New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Chapter 1074: Missing Birds



There was a moment of silence in the car after Jonathan dropped the 'soul-crushing' bomb onto them before three quick knocks on the vehicle's hood interrupted it.

The young man at the front turned to look to the front, and he noticed the black SUV pulling into the rest area, coming in from a different direction.

"Car one is here. I'm surprised it managed to ditch the tail so fast. Our boss is as amazing as ever," he commented, a smile appearing on his lips.

The man on their hood slid off, before coming around the side and knocking on the window where the youngest one of Kujaku's men was sitting.

The teen slid the window down a few inches, waiting for his instructions.

"She hasn't given the signal to follow, and she's parking. It means something happened. I can't go there without attracting attention. You go, Arata," the man said, his tone worried. The teen boy, Arata, nodded wordlessly, his up-to-now joyous face going serious.

Opening the boy ever-so-slightly, he suddenly vanished into a shadow, before slithering across the ground from one car to another, making his way toward the last vehicle to arrive.

Reforming into a person on the hidden side of the vehicle, he waited next to the window, his head lowered.

It wasn't long before the window slid down an inch, and Kujaku's voice reached his ears.

"We've lost two of our birds. They should be coming here, but we can't wait too long. Warn the others. Two hours, and then we leave."

The window slid back up, Arata nodding his head solemnly before he slinked back into the shadows and slithered his way back to his own vehicle.

The Idol-looking Japanese man cracked open the door as he saw the shadow coming back and closed it behind the boy.

"Her instructions?" he asked when the window lowered slightly.

"She said we were missing two birds, and we are to wait two hours and then leave toward the goal. We are supposed to warn the others ourselves."

The man nodded, his face returning to the warm smile from earlier.

Leaning against the side of the SUV, he made eye contact with the third vehicle and started tapping on the side of the car rhythmically, bobbing his head like he was following a beat.

In the vehicle, Haruto saw his glance and lowered her eyes to his hand, seeing his tapping. She focused on the letters, stringing together the message in her head, and her face turned to a frown.

"Two hours? That is ridiculous. What is the point of waiting for these two idiots who got separated from us? We should just ditch them," she mumbled.

Killian's face turned morose.

"Abandon who?" he asked, having a slight idea of who she was talking about.

"No one. Mind your own business, gaijin," she growled back, glaring at him from the rearview mirror.

Killian was familiar with slang, as he had been subjected to them so many times before, he couldn't bother counting anymore. Hearing her call him that, and the tone she used to blow him off, he knew something was up.

He reached for the door handle beside him, trying to leave the car, but the doors suddenly locked.

"Don't even think about it, white boy," Haruto spat, her tone cutting.

"Let me out, or I'll blow the door off, girl," Killian said, his eyes going cold and his tone sharp.

Winston had rarely seen his uncle mad before, and hearing his tone almost gave him shivers. There was an intensity in his voice that commanded obedience.

It was no wonder he was in line to inherit the Merlineans.

But the woman at the front shrugged off his command with a scoff.

"Your orders don't mean shit to me, gaijin. I don't work for you. Settle down before I have my men slash your throat open for talking to me like that."

Killian's eyes remained cold, but a smile crept up his lips, and Winston almost chuckled.

'She threatened a man who grew up around the threat of death. That woman is clearly unfit to hold rank, hehe.'

At the front, Takagi also shook his head mentally at her stupidity.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Haruto. We are supposed to protect them until we deliver them back home. Not threaten them. Let him move. Do you not trust the contingencies Lady Aoi has in place?"

She gave him a death glare, angry that she still went against her, even taking the foreigner's side.

"This doesn't concern you, Takagi. I protect him by keeping him inside this vehicle so he doesn't wander off. We don't know how stupid these people are. Who is to tell he won't wander off to the belvedere and fall to his death?" she spat, mocking Killian.

Takagi shook his head, pressing the unlock button next to his hand, and before Haruto could react, Killian was already pushing his door open.

"Hey! Stay inside the car!" she barked, but Killian couldn't give a fuck less.

She snapped her head toward the other one of her men in the vehicle and growled at him. "Get him back in here! NOW!"

But as the man reached for his door handle, Winston grabbed his hand in a vice-like grip. "Don't. I doubt you want us to have a talk with your boss and tell her you are obeying rash orders from a clearly unfit lieutenant," Winston said, eyeing the man and woman with a snide smile.

