While I walked, I had to consider… Why was I doing this?

  The answer was fairly clear, but still, today was supposed to be my day off and instead of relaxing I was heading towards the city slums or lower quarter.

  Sure, a proper teacher sounded nice. Sure, the pay was good. A good amount of cash, a few bronze coins and a pair of silver coins. With another silver coin thrown in as a benefit to upgrade my old phone into a magic phone.

  My old phone looked about the same, but it now powered on. It also fed off my magic to keep going. Grim had put her number in it when she used the silver coin to enchant it. Due to those same enchantments, I didn’t need to worry about signals when wandering about, nor would I need to pay a phone bill. It still couldn’t be relied on to tell time, but that was why I had the watch…

  Which, now that I think about it, how did it even survive the heart? My clothes had been tattered, but the watch otherwise seemed undamaged… Mm… well, whatever…

  Either way, working with Grim was a benefit all round. At least, that’s what I had to keep telling myself…

  After she enchanted my phone and added her number, Grim had gone into detail as to where I had to go, where she was meeting her helper. She suggested I stop at a familiar café on the way and buy an equally familiar cake.

  What was really sad was how stuffed my pockets were. Two phones, quite a few thick jangling casino-esque coins in my pocket, plus my wallet and cash… Even with my clothing being tailored, my pockets were still smaller than I was used to.

  Point being, I found myself seriously considering buying a purse. A purse of all things. First was all the knick-knacks and items I needed for the ongoing makeup and hair tutorials I was doing with Samantha, probably the only person in the office that still spoke to me. Besides Liche and Joan. Tom just gave me worried looks, Kenta avoided me, and Terada only spoke the bare minimum to me.

  I understood why. It was perfectly reasonable… Even then, it really annoyed me. I was making their lives easier. I was doing so much to improve our situation, and they were making me out to be a pariah…

  Regardless… A purse would probably be a good purchase. I could carry my necessities in an easy manner, probably get something stylish, durable to fit with my attire. Nothing like the occasional plastic bag I’ve had to use instead for a while now.

  I’ll probably swing by the mall and buy one tomorrow evening, if everything goes well. I could also use it to hold the keys I eventually get, for the warehouse and my future car…

  With a sigh, I accepted that I did indeed need a purse.

  With my hands full, I finally arrived at my destination, or rather, the entrance to my destination. The lower quarter entrance. It was shockingly close to the central park. The lower quarter itself was surrounded by large metal walls. A single road led inside.

  The moment I crossed the threshold into the district, something in the air changed. I felt eyes on me, a few dozen at the very least. Flanking the main street were rundown buildings with fogged up windows and degraded front porches. What little yard these properties had, were ill maintained and in bad shape. Inside those fogged up windows, I saw figures shuffling, their attention clearly on me.

  The single main road branched out into a vast network of minor alleys, alleys that were stuffed with discarded trash and metal cans. Only, it felt off somehow. Even when bundles of trash or cans shifted, figures darted out between shadows, smaller figures, likely rats or cats on the prowl. Even then, it didn’t feel quite natural. Neither did the state of the buildings.

  In a way, the building infrastructure here made me think of city suburbs. Like the infamous west side of some cities where gang violence and the like were common.

  Further cementing that fact, that this place was one of violence, wasn’t just the air, but the clear lack of a police presence. It was something I’d grown used to. Officers on patrol, either on foot or driving by. I never went far without seeing an officer in uniform.

  Here, nothing. Not an officer in sight. Then there were the eyes. The figures clearly locking on my position. I didn’t have to walk far, but I could feel them pressing in. It took all I had not to give away that I knew, not to pull on the ice to chase away the tension and fear gnawing at my gut.

  The streets were a mess as well. The small lawns around the buildings were overgrown or dead. Broken down cars littered driveways; cars that looked to have been stripped for all they were worth. Some of the building doors were broken, creaking ominously whenever a breeze blew by.

