Kim Yi-hyeon took a drink and sat in the empty seat. There was no bartender. Instead, machines filled with all sorts of drinks were lined up like in a fast-food restaurant.
It was a system where you brought your own drink. When he filled something at random and set it on the table, Bryce let out a small exclamation.
“Rise Rum? You drink strong liquor, huh. There’s only one person in our platoon who touches that stuff, so I was even thinking of removing it.”
Kim Yi-hyeon brought the glass close to his nose. It did not smell especially strong, but was it really that potent?
He set it down without drinking. He did not dislike alcohol, but he was not exactly a heavy drinker either.
“Get to the point.”
“Are you the type who dislikes small talk?”
“Not really... I’m just a little tired.”
“Ah, you said you had just arrived today.”
Bryce tilted his head for no real reason. He still could not understand it.
Becoming a bounty hunter on the first day without belonging anywhere. There really were all kinds of strange people in the world.
“First, I should apologize. And I should clear up any possible misunderstanding too. We had our circumstances, so we could not explain the operation beforehand, but we did not intend to let the bounty hunters die.”
“I know that.”
White Fang had remained hidden and waiting all along, but once Kim Yi-hyeon was in danger, they had begun to act.
Also, Bryce seemed to have told the outlaws in advance not to attack the bounty hunters.
However, if one turned that around, that was as far as it went.
“You didn’t intend to let us die, but if we happened to die, it couldn’t be helped... Is that the feeling?”
There could have been casualties during battle, and there was also the possibility that the outlaws might make some sudden move. White Fang had only kept the bare minimum of decency.
“I am sorry.”
Bryce answered with an apology. It was an affirmation. Kim Yi-hyeon lightly shrugged.
“You can be sorry, but there’s no need to make excuses. You people aren’t a charity either.”
The bounty hunters caught up in this incident had neither strength nor standing. Even if they were used, they had no way to complain about the injustice.
Did unfair things not happen all the time even in the modern world? Polaris was several times worse than that.
If anything, these people were on the conscientious side. At least they had given the victims some compensation.
‘How many pushover groups like Selvlogics Lab could there be in this world?’
The important part was not good or evil. It was how much of one’s own benefit one could secure while being conveniently used by others.
Kim Yi-hyeon had fulfilled more than the role of bait. On the other hand, the other two had not. It sounded simple when put into words, but there was a huge difference between them.
“You said your name was Kim Yi-hyeon, right?”
“Hyeon is fine. Everyone seems to call me that.”
“I see. Hyeon, I will be direct.”
Bryce’s gaze became more serious.
“I want to invite you as a guest member of White Fang.”
“Guest member?”
“Yes. We are... handling a major matter. It is an important issue that may determine the fate not only of Lotus Company, but of all Cilicia. I want your help in resolving this.”
“Is that something you can decide on your own?”
“I have already sent up a report. We will have to wait for the answer, but if it is you, there should be no issue.”
Already? Kim Yi-hyeon’s eyes widened slightly.
“The members who participated in this search also evaluated your skill highly. Your crisis response and situational judgment were excellent. There were untrained aspects visible, but your Spell is especially useful. Should I see it as an ability that creates weapons?”
“Roughly, yes.”
As a demonstration, he crafted [Glitch Knife]. Was it because he had used it repeatedly? If it was 1-star equipment, he could create it in under three seconds.
“Unfortunately, I don’t have that many variations.”
“......What you have shown so far is more than enough.”
Bryce felt thirsty for a moment. Kim Yi-hyeon’s evaluation rose even higher in his mind. It was an astonishing ability, beyond merely useful.
Assassination. Close combat. Surprise attacks. Espionage. Sabotage... Its versatility stood out, able to be used anywhere.
If it was a Spell, there should naturally be restrictions, but if it were given to a seasoned warrior, it would be nothing short of a calamity.
“I do not know where a guy like you came from.”
“I came from Cadillac. Tulavia, Ulanz... If you’re curious, investigate properly.”
“Tulavia? I know that place was closed off.”
“I suffered quite a bit because there was nothing to eat.”
Bryce nodded. If Kim Yi-hyeon had experience living as a vagrant, then his toughness made sense. Rather, the bustling surface might have felt more uncomfortable to him.
“What about the detailed explanation? Do we write a contract first?”
“The formal contract can come later. But this is sensitive information. I do not recommend backing out after hearing it. What will you do?”
“What’s the pay?”
“I am not the employer, so it is difficult to give you a clear figure. You will probably receive about two million per operation. The performance bonus will also be generous.”
“Ten or twenty per outlaw, something like that?”
“That is also one of the evaluation standards. There are many ways to contribute. If you do what you did today... I would personally be willing to pay three million more.”
Five million for one job.
Kim Yi-hyeon laughed softly.
“Explain the job.”
“I like how straightforward you are.”
Bryce emptied his glass and spoke.
“How much do you know about outlaws?”
“Aren’t they criminals driven out from the surface?”
“That is right. They are people whose citizenship was revoked. Before they are arrested, they escape through Metrocity, or flee outside the city entirely, find an underground entrance, and hide inside.”
The territory of the former “Cilician Federation,” not the current “city-state of Cilicia.” The underground had been opened during the Federation era, so it extended widely outside the city as well.
