The genre of this game was roguelike.
That meant its in-game elements were randomly configured with each run.
That was why Evan was never flustered, no matter what variable appeared. Variations were only natural, so he had always acted with them in mind.
The demon sleeping inside the Lubener Family Church awakened. A massacre soon followed.
A boy was tragically caught up in it.
Evan had thought the incident was a minor variation. It was strange, but nothing extraordinary. So he quickly forgot about it. He had even earned 4.5 million credits thanks to it.
However…….
He had never imagined he would see that boy holding an old-fashioned glass.
“I can never get used to people looking at me as though they have seen a ghost. Care for a drink?”
Evan crossed his legs and rested both hands atop his knee. A primal curiosity about the identity of this kid had begun to stir within him.
“This situation has become quite interesting. What exactly are you?”
“Well, what do you think I am?”
“A juvenile delinquent? No, even ‘juvenile’ is a bit much for a nine-year-old.”
“Believing only what you see is not very mage-like of you, is it?”
“I’m having trouble imagining a story where a kindergarten graduate enrolls early in the mafia and becomes its youngest boss.”
“Let’s just say I have my own unfortunate circumstances.”
The boy smiled brightly. It was an innocent smile suited to someone his age.
In his hand, however, he held a glass of gently sloshing whiskey.
“You are a mage. Your name is Evan. Correct?”
“It seems you have taken quite an interest in me.”
“When an unknown mage kills a corporate lackey enforcing a lien, wipes out a small-to-mid-sized mercenary group overnight, and throws himself into danger to save an innocent child from a demon inside a church, how could anyone not take an interest in him?”
The child brought the glass to his nose and paused for a moment. He seemed to be concentrating on the aroma of the expensive liquor.
Then he spoke again.
“Besides, you even saved my life.”
“So you had me brought here to repay the favor? With an escort in the middle of the night?”
“I repaid that favor in full on the spot.”
Evan knew what he meant. When Evan lost consciousness at the church, the child had looked after him.
Recalling that memory, Evan smiled and leaned forward.
“Well. I did think that made for a heartwarming conclusion, of course…….”
He glanced to the side.
Eight burly men stood behind Evan in two rows. The wooden cabinet behind the child was packed with liquor that looked to be worth well over tens of millions of credits.
Everything around him spoke to the boy’s status.
“……But looking at things now, it seems the life I saved was rather ‘expensive.’ I’m starting to feel like asking you to settle the remaining balance.”
The boy burst into laughter at Evan’s words, then gulped down the harsh whiskey and emptied his glass.
“The remaining balance. Good. I like people who keep their financial dealings clean. Money never lies. The world would be simpler and more honest if everyone wore a price tag on the back of their neck. Which brings me to this.”
The boy set down his glass and stared directly at Evan.
“I’d like to see the price tag on your neck.”
“Why are you so interested in me?”
“Asle is overflowing with merchandise, but I can hardly find anything worth its price. I’m asking whether you’d consider working with me.”
“Under a puppy that hasn’t even finished growing? Don’t be ridiculous. But depending on the terms of the deal, I can always change my mind.”
The boy’s eyes deepened at Evan’s words. Despite the provocative answer, he seemed focused solely on the ‘smell of money’ within it.
Before long, the boy spoke again.
“A friend of mine told me you want to enter the city. In that case, I have something to show you.”
The boy pulled something from a drawer beneath the table and tossed it in front of Evan.
Evan knew what it was without even picking it up to examine it.
A holographic card.
Citizenship.
And not ordinary citizenship.
“Blank Citizenship.”
“Well? Is this enough to make you consider working with a puppy that hasn’t finished growing?”
The boy smiled smugly. Evan understood his confidence.
‘Blank’ Citizenship.
Simply entering someone’s personal data into it was enough to turn that person into a citizen of the city.
Creating one required extreme Net Running skill, so it was treated as a quasi-artifact. It was so expensive that even most organizations would stagger financially after obtaining only a few.
The fact that the boy could present one so casually proved that he was no mere street-gang leader.
“I’ve found myself in a somewhat troublesome situation. A killer hired by a corporation in the city is trying to murder me. I’m going to place a bounty on the killer’s head. I’d like you to deal with him.”
“Why are they targeting you?”
“It’s the obvious story. They managed to secure a small share of Asle’s redevelopment project from Vertex. Now they’re trying to set the table for themselves. Naturally, they need to clear the table first. I’m what they need to clear away.”
“Someone in your position cannot stop a single killer on his own?”
“I hate to admit it, but my circumstances are not particularly good at the moment. I have no intention of discussing my personal affairs. What matters is whether the deal goes through.”
Evan had already made his decision.
Entering the city and moving freely within it.
A single Blank Citizenship would solve both problems. He had no reason to refuse.
“Let’s hear the specifics.”
“Good. However.”
A mischievous smile appeared on the boy’s face.
“I still haven’t seen your price tag. An impulse purchase might turn out to have been all packaging and no substance. Why don’t you show me what you can do? Then I can open my wallet with peace of mind.”
