Ewaz (1)
The headquarters of the Ewaz Merchant Group stood in Viten City, within the Midgard Kingdom.
Nestled in the kingdom’s southern reaches, it was the largest city in the south—and, at the same time, the one with the worst public order. More precisely, it was a place where organized crime thrived in earnest. For that reason, curiously enough, there were no temples or churches; wherever religious facilities had once stood, a very large tavern now occupied the ground instead.
That a city of such size had ended up this way owed itself to Midgard’s political structure. Though called a kingdom, Midgard operated more like a loose federation. Each lord was drawn from a great house, yet those houses passed leadership not to blood heirs but to those of proven ability—even if they belonged to another race entirely. Within each territory, so long as the king’s Unification Laws were observed, a lord could govern however he pleased. Whether public order was good or bad made no difference. Only attempts at secession were barred.
Lying at the heart of the central continent, Midgard enjoyed flourishing trade, and commerce had developed accordingly. There was a northern trade route that ran through the kingdom’s north and a southern route that cut through the south; of the two, the southern route was generally the busier.
In any case—Viten City was large. Yet two things set it apart from other cities. First, it had no walls. Second, the city also existed underground.
That second fact was precisely why the place had become a den of crime. Beneath Viten City stretched a considerable underground metropolis. It had originally been connected to the surface, but a great earthquake had caused the ground itself to sink, leaving a subterranean city behind. And at the heart of that underground city stood the headquarters of the Ewaz Merchant Group.
“…We’re here.”
Erika gathered her things and stepped down from the carriage, glancing at Ren as she spoke. He nodded at her words, climbed down after her, and swept his gaze across their surroundings.
For an underground city, it was surprisingly bright. Looking up, he could not see the ceiling, yet a sizable light source hung over the city’s center.
“…What’s that?”
Ren pointed at the glowing mass. Erika paused mid-step, turned only her head a fraction, and opened her mouth.
“Just follow me.”
Ren lowered his hand and looked once more at the light. It was so bright it might have been the sun itself—a sphere, strangely enough, with a tall tower built so that one could reach it.
He fell in behind Erika. Unlike the roads of his hometown, the city’s floor was paved. Thanks to the cobblestones, he need not worry about mud or dirt clinging to his boots. The city itself was well developed, with plenty to catch the eye. Commerce must have flourished here on a grand scale; unfamiliar foods and goods he had never seen filled the stalls.
Everything pulled at his attention, but he could not afford to lose Erika. He steadied himself and kept following her.
Once they had put some distance between themselves and the carriage, a massive building came into view. It was a clean rectangle, unadorned by ornament, with only a series of plain windows set into its face. No matter how one looked at it, there was nothing elegant about the dull façade. Above the entrance, the word Ewaz was written.
So that’s the Ewaz Merchant Group’s building?
Erika, Naudiz, and the dwarves were all heading that way, so it seemed safe enough to assume.
Ren followed Erika through the entrance. The interior was fairly spacious. A staircase connected to a second floor, and the central hall that opened from the main foyer was quite large.
He had never seen anything like it—except in his previous life. It felt a little like walking into a city hall. No one inside paid him the slightest attention; everyone was absorbed in their own work, moving with brisk purpose. In one corner there was even something that looked like a tavern, complete with a bar-like counter.
“Naudiz, sir—was the commission completed?”
Naudiz, who had gone on ahead, was already leaning against a reception window, speaking with the woman seated beyond it. She looked young—perhaps around Ren’s age. An armband hung from her shoulder as if to mark her rank, and on it was written Receptionist Rahen. She had red hair and a light dusting of freckles.
“The principal party ended up dead.”
Naudiz answered as if it were nothing of consequence. Rahen sighed, took up a quill, and began to jot something down. When she finished, she set the pen aside, pointed at Ren, and spoke again.
“Then who’s the one next to Miss Erika? A new client?”
“No, no. A member of the Group.”
At Naudiz’s laughing reply, Rahen spoke as if she were thoroughly tired of the whole business.
