Chapter VIII: The city without law.

In the middle of the road a car was driving, the landscape passed quickly as the vehicle entered a wooded area, then they took a detour to a neglected road.

Sarah watched everything intrigued, glancing at the driver from time to time.

"A friend of mine lives here, we are very close, I thought we would meet him before entering Misaki, he can give us some ideas of things in the city" The young woman agreed to her friend's idea, she was not against that detour if it could help him.

Within minutes of driving, a wooden house was spotted, it was large, with thick pale cream trunks, it had some trees that provided shade, in the distance a wooden chair was waiting along with a metal bucket.

When they stopped the car, the driver stuck her head out the window.

"Riju, get your ass out of that house right away, don't make me kick you out" that forceful voice with a burlesque tone only made Karin sigh, she looked at the landscape impatiently.

A crack was heard and a shadow came out of the house.

He was a large man, in his late 20's, he had a sleeveless shirt, leather pants and brown boots, his proud black eyes, hair of the same color tied in a ponytail, gave the feeling of a strong man.

"But if it's Tamara Sophia, long time no see, they must be the friends you talked about so much" said the man wiping his hands with the water from the bucket, he tidied up a bit before walking towards the car.

"I'll leave the introductions for later, I want you to come in, we need a guide to Misaki" commented the woman smiling, she had a sparkle in her eyes, the man seemed to have the same look, from time to time he bit his lips provocatively.

"Sure, let's go" he accepted and got in the car.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Fujima Rifuju, I hope to get along with you" the man bowed his head a little as a sign of respect, the two women apart from Tama made the same gesture and introduced themselves, the driver started the car, turning around.

"My name is Romina Karin, nice to meet you" said the woman with short hair before looking away, she didn't like to talk much.

"I'm Tsukumi Sarah, although my friends call me Leyla, you can call me that way" commented the young woman ignoring the man's look of surprise.

"Wait, Tsukumi?! Tamara! You didn't say anything about being friends with someone like that! I apologize for my attitude Miss Tsukumi" the man had become nervous, a cold sweat broke out on his forehead .

Sarah smirked before looking back at her friend, she was happy.

At first she had doubted why they entered this way, but hearing from a friend of Tama's, she remembered a bit of what her friend told her.

"Relax Fujima, I won't do anything to you, I know you're a deserter, you must have your reasons, just call me Leyla" commented the girl without worries, she had better things to think about than enforcing the rules of the organization, the man still At Sarah's words, he couldn't relax.

For a while he was silent only answering questions they asked him.

Half an hour later he managed to relax enough to talk about his life and ask about them.

Despite Sarah's insistence that she call him Leyla, Fujima continued to call her Miss Tsukumi, she resented that kind of treatment, but she let it go when she became interested in what the man shared about Misaki.

"Does your family no longer work for Howard Enterprises?" Tama asked his friend, he denied confused.

"Howard companies have had poor sales and their only way to stay afloat was to fire people, many of my relatives left the company months ago" the three women looked at each other curiously.

"Howards companies are foreign, right?" Sarah asked, the man nodded in response.

"He is from America, although Chinese companies are better to work for, I heard that they are hiring people and they pay well, I have wanted to move to a residence in Misaki these days for that reason, but the procedures have been complicated, it seems that neither people They want to let you in" the annoyed man sighed, Karin thought for a moment before speaking.

"Why do you say that they don't even want to let people in? Is there something more complicated about Misaki?" she asked, Karin nodded, Tama was relaxed from the conversation.

"Well, I know that getting goods to Misaki takes a costly procedure, before it was easy to transport goods within the city, but now they don't seem to want anything to happen, even the car you have would slow you down if you wanted to have it in the city" along Far away was the border wall, beyond an imposing city awaited them, Sarah turned her eyes to the landscape thoughtfully.

"That's why I asked Riju to accompany us to the border, I wanted to leave him in charge of the car during our mission" Tama said with a confident smile, she already knew a little about what was said thanks to the letters she sent with him, although her family was new to her, he had never commented on it.

As if the man sensed something, he looked with a nervous smile at Tama, she just narrowed her eyes at her giving him an idea of ​​what she was thinking.

"We'll talk later."

They reached the border quickly, the women got out of the car and Fujima took the wheel.

"Please take care, Miss Tsukumi, I'll be praying for your safety, see you" waving his hand, the man said goodbye to the three who returned the greeting in their own way, Tama said goodbye sending kisses with her hand, Sarah waved her hand a bit and Karin gave a nod.

Sarah's hair rippled across her shoulders as she looked around her, she had a travel bag in her hand.

She took about 4 hours to cross the border before entering the city, her two companions finished the paperwork to leave.

They crossed the limit bar and walked through the streets of district B, on a corner they spotted a bus and ran to get on it.

Misaki City, District A, tourist area.

Three females walked through the streets of the city talking.

"None of these hotels convince me" said Karin grabbing a lock of her short hair with her hand, she disliked that the buildings were so close together, there was hardly any space to pass, the worst thing was the alleys that were seen from time to time, They gave him a suffocated feeling.

Sarah nodded at her roommate's words, they didn't seem to have good views or reasonable prices.

"Why is it so expensive to rent a room?" She thought the young woman when they passed by a building that offered rooms for three times the minimum wage in her hometown.

"It seems that the problem of the companies not only influences commerce, it is even reflected in services" commented Tama curious about the prices, just a few moments ago they found a room for twice the minimum wage, but although they were good hotels, they did not It was worth spending the money that way.

The women thought for a while until they came across a little busy street, there were some shops, but the surroundings were less sophisticated.

Without worrying about security, they followed the road until they found some hotels, these had better prices below the minimum wage, however they were not what they wanted.

After so much searching, the women got frustrated and sat down on some stairs.

"I need a bed soon, isn't there a way to find a good hotel at a reasonable price?" Karin sighed in annoyance, Tama nodded before giving a suggestion.

"We should split up and investigate, it'll be faster if we look from different sides" Karin agreed to the suggestion and Sarah thought for a moment.

"I agree, you guys, find a reasonable place to rest, I'll wait for you here, you have half an hour to do it, go" both women bowed respectfully before disappearing at high speed.

No one was around when they left.

Sarah observed her surroundings curiously, from time to time she heard screams, her gaze traveled the area of ​​the voices where men or women came out of the alleys scared, shortly after leaving people approached to give them money and they left .

The young woman found her curious and she stopped a lady with a rosary in her hand.

"Excuse me, I'm new in town, why do they give money to people who come out of the alleys?" what little Sarah knew about Misaki from crime was about her high activity, although she did not know to what extent they had dominated the city.

The lady pressed the rosary in her hand praying for a moment.

"I'm sorry you have to know this, in Misaki it's common to get robbed, criminals lure people to the alleys and take everything, we're used to it, the governor doesn't do anything to help us, we always give a little money to the victims so that they return home, be careful when going through the streets" the lady said goodbye to the young woman and left.

Sarah considered the information feeling that something did not add up.

"Do they lure people into the alleys?" She observed one of those places noting that entering them did not seem easy to do.

Just when she was thinking about some possibilities one of her friends came back, this time there were people, but the passers-by didn't see anything strange, everyone was in her world.

"We found a good place, I'll take you there" they both took their things and headed to the hotel.

They arrived quickly due to their speed, always trying to appear when people were not paying attention to their surroundings, although the places where they stopped were difficult to see with the human eye, whether they were corners or areas with many objects blocking the view.

The chosen hotel had a good location, it was close to a river and the sunlight reflected on the water giving a refreshing appearance.

They entered the building and left their bags in their rooms.

"Karin is asleep in her room, I plan to do some research, what are you going to do?" asked Tama.

the young woman thought for a moment before speaking.

"I'll go to the Guardian headquarters in the city" the young woman spoke with a serious look.

The woman nodded and said goodbye to her.

She heard the door close, she took some things out of her suitcase and headed to the bathroom.

*******

A young woman with blue-dyed locks walked lost in her thoughts.

She by accident she bumped into someone.

"Excuse me" she said looking at the other person, he was a semi-curpulent man with reddish hair.

