Sigmarus rubbed his chin while walking away from Grace’s shack. Most of the people sitting around with hunched shoulders and listless eyes ignored him. Only a few paid him any attention. None bothered to interact with him. He ignored them in kind and pondered the issue of Grace’s sister.

The superstitions around here will make it hard for people to ignore her… What was her name again? Merci? Grace and Merci, eh? Interesting naming choice on their parents’ part. Anyway, it’s gonna be hard to move that girl anywhere even if nobody sees her.

Shortly before reaching the end of Shingle Alley, his thoughts stopped. He noticed a group of men approaching from outside. Twenty of them huddled together. All of them had stronger physiques than the average muskrat.

The unusual sight of such a large group of intimidating people arriving at Shingle Alley didn’t only draw Sigmarus’ attention. The residents of Shingle Alley glared at the newcomers with anxious or annoyed expressions.

As the group walked closer, Sigmarus eventually caught sight of green three-horned goat skull tattoos on some of the men’s foreheads or arms. His eyes narrowed.

The hell is this about?

Gazes focused forward, the group walked closer and closer without saying anything, causing his heartbeat to quicken little by little. Eventually, they came close enough for Sigmarus to realize that they didn’t even bother to glance in his direction. Some of the residents nearby retreated into their shacks upon seeing the tattoos and then watched through windows or holes, waiting for the strangers to finish their business and leave. Sigmarus wanted to avoid them as well, but the fact that these men were Green Devil members kept him rooted in place. His stomach churned upon thinking that they might have come here for Grace, but did their gang even care that much about her? Wasn’t such a large group overkill for one girl? This whole encounter rubbed him the wrong way.

Worried about their intentions, Sigmarus stood off to the side with his hands in his pockets and glared at the men as they passed by. The man in front drew most of his attention. The guy looked almost as tall and bulky as Duke, but with a less defined musculature. His hair and eyes were both deep black, and his skin looked slightly tan despite living in the underground away from the sun, not to mention how rough it looked even for a muskrat. The more Sigmarus looked at him, the more he felt a familiar shiver of unease that he usually only felt when Duke or Shad were nearby.

The man glanced over as though he had felt Sigmarus’ gaze, but focused ahead once more after only a brief second of eye contact. A few steps after that, however, he halted and stared at Sigmarus again. His left eyebrow rose a little upon taking a second look. The man behind him almost bumped into him and barely stopped on his toes. The others also halted their advance in order to look at whoever their leader had focused on.

Suddenly feeling several pairs of eyes focused on him, Sigmarus’ eye twitched. Crossing his arms and shifting his weight due to the uncomfortable feeling, he continued glaring in silence.

“Mason, think he’s the dude Seth mentioned?”

The big guy who was apparently the leader didn’t look away from Sigmarus as he answered, “White hair, gray eyes… there aren’t a lotta people like that, so probably. Also, call Seth ‘Boss’ or something, at least. If you don’t want to lose a finger, that is.”

“Right…” The young man quietly replied, his posture shrinking.

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“Need something?” Sigmarus asked, his voice firm.

“You the guy who’s been sneakin’ around Blue Moon recently?” Mason asked in reply.

“Sneaking?” Sigmarus said, snorting a little. “I’ve legitimately spent my money there. That isn’t sneaking.”

“So you’re the right guy, then.”

“...What do you guys want?”

“How ‘bout you talk with us for a minute over there?” Mason asked, pointing toward a small abandoned alley. The question sounded more like a statement, though.

Sigmarus glanced at the large group, then sighed and scratched his head before muttering, “How annoying.”

Mason crossed his arms, and his brows lowered enough to feign anger as he asked, “You gonna talk with us, or not?”

“Maybe,” Sigmarus paused and pointed behind Mason, “if your guys there back off a bit. Even a friendly dog will bite when backed into a corner.”

Raising a brow, a hint of interest flashed through Mason’s eyes. He then glanced at his group and gestured for them to cool down a little, though their eyes still felt like invisible daggers to Sigmarus.

“First of all, are you guys here for that girl?” Sigmarus probed.

“You think you can ask us questions, huh?” One of the younger and inexperienced-looking guys retorted.

The sudden retort made Mason’s brow twitch, and the older and more experienced guys glanced at the relatively newer member like he was an idiot.

“Let me do the talking,” Mason warned him with an exasperated tone in his voice. Then, he looked at Sigmarus and said, “Let’s have a serious discussion. You mind?”

“Here’s no good?”

“Fine…” Mason grumbled. Then, he pointed out three guys and said, “You, you, and you. Go bring the girl here while we discuss some things with him.”

“A’ight.”

“Sure.”

The third simply nodded.

As the three men walked off, Sigmarus’ eyes narrowed and followed them. Grace’s shack was still visible in the distance. He wanted to follow them, but the three looked sane enough to not do anything stupid.

“Twenty men is a bit overkill for one girl, isn’t it?” Sigmarus asked, still glaring at the three who left.

“Well, sure,” Mason replied, taking on a serious tone, “but this ain’t about the girl, to be honest.”

“What a surprise.”

“You’re quite the sarcastic bastard, eh?”

“I was serious.”

“...Anyway, yeah, it might seem like overkill, but we got our reasons.”

“And you wanted to talk to me because…?”

“Our boss, Seth, wanted us to find and recruit you. Running into you here was lucky for us. Saves us some effort.”

Sigmarus clicked his tongue and refrained from saying anything.

Clearing his throat in an attempt to ignore Sigmarus’ rude gesture, Mason said, “We know you’ve got a connection with Fallen Leaf, but we also know you haven’t officially joined them or anything. You know we ain’t on good terms with those weeds, right?”

Sigmarus slowly nodded, still glancing toward Grace’s shack every few seconds.

“Good. Join us, then. We’re gonna burn them to the ground soon. We’re big even in other districts. We’ve got way more money and even have a presence upstairs. Everything about us is bigger and better. We can even give you the girl if you want her.”

“I see,” Sigmarus muttered, his voice distant and collected as though wholly disinterested in the conversation now.

Suddenly, several anger-filled yells echoed in the distance, pulling everyone’s attention toward Grace’s shack. Sigmarus’s eyes turned cold.

“You forgot to mention that if I don’t join, you’ll make sure I can’t join Fallen Leaf, either, right?” Sigmarus clicked his tongue again, and muttered, “Damn. This is annoying.”

Mason fell silent, and his eyebrows furrowed. Then, he looked into the distance. His face darkened as he muttered under his breath with a frustrated tone, “What are those idiots doing?”