The market was louder than usual.
Cries of vendors overlapped with laughter, enchanted signs flickered with bright colors, and the scent of roasted food hung thick in the air. Kaito walked near the center of the group, hands tucked into his hoodie pockets, spear strapped across his back.
"This one has co-op," Ryo said, holding up a game disc.
Mira leaned over his shoulder. "That one crashes half the time."
"Still better than watching Kaito rage alone," she added.
Kaito shot her a look. "I do not rage."
Aria didn't comment. She just watched the crowd.
Dex padded calmly at Kaito's side, tail relaxed—but his ears twitched once, then twice.
Kaito felt it too.
A pressure shift.A sudden hush beneath the noise.
Then—
CRACK.
The sound came from above.
Stone shattered as figures burst through the upper windows of a storage building overlooking the market. Cloaked silhouettes dropped down, boots hitting stalls, crates, and awnings with brutal force.
"SHOOTERS!" someone screamed.
Panic exploded.
Bolts of energy tore through the air, scorching the ground where civilians had been standing seconds earlier.
"Circle formation!" Aria shouted.
Kaito was already moving.
He stepped forward, spear sliding into his hands in one smooth motion. He planted himself between the attackers and a cluster of fleeing civilians, eyes sharp, body loose.
"Get them out!" he ordered.
Ryo and Mira surged to the sides, intercepting incoming fire. Aria moved like a blade through chaos, knocking one shooter off balance and disarming another before they hit the ground.
Dex barked sharply and darted forward, snapping at a shooter's ankle and dragging him down hard.
Kaito struck next.
No fire.
Just precision.
He slammed the spear's shaft into a shooter's ribs, spun, and swept the legs out from under another. A third tried to line up a shot—
Kaito closed the distance in a blink and drove the butt of the spear into the man's chest, knocking the air clean out of him.
The crowd surged away behind them.
A bolt skimmed past Kaito's shoulder.
He twisted, deflecting it—
—and felt something slip.
A small leather pouch tore free from his belt and hit the ground with a dull clink.
Coins scattered.
Several rolled across the stone, glinting in the chaos.
Kaito didn't notice at first.
He was already spinning back into the fight, intercepting another shooter, knocking him aside before he could fire into the fleeing crowd.
"Left!" Aria shouted.
Kaito turned just in time to block a point-blank shot, the impact jolting his arm. Heat flared briefly in his chest—dangerously close—but he crushed it down.
The last shooter tried to retreat.
Dex tackled him.
Silence followed—ragged, stunned, broken only by distant cries and the crackle of damaged stalls.
Guards were already running in.
Kaito finally exhaled.
That's when he looked down.
Coins littered the ground at his feet.
Not a few.
A lot.
The Circle noticed immediately.
Ryo stared. "…Is that—"
Mira crouched, picking one up. Her eyes widened. "That's pure silver."
Aria looked at Kaito slowly. "How much money were you carrying?"
Kaito froze.
"…Enough," he said.
People nearby had stopped panicking.
Now they were staring.
Whispers rippled outward.
"That's him—"
"Did you see how fast—"
"Where did he get that kind of coin?"
Kaito knelt and began scooping the money back into the torn pouch, movements controlled but unmistakably tense.
Aria stepped closer, voice low. "You just answered a question no one asked out loud."
Kaito tightened the pouch and stood.
"I didn't mean to," he said quietly.
Dex pressed against his leg, steadying him.
The guards finally arrived, securing the scene and ushering civilians away. The market slowly began to breathe again—but something had changed.
Eyes lingered on Kaito longer now.
Not in fear.
In curiosity.
And somewhere, unseen, someone would hear about a calm fighter who dropped a fortune in the middle of a battle.
Kaito slung the spear back over his shoulder.
"…We're buying the games quickly," he said. "Then we're leaving."
Aria nodded.
Because rumors didn't need fire to spread.