A figure stepped in, and for a moment, no one moved.

  The wooden floor groaned beneath his weight, the dim lighting of the inn casting flickering shadows across his form. His clothes, once dark and forgettable were now drenched in blood, so soaked in fact that the fabric clung to his skin, every fold and wrinkle outlined in red. Droplets of blood dripped from the hem of his coat, trailing behind him in a slow, rhythmic drip, drip, drip that marked each step he took. His hands, too, were stained, fingers curled slightly as if still ready to crush something in his grip.

  But what drew Erya’s eyes, what made her heart lurch in sudden recognition, was what he held.

  ‘A boy.’

  Small. Limp. Barely conscious. Bruises ran across his tiny arms, his dirt-streaked face half-buried against the bloodied man’s chest. The slow rise and fall of his breathing was the only indication that he was alive at all.

  Erya exhaled sharply, tension leaving her arms even as her fingers curled inside her gloves. "Oh, for fuck’s sake…" she muttered, half in disbelief, half in sheer exasperation. "Kaiser."

  Milo’s sword remained steady, his magic still thrumming in the air around him, but his brow furrowed deeply. "Wait, him?" His eyes darted between Erya and the bloodied figure, expression unreadable. "That’s the man we were going to meet?"

  "Obviously," Erya answered, though her voice was laced with something between wariness and familiarity. "Not many people can pull off ‘walking corpse aesthetic’ quite like him." The guard behind Milo was still trembling, his grip on his sword weak, but his stance locked into place, refusing to lower his weapon. "That’s not— That monster can’t be…"

  "Kaiser," Milo called, his voice measured, but cautious. "Is that really you?" The bloodied man finally moved his gaze upward. His red eyes locked onto Milo’s with an eerie stillness. And then, he spoke, voice low, almost too casual for the situation. "The only monsters I saw today," he said slowly, "are the ones I had to kill."

  Milo’s jaw tightened.

  Kaiser’s eyes flicked downward, noting the uniforms, the weapons, the stances. "Oh." He sighed. "But since I see I’m speaking to the city watch… let’s call it self-defense, shall we?" Milo’s grip loosened, his brows drawing together in something close to frustration. "That level of brutality…" He exhaled sharply. "Was it necessary?"

  Kaiser’s expression didn’t shift. "I was a bit upset."

  "A bit," Milo repeated flatly.

  "They kidnapped my partner," Kaiser continued, voice even. "Aria."

  Milo’s shoulders tensed, guilt flashing across his features before he let out a slow breath, lowering his sword entirely. "…Shit" The guard behind him, however, did not lower his own. His breath was still uneven, his grip still shaking, but his fear only fueled his desperation. "C-Captain, we need to arrest him—"

  Kaiser didn’t acknowledge him, didn’t look at him, didn’t even turn his head in his direction. He only stepped forward, past Milo, past the guard, past the tension hanging in the air like a blade ready to drop. He walked straight to Erya and held out the boy. "I need your help."

  Erya didn’t hesitate. She reached out, carefully taking the small child from Kaiser’s arms, shifting his weight with practiced ease before gently lowering him into the nearest chair. The boy barely reacted, his small frame sagging against the backrest, his breaths shallow and uneven. His eyes were half-lidded, unfocused, his lips slightly parted as if trying to speak but too exhausted to form words.

  Erya’s gaze swept over him, taking in the bruises, the dirt, and the exhaustion carved into his tiny features. She scoffed, running a hand through her wild red hair. "Gods, this night just keeps getting worse."

  Kaiser said nothing as Milo watched, unreadable, while the other guard remained frozen in disbelief. Erya shook her head. "I’ll get something to fix him up." She cracked her neck, rolled her shoulders, then turned on her heel and headed toward the backroom. "And while I’m at it," she called over her shoulder, "I expect someone to start explaining what the fuck is going on." But she was ignored, not even heard as both men had their eyes on each other.

  Kaiser’s lips curled into something close to amusement, though his tone remained steady, almost conversational. "You’re looking at me like I’m the problem." He exhaled through his nose, tilting his head slightly. "I’m not."

  Milo remained silent.

