The Blade
“……A corpse splicer?”
“It’ll be faster to see it for yourself than to hear about it.”
With those words, Lord Bernier turned the page of the document.
“It should be a face you’re quite familiar with as well.”
“……Me?”
A name he was hearing for the first time. A face he was seeing for the first time. Yet there was a ‘familiar’ face among them. Solomon swallowed a hollow laugh at the seemingly contradictory description.
It was not a contradiction. It was literal.
The body of the man called Dr. O’Neil had the ‘corpses’ of countless people crudely stitched onto it like patchwork.
Limbs sprouted like those of an arthropod. A face protruded from the chest. On closer inspection, the stitches that held the pieces together were clearly visible, one by one.
And among those fused corpses, one part in particular stood out as ‘familiar.’
A blood-red physique swollen so tightly it looked ready to burst at any moment, something steroids could never hope to replicate.
Gilbert Graham.
The Biotech Guild executive who had given Solomon his first mission in Downtown. That man’s upper body was fused directly above Dr. O’Neil’s waist.
As if they shared a single body like conjoined twins. Yet the countless suture marks and threads made it clear this was the result of deliberate surgical grafting and violence.
“So that’s why they call him a corpse splicer.”
Besides Gilbert Graham, unidentified limbs were grafted everywhere in chaotic disarray, like malignant tumors sprouting across the body.
Looking closer still, what was attached to the ends of some limbs were not hands or feet but…… human faces.
By comparison, Gilbert Graham’s relatively intact upper body almost seemed to have been given preferential treatment.
A crystallization of madness that could not be fully captured even by the word horrific.
“……I’m starting to wonder how he ended up like this.”
“Problems arise for any number of reasons.”
Lord Bernier spoke calmly, his voice brimming with bourgeois authority and grace.
“But the virtue of a cleaner lies in completely ‘erasing’ the problem. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“……I’ll keep that in mind.”
An implicit warning not to ask any further. Solomon nodded calmly. There was nothing to gain by digging too deeply into the background of a request. Especially not with the man standing before him.
“As a side note, this document cannot be leaked outside, so please finish reading it here.”
With that, Lord Bernier took a sip of his cooled coffee. Solomon silently turned the next page and absorbed the contents.
The outline was similar to room service at the hotel. Target profile, anticipated escape routes, and so on.
“Hold on.”
Solomon cut him off at that point.
“I’d like to talk about the reward first.”
“Oh, you needn’t worry about that. You won’t be disappointed in the slightest. Whatever it is you…… desire.”
To Lord Bernier’s words, Solomon replied.
“You speak as if you already know what I want.”
“In my experience, when someone specifically brings up the subject of reward, it’s usually because they want something other than ‘money.’”
“Does that include information?”
“Information! One of the most positively considered forms of compensation we can offer.”
Hearing that, Solomon did not hesitate.
“Black Museum. Curator.”
“…….”
The moment that name left his lips, Lord Bernier’s expression froze solid. The word ‘frozen’ hardly seemed sufficient.
“Where did you hear that name?”
Solomon answered while maintaining his composure.
“Do I have any obligation to answer?”
“Oh, of course not. My apologies……”
Lord Bernier gave a bitter smile.
“To be honest, it’s difficult to give you a definite answer right this moment.”
“You can’t tell me?”
“Rather, I believe we should have a more in-depth discussion after you complete this request. Considering the ‘risk’ that their name alone carries.”
“Understood.”
In short, finish the job first, then talk. That was enough for Solomon. At the very least, it was clear the man before him possessed some kind of information about them.
“One more thing. For this request, the Sword Watch’s Blade will accompany you.”
“……The Blade?”
“Ah, no need to worry. Think of it as insurance against any unforeseen situations. She’ll provide information as well.”
Solomon frowned.
Deception Failed!
“Deny what needs denying. It’s written all over your face that you’re a fixer from the hotel.”
“You don’t seem to be in any position to talk.”
“I keep it written on my face because I need to. Is there a problem?”
“You think you’re something special.”
“I am pretty special, yes.”
As she said, it was obvious at a glance, and Solomon was no exception.
……Maybe I should put more effort into not standing out so much.
Having thought that, Solomon spoke. No point dragging things out; it was time to get to work.
“You were going to provide information on the target.”
“Dr. O’Neil, the corpse splicer.”
Violet nodded as she answered.
“He’s hiding in a warehouse lot owned by the Necropolis Guild. Several of the guild’s necromancers are cooperating with him.”
“……The Necropolis Guild?”
“That’s right.”
Solomon frowned quietly. Necropolis Guild. Like Solomon and Violet, it was a name that suggested many things the moment it was spoken.
He had no idea what the man had done or what exactly he was cooperating with the Necropolis Guild for. Even so, Solomon did not ask. As the client had said, his role was to solve the problem, not to uncover every reason behind it.
“Aside from the corpse splicer, what else do I need to watch out for?”
Knowing exactly what problems needed solving was one thing.
“Multiple necromancers, zombies and skeleton hordes armed with automatic crossbows, and several troll zombies.”
“……Damn. That’s a lot.”
Just hearing the list made charging in openly sound like suicide.
“I’d prefer to handle this as quietly as possible without being noticed.”
Bad news. The security was stricter than expected, and the opponents were not to be underestimated.
Solomon silently activated the Black Bird Spirit Bracelet and sent out several shadow crows. Aerial views he could not see with his own eyes overlapped in his vision. Not one, but several.
“Oh, you can command dark spirits. And synchronize with their vision as well. You’re more capable than you appear.”
Watching him, Violet sounded genuinely surprised.
“Where exactly is the warehouse?”
“Fly northwest from above. You’ll soon see the cemetery area.”
“Got it.”
“That entire cemetery area is the warehouse owned by the Necropolis Guild.”
“The warehouse is…… you don’t mean……”
“Whatever you’re imagining, you’re probably not far off.”
Solomon frowned silently. Through the Black Bird Spirit’s vision, he examined the cemetery grounds below.
Insanely wide.
He had noticed on the map that District 4 was unusually large compared to the other districts, and the reason was exactly what he suspected.
“A few gravekeepers are wandering around.”
“Look at their faces carefully.”
“Why?”
“You’ll see they’re labeled as necromancers.”
“……Indeed.”
Solomon did not deny it.
“Nothing else stands out besides the necromancers. I don’t see any of the dead, either.”
“You fool. You command birds yet your brain has turned into a bird’s. What do you think they use a warehouse in a cemetery for?”
“…….”
“Think about it. Think. What do you keep that head on your shoulders for?”
“Decoration.”
“For decoration, it’s quite an impressive specimen. I’ll give you credit for that much.”
She had a rough mouth, to put it mildly. Solomon frowned as he considered the ‘purpose of the warehouse.’ It was difficult to accept that the subject was a cemetery, but the image itself was not hard to conjure.
“Can those birds identify the positions of the tombstones?”
“They’ll need to fly a bit lower.”
“The necromancers can smell dark spirits well, so be careful not to fly too low and get detected.”
“I’ll be careful.”
The Special Class Blade of the Sword Watch, Violet, gave the warning. Solomon nodded silently and focused his mind on the movements of the black bird spirits. He guided them to blend in with the flock of crows loitering around the tombstones without drawing attention.
“Caw, caw.”
“?”
Suddenly a bird cry burst out. Not from the black bird spirit, but from Solomon’s own mouth.
The sound had slipped out involuntarily like a hiccup. Solomon fell into an awkward silence, and Violet asked back with an incredulous look.
“What was that? Did you eat crow meat or something?”
“Uh, no. That wasn’t me, it was……”
“Wasn’t?”
“……I got a little too immersed.”
Solomon added belatedly. Synchronizing senses with the black bird spirits was not strictly one-way. Paradoxically, the excessive synchronization rate built up over the past few days of training had caused this mishap.
“You must have a very special affection for animals.”
“……I’m so moved I could cry.”
“I’ll tell you exactly where O’Neil is hiding.”
In the brief silence, Solomon concentrated on the vision of the black bird spirits. Lowering their altitude and mixing into the flock of crows, he began searching for the tombstone name Violet had mentioned.
Fortunately, without any sense of dissonance among the murder of crows swarming the graves, Solomon was able to locate the ‘warehouse’ where the target lay buried.
“……I found a tombstone marked Saint Augustine III.”
“Yes, that’s the one. There should be a secret mechanism beneath that tombstone leading to an underground mausoleum.”
Violet nodded. Solomon carefully observed the bird’s-eye view of the tombstone and surrounding area through the black bird spirit’s vision.
……The situation is better than I first thought.
The dead were not wandering around with glowing eyes; they were stored inside the warehouse on standby for emergencies. The necromancers patrolling the cemetery…… warehouse area were not moving as a single group, either.
Even if he was discovered, the time it would take for the buried dead to rise gave him surprising breathing room.
For the current Solomon, there were more than enough gaps to slip through. After reviewing the situation with colder precision than ever before—
“I’ve roughly grasped the situation. The black bird spirits will continue monitoring from here. In an emergency they can be used to draw attention.”
Having spoken, Solomon stood up. Seeing this, Violet gave a wide grin.
“I can definitely feel that you’ve become an adult.”
“What nonsense are you about to spout now?”
Solomon asked back, dumbfounded.
“Adults tend to like numbers, you know.”
“Not this again……”
Solomon spat out a curse in disbelief. Violet shrugged.
“Adults never ask about the true nature of a new assassin. What floor does that kid live on at the hotel? What room number? What’s the request success rate? They think those trivial questions let them understand everything about a Snark contractor.”
“Yeah. Someone once spouted the exact same nonsense without missing a single syllable.”
“So what? No matter what anyone says, I’ll say what I want to say.”
Violet replied without blinking.
“The point is, you seem like a fixer with real potential. I apologize for my narrow-mindedness in underestimating you simply because you’re a first-floor guest.”
“I’m so grateful I could die.”
“As a reference, a Special Class Blade is on an entirely different level from the first floor, so don’t confuse the two.”
“……Entirely different, huh.”
“Hm, you may shed a few tears and look more moved if you like.”
She was a woman who walked her own path in every sense. Solomon shrugged and rose to his feet.
“As much as possible, I’ll handle it quietly without being detected.”
Dr. O’Neil. He had located the warehouse where the target was hiding. All that remained was to reach the place without catching anyone’s eye and carry out the request.
“Should I wish you luck?”
“Don’t jinx me.”
Violet chuckled at his reply. Solomon answered as if it were someone else’s business and began to walk.
Not to rely on luck that might simply fall at his feet, but to seize the outcome with his own two hands—