Their journey to the town continued in silence, broken only by the rustling of leaves and the sound of their footsteps. Yumi glanced at Zen from the side before finally breaking the quiet.
"By the way, I still don't know your name?"
Zen didn't answer immediately. His gaze remained fixed ahead.
"Zen. Just call me Zen."
"Zen? You don't have a last name?"
"No."
Yumi furrowed her brows. "Then, where are you from? You're clearly not Japanese, but your Japanese is flawless."
Zen paused briefly before letting out a sigh. "I'll be honest with you. I don't even know where I'm originally from. Lately, I've been living in Malaysia—but I'm not Malaysian. That's all I can say."
Yumi gave a slow nod, though her questions hadn't been fully answered. *His face and build don't look Malay at all… But still, saying he doesn't know his origin is weird.*
"Okay… Well, you can just call me Yumi then."
Zen turned, slightly surprised. "Isn't it rude to call someone by their first name when we've just met?"
"It's fine. Besides, you already saved me."
"Fair enough."
Zen fell silent again, but this time, Yumi could sense his discomfort. However, before their conversation could continue, their footsteps came to a halt.
Ahead, three men blocked their path. Grinning maliciously, they brandished sharp knives.
*Haa, this is going to be troublesome.*
"Hehehe… Never seen you two before. You from another world or somethin'?" jeered the largest one, apparently the leader.
One of his lackeys leered. "Boss, check out the girl… She's got a smokin' body and a damn cute face!"
"Damn right…" another chimed in, eyes roving shamelessly.
Yumi shuddered. "Zen… Their smiles are creeping me out."
*They know we're from another world?* Zen frowned.
"What do you want?" His voice was flat.
The leader barked out a laugh. "What do we want? Hand over all your valuables! Or if you ain't got any—" He pointed at Yumi. "You can just give us your girlfriend here!"
"Ga—Girlfriend?! I'm not his girlfriend!" Yumi snapped, cheeks flushing red.
Zen let out a long sigh. "I knew it would come to this." His voice was suddenly ice-cold. "Get lost. Leave while you still can—unless you *want* to die."
The robbers burst into laughter.
"Die? This guy says we're gonna die? Hahaha! That's a good one!"
"What, you got a sword or somethin'? A gun? Or—"
***BANG!***
The leader's body suddenly flew backward, tumbling onto the ground. The air fell deathly silent.
"What the—?!"
His lackeys froze. Yumi could only gape, unable to process what had just happened.
Zen remained standing in place, his hand raised slightly. A faint wisp of smoke curled from his fingertip.
"I warned you."
The robbers weren't laughing anymore. Their faces had turned pale.
And Zen—his eyes gleamed with a *white* glow that sent a shiver down Yumi's spine.
"I've decided. I'm going to kill all of you."