After the woman left the office, Tsuki and I ate our food. A potato soup with rice and a glass of water for us both.
‚Being trapped for months with no food or clean water made me appreciate tasteless food like I have now.'
Tsuki looked troubled or rather unsure. ‚I bet she is doubting her abilities and the things her intuition is telling her.'
„As long as you don't wrong me, I'll never harm you, Tsuki. I promise you that. If you decide to just not come along with me, I'll accept that." I said, trying to gain back the trust I lost.
„I know you won't, I just.." She paused.
„You can be truthful. I'm not that immature to get mad over words." I reassured her.
„I just think you changed somehow, like the ‚you' yesterday was different from the ‚you' now. I'm scared, scared of what will happen in the future. You killing men for no apparent reason, makes me worry what you might do in the future.."
‚I have to lighten the mood.' „So, you think you'll be with me in the future, interesting." I teased.
Tsuki blushed and before she started to feel embarrassed, she looked at me.
I laughed, amused by her reaction.
Tsuki smiled and looked down at her hands.
„That's the first time I saw you laugh." She said, her ears turning red.
„Is that so?"
Our little conversation didn't last long. Mul-Soo entered the office and behind him, 4 men between the ages 17 and 24.
„These are the the Fire-Bearers. Now go and introduce yourselves to Niam. He'll be the head of our operation."
The youngest Bearer stepped forward. He was about 170 centimeters tall and looked pale. He had short black hair and dark-green eyes. When he opened his mouth to talk, I could see that he was missing a tooth.
„The name is Mete." He said prideful.
„Is your family dead?" I asked nonchalantly.
„You mother.." Mete was cut off by Mul-Soo who put a hand on his shoulder.
Mete snarled at me, his eyes lighting up, Mana and heat leaking from his body, raising the room's temperature. A second later he stepped back.
The second Bearer stepped forward. He was the tallest of the group being a finger or two taller than me. He had short black hair a goatee and dark-brown eyes.
„My name is Amar." He said with the same tone as Mete.
„So tell me Amar. How many of your uncles died in the 3rd World War?" I tried to blindly provoke him.
His reaction told me I was right again.
He started to say things in his native language. But just like Mete he stepped back and let the 3rd Bearer step forward.
The 3rd Bearer was about 180 centimeters tall, had toned muscles and had a scar on his face that ran from his forehead to his left cheek. He had blue eyes and long blonde hair that was tied up into a man-bun.
„I go by Luca." He said.
‚What's with these short introductions?' I wondered.
„I have nothing to say to you, step back so we can get this over with." I ordered.
Luca stepped back but was visibly angered by my order. 'Mul-Soo must've ordered them to listen to me.'
The last Fire-Bearer stepped forward. He was as tall as Luca and had the same eye and hair color as him but with short hair.
„I'm Luca's older brother, Lorenzo." He said.
„Make sure he doesn't betray you." I said, after being reminded of my own older brother.
„Mul-Soo, I know what you meant. They are indeed very similar. Well at least their personality."
I signaled Tsuki to stand up.
„My name is Niam and this is Tsuki. You are going to follow all my orders, because if you don't, you might die, even if the enemy doesn't kill you. Am I clear?"
„Understood!"
„You too, Mul-Soo. Even if you are the leader of this place, you should know where your place is."
Mul-Soo nodded.
„Tell me everything you know about our enemies."
Amar stepped forward. "6 in total with 1 horse. We couldn't see anything unusual, so we can't say for sure if there are Bearers among them. The one in command seems to be a tall short-haired redhead with a long red beard. He has a spear on his back at all times. He killed 4 of our scouts a few days ago."
I nodded. "The plan is simple. You use your abilities to create a circle of fire around the camp to trap us and them in there. Mul-Soo and Tsuki, you stay close together and warn if anything goes on around us. Me and the Fire-Bearers fight and kill the troops. After we finish the mission Mul-Soo will put out the fire with his Salan ability. Any questions?
"How strong are you?" Luca asked.
"Is there a place where I can make them regret being this curious, Mul-Soo?"
"Yes, the place between the first and second gate at the entrance. I can put out any fires if necessary there easily."
***
"Do you wield any weapons?" I asked Luca.
He didn't answer me, he only pulled out 2 brass knuckles.
"To make it fair, I'll only use my short-swords."
As I pulled my Shoto's out, the temperature rose by at least 10 degrees Celsius.
Luca's brass knuckles were suddenly engulfed by fire and he pushed himself forward.
He was half my speed when I made myself 'lighter'. I parried his punches while avoiding his wild fire. He was not bad, but he was still inexperienced. I enhanced myself with Mana and punched him straight into the face. He lost consciousness almost immediately and left everyone watching, except Tsuki, speechless.
"We'll attack them tonight, so get ready." I ordered.
Lorenzo went next to his brother and took out a small gem and placed it in Luca's mouth. When Luca swallowed it, he stood up immediately like he never fell unconscious in the first place.
'The gems seem to work wonders. I need to try them myself.' I thought while Luca walked towards me.
"I'll beat you next time!" He said.
"You can challenge me if you survive tonight."
***
"Tsuki, what does your ability tell you about tonight?" I asked.
"I have the feeling it will be quite tragical."
"So I won't die."
Silence followed. I was right. I wasn't going to die, but someone would. Mete, Amar, Luca, Lorenzo and Mul-Soo. Tsuki's intuition told her that someone would die.
"When we first met Mul-Soo, he seemed to know someone you knew too. Can I ask who this person is?" Tsuki asked, fidgeting with her fingers. "Of course you don't have to tell me anything, but, you know, it wouldn't hurt to tell, right? I guess HE is someone close to you and to him. You said you were a student with the only hobby being sword-practice with your mom, so I don't see a way for you to know 'gangsters'.
"When I trust you enough, I'll tell you. Just for you, I'll make a promise. I promise you that I will tell you who HE is when we get to Old Japan. Deal?" I said and stretched my arm out.
"Don't you dare break your promise." She responded shaking my hand.
After our conversation, the group gathered and nothing stood in the way of our operation.
"If you fail to obey, I'll make sure you won't survive. Keep in mind that your failure may cause Piranha School to suffer." I announced.
"Amar, lead the way." Mul-Soo ordered.