“Only the Administration Bureau knows the exact number. No, even the Administration Bureau probably does not grasp all of it. There must also be vagrants who entered the underground from outside entirely.”
“In short, there are many of them?”
“Yes. And yet those outlaws stay holed up underground and do not come out. Unless they are madmen, they do not think of attacking Metrocity. Why do you think that is?”
“Hard to say. Because they fear the security force, because their groups aren’t unified... There could be many reasons.”
“The fundamental reason is that they lack power.”
Bryce drew a handgun from its holster and placed it on the table. Because he had disguised himself as a bounty hunter during the operation, he had not brought a gun.
“Their equipment is poor. They fight monsters with iron crowbars and replenish supplies by attacking freight cars. To be honest, they are not threatening. There are even some positive aspects.”
Outlaws dealt with the monsters underground. Thanks to their plundering, security companies and the bounty hunter industry were also thriving.
The Council also did not wish for the outlaws’ extinction. That was because the companies operating underground paid enormous taxes every year.
“This is an underground business. There was a tacit understanding between both sides. But a problem has occurred.”
Kim Yi-hyeon picked up the thread.
“The outlaws have started expanding their forces.”
“......You really are quick on the uptake.”
“They were armed with proper crossbows instead of iron crowbars. The tents seemed to be of decent quality too, and the base itself felt too close to Metrocity.”
“Correct.”
Bryce let out a heavy breath.
“Weapons are circulating underground. And in numbers strangely too large to be considered plundered goods. We judged that there is a force supplying weapons to the outlaws. This is not something to take lightly.”
That was the information Lotus Company had obtained. They were preparing for a war against the outlaws.
However, there was one part they had wrong.
The ones trading with the outlaws were not companies in Cilicia.
A third party that Lotus Company had not identified, contacting the outlaws from outside.
Legion.
***
Inhale, whoooo. Inhale, whoooo.
There was a sound that greeted Kim Yi-hyeon when he returned after an eventful day. It was the breathing of Rosco, who lay asleep on the wooden floor.
‘......Reminds me of the army.’
The decibel level made one suspect he was doing it on purpose. Kim Yi-hyeon had heard it to the point of exhaustion on the way to Cilicia too, but back then, it had not bothered him much.
‘I used to stand night watch when Rosco slept.’
Even if it was noisy, he only needed to go outside the vehicle. Meanwhile, Asterike often could not bear it and spread a blanket on the ground to sleep outside.
It seemed Asterike still had not gotten used to it. Even now, seeing her dozing while crouched in the corner of the room with her face covered by a blanket.
“Asterike, wake up.”
Kim Yi-hyeon gently shook her shoulder. As expected, she had not been deeply asleep, because Asterike opened her eyes wide with a “Huh.”
“Huh? Ah, it’s Hyeon. When did you get here?”
“Just now. What about you two?”
“Early evening. We registered me as a competitor and only set the schedule before coming back. My debut match? They said it’s in two days.”
Asterike was careless in many ways. One only had to look at the drool that had leaked below her lips.
When she tried to wipe it with the blanket, Kim Yi-hyeon wiped it away with his sleeve. The new clothes he had received were probably cleaner than a blanket whose last wash was unknown.
‘Somehow, this feels like taking care of a puppy.’
The tension that had been strung tight all day suddenly loosened. The time underground and the time on the surface. The sense of urgency was worlds apart, but both had a strong sense of reality.
When had it begun? The point when he had become able to accept this current life entirely as reality. Perhaps it was today.
“Why are you doing this here, though?”
“Because it’s noisy. I was going to hit him, but I held back. He talked with people about all sorts of things, and he had a harder time than me.”
Asterike looked at Rosco and grumbled. From the sound of it, the two of them had finished their first day well enough in their own way too.
She suddenly spoke.
“The people here... seem all right.”
“What do you mean?”
“They look at my horns for a moment, then just pass by. Even the receptionist only said, ‘You are Pecatum,’ and that was it. I guess no one is interested in others.”
“There are all kinds of people here, after all.”
Her head moved slightly up and down.
“Yes. At first, it only felt uncomfortable, but I started thinking that maybe having a lot of people can make things easier. If I knew it would be like this, I should have come here from the start. ......No, then I wouldn’t have met you, Hyeon, so that doesn’t seem good either.”
“We would’ve met anyway.”
Kim Yi-hyeon’s purpose in coming to Cilicia had nothing to do with Asterike. In other words, even if she had not been here, he would still have visited this place.
If Ast had been an operative from Cilicia? He could have simply looked for her here.
He might even have thought it was rather convenient. Calling it killing two birds with one stone.
At the calm answer, Asterike’s eyes went round. Soon, her mouth loosened into a wide grin.
“......Hehe.”
“That’s a creepy laugh. Why?”
“It’s nothing. How was today for you, Hyeon? Did you find work?”
Did you find work?
It was a question that made his chest ache. Well, thinking about it, the three of them were living in the same room. Because they were so poor.
No, they had been poor.
Until a few hours ago.
“Go downstairs and get two more rooms.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Let’s each use our own room comfortably.”
His money worries had already disappeared.
In a few days, the contract payment would come in. There was no longer any need to carefully conserve the little money they had.
It had been a satisfying day.