Asher tracked Mei as she entered the nearby alley. She seemed to have a clear destination in mind.
By the grimace in her expression, not a pleasant one.
Soon she reached the center of the Backstreets, where the streets were perpetuated in neon glow. Seductive signs and rainbow glows filled the world of lights.
Mei stopped beside a building. Asher just noticed how revealing her dress was, her smooth thighs on full display. A few men whistled at her figure, which she tried her best to ignore.
His gaze trailed upwards, where a sign hung in glaring lights.
'Pink Passion'
Beside the sign was a pink neon heart, pulsating softly to the beat of a drum.
'Why is Mei at a place like this? Is this part of what that Soldato said to Mei?'
He entered the building, following Mei. He hid from the gaze of others, activating his [Bystander] ability. Most of the people here had less Insight than him, and the ones that could see him didn't care.
Customers would pay for young ones too. Even more than usual, in some cases. Like most clubs in the area, they carefully overlooked minor offences that might increase their profit.
And as a club controlled by a prominent Star of the City, so their actions would never face consequences. The implicit truce between Stars and Fixers was a well known open secret.
But Asher didn't know that. He trailed behind Mei, praising the effectiveness of his skill in his mind.
Mei walked deeper and deeper into the club, where women and men alike became increasingly undressed. Both Mei and Asher averted their gaze from the passionate gropes and heated moans.
Finally, she arrived at another door, labeled 'Members Only'. Mei knocked on the door. An unassuming server greeted them. She whispered her name into the butler's ear, then he let her enter. As she went inside, Asher followed close behind, careful not to bump into her.
'Wow... It's like I'm invisible to everyone...'
Walking into the room, Asher widened his eyes in surprise. This area was well lit and much cleaner than the main room. Couches and tables were neatly placed, and amber-filled bottles and glass cups stocked each table.
Comparatively fewer people lounged in this section, and the women looked both more professional and more seductive.
Asher froze in his tracks as he felt a gaze focus on him. Turning around, he saw an old man overlooking from above, wearing a reddish-brown embroidered jacket draped on his back like a cloak. The end of the coat hung all the way to his ankles. A prim tuxedo peeked out from under the unbuttoned jacket.
But the old man was not the one that was looking at him.
By his side stood a crimson-haired woman with pale porcelain skin.
The woman wore the same outfit as the old man, but instead of a suit underneath, she had a tight black dress. She stared at Asher and gave him a wink before glancing elsewhere.
Asher's blood chilled.
Tearing away from her gaze, Asher noticed that most people in this room wore the same jacket, with either a suit or black dress underneath. Aside from the 'entertainers', of course. But this place was more of a lounge than the cesspool of bodies the main room was; there were fewer non-uniformed people here.
'So are these the uniforms of the Thumb, like how Yan always wears that gold-hooped white cloak?'
Finally Mei stopped, and Asher's fist clenched. The man who extorted Mei's money leisurely leaned on a couch, staring at her body. It didn't seem like he noticed Asher behind her.
"So you really came~" The Soldato's gaze focused on her calves, before slowly trailing upward.
Mei didn't respond.
Suddenly, the man stopped talking and bowed deeply, seeing two figures approach behind Mei.
"Sottocapo Kalo. Capo Stella."
The old man and crimson-haired woman had leapt down from above and were approaching their table.
Asher's lips twitched as he froze in place. He remembered how Yan specifically warned him about those two titles, Sottocapo and Capo.
And the woman who was approaching him was the same one who was looking down at him from the balcony moments ago.
In a chilling moment he realized.
They were probably here for him.
The Index and Thumb were both part of the Five Fingers, a hegemony of 'Star of the City' Syndicates. If even a Messenger like Yan specifically warned him about them, then that could only mean-
Kalo, the Sottocapo, ignored the man, and gestured to what seemed like the open air from Mei and the Soldato's perspective.
"Hiding your presence in front of me, little girl?" His gravely voice was quiet, but it caused Asher to shiver in shock.
Asher turned off his skill without saying a word, causing Mei and the other Soldato to gasp in surprise.
"S-Sophie?"
"Is this the person who you're hiding in your house? How did she get inside here!?" The Soldato hit the table with his fist, trying to override his shock with anger.
*BANG*
Stella slammed the Soldato's head into the table, shattering its glass top.
Asher couldn't track her movements at all; one moment she was standing beside Kalo and in the next she was kneeling over the man's bloody head.
'This... this is Sayako all over again!'
"Did Boss give you permission to speak?" She yanked the man's hair upward, whispering in his ear.
The Soldato shook his head frantically, careful not to show any pain on his face.
"Enough, Stella. So your name is Sophie... Based on that recording in the restaurant, I expected someone different to come. His weapon seemed to have a mind of its own." Kalo ran his fingers through his white beard, smiling absentmindedly.
Asher knew who Kalo was talking about. It was himself, back when he used his E.G.O to kill Hal. Somehow there was a hidden camera in there that recorded the scene.
"State your purpose. Depending on the answer, I might forgive your intrusion." The Sottocapo turned to Asher, his gaze transforming into ice.
Mei looked at Sophie in panic, but couldn't say a word with so many higher-ups present. She believed that Sophie, being such a serious-looking girl, would definitely tell the truth.
And when that happened... she didn't know what would happen next, but surely it wouldn't be good.
Meanwhile, Asher felt like the man's stare could see through all of his secrets. Blatantly lying wouldn't do him any good, so he shifted the truth a bit.
"I know that boy in your video. Since he was worried about this person, I came here to help her." Asher piled up on the separate person narrative. He wasn't even sure if he could go back now if he tried, but it was fine since he could get new skills in the process.
Kalo took one glance at Mei's face, which was covered in makeup, and pieced together what happened. The Sottocapo only cared about his subordinates' obedience; whether they did anything extra after collecting the tribute was of no concern to him.
Extortion happened often, and it wouldn't be the first time a Soldato brought a woman into their nightclubs.
"How strong are you compared to that fairy boy? I assume you know his relative strength."
"...About the same." Asher hadn't tested out his [Fourth Matchstick Flame] ability before, so he also didn't know how strong he was in this form.
Stella grinned. She knew where her boss was taking the conversation. She had seen it many times in the past.
"You want to save this woman? Follow me. And you too, Soldato." Kalo flicked his fingers upward, causing the man to shoot up and salute with stoic attention.
The two of them, along with Mei and Stella, followed Kalo down a flight of stairs, leading to the basement.
In the middle of the basement was a boxing cage, lit up by spotlights. Even the Soldato had never been in the basement before, but he had seen other people enter. Only a few came out.
"Get in the cage. And you- come here for a second." The man hesitantly entered the ring. He could guess what was going to happen, but he couldn't disobey the Sottocapo, a man two ranks above him. Although the difference looked slight on paper, the Sottocapo was in a different universe of authority when compared to him.
The Sottocapo leaned down to Asher's eye level.
"So girlie, you want to save her?" Asher nodded his head silently, glancing at the boxing ring in the middle. There were far too many bloodstains on the floor. The ground was nearly painted with red.
The strangest thing was that the blood on the ring seemed to be purposefully preserved, like Kalo laminated the ground after every session to make the blood patterns shiny and artistic.
That was indeed what he did, but Asher didn't know that.
"Kill this Soldato, and she's yours. Questions?" Asher flinched as a sadistic grin broke through the Sottocapo's expression. To see the prowess of an interesting individual with his own eyes, Kalo was more than willing to sacrifice his loyal pawns.
"How strong is he? Grade 7?"
Kalo's grin widened.
"You're a Fixer?"
"Wait, why'd you assume I'm a Fixer?" Asher looked like a little girl with a burnt dress. How could Kalo possibly link his appearance to a Fixer?
"Ah, pardon." The man's enthusiasm dropped slightly. "You were using Fixer grades, so I assumed as such. I suppose my Soldatos would be around Grade 7; they're the weakest in the Thumb, anyhow."
Asher thought back to the Kurokumo Clan, who Finn said was a subsidiary of the Thumb.
"Do you know the 'Dark Cloud Blade' from the Kurokumo Clan?" Asher made the only comparison that he could find. If the Thumb Soldato was as strong as her, then he could only accept death.
"Oh, Sayako? I've asked her to become one of my Capos before, but she didn't take it. She was far too weak to become one of my Capos, anyway. Stella is still much more capable than her."
Asher's eyes widened. Did he just hear the word 'weak'?
'If Kalo could ask someone like Sayako to submit to him, then he must be at least Yan's level... No wait, if Stella stronger than Sayako... Stella herself would be at least on par with Yan! No wonder she couldn't help me this time. Kalo is even more powerful than her!'
He understood now. Just like how the Index went from Proselyte to Messenger to Proxy, the Thumb's ranking system was probably Soldato to Capo to Sottocapo.
But now was not the time for that.
"What would have happened to Mei if I didn't come here?" Asher had a general idea what would happen, but he wanted to confirm with his own ears. For the sake of his own emotions.
"Have you seen all the women in the main rooms? She would probably be one of them, after that Soldato finished using her." The Sottocapo's words were terse and direct.
Asher's eyes trembled as he remembered the disgusting rooms outside, filled with corrupted desires.
Kalo looked at Asher's clenched fists, his eyes narrowing in anticipation.
He didn't know the relationship the girl had with that woman, he only cared about the fight.
"Yes, you want to kill that scum with your own hands, right? Give me a good show." He pushed Asher toward the cage, and the ashen girl didn't resist at all.
The Soldato gulped audibly as Asher stepped into the ring.
The girl's eyes dripped with resentful crimson tears.