Work Hard and Build It
The monumental first celebration banquet of the Nox Special Security Force had finally begun.
The mood heated up in an instant.
Nobody said it out loud, but everyone had been on edge lately. Kael had dragged them into war with two criminal organizations in rapid succession, and now they were mopping up the remnants under the guise of a cleanup operation.
No matter how rough a person’s upbringing might be, if they spent too long in a place where blood was flying and people were dying, something inside them was bound to wear thin. It was an environment that left everyone frayed and tense, and the stress had piled up higher than anyone cared to admit.
So today, they’d decided to eat, drink, and blow off as much of that strain as they could. After all, there was nothing quite like alcohol when it came to washing stress away.
"To Captain Kael!"
"To Captain Kael!"
Kael, in particular, became everyone’s target. It was as if they’d all made up their minds to pounce on him the moment they saw him.
"Captain! You have to drink with us!"
"Please have a drink with me too!"
"You’re not planning to skip out on us tonight, are you?"
The invitations to drink never seemed to end.
What, do these bastards have some kind of grudge against me or something?
At first Kael had indulged them to a certain extent, playing along and taking the drinks they pushed at him, but now he was reaching his limit.
Just let one of them slip up.
As Kael quietly bided his time, nursing his own wicked little intentions, the perfect victims happened to come staggering up on their own.
"Hey, big brother! If you start acting weak this early, that’s just not like you at all—"
Tomy and Jack, both drunk on the atmosphere, had walked straight into the trap by accident.
"B-big brother…? You know we were only joking, right?"
"Of course I know. I’m joking too, so don’t worry."
Sensing the danger, Jack hurriedly tried to explain himself, but Kael’s rough hand clamped over his cheek.
"You spill a single drop, and you’re dead, got it?"
Kael smiled with chilling sweetness and began forcing the alcohol into Jack’s mouth.
The guards burst into laughter and cheers when they saw Jack flailing and scrambling helplessly in protest.
Everyone laughed, everyone drank, and the night steadily deepened into a warm, noisy blur.
“...Haaah.”
When the drinking was in full swing, Luke stepped outside the tavern for some fresh air.
The cool night breeze slipped into his lungs.
It felt strange.
Kael had arrived, and so many things had changed that Luke could feel it in his bones.
...Why did I do that, anyway?
Never leaving loose ends behind.
It was like a scar etched into his body, something carved deeper than memory itself.
The way of those who hated beyond anger, beyond even rage.
Even though it was something he himself had done, he couldn’t quite understand it. Did it really need to go that far?
He had drunk after a long time, and the tension had loosened; the blade inside his heart had gone dull. He felt oddly light, as though he were floating somewhere out of himself.
Luke asked himself why he had done something like that today.
What, exactly, had driven him to it?
Crash!
While he was lost in his rather serious thoughts, the tavern behind him had become a complete madhouse.
"You still moping around by yourself?"
Just then, Kael came out of the tavern and handed him a beer mug.
Luke accepted it with a strange expression, then downed the beer in one shot.
"...Captain."
"What."
"Why did you just let it slide today?"
"What, did you want me to throw him in jail or something?"
"... "
"It’s not like there was some grand reason. I just figured it was better that way from your point of view."
"...Yes, sir."
"Then that’s settled. Just be more careful next time. And quit brooding by yourself."
Kael gave Luke a light smack on the back of the head.
Only then did Luke understand why he had done it.
...So that’s it.
Somehow, without realizing it, he had grown attached to this city too.
"Hey, wake up."
"...Mm. Just a little longer..."
"Fine? Then I’m leaving first. You’ll get torn apart again later, you know."
"...Damn it. No, that won’t do."
Tomy cursed under his breath and forced himself out of bed.
It was still the early dawn, and the sun hadn’t even fully risen yet, but they didn’t have time to waste.
As they hurriedly changed clothes, their heads spun.
It was the aftereffect of the celebration banquet.
Last night, they’d run themselves ragged like men who had no tomorrow.
Every breath reeked of alcohol, and even standing still made their heads throb as if they were about to split open.
...I feel like I’m going to die.
What was worse, the end of the night had already blurred out of their memories.
"Hey, did I do something stupid last night?"
"...Something stupid? How would I know."
"What’s with that reaction?"
"If I don’t know, I’m going to say I don’t know. If you’re done getting ready, let’s just get moving."
A cook’s morning started very early.
They had initially tried to protest timidly when they were suddenly reassigned, but—
"What’s that? If you hate it that much, want to come fight with us using swords instead? I heard your predecessor got stabbed in the stomach yesterday, too..."
"Come to think of it, I think being a cook is my true calling!"
—they had given up immediately.
Unless they were monsters like Kael or Luke, they honestly had no confidence in a fight. They had no intention of getting themselves killed just because they’d tried to act brave.
The two of them accepted their fate.
After all, somebody had to do it.
At first, the work had been absolute hell, but human beings were creatures of adaptation, weren’t they?
As time went on, they were slowly getting used to it.
Tomy and Jack dragged themselves into the kitchen.
It was still far too early for food prep to be in full swing.
And yet the kitchen was already filled with the smell of something delicious.
"Feeling any better after the hangover?"
Dining, dressed in a spotless white chef’s uniform, looked over at them.
He had arrived in the kitchen before Tomy and Jack.
"You were already here? Then what’s that smell right now...?"
