Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Human eyes were made to face forward.
Without a mirror, you would not even know what kind of face you were making.
Even if your expression was reflected in someone else’s eyes, could you endure that gaze until the very end?
At least I couldn’t.
I raised my head and looked at the mirror cracked with fine lines.
It was my day off, but I had barely slept through the night because of nightmares, and dark circles hung heavily under my eyes.
“Maybe I should take some medicine.”
At my own muttered words, a dry laugh slipped out.
It had been years since I fell into this world from a novel, but even now, thoughts like that sometimes surfaced without warning.
Medicine, huh. I guess I still want to live after all.
I looked back into the mirror.
Pale skin like something pulled out of a coffin.
Dull ash-gray hair that had lost all color.
Red eyes that didn’t feel human.
A gaze that felt like something else was staring back at me through my own face.
I thought I had gotten used to it, but it still felt unfamiliar again and again.
The man I once was no longer existed.
If I thought it was strange, it would only keep looking stranger.
That was why I didn’t like mirrors very much.
The more I looked, the more it felt like I would drown in air itself.
I turned on the freezing water again and roughly splashed it over my face.
After repeating it several times, my cheeks went numb, and my mind finally cleared.
Beep beep beep—
The emergency call that had been ringing for a while could no longer be ignored. I wiped my face with a towel and walked into the living room.
A perfectly dressed black suit figure sat comfortably on the sofa, enjoying coffee, contrasting sharply with the spotless silver hair.
If not for the fact that it ignored the emergency alarm while enjoying itself, it would have been a perfect tea time scene.
“Fran, are we deploying?”
I ignored the question from the thing sitting in the living room and stood in front of the communication device.
I had just finished washing, still in undergarments, but there was no need to feel shame in front of that devil.
From the connected fax machine, the operation details slowly began to print out.
“What is it about?”
It set down its cup and turned its blue eyes toward me.
After reading the printed order, I handed it over to the devil and pulled out a chair, sitting down with my legs crossed.
I grabbed one of the cigarette packs piled in the corner, put one in my mouth, and lit it.
As I exhaled deeply, something tangled inside my chest loosened slightly.
“Hm, I see. This is definitely a job for a broker.”
The devil set down its coffee and walked over to a full-length mirror, adjusting its suit as if preparing to go out.
It was meaningless for that thing, but it still acted like a normal person getting ready.
“Good timing. I had no cases this month anyway. I need at least one contract per month to keep my life going, right, Fran?”
“You’re really annoyingly polite.”
The words came out sharper than I intended.
“I am always kind to you, Fran.”
“Just stop talking.”
Even speaking to it was stressful.
“Shall we leave right away?”
“Let me finish this first.”
I took one last drag and stubbed the cigarette out in the ashtray already filled with butts.
Then I rinsed my mouth with the devil’s leftover coffee.
It was more like just touching the cup, the drink already cold.
I put on a shirt, then a suit, and gathered the necessary documents.
The day’s work had begun.
……
The operation order delivered by fax stated that I was to move by subway and secure airspace control over Yellow Zone G-51, an abandoned outer city district.
The emergency transport brought me into an old underground tunnel where even breathing was difficult without a gas mask.
“So you’re saying it’s urgent, and you want us to travel like this?”
I didn’t bother hiding my disbelief as I glared at the suit-wearing official from headquarters who had arrived first.
I really didn’t understand how people from headquarters could be so incompetent.
If they were going to deploy a broker-level asset, that meant it was urgent.
If warp gates were too expensive, then at least strap me into a rocket drop pod and launch me.
Instead, they brought out a handcar, an old rail cart once used by workers during tunnel construction to cross underground rail lines.
At least there were separate seats and an engine compartment.
“No other choice. The urgency comes from the airspace situation in the abandoned zone.”
The worker replied with a polite smile.
His face was smiling, but his eyes kept darting nervously left and right.
Not because he was shy about looking at me.
His gaze wasn’t on me at all.
It was fixed on the thing standing silently behind me.
That reaction made sense.
I was just a normal human wearing a nice face, but that thing behind me was anything but normal.
Anyone would instinctively feel discomfort looking at it.
In fact, this was already a relatively good reaction.
Most people hated me instead.
“But this is manually operated with a lever.”
The worker’s gaze drifted again toward the thing behind me.
“Will that person help too?”
There was no fear in his eyes toward the devil.
With silver hair and blue eyes, it didn’t immediately look like a devil.
“You’re asking the wrong person. That thing would never do manual labor even if the world ended.”
If you asked it for help, it would immediately pull out a contract.
It only ever acted when there was something to gain, always extracting its own benefit.
“Then…”
Their uneasy gazes shifted between me and it.
“Sorry, but please bear with it. This is an urgent operation.”
“Well, if it’s urgent…”
I shamelessly responded with a businesslike smile.
I didn’t want to be exhausted before even reaching the battlefield.
Unlike those superhuman hunters who could slice enemies while flying, I was completely ordinary.
Even if supplies were lacking, they should at least be able to provide a proper transport vehicle.
The headquarters was the problem.
Not me.
I had done nothing wrong.
Absolutely nothing.
……
“You’ve done well.”
Thanks to the workers operating the pump in shifts, I was able to arrive at the site on time through the underground route.
Following the signal lights inside the tunnel, I climbed up to the surface.
The situation outside was clearly bad.
An abandoned commercial district on the outskirts, with barely any tall buildings, was completely open terrain.
From far away, I could hear something crying out.
A black dot floated in the sky.
That was the target of this operation.
A massive whale-shaped xenobeast covered in barnacle-like growths.
A flying fortress-class Xenobeast.
Just seeing it from this distance made it clear why airspace control had been lost.
“What the hell is that!”
“They said they were sending special forces, and they sent a broker?”
That was the first reaction I received, but I ignored it and lowered my head slightly.
“Certified national demon broker Fran. I have arrived in Yellow Zone G-51 under operational orders.”
“Th-thank you…”
The holy knight responded reluctantly, as if chewing something bitter, then nodded.
His eyes were not on me, but on the devil walking lightly behind me.
Fear, disbelief, confusion.
All mixed together in their expressions.
On the other hand, the holy knight clenched his teeth.
As a servant of god, he seemed to struggle with whether he should ignore the devil’s presence or not, and eventually chose to look away.
Good. Ignore it. That was better.
I was already busy enough without people panicking.
“Please gather all field commanders.”
“…Understood.”
I already knew the general situation from the documents, but hearing it directly from the field mattered more.
While waiting inside the temporary tent, a hunter entered.
A familiar face, at least.
“Why the hell did the air force not send anyone, and instead sent you, you bitch.”
“My job is not a prostitute. I am a broker.”
“Damn it… more people are going to die.”
I scanned the gathered personnel.
Some faces I had seen many times before, others were new.
Some couldn’t take their eyes off the devil.
Others looked at me with clear disgust instead.
It probably didn’t matter.
Once this mission ended, I would just be sold off somewhere else anyway.
“I will briefly explain the situation in G-51 combat zone.”
A projection displayed an image of the massive whale-like xenobeast.
A Xenobeast aerial carrier threatening human territory on Terra.
The so-called Sky Whale.
A massive flying bombardment unit.
“Who here can handle anti-air combat among hunters, holy knights, or ability users defending G-51?”
“Me and that major over there. Maybe a few reconnaissance drones, that’s it.”
Only the hunter who had argued earlier raised his hand.
One hunter, one aircraft, one pilot.
That was all they had.
No wonder they were struggling.
That thing couldn’t be dealt with by normal firearms.
It conducted repeated bombing runs, retreating each time.
A war of attrition.
“If the neutral zone collapses further, the purification facility will be directly affected.”
“Has evacuation been considered?”
“The survival of the refugee population is not the priority.”
“That’s true. The real issue is the purification facility.”
“If water supply stops for even a day, the Green Zone will collapse.”
Everyone spoke over each other.
The reason G-51 was defended so heavily, despite seeming worthless, was because right behind it lay the Green Zone and the water purification facilities that sustained humanity.
“What about air support? Or at least an Alpha team capable of air combat…”
“If that were possible, she wouldn’t be here.”
At that moment, all eyes turned to me.
Expectation, anxiety, disgust.
And a faint hope that I would somehow solve it.
Heavy.
I reached for a cigarette out of habit, then shoved it back into the pack under their gaze.
“Fran. Can you finish this without a contract again?”
The devil whispered softly.
That tone, as if it were simply asking a harmless question, irritated me more.
Unfortunately, without air force or artillery support, defeating that sky whale with ground forces alone was impossible.
“…Why ask when you already know.”
“I see.”
The devil smiled, clearly pleased.
It was easy to imagine how this operation would end without my involvement.
I walked past the gathered officers and stood in front of a man who had been looking down.
I already had my target in mind.
I stopped in front of a major with hollow eyes, someone who looked like he had already lost something important.
“Major Marcus.”
All eyes turned toward him.
“You are the right candidate.”
This man was the perfect target for the contract this time.