His hand went into his jacket pocket, pulling out a folded piece of paper, opening it with one motion and holding it up in front of him.
On it, a sketch of the hooded figure in enough detail, with notes written at the bottom. "Sorry, delinquent." His voice didn't sound like someone who was genuinely sorry. "But you're going to be my prize tonight."
The hooded figure didn't answer right away. Her eyes behind the cloth mask moved to the paper, then to Jason's face. "Wait." Her voice came out in a tone that wasn't entirely certain. "That ... is that the city's wanted list?"
Jason didn't answer, only gave a small smile.
"I'm just a small pickpocket!" Her tone rose. "I've never killed anyone, never hurt anyone, only took wallets from people who definitely wouldn't run out of money!"
"Yes." Jason nodded casually. "But the people whose wallets you took are important people in this city, damn it." His hand lifted slightly as a command. "Fire."
One person on the right side raised a weapon of a size that wasn't normal for a pistol, more like a launcher with a short barrel. Its mechanical sound fired once before a thin metal net shot forward at a speed that was difficult to avoid.
BOOM!
"Huh! It won't be that easy." The hooded figure's left hand rose, thin blue light forming a half-circle wall in front of her.
Not for long, only to briefly hold back the iron netting. The figure rolled to the left, the net falling where they had been standing with the sound of metal clanging against stone.
A man from the rear line was already moving, the iron rod in his hand swinging toward the head from the right side. The figure ducked, the rod passing above their shoulder, and their elbow reversed to strike the man's wrist from below. The rod didn't fall but the next swing wasn't as strong as the first.
Two more came in from the left and front simultaneously.
The figure stepped back one pace, her right foot kicking toward the knee of the man coming from the left, then their body twisted and their hand pushed the chin of the man coming from the front with an open palm. That man staggered back two steps. The one from the left bent their knee holding back the pain but didn't fall.
Attacks kept coming, taking turns, giving no gap sufficient to breathe in an orderly way. The figure kept moving, dodging more than striking back, her movements efficient without any unnecessary contact, every backward step calculated to avoid touching the wall.
But the alley wasn't wide enough.
The figure muttered behind their mask. "If it's come to this, what can be done."
Her foot kicked off the ground and her body jumped upward, far higher than a normal human jump. In the air, her hands moved into the position of someone drawing a bow and bright blue light began filling the space between her fingers, lengthening, curving, until the crystal bow formed fully with a light arrow already set in place.
Jason looked up, his eyes toward that bow, and the expression on his face changed, not surprise, more like someone confirming something they had long suspected.
The arrow was released straight downward, directly into the middle of the alley between the attackers.
BLAST!
An explosion of blue light filled the alley, air pushing outward in every direction and dust from the dirt ground rising straight up into a thick cloud that covered the entire alley in seconds.
People were thrown, some hitting the walls, some stumbling to the ground, weapons thrown and scattered. The figure landed and immediately ran toward the gap between the billowing dust.
"Damn, this is exhausting. I have to get out of here fast." The end of the alley was already visible, but their eyes suddenly went wide.
BANG!
A bullet shot through the air, not a net, not a lead bullet either. The figure didn't try to dodge because the bullet had missed far in another direction, passing several centimeters to her side.
But suddenly her body jolted.
"ARGHHH!"
Her body convulsed, electric shocks spreading across her entire body bringing her to a stop. The hooded figure couldn't even move her fingers.
The bullet was still in the air, slowing until nearly stopped, small electricity sparking at its surface before falling to the ground and releasing one final spark.
"Damn." Her voice came out quietly.
She could create the sensation of an electric shock, like what she had done to Ash at the hot spring pool, but couldn't control it like an elemental. The electricity entering from that bullet was the type that worked from the outside, and her body had no way to expel it quickly.
"Ha, got you," Jason muttered while snapping his fingers.
A metal net shot from behind the still thick cloud of dust, opening in the air and falling to cover the figure's entire body before she could fully rise. The thin metal tightened on its own as it touched the ground, and the figure sat within its netting with knees on the ground.
Slow and steady footsteps were heard from behind the dust that was beginning to thin.
Jason walked forward with the large weapon in his right hand, its barrel still pointing downward. "When I was a kid, my mother always told me stories before sleep." His voice was casual. "Stories about beautiful fairies who guarded the mortal realm."
He stopped two steps from the netted figure. "What I always remembered from those stories was their weapons." His hand moved toward the figure's hoodie, pulling the cap back with one motion.
Bright green hair fell to the shoulders, and from between those strands, long pointed ears protruded to the left and right, their tips slightly raised.
"A light bow and arrow that appeared like magic." Jason stared at the face now uncovered in front of him, a face that looked too young for all the trouble it had caused. "Looks like you're lost, little fairy."
The elf woman growled, her body pushing left and right but the net gave no room. "Don't call me that."
Jason didn't respond, only nodded toward two people behind him.
***