When they reached the yard, Bede stopped and looked at the detached villa before him.
"What is it?" Piaget asked.
Bede waved a hand beneath his nose and said:
"I smell something that makes me a little uncomfortable."
"Hmm?" Piaget sniffed. "I don't smell anything. Are you allergic to something?"
Bede shook his head and swept his gaze over the villa again, paying particular attention to the windows on each floor.
When someone of his standing went out, he either did so with great fanfare and a full complement of bodyguards, or kept a low profile and concealed his movements. An assassination attempt by hostile forces was not entirely impossible, but the likelihood would at least be reduced considerably.
But this feeling he had now...
Bede looked at Piaget again.
Had he betrayed me?
It didn't seem like it.
Then what exactly was going on?
Bang!
Just then, the front door on the first floor opened, and Gerson emerged.
The next instant, windows on the first and second floors shattered, and six Raphael Family bodyguards in black suits charged out.
There were no greetings, no pleasantries, and certainly no introductions, because Bede was only standing in the yard and seemed to have no intention of coming any farther inside.
If Gerson said something like, "What a surprise, Mr. Bede, to think we'd meet here," Mr. Bede would probably have run back to the car before he finished speaking.
Among the six bodyguards behind Gerson, two had skin that turned to stone as they ran straight toward him. Their body weight seemed to have changed as well, each footfall leaving an imprint in the garden soil.
Two others grew exceptionally sharp bone spikes on their arms, piercing straight through their clothes. As they advanced, they stayed half a step behind their