*tac* - Yoichi detached Ichiro's Demon Tooth off the floor and slipped it into his leather pouch. For convenience, the young tamer had decided to keep the 'full' Demon Tooth in there and leave those still empty in his backpack.

"All right... I believe that Kenji's presence will soon be necessary... just in case," Yoichi mumbled, narrowing his eyes. Preparing for the burning pain resulting from the evocation of his Oracle, without thinking twice, Yoichi uttered its real name. ​​

"Ildriss!" – In less than a second, an air beam was released from his chest, impacting the floor in front of the ramshackle building. Yoichi resisted the acute pain, similar to the red-hot blade of a sword spearing his internal organs.

"Screek!" Kenji cheered, appearing before his eyes.

*anf*anf* - "Hey... hello little guy... uff..." Yoichi huffed, wiping the sweat on his forehead. "Go, Kenji. Lead the way," he added, ordering his demon pet to go in first.

Wondering what motivated his friend to meet Soda Takamori at all costs, Enatsu followed Kenji and Yoichi, accompanied by the omnipresent Sora. The parrot demon, perched on his shoulder, looked curiously at the inside of the room.

The entrance to the Nightblades headquarter was bare and lacking in décor: a torn old wallpaper was attached to the four wooden walls, and a pile of weapons and pieces of armour were stacked in an old trunk.

The room lighting, because of the large buildings that flanked it, was almost absent. The wax of some candles resting on a dangling shelf was dripping downwards to the floor, melted by their weak flames.

"I don't know what you're thinking, but this place is macabre. If I didn't know we were in the middle of a famous Goldhaven neighbourhood, I wouldn't trust it," Enatsu commented, expressing his opinion.

The sturdy man who welcomed them shortly before, walked down the room and reached a steep staircase in front of the entrance. As they could guess from the outside of the building, it was characterized by many equidimensional floors one on top of the other.

Yoichi tried not to dwell on appearances, thinking back to the old innkeeper who was friends with the Princess. He was slowly learning that he could expect anything from the strange characters that populated that peculiar world. The weirder they were, the more surprises they reserved.

The two friends began to climb the narrow steps, shorter than the soles of their feet. About three meters high, the staircase without any handrails popped upstairs.

Indistinct voices became louder and louder. After climbing along with their pets, Yoichi and Enatsu find themselves in front of a large table full of people.

The wooden horseshoe-shaped table was the size of the whole room on the first floor, mirrored to that downstairs. With greed, Sada Takamori was intent on picking a chicken leg from a large ceramic plate.

"Master!" the welcoming big guy called, who had remained standing near the staircase. "Yoichi and his friend Enatsu have arrived" he continued, introducing the guests to the rest of the guild.

Ten people were sitting at the table. In addition to Takamori and that gentle giant, there were two women and eight men.

"Yoichi! You finally decided to come!" the guild leader rejoiced, rising from his privileged seat and walking towards his new guests. With a quick gesture, he wiped his dirty hand of food on the tablecloth.

"Um... hello, Takamori-Sama. Hello everyone!" Yoichi smiled, raising his hand and greeting everyone present. Some of them reciprocated the greeting; others beauteously ignored it, continuing to eat.

"Rinji, take two stools for our guests. From the way they gape at the food, they look hungry like two wild beasts. Hahaha!" Takamori chuckled, resting a hand on Yoichi's shoulder. The approach of that fat, moustached man was completely different from his behaviour in Ambershire.

Evidently, he feels more comfortable in here. Yoichi thought, repaying the kindness with a smile.

Rinji, the good giant who had opened the door, grabbed two dusty stools from one corner of the room and placed them by the table at the tips of the horseshoe shape.

Without too much embarrassment, Yoichi and Enatsu gladly accepted the invitation to join the dinner. Even though that place smelled old, the dishes at the centre of the table looked exquisite.

"So, Yoichi... I'm glad you came here to continue our talk. I guess after your big win against Kato, lots of people asked you to join them, right?" the guild leader inquired, sitting in front of his guests.

"No one, actually!" Yoichi replied, denting a piece of hot bread. All the tamers sitting at the table looked at him curiously. Trying not to cross his eyes with any of them, keeping his tough-guy air, the young tamer continued to eat.

"What?! This is crazy! Such a young tamer, so promising... I have always said that the other guild masters are incompetent in their job", Takamori complained. "I apologize if our headquarter is not as you expected, Yoichi" he added, eagerly sipping sakè.

Everyone present tried to eat in absolute silence, waiting for Yoichi's response. He realized that those weird-looking tamers were not used to have many guests.

Although none of them seemed to be a stronger warrior than him, the happy family atmosphere that reigned in that room made him feel at ease.

"It's the first time I've come here in the Tamer District. Yes, it's true... Enatsu and I immediately noticed the differences between your palace and that of the other guilds, but... I'm not one to judge by appearances," Yoichi wisely stated. His words were well-chosen and impartial. "What's the real reason you asked me to come here?"

"Eheh... see, boys? I told you Yoichi's a smart guy," Takamori chuckled, addressing the two unknown tamers sitting next to him. "It seems obvious to me, doesn't it? I invited you here to ask if you want to join us."

The woman's gaze next to the guild chief caught Yoichi's attention. Unlike her comrades, she had stopped eating to observe him.