DARK STRAIN

Bounty hunters

On the other hand, Maximus stood at the window, while his green eyes watched Shizuna's quick movements, his face frowned in great displeasure as he watched his cute little sister face the unknown alone.

Autumn breezes blew to caress his stiff face while his short brown hair began to flutter freely. He felt so lonely from now on, so his hand moved of its own accord, smashing the window glass with his fist.

And suddenly he heard a knock on the door of his room, and this was followed by the voice of the maid trying to check on him after she heard a noise coming from this side, he remained silent for a while, trying to contain his anger, but he shouted at her to move away after she repeatedly disturbed him with her chatter from behind the door, so that calm prevailed in the lonely palace again.

Shizuna walked until, at dawn, she reached an area near the city limits, among a few people who go about their business very early in the morning, and then entered a small tavern hidden in the alleys.

She caught the attention of some people when she entered, but they soon ignored her and went back to what they were doing, some of them were playing cards and some were drinking while chatting with others, and some were also playing arm wrestling.

Shizuna wandered among them for a bit, before stopping in front of a certain table where a group of mercenaries gathered with a frightening appearance, they were laughing and playing roughly, and they only paid attention when one of them jumped up from his chair and greeted her enthusiastically, who seemed to know her already.

Shizuo..you finally came...!

Yes, Tommy...

Shizuna sat with them in silence, before one of them objected, saying sarcastically and with objection:

Slow down.. I don't think this is a suitable place for a young lady like you...

Shizuna gave him disgusted looks, which made the man become angry, he was a person He has a strong and huge build compared to her, and the scars that adorn his face made his appearance even more terrifying, but Shizuna did not care, as if she was used to dealing with people like him, which she is!

So she stood up again and they stared at each other malevolently, while they silently challenged each other, neither blinking as if they were in a staring contest.

Tom intervened to stand between the two with his huge body, trying to settle things between the two without a fight that would expose them to expulsion from the bar, to speak, while adopting a diplomatic policy:

Calm down a bit .. You have hardly exchanged a few words since you met, but you are about to enter into a fight already ... !

He turned to Shizuna, who was standing behind him, to continue his explanation:

Sorry, Shizuo.. I forgot to tell them that you will be with us.. so this misunderstanding happened...

Then he turned back to look at the ugly man in front of him, saying:

Jun.. Shizuo is one of my relatives.. so, I suggested to her to accompany us when she told me that she was going to take a tour around the kingdom...

And are we a kindergarten where we take little girls on a tour around the kingdom..? Do you think our work is just a joke...?

John asked in disapproval, before Shizuna got angry and jumped to hang over Tom's shoulders while holding onto his neck tightly, then she shouted at John, who became opposite her thanks to the size of Tom's body on which she clung:

You are the only child here, you rude whiner.. but I understand your fear Than to steal your stardom among the bounty hunters in Obelia... Since I'm Tommy's student of genius...

She finished her words with a smug smile on her little face, which had some freckles you could barely see up close, to which John replied with a sneer:

And, Will the lion be afraid of the claws of a kitten that will start to shiver as soon as it gets wet..? Personally, I don't think so.. What about you guys...?

He began to look around, arousing the attention of his companions, so that a wave of loud laughter broke out in their table, while the rest of the people in the same bar did not care.

Shizuna let go of Tom after she felt that he was suffocating, so the latter withdrew from them to save himself, although he tried to mediate between them again, but this time from a distance.

Thus, Tom suggested that they hold a competition in arm wrestling, where the one with the strongest fist would be the winner, and Shizuna seemed eager to break John's ego and join them against his will, while John was reckless and underestimated the issue, as he was not aware that Shizuna is a descendant of To the dark, he was sure he would win the bet and kick her out of the tavern, not to mention kick her out of the team she didn't even join.

The two of them sat across from each other at an empty table, while some mercenaries and tavern visitors surrounded them to watch the show.

Each of them put his arm on the table, holding on to each other's fists firmly, so that one of the spectators advanced, declaring himself a referee for the competition, then the countdown began from number three to number one, as John began pressing Shizuna's fist to his left, but it did not budge for some pats, then he felt his grip going to his right; The opposite of what he wanted.

The competition was intense, as Shizuna was about to stick John's fist to the wooden table, which made more crowds gather around them, as the news of the entry of the "prestigious bounty hunter John" in a competition against a girl who could hardly be seen with the eye if she stood next to him because of his large body size and emaciation her body is.

Everyone held their breath for a moment, before letting out a shriek of encouragement that shook the entire bar, because Shizuna had finally knocked Jun down after struggling to do so for some time.

She stood proudly announcing her victory on top of the table, while gloating laughter erupted in John from all directions, he felt so embarrassed as never before, it was shameful to be defeated by a little girl who was not even a third of his size, so he cried out in apparent anger:

Well, that is. It was.. you won, you can join us.. but I will never be remiss in the coming...

you must pray that there will be no next time.. because then I will not be as lenient with you as now...

Jun felt like his face cracked at how rude this kid was just because she was so lucky to beat him this time! His head was about to explode with a terrible headache, so he left the noisy tavern and stood for a while at the end of the alley overlooking the crowded street.

Inside, Tom introduced Shizuna correctly to his companions this time, who consist of five individuals and John is the sixth of them, while Tom is the seventh.

Kinship is one of the reasons why he sometimes neglects the help of his girlfriend and hunting partner, even though she would somehow manage without him.

These mercenaries were staying in a small inn at the city limits, it had already been decided when they would leave, which was two days after she joined them, since they had to wait for the posters of the new wanted to be posted.

Shizuna did not dare to leave the inn for fear that the soldiers of the Chad family would seize her and force her to return to the palace, because this would be a waste of time only since she insists on running away every time they catch her.

She sneaks into the city where she meets her relative Tom and spends some time with him in the Stir up trouble.

Tom was understanding when Shizuna told him that she would hide in the inn until it was time for them to leave, at least the lazy Chad soldiers would not want to look for her until then.