They descended from the concrete building and stood in the clearing for a while.
When Evan raised his head, the sky washed in pale moonlight was gray.
As he relaxed his guard for a moment, a sly voice came from behind him.
It was Ralph Jurgens.
“The air’s fucking filthy and heavy, isn’t it?”
There was laughter in his voice.
“The city’s air-purification system doesn’t reach Asle. And Asle doesn’t have any high-end equipment like that. The Federal Welfare Commission rejected it for lack of funding.”
Simply breathing shaved away at one’s lifespan, and whenever clouds laden with pollutants spilled rain, the people on the streets could only pray vaguely that they would not wake up sick the next morning.
“Isn’t it funny? Hundreds of millions of people still live in a place this far gone.”
Evan looked at Jurgens without answering.
“……You don’t hold a grudge against me? It doesn’t seem like you’ve forgotten that I blindsided you. Or are you plotting to get revenge by stabbing me in the back?”
“Both.”
Jurgens chuckled and pulled out a pack of cigarettes.
Unlike the city-made pack Evan had taken from him before, these were cheap cigarettes commonly found in Asle.
“There are no friends or enemies in this business, are there? Anyone can stab someone in the back or get stabbed at any time. What matters is what you can gain. I’m not some amateur who acts on emotion.”
“I’d rather not get stabbed in the back, so maybe I should install the cybernetic eye I took from you in the back of my head.”
“That would be worth seeing.”
Jurgens snickered with the cigarette between his lips, and a fleck of ash dropped from it.
It burned far too quickly for a cigarette. It was clearly packed with all manner of dubious substances.
Evan watched him for a moment, then began walking again. Jurgens naturally followed behind him.
“Brother. Are you heading straight back to Rosegold Pub?”
“He said he’d send the job details to my DB, so I’ll have to wait. There’s no need for me to rush.”
“Because you’re not the one in a hurry?”
“If you’d been this perceptive back then, you wouldn’t have lost the Golden Cross.”
“Bullshit. Give me your contact information so I can call you when the job starts.”
Jurgens held out his wrist.
Personal information mattered in this line of work. Nothing good came from handing one’s contact information out too freely.
Evan studied Jurgens’s eyes closely before speaking.
“I was told you’d be my backup, but I still don’t know why I need you.”
“You’ll understand once the job begins. To put it simply…… you can think of me as a guide. There’s also something you once told me, Brother.”
Jurgens lowered his sunglasses slightly. His eyes were sharper than one might expect from his heavy build.
“If you want the data from the Golden Cross, prove your worth. Hm? This is that opportunity.”
“You took that seriously?”
“I really do need it. I finished calculating long ago that I can’t take it from you by force, so currying favor with you is more realistic than fighting.”
“I prefer proof to words.”
“Personal information is a commodity too. Pay if you want to know.”
Evan paused to organize his thoughts.
He still did not know Jurgens’s true identity. Jurgens was not a fixed named NPC, and even if Evan paid to hear his background, there was no guarantee it would be true.
However, no matter how many variables this game contained, Evan knew enough to make a reasonable inference.
Jurgens had come from the city.
No one came from the city to Asle without a reason.
People like that invariably possessed the ability to protect themselves.
And Jurgens was an easy mark who had already handed Evan one victory in their battle of wits.
Once he finished his calculations, Evan pressed his wrist against the one Jurgens held out.
【New Contact Detected. Enter a Label.】
【Contact Registered: Sucker (Ralph Jurgens)】
Jurgens withdrew his wrist with a satisfied look and grinned.
“Good. Contact me when the job begins. I’ll prepare my equipment in advance.”
Jurgens’s steps were remarkably light as he headed into the alleys of Asle in the middle of the night. That composure was impressive. The nighttime streets of Asle were a place where hundreds of people vanished without a trace every day.
As Evan watched his retreating figure, an email notification sounded.
Sender: Red-Haired Bar Kid (Stella Bright)
Mr. Evan. Nothing happened, did it? I was worried because those strange men suddenly took you away, but I believe you will be fine.
The MedTech contacted me. They’re someone you can trust.
Also, a Designated Commission just arrived. You are the designated recipient…… and I think you should come take a look at this one.
We can discuss it in person.
Oh, right. Sam suddenly sent me an email. That bastard is making a huge fuss about being in your favor. Is that true? Or should I stomp him flat in advance?
After reading the email, Evan was left with a question.
Sam’s bullshit was certainly worth wondering about, but the central question was why Stella had specifically asked him to come to the pub now.
‘Why now?’
There was nothing that needed to be handled urgently in the middle of the night. Asle after dark was too dangerous to wander around for ordinary reasons.