"Tomato stew. You looked like you’d drunk too much yesterday, so I made it."
The two men looked at each other, and for a moment, tears welled in their eyes.
"Y-you really made this for us this early...?"
"It’s not exactly because of you. If you’re all dragging yourselves around with hangovers, it’ll cause trouble with breakfast service, so I had no choice..."
"Waaaah!!"
"Chef!!"
Tomy and Jack rushed forward in tears of gratitude, and Dining recoiled in horror and shoved them both back.
"Mmm, this is an excellent menu choice for breakfast."
"...It really is."
Kael took a spoonful of the tomato stew and nodded with satisfaction.
The tomato’s acidity and savory depth spread across his tongue and were surprisingly pleasant.
The queasy heaviness left over from the drinking began to settle in his stomach.
After a few more spoonfuls, Kael looked around.
The new recruits in the dining hall all looked pale as death.
And yet, with half-lidded eyes, they still lifted their spoons and managed to get a mouthful of stew into themselves.
"Haaah..."
Everyone’s eyes widened.
The warm heat soothed their exhausted guts.
The smooth richness of tomato, the fragrant spices, even the buttery finish—everything about it was comforting.
Normally, a dish like this should have been hard to swallow even once, and yet somehow, this stew just kept going down.
"I knew I picked a good cook."
"...I can’t exactly argue with that."
When Dining had been appointed head chef and kitchen master, Luke had been wary of him.
No matter how good a cook he was, Dining had once been a member of Bipolar’s inner circle, after all.
But once meals that were impossible to believe came out of what was essentially a mere company canteen, even Luke had been forced to change his mind.
Clack, clack.
Without another word, Luke shoved more tomato stew into his mouth.
It was delicious, yes, but more than that, it was survival. His head still felt like it was about to split open.
Once breakfast was over, Kael called the guards together.
They needed to decide what to do about the slaves they had rescued, especially the children.
Simply feeding and housing them was only a temporary fix.
But sending children with no parents or guardians out into the streets was basically the same as telling them to die.
"All right, let’s hear some ideas."
"Hmm..."
The guards exchanged uncertain looks.
Everyone had their own opinions, but none of them were particularly appealing to Kael.
Yeah, this is definitely a problem.
Normally, a city would have monasteries or orphanages, but in Nox, those were almost impossible to find.
"No choice. We’ll have to make an orphanage."
"A brilliant choice, as expected."
"Excellent judgment."
"You think so too? Great. Then work hard and build it."
"...Excuse me?"
"Isn’t it just a matter of remodeling one building and assigning some teachers to act as guardians?"
"Uh... you mean we’re the ones who have to do that?"
"Then should I do it?"
"N-no! W-we’ll do it, of course we will... Ha ha..."
The guards’ faces darkened.
They already had enough work as it was, and now they had to build an orphanage too?
The thought of overworking themselves made them sigh already.
The once-noisy city quickly regained its stability.
Even the citizens who had initially felt uncomfortable seemed to be getting used to the changed city now.
In truth, not that much had changed.
Only the group in charge of public order had switched from a criminal organization to the guards.
The one difference was that the guards were neither as coercive nor as threatening to ordinary citizens as the criminals had been.
"What?! You punk, did you just say that to me?!"
"I’m nowhere near finished, you bastard!"
"You little— I’m telling you, I’ve had enough of this!"
Two drunk customers, already wasted in broad daylight, had started brawling.
"Oh dear, here we go again."
Marin, a worker at the Smiling Lion, shook her head at the customers suddenly raising their voices.
In Nox, it wasn’t exactly anything unusual. If anything, it was almost familiar.
Still, lately the city had been so grim that scenes like this had become rare.
Seeing customers bickering for once felt oddly nostalgic.
"Dad! What should we do about those customers?"
"Sigh... Go out and bring back your uncles, or some guards. Hey! Tear the whole thing apart if you have to, smash it all!"
"Yep~ I’m on it!"
Alf, the tavern owner and Marin’s father, was a big, broad-shouldered man who wouldn’t easily lose to anyone if it came to a fight.
But no matter how confident he was in himself, it was safer to get help from the guards than to handle things personally.
The guards had become people the citizens could trust.
Before anyone noticed, they had risen to that kind of position.
Just as Marin was quietly trying to slip out the tavern door—
Clunk.
the door opened at the same time.
Standing on the other side was a cute, petite girl who was smaller than Marin.
"Hi."
"Uh... hi? Are you here as a customer? Sorry, but I’ve got somewhere to go in a hurry."
"Where are you going?"
"As you can see, the customers are fighting in here. I was just about to run get the guards."
"Oh, really? Perfect."
"Huh?"
"We actually had business with the guards too."
Marin blinked.
A girl who came into a tavern and said she had business with the guards? What was she even talking about?
"Hey, you old guys, it’s noisy in here. Could you keep it down?"
"And who the hell are you? Get lost already!"
The brawling men snapped at the girl. In response, the girl strode straight toward the burly men without a trace of fear.
Marin reached out a little late, trying to stop her.
But then an astonishing scene unfolded.
Crash!
With a single light flick of the girl’s hand, two sturdy men were sent flying and slammed to the floor in an instant.
Dust rose around them, and the girl frowned and waved her hand irritably.
"Why do people always only listen after they’ve been hit?"
Linvel shook her head with a look that said she genuinely could not understand it.