The Lavender Wolf

Several minutes have passed since Shouya and Alisa have started searching for the thief. Shouya had searched high and low, even in alleyways to search for him, but he was nowhere to be found. He also asked some people in this city if they know about the thief’s whereabouts, but unfortunately, they shook their heads and responded with either: “Sorry, I’ve never seen him before” or “I’ve never met this person in my life”. Even some of the citizens he asked are giving him sympathies because his money was stolen.

As for Alisa, on the other hand, he cannot say for sure if someone has told her they have actually found where the thief is or not. Shouya would worry about what would happen to her if he is separated from him for too long, but his mind was too focused on one objective; find the thief and take back the stolen money.

Damn it, why did it have to me? Out of everyone else in this city, why is it me that I have to get involved in this situation? If it were someone else that got their money stolen, I would just ignore it. It’s not my problem if their money was stolen. Let someone else help you with that, just don’t drag me into this.

After a short while of looking for the thief, Shouya just couldn’t find where that man was. Finding only one man in a large city like Vincilos is just simply impossible. There are too many people to figure out where he is hiding that it would take hours—or maybe days—to find him. It’s like finding a needle in a haystack.

All that Shouya can only do is to sigh.

It’s no use. What is the point in finding him? He may have already been gone if all I know. You know what? Forget it. Let him keep my money, I don’t need it anymore. Maybe I should tell Alisa to call off the search.

That is all that Shouya can only do; give up. He does not even have the courage or motivation to find the thief and decides to give up the search. All he could do now is to search for Alisa and tell her I couldn’t find him. Mission failed.

That is all he could ever do, and that is all what Shouya has to say to her. Nothing more and nothing less.

All right, I guess I should find her and—

“Woah!”

Before he can even think about anything else, Shouya quickly dodges to avoid an upcoming projectile that was in front of him.

What was thrown was ordinary clay pottery that was often used for plants, fruits, or used as a decoration. Now it has been shattered into multiple little pieces splattered on the ground. Who would do such a thing to break someone’s property?

Shouya surveys around the area to find the source where the pottery was thrown from. Then he found the source where it came from. There is a man leaning against the doorframe as another object is thrown past him.

What was going on over there?

“Oh boy, it’s them.”

“Wait, the Blue Sharks are at it again?!”

“Do you think they will ever stop?”

“Are you kidding’? Those bastards are the worst! They’ll never stop.”

“Shh, quiet! What if they hear you?”

“So what?! They can come at me for all I care! I can’t wait to stick my foot up into their asses!"

Overhearing the crowd’s negative mutters and whispers about the current situation made a confused look on Shouya’s face. He asked the two beast-men that are closest to him and questioned what was going on.

“Excuse me. What are the Blue Sharks?”

“Oh? You don’t know the Blue Sharks?”

“The Blue Sharks are the nefarious gang members in this city. They always like to trash other people’s lives who get in their way just for money.”

Ah, so they’re basically the yakuza.

The yakuza are usually known for having large amounts of crime rates in Japan; robbery, drugs, and sometimes even homicide. They can also be acquainted as loan sharks; they are willing to loan you money, however, it comes with a cost. If you do not pay them back, they can make your life a living hell.

Shouya has sometimes seen them on the news, but he has never encountered a yakuza in person, so he does not have any experience talking—or even making a deal—with them before, nor wants to get involved with them.

“Do you have any idea why they are doing this?”

“I don’t know, but I do hear the people who live owe them a crap-ton of money. But I doubt those bastards owe anything, they don’t owe shit.”

“It seems that you guys hated them so much.”

“They’ve been doing this for almost a year now. If they continue to do this, I’ll pick a fight with the boss himself and kick his ass.”

Hearing the two beast-men having a grudge against the Blue Sharks is believably understandable. If you were in a position like this, what would you do? Would you stay still and do nothing while they beat you or your loved ones, or fight back and save your home and the people you love? It may sound like a cliche trope that you see on TV, but if this was in Shouya’s case, he would be in a whole lot of trouble.

Before Shouya could ask more about them, Beast-man B looked back at the store and noticed something.

“Say, I don’t know if it’s just me, but does that store look familiar to you?”

“Ah! You’re right! Those idiots don't know who they’re dealing with! Can you get boss here?!”

“Aye, you got it!”

Doing as Beast-man A told, Beast-man B quickly rushes off and begins to find the person who calls him “boss”.

Boss? Do they know someone that is actually strong enough to beat these guys? Well, as much I would love to see those guys get beaten, I think I should get back to—

“Do you know where you hide the money?”

“—!”

Before Shouya heads out to find Alisa, his legs stop and his ears begin to perk up as he hears a voice coming from behind him. He turned around to see the place where it is being raided by the Blue Sharks.

Wait a minute, I remember that voice!

That is the voice that Shouya had heard before not too long ago. It just happened recently that it was not that difficult to forget, and he was in front of Shouya’s face this whole time.

