Chapter 37 Paths and Roads

A couple of weeks back,

inside a two-story building in the middle of town. A group of three people is gathered around a table.

"That was a good hunt, wasn't it?" York said.

"A couple of B-tier fellas. The funds from them should last us... at least two weeks. " He continued.

"Well, that should be the case unless something drastic happens and completely messes us up." Seena said, while sitting down on a chair.

"Don't jinx it." Nessa said to her, while she sipped some water from her cup.

York then scanned the room they were in. A slightly messy room that looks like someone couldn't be bothered to clean it. There are a couple of torn wallpapers and a fair few cracks in the walls, but other than that, it's a fairly nice room.

York then turned his attention back to the girls, and said "By the way, it seems like some of us are missing."

What do you think they're doing? Maybe having a bit of happy fun time, if you know what I mean? " York continued with a perverted smile on his face.

"Why does your mind go to that first?" Nessa asked him.

But, right after she said that, another voice echoed from the door to the side of the room.

"I heard that!" The voice said

York's smile disappeared as the door swung wide open.

Standing there in the doorway, a woman has her legs up like she just kicked down the door, which she did.

"Wait, Therese, that was a joke. We can talk about this. " "York he said to her as he lowered his stance.

"Eat shit!" "Therese," the woman named Therese, said as she drew a pair of knives and threw them towards York.

York easily dodged the knives like he knew it was coming, but Therese's assault was not done, as she charged York.

York's balance was off, thanks to dodging the knives earlier. So, knowing this, Therese swiped at his feet, causing him to fall.

She then placed York in a choke hold.

"Tap out, tap out!" "York Therese said.

"No," Therese replied, as she began slowly attempting to break his neck.

"Wai-wai-wait!" York said, as he grabbed Therese's arms in an attempt to save himself from a broken neck.

Seeing this, Seena only sighed after seeing the situation.

A moment later, another person walked through the door.

It was a man wearing a brown cowboy hat.

Therese noticed the man's presence and asked. "Hey boss, you wouldn't mind if I broke this man's neck, would you?"

"Go do what you want." The man replied.

"Wait, boss! You were supposed to save me? " York shouted.

"I heard what you said as well."The man told York.

York's expression darkened as Therese put even more force into her arms.

Reacting to this, York said "Wait, Therese, we can talk about this like reasonable people."

"Eat shit and die." Therese coldly replied.

Two of them then began to fight for control, as the rest of the people in the room ignored them.

"So have you found him?" Nessa asked the man with the cowboy hat.

"No." The man replied, as his face formed a worried expression.

You don't have to worry about him that much; he's a grown man. He can take care of himself. Seena said to the man.

"But, he's... stupid." The man replied, while wearing a pained expression.

"Ha, well that says a lot about you since he is your brother." Nessa laughed.

"Fuck off." The man said to her

A moment later, another person went in through the open door. It was a man wearing a red scarf around his neck.

"Heyo!" The man in the scarf said, making everyone's attention go towards him.

The man in the cowboy hat walked over to the man with the scarf. Once he was close enough, he punched him straight in the face.

The man in the scarf was sent flying to the wall and sliding down towards the floor as he held his cheek with a pained expression.

"What have you been up to, Roads?"The man in the cowboy hat shouted as he held his fist in the air, ready to punch again.

"Well, that's one way to greet someone you haven't seen in a while." "Roads he said as he began to stand up.

Once he stood up properly, he charged the man in the cowboy hat.

"Nice to meet you... TOO!" Roads shouted as he landed a punch on the man's face.

The man in the cowboy hat was then sent flying backwards and landed on his back.

The man in the cowboy hat stood up and began to charge at Roads. The man landed another punch on Roads' face, but only this time Roads barely flinched, and returned a punch of his own.

A fight between the two broke out as they began throwing punches at each other.

Meanwhile, Nessa and Seena were casually sipping some water and completely ignoring the fight beside them like it was a daily occurrence.

And, also, both York and Therese ignored the two as they were busy with their own fight.

This went on for a good number of minutes until Nessa said to herself, "Oh, it seems like I have run out of water to drink."

She took a deep breath before shouting loudly and standing up from her chair. "Alright, that's enough!!"

This caused the two fights going on in the room to stop, but the fighters were still grabbing each other at the collars while looking at Nessa.

"Sit down and talk it out, or I will turn this situation around!" Nessa said loudly.

Roads and the man in the cowboy hat looked at each other for a moment.

The man wearing the cowboy hat threw a punch at Roads' face. The punch landed without any resistance from the roads.

Roads did the same, and threw a single punch at the man in the cowboy hat. It smashed into his face with no attempt to deflect it.

After Roads' punch, they both let go of each other and stood up. They walked over to the table, and grabbed a seat.

At the same time, Therese let go of York and stood up as well.

York took a deep breath before grabbing a seat and sitting down.

While Therese grabbed the knife she threw earlier, she then grabbed a chair and set it a good distance away from the table before sitting down.

Seeing as how everyone listened to her, Nessa sat back down in her seat.

A good silence emerged for a few seconds before someone spoke.

"Where have you been, Mr. Roads?" The man in the cowboy hat calmly asked.

"Oh, you know, "Up and about." Roads answered very vaguely as his gaze drifted off to the side.

"Don't test me." "The man in the cowboy hat said calmly as he hit the table with his fist once."

"Fine," Roads said as he raised his arms in the air.

"My answer to your question earlier is, nowhere really in particular." Roads said.

The man wearing the cowboy hat gave him a serious look after hearing his answer.

"Wait, I'm not done yet." Roads told him.

I have been just wandering around, you know. I am spreading my wings, like the little bird that I am. " With a smile, Roads said.

"No." The man wearing a cowboy hat said to him

Well, anyway, I did some solo jobs, met a few people, the good and the bad kinds. Oh, and also, I kind of formed my own team. "

Then, about a couple of weeks or so, I met this 'fox'."

"This little 'fox' had bigger plans than it could manage, so it asked us for help."

"So what you're saying is that this 'fox' set you up for a job?" Roads, York said.

"Yup. And, more specifically, a bounty gathering job."Roads answered.

"It's a high-risk, high-reward kind of deal."

"And the reason I came back is because I want to offer you guys a part since the 'fox' said it would be better if there were more people involved."

"So, do you guys want in?" Roads asked.

Therese opened her mouth and answered his question with another question. "My answer depends on how much the reward is."

After hearing this, the man wearing the cowboy hat sighed before asking in a tired voice. "Whom are you hunting?"

"Well, promise me you won't be surprised." Roads told him.

"Fine. I promise. " The man in the cowboy hat sighed as he placed his hands on the table.

Roads looked at him and said "I don't trust you." Hold on a minute, I'll just move this. "

Roads then proceeded to lift the chair he was sitting on and move it a good distance away from the table.

Roads sat down and said "Should be far enough, okay."

"Ahem... the person I'm hunting is Golden Hands."

The moment Roads said that, the table in the room flew off to the side, as the man in the cowboy hat flipped it as he stood up.

"I knew you were up to no good!" The man shouted.

Nessa stood up and held the man back, who was ready to charge at Roads.

"Paths, calm yourself!" She said to the man in the cowboy hat.

"Let me go, Nessa!! I'll teach this foolish brother of mine some sense! ' Paths said as he tried to get out of Nessa's grasp.

What Roads said affected not only the man, but also everyone else in the room.

Seena had turned to look at Roads with a surprised expression. York had cold sweat running down his face. And even Therese, who was off to the side, reacted to what he said.

"Hmm..." Therese seemed to ponder him after hearing his words before a wicked smile emerged from her face.