"Was that an illusion?" Machi thought to herself as she struggled to catch her breath.
She was extremely vigilant of the unknown and dangerous.
This is a necessary skill to survive in Meteor City after all. Without any vigilance or guard, you tend not to live long growing up here.
Meteor City isn't exactly a place for sheep and rabbits to run around in.
"What do you say, Miss Machi…?" Loki asked in a light tone.
Machi was still vigilant, but her intuition told her that she should agree or she would regret it.
Sitting down and looking at the boy, she studied him carefully again. His dirty silver hair was somewhat obstructed by the broken mask he wore. The mask only revealed a small part of his face and pale yellow eyes that displayed a seemingly endless curiosity as they stared at her.
Through contact with him, she could tell he had a detached air to him, as if everyone around him was a show for him to watch.
Obviously, he was just a boy she had picked up because her intuition told her it would be good, but why did they seem to be in two different worlds?
"What's wrong my dear… Are you scared of what happened..?" Loki asked her with a smile.
Loki slowly got into a more comfortable position before staring at her.
"I assure you that you need not worry my dear. Would you like to know what happened…?" he asked teasingly.
Machi remained silent, but the slight sparkle in her eyes still exposed her inner thoughts. She wanted to know how he had done what he did.
"This is actually very easy to answer…."
Loki's eyes sparkled with a cunning light.
"It's the power of Nen..." Loki said with a smile.
"Nen?" Machi said in wonder.
Loki nodded to this slight question. The knowledge of Nen is not spread indiscriminately.
However, Machi will also learn of Nen in the future, allowing her to develop her unique Hatsu.
Loki decided to use his own Ren to teach her a lesson and introduce her to the world of Nen. Knowing that the Phantom Troupe was still here in Meteor City, Loki thought it would be interesting to get to know them.
Such an exciting plot was unfolding in front of him, and he couldn't help but become excited. Thinking of this, he planned on disclosing a bit about Nen to repay Machi.
"Well my dear, Nen is…."
Just as Loki was about to explain his knowledge of Nen to Machi, a sudden noise sounded at the door.
*SFX* BANG BANG BANG
The old door made a muffled noise as if being violently beaten.
"Huh?!"
The sound disrupted Machi's expression of curiosity, instantly turning cold. With a quick movement, a faint thread was drawn between her hands.
Above the thin lines, a faint luster flashed, and a hint of chill was exuded on this warm day.
Loki's expression also became somewhat cold as he stared at the door.
"Well it seems we will need to put this conversation on hold, Miss Machi." Loki said as he pulled out a knife as he stood up.
Both were attentively staring at the door only to hear a rough male voice was heard outside the door.
"Hey! Machi! Are you there?!!"
Hearing this voice, Loki glanced over to see that Machi's cold eyes instantly relaxed.
"I'm here," she said as she slowly lowered the thread.
Seeing this, Loki instantly judged that she probably know the person outside the door.
Although it seemed Machi had lowered her vigilance, she still had some vigilance in case someone disguised or kidnapped someone she knew to hurt her.
In Meteor City, it is hard to say what will happen, and you can never be to vigilant.
"If you are, then open the door. It's me. I haven't been kidnapped or disguised. The evidence is that there is a stupid swordsman next to me who can't even kill a chicken with his sword." Hearing this, the man outside the door spoke out.
"In Meteor City, have you seen a live chicken?! As long as you find one, I will immediately chop it for you and prove it!!"
"Oh, to put it lightly, you can't even kill a chicken with that sword of yours." the first said.
"You haven't even seen a chicken!! What the hell are you talking about!" the other yelled.
The harsh male voice clearly knew how to show that his current state was safe.
It seemed that he might have annoyed the companion who came with him in terms of words, and the two started arguing outside.
Hearing the familiar tone and the sound of fighting, Machi put down all her guard and stepped forward to open the door.
"Stop arguing, Uvogin…." Machi said calmly.
"You come in too, Nobunaga."
Uvogin and Nobunaga walked in, cursing each other, when they suddenly stopped.
"Is there another person here?!"
After the two came in, they realized that another guy was in the room besides Machi.
Loki stretched his neck and looked at the two of them curiously.
'Is this Uvogin and Nobunaga when they were young?' he thought to himself.
The huge body and the look of a wild beast made it hard for Loki not to recognize him.
Uvogin's complexion is darker with an explosive head of black hair. He was tall and had strong arms and legs but was not as ripped as his future appearance.
Nobunaga has a straight braid on his head, and his facial features are good with a pale complexion. The result was much better than his sleazy uncle look in the future.
Nobunaga and Uvogin were like two different extremes.
"Machi, who is this guy?" Uvogin asked casually as he scratched his nose and pointed at Loki.
He didn't have any opinions or anything against Loki, he was just curious.
To him, it is enough for Loki to appear in Machi's room and stand safely. The fact that Machi could open the door to them as safely and as casually as usual was proof.
This is not because Uvogin believes in Loki but because he believes in Machi's vigilance.
Since Machi felt that Loki was fine in her house, Uvogin also felt fine.
As for Nobunaga, he looked at Loki up and down and touched his chin. He found the mask extremely interesting but didn't comment on it but instead opted to look at it more.
"His name is Loki, and he lives with me for the time being," Machi said.
She then looked at Loki and pointed to Uvogin and Nobunaga.
"Uvogin, Nobunaga."
Although the introduction is concise, if Machi gives an introduction to each other, it means that everything is okay.
"Why hello there gentlemen, it's truly an honor to meet the friends of Miss Machi." Loki said with a small bow in greeting.
Uvogin and Nobunaga looked at each other, confused by Loki's actions, and were about to ask what he was doing before Machi cut them off.
"Don't ask, he seems to like doing this kinda stuff. What are you doing at my house?" Machi asked, looking at the two of them while giving a deadpan stare.
She still had some complaints about the fact that Nobunaga and Uvogin bothered her when she was about to learn about Nen from Loki.
"What are you talking about?"
Uvogin, who was observing Loki, was immediately unhappy when he heard Machi's words.
"Didn't you say we would go to the landfill together two days ago? We didn't see you this morning so we came over Machi!" said Uvogin, looking dissatisfied.
"...That seems to be true." She said slowly.
She had completely forgotten that she had been supposed to meet with them. She had been distracted by Loki and all of his theatrics.
"Well, since you are fine, let's go." The impatient Uvogin said while heading out.
"Even if it's a little bit later, maybe we can still find some good stuff."
Uvogin did not forget to turn his head and look at Loki before starting to speal.
"Your name is Loki, right? You don't look to strong so make sure you stay close alright? I happen to have a spare set of some protective clothing if you want as well. We can talk about size later."
Loki looked at him and smiled which you could see from his eyes .
Seeing this, Loki didn't say much as Machi squeezed the corners of her mouth and looked at the scene with interest.
"What?" Uvogin asked, confused.
"Oh it's nothing my friend. While I appreciate the offer, I'm actually much stronger than I look you see." Loki said in a joking tone.
"As for the clothes, I'm much more comfortable in this outfit I'm afraid." Loki said, gesturing to his current outfit.
"Well if you say so, but let's get going." Uvogin responded casually before looking towards Nobunaga.
At this moment, Nobunaga saw some of the food and supplies Loki had looted from the gang out of the corner of his eye.