The man leaning on the doorframe is none other than the man he was searching for; the thief.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make it quick. If you tell me where the money is, my men and I will leave here as soon as possible, and you can return to your normal lives.”

Inside the house, there was a dog-eared woman, and behind her were two small children, cowering in fear. The three of them are helpless, defenseless, and all they can do is do nothing while their home is getting destroyed by those vile thugs.

“And why should I give all my money to you?! You don't deserve it. We worked so hard to get this money with our blood and sweat, you just followed what your boss tells you to do. So I won’t ask again, would you please leave our store?”

“We’ll leave once we come to what we’re looking for. So do you mind telling us where it is?”

“You mean this? Ptoo!”

Just like that, the dog-eared woman spit under the thief’s left eye. He used his right hand to wipe the spit off of his eye.

“Don’t you underestimate me, you red-haired bitch!”

Enraged with anger, he backhand slaps the woman with the same hand he wiped off the spit with. The two children cried out to the fallen dog-woman who was hit by the thief.

“Mama!”

“I'll say it again, where is the money?”

His attitude makes the situation even worse. If she does not give him the money that he was told, then her life could be in dire. I wished that there was someone from the crowd to help her and her kids, but no one is willing to take the stand.

However...

“S-Stop!”

Someone stepped forward as they finally took a stand from the problematic situation. That person was none other than Shouya.

D-Did I really just say that?

Shouya looked around if there was anyone else who had stepped forward, but he could only see the crowd that is right behind him. He looked down at his feet and saw the position where he was. He is in front of the entry to the store.

Before, he was right next to the beast-men that he was talking to about the situation. Now Shouya, for whatever reason, chooses to take a stand against the thief’s actions.

The thief squinted his eyes as he recognized Shouya’s appearance.

“Oh, hey! It’s you.”

“Y-You better give me my money back! I really need it badly.”

“Oh, you mean this?”

The thief reached into his pocket and took it out of it. It was Shouya’s wallet.

“Yes! So can you give it back, please? If you do, I promise that I will never get in your way again.”

It seems like instead of trying to stop the problem, Shouya tries to beg the thief to return the money to its rightful owner.

“Give it back to you? I think you don’t understand. If I found something and picked it up, that means it’s mine. Besides, I deserve good pay.”

“Then how about I’ll do whatever you want. I can join your team and be a good asset.”

“Just save it! Even though you try to offer me something, I ain’t giving it back to you. Besides, we already have enough people in our group, so we ain’t looking for more recruitments. So scram! I’m in the middle of business here.”

No matter how many times Shouya tries to beg, even offering to join the Blue Sharks, the thief will not return the stolen money. Perhaps there are no other ways to get him to return the money back to Shouya; the only option left is to give up and let him keep the money for himself.

If Alisa was here, she could maybe save those children and the mother. If Gunther was here, he could take on the thief by himself. But unfortunately, both of those people are not here. Even if Shouya could get them to this place, the thief might have already been gone at that point, and the fate of the mother has already been sealed.

However, there is another option…

“I guess I have no choice then…”

With no other options left, Shouya decides to take on the thief by himself. He raises both of his arms up to his chest level and slightly distances his left leg from his right, putting Shouya in an awkward fighting stance.

“Is he serious? Is going to fight them like that?!”

“That stance is so bad that it’s hilarious!”

“My god, this is going to be embarrassing.”

“Yeah, he’s not gonna last long. Rest in peace, my friend. At least you’ve tried.”

Based on the crowd’s reactions, they already knew what the outcome was going to be without having Shouya to fight the thief. Some of them even laughed and insulted him for having a weird and poor fighting stance, while others covered their heads with their hands out of embarrassment.

Shouya does not have experience fighting with anyone before, he just mimics the stance from watching anime and playing video games back in his world. He was not taught how to fight and he did not want to. But he has no choice but to fight.

“Do you honestly think that you can take me down?”

“...”

If I have to be honest, no, I can’t. But it is worth trying it out, I guess.

“Nothing to say, eh? Alright then, prove it.”

With his hands clenched into a fist and baring his teeth, Shouya charges in head first. He prepares his right hand and launches it into the thief. This is his chance; his chance to redeem himself what he is capable of and take back what was rightfully—

“Tch, too easy.”

In a blink of an eye, the thief swayed his body to the left, dodging the incoming punch. That attack is just too easy, too predictable, he can see Shouya's attack from a mile away.

How did he let that slip by? Is it possible that he can see the future? No, it is not because of that. It’s because Shouya's attack is too basic. It is something that an amateur would do.

Shouya is untrained, unskilled, and most importantly, unable to stand a chance against someone who has more experience in this place than him.

“My turn.”

After dodging such a weak and pathetic attack, the thief uses his right hand to jab Shouya in the gut. Then after that, he punched him in the face. In just two punches, Shouya is already on the ground. That is all it takes to end the fight.

The impact from the punches felt so hard that Shouya clenched his own gut and lay on the floor as he drove in pain.

“Wait, is that really it? I guess I’ve overestimated you. And here I thought you’re gonna put up a fight. But no, you’re just a dog who doesn’t know how to bite back.”

