To Old York - Why would they blame me?

"Why's that? Wasn't he supposed to be training with you somewhere? And how do you even know about his whereabouts?" Nazo flooded Koon with a flurry of questions.

"The question isn't why, it's how. To answer why, well, from the day he went out into the world, he chose to live dangerously... He was with me, that is, until a month ago... I sent one of my friends to take care of him and get him to participate in the tournament." Koon pulled a piece of paper out of his satchel.

"And it seems ya cap'n have succeeded, but that's when the problem comes." He showed them Perros' new bounty.

"A milion?!" Surprised tone echoed through the whole saloon.

"Long story short, in a few days, they're going to execute him. To make sure that anyone who gets the idea to overthrow the government pays the appropriate price."

The saloon fell silent as soon as Koon finished his speech. Perros's group grew uneasy, all except Bruno.

"We can't let ourselves get carried down by fear. Only when we see his severed head, will we know that he is truly dead." Bruno said.

"I'm going to take that as a motivational speech, Bruno." Nazo said with slight doubt.

"But bonus points on the poetry. Try to work on that."

"So, where's this walking catastrophe?" Esco asked.

"Old York. It's pretty far away. We'd better hurry if we want to say 'hi' to him at least one more time." Koon said.

"Let's move then!" Nazo called out.

"I agree, but we're not ready yet. You have no idea what ya cap'n gotten himself into." Koon said worriedly.

"I guess there'll be a bunch of officers there, but we can fight them off..." Koon interrupted Esco.

"The remaining Stars and their gangs, government officers and other bounty hunters. Plus, Old York is the most advanced city of them all." Koon continued.

"So unless you go there with the intention of killing to save Perros, you will fail. They won't hesitate to kill YOU. If I were you I wouldn't get ya hopes up."

"He's right. Even with Twin's gang we couldn't match the power of the whole government." Rosa said.

"And some of us are at a permanent disadvantage." She looked at her arm.

Saloon felt quiet again. Those who cared about saving Perros were trying to figure out how to strengthen their forces.

"I've been in this world for a while, so I have some useful connections that can strengthen our chances of victory."

"You can be glad you have me. After all, I was a disciple of the last Bandazai... Perros' father ya know..."

"WHAT?!" Again, an astonished reaction rippled through the salon.

"Why am I surprised at this point..." Nazo said in an unimpressed manner.

"The last time I saw T-, I mean Presto, was only from afar, when Perros encountered him. We agreed not to cross each other', only if necessary." Koon said.

"Unfortunately, the necessary time has come." A man spoke from the shadows in the corner.

--- Old York ---

Perros found himself in a pitch black space, chained, with only a lit candle beside him. As he slowly awoke, a chill ran down his spine at the cold and dampness that filled the room. His head was hurting like hell and he was gradually began to freeze.

"Not the most pleasant conditions." Perros looked at his chained hands.

"And that's not to mention my things are missing again..." he added with a painful smile.

Suddenly, Perros heard a creak of a door followed by clicking of keys, which didn't last long. He also heard people whispering, he assumed three people.

"Yeah, I'm here... If you are wondering." Perros' voice echoed.

"Like I could go anywhere..."

Footsteps came closer and closer and stopped somewhere before Perros. A woman appeared in front of Perros after lighting a lantern.

"Hello there." A woman in a white dress and hat of the same color spoke in a graceful voice.

Perros looked at her without saying a word and lowered his head back down in a relaxed manner.

"You probably don't know me, and I don't blame you. We have not met before. My name is Luma, one of the Stars. And also the Empress of this territory." she said with a smile.

"Yeah, and also welcome to Old York."

"Old York, you say... Then you must be the fanatic behind all this mess." Perros looked at her with one eye.

"I'm glad you're in the loop. And... not the politest way to say that, I would call myself a maître, if I may." Luma kept on a smile.

"And the mess? No, no, honey. Capitalism. I made these people rich, they wanted more, they needed MORE. Without my original ideas..." she looked behind.

Luma leaned to Perros' ear.

"These idiot would have nothing. They just followed my lead." Luma whispered.

Leaning back, again, Luma hit Perros with another smile.

"Could you stop smiling, it makes me sick." Perros gruffly said.

"No, that would ruin my image." Luma kept smiling.

"You may ask, why are you even here. Simple, I want you ex-e-cuted."

"Figures." Perros rattled the chains.

"Two day. Then..." Luma gestured cutthroat and walked away.

"And..." she turned around.

"Maybe you've heard it before, but this time none of your buddies will saver your puny ass. Period." Luma said with straight face.

"By this time your trust in anyone must be shattered, or am I wrong?" Luma chuckled.

"The truth will get you, I'll make sure of that." Perros retorted.

"You weren't listening to me, were you?" Luma turned back to Perros.

"Those people up there, the filthy rich, they live their best lives and they don't care about others." Luma looked at Perros, uncomprehending.

"And as far as I'm concerned, they don't even know I exist. I'm just some grey eminence to them, some guardian angel." she smiled.

"What? What do you mean they don't know you." Perros looked at her.

"Understand... I'm in my forties. When I first came here, it was a small village with barely enough food to survive a month. One day I ventured into a small cave that was nearby, and voilà, I came across a few pieces of gold. When I spread the word in the village, people poured into the cave, and as it turned out, it was the very gold vein from which we are still prospering today." Luma explained.

"That doesn't---" Luma interrupted Perros.

"I... have not finished yet." she said in a serious voice.

"Everyone, even smaller kids, became obsessed with the treasure that lay below our village. Since I grew up elsewhere, wealth wasn't my priority. Although, for my discovery, I was rewarded by perhaps everyone in the village, so I had some gold for myself."

"Then the problem came..." Luma's neutral expression turned sad for a moment.

"Those greedy villagers wanted more, even though they already had enough. I just watched the wealth turn them into monsters. So after the villagers realized that at this rate the village itself would sink into the shaft. They deliberately undermined the entire village, leaving only the wealthiest and those who can supply them with food on the surface. Since that day the villagers have not stopped extracting gold and sending it to the surface. And slowly, I took control of everything. People weren't resisting, they saw me as someone they could trust. And after a while... I disappeared and people slowly forgot about my appearance and existence..."

"A poor end to my explanation, I must say."

"So you don't keep them down there? Is it their own decision?" Perros asked.

"You're absolutely right." Luma nodded.

"It's kind of sad that your life has to go to waste. Otherwise, you would have made a great right Hand."

"But Koon told me otherwise..." Perros unsurely said.

Luma paused.

"Who do you think you should be believing? The literal owner of the territory who knows everything that moves on it. Or... A man in a wheelchair whose last interesting location was his front porch."

"You're right..." Perros lowered his head in humiliation.

"I'm no place to judge you, nor to blame you."

"Exactly, who would blame me, I'm innocent." Luma finished and walked away.