“...we’re being followed, Shun,” Rya whispered.  

“Who?” he asked in a low voice.

“The man from before.” She nodded at the curtain. “There’s also two other people with him now. I think they’re from the Shingri.”

“The Shingri?” He frowned and muttered, “why would the secret society target us?” 

“Now isn’t the time to think about that.” Rya pointed urgently at the door at the end of the dimly-lit corridor. “Let’s hide ourselves in that room.”

He gave an almost imperceptible nod and they hurriedly made their way down the corridor. Opening the door quietly, they found themselves in a room filled with rows of square mahjong tables, which were illuminated in an eerie red glow by the red lanterns hanging from the ceiling. The intoxicating smell of tobacco and incense smoke lingered in the air. 

“Da pai!” 

“Mo yigai!” 

A large group of gamblers were congregating around a few tables, drawing their attention to the centre of the room. Rya and Shun exchanged glances before they slipped into the crowd, weaving their way to the front.

“Showdown.” A familiar voice spoke haughtily. “Ace, one, two, three, four, five of spades. Straight flush.” 

“NO!” Another voice shouted in panic. “HOW, YOU CHEATER CAT?!”

“Hoomans, y’all are too trash at this game. GG EZ—” 

“Neko?” Rya remarked incredulously. 

“—pfft, girl?!” Neko choked on his own saliva and turned to gawk at them. “Boy, you too? What, here to gamble your money away?” 

“No, we’re too broke for that,” Shun rejoined dryly. “We’re being—”

The curtain was suddenly flung open, catching everyone by surprise. 

“There!” The man in the black leather jacket hollered as he pointed in their direction. “Catch the blonde girl, don’t let her get away!”

All the spectators quickly moved aside and watched from the sidelines, anticipating a brawl to break out in the casino. 

“N-Neko!” Rya threw him a pleading look. “Do you know where the back exit is?” 

“These fellas are elites from the Shingri, they aren’t as stupid as they look.” Neko collected the stacks of chips on the table with his two paws and stood up. “Boss, deposit this in my name later, okay?” 

The man who he had been playing against nodded nervously, and Neko jumped down from his seat to face the three gangsters. “You interrupted my session, so I better hear a good reason for your sudden intrusion—” 

“This has nothing to do with you, get the fuck out of my face!” One of the two lackeys stomped forward and aimed a flying kick at Neko. 

“Try harder, kiddo.” He nimbly dodged it and recited a short magic incantation under his breath, summoning a discrete gust of wind. 

Before everyone could even register what happened, the lackey was blown away violently, smashing into a nearby table. His buddy quickly recovered from his shock and brandished a metal bar at Neko. “You’ll pay for this, bastard!” 

“Idiot, aim for the girl!” The leather jacket man, seemingly having given up on his subordinates, pulled out a pocket knife and lunged for Rya. 

“Watch out!” Instinctively, Shun grabbed a nearby chair and slammed it onto the man’s head squarely.  

The wooden chair splintered into pieces, but the man wasn’t fazed in the slightest.  With a malicious grin, he spun his arm around and raised his knife at Shun. “Die—ack!” 

His eyes riveted onto the bloody metal blade protruding out of his chest. “W-w-wha…” Letting go of his knife, he spluttered and coughed out blood before collapsing onto the floor with a heavy thud. 

“Haa…haa…” Rya pulled the sword out of the man’s back and held her hand against her beating chest. “S-Shun, are you h-hurt?” 

He shook his head and stared blankly at the dying man in front of him. “W…where did you get that sword from?” 

“I crafted it,” she replied in between pants of breath. “N-Neko mentioned my necklace can be used as a-a crafting device, so I thought I would give it a try, but it consumed more life force than I expected…”

“Save the talking for later, hoomans.” Neko finished up kicking the ass of the second lackey and retracted his claws. “I can smell the scent of more hoomans entering this place. Grab a weapon quick.” 

“Rya, are you able to use your light magic to shield yourself?” Shun asked as he bent down to pick up the leather jacket man’s knife.

She nodded her head with a troubled expression on her face. “I-I can do that, but I won’t be able to use magic to support you.” 

“Don’t worry, I’m a one-hit melee kill expert in close quarter combat.” He spun the knife deftly in his hand and motioned to Neko that they were ready. 

“Five enemies hiding in the corridor.” Neko turned to Shun and asked, “boy, which one do you prefer? Camper strat or rush strat?” 

“I hate f*cking campers the most, you know.” 

“Then rush strat it is,” Neko announced loudly with a devilish glint in his eyes. “We’re gonna brute force our way through, hoomans. On the count of three!” 

Rya gave Shun a confused look. “B-brute force…?” 

“Just shield yourself once we enter the corridor, got it?” He held her hand and gave it a small squeeze. “Trust me, I won’t let both of us get hit once.”

She nodded quietly. “Got it. I’ll be counting on you, then.” 

“One, two, THREE!” Neko leaped into the corridor and clawed at the first enemy’s eyes, who let out a yell of surprise and rage. 

“Boy, to your right!” 

“On it!” Shun deftly blocked the adjacent enemy’s blow with his arm and kicked at his legs; the man groaned and collapsed onto his knees, and he stabbed him in his neck swiftly. 

“What’s going on?!”

“We’re under attack!” 

“Kill! Kill them!” 

Just as Shun pulled the bloodied knife out of the second assailant, a man pounced onto his back and roared, “I’m going to crush your skull!” 

“Idiot, why are you announcing your moves to your enemy?” Kicking his feet against the floor, he slammed the man into the side wall and pinned him. Swinging his arm around, he took aim and slashed at his throat with the knife. 

The two remaining assailants, completely taken aback by their brothers’ utter defeat, retreated hastily and ran out of the entrance.

“I…is it over?” Rya, who had been covering her eyes the whole time, nervously lowered her hands and blinked. 

He nodded his head silently and glanced at the escaping enemies. “Are we chasing after them, Neko?” 

“They’re probably seeking reinforcements. Let’s take this opportunity to get out of this shithole.” Neko trod over the dead bodies confidently. “We shall head back to my place—I have to send Lady Shihime an urgent message.” 

Rya sidestepped past the three bodies and quickly rejoined Shun’s side. “Are you alright? You don’t look too good.” 

“I-I suppose…” He wiped the beads of cold sweat on his forehead and glanced at the bodies strewn about the floor. 

She caught his uncertain glance and with a gentle smile, embraced him tightly. “You did what you had to do, Shun. I’m really happy…you protected me there, and you looked so cool doing that.” 

“Did I…?” He breathed in to calm his nerves and managed a smile at her. “I’m glad I was able to protect you, Rya.” 

“Hey!” Neko’s irritated voice interrupted their moment rudely. “Don’t disturb the shopkeeper any longer, let’s go!”