Inside Malfoy's bar—
Saito, Bomb, Rin, and Alya sat around a table drinking tea.
The morning was peaceful.
At least for now.
The door suddenly opened.
Kaito walked inside.
His cloak was dusty.
And there was a scratch on one sleeve.
Saito immediately noticed.
"What took you so long?"
Kaito dropped into a chair.
"Had some trouble midway."
Bomb raised an eyebrow.
"Police?"
"Police."
Kaito confirmed.
Rin laughed.
"Sounds fun."
"It wasn't."
Kaito replied.
Saito took a sip of tea.
Then got serious.
"So."
"Did he accept?"
Kaito already knew who he meant.
Captain Norway.
Unfortunately—
he shook his head.
"No."
"We are on our own."
The table became quiet.
Saito leaned back in his chair.
"I see."
His eyes drifted toward the window.
Outside—
Fanny and Malfoy were hanging clothes to dry.
The father and daughter worked together as usual.
Unaware of the conversation happening inside.
Saito watched them for a moment.
Then sighed.
"If that's the case..."
He stood up.
"We don't have a choice."
"We use a harsher way."
Alya looked up from her device.
"You sure?"
Saito nodded.
"Yep."
Then he looked toward Rin.
"Let's go."
Rin blinked.
"Where?"
"We're going shopping."
Rin looked confused.
"For what?"
Saito grabbed his coat.
"Malfoy asked me to buy some yeast."
Bomb nearly choked on his tea.
"That's your excuse?"
Saito pointed at him.
"Shhh."
Bomb immediately stopped talking.
Kaito smirked.
Now he understood.
This wasn't about yeast.
Not at all.
Saito opened the door.
Then glanced back at the others.
"The rest of you stay here."
"We'll be back."
Alya looked suspicious.
Kaito looked amused.
Bomb looked unconvinced.
Only Rin looked completely lost.
"Wait."
"We're actually buying yeast?"
Saito started walking.
"Come on."
Rin hurried after him.
"Captain."
"Captain!"
"What are we actually doing?"
The two disappeared down the road.
Leaving the rest of the crew behind.
And leaving everyone wondering what exactly Saito had planned.
The streets of Jaha Town were already busy.
Merchants shouted from their stalls.
Customers moved between shops.
Carriages rolled through the roads.
Meanwhile—
Saito and Rin walked through the crowd.
Rin kept looking at Saito.
Waiting for an explanation.
Finally, he asked:
"So where are we going?"
Saito kept walking.
"To buy yeast."
Rin stared at him.
"...Seriously?"
Saito nodded.
"And some thread."
Now Rin was even more confused.
"What does thread have to do with anything?"
Saito let out a sigh.
Then looked around to make sure nobody was listening.
"I'm going to mark that bar as my territory."
Rin blinked.
Then blinked again.
"Oh."
Now it made sense.
"Well that's unusual."
Rin scratched his head.
"It's pretty far from our village."
Saito nodded.
"I know."
The two continued walking.
Saito's expression became serious.
"But if that's the only way to protect them..."
He shrugged.
"I'll take it."
Rin looked at him for a moment.
Then grinned.
"You know..."
"What?"
Saito asked.
Rin pointed at him.
"For someone on vacation, you're doing a lot of work."
Saito groaned.
"Don't remind me."
"I came here for beaches."
"And somehow I ended up adopting another problem."
Rin laughed loudly.
"That's because you're Captain."
Saito sighed dramatically.
"Being Captain is exhausting."
The two continued through the streets.
Looking for the supplies they needed.
While somewhere else in Jaha Town—
Captain Matthew remained completely unaware that a certain bar was about to gain the protection of Blue Scarf territory.
Back at Malfoy's bar—
the morning had barely begun.
Malfoy was arranging barrels outside the entrance.
Then he froze.
A group of police officers was walking toward the bar.
His expression immediately darkened.
"...It's too early."
Beside him, Fanny looked up.
"Dad?"
Malfoy didn't take his eyes off the approaching officers.
"Go inside."
Fanny frowned.
"But—"
"I'm fine."
His voice was firm.
Fanny hesitated.
Then nodded.
"Okay."
She quickly retreated into the bar.
Malfoy stepped forward.
Meeting the officers halfway.
The lead officer smirked.
Malfoy sighed.
"So."
"Why are you here?"
The officer laughed.
"What do you think?"
"For taxes, of course."
Malfoy's ears twitched.
"But it's too early."
The officers looked at one another.
Then one of them laughed.
"Oh."
"He talks back."
Another officer grinned.
"Captain Matthew won't be delighted to hear this."
Before Malfoy could respond—
a voice came from beside him.
"Is there any problem here?"
The officers turned.
Kaito stood there casually.
Hands in his pockets.
The lead officer's eyes widened.
"The Silent Killer."
Kaito smiled.
"Good morning."
The officers immediately became nervous.
One of them pointed.
"Why are you here?"
Kaito shrugged.
"I'm staying here."
The officers exchanged glances.
Then one of them whispered:
"Tell Captain Matthew."
"We might have found Blue Scarf's location."
Two officers immediately nodded.
Then turned around to leave.
Only—
they stopped.
A large figure was standing behind them.
Bomb.
His arms were crossed.
And his knuckles cracked loudly.
Crack.
The officers froze.
Bomb smiled beneath his mask.
"Where do you think you're going?"
The two officers slowly looked at each other.
Then back at Bomb.
Suddenly realizing—
they weren't the ones controlling this situation anymore.
Malfoy stared at the scene in disbelief.
"What are you doing?"
Kaito glanced at him.
"Sorry, sir."
Then he smiled slightly.
"But Captain's orders."
"We have to do this the harsh way."
He winked at Bomb.
Bomb immediately understood.
He cracked his knuckles again.
"So."
"Who wants to be knocked out first?"
The two officers behind him looked at each other.
Neither answered.
Bomb shrugged.
Then grabbed both of them by the heads.
THUNK!
Their foreheads slammed together.
The two officers collapsed instantly.
Unconscious.
The remaining three officers stepped back.
One pointed a finger at Kaito.
"You don't know what you're getting into."
Kaito smiled.
"Maybe."
Then he folded his arms.
"But one day our captain will become the King of Gangsters."
He glanced toward Bomb.
"Right?"
Bomb nodded.
"Right."
The officers exchanged nervous looks.
This situation was rapidly getting out of control.
Finally—
one of them gritted his teeth.
"Then we don't have a choice."
He raised his pistol.
And aimed it directly at Kaito.
Click.
But before he could pull the trigger—
Kaito vanished.
The officer's eyes widened.
"What—"
Suddenly—
Kaito appeared behind him.
THUD!
A strike to the neck.
The officer dropped.
Before the others could react—
THUD!
The second officer collapsed beside him.
Only one remained.
The last officer looked around wildly.
His hands shaking.
Then he turned and ran.
"Captain Matthew!"
"Help!"
Alya, who had been watching from the doorway, calmly picked up a small rock.
Then threw it.
BONK!
The rock hit the officer squarely on the back of the head.
"Ow!"
He stumbled forward.
Fell face-first onto the road.
Kaito appeared beside him.
"Sorry."
Then—
THUMP!
A quick kick to the face.
The officer went limp.
Silence.
The road became quiet.
Five unconscious officers lay scattered around the entrance of the bar.
Kaito dusted off his hands.
Bomb crossed his arms.
Alya looked pleased with herself.
Meanwhile—
Malfoy stood completely frozen.
Staring at the pile of unconscious police officers.
Then at Kaito.
Then at Bomb.
Then back at the officers.
"...I think this counts as the harsh way."
A few minutes later—
Saito and Rin returned.
A plastic bag hung from Saito's hand.
Filled with yeast packets and several rolls of thread.
Rin looked at the unconscious officers scattered around the road.
Then at Bomb.
Then at Kaito.
"...Well."
"You guys started without us."
Saito sighed.
"I leave for five minutes."
Kaito shrugged.
"They came early."
Saito nodded.
"Fair enough."
He looked around at the unconscious officers.
"So."
"You already finished here?"
Kaito nodded.
"Yep."
Before anyone could say anything else—
a radio attached to one of the officers suddenly crackled.
BZZZT.
A voice came through.
"Hey."
"Is everything okay over there?"
Everyone looked at the radio.
Then at each other.
A grin slowly appeared on Saito's face.
"Oh."
"This is perfect."
He walked over.
Picked up the radio.
And pressed the button.
"Hello."
Silence.
Then the voice replied.
"...Who is this?"
Saito smirked.
"I believe you're Matthew."
The other side immediately went quiet.
Then—
"How?"
Saito glanced at the unconscious officers.
"Oh."
"Because your police officers already got knocked out."
The silence lasted even longer this time.
Then Matthew's voice returned.
Colder.
"...Blue Scarf."
Saito grinned.
"Yep."
"Blue Scarf Saito."
Bomb covered his face.
Rin was already laughing.
Saito continued.
"Don't worry."
"We only threw their bodies into the woods."
Kaito looked at him.
"We didn't."
"I know."
Saito whispered back.
Then returned to the radio.
Matthew's voice became furious.
"Blue Scarf!"
Saito leaned against a barrel.
"I think you already know where I am."
"So come here."
The grin on his face widened.
"So I can kick your ass personally."
The radio crackled.
For a moment—
it sounded like Matthew was trying very hard not to explode.
Then—
CLICK.
The connection ended.
Saito looked at the radio.
"He hung up."
Rin burst out laughing.
Bomb shook his head.
Kaito sighed.
"Congratulations."
Saito looked at him.
"What?"
Kaito pointed at the radio.
"You just made it personal."
Saito tossed the radio back onto the unconscious officer.
"Good."
Then he adjusted his scarf.
"Now he'll come to us."
Somewhere else in Jaha Town—
Matthew was indeed furious.
And heading toward Malfoy's bar.