H-He’s right, I don’t know how to fight. I guess it was a mistake to fight him. I should’ve never gotten involved in this. I should’ve run away if I had the chance.

But Shouya has already chosen his fate. If he’d instead chosen to ignore the situation, he would’ve been fine, unharmed, and even minding his own business. He should’ve let someone do it for him; someone stronger and maybe even braver than him, but Shouya has already volunteered himself, it is already too late to change his mind.

Damn it, it hurts… If I can’t beat him, I can’t get my money back. No, I can’t lose. C-Come on body. Stand up!

Shouya tries to use his arms and legs to push himself off the floor, but his body refuses to listen to him and remains on the floor. His body is so weak, so fragile. It’s like he could cry at any moment.

“Now, where was I? Oh yeah!”

The thief turned around and looked back at the dog-eared woman with an ugly smug on his face. Then, he reached out his hand to grab the little girl by the arm. He reaches into his pocket and takes out a small dagger, the size of a pocket knife, and points it in front of the little girl’s right cheek. This situation has now turned into a hostage situation.

“No, stop!”

“Last time I’m going to say this. Either you give us the money, or I’ll kill your little girl.”

Shouya didn’t think this through when it comes to a situation like this. If the thief uses the little girl as a hostage and with a weapon in hand, he won’t stand a chance against him. If he tries to approach him, he would kill the little girl, or maybe even Shouya if he attempts to do something reckless.

He struggles himself to get himself to stand up before things could get worse, but his body doesn’t respond. He does not have the strength to lift himself up. All he can do is do nothing but watch the torture in front of his eyes.

“Okay, I’ll give you the money. But don’t hurt my little girl!”

The dog-woman heads to the cash register near her as she fearfully places the money into a small bag.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of her.”

“Uhh, Clugil. Don’t you think that’s a little too much?”

One of the thief's henchmen raised an objection and actually gave his own opinion. He’s a large chubby cat-man who has red fur all over his body and is two times larger than anyone in his team. That large cat man may look intimidating by size and body build, but he has a pure heart of gold.

However, the thief who is in charge, otherwise known as Clugil, is having none of it.

“Oh just shut it! Ah, I forgot. You’re a family man, aren’t you, Touya? Do you want your wife and child to keep living in that worn out crappy place you call home?”

“N-No…”

“Then shut the hell up and don’t interfere with me! Also, don’t call me by my real name! You call me sir, got it!?”

“Yes, sir.”

Touya muttered as he looked down on the floor and do nothing but obey Clugil's command.

There is no other way to save the little girl, not even the minion’s reasoning can help her. And with no one's help, the girl may as well be good as dead.

The woman finishes loading the bag full of money and holds it out to Clugil.

“There, I’m done. Now can you please release my daughter?”

“That depends. Raiji, would you mind doing me a favor?”

“Way ahead of ya.”

Following his command, Raiji takes the bag from the dog-woman’s hand and hands it to Clugil. Raiji, unlike his feline friend, is a dog-like human with a huge scar from his left eye all the way down to his left side of his lip. He is around the same size as Clugil with his raggy-looking clothing on top of his brown fur.

Clugil looks inside the bag to see he got what he wanted.

“On second thought, we won’t be having a trade.”

He turned the bag upside down to see eight gold coins being scattered on the floor. It looked like it wasn’t enough to cover the cost.

“I thought we had a deal!”

“This isn’t nearly enough to cover our deal. I thought you’d be rich if you’re running a business like this, guess I was wrong.”

“If you could give us a couple of days…”

“I don’t think there’s any time for that. You’ve failed to give us what we wanted, now you pay the price.”

Not only will Clugil not release the girl, but he wants more money if he is ever going to release her. And the woman does not have any more to give him. Shouya would’ve paid them on the woman’s behalf, but thanks to Clugil stealing the money beforehand, that idea wouldn’t work.

“Then I’ll offer you my body!”

“Will you now?”

“You can do whatever you want with me, but if you let my little girl go, I’ll be yours.”

This has peeked Clugil’s interests as the dog-woman boldly declared that she will offer her body in favor of freeing the girl.

If this deal actually succeeds, he would let go of the little girl unharmed, but at the same time, this will take away the mother from her children.

“Will you accept it?”

Clugil briefly closed his eyes and thought about the woman’s offer. Then, he opens his one eye as he gives her an answer.

“That’s really thoughtful of you. I gotta say, you do have a fine body.”

“Great! Now just let her go—”

“But I’m gonna have to say no.”

The woman's lips froze still as she heard Clugil declined the offer. This was her only chance to get her daughter back, now every opportunity to get her back has been shut down, and Clugil, holding the girl at knifepoint, is having none of it.

“You spit on my face, you have no money, and you’ve ruined a perfectly good suit. But when it comes to your daughter, now you decided to bribe me? You deserve to get punished. And you know what? I’m gonna deliver it, starting with your kid!”