  The place felt haunted, wrong. I didn’t pick up the pace. I merely kept my cool and moved with purpose. Remembering the instruction Grim gave me, I continued down the main road and kept my eye out for a sign. Eventually, I found it. A small mark, a bolt of lightning scraped into the side of a building.

  I felt my watchers pressing in. They seemed ready to move. I took a breath in and out before walking right into the alley. The moment I stepped inside, I braced for trouble. The walls pressed in on either side. The sound of water dripping came from the rusted gutters above.

  The moment I stepped inside, all the eyes on me looked away. The presences pressing in, backed off.

  Glancing back, just to be sure. I saw no ominous shadows or figures. No cloaked monsters. Just the main road.

  Then I heard it. A growl, a cat’s growl. Followed by another, very odd noise.

  “HISS!!!” It was, not a cat hissing. It sounded more like someone hissing, but why? Stepping further into the alley, I found my answer, but…

  I was just left more confused.

  A cat was standing on the ground, fur all puffed out. They were growling and hissing, ready to fight. The cat in question was rather mangy looking, a tom cat, if I had to guess. Opposite of them though was…

  “éclair!?” I blurted out. Hearing me, the figure, a girl, a young woman, her single flick of hair that was stuck straight up danced for a moment. Her head turned, facing me with golden hair and electric eyes. She blinked for a moment in confusion, then her eyes lit up.

  “Ah! Prima, right?” She called out, and then, disaster struck. For some, unexplainable reason, éclair had been fighting with a cat over what looked like a sardine or anchovy. The very moment éclair turned to face me, the cat snapped up the fish and ran.

  éclair snapped towards the cat and yelled out, making to chase. “NO YOU DON’T!” She cried out, dashing after the cat into a pile of trash. She dove in without question and the alley echoed out with the sounds of cats fighting…

  I stared, bewildered, up until éclair came out of the pile with a defeated look and scratches on her face. Scratches that were quickly healing up.

  “Gah, lost another morsel to that little bastard.” She scowled. “And you, what are you doing here? I didn’t take you for the kind of person to wander into random alleys.” She asked with a curious look on her face.

  She was still wearing her normal ensemble, the long coat, fingerless gloves, thick boots, and under that coat was a white shirt that still did nothing to hide the black sports bra she wore underneath as it was soaked in sweat. Despite having literally swam in a pile of trash, she didn’t at all look dirty. If anything, it looked artificial, the small smudges of dirt on her face only seemed to exemplify the glow of her eyes and hair.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  “Well…” I started and explained. “Grim told me to meet someone here, and well, I have cake?” I brought up the cake, and any caution she may have had, fled away.

  “Oh, cake!” She exclaimed and shot forward. Before I could even react, she had already swiped the cake out of my hands and was inspecting the slice of cake inside its container. Once she was done, she looked at me and cleared her throat.

  “Ahem, right, sorry…” She said, though, she was still holding onto the cake without an ounce of shame. “You said Grim sent you?”

  “Yes, she had… well…” How was I going to say this?

  “Ah, I gotcha. I get it.” She said nonchalantly, circumventing any need I had for further explanation.

  “That’s good. She told me you already know what we’re doing here, or rather what you’re doing.”

  “She did, we’re going to look around the area for spots where the lost sheep may have been.”

  “That’s right and I’m supposed to act as a witness, for some reason…” I pause. Didn’t Grim say a lot of people had an out with this person I was supposed to be meeting? Was it really éclair?

  “I get yah, it’s just the way it is.”

  “Is it really though, I mean, why haven’t the police sent a force here if they suspect this lost sheep is here?”

  “They can’t because they’re not wanted. Each district has a de facto leader, a big boss, a grand leader of some sort.”

  “Really?” I asked, after all, this is the first I heard of this.

  “Yup, the commercial district is owned by the Dragon group. They run the bank, and the gangs. Business district has the Board of Executives, last I checked. Suburbs have the homeowner’s association. The farms have a farmer’s association. The worker’s guild runs the industrial district. The port used to be run by the Port Authority, but they’ve been more or less overtaken by the dragon group.”

