A week after what happened at the mercenary building, the group was just assigning a contract to Eight.
Under that contract, he had to go to the Loctown building, since someone had paid to have the boss of that building killed. Eight learned that the building was near the city of Osaka, just a short way outside the city limits.
"Well, looks like I'll have to go far from Fukuoka," thought Eight.
Note: In case you didn't know where the group and the building are, the agency—or rather, the entire mercenary group—is in the city of Fukuoka; I just forgot to mention it.
Eight was walking through the hallways when the idea struck him to take Siphon along on the mission again. In the waiting room, Siphon was sitting, examining his rifle, inspecting every part to see if it was damaged.
"Hey, Seven, how are you? I came to tell you something I need you to do," said Eight, surprising him from behind.
"Heh… just what I needed right now," thought Sifon.
"Well, what do you say? Will you come with me for a moment?" said Eight.
"It's obvious he just wants to take me somewhere or something like that because the mission is only yours, and another thing—stop calling me Seven; I'm not," said Sifon.
"Hey, don't be like that. Besides, you should accept the position already—it's been a week, and there's no Seven," said Eight.
"I told you I don't want it, and I don't care," said Siphon.
"Ugh… Look, not only do I not think I want that position, but you know what happens," said Siphon.
"Yeah, I know, but that's exactly why I need you. Let's go now!" said Eight, grabbing Siphon.
Eight arrives at the parking lot to get in his car, but as soon as he touches the keys to honk the horn, the car explodes, leaving Eight surprised and Siphon somewhat confused by the situation.
"Well, your wife is going to kill you for this," said Siphon.
"I think I should've let the engine warm up for a few days," said Ocho.
"Yeah… well, let's take the bus," said Sifon, tapping him on the shoulder as they left the parking lot.
A few moments later, they're seen waiting at a bus stop. There are other people sitting there chatting. A bus pulls up, and they get on with the other passengers.
Before getting on the bus, they have to pay first by putting in coins. "Shit… I don't have any money," said Eight, frantically checking his pockets. Then, with a look of sheer desperation on his face, he turns to look at Siphon.
"Hm… Siphon, do you have any?" said Eight with a cheeky smile.
"You're an idiot, aren't you," said Sifon.
Sifon pays for the tickets and then sits down in an empty seat on the bus. Since there are no other seats left, Ocho, along with the other passengers, remains standing, holding onto the handrail.
Eight stares at Sifon (with a look that says, "You stole my seat") and Sifon, without looking at him, just tilts his head slightly with an expression that shows no emotion but could be interpreted as meaning something (he was telling him, "I paid for the ticket, so now you're stuck with it.")
They arrive in Osaka after quite a while. Sifon and Ocho spend their time looking for the building with some directions from people, while they're disguised. In the distance, on the top floor of a building, someone is sitting.
Because of the lighting, they can only see a shadow, but they can see the figure playing with some coins. Suddenly, someone arrives at the door, and a man enters with someone else.
"Sir, someone managed to get in and wants to take you out—it's the one next to me," said the man.
"Say no more, Tokikami. Just stay there. I didn't tell you to fight them; I just told you to bring them to me…" said the man.
"Yes, sir. I'll leave him here," said Tokikami.
"Enough of this nonsense! I came here to kill you!" shouted the man.
"I heard there's a huge bounty on your head! They call you the Great Tyrant," said the man.
"The Great Tyrant is just one of the names they've given me—the City Demon, the Green-Eyed Monster, the Eagle-Eyed One, the Man-Eater," said the man.
"Each of those is nothing more than a simple nickname. I have a name, and you know what it is," said the man.
"And how the hell am I supposed to know that?!" shouted the man, defying the other.
"Exactly! Nobody remembers him by his stupid nicknames!" shouted the man.
"They've given me this name because hardly anyone knows me anymore! All I want is a battle that can finally put an end to me!" shouted the man.
"And you know I haven't had one! You know why? Because my stupid, damn curse won't let me!" shouted the angry man, rising from his chair.
"The Great Tyrant you're looking for is right here in front of you!" the man shouted, standing directly in front of the other man's face.
Narrator: "That guy is known as one of the most dangerous men in the city. Many know him, but he's never lost. He's like someone unstoppable, but almost no one knows what he's really like. And that guy's name is Norichi Sarutobi," said the narrator.
"What are you talking about, you idiot!" the man shouted, pulling out a gun.
He fired at Norichi, but even though the bullet seemed to hit him, it actually missed because Norichi was behind him. "What the hell?" the man thought, wondering how he'd managed to dodge the bullet—and also why he'd ended up behind him.
Just as he was thinking that, Norichi pulled a gun from her pocket and shot the man in the head without hesitation; the man fell to the floor with a bullet hole in his head.