  "You have no reason to fear me," Kaiser continued, stepping forward just enough to close the distance slightly. "I’m on your side."

  That finally got a reaction.

  Kaiser reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a folded document that was bloodied and crumpled, but still readable. He held it up, letting it dangle slightly before Milo’s eyes. "And I think you know why that is."

  Milo’s expression darkened. Kaiser unfolded the paper with a single flick of his wrist, holding it between two fingers as he let his eyes skim over it one last time. "There’s no way the city guard doesn’t know about this." He flicked the document toward Milo. "An auction. Happening in two days."

  Milo caught it, his hands tightening around the edges as he scanned the contents. "And I sincerely hope," Kaiser added, his voice edged with something dangerously close to anger, "that you plan on doing something about it."

  Milo’s lips pressed into a thin line. Erya, who had been searching for something in the backroom let out a sharp whistle. "An auction, huh?" She exhaled through her nose. "Let me guess. Not the ‘fancy art pieces and jewelry’ kind, right?"

  Kaiser scoffed. "The Right Fist has been on a rampage these past few days." His tone turned colder, each word dripping with venom. "You think the brothel was bad? That was just cleanup. They’re stockpiling. Grabbing every vulnerable person they can get their hands on, cramming them into hidden rooms, waiting for the highest bidder. Innocent people, kidnapped right off the streets. That’s what’s happening right under your fucking nose."

  Milo let out a slow, tired breath. His fingers curled tighter around the paper. Then, after a long silence, he nodded. "We knew."

  Kaiser’s expression darkened immediately, his body tensing. "Then why the hell haven’t you done anything?" His voice was sharp now, cutting through the room like a blade. "What the fuck are you waiting for? Permission? A fucking letter? Are you all too scared to act?"

  Milo’s jaw tightened, but he lifted a hand slightly, signaling for silence. "Stop." His voice was firm, but not angry. "You don’t know what you’re talking about." Kaiser narrowed his eyes.

  "We’re handling it," Milo continued, "tonight."

  That made Kaiser pause. His gaze flicked between Milo’s face, searching for any trace of deception, but found none. His muscles, still coiled tight like a predator ready to strike, didn’t relax completely, but they did loosen, even if only slightly.

  Erya, however, was the one who actually reacted. "Wait, wait, wait—" She ran out of the room with a vial in her hand. "That’s why you came to see me today?" She blinked, then let out a sharp, incredulous laugh. "You came here to talk about this?"

  Milo turned toward her, nodding. "Yes."

  "And you were going to just bring it up over drinks like it was casual bar gossip?"

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  Milo exhaled slowly. "I was going to ease into it."

  "Ease into telling me our city is running a fucking slave market?!"

  "I knew you’d react like this," Milo muttered under his breath.

  "And how the fuck else am I supposed to react?" Erya ran her hand through her wild red hair, pacing in a small circle before turning back to him. "And what, you were just going to ask me for help? Just like that?"

  "I was going to warn you," Milo corrected, "because your part of town is involved. That brothel was just one of many places getting cleaned up before the auction." He nodded toward the bloodied paper in his hands. "It’s all in there. Names. Locations. Details."

  Kaiser crossed his arms. "And you just happened to get this information in time?" Milo shot him a tired look. "Do you really think we’ve been sitting on our asses this whole time?" His fingers drummed against the document. "You think I don’t hate this as much as you do?"

  Kaiser’s crimson eyes held his for a long moment. Then, finally, he exhaled through his nose, his arms dropping slightly. "Alright," he muttered. "I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt."

  "Generous," Milo said dryly.

  "But if you already planned on handling it tonight," Kaiser continued, "then you’re going to need me."

  Milo sighed. "Erya, can you get me a drink?"

  "I’m not your bartender, dumbass," she muttered, but she still turned toward the counter, grabbing a bottle of something dark and pouring it into a glass. She slid it toward him without another word.

  Milo downed it in one go. Then, he let out a breath and met Kaiser’s eyes once more. "…Tell me everything you know."

