The Third Crossing

15. Kings of Hokydo

Natsu almost dropped her cup of tea when the door of the safe house was open. Upon realizing it was nobody other than her loyal deputy Pantu, she sighed in relief. In terms of composure, she was not doing an impressive job, which would be enough to kill her today.

"They are coming," Pantu announced.

And so it begins, Natsu thought, filling her lungs with air one more time. "If you are sure of what your eyes have told you, then you must leave me here, Pantu."

Pantu furrowed his brow. "We are in this together, Natsu."

"No, we are not." Natsu had been mulling over this desperate situation for a whole day. "If Qianfan is after the Wraith, then it's only me whom he needs alive."

Pantu was at loss for words, his eyes wide, as if her conclusion had shocked him.

Natsu put the full cup on the table next to her, then she approached her dumbfounded deputy, trying to cast him her best smile in the last few days. "It's alright. You have already done enough, my friend." She held his hand, then she gave him what was probably her last order to him. "You must leave now."

Gnashing his teeth, he quickly looked through the window, then he turned to her. "You won't be alone in this, Natsu," he promised. "My eyes and I will be watching."

Natsu patted Pantu's arm, signaling him to hurry. Giving her an apologetic look, he bowed and took his leave.

Now alone in the safe house—which wouldn't be safe any longer in the next few minutes—Natsu sat at the table facing the door and took a sip from her tea, which was still warm. The thudding footsteps approaching her door were so many that she wondered how Pantu could evade all those men surrounding the house.

Two men rammed the door with a log. "She is here!" one of them yelled. Their noisy entrance didn't deter her from drinking her tea, though.

"Drop your weapons and raise your hands!" The second man scanned the hall, pointing his sword at her as he slowly stepped forward. She was cornered, ridiculously outnumbered, and yet those bastards found some reason to worry about her. Even in her darkest moment, it was a little bit satisfying to see how those armed men still feared her. Less than a year in the shadow business, and she had built quite a reputation.

"I'm not sure how you regard a cup of tea, but I'm unarmed." Natsu took one last sip, put the empty cup on the table, rose to her feet, and walked toward Qianfan's men. "Let's go, boys. Your boss must have been waiting for this moment for long."

* * *

Four more men were waiting for their two fellows outside the safe house. But as they tied Natsu's hands behind her back and walked her a few buildings away, she realized that Qianfan had sent a small army to ring the perimeter of the whole area. So far she counted four carts loaded with murderers armed with swords, falchions, and crossbows; a force that a commander would deploy to capture a gang, not an unarmed woman. Quite a disappointment for those men, she thought, but she couldn't deny that the sight of the convoy escorting her was flattering.

From the road they were taking, Natsu guessed they were heading to Qianfan's 'humble' house at the center of the town. Why would the most powerful man in Hokydo need to hide? she reflected, sighing as she gazed at the slums of this dreadful town. The miserable folks of Hokydo were just watching the train of carts traversing their streets. Some of them were surely aware that the lady surrounded by all those outlaws was in trouble, but none of those maggots would dare to help her. They were Hokydoans, and that meant they already had their own share of trouble to deal with on daily basis. Nobody was eager for more.