- VOL 1 – THOSE UNITED BY THE FATE -
Chapter 4: Laying The Foundation (1/9)
----------------------------------------------------
"Where have you been Shin, I was worried- HAH?!"
A thin young man with auburn hair was calling out to the boy coming towards him, but his voice was cut off when he saw someone else and the young man trembled with fear.
"Sorry, I was caught by a surprise."
So said the boy who came towards him, accompanied by a short woman. Even though the young man was frightened, he did not dare to move.
"What is Ri-Rina-san doing here?"
His voice trembling with worry, his eyes went to the sword at her waist and he swallowed with great fear.
"Ahh, Rina-san will be working with us from now on. We found the bodyguard we were looking for."
"What!"
The auburn-haired young man exclaimed in shock. Since the sun had begun to set, the number of people around had decreased slightly. Therefore, the young man's shout attracted a little attention.
"Don't worry, I won't eat you. And I'll forget what happened on the day of the celebration. After all, you've more than paid for it by getting me a job."
Minato stared in astonishment at the woman in front of him and the boy next to her. Even though he had heard that Rina was going to be involved in their business, he hadn't expected it to happen so quickly.
"What is she talking about, Shin? What job did I get her in?"
He had asked these questions to the boy in front of him, hoping to find out what was going on, but all he got was an ignorant smile and a blink of the boy's eye, prompting more questions.
"He-Heey! Where are you going?"
The boy ignored him and started walking in a certain direction.
"I think you're the cart. Take these."
The short woman loaded her few pieces of clothing onto Minato, who already had his hands full. Then, without waiting, she started to follow the boy.
"Isn't it obvious?"
After Shin said that, the young man who had stayed at the very back moved and joined his group without losing sight of them.
-
"What do you mean I'm her boss? I'm in trouble for my life because of my own debt and you turn me into a salary-paying boss?"
Minato was dumbfounded, trying to deny what he had heard. He understood almost nothing and was questioning the boy who had put him in this situation.
"Shouldn't I be doing just the simple stuff you ask me for? Why am I Rina-san's employer?"
With his questions, the short, blue-eyed woman next to them began to give Shin skeptical looks. Finally, she opened her mouth and forced the chestnut-haired boy to explain.
"I wasn't going to say anything, but what exactly are you planning? I don't really care what you're up to, but how can this penniless guy afford to pay my wages?"
The boy stopped his steps and broke his silence after taking a deep breath.
"Huh... I guess you guys won't quiet down unless I give you an explanation."
Minato was annoyed that the boy suddenly started talking. Shin had kept quiet even though he had complained about the situation all the way, but now that the woman next to him just asked, the boy had immediately started talking. Still, Minato could do nothing but listen to the boy in silence.
"We'll talk more later, but don't worry, Minato will pay for what you want. So if you don't get paid, you can stop protecting him. He'll be in big trouble."
"Wh-what?"
The auburn-haired young man looked into the eyes of the boy in front of him and trembled with fear. The boy was quite serious and had a smile on his face.
"Okay."
The short woman simply nodded to the boy and they continued walking. Minato remained where he was for a while in a daze.
"Wait for me!"
With quick steps, he caught up with the people in front of him, but they had stopped again.
"What happened now?"
"You're getting rid of your burdens, that's what happened."
Shin approached the young man and asked for the clothes he had bought in the morning. Seeing this, the shorter woman took her own clothes and left a piece of clothing for Minato. Seeing the two in front of him covering themselves with these pieces of fabric in poor condition, Minato put his own piece on.
"From here we get to your area of expertise, Minato. Now stop being so silly and get serious."
The streets became strangely quiet, and Minato took the boy's words to heart and straightened himself up. Although his change was sudden, his seriousness was quite clear. The young man sighed and asked.
"Huff... Where do we need to go?"
He had finally admitted defeat and wore a weary expression on his face. He was slightly taken aback by the answer of the boy in front of him.
"I don't know. It would be nice to look around a bit and find a place where we can run our business. Do you know anyone particularly?"
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
"I mean, you don't get to know people that easily in the Black Market. Trust is hard to find and I deal with different people all the time. If you want to trade..."
As the young man continued, Shin suddenly interrupted him.