  The poor trembling guard was still stuck in the room, standing stiff as a board near the door, his knuckles white from gripping his sheathed sword. His entire body was shaking, and his eyes darted between Kaiser, who sat drenched in dried blood, and Milo, who, despite lowering his guard, still radiated a quiet intensity. The young guard looked like he was barely holding himself together, every muscle in his body screaming for him to run.

  Milo finally turned his attention to him, sighing through his nose. "You’re free to go," he said, his voice even but carrying enough weight that the poor man flinched. "Head to the first checkpoint. We’ll meet you there in an hour."

  The guard didn’t hesitate for a single second.

  He turned on his heels so fast he nearly tripped over himself, bolting out the door with such urgency that for a brief moment, the sound of his retreating footsteps echoed louder than anything else in the bar. The door slammed shut behind him, leaving a stunned silence in his wake.

  Kaiser, unfazed, simply exhaled through his nose and dragged a chair out from the table, the wooden legs scraping harshly against the floor. He sat down with zero concern, letting his weight fall into the seat, his blood-soaked uniform pressing into the fabric.

  Erya visibly winced.

  It was as if she had just watched someone step on her childhood pet. Her eye twitched, and her mouth opened slightly as if she was about to say something. But then she took a deep breath, stared at the chair in absolute agony, and died a little inside.

  Kaiser, completely oblivious to her suffering, leaned back, stretching his arms behind his head. "So, let me break this down for you," he said, his voice casual despite the circumstances. "One moment, I’m minding my own business, finishing a game of Firefight. The next, I use a teleport ticket to get back into the city and boom, I suddenly find myself in some basement."

  Milo frowned. "A basement?"

  "Yeah. The kind you wake up in and immediately know someone’s about to ask where you hid the gold." Kaiser waved a hand dismissively. "Didn’t get much time to enjoy the décor, though. I was attacked immediately."

  Erya, still glaring at the chair like she could will the bloodstains away, snapped her attention to him. "And let me guess," she said dryly. "You killed everyone." Kaiser gave her a pointed look. "What else was I supposed to do? Let them carve me up?"

  "I’m just saying," Erya muttered, "I now see that you have a tendency to go overboard."

  "I was in a bad mood," Kaiser shrugged, unbothered. "Besides, they had it coming."

  Milo folded his arms. "And what about the girl, Aria?"

  Kaiser’s red eyes flicked over to him, his expression darkening slightly. "I left her with someone."

  "Who?"

  "Some white-haired girl. Looked young, but she could handle herself." Kaiser leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. "I figured Aria would be fine without me." At this, Milo visibly tensed.

  Kaiser noticed immediately, his sharp eyes narrowing slightly. "What?" Milo exhaled through his nose. "I just fought that white-haired girl." Now it was Kaiser’s turn to raise an eyebrow. "Really now?" He leaned back again, his expression curious. "And?"

  "She was fast," Milo admitted, his fingers drumming against his arm. "Stronger than she looked."

  "You lost?"

  "I didn’t lose," Milo corrected sharply, giving Kaiser a flat look. "She got away."

  Kaiser smirked slightly. "Sounds like a loss to me." And Milo grunted in irritation at the comment. Kaiser looked away in irritation. "But that’s not the point. The point is, I know for a fact Aria was taken. I heard it straight from the men I killed." His expression hardened. "They said a pink-haired girl with blue eyes will been kidnapped. But I didn’t think she was taken by someone so…" He trailed off, trying to find the right word. "Small?" Erya offered.

  "Young," Kaiser corrected.

  Kaiser tapped his fingers against the table, his mind working. "So either that girl was working for the Right Fist, or she’s got her own reasons for taking Aria."

  "Either way," Milo said, "we need to act."

  Kaiser nodded, then tilted his head. "Speaking of which—" His red eyes sharpened slightly. "You got any intel on the Right Fist?" Milo met his gaze, his own expression growing serious. "We do."

  Kaiser’s eyes flickered with interest. "Spill it out."

  Milo straightened slightly. "We know where three of their main storage sites are."

  "Storage?" Erya raised an eyebrow. "You mean the places where they’re keeping the kidnapped people?"

  Milo nodded grimly. "And the largest one? It’s not some hidden basement. It’s the Opera House. That’s where the auction is going to be held."

