The Cleaner’s Return
She kills people well too.
“Young Master?”
The title “Young Master?” was strange.
There was almost no one left in Kairem who would call me that now.
Most importantly, the woman in front of me was a face I’d never seen before.
But the color that had risen above her was one I remembered.
A brightly burning red, and a deep black interwoven within it.
I’d seen countless people, but there was only one person who had such a clear combination of two colors.
That girl’s name was definitely……
“…… Narin?”
“—!!”
The woman’s eyes widened just a little.
The face that had been pressing people against the wall without blinking even a second before shook at just one word of her name.
“…… Yes.”
Once I heard her voice, it was clear.
Now that I looked, her features were similar to before, and the habit of checking my reaction even after answering was the same.
“You’ve grown a lot.”
The thought came out naturally.
The young look that had almost disappeared from her face.
Narin’s lips moved very slightly when she heard that.
I thought she might have smiled, so I looked again, but she had already returned to a completely expressionless face.
“Yes.”
“You were eighteen when I last saw you…… so it’s been thirteen years?”
“Thirteen years and twenty-seven days.”
“…… Really? It’s already been that long.”
She remembered the exact date.
Anyway, a lot of time had passed.
Besides Narin, several people had crossed my path.
How had she been living all this time?
As I thought about that, I looked at Narin, and her gaze slowly moved down from my face.
It was like scanning, sweeping over various places.
Then it stopped near her side.
“Are you hurt?”
“A little.”
“Where?”
“On the side.”
Before the answer was even finished, Narin came closer.
As her hand tried to enter inside my coat, I reflexively grabbed her wrist.
“Wait.”
“I need to check.”
“It doesn’t look like any bones are broken.”
“I’ll check.”
“You can check at the lodging.”
While holding her wrist, Narin looked up at me.
It seemed like that look when she was being stubborn.
A few seconds later, I let go of her hand first, and Narin didn’t touch me anymore.
Instead, she stared at the side for a long time, then turned her gaze sideways.
The fingers of the man pinned against the wall twitched.
Seeing that, Narin took a step forward, and I immediately called out.
“It’s fine.”
The hand that was about to enter my arms stopped.
“It’s already over.”
“Yes.”
Narin turned back as is.
There was no sign of regret, no asking for reasons.
She still listened well.
Even after meeting for the first time in thirteen years.
At least, she didn’t seem to have any reason to quarrel with me right now.
“Narin.”
“Yes.”
“What have you been doing lately?”
There was no hesitation at all.
“I kill people.”
“…… As a job?”
“Yes.”
Her too blunt answer made me react a beat late.
Killing people.
I wasn’t surprised by such a trivial fact.
Corporate mercenaries, gang fixers, bounty hunters — it happened occasionally in the upper tier, and in the lower tier it was almost daily life.
“What’s your affiliation?”
“I don’t have one.”
“You take requests alone?”
“Yes.”
“What do you mostly do?”
“I kill the people who ask me to kill.”
“As long as the payment is good?”
“I check the conditions too.”
“What kind of conditions?”
“Whether I can kill them.”
It was clean.
At least, she didn’t dodge answers.
Recalling the three people she had just cleaned up, it seemed like most requests would pass the conditions.
“Eek—?!”
At that moment, a sound of something falling came from outside the alley.
A man holding a bag that looked like a stomach was frozen at the entrance.
He saw the three sprawled on the floor, then confirmed it was Narin, and the blood drained from his face.
“Cl-Cleaner…….”
He dropped the bag and ran away as is.
Almost simultaneously, he came down to the iron door of the nearby store.
Clang.
The sound of the lock turning echoed into the alley.
I looked at Narin again.
She had a completely indifferent face.
“Are you famous around here?”
“A little.”
“Is that a little?”
“Yes.”
The standard of ‘a little’ was quite different from mine.
After coming down to the lower tier, I’d seen several times where disputes or fights broke out, but the first time a store that was doing business just because someone passed by closed its doors.
This seemed like more than just being skilled at fighting.
Of course, for me, it was a good thing.
If the surroundings naturally backed away before I even drew my sword, that alone was enough for the bodyguard role.
