"Not his friends?" Dante’s eyes narrowed, causing the boy to shudder.
"Y-yes! We just keep him around cause he pays for things!"
"Brandon!" The boy sitting beside him shouted.
"Oh shut up!" He glowered back at him. "The bastard will get us killed! I told you it was a bad idea!"
"That’s right!" Flinn spoke up as well. "We were planning to rob him at first, but then Kevin said he had a better plan!"
"Y-yeah!" Kevin jumped in as well, though he didn’t dare to move his head. "I didn’t think he would hang around for so long! The moron can’t get a clue! Why the hell would we want a Barton brat with us!?"
The corners of Dante’s mouth twitched, and he almost burst into laughter.
"Oh, I see what’s going on." He said. "You found a walking bag of Gold, but instead of emptying it right away, you decided to take it with you and use a little at a time?"
"Y-yeah, that’s right!" Brandon and Flinn nodded repeatedly. Kevin didn’t try, but he clearly shared their spirit. Only Rayan hung his head, as if ashamed that the truth got out.
"Hmm... what should I do?" Holding his chin, Dante made a show of thinking deeply. "Sounds to me like you have been using him all this time, but I can’t tell if you’re lying or not."
"We aren’t lying!" Flinn cried out.
"Why would we lie!!?" Brandon followed.
"Hm... Well, doesn’t matter. I still have my job to..." Pausing, Dante kept his silence for a moment, then retracted his gun. "You know what? fine. I don’t feel like killing a bunch of kids today, anyway."
Relief washed over the visage of the four boys, but an instant later, it was gone as Dante added one more thing.
"You can go, but only on one condition." He pointed the barrel of his gun at Derick. "You get one limb each. Break his bones and you can walk away."
They all stared at him, their expressions once again that of confusion and bewilderment. A moment later, however, four of them turned to the fifth. Dante took a step back as if to make way for them and glanced at Derick.
Right now, the rich brat looked nothing like his profile photo. The rebellious glint was gone from his eyes, disappearing behind the terror that quickly consumed him as he watched the other four stand up.
He couldn’t have been so stupid that he didn’t realize it, meaning he had pretended not to notice until now. Not all street rats took their bonds seriously, and that goes double for the ones they have with those from the upper class.
A rich brat from the wealthy parts of the city would struggle to earn their trust, especially when he still clings to his roots, benefiting from the wealth he was born into.
Derick was stunned still for a while, only coming back to his senses when the others started grabbing his arms and legs.
"H-hey! What are you doing!"
He tried and failed to wriggle himself out of their hold. The others looked afraid, too, but showed no sign of stopping.
"Stop moving, damn it!" Flinn hissed.
"We should never have let you tag along," Brandon said between gritted teeth.
"Blame your father for hiring this psycho." Kevin grabbed one of his arms and prepared to twist it.
Watching from the side, Dante pondered whether he should put an end to it or not. He was sure the rich brat had learned his lesson by now, but maybe a bit more pain would help it stick.
[Dante, you are currently under surveillance.]
Listening to the AI’s voice, Dante pressed his mouth into a line and squeezed his eyes shut.
A voice boomed through the hidden square, forcing everyone to a halt. Even Dante was startled by it, despite knowing someone was watching. That’s because he was looking at the only entrance to the area, and though he saw someone quickly hide behind the corner, the source of the voice came from an entirely different direction.
As a really bad feeling rose from the depths of his heart, Dante raised his head and looked at the roof of the building to his left. There, someone was standing on the edge. Before he could get a good look at them, the figure jumped down.
That was an eight-story building so it just looked like a suicide attempt, but then the figure grabbed the edge of a window and landed on an AC unit. they then used the smallest of protrusions on the wall to hold onto while still moving down at a falling speed.
Landing on the ground, the figure rolled then went straight into a lunge, zooming in on Dante in the span of a single second, leaving him barely any time to react.
Dante stepped back and held his right hand out to the side just in time for the stranger’s foot to collide with it, kicking the blue gun out of his grasp. Knowing what would follow, Dante held both of his arms in front of him and guarded just as another leg came swinging at him.
He didn’t attempt to block the blow entirely and let it toss him away. As he felt its force spread through his body, Dante could only grit his teeth. Landing a few meters away, he carefully lowered his arms, which had gone entirely numb, and glared at the one who decided to barge in while he was doing his job.
"I heard the sound of a gunshot and decided to check." A gruff voice spoke. "Never did I expect to witness something so vile with my own eyes."
Even now that they were face to face, Dante was having trouble believing what he was looking at. He was a man, at least. That much was clear from his height, broad shoulders and toned muscles.
But no man, no matter how angry, would have such a bestial face. His eyes were far too sharp, and his bare teeth were nothing but jagged fangs from left to right. His white hair seemed to rise, carried by an invisible force, and were those ears above his head?
Dante stared at the man for a moment, then his eyes wandered down, landing on the man’s lower half. He noticed the tight black pants that seemed like they were about to burst from the muscles bulging under them, and the golden badge hanging on the belt, but neither was the thing Dante was looking for.
To his surprise, it was truly there, and though he saw it with his own eyes, Dante still couldn’t believe it. Behind the stranger who had just attacked him, a white plume-shaped object swayed slightly.
That, without a doubt, was a tail.