Chapter 26
Bang—!
The door to Last Round was flung open, and the small bell above it shook like mad.
Mira turned her head in surprise at the loud noise.
“What is it?”
Nia stood in front of the door, panting so hard she could barely breathe.
She clung to the doorframe, gasping.
Mira’s eyes widened at the sight.
“Nia? Aren’t you off today….”
“Rio….”
Her voice trembled.
Kael’s gaze turned toward her.
Nia forced herself to swallow a breath and spoke again.
“Rio is gone.”
Mira’s expression hardened.
“What?”
Nia gripped the doorframe even more tightly, her fingertips turning white.
“He should’ve been home… but he wasn’t. His wheelchair was gone too, and his books were scattered across the floor….”
Her voice trembled more and more.
“And the door was open….”
Mira came out from behind the bar.
“W-wait, calm down. Rio didn’t go out by himself, did he?”
Nia shook her head.
“No. Rio can’t go out by himself. He can’t even unlock the wheelchair’s wheels properly on his own.”
“Then….”
Her reddened eyes were fixed on Kael.
“I think he was kidnapped.”
Last Round fell silent.
Kael slowly rose from his seat.
“When?”
His tone was unusually serious.
Nia hurriedly answered.
“It was when I went out to buy groceries… and came back. It hasn’t been long. Thirty minutes at most… no, it might have been less….”
“What was the house like?”
“It had been ransacked. The bookshelf was knocked over, and Rio’s favorite books were torn….”
Nia’s lips trembled, and she struggled to continue.
“And….”
Kael asked.
“And?”
Nia pulled a crumpled piece of paper from her clothes and held it out to Kael with a trembling hand.
Kael took the paper and unfolded it.
….”
Red ink had run across it, as though it had been written with bloodstained fingers.
[Deliver this to the hero.]
[If you want the child back, come alone to the eastern logistics center.]
[Wear your trademark black mask, too.]
[Lord Toph is waiting.]
Mira clenched her teeth.
“The Black Ring….”
Nia’s body trembled faintly.
“I-I… I should have been watching Rio better….”
“Nia.”
Mira grabbed her by the shoulders.
“It’s not your fault.”
“But….”
“I said it’s not your fault.”
Kael silently folded the paper and put it in his pocket.
….”
His gaze was cold.
Watching Kael, Mira opened her mouth.
“W-wait, Kael. Where are you going right now?”
“For a walk.”
“What? Don’t tell me you….”
Nia’s head shot up.
“I-I’ll go too!”
Her voice was still trembling.
Kael looked at her and answered firmly.
“No.”
“Rio is my little brother!”
“That’s why you can’t.”
Her eyes wavered at his words, but Kael spoke calmly.
“If they capture you too, Rio will be in even more danger.”
“But….”
“I’ll bring him back.”
“Please….”
***
The Black Ring’s headquarters.
The inside of the abandoned logistics center was far noisier than usual.
At the center of it all, Toph was reclining in a large metal chair.
Toph looked down at the child dragged before him.
A yellow-haired beastkin boy bound to a wheelchair.
Rio Goldentail.
Rio looked around fearfully, but strangely enough, the light had not died from his eyes.
Toph propped his chin on one hand and asked,
“Why’d you bring the brat?”
At that, one of his subordinates hurriedly bowed his head.
“Well, Boss, someone saw this kid with that black-masked bastard.”
“Together?”
“Yes. They say he was with this kid and his sister. That black-masked bastard even took him all the way home himself.”
Toph’s lips curled upward.
“Is that so?”
He looked at Rio again.
Rio bit his lip, then shouted with all his strength,
“Let me go!”
The people around him snickered at the child’s desperate struggle.
Rio raised his voice even higher, as if trying to suppress his fear.
“The hero is coming! Big brother’s coming to save me!”
Laughter erupted around the room at his words.
“He says the hero is coming.”
“This little brat’s been reading too many books.”
“Hey, this is Grave Rock. You’re not in a fairy tale.”
Rio’s face reddened at their jeers, but he did not lower his head.
“He really is coming.”
Toph clapped once at those words.
Clap.
“Then that works out nicely.”
Rio glared at him.
Toph laughed and leaned forward.
“I’m using you as bait to call that hero here.”
Confusion was plainly visible on Rio’s face.
Toph laughed in satisfaction at his reaction.
“Kids are great. Their reactions are so honest.”
“That’s cowardly.”
Rio gritted his teeth as he spoke.
The gang members in the room laughed again at those words.
“What?”
“I said it’s cowardly.”
Rio continued to the very end despite his trembling voice.
“Someone like you could never beat a hero.”
Toph stared at Rio for a moment, then threw his head back and laughed.
“Ha.”
Briefly.
“Hahahaha.”