Moreover, she still seemed to be listening to me.
“Young Master.”
“Hm?”
Narin picked up the bag that had fallen on the floor.
“Where’s the lodging?”
“It’s close.”
“I’ll escort you.”
There was no reason to refuse.
Even though I didn’t know what happened in the thirteen years, she still called me Young Master, and when I told her to stop, she immediately backed off.
In a situation like this, there was no need to draw a line.
“Okay. I’ll ask for a favor.”
“Yes.”
Narin naturally stood a step behind me.
“Hmm…….”
For now, it would be better to treat her like before.
I asked her a couple of questions like before, and Narin answered my questions with all her heart.
On the way to the lodging.
“Eek—?!”
“Cl-Cleaner!!”
The reactions around were similar to before.
A man coming from the opposite direction saw Narin and jumped to the side of the road, and the mercenaries who were talking on the roadside lowered their voices when they saw us.
One staff member who was soliciting customers in front of the store went inside.
“Narin.”
“Yes.”
“How famous are you really?”
“I don’t know.”
“They all avoid you.”
Narin looked around.
At that moment, a man whose gaze met hers hurriedly turned his head.
The man was about to turn his body to run away.
He hurriedly raised both hands and lowered his head.
“…….”
At this point, it didn’t seem like she was famous.
“It’s like that here.”
“I see.”
I thought asking her directly would never get an answer.
After walking a few more blocks, this time Narin spoke first.
“Young Master.”
“Hm?”
“Why are you here?”
“Here?”
“The lower tier.”
“Ah.”
It was natural that she didn’t know.
Since I hadn’t seen her for thirteen years, she wouldn’t know what happened to our family.
“Our family went bankrupt.”
Narin’s steps stopped.
After taking a few more steps, she noticed and turned back.
“…… Bankrupt?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Three days ago.”
“Who did it?”
She asked who did it, not how the family went bankrupt.
“It seems like it was from a rival company, but I don’t know exactly.”
“What’s the name?”
“What?”
“The company name.”
I thought for a moment.
Actually, I didn’t know either.
I had seen the unfamiliar corporate identification light floating in the research district, but I didn’t have the mind to confirm it.
At the time, the problem of accounts and citizenship disappearing was much more urgent than who had eaten our house.
It was also ambiguous to say I didn’t know.
If I answered that I didn’t know, based on the appearance I’d shown so far, there was a high possibility that she would go to investigate directly.
The opponent was a megacorp that swallowed one family in three days.
I didn’t know how strong Narin was, but there was no reason to let her go alone, and most importantly, if the newly made bodyguard disappeared, it would be me who would be in trouble right away.
“I’ll tell you later.”
I shook my head lightly.
“Yes.”
Narin accepted it without any suspicion.
That was fortunate.
At least, she didn’t seem to intend to leave my side right now.
When we arrived at the lodging, the owner at the counter recognized me first.
“You’re staying again today…….”
The end of the sentence died.
Precisely, upon discovering Narin who had entered behind me.
Her eyes widened and her mouth closed.
Narin just stood there without saying anything, but the owner hurriedly searched under the counter and took out the room key.
“F-Few more days is fine.”
“Payment?”
“You can pay later.”
“You said it was prepaid yesterday.”
“The circumstances have changed a bit…….”
Circumstances changed? What.
Even in the upper tier, it was a place that ran on the principle of power.
But when I actually experienced it in the lower tier, the primitive feeling was on a different level.
“P-Please make yourself comfortable!”
The owner bowed his waist almost at a right angle.
Narin’s gaze lingered on him for a moment.
Just that, and the owner’s shoulders stiffened noticeably.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
I headed to the stairs first, and only then did a long sigh come from behind.
“…… Even in the upper tier, it was the same, but the lower tier had many processes omitted.”
Anyway, after going up to the room and closing the door, she put the bag down first and looked at my side again.
“Can I check now?”
“You’re still worried about that?”
“Yes.”
If I tried to refuse, she’d keep looking.
“Okay. Look.”
I took off my coat and lifted my shirt a little, and the spot where I was hit was already purple.
