"Nathan! I hope we did not keep you waiting too long."
After about twenty minutes at the gates with Shiina, Shigeru and his group finally arrived, each of them mounted and ready to leave.
Nathan looked them over as they approached. They still carried some of the looseness from all the drinking earlier, but they seemed steadier now than they had in the tavern. That would have to do.
"No, you are fine," he said.
Yuwa's gaze quickly shifted to Shiina, who was standing beside Nathan with a skewer still in hand. "And who is this very pretty woman?"
Taku pointed at her at once. "Wait, I know her. She is the woman Nathan fought in the battle royale."
The others looked more closely, and recognition spread through the group almost immediately. With her striking features, Shiina was not exactly easy to forget.
"Good morning," she said cheerfully, lifting one hand in greeting even though the sky above them was already pitch black and her skewer was still half buried in her mouth.