The laughter soon spread throughout the room, and the gang members joined in.
They seemed to find it funny to watch a little kid rage at them.
Toph stopped laughing and spoke.
“I like you, brat.”
Rio did not answer.
“You’re scared to death, but you’ve still got plenty of bite.”
At that moment, someone came rushing in from outside.
“Boss!”
Toph’s gaze turned.
The subordinate who had run over gasped and shouted,
“That bastard actually came?”
Toph’s lips slowly curled upward.
“He really did come.”
He slowly rose from his chair.
When Rio raised his head, someone was walking through the darkness toward the logistics center’s tall entrance.
The big brother Rio called a hero, wearing a black mask and black clothes.
He was carrying nothing in his hands.
He walked slowly through the armed gang members.
It was Kael.
The gang members all aimed their guns at him.
However, Kael did not stop and continued approaching Toph.
When Toph raised a hand, the gang members barely managed to halt.
Kael stopped at a set distance.
His gaze went first to Rio.
Rio was looking at him, still bound to the wheelchair.
“Big brother….”
After confirming Rio was safe, Kael looked at Toph.
“Release him as promised.”
Laughter burst out around them at his words.
“He says ‘as promised.’”
“This bastard really is playing hero.”
“You came all the way here and you’re setting terms?”
Ridicule erupted from every direction, but Toph did not laugh. He simply stared at Kael.
Then he turned his head to the side.
“Hey.”
The subordinate holding Rio flinched.
“Yes?”
“Hand over the kid.”
The room fell silent.
The subordinate stared blankly, wondering if he had heard wrong, then asked again.
“Pardon?”
Toph’s gaze grew fierce.
“Didn’t you hear me? I said hand him over.”
The subordinate hurriedly lowered his head.
“Y-yes, Boss!”
He hurriedly untied Rio’s arms and pushed the wheelchair forward.
Rio looked between Toph and Kael with a bewildered expression.
The gang members were bewildered as well.
No one had expected this.
They had never imagined that Toph would actually release the hostage.
As the wheelchair was pushed toward Kael, he quietly stepped forward and untied the remaining cord around Rio’s wrists.
Rio spoke quietly.
“Big brother….”
“Are you all right?”
Rio nodded.
“Yes.”
When Toph saw Kael scanning his surroundings, he snickered.
“Don’t worry. I’m not touching him for now.”
Toph continued, running his gaze over his own arm as if inspecting it.
“You see, I….”
His metal arm gleamed beneath the lights.
“Am a gentleman, despite appearances.”
Several gang members in the room maintained tense, expressionless faces. They did not know whether they were supposed to laugh.
“And a man among men.”
He lightly tapped his chest with a metal finger.
“But if word gets around that I fought you after cowardly taking a hostage, I’d be fucking embarrassed, wouldn’t I?”
Kael did not answer, but Toph continued regardless.
“Besides, you wouldn’t be able to fight at full strength.”
The corners of his mouth rose higher.
“Then it wouldn’t be fun.”
Even more so.
“Yeah, exactly.”
Vrrrr.
His ACU began to respond.
“I hate nothing more than boring fights.”
Rio grabbed Kael’s sleeve.
“Big brother….”
Instead of removing Rio’s hand, Kael spoke quietly.
“Can you make it to the door?”
Rio began to nod, then hesitated.
Then he grabbed the back of the wheelchair and slowly turned it around.
“Go.”
“But you….”
“Go.”
Kael left no room for refusal.
Toph laughed at the sight of Rio biting his lip.
“Let him go.”
When the gang members only stared at him, Toph waved his hand irritably.
“Open a path. Don’t you understand?”
The gang members reluctantly opened a path, and Rio slowly moved by gripping the wheelchair’s wheels.
Kael watched him head toward the door.
So he could move immediately if even one of them reached out a hand.
Near the door, Rio turned his head.
“Big brother!”
He shouted with a face on the verge of tears.
“You have to win!”
Toph laughed.
“Look at that. You’re even getting cheered on.”
Kael gave Rio a short nod, and Rio went out the door.
Seeing that, Toph began loosening up by rolling his neck from side to side.
His metal joints clicked.
“All right.”
He stepped forward and lightly shook out both hands.
“Now the distraction is gone.”
….”
Toph sneered at him and provoked him.
“Hero in the black mask. Let’s have a bout.”
Kael slipped a hand inside his pocket, and his fingertips touched cold metal.
Pale’s Tier 6 ACU.
Instead, he picked up the Tier 1 ACU first.
“Just in time.”
“Just in time?”
Kael’s voice was calm.
“There was something I needed to test.”
Toph’s smile deepened slightly at those words.
“Good.”
A red glow spread from the back of his neck.
“Then let’s test each other.”