Chapter 132: Little Red
Little Red heaved a sigh of annoyance. Only a third of a mile into the sprint, yet Mei was already panting for breath, as if her life depended on it.
Then again, sprinting a third of a mile in one sitting was fairly impressive for a normal human.
"That's two times we stopped for you, woman." Well, maybe not one sitting. Little Red's tone was seeping with impatience.
In contrast, the three Fixers comforted Mei with only calming words.
"You got this, Mei." Aiko grinned.
Pete rubbed his hand along Mei's back as she raggedly caught her breath.
Suddenly, the woman was seized with a fit of dry, gagging coughs.
"W-Water!" She groaned, retching onto the floor. However, a glance around showed that no one else had brought any water, either.
She could only wait for enough spit to build in her mouth before she swallowed.
A painful, lumping sensation built in her throat, not just from her parched throat.
"It's meaningless to bring me along... You guys should just leave me behind."
Before the three Fixers could begin to comfort her again, Little Red positioned herself in front of Mei.
Little Red clenched the woman's shoulders with both hands.
The mercenary growled, albeit softer this time.
"The only reason why Asher and Sophie sent you away is because they care about you. I'll make sure you survive."
Little Red sighed as the woman squirmed uncomfortably in her grip. As expected, having a glowing yellow eye affixed onto her must have unsettled the woman slightly.
"Up you go." Mei flinched as the mercenary's hands snuck under her knees and back, bringing her up to a princess's carry. "We can't have you slowing us down. Show the path, Mangchi."
The group began to run once more, only this time with Mei in Little Red's arms.
Wrapped in Little Red's arms, even Mei could sense the overwhelming strength that threatened to spill from the woman's lithe figure.
Yet, when carrying her, Little Red was soft and gentle, with almost an embarrassing level of care.
Mei wondered if they had met before. She looked at the woman's snarling wolf mask and bloodshot yellow eye...
"Staring at me?" The eye's pupil flicked down, sensing her gaze.
Mei yelped, snapping her head away. Still, it wasn't long before her eyes drifted back to the mysterious woman in crimson.
"Hey, if you know Sophie..." Little Red nodded, giving Mei the opportunity to continue. "Then, miss, do you know my son, too?"
"You mean Asher?" Little Red asked.
"Y-Yeah."
At this time, Pete, Mangchi, and Aiko had to take their first break. They had run a bit more than one mile in ten minutes, a feat worthy of pride.
Mei made herself comfortable in Little Red's arms, seeing as the woman wasn't going to let her go anytime soon.
"Of course I know that kid. He talks about you too much."
"Ehehe..." Mei fiddled with her fingers, the grin on her face widening. "Hm, Little Red?"
Mei trailed away as Little Red raised her head, sniffing the damp night air.
The mercenary stiffened. She set Mei down, and a note of cunning flashed past the woman's eye.
"I smell some 'marks' heading straight toward us. Keep going forward, Mangchi. I'll be watching from the roof."
With a single leap, Little Red flipped onto the balcony of the building next to them. The woman soon left their sights, having hidden herself on the rooftops.
Mangchi hesitated. Based on Little Red's words, more than a few people were approaching them. Coupled with the fact that it was almost nighttime, the danger of the situation was suddenly multiplied.
The boy got the strange feeling that the woman was making them act as bait.
Still, he stepped forward without much worry.
Little Red was an Urban Legend, after all. And judging her character from what he had seen so far, she wouldn't abandon them so casually like that.
Mangchi was more curious about how Little Red could sense the presences that he could not. He remembered how the woman sniffed the air... The boy tried the same, but he couldn't smell anything particularly strange in the air.
He shrugged, chastising himself for sizing up to an Urban Legend-
"Stop." Mangchi held his hand out.
Ambient noise aside... He tuned his ears.
He picked out the most suspicious sounds from the rest.
After a few seconds of focus, he was certain. Coming from the alleyway beside them were the sounds of footsteps. Over a dozen of them. Most likely, these were the presences that Little Red mentioned.
"Everyone, back away. Get to the open."
Mangchi gestured behind him, and the group slowly backed away into the middle of the open street.
Just before they reached the center of the street, the first shadow emerged from the alleyway, revealing a man riddled with dark tattoos and fitted with black obsidian rings.
The three Fixers and Mei froze. This was the same man who punched Asher in the arm, the same man who sent the boy flying across the street.
It was the leader of the Stray Dogs.
And soon, the other Stray Dogs filtered into the street.
"Eh? Civilians? Hey boy, take your hands from your face!" Dino shouted from across the street, glaring at Mangchi who smartly attempted to hide his face.
However, they were unlucky.
Gyeong-mi's attention shifted from the boy hiding his face to the petite woman who was staring them down.
"Hey, isn't that the same woman who the Capo Killer tried to prote- And hey, those three around her are the Fixers that fled with her!"
Busted.
Mangchi smiled wanly, removing his hand from his face.
As the calmest of the four, he spoke as their representative.
"Hello, sirs. Is there anything you need from us?"
Gyeong-mi ignored the boy's question, instead letting his internal thoughts narrate themselves.
"It almost looks like they were evacuating... They've been warned that we'd be coming, huh? If that's the case, then where's Asher?"
Mangchi sort of expected that question. He pointed in a random direction of his fancy.
"He's long gone. He went the opposite direction, that way-"
The Fixer flinched as Gyeong-mi's rings clashed together, forming a curtain of sparks that crackled and popped in the open air. The man took a step forward, a grin splitting his face.
"You think I'd believe that shit?" The leader's eyes wandered to Mei. He remembered how the Capo Killer assigned the three Fixers in front of him to protect her back then. Before the Fixer even checked his own wounds, he had screamed for her safety.
'Protect Mei.'
The man instantly pieced together the situation.
"Surround them, men. Fixers, I'll spare your lives if you leave that woman with us."
The three Fixers tensed, tightening their circle around Mei as they were rapidly surrounded by a circle of Stray Dogs.
Mei gulped.
What was Little Red doing?
More than a moment passed, yet the three Fixers did not move from their positions.
"Fair enough. Dino-" At Gyeong-mi's signal, Dino pulled out two throwing knives from his pockets.
Without another word, the man flung the two knives toward Mei. Flickering metal wires trailed behind the blades, perfect for tangling prey.
At the same time, Gyeong-mi braced his legs, dashing forward with a horizontal leap.
Come on, Little Red!
The light in Mangchi's eyes sharpened. Seeing as their guardian mercenary wasn't planning to interfere anytime soon, the boy raised his arms, twisting his hands into claws. Likewise, Pete and Aiko clenched their weapons tight.
However, before the simultaneous attack could reach them, a deafening gunshot rang through the air.
Dino flinched as a shower of bullets slammed his knives into the pavement, shattering the stone-laid street below.
Gyeong-mi grunted as a flash of pain sliced through his forearm.
The leader of the Stray Dogs snarled in rage and fear as his arm dropped to the ground, shaven clean from his elbow joint by a familiar scythe-blade.
Crouched on the street was a woman cloaked in crimson.
"So it's the Stray Dogs this time."
The mercenary's bloodshot eye disinterestedly scanned the faces in front of them.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone