Erina had to lean on the wall for support as she turned to the nightclub. Her head was spinning. Her legs felt weak. Her instincts were ringing every alarm they could on full blast. Every fiber of her body screamed that she mustn't go in there.

  What would happen if she left? Assuming she didn't cut herself in half crossing back, Akira would most likely just boot her back over and force her to do her job. That was the best case scenario, at least. In the worst case scenario, Erina would be on the run unless she wanted to find out what the yakuza did to deserters.

  Why did she sign it? Was it magically binding? Erina didn't even think to scan it when she had it in her hands. How could she make a mistake like that? There had to have been something else she could've done.

  Erina pushed off the wall and tried to steady her breathing. No, this was bad. She had to think things through right now. All she could do was give her all on the one path she had. This wasn't helping her situation. Erina took the deepest breath she could, filling her lungs with air, and let it all back out.

  She waited until she had regained her composure before she approached the nightclub. Her heart was still trying to jump up her throat as she opened the doors. It didn't help that she nearly walked into the two massive men in suits waiting right on the other side.

  "Oho?" One of them leaned down to get a closer look at her. There was another set of doors directly behind them. Even here, Erina could feel the powerful subwoofers shaking the ground. "You didn't make a reservation for tonight. What brings you here?"

  She drew herself up, looking as calm and measured as she could when she really felt like crying. "Emisane Erina, on Lieutenant Akanaga's behalf," she said. "I'm here to see Patriarch Kirigami."

  He straightened up and exchanged a look with the other bouncer. Erina realized just how much they towered over her, and either one was easily three times her width.

  "…Heh." They chuckled. Then, they burst out laughing as if she'd just told the funniest joke they'd ever heard. Erina had no idea what to do besides stand there and hope against hope fists wouldn't start flying.

  "Understood, Emisane-san." They opened the inner doors for her. . "You will find him at the bar. Please, do enjoy your visit."

  Erina nodded numbly and entered, going as fast as she could without looking like she was trying to go fast.

  Strobe lights flashed and spun overhead, turning the entire floor into nauseating visual slop. Every beat of the music assaulted her ears and reverberated in her chest. The cheering and jeering of the crowd was no better. The club was packed full like sardines, overflowing with raucous partygoers and rowdy laughter. The air was thick with the smell of sweat, smoke, alcohol, and whatever else was mixed in that she frankly didn't want to know. She could barely go a few steps without being bumped or jostled by somebody, but the crowd was so dense that she could never tell who it was. Erina wanted to leave even before she set one foot in this place. Why did the bar have to be on the complete opposite side from the door?

  Erina waded through the crowd, feeling like she was suffocating the whole way. It probably didn't take her more than a few minutes to squeeze through to the bar, but it might as well have lasted years to her. None of this was helping her nerves in the slightest. Finally, she popped out of the flesh swarm into open space. Here, it seemed, was the only place the partygoers respected enough not to cram.

  Erina could tell him apart instantly. He was seated at a long couch with a woman over each arm and a half-empty bottle of wine in hand. He was a mountain of a man built from pure muscle. His ill-fitted suit barely contained him, looking ready to tear at the seams at any moment. Erina counted at least a dozen empty bottles of wine, vodka, and whiskey on the table in front of him before she gave up.

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  Coming down from something that had left him in a booming fit of laughter, he noticed her as she approached his table. A white cloth seemed to be wrapped up and entangled with his brown hair. His hair obscured all of the sash except the length that covered his right eye and most of that side of his face. Erina couldn't make out any meaning from the strange patterns or lines resembling runes on it. His one open eye was a searing molten gold. Thin stubble covered his chin, and his wide smile showed off his prominent canines.

  She did everything she could not to keep glancing at the two ivory horns jutting out amidst his hair.

  "Well, well!" Goukei's was a gravelly, imposing voice that overcame even the din of the nightclub. "If it ain't fresh meat!"

  "…Hello, sir." Erina ignored that and took a low bow like she assumed she was supposed to do in this situation. "I am Emisane Erina, here on behalf of Patriarch Akanaga."

  "Ah, yeah." He rubbed his chin, smirking. "For wastin' my men, ain't it?"

  "Yes, sir." That was the right thing to say, wasn't it?

  "Can't say I appreciate that." The smirk didn't leave his face despite the low growl his voice dropped to.

  "I came to settle the dispute we caused today." Erina bowed again. "I sincerely apologize for any trouble we have brought you."

  "Well? Ya hidin' it behind your back or somethin'?"

  Erina wasn't sure what he meant. "…Sir?"

  He snapped his fingers impatiently. "Cash! Artifacts! Booze! Your offering." The grin melted off his face. Shaking the escorts off his arms, Goukei leaned forward and said lowly, "You do have one. No?"

  An invisible hand had its grip on Erina's heart. She couldn't even nod or shake her head.

  "…fuck's yer game…?" Goukei's voice had gone so low Erina almost couldn't hear a word over the chaos in the background. More loudly, "What? Don't tell me. Ya really think you can just insult me, waltz up 'n say sorry and it's water under the bridge like we're pissin' pals?"

  "No, sir." Erina somehow managed to untwist her tongue. "Please forgive my rudeness. What can I do to make amends?"

  "Pffhahahaha!" Every bottle on the table jumped as Goukei slammed it. "Oh, that was a good one!"

  She had no idea what to do now. She merely stood there, meek and silent as Goukei laughed.

  "I'm feelin' a good mood today," he chuckled. "Erina-chan, was it? You even know what you just said? Ya gotta be outta yer mind to walk on up in here and offer to do anythin' as apology."

  Erina gulped.

  "Not that I hate it!" This time, the table cracked in half as he struck it. Glass bottles spilled to the floor and shattered, all completely ignored by the cackling patriarch.

  Hot pins and needles pricked and poked all over Erina's back. Maybe her instincts were onto something, and she should start running at the first opportunity.

  "All right. I'll take ya up on that, missy." Goukei raised his bottle to his lips and downed every last drop in one go before throwing it over his shoulder. He reached over his back, grabbed the tall white staff propped up on the back of his couch, and staked it into the ground between his legs with the loud crack of splintering stone.

  The music came to an abrupt stop. The crowd quieted in seconds. Total silence filled the club as all eyes came to focus on Erina and Goukei. He leaned back on the couch, looking at each of his escorts in turn and dismissing them with a jerk of the head. A wicked smirk filled his face as his one good eye locked onto Erina, rooting her in place as everyone else in the club filed out. In less than a minute, the entire building was empty save for them.

  It was bone. Erina could see the vertebrae sticking out of it. That staff was made of human bones.

  Goukei spread his arms over the couch, staring through the staff at the girl who'd wandered into his club with a cruel smile on his face.

  "Dance," he said. "Entertain me tonight."

  Ah, thought Erina. He's just like his men.

  Her fingers twitched. This was where she drew the line. She'd figure out the rest later.

  One, two, three interlaid spell circles burst to life around her feet to channel her mana. A tranquil anger filling her bright green eyes, she raised her arm, leveled her sights dead center in the middle of his face, and fired.

  The laser deflected upwards off a pale blur, shattering a stage light. Glass rained down behind him as Goukei spun his staff in one hand before balancing it over his shoulder.

  "Good!" The expression on his face couldn't be called smiling anymore—rather, an apex predator baring its fangs. "That's what I was looking for."