“……She must have a reason.”
In any case, such sordid dangers could do Evan no harm.
If anything, they were merely opportunities to acquire more souls.
Evan looked up at the sky for another moment, then entered an alley.
It took about an hour to walk leisurely from Gray Ribs to the pub.
Stella had been nodding off at the bar counter in the middle of the night. She jolted awake the instant Evan entered, and was even more startled when she heard where he had been.
“You went to Gray Ribs? Then those men…… were from the Bones Clan?”
Evan nodded.
However, one question remained.
‘The boss of the Bones Clan shouldn’t be a little kid like that.’
The boss Evan knew was Martina Bonucci, a fixed named NPC.
She was the young leader of the Bones Clan, the cartel that ruled Asle’s underworld. She was a woman, and certainly not a little kid like that.
It was a variable worth considering.
He opened a holographic display.
【Things to Remember:
□ Find a MedTech
□ Find a way into the city
□ [Added] Why did the leader of the Bones Clan change?
□ Find the Yender Amulet and return home】
After organizing his notes, Evan dismissed the holographic window and spoke.
“So, what is it?”
Stella looked toward Tumble, who had been watching from beside her. Tumble took out a freshly printed sheet of paper and placed it on the bar counter.
“A Designated Commission. You have already become this famous.”
“Is the client the Bones Clan?”
Tumble nodded.
“Normally, a client’s identity must remain confidential, but this is a Designated Commission, so it is an exception. Yes.”
Tumble looked at Evan with a careful expression.
Ordinarily, Tumble seemed like nothing more than a slightly meddlesome old barkeep. Whenever the conversation turned to work, however, his gaze deepened as though he had become a different person.
“They said they would send the details of the commission again soon.”
“Then why did the commission sheet arrive first?”
As they spoke, Evan was observing Tumble’s soul.
Tumble’s control over his expression was flawless, but Evan could see the tremor in his soul.
He was clearly flustered.
“Hmm…… I think it would be best for you to receive it yourself. The money came under your name anyway, Mr. Evan.”
Tumble held out a scanner, and Evan casually presented the barcode on the inside of his wrist.
【System: Certified Currency Deposited into Virtual Wallet.】
【+9,000,000c】
【Wallet Balance: 13,968,000c】
“……?”
I haven’t even completed the commission yet.
The thought crossed his mind for an instant, but then he remembered that the reward for completing the commission was Blank Citizenship.
In that case, this was not the commission reward. It was what that little criminal who was too young to prosecute had mentioned back at Gray Ribs…….
“It was deposited under the description ‘operational support funds.’”
Evan had expected roughly one to two million credits.
He had merely thought it would be a good time to buy the equipment he needed.
But this much…….
‘This is far beyond buying a few decent pieces of equipment.’
A list of what equipment to buy and where to spend the money formed instantly in his mind.
He stared quietly at the system messages before him, then spoke.
“You said you found a MedTech?”
“Ah! Yes! They’re someone I know. They operated on me too. I was worried they might have closed up shop, but they were still there.”
Stella, who had been staring blankly into space behind him with unfocused eyes, suddenly snapped back to attention and stepped forward.
“I am certain you will like them.”
Evan believed her.
Since they would be leaving together anyway, they decided to rest there and depart once the sun rose.
Morning came. Evan followed the confidently striding Stella, turned through an unnamed alley in Asle District B, descended the stairs of a hillside slum, and entered a semi-basement…….
“Hannibal! Hannibal, are you in there? I brought the customer I mentioned last time!”
A three-meter-tall monster stood before him.
They had four arms, scissors, saws, and drills in place of hands, and an old LCD screen where their head should have been.
Evan nearly used the Sacrificial Rite on reflex. He had even summoned a soul to his fingertips before barely stopping himself.
“……What the hell is that?”
“What else? A MedTech.”
“Not a genetic tragedy born from the misguided breeding of a crustacean and a human?”
“What a joke. You do not need to be so mean. They’re extraordinarily skilled. When I had my System Implant inserted, I came out of suspended animation after only two days.”
Hannibal had been crackling as they split and cut something. They turned only their head toward the pair.
A camera mounted where their forehead should have been whirred as it scanned Evan.
Soon, text appeared on the display mounted in place of their head.
「Another profane lump of flesh that has failed to partake in the glory of machinery has arrived.」
Evan stared at them expressionlessly, then subtly turned his head toward Stella.
Stella wore a confident expression, as though waiting for his reaction.
Only then did Evan realize what he had overlooked.
Even if this redhead appeared vaguely sensible at first glance…… he must not forget that she was a proud member of this insane world.