Tension

The waiter behind the bar, after serving drinks to Megure and his group, decided to walk away and go back into the kitchens to protect himself.

Bender wanted to avoid confrontation with him at first, but because of his insistence, he could not do anything else than respond, trying not to make the situation worse.

"The mission? You shouldn't be interested in the affairs of the others in the group, Megure... ".

"What are you doing? Now that Hinaji is not here, you're playing tough? He just asked you how the mission was going but I assume badly since you are drinking drinks and having a good time with friends... " replied Fazuna, a member of Megure's group.

Some of the customers decided to leave the restaurant and slowly the place almost emptied. There were only four other people, sitting at a table on the other side of the room.

Megure was known to be an ally of Hinaji. He was not a member of the Kormany nor Hinaji's group, but only one of his allies. He was also known to have a very strong and arrogant character, sometimes even threatening. However, the police could not do anything about him given his alliance with Hinaji, so even the Kormany were not interested in it.

"And you? What are you doing here? Hinaji didn't give you something to fill your useless time??" Bender replied annoyed, always remaining with an ironic and calm tone.

"Hinaji? Bender... You're part of Hinaji's group??" asked Cesar worried.

"No, no Cesar... it's Megure who has to do with Hinaji... " replied Bender.

Megure gave a strange look, almost amused by Bender's response, but decided to ignore it and answer Bender's question.

"I came here to have fun and drink... Together with my friends, okay? Now that I told you what do you do??" he said, turning to Bender and moving his tuft.

"Bender, who is this arrogant??" asked Cesar too loudly.

Megure turned to Cesar, giving him a puzzled look to mock.

"Arrogant? You guys heard the boy?" he said to the others.

"Cesar, don't get involved, it doesn't make sense and you could get in trouble either you or Lefelob... " said Bender.

"Now that I think about it... " said Megure, picking his pockets and drawing a bounty.

"I've seen you on this bounty... Whether you are your little friend... ".

Cesar consulted the bounty that Megure gave him, while the other bounty ended up in the hands of Lefelob.

"10,000,000 of pènz... You Lefelob? How much??" said Cesar, looking at the bounty of Lefelob.

"25,000,000 of pent... has increased... " said Lefelob, with an air of surprise but also slightly proud.

"Seeing these ridiculous numbers, I immediately thought how unfortunate Bender was to have found friends like you haha... " exclaimed Megure.

"Do you want to do that? I bet that if I fought you, I would crush you completely... " said Cesar, without thinking of the consequences of his words.

"Cesar, what do you say????" Bender exclaimed.

"Well, Cesar!! Before I leave I give you these... Now you've said it, we'll meet outside... Don't be like a rabbit, don't run away, so we can see who's stronger between us... " said Megure, giving Cesar another bounty and leaving the restaurant with his family.

Under the worried gaze of Bender and Lefelob, Cesar opened the bounty and read Megure's name, then turned his gaze to the figure written below.

"But... He also has a reward?? 2.500.000.000 of pènz?????" exclaimed Cesar, after reading the number.

"That's a 'Hypothetical Bounty'... That is a bounty the Kormany gives to all those who are part of the Kormany or their allies in case they are wanted... ".

"Cesar... you're a moron... " said Lefelob, putting his hands in his hair.

"What can I do??" asked Cesar in despair.

"We stay here for the moment, maybe in a few minutes, he will forget or don't care... ".

Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, a rather slender and tall guy was listening to the conversation, next to him there were two other guys and a girl. He decided to get up and go talk directly with them.

"Guys, my name is Bartolomeo... I heard your conversation and saw that Megure is waiting for you outside... I can help you to avoid it and get out of here safely... ".

"But what can you do?? Megure is too strong, I don't know how much you can help us... " replied Bender with a disheartened air.

"Let me do it, you can leave here in about five minutes... " said Bartolomeo, and, nodding to his other friends, they left the restaurant, leaving the three completely alone.

Five minutes passed but there was no trace of Bartolomeo. 

"Do you say we can trust? Can we go out?" asked Cesar.

"Guys, I'll go first... Megure has pointed to you, Cesar... it's better if you stay here for the moment... " said Bender, checking outside the restaurant. 

Finding no trace of Megure, he beckoned Cesar and Lefelob to come out.

Bartholomeo had called some guards to the scene, telling them that a thief was present. So some policemen and guards went to the scene, forcing Megure to leave with his group.

Outside there were still some policemen, who made the last investigations on the spot and left with the others that had left before, not finding any thief.

"Where is that Bartholomeo??" asked Lefelob to the other two.

After a few minutes, Bartolomeo and his group appeared in front of the restaurant again. They moved inside a deserted alley, where no people passed.

After presenting each other, Bartholomew decided to reveal their intentions.

"We are a group too, we started to travel because years ago I was part of the Kormany and came to know about the Vèiger... Then after I ran away from the Kormany I found them to create my group... ".

"Ahh, we are also on our way to the Vèiger... " said Cesar in a low voice.

"Guys, you look nice... We could work together in the future, what do you say??" Bartolomeo said.

Cesar and Lefelob seemed excited about the thing, but Bender remained rather neutral.

"We are now going into that castle, what are you doing in this village?" asked Lefelob.

"Us? We are just on our way, we are heading towards a village of the nation 10... " said Akira, a member of Bartolomeo's group.

Upon hearing these words, Bender looked up.

"Nation 10? But it is the nation where Hinaji's mansion is located... " thought Bender to himself.

Akira continued to speak.

"We have a meeting with Shigatsu's group, an ally of ours... You should know him, he is the one who invaded a village in Nation 1 a few days ago... ".

"Nation 1??" exclaimed Cesar.

"It is that group I followed that day... Who allowed me to sneak into the village and then into the castle without any problems haha, all the guards were busy on them... it's right inside that castle that I met Cesar... " said Lefelob.

"Yes, it's the village near my house!!" added Cesar.

"What a nice coincidence, haha! Anyway... We are going to attack the mansion of Hinaji, the village where we are going to meet is exactly near his mansion... If you like, you can join us... " continued Akira.

After hearing this statement from Akira, Bender acted suspiciously. He was much more thoughtful since Akira said that he wanted to attack Hinaji's mansion along with his group, but none of the people present noticed it.

"After conquering the castle we have another thing to do... But we can still collaborate in the future, together with your allied group!!" Cesar said.

Bartolomeo gave the three a "Crypto-tel", which is a phone with which it is possible to make and receive anonymous and fully encrypted calls, to have contact with them.

The two groups said goodbye and Bartolomeo's group left the village.

Cesar, Lefelob, and Bender seemed calm by now and decided to plan the castle entrance but suddenly heard a familiar voice from the roof of one of the village buildings.

"Hey, crap!! Don't think I forgot about you... ".