Clugil raises his arm with the dagger in hand as he is about to begin to stab the poor little girl.

In the end, neither of them couldn’t even save the little girl. They tried everything they could to save her, but it came to no avail.

No! That as if Shouya wanted to shout out, but he quickly shut his eyes as he did not want to see the brutal outcome that is about to happen—

“What the—”

“Get your hands off of my daughter…”

Just before Clugil was about to stab the girl, Shouya suddenly heard a voice. He slowly opens his eyes and he sees a large wolf-man holding the arm where Clugil has the dagger on him with his bare hand.

He was more than six feet tall and his entire body was covered in short lavender-colored fur around him, with his dark-purple mane tied on the back of his head, decorated to be like a ponytail. He wore some sort of beige overalls over his well-built and muscular body.

No way. Finally someone to the rescue.

Shouya couldn’t help but feel relieved that someone actually managed to save the girl. However, as much as Shouya was glad to see someone actually stepping up, the wolf-man’s angry look says otherwise as Clugil attempted to stab the girl—or in this case, the wolf-man’s daughter.

Before he could get a chance to see the outcome of this ordeal, he immediately blacked out and fell unconscious.

❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋

“I’ll say it again, let go of my little girl and leave, or else.”

“Or else what?! Do you really think you can stop m— Aaagh!!”

Before Clugil can say more, the wolf-man uses his other arm to hit the arm that he is holding by the elbow. He hit him so hard that he can actually hear the bones of Clugil’s arm break. After that devastating blow, Clugil finally releases the little girl as she runs towards her mother who was on the floor

“I was going to let you all go, but if you all messed with my family, you will regret it.”

“You bastard! Touya, Raiji , kill him!”

Clugil commands both Touya and Raiji to try to take down the large wolf-man. Raiji takes out a pair of short swords behind him while Touya, instead of having a weapon on him, uses his bare hands to attempt to take him down.

“You’ll regret messing with us!”

Both of them charge at the wolf-man with Raiji being five feet ahead of Touya. The swift Raiji took a winding arc to swing his swords at the wolf-man.

The wolf-man quickly dodges the attack before it can get to him and then he counters it with an uppercut. The force of the wolf-man’s uppercut pushed Raiji to the other side of the room, but luckily he stopped himself by landing on all fours.

“Hyah!”

Touya launches a straight jab towards the wolf-man. He blocks the attack with his arms raised in front of his face. Touya continued to keep attacking the wolf-man and the wolf-man kept on blocking his punches. But then…

“Gotcha!”

As Touya is going for another strike, the wolf-man parries the attack and hits Touya with a hard jab to the abdomen, then proceeds with a spinning roundhouse kick, sending Touya slamming himself into the wall.

Raiji lunges towards the wolf-man, attempting to slash him. But with the wolf-man’s fast reaction time, he dodges the attack and throws him into the wall. He quickly landed on the wall with his feet, and then, with intense speed, Raiji bounced off the wall to try to land a hit on him. The wolf-man dodges past him, but Raiji bounced off another wall to charge at him and successfully got a clean hit on the left shoulder. Raiji bounces off another wall to attempt to go in for another attack. The wolf-man can try to dodge the next attack, but...

“Hoooh!”

“—!!”

Before the wolf-man can even attempt to dodge the next attack, Touya intercepts him by striking in front of him. He had no choice but to block the attack. And while the wolf-man blocks Touya’s attacks, Raiji uses his chance and cuts him on the wolf-man’s exposed back with his sword, leaving a large cut behind him.

The combination between the tiger-man’s slow but powerful strikes and the dog-man’s weak, but swift and agile cuts are a dangerous combination. The wolf-man has nothing to defend himself; no shield, no armor, not even some sort of magic to defend himself from harm, but the wolf-man is not giving up. He continues to hold his ground, enduring the hits that he has taken.

Both of the children couldn’t do anything but let out a yell while holding on to their mother’s clutches. Meanwhile, Clugil laughs maniacally as he sees the wolf-man getting cut up by Raiji’s blades and being beaten by Touya’s fists.

“You see!? This is what happens if you mess with me! Nobody messes with me!”

“That’s where you’re wrong.”

“What was that?”

Clugil looked back at the person who said it. It was a red-haired woman with dog-like ears. Instead of looking at despair, she smiled, as if there’s actually hope to this fight, despite the circumstances.

“I have known my husband for years, he and I fought guys that are way worse. He’ll never lose to assholes like you. Isn’t that right, Gin?”

“You...betcha! HHHUUUAAAHHH!!”

In response, the large wolf-man, whose name was Gin, let out a loud and gusty roar, blowing away anything that was around him, including the attackers. Clugil, even though he was close to victory, he was bewildered by what was going on.

“W-What the hell!? Hey, did I tell you to stop? Keep doing what you’re doing and kill him!”

He sends both Touya and Raiji to continue the fight; Raiji hopped on Touya’s arm and he tossed Raiji towards the wolf-man. Just as before he can cut him with his sword, Gin charges towards him and delivers a wide backfist jab, moving away Raiji that was in front of him. Luckily Raiji blocks the attack, but he still gets shoved out of the way.

