22 The Gold Leo Squadron (1/2)

After leaving the cafe, Akihito stuck close to Maria's side, not wanting to face his best friend's wrath. Mai was talking to Julian when something nearby caught her attention. Without question, Mai took off in the direction of whatever had caught her eyes, and the rest of the group ran after her. The thing that had caught her attention was a game stand.

”All you gotta do is break this pinata and win the prize of your choice~! It's just that simple, folks! So hurry up and line up to win your special someone a prize of their choice,” the man explained just as the group saw a guy throwing a small ball, that to Maria resembled a softball, towards the large pink heart pinata.

The guy threw a great toss, though sadly it did nothing to the pinata, that didn't even have a scratch. From behind, Micheal narrowed his eyes and muttered, ”Something is not right about that pinata.” Standing across from him, Isis mirrored his expression before a smile slowly made its way to her face.

”Yes, but the man is soon in for a big surprise.”

When the man, owner of the game stand, saw Mai eagerly holding out her money to take her chance at the pinata, his eyes lit up like a greedy snake that was out to con people out of their money. Maria had wanted to stop Mai but was already too late as the man quickly snatched Mai's money. Though before Mai took a shot at the pinata, she ran over to Maria.

”Maria, pick what prize you want!”

”Huh? Me? Shouldn't you be winning for yourself?”

”Don't wanna! I want to get you something as a symbol of our friendship. So ... pick out your prize!” Mai dragged Maria over to the prizes that consisted of a pile of adorable stuffed animals and jewelry. All the accessories were top-notch and dazzling, increasing Maria's suspicions that this was a guy who should not be trusted.

Asking herself just where could such a guy get high-grade jewelry from? Deciding to choose whatever caught her attention the most, Maria chose a pink heart jewel pendant.

”Hmm, that isn't a regular necklace but a low-grade magical item. Which is weird, seeing how magical items are restrictedly sold in magical items shops, not at carnival games.” Isis shot the guy a threatening smile, causing the guy to be on his guard, sweating bullets all over his face.

”I-I have n-no clue what you are talking about. T-This is just a regular necklace! Now, little girl, why don't you give it a go at the pinata and win your friend a prize?” The guy put on a fake smile, acting as if he was not caught up in any trouble, and placed the softball in Mai's hand. Looking at it curiously, Mai's handed back the softball and asked,

”Hey, mister, can I use my fist instead of this ball?”

The guy wasn't expecting this demand from such a small girl, sweating harder than before when he nervously tried to talk Mai into using the softball instead. ”Little Miss, I think you should just try using the softball instead, please,” begged the guy, only to have Isis speak up.

”We'll pay extra~!”

”Deal!” The man without any hesitation accepted the deal, once he heard Isis increase the pay.

'Man, this guy is greedy.' Maria shook her head at those greedy eyes, that eagerly took Isis's money without hesitation. With the pinata now in her sight, Mai grinned excitedly as she popped her knuckles.

Reaching her arm back, she got ready to throw a punch, though what caught everyone's attention the most was when Mai's fist started glowing yellow with light magic. Launching it forward, she broke the pinata in half straight in half, causing it to crash to the ground.

Once on the ground, amongst the pile of ribbons, confetti, and other things spilled out, the group of youngster Maria spotted a plate of heavy-duty wood and turned their eyes towards the shady man who was about to make a break for it when his exit was blocked by Micheal and Isis.

”Hey! I did nothing wrong!” the man shouted in his defense.

”Funny cause I recalled my mother telling my something about a thief breaking into one of Astral top magical items stores and got away with a small loot of stolen goods. Then again I could be wrong, so just in case, how about we call the authorities over to check out to see whether I'm wrong or not, ne?”

Isis sweetly asked, even though nothing about her smiling face seemed sweet. Once the authorities were called over, the man was taken into questioning.