  That… Board of Executives? That sounded like something straight out of a conspiracy theory. Did they run underground fighting rings or something too? Were they involved in the city politics as well? Or rather…

  “Who runs the central district?”

  “Technically, nobody. The mayoral seat remains empty and will continue to remain empty until someone claims the seat with a platinum coin.”

  Huh…

  “Anyway, this district, the slums or lower district is run by the Wizard Gang. They don’t like outside interference messing with their district.”

  “Wizard Gang? Is that really their name?”

  “Yeah, it is. Sounds silly, but it called that for a reason. See, not everyone that comes over is a woman, ya know? We have plenty of systems in place for people like us, women, but not for men. Which means they tend to funnel into this district.”

  I wasn’t aware that was an issue… though, I kept my mouth shut and she pressed on.

  “Either way, with all these men flowing into here, especially men with special powers and magic, well, it’s safe to assume this place has become a warzone of sorts. There are dozens of gangs constantly fighting for territory, with the biggest gang, the Wizard Gang ruling over everything.” As she spoke, she walked out of the alley. I noticed as she passed by a trash can, she pulled out a sledgehammer and hefted it over her shoulder. Her other hand was holding onto the slice of cake like it was something precious.

  I followed her out of the alley, and she pointed to a building in the distance. It was inside the lower quarter, and further out it looked like there were numerous incomplete constructions of apartment complexes.

  “That there, is the Wizard Gang’s headquarters. An old project building that was left nearly unfinished. From what I hear, the leader of the gang has a throne room near the top that lets him survey the whole district.”

  That sounded insane, but…

  “Is that why there is a wall around the district? To keep the gang fighting from spilling out?”

  “In part, but really, the Wizard Gang built it to keep people out.”

  Oh, that was different from what I expected.

  “Anyway, we should probably get started on our search.” With that said, she reluctantly handed me back the cake. “Keep it safe, won’t ya?”

  “Yeah, I can do that.” I agreed.

  “Good, now just follow me lead.”

  I felt eyes on me once again. Only, this time it felt different. Before it had felt like I was being eyed by a pack of predators. Like I was fresh meat just lying on the ground for anyone to take. Now, now it felt like everyone looking at us was a scurrying rat, doing their best not to get noticed by us.

  éclair, with her medium length hair bouncing with each step, swaggered down the road.

  I wasn’t sure how long we had to go, but up ahead I saw a checkpoint. The sound of a boombox playing a… boy band song? Echoed out through the empty streets. Concrete barricades were put down.

  Next, what caught my eye weren’t the men manning the checkpoint, no, it was the guns. Fully automatic weapons, shotguns, and boxes of ammunition. Hell, they even had a heavy machine gun and a couple of RPGs just laying against a building’s stone porch.

  I slowed down a beat, but éclair didn’t slow down one bit, if anything she picked up her pace. The first man to notice us was on the second floor of one of the buildings, he cried out, and his words, well, they didn’t put me at ease.

  “It’s the Raiju!” At those words, the whole checkpoint came alive. Men that were playing checkers or card games on flimsy tables immediately threw them aside. Ignoring the bottles that crashed to the ground in the process. They all moved with practiced efficiency and manned the checkpoint, and nearly a dozen weapons were pointed at éclair.

  Not wanting to be in the crossfire, I sidled to the side, none of them paid me any attention as I continued to walk towards the nearest form of cover, that being an old run-down car.

  “Halt right there Raiju!” The sound of safeties being flipped, and rounds chambered echoed out.

  At the speaker’s words, éclair came to a stop.

  “What’s your business in Wizard territory!?” Seeing her comply, the same man spoke out again, this time with a megaphone in hand.

  éclair looked over them with a wide smile, like she was looking forward to what was about to happen. “I’m looking for a lost sheep.” She announced.

