Chapter 339: A Troublesome Outsider

"What’s all the commotion?"

The storehouse gate rolled up, and Morgan stepped out.

His eyes widened when he found Yohan standing there, with the four men who had attacked him lying on the ground, their faces bloodied.

"You..." He gritted his teeth angrily.

"Who is it?" Dion called out before slowly walking over, only to be met with the same sight.

His gaze moved from the men on the floor to Yohan, then toward the village.

"Where’s my brother?" he asked.

Yohan didn’t answer. His attention was focused on everything happening behind them. Several men from the village were loading bags into two trucks.

"What’s in those bags?" he asked.

"None of your business," Morgan answered, already stepping forward with his veiny hands clenched into fists.

"Wait."

Dion grabbed him by the arm.

He gave his brother a look before turning his attention back to Yohan.

"They’re items we produce on the farm. They’re being taken to the city to be sold. Now, I’d like to know what other business you have with us?"

"What kind of products?" Yohan replied with another question.

"Mostly grains and a few vegetables."

Dion maintained a straight face, not breaking eye contact for even a second.

"Why are you asking questions?" Morgan snapped angrily. "Who the fuck even are you?"

"A friend of Izumi’s." Yohan’s gaze remained sharp and ready.

"We are not friends."

Izumi’s voice came from somewhere behind him.

Yohan turned to see her, appearing with Volcan leaning against her for support. His attention had been so focused on the men in front of him that he hadn’t even noticed the two of them approaching. Neither of them had shoes on.

"Izumi?"

"We have never been friends," she said, sounding almost angry. "I don’t want to be friends with someone who’s the same as my grandfather."

"W-What do you mean?"

Her words caught him completely off guard.

He wanted to deny it, but hearing her say it still hurt more than he expected.

"Why do you just go around beating people up?"

"It was a fight. He tried to stop me from leaving and I had to do something, it’s not my fault he taught he could stop me," He scoffed slightly as he said.

"H-He beat you?" Morgan stuttered, staring at his brother in disbelief.

There was shift in the other brothers expression too, it was like something impossible had happened.

"Is that true?" Dion asked.

Volcan had one hand pressed against his torso and didn’t bother responding, only wearing an embarrassed look on his face.

"I just wanted to get to my car but they had people outside the place where I was sleeping to stop me in case I tried to leave. Don’t you think it’s suspicious too? What did you expect me to do?" He threw his hands in the air.

"We did that because we wanted to protect our women. Our clan is very protective of them whenever there’s an outsider," Dion explained calmly.

"Huh?"

Yohan was sure that wasn’t what he had overheard those two men saying earlier, but after hearing such a reasonable explanation, he was forced to consider it.

Izumi looked at him with accusation in her eyes, as if he were just some immature child who went around starting fights.

"That makes sense, but why didn’t they just let me get to my car?"

"We have a curfew that we respect very much, and those gates can only be opened during certain hours."

"Now that’s a buttload of crap." He turned to Izumi for support.

"It’s true," She confirmed.

Yohan’s face twisted with confusion. He knew he was right, but there was no way to prove it.

’But then, what reason do I even have to prove it?’

His eyes settled on the bags the men had since stopped moving.

Whatever was inside them wasn’t really his concern. Even if he ripped one open and turned out to be right, what would he gain from it?

There was also a chance that Izumi already knew what was happening here and was only pretending otherwise. Doing something like that would only waste his time and make him look like a fool in the end.

He let out a deep exhale.

"In that case, I owe you people an apology."

He said it calmly as he started walking away.

"If you don’t mind, I’ll be sleeping in my car for the rest of the night."

No one said anything as he walked back to his car and climbed inside.

He reminded himself that yesterday, at this exact time, he hadn’t even known a place like this existed. There was a good chance that by this time tomorrow, he could have completely forgotten about the whole ordeal.

Jenna was old enough to make her own decisions, and so was Izumi. There was no need for him to obsess over keeping them safe.

"I tried my best."

He switched on the car without starting the engine. After turning on the AC, he reached down beside the seat and slowly reclined it.

Just as it came to a stop and he was beginning to get comfortable, there was a knock on his window.

He raised his head.

Izumi was standing outside.

He wasn’t in the mood for her company, but he reluctantly rolled down the window.

"Are you seriously going to sleep in here?" she asked.

"Why not? It’s far more comfortable."

She looked at him as though she couldn’t tell whether he was being sarcastic.

He sighed.

"I’m fine, honestly. You should just go hang out with your friends."

The extra emphasis on friends made it obvious that he was reminding her of what she’d said earlier.

It was petty, but he felt a little satisfied after saying it, even if she obviously didn’t care.

"Can we at least talk for a bit?" she asked softly.

Yohan hesitated before unlocking the door.

Izumi entered the front passenger seat, and they sat quietly for a few seconds.

"Yohan..."

He turned toward her.

"Did you really only come here for the ledger?"