Chapter 3: Final Preparations (5/10)
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A thin man with auburn hair was sitting on a chair, staring in front of him in confusion. The focus of his dilated eyes, which betrayed his astonishment, was a short woman with blue eyes.
The young man was having breakfast at a table on the first floor of the inn where he was staying. When he saw this woman approaching the table where he was sitting, he felt like jumping out of there for a moment. But he could not fulfill this instinct. The woman had noticed him and was heading towards this table. She smiled innocently in his direction and easily turned him back from his decision.
She approached the table and sat right next to him. Unlike the other crowded tables, only the auburn-haired young man occupied this table.
"Good morning, Minato."
She looked quite happy and cheerful. The auburn-haired man was even more surprised to see her like this. He stammered his reply.
"Go-good morning..."
"Don't worry, since you survived it yesterday, you don't have to be afraid of me anymore. Right?"
The conversation ended there. Minato hurried to finish the plate in front of him while Rina called out to a nearby waitress and ordered food for herself.
Minato finished his meal in a few minutes and turned to the woman next to him, preparing to bid her farewell.
"Enjoy your meal, Rina-san. I have some work to do today, so I'll see you later."
He raised himself from the chair, but he couldn't leave. A force pressed down on his arm, pinning him in place.
"We have some important business as well, Minato. More important than yours, I'm sure."
Hearing this, the man swallowed nervously and sat back in his chair. After everything that had happened since yesterday, he thought that at least for now he would be unharmed. But there was something that scared him more than a beating. Like letting something slip out that he shouldn't have said.
Even though yesterday he had simply explained to this woman what had happened to him and got away with it, she wasn't satisfied with what she got.
"Wow, someone's early."
Minato was anxiously wondering what to do when he heard this voice, which was his salvation. Even though it came from a boy, Minato saw him as a hero in his current state.
The auburn-haired man's eyes lit up with joy as he looked in the direction of the voice and saw the person he had expected. He stood up excitedly to greet him.
"The gods, the gods have been helping me for the last few days! Luck is on my side!"
He was talking to himself as if he was crazy. But neither the woman next to her nor the boy in front of him seemed to care.
"Good morning, Rina-san."
"Good morning, Shin-kun."
Almost ignored, the auburn-haired man looked at the boy and prepared to speak. But the boy beat him to it and called out to him, silencing Minato.
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"Good morning to you too, Minato. And I'm sorry, but I have no intention of saving you from anything."
The man, whose world was shattered by these words, sat back down in his chair. Shin also took a chair and sat at the same table. Then he continued.
"On the contrary, I can ruin your life."
With the boy's words, Minato, who had previously felt only despair, now felt terrified. Bewildered, trying to process what he had just heard, he shouted at the boy in front of him.
"Wh-what the hell are you talking about, Shin?!"
The blue-eyed woman was also surprised by the boy's last words. But instead of shouting like the excited man next to her, she calmly waited for what he had to say.
"Of course, it's up to you, but I have a good offer."
"I don't understand anything, Shin! Are you trying to work with Rina-san to get something out of me? Do you think I'm stupid enough to accept an offer that could ruin my life!"
"PhhAHAHAHAHA!"
The woman who had been sitting calmly upon hearing the young man's words burst into laughter. Shin continued to talk while she laughed.
"What nonsense are you talking about again? I already know enough of your secrets. There's nothing more important to you than Yumi-san, right?"
The young man fell silent after Shin's threatening speech. He no longer had anything to object to. He could only wait his turn like a sacrificial lamb.
Rina continued the conversation this time. It was clear from her tone that she had heard something surprising.
"Hmm... So you know Minato's little secrets. I found out some of them yesterday, but she said it had nothing to do with you. Really interesting..."
When she turned her face to the man next to her, he answered her hurriedly.
"He has nothing to do with me! It was just a coincidence, don't you believe me Rina-san!"
He said this very quickly and confidently. Even though these panicked words did not sound like lies, Rina waited for another answer. When she turned her face to the boy in front of her and looked at him, she realized that he had an exasperated expression.
"Huhh... He's telling the truth, we met completely by chance. In fact, it's fair to say that we met the night Minato came to the inn injured. I don't know why you saw me as his companion, but I guess I didn't make myself clear to you when I was in a hurry these past days."
"Wait a minute, you were hurt too!?"
Rina seemed to be realizing something new. She couldn't hide her puzzled expression as she looked the young man next to her up and down. Minato, annoyed by her state of mind, joined the conversation.
"You're just realizing it now, I would have died if you beat me up a little more!"
"Shut up, no one asked you!"
But the auburn-haired man's anger was extinguished before it could burn. Rina, on the other hand, was lost in her own thoughts after silencing him.
"I see, so my sister took you for treatment that night."
Shin suddenly joined the conversation and continued the blue-eyed woman's words.
"Yes, that must have been it. Anyway, if you still suspect something, you can ask Dom-san or Sana-san about me. They greeted me when I first arrived. And I have nothing to do with this guy. I'm even new to the city."
This time Rina fully believed what she was hearing. Before, she was constantly angry and couldn't think clearly, but now she was calm and finally understood the situation.
"At least I didn't have a job with him until now..."
The boy's face broke into a smile, excited by the rest of his words. Before he could continue, one of the waiters at the inn had brought food to the table. Seeing the food, Shin forgot his words and focused on the food.
The two were intrigued by the boy eating with appetite but felt there was nothing they could do about it. Everything seemed to be in Shin's hands in this conversation. So they waited for him.
"What did you want to talk about, Rina-san? We don't need to be so tense."
Yesterday the blue-eyed woman had found the boy's behavior reckless and had gotten mad at him. But now, for some reason, the same behavior was starting to intimidate her.
‘It's like he planned everything in advance. What's with this casualness?’
When she saw that the boy in front of her was injured, for some reason she wanted to protect him. Maybe because of the way her sister had behaved towards this boy the other day, she felt that she should behave in a similar way. Since she was one of those who knew this city well, she felt pity for this boy, whom she considered to be just excited and inexperienced.
"I wanted to ask how you felt when you came here yesterday. You don't seem to care much about your own body, but getting hurt inside the city... And it was obviously from a fight. I guess not even a kid is safe in this damn city!"
Hearing this, Minato panicked for some reason. He asked in surprise as he jumped up from his seat.
"What? What wound?!"
A strange fear filled his eyes. The young man continued, almost terrified.
"Are those guys targeting you? Oh no, no! What will I say to Yumi-san if something happens to you?!"
Hearing the name Yumi, the blue-eyed woman was once again taken aback.
"What more are we going to find out?"
A wicked smile settled on her face, and the auburn-haired man next to her looked even more downcast. Shin continued.
"If you mean the thugs who chased you, I never saw them again. Actually, speaking of thugs, the ones I encountered were another group of bandits. I agree with you Rina-san, the security in this city is a joke."
The boy had a very calm and nonchalant demeanor, but for a few seconds after his last words, his demeanor reversed. Anger and disgust filled his face.
"Ahh... There are stupid people everywhere, aren't there?"
Seeing this, Minato was clearly frightened of the boy in front of him.