Blood dripped, staining the floor of Norichi's living room. Right after that, Tokikami entered the room and saw the man already dead. "That didn't last long," Tokikami said as he watched Norichi sit back down in the chair.
"Tokikami, send someone to clean this up, take the body away, and get rid of it. I don't want to see it again," Norichi said.
"Yes, sir. Would you like me to call someone to bring you a cup of tea as well?" said Tokikami.
"No, thank you, Tokikami. Just leave me alone here," said Norichi.
"Understood, sir. I'm leaving now," said Tokikami as he walked out.
"Now let's see who's next. Maybe I could hire some assassins and see if they can pull it off," thought Norichi.
"No, wait. Better yet, I should bring in more people who want to kill me, and if any of them manage it, they might," thought Norichi.
"No, wait—I don't know, I'm really torn right now. Huh…" said Norichi, leaning back in his chair.
Back with Sifon and Eight, they were in a convenience store when suddenly someone walked in. A man with a shotgun in his hand went to the counter, and the cashier (who was an elderly woman) attended to him.
"Can you give me a full box of shotgun shells?" the man said.
"Sure, here you go. You're going to see that guy to kill him, aren't you?" the old woman said.
"If that's the case, I'll claim the reward," the man said.
"Be very careful; you're not the first person to come to the store for this," said the old woman.
"A long time ago, more people came here to buy things to prepare themselves," said the old woman.
"And what happened to those people?" asked the man.
"None of them have ever shown up again, or I've run into them," replied the old woman.
"Ha… I'm not weak; I'll claim the reward," said the man.
"After that, I'll be famous, and no one would dare face me, hahaha…" said the man, laughing as he walked away.
Ocho, who had heard everything, approached the old woman at the counter to ask her who that person was. Ocho approached, and the old woman saw him.
"You want to ask about that, don't you?" asked the old woman.
"Yes, that's exactly what I want to know," replied Ocho.
"Hmph… well, they say that man is a danger in and of himself," said the old woman.
A flashback from a few days ago shows the old woman remembering that man who once came to her shop.
The old woman's inner voice speaking to Ocho in the present: "A few days ago, while I was serving a customer, a man suddenly arrived, followed by another; they were here looking for food," said the old woman as her memory unfolds.
"Suddenly, it was discovered that he was a man wanted for a large bounty; a bounty hunter found him and fought with him," said the old woman.
"The strange part came when the man managed to shoot the wanted man in the head, but the strange thing is that he was actually fine because the bullet didn't actually hit his head," said the old woman.
"It was just a lingering image that remained, but then the man killed the bounty hunter, and more men arrived, but every one of them died," said the old woman.
"But that doesn't change the fact that they wrecked my shop. However, that young man's companion paid a large sum of money for the inconvenience, which ended up covering the cost of fixing my shop," said the old woman.
"And then I just watched as those two left my shop as if nothing had happened," said the old woman.
The old woman's recollection ends, and Eight, having listened to everything, buys her a drink before leaving. Once outside, he meets up with Siphon and tells him everything.
"I see. So we have to go there," said Siphon, shifting slightly.
"Yeah, now we just have to go to that building. We can follow that man carrying the shotgun," said Eight, pointing in the direction he was heading.
Eight and Sifon secretly follow the man with the shotgun, but they see him enter the building. They see a guard let him in and a secretary lead him to some part of the building.
"I see. This is our chance to do something," Eight whispered to Siphon.
The two stand in front of the building and move forward, but they're stopped by the guard. "You can't go any further." Seeing this, Eight decides to point a gun at the guard, but…
"Ah… I see. You're here to join in too. Why didn't you say so before?" said the guard.
"Wait, what?" Eight asked.
"Hey, Tokikami, take him! They're going to participate too!" the security guard shouted.
Tokikami came out of the main entrance and opened the doors for them. "Come this way. I'll take you to our waiting room with the boss," Tokikami said, leading them.
As they walk, Sifon and Eight realize that this place is very elegant despite there being almost no one here. Sifon notices that there are people, but they're only there to pay off their loan accounts.
"If you're wondering, this building is solely responsible for issuing or canceling people's loans once they've paid them off," said Tokikami.
"We even give loans to people. The boss is very kind, so he gives them many days, weeks, or even years to pay them back," said Tokikami.
"And sometimes they don't pay, but there was a traitor who tried to betray the boss and took advantage of a moment when he was alone to kill him," said Tokikami.
"And a group attacked him, but in the end they died because even though they had many chances to kill the boss, he defeated them and killed them since they couldn't kill him," said Tokikami.
They arrived at a strange room where everything was white, but there were many people—or a crowd—waiting right there. Some of them were armed, some weren't, but they all had one goal: to kill the boss.