The Red Light District a few days ago. Nico was inside his apartment sleeping through the day. He had a happy expression on his face as he slept.

*BAM!*

Suddenly his room exploded and he was flung out of his building where his body hit the asphalt.

“Ugh?!”

He groaned as his body bounced off the ground.

“What the fuck?!”

He sat up enraged from suddenly being woken up. He looked around and saw that he was surrounded by a group of thugs all carrying weapons.

“Who are you fuckers?”

“We’re-”

“On second thought I don’t care.”

Nico stood up and cracked his fingers and neck.

“You’re the fuckers who came here begging to be killed right?”

Nico took a step forward and the ground cracked open.

“Allow me to grant your request!”

Nico accelerated forward and punched the nearest thug in the face. A crushing sound resounded as his face visibly distorted. His body crashed into Nico’s apartment building.

“G-Get him!”

The thugs charged at Nico, who had a confident smile on his face.

*Bam!*

Suddenly lightning spikes erected from the ground and stabbed the men in their back and lift them into the air.

“Huh?”

However, Nico didn’t look pleased. That’s because the thugs were suddenly in a bodysuit.

“The lightning spikes aren’t penetrating….I see, those must be resistant to lightning attacks. It seems that they’re normally hidden until they detect electricity.”

He started grinning either way.

“You guys came prepared knowing that I’m a lightning user. But I don’t need to shock you or pierce you with lightning to kill you.”

He stomped the ground and the men spikes grew taller forcing the men higher into the sky.

“Argh?!”

The lightning may not be piercing or shocking them but it was still poking their backs, putting pressure on their spines as they lifted them up. Nico leaped into the air and stomped on one their chests. A cracking sound echoed as the thug’s body broke into the shape of an arrow head. Seeing their comrades gruesome fate, the others became paled.

“Hey.”

Nico called out to them while standing on the broken man.

“Have you’ve ever heard of the game Hopscotch? Basically you jump around from box to box after throwing a stone.”

He formed a ball of electricity in his hand.

“This is the rock and you’re the box.”

“W-Wait!”

“Let’s play!”

********

A few minutes later, Nico was standing in middle of the road that was filled with broken bodies.

“There’s nothing here to indicate which gang they’re a part of….Also, those suits are pretty high tech. I don’t think no ordinary gang could get their hands on this.”

He stooped down and picked up a gun.

“This is a pretty high-powered magic gun. Even I wouldn’t be able to tank one these bullets. These guys really came prepared to kill me.”

He kicked one of the men out of anger.

“It looks like what made me stay alive was the difference in experience. These guys aren’t that good at assassinations so I know that they’re not hired guns……Did a gang suddenly become wealthy without me knowing? Or is this the work of a newly formed gang who wants to use my head as a pathway to fame?”

Nico became silent for a while before speaking again.

“This could be a problem. So it’s better I call in the troops.”

*******

In the Red Light District, Miko was walking with the girls in the day. As usual there weren’t that many people walking about but Miko noticed that the number of people during the day time was slowly increasing.

“There’s a lot of tension in the air.”

Tia said.

“Looks like another gang war broke out. Well we should be fine in this territory since Jingo and the White Deers don’t really join wars for territory.”

Momo said.

Jingo was the name of the bartender Miko met when he first came here, and the White Deers was the name of his crime family.

“The problem is that this place isn’t under anyone’s rule. Everyone is gunning to become the king of this district.”

“You sound as if you want to become this city’s king.”

Miko shook his head at what Momo said.

“It’s not worth it.”

“Not worth it? I’ve heard that this place generates unbelievable amounts of money everyday. Not only that, important figures of this country are sure to have some ties to this place so you’d be able to get some dirt on them. Also this place lays at the heart of the country and is also connected to all the other major cities which makes it great place to set up your base. In a way, if you control this place you control the country.”

“That’s why it’s a neutral zone. MYTH declared this place as a neutral zone to prevent the government from gaining too much power. In fact, they probably built this place to purposely disrupt the country.”

“Why?”

Ishma asked.

“To mess with those in charge. Whether it was Bloom or her predecessors is unknown.”

Miko spoke while looking around.

“Taking this place will make you the enemy of every government faction and anyone who wants to rule this place. In other words, anyone who rules this place will become the enemy of the rest of the country. The government probably made sure that no gang would unite this city under their banner by getting rid of anyone who becomes too powerful.”

“They’re keeping the balance, huh.”

While they were talking they arrived at the bar that was the base of the White Deers.

“Ah, Mikel.”

When they entered Jingo greeted Miko from behind the bar counter. Miko was using the name Mikel

Roca while he was in this city.

“Yo, Jingo.”