"Yes, we already need the opposite of trust here. We're going to stir things up a bit."
"Oh, so that’s it. Then I can tell you that I know a lot of people who could be useful to you."
"Good. That's what I expected from you."
The chestnut-haired boy smiled, then covered his head with the cloth he was wearing and started walking towards the mountain in front of him. They were closer to it than the inn, though not very noticeable. There was not much distance ahead of them. The two behind the boy followed him in silence.
-
"What is this place?"
An amber-eyed boy, his age barely visible through his clothes, was admiring his surroundings. His eyes sparkled and a few words escaped his lips.
"How did they build this place? It's almost indistinguishable from the outside!"
They entered the hollow at the bottom of the mountain and moved downwards for a while. Towards the end of the staircase, they came to a cityscape. It was such a place that even though it was underground, it was full of buildings. Most of them were one-story, but even the two-story ones could easily fit here.
As the boy continued to look around with great curiosity, he opened his mouth and said a few more words.
"It's clear where the people on the streets disappear to after the sun goes down."
Seeing his curiosity, Minato felt the need to explain and started to speak. He looked very confident and self-assured.
"Well, naturally. As you can see, this place is not much different from the markets above. You can find almost everything you are looking for. And since there are no rules here, it suits most people. Even big guilds do business here. So it's no wonder this place is popular."
The boy remembered the brawny man he had seen twice on his way out of this place.
‘I guess it really is... Kulong-san must have come here for his guild too. The first time we met, he said he had urgent business and went to his guild.’
The young man occasionally glanced behind him to see if anybody was following them. He could understand Shin's curiosity, but unexpectedly Rina was also quite excited. Even though she tried not to show it and was covered to hide her face, Minato could recognize her excitement just by the way she walked.
It wasn't hard to tell, though, since she was moving with a bouncy pace and humming happily.
"Hahaha, look at these brats..."
"Boss, how about taking that runt girl?"
"Don't worry, we'll take that sweet girl and everything from those brats' pockets. Hurry up and get them."
Minato didn't seem to be the only one who noticed Rina and Shin's innocent and curious demeanor.
"So where are you taking us, Minato?"
"To someone I'm busy with right now. I guess you don't have anywhere in particular you want to go, right?"
The young man turned his head back and looked at the boy. Seeing him nodding his head up and down, he was about to turn around. But then he noticed a few figures behind the boy. His eyes widened and he stammered a few words nervously.
"Ra-Randi Brothers?!"
"The ones we are going to?"
Shin curiously asked the young man in front of him as he continued to speak nervously and quickened his pace.
"Hurry up."
The short woman who had not spoken until then opened her mouth.
"Maybe he's talking about those who are following us."
The excited and happy expression on the woman's face turned cold and serious, even though no one noticed the change. Shin just laughed at what he heard and sped up himself to catch up with the young man in front of him.
"Ohh, is that so?"
"Tsch."
The shorter woman clicked her tongue angrily at the boy's indifference and caught up with the young man who was walking away from her.
"This is going to take a while, Shin."
As they entered a narrow alley, Minato spoke with concern.
"Why?"
Shin asked curiously as they started to run. A few pairs of footsteps could be heard behind them.
"These are the guys from the other day. They must have noticed us."
"Hmm... You mean the ones you owe money to and the ones who tried to kill you the other day?"
Unexpectedly for the young man, Rina entered the conversation. Minato lowered his head and answered in a muffled voice.
"Yeah, them..."
"Then I hope you know where you are going. I don't feel like fighting right now."
He kept running while arguing with the woman behind him. He turned quickly into another street. He planned to confuse his pursuers by constantly changing direction. After zigzagging for a while, he thought that was enough and started moving in a certain direction. But he bumped into someone, fell down, and had to stop running.
"Hoo... I guess you're bringing the little girl to us as an apology for being late with your payment. Then we can give you a little extra time."
The man he bumped into was about six feet tall, but he was so molded that he looked like a giant in front of the young man. Most of his bulk was fat, though. He held a big club in his hand, which he tapped awkwardly against his palm. He had a nasty smile on his scarred face.
"So, shall I start my tasting before the others arrive? Maybe I'll even give you a special reward for it, Minato."
