"So… the day has come when they finally decided to send The Order over here. I gotta admit, you do seem a bit greener than I thought you'd be," The old man said.
The tension in the gym was thick. Toga has never learned the art of diplomacy, but he felt like the smallest thing he can say would determine the lives of hundreds. He had to pick his words carefully.
Toga put his fist against his hand and gave a curt bow. "I hope my visit isn't cause for concern. I was sent here on the information that there's a bandit problem in the area,"
The old man rubbed his beard and nodded his head. Toga could see the hint of a smile. He then closed his eyes and waved his finger in the air with a circular motion.
Everyone in the gym took that as a hint to leave the room. All except him, Toga, and the priest he was with.
"You really are green. I've never seen a priest curt a bow to any of us surface dwellers," The old man said. "Who are you?"
"My name is Toga Dawnheart. The shining spirit of the Red Dogs," Toga said.
"I see… So the late shining spirit has finally decided to reveal itself. Well I'm Harrow Valech. Leader of the Burrow. Be honest with me kid. What did you really come here for?" Harrow asked.
Toga gave him a blank look. "I'm sorry. I didn't come here to deceive you if that's what you believe. I really was told that there was a bandit problem here. The report I was given implied that you guys were the bandits. I can look around and see that this isn't the case. Is it possible that there's a rival base in the vicinity?"
Harrow sighed. "No… you've come to the right place. Looks like your precious order has lied to you," His gaze shifted focus towards the priest beside Toga.
Toga followed his gaze to see what he was looking at. "Oh don't mind him. He's just…"
"Shue Yotsuka. Third Cardinal of the 5 Red Cardinals," Harrow said.
Toga blinked with a wide expression. Not even he knew who this man was. He wasn't just a priest. He was two levels above his own. Only five Cardinals in the Red Dogs, and this man has the third spot.
"The only question I'd have to ask is that if you're here… why are we still alive?" Harrow asked.
Toga looked back and forth between the two. He spent the majority of his youth in Rebble. He never bothered to look up what the Red Dogs in Loil was made of.
"Not only do you know of my rank, it seems you've paid attention to my reputation," Shue said.
"With our position, how could we not? Loil doesn't take too kindly to descent," Harrow said.
"Hold on. What's going on here? Why am I being talked around?" Toga asked.
"You may be a shining spirit boy, but this man is who we feared the most. People call him the dog of The Dogs. His presence alone, told me we were dead," Harrow said.
Shue began digging in his ear with clear indifference into what Harrow said. He neither justified his presence, nor did he take the time to quail the man's fears.
"Well, I'm the one entrusted with this mission and I'm not here to kill any of you," Toga said.
"If that's the case, then this is clearly a threat. By having you parade this man around in my town, it seems the order seeks to remind me that they could kill us at any time. Do you understand why I let you in boy? It's only because we can't stop ya if you wanted all of us. If there is any option to negotiate, I can only take it," Harrow said.
Toga closed his eyes, crossed his arms, and looked downwards. He had to think about his options. "The more I see this place, the less I'm convinced that this is a base for banditry. It looks more like a community,"
"That's because it isn't. We don't go thieving. We wanted to avoid The Orders eyes, not attract them right to us. That's just giving them a reason," Harrow said.
Toga started thinking again. "How about this. Why don't I give this town citizenry? That way, The Order can't just go accusing you of being bandits so easy. It should be good if I clear it with the higher ups.
Shue raised an eyebrow. "Seems I've underestimated you a bit. You have more stones than I thought," He smirked.
Toga looked up towards his left. Did he say something off? What did Shue mean by that?
He looked at Harrow to see his reaction. The man's eyes had darkened, so much so that he couldn't see behind the shadow. "Young man… come see me in the arena," Now that it has come out of the shadows, there was a deathly look to them. He couldn't understand how he just became the enemy. What did he say?
"I'm sorry Mr. Valech. I take back anything I've said that might have offended you," Toga said.
"Kid… you just told him to submit to The Order for their protection. That's the same thing as telling them to abandon their notion of a sovereignty. If I didn't know better, that sounded like a threat," Shue said.
"Whoa, that is not at all what I intended. I just thought it'd be better to save lives here. With the threat of the demon's existence, it'd be better that we worked together than against," Toga said.
Harrow stopped in his tracks and started shaking.
"And you do it again. Using the existential threat to bring about a favorable result. I underestimated you boy. May be hope for you yet," Shue said.
Toga's eyes got white with anger. "Shue! You're not helping!"
"Stop your lollygagging! Bring yourself to the colosseum this instance!" Harrow demanded.
{Fuck this has gone south too fast}
Toga sighed. There was no reconciling at this point. He had to confront the old man. Harrow led them out of the dojo. There were some that saw which direction they were headed and started to follow.
Whatever Harrow wanted to do, it seemed like the dojo wasn't going to be big enough. He needed more area. He already didn't like the tension that was in the air. This all came about because he was trying to do good and be merciful.
{Isn't this something Ryuma would have done?}
He didn't quite know the answer to that, but at least this time he had someone with him with all this politicking behind him. Maybe he could ask for some advice to help with soon. He just wasn't cut out for this misunderstanding.
"Hey old man. Why are we heading towards a colosseum?" Toga asked.
"It's simple… when we fight, I don't want my Dojo to get damaged. Harrow said.
Toga could only smile and sweat. He was already in irreconcilable differences with the man.
"Boss Harrow is going to fight one of the priests," One of the men following them said. Another one ran off to spread the word.
Toga sweat even more. Before he knew it, things had already gotten this far out of hand.
The colosseum was wide and large. Although it reminded him of the arena the academy fought in, the only difference was that instead of a square, it was shaped like a circle. It wasn't even elevated but was leveled with the ground. The rest of it was mere dirt.
"Do we really have to do this?" Toga asked.
Harrow took his shirt off. The guy was easily twice his height and triple his girth. His arms were boulders, his stomach a wall, and this had to be at least fifty pounds of muscle. He could even see the man's veins bulging when he flexed.
Toga finally looked at him seriously. This old man… although he didn't possess any spirit energy, his physical strength was off the charts. He could probably beat some priest with that alone.
He took a deep breath. Toga pulled his own shirt off and tossed it to the side. His own arms were rocks in comparison, but they were rocks of dolomite. He had a slim physique, well defined abdominal muscles, and back muscles that looked like shields.
"Ahhhhhhh!" He could hear squeals behind him. The stands started filling, some of them with young woman who turned as red as an apple.
"Oh my…" There was a woman in her early thirties.
"If only I was a few years younger," Said an old lady who looked well into her sixties.
Toga sweat-dropped. {Sorry ladies. I'm already spoken for.}
"WOULD YOU HORNY WOMAN BEAT IT! THIS IS A MAN'S DUEL!" Harrow yelled. The woman scoffed and ignored him to ogle Toga more.
"Tchhh. Forget it. You're not going to summon them weapons you priest are so proud of?" Harrow asked.
"Why should I? If you're going to use your bare hands, then so am I. It's only fair," Toga said.
Harrow smirked. "It's hard for me to tell if you've got honor, or if you're just some cocky young fool. I think I'm starting to like you. Try not to die now,"