“Heads up Touya! He’s heading towards you!”

Taking heed of Raiji’s warning, Touya became prepared and both of them clenched to each other. Their hands locked into each other, but Jin has the upper hand. With the strength he has, he pushes Touya down until his knees touch the floor, and then, he kicks the tiger-man’s face using his knee, sending him flying to the other side of the room and knocking him out.

“Damn you!”

After witnessing Touya’s defeat, Raiji charges towards Gin with a flying kick, but he raises his arms to block the incoming attack. Raiji proceeds to jump off of the wolf-man’s arms and lands on the wall with his feet and uses his intense speed to bounce off wall-to-wall. This was the same technique that he’d already used before.

“You can’t outmatch my speed! I’m the fastest member there is! There’s no way you can beat me!”

With this much speed, it seems likely that Raiji is indeed the fastest member of the Blue Sharks, however, this doesn’t faze Gin in the slightest. Raiji set his sight towards Jin and pounced off the wall to go for a direct attack towards him.

“Don’t think that same move will work on me this time!”

“Wha—?!”

But before he can reach him, Gin throws some sort of pottery with fully grown flowers towards Raiji. Raiji couldn’t dodge in midair, so he had no choice but to block the incoming pot. Gin uses this advantage and quickly grabs Raiji’s arm and throws him to the hard wooden floor of the shop repeatedly until he knocks him out cold.

He faced two of Clugil’s only men and defeated them all by himself. All that is left now is Clugil himself. Gin, who is covered with cuts and blood around his body, approaches Clugil, grabs him by the collar, and lifts him off of his feet from the ground.

“Now, leave my family and my store alone!”

Then after that, in a fit of rage, he kicks Clugil to the nearest entrance.

“Grr, d-damn you! Just you wait, asshole! When I come back, I’ll bring more men with me and they will kill you all of your kind!”

“Come and try! And if you do, I’ll break that other arm of yours!”

And with that, Clugil had fled from the store, leaving from Gin’s sights. He gave a sigh of relief as he chased off that criminal—that is Clugil—from the store and never invaded or harmed his family ever again—or at the very least, that’s what he hoped.

“Hey, are you alright? Hopefully they didn’t— arg!”

After Gin had kicked out Clugil and defeated his crew, he looked back to his wife and his two children, who were both saved by this large wolf. But he crouches himself on the wooden floor as he was both exhausted and in pain when he fought both Touya and Raiji.

“Papa!”

The two children quickly head towards their father who was badly wounded from the fight. But without any warning, they hug around their wounded father.

“Ah! E-Easy with your old man!”.

“I was so scared, Papa!”

“Me too, Papa! He was gonna hurt sis, I don’t know what to do!”

“Don’t worry, I ain’t letting nobody going to hurt you or your mother. If there are more bad guys coming, your daddy will ruff em’ up!”

The two children, both brother and sister, hugged Gin tightly as they began to tear up. They have seen terrible things that happened to this place. Thieves raided their home, their mother being hurt, and the little girl was nearly killed by Clugil. They were lucky to have a father that protected them.

As he’s being hugged by his children, the red-haired, dog-eared woman looks at him with a worried expression and sighs.

“I’m happy that you came for us, but you need to take it easy on yourself. Gosh, your body isn’t capable like you used to back in the day, you know.”

“I know, Enna, but I couldn’t let them hurt you or the kids, so it was the only way to protect you guys. You guys are meaningful to me. Didn’t I tell you before when we married? I’ll protect you with all my life, that's all that matters.”

“Gin...”

Enna’s worries begin to settle down as Gin states that he’ll risk his life for his wife and their children. That alone is enough to make her crack a smile—but only for a short while. After Jin promised that he would devote his life for her, she squeezed his black nose hard, causing Gin to cry out an “Ow!”.

“But what I would like to know is who gave you permission to use my flowers as throwing objects? I worked so hard growing them!”

“I’m sorry Enna, but it was the only way I can think of to stop his speed. I’d hate to admit it, but he was indeed fast.”

“You idiot! You moron! Y-You...pea-brained Kowler!”

“Ahh, AHH!”

Even if he did explain his reasoning to throw the flowerpot when he was fighting against Raiji, Enna couldn’t forgive Gin for what he had done. She repeatedly hits the mortally-wounded Gin, trying to get him to teach a lesson.

What Gin said isn’t actually wrong; if he hadn’t thrown the flowerpot and made one false move, he would’ve been killed by Raiji’s blades. Luckily, he made the right decision.

“Okay, okay! I won’t do it again, I swear! But please heal me?”

“Oh, right!”

He submits to her and begs her to heal him instead of hitting him. Enna placed her hands on top of her back, where the large gaping cut is in front of her, and emits a bright yellow light in front of her. The wound starts to close itself up and the blood starts to disappear as if nothing had happened.

After she closes the wound, Enna claps her hands together.

“There we go, all done.”