  Kaiser’s fingers curled into a fist against the table. "You’re telling me," he said slowly, his voice eerily calm, "that you knew about this? And you still didn’t do anything sooner?" Milo exhaled through his nose, bracing himself for this reaction. "It’s not that simple."

  "It sounds pretty fucking simple to me."

  "A battle with the Right Fist would leave hundreds dead," Milo said firmly, holding Kaiser’s gaze. "We had to wait for the right moment. A direct assault would turn this city into a warzone. We needed to strike when we could minimize the casualties."

  "And when exactly is that supposed to be?"

  "Tonight."

  That finally made Kaiser pause. Milo continued, "The longer we waited, the worse it would get. But this can’t be a full-force operation. Too many guards are already on their payroll. If we make the wrong move, they’ll know we’re coming. That’s why I’m only taking my twenty most trusted men."

  "So let me get this straight," he said, voice edged like a knife. "You knew about the auction, you knew about the kidnappings, you knew about the Right Fist being behind all of it, and you knew where they were keeping their stockpile of people—" He clenched his jaw, inhaled deeply through his nose, and then let out a slow, measured breath. "And yet, you did nothing until now?"

  Milo met his glare with an unreadable expression, his arms crossed tightly against his chest. "As I have just explained, it’s not that simple."

  "Oh, but it is," Kaiser shot back. "You go in, you kill the bastards, you free the people. Pretty straightforward if you ask me." Milo sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Kaiser, listen to me. We weren’t waiting because we were lazy, or because we were scared, or because we didn’t care. We were waiting because if we had struck before today, besides all the casualties, we would’ve missed our chance to take all of them down."

  Kaiser narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

  Milo exhaled, his expression grim. " We knew that one of their leaders, one of the last heads of the Right Fist, was arriving in the city today, along with the remaining core members of the organization. If we attacked earlier, they would’ve stayed hidden, and the whole operation would’ve been for nothing."

  Kaiser tapped his fingers against the armrest of his chair, considering that. "So you wanted them all in one place."

  "Exactly." Milo nodded. "We needed to be sure that when we hit them, we got every last one. The auction was the perfect bait. They’d gather there, thinking they were untouchable, and then we’d cut them down before they even knew what hit them."

  "Hmph." Kaiser leaned back, his eyes dark with thought. "Alright. Fine. That makes more sense. But it doesn’t change the fact that innocent people were still suffering while you waited."

  "And you think I don’t know that?" Milo’s voice was quieter now, but no less intense. "You think I don’t hate myself for every day we had to sit on our hands and watch those bastards drag people into the shadows? We had no choice. If we acted too soon, they would’ve gone into hiding, and we would’ve lost them forever. This was the only way to make sure it ends."

  Kaiser studied Milo for a moment, reading the exhaustion in his posture, the weight behind his words. "Tch." He clicked his tongue. "Fine. I get it."

  "Good."

  "Still doesn’t make me any less pissed."

  "I’d be worried if it didn’t," Milo admitted. "But now you understand why we had to wait." Kaiser grunted, running a bloodstained hand through his already messy hair. "Alright. So the plan is still on for tonight, then?"

  "Yes."

  "Good."

  Kaiser exhaled and pushed himself up from his seat, his bloody coat creaking as he moved. "Alright. If we’re doing this, we better do it right. What time are we leaving?"

  "An hour," Milo said. "We’ll meet at the first checkpoint before we move in." Kaiser rolled his shoulders, cracking his neck. "Good. Gives me time to clean up."

  Erya blinked. "Wait, you actually plan on bathing before a mission?"

  "What do you take me for? A savage?" Kaiser smirked. "I’d rather not go into battle smelling like a butcher’s shop."

  Erya muttered something under her breath about "miracles happening" as she watched him stretch. Milo shook his head, glancing toward the door. "I need to go check in with my men. I’ll see you both in an hour." He continued, giving Erya a paper with an address. “We will be waiting for the both of you there.” With that, he left the tavern, leaving Erya and Kaiser standing in silence.

  "So," Erya said after a moment. "You’re actually gonna take a bath, huh?"