My head snapped towards the owner of the voice. It was a man dressed in black. He stood in the center of the restaurant. In his hand, was a gun. He was aiming it in the direction of a group of three. He grabbed a hold of a girl from the group, positioning his gun next to her head.
"Don't move or else she gets her brains shot out!" the man screamed, a crazed look in his eyes.
"Wait a second," Uma whispered to me, "That's the C-Rank Villain that escaped from my party! Where did he get that gun?"
I looked over to Uma. I had no idea what to do. I'm a Hunter, not a Hero. I deal with Monsters, not people! I had no idea how to handle this situation, so I turned to Uma, the Hero in the room. Although he was a Hero, he didn't have his equipment with him. I know that he was able to fight barehanded, but it was dangerous to do so, especially since the VIllain has a gun.
Although it was a normal gun, a bullet from it could still rip through human flesh. The weapons that are made to fight Monsters and Villains are made partially or completely out of magic stones. It is more efficient to use magic stones on weapons that can last rather than for bullets which can only be used once, so that's why guns aren't really used by Hunters or Heroes.
I looked through the broken windows. Outside, there was a Hero party. It seems that they were chasing the Villain, and he came inside to take a hostage.
"Let go of the girl!" one of the Heroes shouted, "All you're doing is increasing your prison sentence!"
"Shut up!" the Villain screamed, "If you try anything, then she gets it!"
The Villain aimed his pistol upwards, firing a warning shot at the ceiling. The bang resounded through the entire room. Many people inside the restaurant flinched at the sound. The girl that was taken hostage by the Villain was in tears, but I could tell that she was trying to stay silent.
"Marin," Uma said seriously, "I think we should do something."
"...," I thought a bit, "But what if we mess up?"
"Well, we can't just sit around and do nothing," Uma looked at me, "If something goes wrong then I'll take responsibility. Just help me out on this, okay?"
I let out a small sigh.
"Fine, but you know that if something does go wrong, then I'm not letting you take all the consequences on your own," I whispered back to him.
He nodded.
It seems that the Villain didn't hear the conversation between Uma and I since we were whispering to each other and there were other people in the room also whispering.
"What should we do?" Uma asked me.
"...," I thought silently.
The Villain was quite far from where Uma and I were sitting. The first thing that we should do is to secure the safety of the girl by getting that gun away from her. The problem is that the Villain is too far away to do that.
I thought a bit more, when I got an idea. There was a trick that I learned due to being a Hunter. Sometimes I'd need to lure a Monster to a certain area, maybe away from a group or something. As someone who couldn't get stronger, I had to learn things like this.
I subtly tipped over the empty glass that was on the table, the one that I'd drank water from. It fell over and shattered on the floor. I saw many people flinch at the sound. The Villain also jolted a bit.
"Hey!" he shouted, pointing his gun over at me, "Did you make that sound just now?"
"W-what?" I asked in a panicked manner, "T-that was an accident!"
A part of me was acting scared, but when the Villain turned his gun to me, I felt real fear. If it were a Monster or something, then I'd be able to deal with it, but this is the first time I'd ever gotten a gun pointed at me before. On the other hand, Uma had probably dealt with Villains with firearms countless times. He probably wasn't too afraid, but he still acted like he was since the Villain's attention was directed to us.
"Shut up!" the Villain screamed, taking a couple steps towards us, "I told you not to move, didn't I?"
I stayed silent. If I say anything more, then I might actually get shot. It would be best to stop provoking him.
Behind the Villain, I could see many people with horrified expressions. Some of them looked like they wanted to run away, while some looked like they wanted to help me. However, no one moved.
Now, the Villain was close to Uma and me. He stood right in front of us, his left arm wrapped around the girl's neck and his right hand pointing the gun at my head. Seeing the gun so close to my face, I tried to stay calm.
"What are you trying to pull?" the Villain growled at me.
"I-I'm not trying anything!" I responded.
The Villain's face was completely red. He looked like he was really on edge as well as flustered. It really looked like he was about to shoot me.
Then, I suddenly saw two hands fly in front of me, grabbing onto the Villain's arm and pushing the gun. Now, the gun was pointing up. It was Uma.
"What the-," the Villain roared, "Get off me!"
The Villain fired a series of gunshots, all aimed at the ceiling thanks to Uma. I quickly got up. I grabbed onto the Villain's other arm, pulling the girl out of his grasp. To be honest, I probably wouldn't have been able to do it if my Strength Stat hadn't risen. Even though the Villain has the Job thief, he's still C-Rank, which is 2 ranks above mine. Once I made sure that the girl was safe, I looked over to Uma. Our eyes met, and he also saw that the girl was safe.
Then, I saw a yellow aura surrounding Uma. It was [Strengthening], a Skill that was used by people who fought in close-combat. For someone like Uma who had the Job heavy swordsman, it was a really useful Skill.
Uma raised his leg, kneeing the Villain in the gut. Then, as he held onto the Villain's arm and the gun, he pushed his elbow out, hitting the Villain in the chin. The Villain staggered and Uma was able to grab a hold of the gun.
Uma took the gun and pointed it at the Villain, who froze from having his weapon turned against him. The Heroes outside, who were observing what was happening, came inside the building. They surrounded the Villain, pointing their weapons at him.
"It's over, Villain!" one of the Heroes said.
After that, the Villain didn't resist arrest. He must've known that there was no way for him to win in that situation. I saw Uma talking with some of the other Heroes. It looked like they knew each other. When I was about to go over to him, I felt a tug on my hand. It was the girl.
"H-hey, umm," she said to me, "Are you also a Hero?"
"Huh? Oh, I'm not," I shook my head, "I'm actually a Hunter."
"A Hunter?" she asked, "T-then, can I have your autograph, please?"
"You know I'm not popular or anything, right?" I asked, confused.
"I don't care," she said, "I just want the autograph of my savior."
"Um… Alright," I nodded awkwardly.
She handed me a colored pen that she had for some reason as well as a piece of paper. There was a bunch of writing on the paper, but she just told me that I could write over it. The pen stood out against the black letters.
After that, she left, and I was filled with a strange feeling.
"How does it feel like to have a fan?" Uma, who came up next to me, asked, "How about you just become a Hero instead of staying a Hunter?"
"I'd be throwing away 4 years of experience if I did that," I sighed.
"It was just a joke," Uma shrugged, "Unless…"
"No," I said flatly.
"Alright," Uma shrugged again, "Anyway, do you still want to drink?"
"What are you talking about?" I looked over to Uma seriously, "Of course. Why would you even ask that question?"
"Ah…," Uma sighed, "I should've known that you'd say that."