I followed the faint pull of Juli’s insects, letting them guide forward while keeping my pace steady and my mind focused.
Still, a small part of wanted just a few quiet minutes where nothing went wrong.
Naturally, that was exactly when things went wrong.
Five figures stepped into the road ahead and spread out just enough to block my path, and I slowed down without really thinking about it. It was more out of habit than concern at this point.
I looked at them properly, expecting sothing unusual, sothing dangerous, sothing worth adjusting my approach for, but all I saw were people trying very hard to look like a problem.
I stopped a few steps away and studied them for a mont.
"...Please tell this is not what I think it is," I said.
The one in the center, who had clearly decided he was in charge, lifted the tal pipe resting on his shoulder and pointed it at like he had been waiting his whole life for this mont.
"Hand over your coins."
I stared at him for a second, then glanced around the empty street behind before looking back at his face.
"...You’re serious," I said, not even trying to hide the disappointnt in my voice.
"All of it," he replied, his tone firm like that would sohow make this less ridiculous.
I let out a slow breath and rubbed my forehead, already feeling tired in a way that had nothing to do with physical exhaustion.
"Alright," I said, looking back at him. "Just so I understand this properly, you saw walking alone and thought I was an easy target."
"You are alone," he answered, as if that was the most complete explanation possible.
I nodded slowly, taking that in.
"That’s incredible logic," I said. "Truly. I feel like I’ve learned sothing just by hearing it."
One of the others stepped forward, holding a knife a little too tightly, their irritation showing clearly on their face.
"Stop talking and drop the coins."
I looked at the knife, then at him, and then back at the knives again as if I was genuinely trying to figure sothing out.
"You’re holding that like you practiced in your head," I said. "Not in real life."
His expression hardened imdiately. "You think this is a joke?"
I considered that for a mont, then gave a small shrug.
"I think this is a very strange interruption," I said honestly. "I’m on my way to sothing that is probably going to try to kill , and right now I’m being stopped by five people who look like they are still deciding how threatening they want to be."
The one holding what looked like a broken chair leg frowned at .
"It’s solid wood," he said, as if that was the part that needed defending.
I stared at him for a mont, then nodded slowly.
"I believe you," I said. "That’s not the issue."
The leader clicked his tongue, clearly losing patience.
"Enough. Drop your coins."
I exhaled through my nose and let my shoulders relax, because at this point it was obvious this was not going to resolve itself.
"You know," I said, "I was actually hoping for a quiet walk for once. Nothing dramatic, nothing stupid, just a normal few minutes where I move from one place to another without soone trying to take sothing from ."
I gestured lightly between us.
"And yet here we are."
The knife guy stepped closer. "Last warning."
I looked at him, then at the others, and then back at him again.
"Out of curiosity," I said, "what happens after this? You take my coins and then what? You celebrate? You split it evenly? Or do you fight each other imdiately because none of you trust the others?"
No one answered, which sohow answered everything.
I nodded slightly.
"Yeah, that sounds about right."
The leader stepped forward then, raising the pipe as his patience finally ran out.
"You talk too much."
"I talk exactly as much as the situation deserves," I replied.
He swung.
It was a wide, unbalanced swing that told everything I needed to know before it even reached . I stepped to the side with very little effort and let the pipe pass through empty space, then caught his wrist before he could recover. A small twist was enough to make him lose his grip, and I pushed him back into the others without putting much strength into it.
He stumbled, more surprised than hurt.
I looked at him and shook my head slightly.
"You really should aim," I said. "It helps more than you’d think."
The one with the knife rushed in imdiately after, clearly trying to make up for that failure, but his movent was rushed and uneven, driven more by frustration than control. I shifted my stance and redirected his arm, letting his own montum carry him forward before pushing him off balance.
"Careful," I added. "You almost made this worse for your own team."
"I’ll kill you!" he snapped.
"That feels unnecessary," I said calmly. "We’re not even properly acquainted."
The others hesitated for a brief mont, their earlier confidence starting to crack, and I could see it clearly in the way they moved and the way they looked at now. The situation had stopped matching their expectations, and they did not know how to adjust.
I gave them a small, almost polite smile.
"You can still walk away," I said. "This is a good point to stop."
The one with the chair leg tightened his grip instead.
"We’re five," he said, like that alone solved everything.
I glanced at the group, then back at him.
"Yes," I said. "I noticed. The problem is that you are five individuals, not one group."
That seed to confuse him more than anything else.
Before anyone could say anything else, they rushed forward together, and for a brief second I just watched them, already knowing how this would end.
Then I moved.
Not quickly, not wildly, just efficiently. A small step avoided one attack, a slight turn redirected another, and a gentle push sent one of them into the path of soone else. Their lack of coordination did more damage than I ever needed to, and within monts the situation collapsed into sothing ssy and unbalanced.
One tripped. One lost his weapon. One nearly hit his own ally again.
I moved through it all without rushing, letting their own mistakes create openings that I simply used.
It did not take long.
Soon enough, they were either on the ground or stepping back, their earlier aggression replaced with uncertainty and a very clear realization that this had not gone the way they expected.
I stood there for a mont, looking at them as they tried to recover.
"...So," I said, "are we done here?"
No one answered.
I took that as a yes.
"Good," I added. "That saves ti."
I brushed my sleeve lightly and stepped past them, continuing forward as if the entire encounter had been nothing more than a minor inconvenience.
After a few steps, I let out a quiet breath.
"That was actually less stressful than I expected," I muttered to myself. "Which probably ans what’s ahead is going to be much worse."
And sohow, that thought felt far more reliable than anything else as I followed the pull of Juli’s insects once again.
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