"It's my fault, good morning" the young woman ignored her farewell, closing her eyes for a moment.

She had come to the city to collect information about someone important to her and her family, she had to find him safe and sound.

"Hold on, I'll find you" she thought to herself following the path, at one point she entered the alleys of the city without fear.

She knew the fame of the city, although she also had a way to defend herself. After a short walk through the alleys, she understood how muggers lured people.

She quickly got rid of the men returning to reality, behind her a transparent vortex closed.

"So the raiders are energy users, what a problem" Sarah thought following her path, anyone who got in the way would be finished by her.

After a while she stopped at the entrance to a nightclub, she knocked twice on the door, the surrounding people gave a sense of danger, the door opened with a squeak.

A head poked through the crack looking at the girl, annoyed sigh.

"What is a young woman like you doing here? Do you know the danger of working like this?" said a woman finishing opening the door, she was wearing suggestive clothes, the young woman closed her eyes, they had confused her motives.

"I come to know the pleasures of proper company" Sarah spoke in a low tone, the woman changed her expression for a few seconds before smiling professionally.

"Come in honey, I know what you're looking for" she entered the establishment and the woman looked around the street before closing.

Inside she was led through a space with tables and a bar area in the corner, several girls cleaning, doing her jobs without paying attention to her, all women with nice bodies.

The young woman's eyes stopped at the back of the woman in front of her, they had arrived.

"Come in" was what she heard from her companion, then she left, Sarah entered the room.

Black eyes looked at her mischievously, she had wrinkles camouflaged in light makeup, thick light-toned skin, sharp gaze, crooked nose, bright red lips, the woman's hair was tied up in a bun, wearing a black dress that covered her body down to her legs, she wore pearls adorning her neck, and jewelry on her wrists.

"It's nice to have a visit from the water relic here, long time no see honey, why don't you give your aunt a hug?" The lady said that she looked 45 years old, the young woman smiled, but she did not approach.

"I have come to ask you for help with some expenses, it is the request of a relic and not that of your niece" the young woman spoke with a sharp look.

The woman nodded with a disappointed face.

"You're just like your father, both only ask and don't give" the woman's smile disappeared when she remembered the last thing her niece said, she stared at him with a surprised face.

Sarah understood that look.

"I know you haven't received the notice yet, but what I'm doing goes against the wishes of the elders, I trust that my authority as a relic is enough to convince you to cooperate" the young woman looked around the room as she left the woman thinking.

She soon understood what was happening, she knew the problem that her family had suffered, if it was so serious it was normal that nobody wanted to do anything, but a relic was against it, she could imagine the rest.

She glanced over at a picture of her on her desk before turning her gaze back to the young woman.

"I'll help you, but I want you to do something for me" commented the woman getting up from her seat, she wasn't worried about the consequences of her actions, after all, her support for the organization was about to end, helping her niece was more important than the threats that would never come.

"I've already come too far to stop, even if I didn't achieve much, I hope she will."

The look on her face was hard to describe as she grabbed an envelope from a bookshelf and passed it to the young woman.

"Who?" She asked her without opening the envelope, she knew what was inside, although she had doubts how she had obtained it so quickly, then she would check it.

"She is the daughter of a politician, she likes to get benefits without paying and the organization is not willing to have freeloaders as allies, take care of her, leave the rest to me" the woman's crooked smile made the young woman shake her head .

"She must have a powerful guard if you send me as soon as you see me" Sarah said confidently, she thought about something for a moment before saying "OK, I'll come back tomorrow for my payment" then the girl turned around and left.

The woman returned to her desk and clutched her dress tightly.

The guilty look in her eyes didn't go away as she poured herself a shot of whiskey.

Her eyes wandered a bit, her mind remembered something and she looked up with the glass in her hand.

She toasted the air looking at the picture of her on her desk.

She was with her family, her brothers, uncles, parents and her nephews, among them, a young Sarah hugged a child younger than her with a radiant smile, the child did the same.

"I'll pray for your sake darling, find him" the woman whispered before taking her first drink.

Next Chapter: Conspiracy in the shadows