  It went silent. I could hear trigger fingers twitch from here.

  “Oh, hell naw!” One of them cried out. “We ain’t letting you in here, especially not if you’re looking for a lost sheep! Last time you were ‘looking’ for a lost sheep you damn near blew up half the city!”

  “It happened one time!” éclair cried back in clear indignation. “She also had it coming to her!”

  “One time too many in my opinion!” Another person yelled back, and what followed were a series of grumbling agreements. Seeing that everyone agreed not to let her in, the megaphone guy spoke back up.

  “Well, you heard us Raiju, we’re not letting you in.”

  With their guns already locked and loaded, it wasn’t like they could punctuate that statement with anything, though one guy pumped their shotgun, expending a cartridge, for some reason… Still, they held their ground and kept their guns pointed at éclair.

  “Whelp~” She pops the ‘P’, “Guess I’m going through you then.” At her words, self-preservation kicks in and I hit the ground. All at once, I heard the crack of gunfire. A dozen guns all unleashing at once.

  A pop, a crack, a loud hiss and sizzle. Followed by the scream of bullets whistling through the air, punching into the car I hid behind and the concrete around. Only when it went silent, did I look out.

  éclair was standing there completely unbothered. Surrounding her were countless bullets, many of them smashed into coins. The head of her sledgehammer was smoking.

  “Oh… fuck…” One of the guys swore.

  “My turn then?” She questioned, but she shot forward before they could respond.

  “RELOAD!” The megaphone guy cried out, magic shot out, anything to slow her down. What I noticed was, their magic appeared rather weak. Anything that came her way, éclair easily bashed aside with her sledgehammer and a small buzz of electricity.

  In an instant, she cleared the distance and leapt over the barricades, her hammer slammed down, destroying the heavy machine gun. Eliciting another burst of swears from the check point guards. She then, mercilessly charged forward, with lazy, wide swings, she smashed her sledgehammer into one of the people, breaking their arm, then leg. Casually avoiding another man as he swung a bat at her and retaliated with another lazy swing of her sledgehammer, cratering his shoulder into a meaty lump of sizzling flesh.

  It was brutal, swift, then… I heard a familiar click as guns were reloaded and raised. I opened my mouth to warn her, but the warning died in my throat as she gave a toothy smirk.

  A hum of electricity filled the air. The boombox, still playing boy band music began to crackle and pop with static.

  Then the gunfire started. She moved fast, too fast. Her sledgehammer a blur as it batted aside bullets as they came. Those she didn’t hit were hit with precise arcs of lightning that repelled them back.

  Swiftly, she ran through them. Blitzing through the swarm of bullets, smashing legs and limbs until they were all on the ground groaning and moaning, with some eerily quiet.

  I wasn’t sure if I should step out, or if it were smart to do so, but then, a voice cut through it all.

  “HALT! You dare cause trouble in Wizard Gang territory!” A man leapt down from the rooftops and hit a pose as he landed. Suddenly, the air shifted. The man’s shadow erupted around him, absorbing him. His clothing bled away, until only a living shadow stood before us, with a quick series of poses and movements, black with gold trimmed boots, belt, gloves, and even a fully enclosed helmet covering his body.

  He looked like he was wearing a superhero costume. It clung tightly to his frame. Exposing every muscle and curve of his body, without being raunchy. Once the transformation completed, he struck a final pose, a black cloak, more like black wings burst out from behind him.

  “I, Black Hawk shall bring you to justice!!!”

  The downed men immediately cried out his name. Cheering and telling him to beat the Raiju down, or rather, éclair.

  What struck me, wasn’t the odd transformation that mirrored Grim, though, with a very different look. No, it was… éclair had stood by and let it happen as it progressed over what felt like an eternity. Really it was a whole ten seconds…

  If anything, the hum of electricity grew, the boombox sparked and popped.

  I couldn’t help but think…

  The hell did I get myself involved in?