“Whew! Thanks! Now I’m back in tip top sha— ack!”

As Gin attempted to send his fist to the air, he still felt the pain inside of him. Even though the large cut had disappeared from his body, there are other cuts and bruises that are around his body.

“Hold it there, buck-o! Don’t think I’m not done. I still need to—”

“—Ah!”

But before Enna could say anything else, the little girl cried out and they turned their attention to what she’s looking at. It was Touya, who was getting up and standing in front of them.

“Oho? You wanna go for round two, big guy? Kn—!”

“Ah! Wait, don’t! It’s not finished!”

Gin attempts to get up to get into another fight with him, but due to his injuries, he couldn’t get himself up. His wife Enna warns him that his wounds haven't fully healed, but despite his injuries, Jin readies himself and takes a battle stance as he is ready to fight the remaining enemy that is in front of him.

However, Touya took a brief look at both the woman and the children and shook his head.

“I’d rather not get into fights that involve civilians, including children. Even if my boss is, well...cruel to others, I’m not the kind of person who does that.”

“I see... I respect that, thank you.”

As Gin hears Touya’s reasoning, his tensions soften as he doesn’t see him as a threat—at least for now. Then, Touya asks him a question.

“Mind if you tell me your name?”

“It’s Gin. Yours?”

“Touya. Touya Bagolna. I’ll see you again, Gin, and I can promise you that we'll fight fair next time.”

Touya picks up the unconscious Raiji from the floor and places him over his shoulder and leaves the store. Struggling to keep himself standing, Jin sat on the wooden floor. Enna sighs and resumes healing Gin’s wounds.

“Man, you really are a doofus.”

“Well, it is the only way to drive them off. Do you think they’ll believe that?”

“Oh it’s believable, alright.”

Enna gave a sarcastic banter to what Gin had said. Whether it was believable or not, Gin knows that if they do come back to this store, he’ll single-handedly face what was coming at him without a doubt.

While Enna continues to heal him, he turns to Enna and asks her a question.

“You know, I’ve heard that a boy came to your store to fight those guys. Is that true?”

“Oh, that’s right! Before you arrived, that boy did try to save us.”

Enna points to the boy who is down on the floor, who seemed like he was unconscious during the fight.

“So that’s him?”

“Mhm. Thank goodness that he came, albeit it only took one hit to knock him out. If he hadn't prolonged those guys, we would've lost both the shop and the children.”

“I see… I gotta thank him when he wakes up.”

He stroked his dark-violet beard as he became curious about the boy who had attempted to save Gin’s wife and children.

❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋

“Hey, kid. You’re alright?”

“Huh?”

Shouya opens his eyes and he sees the large, lavender-colored wolf-man in front of him. He sees the aftermath of what happened while he passed out; some of the flowerpots were destroyed and remains were scattered on the wooden floor and the interior of the store was damaged from the fight. This had left Shouya feeling a sense of drought when he saw the outcome of the store.

The wolf-man extends his large lavender arm to him, implying that he needs a lift off of the floor.

“You’re ok, boy? You were out for a couple of minutes.”

“Y-Yeah. I’m alright.”

Shouya grabs the wolf man’s large meaty hand and he lifts himself off the floor.

Wow! His fur is actually soft, and fluffy, too!

Even though wolf-man's arm is very muscular, it is layered with short lavender fur on top of it. There was also a creamy white fur on both his palms and the front part of his upper body. It feels very soft and smooth to the touch. Shouya had felt animal fur before, so it’s nothing new to him. But an actual living beast human's fur is something he has never felt before. So this is his first time experiencing what a beast human’s fur feels like.

After being lifted off from the floor, with the help from the large wolf-man, he patted Shouya on the shoulder.

“My wife told me what you did. If you haven’t stalled them long enough, I would just lose my shit. So thanks. The name’s Gin, by the way.”

“Oh, it’s Shouya. And you don’t have to thank me, really. I’m not really a good fighter.”

“Are you kidding? You did something that no one can do. That takes a lot of guts to face some crooks from the Blue Sharks.”

“Yeah, but…”

Gin praises Shouya for his heroic act to protect his wife and children, but Shouya keeps on denying it. It’s like he didn’t want to be praised by his lackluster act. Even though Shouya did try to save the mother and the children from harm, he doesn’t want to be praised for something he lacks.

“I think you were cool.”

A voice just spoke to Shouya. It was a little boy, clinging to Gin’s leg. Right next to him is his sister, who is holding Gin’s other leg. Looking at them up close, Shouya can see a clear look of the children.

The little boy has a dog-like frame just like his father. But unlike his father, Gin, the wolf boy’s muzzle is smaller, a frame that is almost shaped like a puppy. As for the little girl; she has a similar facial structure as her mother: Human-like face, dog-like ears and tail, and long hair just like her mother’s.

The differing factors of both wolf children are that the sister is slightly older than his brother—by two years, give or take—and their hair color is different; the dog girl’s hair, ears, and tail color is the same color as her father while the wolf boy’s fur color is the same as color his mother.

