The center was immense; Yumiel got lost several times in this giant labyrinth, reminding her of the cemetery. She even came to regret Jack's presence, constantly losing herself in the clothing gallery.
« Fucking shitty gallery! No matter how much I look at the signs, there's no precise indication. Was it too complicated to put up a map? »
Yumiel kept wandering through the gallery, taking advantage of it to do a bit of window-shopping, stopping in certain stores. Looking at some clothes or collectible items.
It didn't take her long to regain her composure and get moving again. This time, always walking in the same direction. Yumiel eventually ended up exiting the gallery, entering instead the Children and Family section.
Yumiel continued straight ahead until she was called out by children playing nearby, whom Yumiel intentionally avoided.
« Ma'am, do you want to play with us? »
Yumiel looked at the three children in front of her, simply asking, « Do you know where the boss of this place is? »
The children looked at each other, then smiled at Yumiel while holding out a ball.
« We'll tell you if you play with us. »
Yumiel completely ignored them, moving on. Still straight ahead, but this time with three children following her, constantly talking to her about games and such, following her all the way to the exit of the gallery.
« Ma'am, we're not allowed to go into the next gallery. Don't you want to come back and play with us? »
« And you, don't you want to shut up and go back to your parents or something! »
Yumiel kept going, entering the Culture and Leisure gallery, but to the children's surprise, they were still following her. Yumiel opened her senses to their maximum for a moment, focusing on their heartbeats, which were becoming erratic, before suddenly turning around, making their heart rates spike. Yet their faces remained smiling, betraying no anxiety.
Yumiel deactivated her senses and entered a bookstore. Yumiel did nothing exceptional, leafing through books for about ten minutes. The children were still circling around her. Then two of them left, leaving her alone with one of them.
« Didn't you tell me you weren't allowed to be here? »
The child, slightly surprised that Yumiel was speaking after saying nothing despite the many questions he had asked her.
« I'm sure my parents will understand. »
« Aren't you afraid of my five daggers floating just above my head? »
Yumiel still had complete control over her daggers, requiring almost no effort to control them.
« No, I think it's really pretty. Can you teach me? »
Yumiel stood up and headed for the exit, wanting to move on to the next gallery. But in front of her were the two children stationed at the store's exit.
« Kid, I know a little girl—when she does things, she does them all the way. So show me the same flame, even if it means paying the consequences, or go home. »
The child burst into frenetic laughter before pointing a weapon at Yumiel. The two at the entrance prepared two balloons they were about to throw at Yumiel.
« I'LL SHOW YOU WHO THE KID IS. THIS IS OUR TERRITORY! »
The two at the entrance threw the balloons at Yumiel, who exhaled, sending her daggers through the balloons, piercing them. The explosion was closer to the two children than to Yumiel; the balloon was filled with a multitude of metal fragments. One or two flew toward Yumiel, but she protected herself with her daggers.
The child threatening her with a pistol was trembling. Yumiel simply turned her head toward him as if to say "and now?". Trembling, he pulled the trigger.
Yumiel sliced the bullet with her daggers before grabbing him by the throat. The fog from the explosion dissipated, revealing the children on the ground, still alive but injured. Their small size had spared them most of the projectiles.
« Why? »
The child tried to speak, but his voice was hoarse, broken by lack of air.
« Ha, for… for the Ha clan. »
The two children behind pulled small balls from their pockets. Yumiel sent her daggers, cutting the small balls, which exploded in their hands and faces. The child she was holding struggled.
Yumiel closed her eyes, telling herself that Marie and him were of the same kind and could have been friends.
« Not bad, kids. »
The child struggled before trying to pull something from his pocket, but Yumiel tightened her grip, crushing his neck and then his nape before releasing him.
She looked at their bodies for a few moments, then left without turning back toward the next gallery.
Looking up, she saw the sign: entertainment. Yumiel walked straight ahead again, but this time she ran into a dead end. There was no longer a straight line but circles like a ring connected by staircases leading upstairs.
Crossing all these levels, searching for an exit, she passed by a cinema and was surprised to hear a film playing. Yumiel inspected further, entering the cinema hall.
The room was empty; there was only one person watching the film—not seated, but standing.