Miko approached the counter with the girls.

“I haven’t seen you here in some time. What’s you been up?”

“Nothing much. I just felt like taking a break. I can’t spend all my time in a place like this with the family. I need to make it feel like we’re on an actual vacation.”

“I see, I see.”

“By the way, Jingo. The atmosphere seems a little tense. What’s going on?”

Jingo sighed.

“A big war is about to happen.”

“Oh? How big?”

“I think it will reach even here.”

“Really? Isn’t this like the most peaceful part of the city? Are you being forced to participate?”

“You could say that. Have you heard of the Usurpers?”

“Yeah. They’re one of the biggest gangs in the city but they normally lay low until another group appears who can challenge them. They then crush that group before laying low again. I think they’re called the Uncrown Kings of the Underworld.”

“As expected, your information networks are top notch.”

Jingo nodded.

“Well, a few days ago one of the leaders of the Usurpers was attacked by an unknown group. He killed them all but attacking someone like that is a big deal, there’s no way they would let it slide. The problem though is that the group that attacked him isn’t just a single gang, it’s a coalition of dozens of small gangs.”

“I see, and your gang is a part of it.”

Jingo nodded.

“We recently joined after a representative of the coalition convinced us.”

Jingo sighed.

“You don’t seem so eager.”

“I’m never eager for bloodshed but this is necessary for survival.”

“I see. If you refused they would destroy your gang and it’s not like you can ask the Usurpers for help either. So you had no choice.”

“That’s it. But there are benefits.”

Jingo took out a gun and placed it on the counter.

“What’s this?”

“An anti-magic gun. The bullets this thing fires pierces through all magic attacks and hit their target.”

“Oh? Sounds expensive.”

“It is But I was given over 50 of them.”

“What?”

“All who joins the coalition are given high tech weapons like these. This makes our chances against the Usurpers leveled.”

“…..Who funds the coalition?”

“I have no idea but they must be rich and powerful to get their hands on these.”

“What are the chances of it being someone related to MYTH?”

“….I’ll say about 50:50. It wouldn’t be the first that MYTH did something like this but I think that they would’ve given more equipment to the coalition if they really want the Usurpers gone.”

Miko pondered Jingo’s words.

(Could it be Bloom? Or maybe a Pillar? I don’t have enough info….)

Miko smiled.

“No.”

Momo suddenly said.

“Huh? I didn’t say anything.”

“You said it yourself. You’re on vacation. There’s no need to get involved. Also if you do ,there’s a high chance that you’ll make an enemy out of Bloom. It isn’t worth it.”

“She’s right. There’s benefit of having this country as an ally rather than an enemy, you said so yourself.”

Tia added.

“I think you should listen to the ladies, Mikel. This will definitely get ugly; you should stay out of this.”

“Tsk. Alright, fine. I’m on vacation so I’ll just spectate from the sidelines.”

Tia and Momo smiled and nodded.

“Good, there are many ways outside of battle where you can enjoy yourself.”

“You’re right.”

Miko looked at Jingo.

“For example, drinking! Jingo, give me a bottle of your signature White Deer Rum! I’m going to party!”

“It’s still noon!”

“No, Momo. It’s already noon! Drinks on me! I’m wishing you all good luck in your upcoming battles!”

“Alright!”

The members of White Deer all started cheering and thanked Miko for his offer. In this room of constant cheering and laughter, only one person sat down calmly in a corner and watched on as if they were a spectator.

“What the? So he isn’t going to join the war? That’s a bit of a let down, and here I was hoping to see him in action.”

The person took a sip of their drink with a bored look on their face.

“Well, it’s true that he won’t benefit much from joining this war, so he made the logical the decision.”

They looked at Momo and Tia.

“Although, I feel that if Tiamat and the Midnight Witch wasn’t here he would’ve joined in an heartbeat…..Could that be the reason why he brought them here with him? To be his voice of reason? If so, then he knows himself pretty well.”

They stood up and walked past everyone who were drinking and celebrating. This included Miko and his group.

“……”

They silently past them and exited the building.

“Hm?”

“What’s wrong?”

Ishma asked when she saw Miko looking outside.

“…..It’s nothing.”

********

Later that day, Miko and his group left before sunset as they usual do. It was when they were leaving the district that they had an unusual meeting. Someone was standing down the road with their back facing the sunset. The light from the sunset made it hard for you to see their features but a small smile was visible to them.

“You didn’t jump into the war. You made the right choice, Miko.”

The person started applauding. Miko looked at the person before smiling.

“I see, so you’re my observer.”

“That’s right.”

The sun finally set and revealed the person to Miko.

“My name is Jin Makoto.”