It comes to show that beast-humans can actually breed the same way humans can in this world as the genes from their respective parents are spread into their DNA.

As both of Gin’s children are thanking Shouya while they’re trying to hold back their tears. It’s like they are going to start crying at any moment.

“Yeah, you were very brave.”

“W-Without you, our home would’ve been destroyed.”

“Hey now, don’t cry you two. Your daddy is right here.”

Gin pats both of his children on their heads to ease their sadness before they can burst into tears.

“Sounds like they took a liking to you, huh Shouya?”

“I mean, I guess… Anyways, my name is Shouya. What are your names?”

“J-Jakki. That’s my sister, Gina.”

Oh man, how can I say no to those faces?

As the wolf children introduce themselves, Shouya can’t help it but sees their adorable puppy-like faces. He crouches down to the wolf children’s face level and he pats them on their heads.

“But yeah, your dad is right. You don’t have to worry. I’ll promise that as long as I’m here, I’ll protect your family.”

Man, I can’t believe I said the cheesiest line. It’s so bad that I wanna die.

“Y-You really mean it?”

“No! I mean, yes! I mean, man, there’s so many things wrapping around my head.”

“Maybe that guy has knocked you senseless. Why not stay here for the night?”

He offers Shouya that he can stay the night in their home. That is rather a generous offer that Jin put up. Since Shouya’s money was stolen by Clugil, he doesn’t have the money to buy food or stay another night at Gunther’s inn, so staying in Gin’s place is the only choice that Shouya has left.

“Are you sure if that is alright to let a stranger stay the night over at your place? I mean, we’ve only just met.”

“You did try to save my wife and children, it’s the least I can do to offer you something.”

“You don’t really have to, honest. I mean, is it all right with your wife and children?”

“Oh, we don’t mind having you staying in our place. We insist.”

Aside from Shouya and Gin, the dog-eared woman, Enna—who is also Gin’s wife—takes part in the conversation and offers him to stay at their place as well.

“Can he stay mama?”

“Yeah mister, please stay.”

Even the kids too?

Not only is the mother begging for Shouya to stay, but the siblings are also begging him to stay. The family really wants Shouya to stay at their place. Shouya can only sigh as he has no choice but to accept the offer.

“Alright, I guess I can stay for the night.”

Gin wraps his arm behind Shouya’s neck whilst the siblings cheered as they heard him accept the offer.

“Then it’s settled! C’mon, let’s make some tasty grub!”

“I can help out with cooking if you want.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that, I can take care of the cooking. But thank you for the kind offer. But I do need help with something. Can you help me clean this place?”

“Oh, sure!”

While Enna declines Shouya’s assistance to help her with cooking, she offers him help around the store. Shouya accepts it and helps her with cleaning the store. As much as Shouya would’ve liked to appreciate the hospitality that was given to him, he couldn’t help but feel an unpleasant feeling. But he decides to shrug it off and enjoy the moment.

❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋

“Dammit, dammit, dammit! I can’t believe I lost to that dog-faced bastard?! He can go to hell for all I care! And that slut that was with him too!”

Some time had passed since Clugil and his gang raided Gin’s store and got their butt kicked by Jin. Clugil and two of his members, Touya and the unconscious Raiji, escaped from the store and ran into the alley.

Suffered from humiliation, Clugil angrily kicks the dirt from the ground and kicks an empty can in front of him to the other side of the alley.

“But that boy… If he hadn’t interfered, we would have done a clean sweep! If I get a chance to see him again, I’m going to choke him to death!”

“Uhh, sir?”

“Then I chop off his arms, his legs, his tail, and his head and feed them to the pack of wolves and sell his organs to the black market!!”

“Sir…”

“And as for that bastard, Gin. I’ve always hated his kindness! I want to turn his fur into my coat and hunt down every last member of his race. Then I’ll kill his slut and sell their kids as slaves—”

“Sir Clugil!”

“WHAT!?”

Touya’s ears folded back as Clugil shouted with the top of his lungs at Touya with saliva crawling down from his mouth. He was only trying to get Clugil’s attention, but he ended up getting yelled at by him.

“—Ah!”

After looking at Touya, with a depressed look on his face, he realizes that his anger is getting into him; he couldn’t help but feel regret. Clugil takes out a napkin from his coat and wipes the saliva from his mouth. Then he calmly took a deep breath and looked back at Touya.

“Listen, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you. It was a habit of mine getting to my head again. Anyways, what is it?”

“While we were running away from the place, I’ve been thinking about how we're gonna tell the boss about this.”

“Ah, right. Him…”

Clugil places his fingers on his chin and strokes his imaginary beard as he is trying to come up with an idea of how he is going to tell his boss. If Clugil’s boss hears the situation about what happened at Jin’s store and failed their mission, he would give justice to them that Clugil and his minions wouldn’t want to imagine.

As agitated he is now, Clugil is afraid to return to his boss to report what went on at the store.

