Shiro watched as the pair approached his church, appearing completely at ease but in truth ready to draw and throw the keys at a moment.
Shiro quirked an eyebrow and smiled a bit. Interested in the church were they? Good, a far change from the gangs trying to push him into ‘protection’ payments or monsters which attack for revenge.
Rising one of his hands to his chin he answered with a grin, “Well, the church does not have a name as of yet, was already burned down once when setting it up so have not in fear of a repeat.”
Finally getting up from his spot on the swing he introduced himself, “My name is Shiro, and if you want to be technical I am not a priest, I simply run this house of worship in the name of our lord and savior. And so the children have a safe place to live.”
He chuckled, examining the pair, “Honestly, I am surprised a pair of normal humans would come to the no-man’s land of all places. You might wish to tread carefully if you progress any deeper, many unsavory kinds claim this region for their own.” He pointed to his katana hanging from his back with his thumb, "You might wish to arm yourselves."
"No Man's Land..." Rattus said once. "...No Man's Land..." He repeated again the epithet to the after mentioned place. And then, he started to reminisce. The name left him in deep thought and it took him back in the old days, back when he was a soldier in the muddy, filthy, deadly trenches of the Western Front of 1916, in Somme.
Back there, when they talked about No Man's Land, they referred to the empty space between their own trenches and the enemy's trenches. This place was mined, barb-wired and constantly bombarded by artillery and mortars from both sides, as well as it is in the line of fire by everyone's personal arms and mounted machine guns. Obviously, people climbing from the protective trenches to step into the area, or "going over the top" as they called the act, would result in death. As such, No Man's Land was also ridden with the many bodies of the war dead and everyone, including the immortal German himself, dreaded going into it. But going over the top is an essential part of trench warfare, with hundreds of men doing so in an attempt to capture the enemies' trenches. Many of them would then get mowed down by gunfire or torn apart by explosions and, usually, the act of doing so is futile. But the top-ranks of armies from both sides of the war insisted by it, with men doing so and eventually losing their lives, as a price to gain a mile over their enemy. Rattus also remembered that men who have endured bombardment for a long time would frequently lose their sanity and cower and shake. They called this condition of the soldier as "shell shock" and when sent home, they stay that way, having great difficulties in moving, thinking and living normal lives, as the slightest suggestion about their experiences from the trenches would reduce them to that state of intense fear and insanity. With all of this in mind, the name "No Man's Land" sunk deep into the psyche of Rattus, as he remembered the chaos, futility, death and horrors of the Great War, with its memories flashing right before his eyes, distorted and incomplete, but still strong and clear at the same time.
The blue-haired man then started to tremble slightly and his eyes began to lose their focus. He began to feel slightly nauseous and breathe quickly as the memories haunted him. And little by little, his condition began to escalate. Yukina began to notice this and then called him out. "Rattus-san... Rattus-san... " She repeated called him. Rattus began moaning, as if he was about to scream. This time, the lady in yukata knew what was happening and yelled out, "Onii-chan, please snap out of it! Please!" Rattus was startled by this call. The trembling suddenly stopped. The pains began to subside. And he was back on focus, as the memories came to an halt. He looked at his surroundings. He was no longer at the trenches and back to the lawn of the church. He was in a peaceful place again. And he looked at the man standing in front of him, at Shiro. He realized that the man saw what happened to him upon the mention of the place's name.
He then straightened up his tie and said, "Ah, I'm sorry for what happened. I... misbehaved myself. It wouldn't happen again." He then drew out, from his coat, a hip flask, opened it and drank a swig from it. When he got to drink, he then introduced himself to Shiro. "I am Rattus von Engels. Pleased to meet you, Mister Shiro."
Yukina saw that her employer was back on himself, so she smiled with relief. She then turned to Shiro. "And I am Yukina Aikawa. It is an honor to meet you, Shiro-san." She bowed down after him as a respect.
"You talk about the danger of this place called..." Rattus then stopped midway and breathed deeply, and then went on."...'No Man's Land', as you call it. Can you tell me, what exactly are the hazards of this area? And why does it exist in this city?"
"We are deeply sorry if we are asking you such things, Shiro-san. We just woke up to find that our home is already in this city, it used to be somewhere else." Yukina said.
"Yes. As a result, we're not well-versed in the landmarks, customs and laws of Nexus City, so Yukina here suggested that we explore the area and try to find out for ourselves." Rattus then added. "I think you can somehow help us."
"And do not worry, Shiro-san. We do carry weapons right now." Yukina then happily drew out from her left sleeve a small kaiken dagger.
"And I have a Pistole-Parabellum 1908 and a combat knife as everyday carry, along with 5 magazines." Rattus declared. "But we could bring or procure heavier and more substantial weapons if the situation requires such." He then tipped back his glasses. "But I suppose that you are implying that we need more than that. We just spotted mythical creatures of all sorts in this city while we were shopping for supplies."
"Yes!" Yukina exclaimed. "We just saw a minotaur running a hotdog cart! And a cyclops bought a sandwich from him!"
"And, as for the church..." Rattus looked at the structure. "If you are not technically ordained, I then think that it can't be helped if it has yet to be named. I would have suggested that it be named after Saint George or any other military saint. Because if you said that his church had been burned down once and if this place is as dangerous as it seems, then you are like a lone man struggling a monstrous creature. Like how Saint George is depicted fighting a dragon."
