Woodman

"...Hey, hey, are serious. You're the ones who ran into me here!"

Then, the man began to speak in fluent Japanese.

"Huh..."

The unexpected response left him and Mio momentarily stunned.

However, the man continued to speak in a calm voice.

"...Mio, so is that this child's name?"

"...Ah, I choose it."

"That's a really good name."

Then, as the man was speaking, he turned his attention to Mio.

"Hey, right now──are you happy?"

"...At the least, I don't have any propensity to rejoice when chased by hostile people."

"N-no, I didn't mean it like that. ...Do you want to stay with that boy?"

"..."

Although Mio stared at the man with some ounce of hesitation, she gave him a swift but small nod.

"So that's it."

Then while the man let out another deep breath, he made a thumb up expression while directing them back to the alley.

"──Go."

"...Ha?"

Hearing those unexpected words shocked Shinji's eyes opened.

For a moment, he thought it was a trick to cause him to lower his caution.

However, he couldn't detect the slightest degree of hostility coming from that man.

"W-what do you mean?"

"There's no time for asking that. Hurry up and go ahead. Otherwise──"

"! Found them! Over there!"

The next moment, a large cry was heard coming from the street.

Accompanied by intense footsteps, three chasers ran over.

"Aaahh really, didn't I say so."

The man then exaggeratingly shrugged his shoulders, placing his head on his forehead as he sharpened his gaze and stomped on the ground.

Then, after slipping past Shinji and Mio, he opened of his palm, striking the pursuers directly at the stomach.

"Kaha...!?"

"Woodman-san, what...!"

The pursers let out a pained voice as they fell to the ground one by one.

The man who was called Woodman scratched his head as if annoyed by the trouble.

Then, he pointed his thumb to the alley to urge him once again.

"...Hurry. That child──Mio. I'm leaving it up to you, boy."

"...Ah, um...!"

Whether it was infighting or betrayal──it wasn't clear what had just happened, but they seemed to be saved.

Shortly after, Shinji grabbed Mio's hand and began to run.

However, while he didn't know how long they ran, he suddenly felt the force exerted by Mio's hand, which suddenly pulled him backwards.

"Waa!?"

The sudden emergency brake caused his body to sway back from whiplash.

At that moment, "pan!" accompanied by a dry sound, in front of him──or rather the location he was just at a moment ago had burst into sparks.

"Wha..."

He furrowed his brow.

Following this action, a number of pursers armed with guns appeared from the front alley.

And from the very back of the group──a very prominent man came to the forefront.