“What the hell?!”

Miko shouted as he saw what was just broadcast on a electric news outlet.

“The Infamous Twin Headed Dragon Syndicate suffered huge loses last night after several of their bases were attack by unknown assailants. This attacks will most likely see the syndicate go on a manhunt for the culprits. Crime analysts also claim that the syndicate damage was so severe that it wouldn't be surprising if they'll need to keep a low profile for a while.”

That was what was broadcast.

Miko was irritated as he heard every word.

“There won't be a war anytime soon now that the syndicate suffered such a setback.”

He spoke with annoyance as he sat in his seat.

“I doubt that this is a coincidence. Whoever attacked the syndicate did it to prevent a war between them and the four pillars.”

Miko doubts that the pillars would take this opportunity to crush the syndicate. The reason being, the syndicate will most like not go down so easily. In fact now that they're backed into a corner they might be even more dangerous.

“If I was the Pillars I would take this chance to cut off all of the syndicates roots first before attacking them directly. That way they could rid off them with one swoop.”

Said Regis.

“That's a good idea, but I think they'll take the extra time to fortified any weaknesses they had and gather more strength to ensure and cleaner victory when the war really happens. If they do that, they'll be able to cut down the collateral damage to a minimum.”

Said Miko.

“All this complicated talk. Are we going on a massacre or not?”

Asked Ishma.

“If we go attack either side now, it would lack the flare it would have had if we had done it during the war. So no massacre.”

Miko answered.

“Hmph! Who is the bastard that spoiled my fun?!”

She shouted.

“It's probably this Jin guy.”

Said Regis.

“Isn't it Silver Crow’s job to protect the people? Then wouldn't it make sense that they'll do everything they can to prevent a war that could lead to the destruction of the city?”

“I was thinking the same thing.”

Miko nodded in agreement.

“I believe it was definitely someone from Silver Crow, however none of the members I met should be able to crush so many places under the jurisdiction of the syndicate, and without being detected too. So it most likely leaves their mysterious leader.”

Miko didn't know how strong Kaido was, but he determined that he would most likely need to use at least his [Sin King] form to beat him; and that was just speculation. Kaido and Bloom admitted that Jin was able to go toe to toe with Kaido.

If Miko used that as a basis, then Jin must be very strong.

“Hmm….I wonder who would win if I fought him?”

Miko mumbled to himself.

That's when his phone started ringing.

He picked it up, and smiled when he saw who was calling.

“Hello, honey. Are you calling to check up on me?”

He answered the phone and said.

“I don't recall becoming your ‘honey’.”

Bloom answered.

“Just because you forgot doesn't mean that it isn't true.”

Miko answered with a smile.

“I don't have time for this. I'm calling to see if you saw the news.”

“Yeah, I saw it. Your boss sure knows how to spoil people's fun.”

“So you think it's Jin too?”

“Too? You sound like you're not sure.”

“You see, the thing is Jin isn't normally one to do something like this. However I'm certain that he did it.”

“So what? Your boss acted on his own accord? What's wrong with that? He's the boss isn't he?”

“….Well, Jin may be the official boss but everything is mostly decided by me.”

Miko wasn't that surprised to hear that. From the day he met Silver Crow, Bloom was the one who always called the shots. She was the one who always acted as the leader.

“Why don't you just call him?”

“I can't, he cut off all communication from the night before.”

Bloom paused.

“What I'm curious about is why did Jin act on his own?”

“Maybe he's just doing his job?”

Bloom suddenly burst out laugh.

“Jin, doing his job….hahahaha, that's the best joke I've heard in a while.”

“I take it that he's not very active.”

“That's an understatement. Jin is the laziest person you'll ever meet. His most hated word is work. If the pillars don't force him all the time, he would've never completed none of the work assigned to him…..although he’s surprisingly energetic when it comes to fighting Kaido.”

Bloom mumbled the last part.

“Mah, he has his reason. More importantly I don't like the fact that you called to talk about another man with me.”

Miko smiled.

“I'm quite the jealous type you know.”

“Hah! I can talk about who I want. You don't own me.”