Yumiel approached, and the man noticed her, motioning for her to come closer, which she did.
« Seeing such a young girl here is rare. Would you like to watch these old films with me? »
The man—or rather, the elderly person—looked at Yumiel with his nearly closed eyes, watching a slightly old film from the 1970s.
« I'm sorry, sir, but I'm not looking to watch a film. I'm looking for the boss of what some people apparently call a "gang". »
The old man sat down and simply watched the film, ignoring Yumiel before replying,
« Good luck to you. »
Suddenly Yumiel's walkie-talkie crackled before cutting off abruptly. A few moments later, Yumiel heard gunshots, though very faint.
Yumiel was starting to boil inside; she couldn't stand going in circles anymore, finding nothing and always getting vague answers. Yumiel grabbed the old man by the collar.
« Listen, you have to be connected to these fucking gangs somehow, otherwise you wouldn't be here, so answer me—where is your boss? »
The elderly person placed his hand on Yumiel's as a sign to calm down; Yumiel gently let go.
« Youth is always impatient. You're the type who wants to go too fast, sometimes making mistakes, but strangely I don't feel that discomfort in you. Doesn't that bother you? »
« You think we're playing guessing games? » (Yumiel touched her frontal lobe.) « Just tell me where your boss is, that's all. »
« Little girl, why do you think there's only one boss? »
Yumiel understood, sending her daggers at the man, who dodged them extremely easily, with the least possible movement, moving only very slightly.
« Ahahahah, I should have suspected it—but yes, it was obvious. How could a gang be so organized and so big with only one leader? »
The man continued to dodge Yumiel's daggers very easily, with the least possible movement.
« Insolent little girl, I'll show you the power of Perverted Wisdom. »
Suddenly Yumiel couldn't help bursting out laughing when she heard the name of the man's power.
« Puaaahhahahah, no, no, wait—hahahahah. Perverted Wisdom, ahahahah. What kind of loser do you have to be to give such a name to your true nature? »
The man, annoyed by Yumiel's laughter, began to float in the air in a very strange position, both hands raised and one foot arched in a circle. Yumiel's daggers were propelled into the air, flying in all directions. Yumiel had trouble regaining control of them.
« INSOLENT! You should respect your elders—take the punishment you're due! »
All of a sudden, Yumiel was struck as if by something invisible, the blows chaining together, becoming more and more violent. Yumiel opened her senses, then drew blood from her flask, creating a bubble she enclosed herself in.
Yet despite her senses being active and the bubble around her, she kept taking hits, and her senses detected nothing abnormal. The damage was very light; Yumiel regenerated faster than she was taking damage. Still, it irritated her.
Yumiel transformed her bubble into five daggers in addition to the five she already had, then sent them straight at the elderly person. The same pattern repeated: he dodged them with the least possible movement and with ease. She had tried everything, yet every time he managed to twist his body into incredible positions, always succeeding in dodging everything.
« You can give up. Just surrender yourself to me entirely—give me your body, and only after that will I let you go. »
Yumiel looked at the elderly person with contempt and deep disgust, reinforcing her desire to end his life.
« That's convenient—I had the same mindset. Give me your heart and I'll let you go. Ah, no, sorry, I also need your brain. »
During the brief exchange, Yumiel reflected on the man's power. It could resemble Léandre's magic, but it was completely different.
Yumiel understood two points about his power. First, he could anticipate her attacks. Second, he was attacking her mind, which reflected onto her body—otherwise it wouldn't make any sense. During her reflection, Yumiel kept taking blows and kept him busy with her daggers.
Yumiel felt she was onto something, trying to confirm it.
« You're reading my mind, aren't you? »
The man didn't respond. Yumiel simply closed her eyes, still controlling her daggers but sending them all over the room without really paying attention. It was dangerous, as some daggers grazed Yumiel; she had no idea where they were going—she just made them fly around the room. Until she heard a « Hrrraaa… ».
Opening her eyes, she saw the old man badly slashed. « Boom »—suddenly the cinema wall collapsed, revealing Jack, who had just been propelled through the wall with a very thin man on top of him, punching him.
« Ja… JACK!! »
On the ground, Jack turned his head. « Ah, Yumiel—some help wouldn't be unwelcome. »