"Tsch."
The short woman hiding under her hood clicked her tongue as he continued speaking, spitting all over the place. Then she spoke in disgust.
"What are we doing, Shin?"
She waited for a response from the person she called out to, but got nothing back.
"Shin?"
Rina turned around in surprise as the fat bandit looked at her, sticking his tongue out of his mouth and making strange noises.
"No one can save you, young lady. Come here."
The big man began to approach the short woman in front of him with slow steps. The thin, auburn-haired man he had just bumped into was hunched over in fear, muttering words of regret to himself.
"I-so-sorry, Rina-san. I shouldn't have gotten you involved. Please, just run away."
He hugged his knees to his chest where he crouched, sounding as if he could cry at any moment. The short woman could not understand any of his behavior, but right now she had to deal with the "animal" in front of her.
"Hey, pig! Why don't you leave us alone while you're still alive?"
The man was delighted to hear these words. He sped up his steps a little more. He was almost in front of Rina.
"Rina-san, don't! Even if he looks like this, he is one of the commanders of Randi, the feared name of the underworld! He's also a sick pervert who jumps on every woman he sees!"
He was aware of what would happen to him after what he said, but all he was thinking about now was Rina's honor and life, he had interfered in his own business.
Everything he said was true, this man was an asshole who tortured women in all kinds of ways and had all kinds of fetishes. It was also true that this guy was one of the most powerful men of the person named Randi.
"Don't be ridiculous, if you want to run away, just run away, why did you stay there all shriveled up!"
The short woman took her eyes off the large man who was approaching her for a moment and looked at the young man sitting on the floor. At that moment their eyes met, but their gaze was soon broken.
"Koch!"
At the last moment, Rina recognized the punch coming at her stomach and managed to defend herself a little, but it didn't stop her from flying backward. After hovering in the air for a few seconds, she crashed into a building and collapsed.
"W-hen?"
She struggled to stand up, gasping for breath. She had to recover quickly because the big man was unexpectedly very fast and was now running towards her with a nasty grin on his face.
"How tough you are! So you can get up after getting hit by me!"
Even though he had a huge iron club in his hand, he still chose to swing his fist, but this time it didn't go as he had hoped. Rina drew a short, light, slim sword from her waist, just right for her size.
She dodged a punch coming towards her face by twisting her ankle and turning her body sideways with the momentum she had gained. Not only that, but she included her drawn sword in this movement and aimed for the man's arm.
"Heh, hehehe! HEHEHE!!!"
The blow seemed to take the arm of the big man away, but the man realized this and changed the direction of his arm, causing only a graze. Then he swung the big stick in his other hand towards her.
Rina was unlikely to be able to dodge this attack as the stick was already almost as big as she was. She must have realized this too, because she released her body and let gravity take her.
The man swung the stick transversely, because of this it didn't hit her, but immediately afterward he swung it vertically downwards in anger. The short woman grabbed his swinging hand and pulled her body to the side, dodging this attack as well.
Of course, the big man tried to hit her with his free hand in the meantime, but he only received another wound. This one was even bigger than the previous one, covering half of his arm, unlike the small graze he had just sustained.
The man roared in anger as the side of his arm was cut transversely and he kicked her. Thanks to her small stature, it didn't take long for the kick to reach her, but unlike the punch she had just received, she wasn't blown away by this move but only pushed back a few meters.
Because she had defended with her sword where the kick had come from and with her other arm she had strengthened the resistance of her sword.
"Huhh, how long has it been since I've seen such a fierce woman?"
The man was angry, but at the same time, he had a dirty smile on his face. He had a lustful look in his eyes as he licked the blood from his arm with his tongue.
"I'm going to lick you like this too, we're going to have so much fun tonight!"
"You horny creature!"
Rina looked at him with disgusted eyes. Then she noticed something else. Minato, who had fallen to the ground after hitting the big man in the start, still hadn't moved and was still muttering to himself from where he was. The young man held his head in his hands and covered his ears.
"It's all over. She can't escape now, they will make her their slave and play with her until she loses her sanity."
Seeing that she had shifted her focus away from him, the big man started running again, but this time Rina was careful.
"Yeah, come to me, you fucking bastard."