The man's mouth stayed open for a second.
"...What?"
He really did look confused at first, like his brain needed a moment to catch up to what Shu had just said. Then the meaning landed properly, and the confusion on his face twisted into something uglier.
"Did you just ask me if I have a death wish?" he said, pointing at himself with one hand. "Me?"
The men around him reacted right away.
"Watch your mouth."
"Who the hell do you think you're talking to?"
"Disrespectful little shit."
They started closing in from both sides, boots scraping over the dirt while their hands shifted closer to their weapons. Nari stiffened in Shu's arm and grabbed a fistful of his shirt, her face pressing back into his shoulder.
He only adjusted her weight a little and kept looking at the bearded man.
'Ah,' he thought, his expression staying flat. 'So this is the part where the ugly extras start barking too.'
