Blossomhyl

"Your entry is not authorized."

Natsuo shifted his gaze from one guard to the other. He sighed and took out the missive from the Unit.

"I’m sorry, but I’ve got an invitation" he replied.

One of the sentries took the missive from his hands, skeptical. After reading it, they checked the seal and they were shocked to ascertain that it was authentic. Both of them shivered.

"We’re sorry for our mistake, please, forgive us. Welcome to Blossomhyl, honorable Himura Natsuo" one of them said.

They gave him back the missive and let them pass. Olive let out a sigh of relief. For a moment she thought they travelled all the way there for nothing.

They crossed the gates and entered a narrow cobbled street surrounded by houses and shops, all side by side. The road was trafficked by carts, people and animals, so they proceeded slowly. The noise of chatter assailed them as soon as they got into the city.

Olive glanced outside the cart, curious to see what the capital city looked like. There were a lot more houses than in Wisteria Town, but they were smaller and all stuck together. She couldn’t imagine so many people living so close to each other. The cathedral’s bell tower stood out above everything else: it was very tall and probably could be seen from any part of the city.

After some time, she sat back comfortably and glanced at Gregory in front of her. Inevitably, her eyes fell on the dragon tattoo on his right arm. She didn’t know it symbolized his belonging to the criminal group. She wanted to ask him about it, but she was afraid to hurt him.

When they were away from the guards, Natsuo felt safe enough to talk about it.

"You could have told us you had that group’s logo printed on your entire arm" he said in a sarcastic tone.

Gregory lowered his gaze, feeling guilty.

"I thought you knew" he replied.

"No, I thought it was just a cool tattoo. Whoever chose it as a logo has good taste."

"Natsuo!" Olive scolded him.

"Yeah, yeah, I know it’s a criminal group. This will cause us more problems than I thought." He sighed helplessly. "Why is it called “Children of Dragon”, though?"

"Because our leader calls himself Dragon and he founded the group. No one knows his true identity" replied Gregory.

"This is so edgy" commented Natsuo.

"This is what?" asked Olive.

"Nothing, don’t worry. Is there a way to erase the tattoo?"

Gregory shook his head.

"It’s impossible, because once you enter, you can’t escape."

"Obviously" commented Natsuo bitterly.

Olive shuddered. She felt sorry for Gregory: even if he wanted to start a new life, the mark of his past mistakes will always haunt him, no matter what.

"I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have come with you" Gregory murmured.

Even if he said it in a low voice tone, Olive heard him.

"Don’t say that, we’re happy to have you in our band. Soon you’ll show to the world the new version of yourself and you’ll be able to leave the past behind you." She smiled at him. "It must be difficult now, but you did the right thing. I trust Natsuo, he changed my life completely and I’m sure the same will happen to you."

"Yeah, don’t worry about it. We’ll handle the problems, it’s not a big deal, and I’m sure that, when you’ll be able to perform, everyone will love you so much to forget about the meaning of that dragon. Think positive, at least you got a cool tattoo" added Natsuo.

Gregory slightly smiled, reassured by those words.

"Thank you, guys. I’ll practice as much as I can to improve, I can’t wait to perform together with you."

Olive nodded happily.

The cart reached a crossroad. Natsuo scanned the winding streets in front of him, completely lost.

"Anyways, do you know where the Unit’s headquarters is?" he asked.

"Yes, turn right, then go straight on" replied Gregory.

"Thank you, you’re my saviour."

Natsuo led the cart through various streets that all looked alike, until they reached a rampart made of a gray stone.

This area of the city was empty, no one walked around and the chatter couldn’t be heard anymore.

In front of the rampart’s gates, there were sentries with the same uniform that Thomas wore when he delivered to Natsuo the missive. They were Anti-Silence Unit soldiers.

"This the Anti-Silence Unit headquarters" said Gregory.

Natsuo led the cart closer to the entrance and the soldiers guarding the gates immediately greeted him with a military salute.

The gates opened and they let them pass without questions. They probably recognized Natsuo.

Inside the rampart there was a vast open space and, at the end of it, a huge building shaped like a horseshoe made of gray stone. The atmosphere was tense and grave.

A soldier showed them where they could park the cart and guided them to the entrance in the front of the building.

"Our leader, Richard More, would like to talk to you as soon as possible. Follow me inside."

The soldier guided them through a bunch of corridors and stairs. The building was more enjoyable inside: the walls were painted blue and the light entered from the window, illuminating the rooms.

They stopped in front of a dark wooden door. The soldier knocked and someone invited him to enter.

The guy who guided them opened the door and let Natsuo and the others enter first, then closed it.

In the room there was a desk made of dark lucid wood and a man in his forties was sitting behind it. When the three stepped in the room, his eyes sparkled.

"Himura Natsuo, what a pleasure having you here! I’m Richard More, the head of the Anti-Silence Unit, delighted to make your acquaintance." He smiled politely. "As you might have imagined, I wanted you to come here because I have an offer for you."