“Oh, really? Then let's change the topic for a bit.”

Miko started grinning.

“What did your future say about us?”

“………”

Bloom stayed silent and didn't answer for a while.

“T-That's my business. You said you didn't want to see it.”

Her voice cracked a little.

“I didn't want to see it because I already knew what was going to happen, I just wanted you to be convinced.”

“H-Hmph! You sure are confident. I can simply stop talking to you before that happens you know?”

“That's impossible. The fact that you called me when you're troubled means that I'm already present in your heart. Well, I admit that it was faster than I expected. Maybe the oracles you got made you self-conscious of me and sped up the process?”

“That is pure nonsense. I've never met someone more narcissistic.”

“You should meet my grandfather, then you'll know what a true narcissist is like.”

Miko said with a laugh.

“Well about your concern with Jin, unless I meet the guy I can't help you.”

“Ah, that reminds me why I called you. Jin will eventually come meet you. He's really interested in you for some reason.”

“Interested in me? Don't tell me he swings that way?”

“No! I don't mean like that!”

Miko started laughing again.

“I was just joking. If I meet him I'll tell him to give you a call.”

“Thank you.”

“If you want to thank me you can come over and spend a night with me.”

The phone immediately hung up in his ears.

Miko smiled and put the phone down.

“What do we do now?”

Regis asked.

“Well it's a weekend so no school today; not like I planned to go if i wasn't.”

Miko stood up and stretched his body.

“Let's go out.”

After they left the apartment, Miko took a strolled through the streets.

“Tension in the air is pretty thick.”

Said Miko as he observed the people's expressions and body movements.

They were a lot of people frowning, or wearing difficult expressions.

There were some whose body movements were a bit stiff as well.

“Looks like what happened to the syndicate put the people on the edge.”

He said.

(Looks like they're afraid of becoming collateral damage when the syndicate retaliates. There's a popular notion that the Four Pillars are the ones responsible for last night attack, which in my opinion sounds very reasonable.)

Tiamat spoke in his mind.

“Imagine how would they react if they knew that last night probably prevented them from becoming the collateral damage they were so afraid to become.”

Miko said with a laugh.

“Hm?”

He stopped and slowly looked around.

“Someone was watching me just now?”

He said.

Miko suddenly extended his Qi to cover everything in a 100m radius. He was scanning the area.

After nearly a minute of intensive scanning, Miko retracted his Qi.

“Was it my imagination?”

He shook his head.

“I trust my instincts. I was being watched.”

(For now, lets carry on like before. Whoever was watching you seem to either be a master at stealth or is outside your range of detection. If you act like nothing happened they're sure to slip up eventually. )

Miko nodded and carried on like before, with Regis and Ishma behind him.

“We're being followed.”

Said Ishma.

“Oh? You can tell?”

Miko asked.

“Don't compare me to you. I'm far more experienced in war than you. If I didn't have good senses, I would've died a long time ago.”

She replied proudly.

“Then, Ms. Veteran. Where are the people who are following us?"

“About 200m behind us, since I was barely able to sense them.”

Miko suddenly stopped and turned around.

“200m, huh?”

He activated his draconic eyes and extended his vision.

He spotted two men dressed a bit strangely, and was hiding behind a building.

“Them, huh.”

He put a little strength in his legs and kicked off the ground; in the next second Miko was in front them.

“Wha?!”

The men were shocked out their minds. They heard that the target was pretty strong but they didn't take it seriously since he was a child.

That was a huge mistake.

Miko quickly hit the men with a palm each.

“Argh?!”

They fell to their knees and was unable to get back on their feet no matter how hard they tried.

“It's no use. I sent my Qi inside you and disrupt all of your acupuncture points. You won't be able to put any power into any part of your body for a while. The fact that you only fell on your knees and not your face speaks of your skill.”

Miko said as he looked down on them.

He then grabbed them by their collars and threw them in the air.

The men were shocked out of their minds when they saw how high up they were thrown up. They were over a couple buildings.

Just as they were about to fall to their deaths, they were caught by their collar.