The man tried freeing his hand, but the child before him had a grip that would put arm- wrestlers to shame, and he couldn't pull his wrist free.

Instinctively, he tried punching the kid in the face, to get him to waver, but when his hand met the kid's chin, he heard a resounding crack, and his face went pale.

Pulling his fist back, two of his fingers were bent strangely, and he had to clench his jaw shut lest the pained howl creeping up his throat escaped his lips.

He instead groaned in pain, looking at the kid in horror.

'What the fuck is this kid made of, stone?!' he screamed in his mind, not wanting to voice his concerns lest he sound weak.

Haruto looked at the situation and growled in rage. She turned to pull her own door open, but heard the clunk of the doors locking again.

Her head snapped toward Takagi, ready to pull her kunai out again.

"This is mutiny! Stand down, Takagi, or face the consequences!" she growled.

But Takagi was unfazed by her threat.

"It's pointless. He's already reached her vehicle. Stay here unless you want to look like an enraged dog chasing a man whose only mistake is caring about his friends," he replied calmly, pointing at Killian.

Haruto snapped her head toward Killian and saw that he was already opening a door to Lady Aoi's vehicle. She cursed in Japanese, punching the dashboard before her.

"If this backfires, I'm blaming the whole thing on you, asshole!" she growled at Takagi, who brushed her umpteenth threat away dismissively with a wave of his hand.

"Do what you wish. I don't care anymore. I'll let time and competence take care of you, lieutenant," he said, dragging the last word mockingly.

Haruto wanted to stab him in the throat so much, but she knew he would block her attack again. There was no getting to him unless it was a complete surprise, and she knew it.

The man had trained her and almost everyone else on this posse, and he knew all of their combat habits. He had to be completely surprised if she wanted to get to him.

'One day, you'll be too busy to notice my blade, old man. I'll make sure to drive it deep into

your back,' she promised herself.

Meanwhile, Killian was sitting in Kujaku's vehicle, glaring at her.

"Your lieutenant is a cunt, and I don't like her."

Kujaku giggled at his first comment, looking at him in the rearview mirror.

"I've been told that in a few different ways already since I removed Takagi from the position. But for all her rashness and anger issues, her combat instincts and loyalty to me are second to only mine. What did you want, Killian?" she asked, a smile on her lips.

"Where are the other two?" he asked, already seeing who was missing in the vehicle.

Kujaku sighed deeply, knowing someone was bound to ask about this, surprised it hadn't been

David.

'I guess David's faith in them is unwavering, even in foreign territory,' she mused, before answering Killian's question.

"I'd love to answer your question, but since I friend all our electronics, I cannot track anything. Unlike you guys, my mana detection doesn't reach very far. All I can say is that we left directions for them to follow, and I highly doubt they got caught.

"They should reach us well within the two-hour limit I set ourselves here. If not, well, we can

leave more marks for them to follow, right little girl?" Kujaku said, looking at Violette.

Violette nodded, confident her marks would lead Alexander and Kary back to them.

"As many as we need," she replied confidently.

Killian smiled at her, knowing that it wasn't in question if she assured it would work.

"Fine. I'll take your word for it," he said, looking at Violette.

Then he turned his gaze back to Kujaku.

"As for you, I have only one thing to ask."

"Ask away," she replied. "If your lieutenant threatens me again, can I ensure she knows her place? Or do you want her

to keep looking down on everyone like they are trash?"

Kujaku snort-laughed, realizing what he was asking.

"If you think you can take her in single combat, I would gladly pull the convoy to the side and

have you duel your differences out of the way, Ranger. But I doubt you can hold a candle to her

in a duel. She is trained specifically for one-on-one combat," Kujaku teased.

Killian grinned at her.

"You let me worry about that. I'll have the driver honk twice if the need arises. That good enough a warning?" he asked, getting ready to return to his vehicle.

Kujaku nodded, accepting his terms.

"Your funeral," she mocked.

"We'll see about that," he replied, winking at her.

Kujaku chuckled lightly as he left the vehicle.

'I almost pray that he honks twice. If he loses, it'll make a good example for our forces, and if

he wins, it might tame a bit of her attitude in the future. She wouldn't be amiss for a brief

lesson in humility.'