'Brother, it's not even winter yet. Why the fuck is this fog increasing?'
It had been around half an hour since Ryuga left Naoya-san's office, and the fog obscuring his vision had only intensified.
'It's 8 o'clock at night too, is there some film shoot going on here? Did I trespass on a set?'
He poked his head around, letting his eyes wander over the empty buildings. Every single one of them was closed, not even a single light bulb glowed inside. Yet Ryuga felt as if someone was staring at him from these buildings.
'Ew, what kind of weirdo would gawk at people at night while keeping their lights off.' His pace hastened.
He was already lost, with no sense of direction. All he could do now was hope he eventually stumbled upon a familiar place.
Until then, he simply wandered, keeping his eyes open and his guard up in case the cultists came for him.
'I was telling others to keep themselves safe, and here I am diving headfirst into a dangerous situation myself. Talk about irony.'
Slowly, time bled away. Even after an hour had passed, the sensation of being watched persisted. Now, he was around 60% sure someone was actively following him.
'Change of plans. Let's look for a safe place first, then I'll try finding my location.'
It was such a pity that his phone was dead. Otherwise, he would have called the police in a heartbeat. But luck clearly wasn't on his side. He had to manage some other way.
'Let's keep track of things here. First off, the mind-boggling fog. Second, the empty roads. Third, the empty buildings. Fourth, alleyways. Fifth, a small river on the right.'
None of them were particularly useful in his situation, especially while being followed by an unknown adversary. He couldn't barge into the empty buildings, nor could he jump into the river. He would drown before he knew it.
The alleys, on the other hand, were a mystery of their own. If someone truly was following him, that would be the perfect spot for them to hide.
He also hadn't seen a shadow following him. So their stealth stats were pretty great. He was trapped in a bind.
'Now I feel how Hina felt… Oh boi, I don't feel so good.'
He took a sigh and tried to forget about the unnerving sensation. He focused solely on walking forward, hoping to reach somewhere familiar. Maybe the whole trailing thing was just in his head?
Crack—!
Fortunately or unfortunately, it didn't take long for his question to be answered. The sound of someone stepping on a dried leaf came from behind him.
'Benefits of autumn!'
Without wasting time, he spun on his feet and turned back, facing the source of the sound.
'Oh no~ Nobody is behind me~ I was just hallucinating, I shouldn't mind it~ Yeah… Bullshit! I know you are here!'
Contrary to Ryuga's assumption that no one would be behind him, that they would have hastily hidden themselves again, what actually happened was… surprising.
Seven black-hooded people, wearing black masks, were standing behind him. Leading them was another hooded person, this one with a certain uniqueness.
They had a silver badge on the left side of their robe. That person stood at the front, their posture far calmer than the others.
"This is an awkward encounter… would you believe me if I said it's just a coincidence?"
Ryuga thought for a second. "Well, if you say so… I will believe you. Why don't you go on your way? I wouldn't want to misunderstand you anymore."
"Oh… t-that's great? I guess… Ok, fuck it! You know why we are here… there is no point in solving riddles." The silver badge shrugged.
"Actually…" Ryuga glanced toward the river. "I'm not too sure. Are you here to kill me or recruit me like Hina? I knew she made a mistake by not hearing you all out. But she was scared, so that's normal. And I'm scared too! By no means will I deny my fear. It's just that I'm more cooperative. So, how about we discuss salaries?"
"Ahahahahahahahha…" The silver badge laughed, patting their thighs. "You are a funny guy. But that won't let you go unharmed. We know what kind of 'chat' you had with that hag. And you know what? We want to reward you for that 'chat'... by killing you of course!"
Propelling forward, the silver badge lunged at Ryuga with speed comparable to a well-trained fighter.
'Fuck!'
Through sheer premeditated instinct, Ryuga managed to dodge the attack by a hair's length.
A cold chill ran through his body as the fist whistled past his face.
'This is bad! Real bad!!'
The silver badge twisted mid-motion and swung their left leg, kicking Ryuga in the liver.
"Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!"
A scream tore from Ryuga as the pain jolted through his entire body. He felt a crashing force burst through him.
His body curled like a shrimp, leaving him breathless. The pain radiated so violently he nearly puked.
Staggering back, he tried desperately to pull air back into his lungs. But he wasn't given the chance.
The silver badge moved again, curling their fingers into a fist and slicing through the air.
Whack—!
The punch connected to his nose. Ryuga's mind turned numb on impact. His brain stopped working for a second. His nose started running, but what slid out wasn't just mucus. It was blood.
The breathless sensation returned, now accompanied by a burning sting. His eyes squeezed shut and tears welled up.
He didn't get a chance to think or react. One moment he was conversing with the madman, the next he was receiving a one-sided beating.
Whack—!
The silver badge wasn't done yet. They twisted on their feet again and kicked with their back leg. The hit connected only for a split second, but that was enough.
The impact sent Ryuga tumbling down the road, rolling toward the river.