It was clear that Felt possessed immense confidence in Old Man Rom. However, in Satoru Gojo's eyes, that confidence was lacking a solid foundation.
"Felt."
Satoru looked down at Felt and suddenly spoke. "If I help you deal with this lady, can we shave something off my debt?"
"Huh?"
"Are you trying to rob me while the house is on fire?" Felt immediately looked at Satoru with suspicion, her penny-pinching nature kicking in. To her, money was more important than life itself. "Old Man Rom is more than enough for her. At most... at most, since you just pulled me out of the way, I'll give you a discount of one silver... no, eighty copper coins!"
"Really?" Satoru asked playfully. "But it looks to me like Old Man Rom is about to lose."
"Impossible—"
Felt snapped her head back toward the fight. On the surface, it still seemed like Old Man Rom held the upper hand. The woman didn't dare take a direct hit from his club and continued to dodge and retreat.
But the warehouse was only so large. Soon, she was backed into a corner, her range of movement shrinking by the second.
"Stay down!"
Rom seized the opening. As he pinned her against the wall, he raised his club high over his head and swung it down with zero regard for "chivalry."
At that exact moment, a faint, blood-red glint flashed within the woman's dark eyes, and the smile on her lips grew icy. A cold light streaked through the air.
Even Felt's heart leaped into her throat, for she realized something was terribly wrong. The woman hadn't been losing; she had been retreating to lure Rom away from the others, creating a gap where no one could provide immediate backup. Now that the conditions were met, she bared her fangs.
Old Man Rom clearly hadn't expected this. The act of raising his club had left his guard wide open. Seeing the cold glint approaching rapidly, it was already too late to defend. His only choice was to put everything into the downward swing, hoping to force her back or take her down with him.
Rom's intent was brave, but the gap in strength couldn't be closed by willpower alone.
Crack.
When the sound came from his wooden club, Rom knew it was over. His plan and his attack were utterly useless against this viper-like woman. She was far stronger than he had imagined—much, much stronger!
"Old Man Rom!" Felt screamed, losing her voice.
The woman gripping the kukri was already anticipating the spray of hot blood.
"I think this is worth at least one Holy Gold coin, don't you?"
Just as Subaru and Felt expected blood to splatter the scene, a white-haired head popped up right in front of Rom's burly frame, speaking enthusiastically to Felt.
"Uh..."
With Satoru Gojo's sudden appearance between the two, the intense, murderous atmosphere was instantly diluted. For a moment, everyone—Subaru and Felt watching from the side, Rom who had nearly died, and the woman who had nearly succeeded—stared at this guy with very complicated expressions.
When did he get over there?!
This question rose simultaneously in everyone's minds. Not only had the two combatants failed to notice him, but even Felt and Subaru, who were standing right next to him, had no idea when he had vanished.
"This is no time for daydreaming, you know," Satoru's voice rang out again.
Accompanying his voice was the sound of Rom's thick wooden club being sliced clean in half, the pieces hitting the floor. Seeing this, Felt didn't care about anything else. For her, saving money was so she could leave the slums with Rom and live a better life. If Rom was gone, none of it mattered!
"Whether it's one coin or ten, whatever you want! Just don't let anything happen to Old Man Rom!"
"OK!"
A deep curve formed on Satoru's lips, revealing his pearly white teeth as he flashed an "OK" sign at Felt. "Leave the rest to me."
As he spoke, Rom's massive body suddenly seemed to lose all weight, gently bouncing back until he landed safely beside Felt.
"Old Man Rom! Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Felt rushed forward, her voice trembling with concern.
Rom looked down at his chest. Because of his Giant heritage, his chest hair was usually thick, but now a large patch of it was missing, as if it had been sheared off by something. Rubbing his chest, Rom spoke with lingering fear.
"Fortunately, young Satoru stepped in. I'm not wounded, otherwise... I'd likely be dead by now."
Hearing Rom's words, Felt's heart finally settled a bit. If anything had happened to him, she would have regretted it for the rest of her life.
On the other side, having tagged Rom out, Satoru Gojo let out a lazy stretch, his joints popping. He looked at the woman, then twisted his waist left and right before squatting down to stretch his legs—starting a warm-up routine right in front of the enemy.
"I assume you don't mind if I do some warm-up exercises," Satoru said. However, his tone wasn't a request for permission; it was merely a self-centered notification.
"What an interesting fellow."
Unfortunately, the woman had no intention of giving him time to warm up. The moment he lowered himself into a stretch, she lunged with her kukri, moving like a phantom as she launched her attack.
Satoru, however, acted as if he hadn't noticed at all, continuing his warm-up.
"Young Satoru!"
Rom's eyes widened, and he started to shout a warning, but Felt pulled on his arm, signaling him not to interfere. While Felt didn't know the full extent of Satoru's power, she knew one thing for sure: Satoru Gojo was no idiot. If he was acting like this, he definitely had the confidence to handle her.
Sure enough, as the woman reached Satoru and swung her blade, something bizarre happened.