“Everything went well?” Hartwin asked as he sipped ?his drink.

  I nodded. “Yes. It’s time to leave.”

  “Oh, come on, the party’s just getting started,” Taneva said.

  “We’re leaving.” It would be awkward if we ended up staying for a while after saying to the guy that we were leaving.

  “At least let me finish my drink.”

  I sighed. “Fine, I’ll give you a moment.” I leaned on the counter table and glanced to my side to see Miyako looking a bit down for some reason. She looked a bit disheartened. “What’s wrong?” I asked her.

  She looked at me, her mouth opened for a bit, as if hesitating to talk her thoughts. She sat down and rested her hands on the countertop. “I didn’t contribute one bit.”

  “With what?”

  “That conversation.”

  Well, not like I expected her to contribute or anything. “I didn’t ask you to do anything specific, anyway. There’s no need to overthink it.” We only needed to show the man who they were about to transport and the amount of risk they were putting themselves into. Miyako didn’t have to do anything special.

  “Still, I wish I could have done something productive. It was more like I messed up than helped.”

  “Really?”

  “I lost my composure. I should have been more careful knowing that he was scrutinizing us.”

  Well, at least she realized that. Being aware of your flaws and mistakes was one thing that made you a better person. “Hm. You showed him your vulnerability. That is a mistake when doing negotiations. With that said, there are lessons to be learned…”

  “Lessons…” She stared at me. “... How you handled the interaction was splendid.” She gazed down. “But, you almost seemed like a different person… Your eyes were so… different. That was amazing acting.”

  I looked away. “Yeah… acting…” I was not exactly acting. Truth be told, perhaps I was being a bit genuine. There was no point in being friendly and warm with that person, we were strictly business focused. And also doing it in a way that he wouldn’t believe he could drag us around.

  “Although, I must say you were pretty scary,” she added with a wry smile.

  “I was not intending to scare anyone.”

  “I know.” Her smile turned sweet.

  I lowered my head. “Just remember not to show weakness, but rather, strength. Even how weak and vulnerable you feel.” Especially in this place where might makes things right.

  She nodded. “Yes.”

  Perhaps she might learn something here that would be helpful for her in the future. Even how vulnerable one might be, they shouldn’t show it in a place of high danger, where people of shady character might take advantage of it. Even if it was hard, you have to push through it. Her experience here tonight might help her in her endeavor.

  I glanced at Taneva. They were now done with the drinks. “Let’s go?”

  “Yeah, yeah.”

  With that, we left the bar. As we did, I sensed someone watching me. I looked back to see that it was the same woman as before who was supposed to be with Kazuhiko. She stared at me as she slowly approached the guy. She seemed rather interested in me, but not like it was very strange. Criminals tend to be that cautious. From what I could guess, she must be someone important or something. Well, whatever.

  We exited the bar and made our way back to our inn.

  “When are we heading out?” Hartwin asked.

  “Tomorrow at midnight.”

  “It looked like it went easier than I expected.”

  “You expected it to go sideways?”

  “A bit, yes.”

  Oh, ye of little faith.

  “Well, money talks.”

  “How much money did it take?”

  “... All the money I got from the bandit base. And that’s a lot.”

  Hartwin raised an eyebrow. “Just how many coins did you get from that base?”

  “A lot.”

  Legit, I took a whole lot of them. Why would I hold back when all the things in that base were ripe for the taking? They had a lot of fucking money, and I could take however many I wanted. Therefore, I took as much as we could that wouldn’t let us struggle for a long time while in this archipelago. But now that I was about to give it away… Money was tight once again. Fuck, I hated being broke.

  Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  “So, I’m basically broke,” I added. “But that’s fine, I’m sure we’ll encounter bandits on the way there.”

  “You do know we still have some money left we got from Mahana, right?”

  “Oh yeah… Still, we should kill bandits and get their money if we get the chance.” You know, just to be sure we wouldn’t go broke.

  “... Yeah… But why does it sound like you’re looking forward to actually encountering bandits?”

  “I’m kinda not.”

  “Kinda not…?”

  “A little bit more money wouldn’t hurt, okay?”

  Jeez.

  ***

  She just found someone she believed shouldn’t be here. Upon looking closely, she noticed one peculiar feature of the young woman, just peeking through her cloak — her white hair. However, she couldn’t be so sure. Because if she were here, then it could mean something terrible. A loss or failure of an ally.

  The strange woman with dark hair and dark eyes approached the human criminals. She had intended to speak with them beforehand when that woman arrived. If her guess was correct, getting near her right now would have been too risky. That was why she kept her distance, hiding amidst the shadows and crowd. She expected she wouldn’t have been noticed. But to her surprise, the human woman looked at her.

  Fortunately, the young human woman didn’t seem to be feeling too suspicious. Lurkers and observers just fit in this kind of environment filled with criminals and shady characters. She commended her own natural ability to blend in, as that was her purpose. To blend in with humans. At any rate, she had to confirm her suspicions.

