Chapter 19 - A Fateful Alliance

While Orihime was talking to Kazuya, he noticed a group of thug-like people walking towards their position, and it made him uneasy. He slowly brought down one of his hands to hold on to the handle of his short sword at his side should something go wrong.

Orihime was still speaking when she noticed she no longer had his attention. "Now that's just rude, Kazuya," she said to him before looking backwards to find out what he was looking at. 

At about that time, they were just a few feet away from her, folding their hands behind her seat with smug smiles on their faces. 

The moment she recognized their faces, she sighed in sudden exhaustion. 

"You thought I would never find you again, didn't you?" asked the man in the center, banging his hand on the table. 

"No, I just thought you would have stopped acting childishly by now," she replied to him. "I won that bet fair and square; deal with it."

"You mean the bet you cheated on?" the man asked her. 

"You and the dogs flanking you know that I never cheated. So why are you trying to make me look like a fraud? You lost the bet, and I beat you fair and square. "Why can't you just accept it?" she asked him. "Stop acting like a whining loser; it makes you inferior."

The man frowned angrily, quickly bringing forth a dagger and placing its tip on her neck.

"If you try to pull a fast one on me, I promise my dagger will be going straight in," he warned. "Now, where is my money?"

"I have no money," she said with honesty, knowing the man was just one move away from ending her life. "The last money I had was used to buy our meal."

"Too bad," the man said, "I was going to kill you anyway."

The other two laughed as he said this, thinking this would be it for Orihime. 

"Leave her alone, scumbag," Kazuya said to him, "she is broke." "There is nothing you could get out of her at the moment."

The man frowned, looking at Kazuya as if this were the first time he had taken notice of him. "Who do you think you are to tell me what to do?" She is no longer your concern. Get out of here!

"In case you haven't noticed, I was the one talking to her before you idiots came over here, and I am not through with her." "So it is either you wait for your turn or we fight over mine—your call," he said to them. 

But instead of taking his warning seriously, they all began to laugh. 

"Are you serious, man?" said one of them, throwing his head back as he laughed hysterically. He didn't know what to make of this. Kazuya did not look intimidating; one could argue that he had a very punchable face. 

"Alright then," the man in the middle said, sobering up, "I do want trouble!" "Now bring it on!"

"Don't say I never warned you," he said to them before quickly bringing forth his sword, cutting off the man's arm within a moment. Blood sprung out of the victim's severed limb as he screamed out in pain and horror, falling to the ground and squirming in agony. 

This caused a frightened uproar in the tavern, causing several customers and workers to run out immediately. 

The other two men rushed towards Kazuya, who put his sword back in the sheath, not wanting to waste his blade on people like them. He clenched his fists, setting them before him in a fighting pose, while the two of them came towards him with their daggers put forth, ready to kill him upon contact. 

With his bare hands, Kazuya took on the both of them and came out triumphant after disfiguring their faces through several punches. 

Orihime still sat where she was after all this happened, feeling like a rare gem with the young man having just fought for her. 

Kazuya looked around, noticing that he had drawn a lot of attention to himself, something he was trying to avoid. 

So he looked at Orihime. "Let's go," he said to her. Without hesitation, she got right up and followed him out of the tavern. 

The two of them ran out of the area, out of town, and back into the forests. On the way, Orihime got so exhausted that Kazuya had to lift her with his hand. When they got into the woods, he dropped her while he leaned in on a tree to take a breather. 

She placed a hand on his shoulder. "It seems like in the process of returning a favor, I ended up owing you my life all over again," she said. "Thank you."

"Why are you thanking me?" I was trying to get vital information out of you, and they were trying to kill you before I could get it. Anyone would have done what I did in that situation. "If you didn't have the information I needed, I wouldn't have helped you," he said to her. 

Orihime folded her hands with a slight frown on her face. "So, do I still have this "information" that you seek?" she asked. 

"Yes, you do," he said to her, catching his breath. 

"But I thought I just told you that I don't know where the goblin hideout is." "At best, all I have is a theory that hasn't been proven right," she told him. 

"That's the point," he replied. "I am going to find out if it is correct, and you are going to help me do it."

"I thought I also told you that finding a witch who specializes in hidden magic might be easy... "But getting their help would be difficult, as they are the most expensive mages to hire for any mission," she replied. 

"I know, and that's why I need your help," he said to her. 

"So you are thinking of making enough money to hire one of the most expensive mages in the world to open a portal just so that you can slaughter some goblins?" she asked, and Kazuya promptly responded with a casual nod. 

"You are crazy," she said to him. 

"I know," he replied. 

"You are going to die trying," she clarified. 

"I'm aware of that, and that's why I need your help," he replied. 

"What do you need me for?" she asked. 

"You are smart," he responded, and she kept quiet, waiting for further explanation. 

"Wait... is that it?" she asked. 

"Should there be another reason?" he asked. 

"Look, Kazuya. I admire your chivalry, and I appreciate the sentiment. But this is just taking it too far. At best, my theory is just intelligent speculation, fallible, and unreliable. "There is no reason to evaluate me based on a single intelligent guess," she told him. 

"Look, I don't think we have time to keep debating on whether or not you are smart. But I need your help—are you in or are you out?" he asked, not in the mood for debate. 

Orihime took a deep breath. "You know this might take forever, right?" she asked. 

"Yes," Kazuya answered frankly. 

"You know we might both die while doing this, right?" she asked. 

"I know," he said, "that's why I need you by my side." "Now, will you help me?"

Orihime took a deep breath. "Alright, fine," she said to him, "I'm in."

"Good. "Just so you know, this might not end up being a temporary alliance after all," he said to her. 

"I know, it might take forever," she replied. 

"Well, okay then," Kazuya remarked, "now, where do we find these expensive mage you speak of?"

"Well, they are not from around here, that's for sure," she said. "The one place I am sure we would be able to find the mages specialized in hidden magic would be at Mahotoshi, the magical city, which is several miles from here." "It would take over a day on modern transport to get there."

"Any idea how much hiring a commercial vehicle for the journey would cost?" asked Kazuya. 

"A lot," she estimated—"probably worth several pieces of silver, definitely over 60 pieces."

"Given the kind of work you do, how long would it take to generate such an amount of income?" he asked. 

"Probably a week or so," she estimated. 

"What if I can help you with that?" "What if the both of us worked on it over time so that it wouldn't take that long to put the money together?" he proposed. 

"Well, that might not be such a bad idea now that I think about it," she said, "but are you experienced in hunting precious stones and gems?" It took me a lot of time to learn about it enough to make a living out of it.

"That shouldn't be a problem, Orihime," he said to her, "I have my methods."

Orihime suddenly lit up with widened eyes and an excitedly beautiful smile—a look that gave Kazuya the creeps. 

"What is wrong with you?" he asked, wondering where this reaction was coming from. 

"You just called me by my name," she said to him, "you have never called me by my name."

Kazuya frowned in disbelief. "Is that what excites you all of a sudden?" he asked. "Get a grip, woman."

"Now you are back to your old self again," she whined playfully.