“Again? He won’t even last until the next operation… The boss said she’d discipline you if you kept doing this.”
“This one was recommended by Erika. He’s fairly reliable.”
At that, Rahen looked at Ren. Erika gave Ren a light push between the shoulder blades and whispered for him to go to the window.
Ren glanced once at her, then quietly approached the counter where Rahen sat. She pulled out a fresh sheet of parchment, dipped her quill in ink, and began to write.
“Name.”
“Ren.”
“Surname? Never mind—from now on, you’re just Ren Ewaz.”
As she filled in his particulars on the parchment, Rahen asked him any number of questions: place of origin, name, occupation, reason for coming here. Even as she wrote, she studied him carefully, then wrote some more and kept asking.
“Hold on—I still need answers to roughly thirty-one more survey items.”
While she spoke, Ren thought it might be better if Naudiz simply showed her the contract, and he turned his eyes toward the man. Naudiz gave a short snort of laughter and shook his head slightly from side to side.
At that, Ren sighed inwardly and quietly blamed Naudiz for the tedious ordeal that seemed likely to drag on.
It did not take as long as he had feared. After roughly twenty more questions, Naudiz pretended he had only just found it and produced the contract he had drawn up in the carriage.
Naturally, Rahen tore into him for not showing it sooner, complaining that she still had a mountain of reports left to file.
The two seemed fairly close; Naudiz merely laughed it off. Once she saw the contract, the faint wariness in her manner eased a little.
“…That old man must have his reasons for trusting him. Here—take this.”
Rahen took something from a drawer and held it out toward Ren. He accepted it and opened his hand to see what it was.
A copper-colored piece of metal. Nothing was written on it, and it was so cold it seemed to have been sitting there a long while.
“Take that and show it to that dvergr over there. He’ll take care of the rest.”
Rahen handed him the paper she had been using and pointed at Rit. Rit, who had been yawning, widened his eyes in surprise at being singled out. Then, with a helpless shrug, he came over and snatched the paper from Ren’s hand.
“See you tomorrow. Ah… would you prefer a ring, or a bracelet?”
Ren did not understand the question at first—until Rit also took the metal piece from his hand. Then he grasped the meaning.
“…A ring, please.”
“Then I’ll meet you again tomorrow in the central hall.”
Rit went straight up the stairs and disappeared into the back. Ren lingered for a moment before Erika pulled him up to the second floor. Unlike the first, the second floor was lined with rooms like an inn. Erika opened a door, went in, and deposited Ren onto a bed.
The room they entered had two beds. Erika opened a window, looked at him quietly for a moment, then sat on a bed and spoke.
“You’re one of us now. Tomorrow, once the paperwork is officially certified, we’ll walk the underground city together. Anything you don’t know, I’ll answer while we go.”
Ren nodded. Watching him, she stripped off her fur-lined leather coat, let it drop to the floor, and slipped under the covers in lighter clothes. Her face looked utterly content.
Ren watched her for a moment, then absently touched his own hand. He reached for the cloth wrapped around his thumb. The surface was rough, but the part against his skin was surprisingly soft.
He wondered whether it was time to take it off—but whenever he pressed or gripped something with that thumb, a stinging pain still came. He decided he would leave the bandage until the itchiness was gone.
He lay down as Erika had and pulled the covers over himself. The bed was nothing like the one at home. His old bed had been hard and uncomfortable—this one was soft and easy.
…Do I even deserve this?
He had not avenged his hometown. He had abandoned even his friends and run.
Did he have any right to this comfort? The thought tightened in his chest. His throat felt a little blocked; heat gathered at the corners of his eyes, and he burrowed deeper under the covers.
Damn it, it was warm. Well—warmth itself wasn’t the problem. He was.
Even if he had lived another life before—his family had been dead less than two days, and just this morning he had watched an innocent woman die and said nothing. Was it right for someone like him to sleep this easily?
But exhaustion overran both feeling and reason. Ren could not keep his eyes from sliding shut, and he closed them.