"White tigers? Who are they?"
"A suspected gang, said to be in control of a few underground casinos and loaning businesses, they are relatively new and has decent scale, I say suspected, because we don't have actual evidence yet, then again..."
The police leaned in slowly and whispered.
"We don't really carry out deep investigations against that kind of thing."
Dean saw the look in the officer's eyes and got the message he was trying to convey. Simply put, the higher-ups probably know about their illegal activity; however, it probably also brings them benefits, so they chose to turn a blind eye to it.
"Of course, if evidence really appears in public, then the police will do their outmost to put a stop to them."
"I see..." Dean muttered in thought.
"Well, I'll leave you to it." Seeing as the thugs were now handcuffed and placed on the back seat of their car, the officer said his goodbye.
"You sure you're not going with them? They're headed for the hospital?" Dean looked at the youth, who he learned was named Ian.
The word hospital seemed to touch the youth as his body trembled and shook his head and without saying anything, left.
Seeing the young man’s back, he crossed his arms and pondered. Because of the police questioning, he also came to know why the thugs from White Tiger were beating him.
'A typical loan shark business where they put a ridiculous interest, only a fool will approach it to get a loan...or..." Dean looked at the lonely figure who didn't want to be admitted to a hospital. ‘A desperate one…’ He heaved a deep sigh. This was an area where it was hard to practice heroism.
Besides, he thought the youth was right that beating the thugs might have just been bad for him. If their boss gets the news, they might try to do something drastic.
'All right, I could try roaming around the area where these thugs are and cause trouble…’ Dean decided to attract their attention to him and away from the youth. It might help the youth and anyone else with their bullying.
Anyway, he wasn't afraid of a fight.
'Have I gotten confident?' He wondered...
After that, he headed on his way to his destination.
It took him half an hour before he reached his goal. Even his jogging pace was equivalent to an average man running at full speed.
Dean faced a large, two-story building situated between the residential and business districts. The building had a fence wall with a large gate on the front; it didn't have any sign that it was a dojo that teaches swordsmanship. Peeking from the front gate, he could see the front yard was about 10 meters in depth, and through the open doors, he could see people fighting with longswords in protective gear inside building through their open hall.
From what he had searched, it was said that the owner of the dojo came from a knight's family. Even though OPM was technically Japanese-oriented, there are still different cultures in the supercontinent making each city quite diverse. It was because of the war that happened centuries ago that caused different countries to live in this continent.
Now that he thought about it, this world history was actually quite interesting. One that he didn't know back when he was watching this as a show.
‘Putting that aside though, how do I get in?’
The website he had looked through only contained the history and description of the dojo; as for how to apply, he only read that one needs to be at the dojo to apply.
The problem was, they didn’t seem to have any receptionists or those who took in guests.
‘Shall I jump over the fence? ’
Just as he was considering that idea, he saw the sparring end, and one of them took off his protective headgear, a familiar face appeared.
'Eh? Reina? What is she doing here? Ahh, she must be wanting to experience other styles of swordsmanship... or maybe she knows the owner of the dojo or just someone.'
As he was pondering outside the gate, someone who seemed to be responsible for cleaning and trimming the front yard noticed and interrupted his thoughts.
"Excuse me, what can I do for you?" The gardener, who was middle-aged, asked him.
"Oh, I was wondering how to apply as a student."
"Ah, you want to enter the dojo? Wait a sec, I'll tell the master here."
"Thank you.."
He then waited after saying his thanks, and pretty soon he saw some people turn in his direction. Seeing their looks, he became a bit embarrassed, especially with the sword strapped to his back. It was different than the looks people usually gave him. It was like bragging about your meager skills to a bunch of trained and veteran people.
He had carried the sword with him just in case a monster appeared.
Soon, a youth with black, refined hair wearing what seemed like all-black protective gear approached the gate. Seeing him and what seemed like a sword on Dean's back, the youth inadvertently frowned. The words he was about to say got stuck in his throat, and he immediately changed them as he said, “Get out of here; this isn't a playground; we don't accept delusional people."
Dean was taken aback by what the youth said. From his eyes, Dean could see a hint of arrogance. After saying those words, the youth immediately turned around as Dean called, “Hey wait! I do want to enter the dojo! This is just my style."
He struggled to come up with a reason, which ultimately led to him saying it was just a fashion style. The youth ignored this, but the small event caught the attention of Reina.
Ese es el Dojo de Rina?