“My price tag…….”
Evan, who had been leaning comfortably against the sofa, looked directly into the boy’s eyes.
At that moment, the boy felt Evan’s gaze change.
Evan raised a single finger.
To an ordinary person, it was merely a simple gesture.
To a mage, however, it was a declaration of sorts.
The Seal of Activation.
That alone was enough to trigger black magic.
The sacrificial ritual had been completed long ago, and a fitting offering had already been made.
『Soulcraft·Erode, Harvester’s Judgment』
“……!”
WHOOOM—
Eight bizarre figures appeared all at once behind the burly men.
Skeletons draped in black cloaks.
Each grotesque being held an enormous scythe, its blade aimed at the neck of the man before it.
“Hah……!”
The men all froze at once.
Unable even to look at the blades trained on their necks, they merely broke out in cold sweat.
『Harvester’s Judgment.』
It connected the dark mage’s soul to the souls of nearby beings and slowly infused them with an ominous energy.
When activated, the infused energy erupted explosively and tore through their minds. The victims were consumed by the terror of beasts being hunted.
The burst of emotion caused a hallucination shared by everyone.
Its activation conditions were cumbersome, and its effect was admittedly anticlimactic compared to its sinister appearance.
Put simply, it merely ‘scared’ people.
But what mattered was efficiency.
Only one soul had been sacrificed for this ritual.
To people who knew nothing about black magic, the difficulty of its activation conditions and the underwhelming nature of its effect meant nothing.
“…….”
“Hah, hah…….”
Everyone was swallowed by fear, unable to move even a fingertip.
One of them began to cry without realizing it.
“P-please spare me…….”
Hammy snickered.
“‘Exploiting ignorance,’ hm……. A fine method. Humans never even consider that possibilities might exist within the realm of what they do not know, despite being fundamentally foolish creatures.”
Lightly ignoring those arrogant words, Evan merely looked at the boy.
Before long, Evan’s voice echoed through the concrete space.
“Well, how much do you think the price tag on my neck says?”
The boy remained rigid and did not speak.
Then he looked at Evan with a deeply satisfied smile and eyes opened wide in astonishment.
“This…… This is impossible. I heard vague rumors, but…… seeing it myself, it’s even stranger than what I heard.”
“What could be stranger than a nine-year-old kid drinking whiskey on the rocks?”
“What school is it? An application for the Luxen (Light) School? Or…… are you perhaps a Net Runner? Did you hack their cybernetic parts and make them hallucinate? No, that does not seem right. I cannot make sense of it. Does the Mage Tower have a school like this?”
The boy leaped to his feet and even clapped in excitement.
“To produce this degree of unreality without a chant or a magic circle……. Now I understand why rumors claim you are not a mage. This is…… something I truly covet!”
“Let’s speak only about the deal.”
Evan leaned forward.
At that moment, the black magic was released.
“Who is the target of the bounty?”
“……The explanation is rather long, so I’ll send the details to your DB. I heard you are in business with Rosegold Pub. Tumble has caught himself quite a large fish.”
“The reward?”
“Was it not already presented? The citizenship.”
“Is your life worth only this much? Shouldn’t you give some thought to the price tag on your own neck?”
Evan had no intention of haggling pathetically over a few coins, but when an opportunity presented itself, he intended to squeeze out every last credit without hesitation.
This was a deal concerning a life to begin with.
Evan was not the desperate party.
The boy’s eyebrow twitched slightly.
But he soon bared his teeth in amusement.
“You understand exactly who holds the advantage in this deal, do you? I like that. Money is honest, and the more someone’s head is filled with money, the more that person resembles it. Naturally, I intended to pay more. A reasonable operating budget, as well as backup.”
“Backup?”
“Yes. He should prove a useful companion.”
“The person hiding behind that cabinet?”
Evan gestured with his chin toward the cabinet behind the boy.
The boy’s eyes widened.
“How did you know?”
“I have a certain talent.”
He had seen the soul from the moment he entered the room.
He had simply felt no need to be wary of a soul that did not belong to a mage.
“……Ha. It seems I truly should not make an enemy of you.”
After letting out a hollow laugh, the boy shouted toward the back.
“You can come out now, Jurgens. The surprise failed. Just as you said, this man is impossible to predict.”
The person who emerged from there was none other than Ralph Jurgens.
Evan’s first client.
The bald man in sunglasses who had tried to take Evan for a sucker, only to be blindsided himself.
Jurgens slowly stepped out, snickering.
“I told you. Try to fool that mage and you’ll get burned badly. Like me. Right, brother?”
“……It seems you learned your lesson.”
“I’m not stupid enough to have my money, my cybernetic parts, and even the entire Golden Cross stripped from me without learning a damn thing.”
He looked at Evan and bared his teeth.
It was a mischievous smile.
Surprisingly, it seemed he did not hold a grudge against Evan.
Either that, or he had concluded that holding one would be pointless.