“If we tell him and hear about this, we're as good as dead! If we quit now, he’ll send hitmen to come and kill us! And this was my only last chance. I can’t afford to lose another!”

“Ugh… What happened?”

While Clugil continues to argue to himself, Raiji, who was knocked out during the conversation, starts to regain consciousness. Touya lays Raiji from his shoulder to the ground.

“Oh, good! You’re awake, Raiji.”

“Yeah. That guy got me good. That wolf guy got some moves, it was unbelievable. Anyways, did we beat him?”

As Raiji asks Clugil a question, Clugil looks down at the ground with an awkward look on his face. Raiji turns his eyes to Touya and he sees him giving the same reaction. Raiji takes notice of this and he slams his fist to the ground.

“Tsk! Damnit! Sorry boss. If only he hadn’t knocked me out, if I would’ve been stronger and my weakness hadn’t gotten in the way, it’ll be goodnight for him.”

“Hey, it’s not your fault.”

“Yeah, man. You’ve at least tried your best. Hate to admit it, but you fight better than me. That scar isn’t just for show, it was a gift. Believe me, I know.”

Clugil pats Raiji’s shoulders as Touya tries to cheer up his partner from his defeat against Jin. Then, Clugil snaps his fingers as if he has an idea—or rather, a scheme.

“I think I’ve come up with a solution, and I know how we are going to handle this.”

“Uhh, sir…”

“Huh, what is it?”

“They’re here.”

When Raiji warns Clugil what was coming, he and Touya turn their attention to who Raiji was pointing at. They see two men that are in front of them.

One is a slender short pale-skinned elf with messy hair, who is around the same height as Clugil. He is dressed in dark-red clothes, a dark-blue scarf, and wears a black mask that covers his mouth, leaving only his eyes visible.

The other is a dark-green scaled lizardman with a raggy shirt and pants. He is a foot shorter than Touya and has a very muscular build, but unlike his elf friend, the lizardman is missing an entire left arm up to the shoulder from his body. In place of his missing limb, he was given a long copper-coated metal arm that is attached by the shoulder. Even if he can’t feel it, he can still move, lift, and pick up things with it.

As they approach the thievish trio, Clugil gives a low growl at them, as if they are that kind of people that they don’t want to meet.

“What do you guys want?”

“Oh nothin’. We were just mindin’ our own business until we heard that some of our familiar members got their asses beat, so we just thought it would be yer guys’ weak ass. I knew that ya three are a complete joke!”

Word had gone out in the city that Clugil, Touya, and Raiji had been defeated by the likes of Jin. So not only the civilians had heard of this, but also other members of the Blue Sharks, too.

As the lizardman throws out some words to their fellow thug’s members with some strange accent of his, Clugil responds to him and rebuttals to his comment.

“Yeah, we got our asses beat. So what? It’s not like we lost a limb or anything.”

“What the hell did ya just say?!”

The lizardman’s attitude changes his expression from cocky to angry from Clugil’s comment. Given the context of what Clugil had said, it makes sense for him to be angry.

Before the lizardman is about to charge head-in to Clugil to pick a fight, the elf raises his hand in front of him, making him not engage in any combat.

“At ease, Pugar! We did not come here to fight, we came to give you a message.”

“A message? From who?”

“From Vikov himself.”

“The boss?!”

Both Touya and Raiji were surprised when the pale-skinned elf called out the name. To Clugil’s crew, Vikov is the leader of the Blue Sharks and the one who pulls the strings that cause havoc in Vincilos. He’s in charge of sending his men to go to people’s homes and wreck things if they don’t have the money. Anyone who dares defy or betrays the Blue Sharks will be killed.

Even upon hearing the name in front of them, Clugil clicked his tongue as if he sounded rather annoyed than interested.

“So the boss himself is sending his lackeys to send me a message. Anyways, what does he want?”

“He wants the three of you to return to base. He’ll need to have a word with you.”

“Wait, us? What for?”

“I cannot answer that. He told us not to give out information in public. If you want answers, then it's best that you answer his call. You, Clugil Rapadota, must accept it. Refusing it will be—”

“Yeah, yeah, refusing it will be a betrayal towards the Blue Sharks and it’ll lead to death, blah, blah, blah, I get it, quit your trap!”

Clugil still finds it annoying when he has to hear the same rule over and over again. No matter what he chooses, he is forced to obey his call. Clugil has no choice but to follow it through and go back to base.

“Well, you heard them. Time to head back.”

As Clugil commands both Touya and Raiji to follow him, they look at each other with a troubled look on their faces, then they look back at Clugil.

“I dunno sir. This seems kinda sketchy.”

“Yeah. I mean, not that I’m complaining, but don’t you think that this is a bit strange?

“Well you have no other options, you’ll either obey or die. That’s the way the Blue Sharks work. Now c’mon, let’s go.”

Even though both Touya and Raiji try to tell Clugil to think it over beforehand, they are forced to go along with it. The three of them are heading to the Blue Shark’s base, where the leader of the Blue Sharks is calling for them.