Narin came closer and carefully pressed the edge of the bruise.
“Ah.”
Her hand immediately fell.
“Does it hurt?”
“When you press the bruise, it hurts.”
“I’m sorry.”
While apologizing, her eyes didn’t leave the side.
It might be my imagination, but she seemed like someone who was a little sorry for having spared that guy.
“It’s nothing.”
“…… Yes.”
After a while, she lowered the shirt.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, this time I asked.
“What about you?”
“Hm?”
“How did you live for thirteen years.”
“I worked.”
“While killing people the whole time?”
“Yes.”
“Alone?”
“Yes.”
The words were short, but looking at the results, it wasn’t bad.
She survived, earned money. She had risen to a position where lower-tier people avoided her just by looking at her face, so it was much better than expected when it came time to make her independent.
“You did well.”
Narin’s eyes widened a little.
“…… Did well?”
“Yes. You grew well.”
The answer didn’t come immediately.
Narin, who had been staring at me quietly, asked softly.
“Young Master, where are you going now?”
“I don’t know yet.”
Since there was nothing to hide, I said it as is.
“I plan to stay here for now. After that, I’ll have to think about it.”
“Here?”
“Why?”
Narin looked around the room.
The wall surface patched with tape, the ceiling with traces of leaking water.
After looking at the bed last, her gaze returned to me.
“It’s not good.”
“It’s fine for a few days.”
“It’s not safe either.”
“That’s right.”
The person who had almost died and come back just now couldn’t say anything to deny it.
Narin thought for a moment and said.
“I’ll protect you.”
“Here?”
“At the place where you are, Young Master.”
“What about your work?”
“For now, I don’t have to take new requests.”
“Then what about money?”
“It’s a lot.”
The answer was quick.
“How much?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know how much money you have?”
“There aren’t many things I need to spend on.”
It was a little envious.
Until three days ago, I was in that position too.
I don’t know exactly how much money Narin has, but she doesn’t seem to be in a position to worry about living expenses.
I had seen her fighting directly.
From the owner’s reaction, her reputation in the lower tier was sufficient, and most importantly, she still listened to me.
There was no reason to send her back now.
“Then, can I ask for one favor?”
“Yes.”
The answer was faster than before.
“Stay with me for now?”
Narin’s eyes widened.
The always firm lips relaxed a little.
“Yes.”
“Think of it as bodyguard. It would be troublesome if something like before happens again.”
“Yes.”
“I’ll pay for the meals or whatever money is needed.”
“It’s not necessary.”
“Still—”
“I’ll pay.”
“Why me?”
“Because I have a lot.”
“I don’t have money right now either?”
“I have more.”
How could she be so sure?
Since there was no need to argue over living expenses here, I decided to go with it.
“Okay. Let’s decide that later.”
“Yes.”
Narin kept looking at me.
The expression that had hardly moved until just before became subtly relaxed after taking on the request.
Even when she was young, she had that side.
When something was asked of her, she talked more than usual, and after finishing tasks that I didn’t ask for, she waited for my reaction.
It was probably the same this time.
After thirteen years, the former guardian who had fallen due to my bankruptcy was wandering the lower tier, so it could be seen as a chance to repay the favor.
For me, it wasn’t bad.
While Narin was by my side, the chance of being stabbed to death in the alley would be greatly reduced.
“Then, please take care of me from today.”
“…… From today.”
“Yes.”
“Can I stay together all the time?”
“For now.”
Narin’s expression hardened again.
“…… For now?”
“Why?”
Narin, who had been staring at me for a while, opened her mouth.
“Young Master.”
“Hm?”
“I lived well by myself.”
It seemed like a sudden topic.
But since she actually lived well, I nodded.
“You seem to have lived like that.”
Narin looked at my face for a moment, then said again.
“You said you could live well alone even after the Young Master last time.”
“That’s right.”
“So, you really lived well.”
Her tone was strangely serious.
It wasn’t like she was telling me the news after independence, but like someone who had received a long-delayed inspection.
“I earned a lot of money too.”
After taking a breath, Narin added one more thing.
“I kill people well.”