“Yo.”

They looked up and saw Miko using his wings to fly.

“Now let's commence the interrogation. I'm going to ask a few questions and if you answer them and make me satisfied, then I'll safely return your body to the earth. However, if you don't I'll drop you like a water balloon.”

He said with a smile.

“We were told to monitor your movements by Sebas Lovefall! He said he wanted to know what Jun Mizune had planed for you! That's all we know!”

One of the men blurted out everything before Miko could even ask the the first question.

“….I see.”

Miko then swung his hand the heads of the men flew off.

“I said that I'll safely return your body to the earth, but I never said that it would be whole.”

Saying so, Miko made a gust of wind bring the bodies back to the ground where it gently laid them in an alley.

“Sebas Lovefall….If I remember correctly he was one of the Four Pillars.”

Said Regis.

“Yeah, looks like I might come in contact with the Pillars sooner than I thought.”

Said Miko.

“Well, it was going to happen eventually.”

Miko looked around while still floating around.

“Let's get out of here before someone discover the bodies and alert the pillars.”

He pointed to the north.

“That park looks like a good place to laze around.”

He then flew towards the park, while Ishma and Regis stayed in their accessories forms.

When Miko arrived in the park he looked around a bit and started walking.

“This is a beautiful park. I should have a couple parks like this built in the lower class districts when I return to the kingdom.”

He said to himself.

He walked around while admiring the unique scenery the park gives off.

“I'm sure that this place is even more beautiful in the night. Just the right lighting and could capture the soul of everyone who sees it.”

He commented.

He walked some more and stopped when he reached an area with the benches.

“Hm? Someone's sleeping here in middle of the day?”

He saw someone laying on one of the benches with their back turned the road.

Miko approached the bench area to take a closer look.

The person was wearing a white t-shirt that was obvious too big for their body.

Their were wearing a pair of baggy blue pants, with a pair of black sandals.

Their back was turned so Miko couldn't see their face, but their black hair stretched down to their back and was very messy and curly.

Their body was slim, and they looked to be a little less than 6 ft tall.

“……”

Miko looked at this person in silence for a while.

And then-

“That bench looks surprisingly cozy.”

He sit on the bench opposite to the one the person was sleeping on, and laid down to have a nap.

“….I was right, it is cozy.”

Saying that he fell asleep without a care in the world.

When Miko reopened his eyes it was well into the evening.

He got up and looked, and to his surprised the person who was sleeping on the bench was still there.

However they weren't sleeping while laying down, they were sleeping while sitting up with the head a bit lowered.

Even so Miko could still see their face clearly.

“A woman?”

The person in front of him could only be described as a very beautiful person.

However-

“Wait, it's a man!”

Because he spent over a decade with a beauty that surpassed the gender barrier and being mistaken as a woman, Miko could instantly spot when someone was similar to him.

A male with a feminine face.

Miko was surprisingly excited.

“Yes! I'm not the only one!”

He suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs.

He was acting like he found his long awaited comrade.

“Hm….Shut up will ya.”

Miko's shout woke the person up.

When the lifted their head their hair covered a their eyes, but Miko could still see a glimpse of his gloomy black eyes.

He also saw a necklace with three rings on it dangling around his neck.

The person stretched their body with a yawn and then looked at Miko while scratching their head.

“Hm……I was wondering who it was but it was just King Miko.”

The person said with a sleepy tone.

“Well, whatever goodnight.”

They immediately started laying on the bench again.

“…….”

Miko was left in shock by what just happened.

Someone he's never met before just woke up and spoke to him like they were acquaintances and immediately went back to sleep.

The person even knew his name.

“……..”

Miko didn't immediately attack the person because he didn't know their identity and whether they meant him good will or not.

He observed the person in front of him again.

“Hm?”

That's when he noticed a silver bracelet on their wrist.

The bracelet had a crow on it, and looked similar to the one Sapphire had on when she was bringing him to the city.

Seeing the bracelet and the person’s lazy demeanor, Miko immediately figured out who was sleeping in front of him.

“This is Jin?”