  “You sure about this, boss?” a subordinate of the human puppet asked. “Really going out of our way to help them?”

  “Help them? They paid a good sum. It ain’t helping but doing a fucking job.”

  “But that girl from Nishinoa, she might be the top criminal in this city. Who knows how far they’d go just to hunt her down.”

  “I concur, boss. Our products will be put at risk.”

  The human puppet slammed his fist on the table, visibly irritated. “Telling me things I already considered, don’t think I’m stupid, or I’ll kill you.”

  The two subordinates recoiled back, lowering their heads and giving their meek apologies.

  “That’s why you do your damn jobs properly,” the human leader puppet continued. “As long as no one knows, it will all go smoothly. That’s why, don’t you fuck it up.”

  “Y-Yes, boss.”

  The human puppet grabbed the bag of coins. “Still, how did they come up with this much money? And this is only the first half.”

  “What if they don’t give the second half, boss?”

  The human puppet raised an eyebrow. “What fucking else? Kill ‘em.” He put down the bag of coins. “But I doubt that beautiful girl wouldn’t fulfill her word. It felt like conducting a legit business transaction. Man… I really wanted her…”

  “I’m surprised you just let her go, boss.”

  “Are you a fool? Didn’t you realize how dangerous she is? She may be a virgin, but that girl is bloody. I can tell it from her eyes alone. That girl wasn’t pretending to be tough.”

  The woman behind him raised an eyebrow. Kazuhiko was a great warrior and a good judge of character. A sharp person. That was how he had lasted this long in being the leader of a massive organization. If that was his judgement about that human girl, then it must be accurate, or at the least, mostly.

  Still, despite how good he was, how skilled he was, he was still a puppet in the end.

  “I told you, she’s creepy.” Kazuhiko leaned back. “So, how long are you gonna stay lurking behind me for?”

  “Sir Kazuhiko.” The woman slowly moved beside him. “I was waiting for you to be done with your discussion.”

  “How courteous of you. Anyway, is everything in the organization going smoothly?”

  “The tension between islands is no issue. Nor does it matter much. You still have authority and power in many places.”

  “Good.”

  In this place, money was not the most important. Because after all, how many could you buy in this place, anyway? Not much. What’s most important were authority, influence, and power. Wealth was just part of what you’d get once you had those. Once you have great power, you’d basically be king.

  This human here believed he had it all because of his efforts and feats. However, that was not entirely true. He was only where he was because the demons allowed it and willed it. Of course, Kazuhiko didn’t know that. For him, this woman was nothing but a human asset that helped him greatly in getting what he wanted. Oblivious of the fact that he was nothing but a disposable tool.

  “By the way, who was that woman you were talking to?”

  “Oh, just some people who wanted assistance. Paid very well too.”

  “Assistance with what?”

  “Smuggling them to Nishinoa. Should be a pretty easy job, no?”

  “... Nishinoa.” The woman stepped closer. “This woman you spoke with. Did you have a close look?”

  “Sure I did.” He chuckled with a smirk.

  “Did this woman have white hair and red eyes?”

  “Yeah, beautiful white hair. The first I’ve ever seen. Red eyes, too.”

  The woman stepped back, astonished after such confirmation.

  Why is she here? She shouldn’t be here. But if she’s here, then… Where’s Rytus? Did she escape? How? Impossible. There’s no way they’d let her go.

  She pressed her fist to her lips, feeling stressed.

  Not good. Not good. Such a valuable person on the loose. Out of our grasp.

  Things had become urgent.

  “What’s up? Something wrong?”

  She frowned, feeling displeased that the human was disturbing her thoughts.

  How am I going to handle this?!

  That woman, that daughter of the goddess, should have been brought to the demon lands.

  So why was she in the middle of Hokunoa?! Dammit! Is Rytus fucking dead? What about his team? This is bullshit!

  “Anyway, you were about to talk to me about something?” Kazuhiko asked.

  “Never mind. It’s not very important.” The woman shook her head. “Why do they want to go to Nishinoa?”

  “Why are you interested in that?”

  “Please just answer the question.”

  Before I fucking kill you, you imbecile.

  “The daughter of the lord of Nishinoa is with them. She’s being hunted here, so her only option is to get back to her island.”

  How fucking irrelevant. Why does the young goddess want to go further into the archipelago?

  But it would seem that was all that this human knew.

  “I see. Then it’s best if you succeed. Both islands going to war so soon would be a headache for us.”

  “You think so, huh?”

  I know what to do.

  “I have to go.”

  “Already?”

  “I have urgent business to attend to.”

  The human puppet narrowed his eyes on her. “Really now?”

  She left the building through the back exit. After looking around to make sure there was no one looking around, her back shifted. Something grew out of her back — a pair of dark fleshy wings. She flapped her wings, and she flew upwards into the air, covered in the darkness of the night.

  I need to tell everyone. I need to catch up with the convoy of Tobunoa.

  Whatever happened, something went wrong. They couldn’t lose the young goddess here. She must be brought safely to the demon lands.