Dark Moon

I stared at the female ninja who had vanished in an instant, my mouth hanging open without realizing it.

If that was what it meant to be a ninja, she was incredibly fast. I immediately scanned the surroundings with Detection magic, but there was no presence to be felt. She had disappeared completely in that brief moment.

I wanted to ask her about the power she used.

I knew she wouldn't answer easily. Even so, I hadn't been able to contain the curiosity that surged up for a second, and I'd opened my mouth.

That was definitely a power related to magic.

It was different from the magic I used, but it was clearly a power built on a magical foundation.

Ninja characters are rare even in the original game, and yet I ran into one here.

Ninja was one of the classes players couldn't choose. I remembered rumors that it would be added later as DLC content. I thought so too.

I looked back. The corpses the ninja had suddenly appeared and slaughtered were sprawled across the floor, filling it with blood. Breathing in the metallic smell, I felt a small measure of relief.

Until that female ninja revealed herself, I hadn't even known she was nearby.

If she had entered my sensory range, I would have noticed right away—but the fact that I hadn't detected her until the moment she killed the gang members was pretty shocking.

I don't know her exact skill level… but she's probably stronger than I am right now.

I checked the four transparent barriers wrapping my body. With the barriers up, I could block a few attacks.

The problem is I can't keep the barriers running all day just because I'm afraid of assassination.

I needed solid countermeasures against assassination. Something came to mind, but it would be hard to implement right away. Even if my magical talent was genius-level, I hadn't mastered every spell yet.

Compared to other 5-Class mages, the number of spells I know is still far smaller.

I walked toward the exit of the building and stopped. I looked back once more at the corpses littering the floor behind me. I hesitated for a moment. My original plan had been to kill the gang members brutally and put them on display. But the female ninja had interfered. Would leaving things like this cause any trouble later?

It's a warning, so it should be fine. Still… maybe I should talk to Rose first.

She might know something about ninjas.

Instead of going home, I headed into the X Labor Agency in the X-district.

It was still early dawn, the sun not yet properly risen. Laborers were already lined up in front of the agency. Not mercenaries like me—workers who got dispatched to factories and similar places to earn money. They thoroughly ignored me. I didn't bother speaking to them either.

Before long, Rose appeared. She glanced around once, then started assigning jobs to the laborers.

"Don't cause any accidents on site."

"Haha…. I was drunk that time. Wasn't in my right mind."

"Don't sneak drinks while you're working. I'm warning you—this is really the last time."

Rose exchanged a few rough words with each of the laborers. Once they had all left, she crooked a finger at me.

"Come in. What brings you today? A request?"

"Personal business."

I sat across from her in the office. Rose listened to my explanation and only furrowed her brow.

"You caused a mess… though to be fair, the justification is on your side. The Frackson Mercenary Corps won't get involved. They're not stupid enough to lose track of cause and effect over something like this. The Harvers Gang, though… that could become a problem. Those bastards sometimes don't care about cause and effect at all. For now it should be fine. From what I know, Jupiter's pretty busy right now."

"Do you know anything about the ninja? She called herself Invisible Blade."

"What kind of ridiculous name is that. You got mixed up with some weirdo."

"Not a guy. A woman."

"…Then she's a real weirdo. I know a few ninjas, but I've never heard the name Invisible Blade. You said her skills were outstanding?"

"I don't know her exact level. But it's clear she's no ordinary fighter."

"A powerhouse like that wiping out a small-fry gang like Harvers…. No reason for it except building a reputation. She's probably a newcomer who just arrived in the city."

"Do you know much about ninjas?"

"I know a few famous ones operating in Neo London, that's about it. From what I've heard, the roots of the ninja go back to Unbelievable Japan or something?"

Unbelievable Japan.

An ancient nation that had existed roughly eight hundred years ago. It no longer existed.

"Do you know anything about the ninjutsu they use?"

"Not really. Are you that curious about it?"

"From my limited knowledge, ninjas ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠use hand seals when they perform ninjutsu. But that female ninja used ninjutsu without forming any seals."

"Mages use hand seals too. And you even use silent casting. Is that really so surprising?"

"Ninjas and mages are different."

"You must've been pretty shocked seeing a ninja."

"I was. Straight-up ninja reality shock…."

"What the hell is that?"

"It's a thing."

"Anyway, sorry, but I don't know much about ninjas."

"Fine."

I stood up from my seat.

"You're not taking a request? One came in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠for you yesterday."

"I'm busy. Don't have the time. What kind of request is it?"

"Escort job. Dark Moon's coming up soon. The pay's pretty solid—you interested? There's still a decent amount of time until Dark Moon."

"…Escort work's not really my thing."

"Why? With escort jobs, if you're lucky you can just sit around and collect the money without doing anything."

"I've done a few jobs related to escorting… and none of them were particularly good experiences."

"Got it. I'll turn this one down, then. Oh, and thanks for coming to tell me about what happened today. Not that there's anything I can do about it… but some guys cause trouble and never say a word."

I said my goodbyes and headed home.

I closed the shop earlier than usual, hid myself in an alley, and watched the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fish-and-chips shop across the way. Quietly, I tailed the owner, John Clark. The man was hunched in on himself, glancing around nervously, his whole body broadcasting anxiety.

Looks like he heard the news about the Harvers Gang.

He knew the inside story, so he would have guessed I was involved. He was terrified of the blade of retaliation.

John's house was in F-district—what people commonly called an upper-class district. The very edge of the upper-class districts, the zone for rich upstarts with nothing but money.

A guy who runs a fish-and-chips shop lives here? Doesn't make sense. Did he pull off one big score while he was in the gang, get out, and buy the house?

I confirmed he opened the front door and went inside.

I checked the surroundings with magic.

There ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠were no bodyguards. Instead, unmanned security robots were present in the garden and inside the house. From the outside they were cleverly hidden and hard to spot.

I assessed their level and moved immediately. Back in the military, I had done missions infiltrating past security robots until I was sick of them.

Security robots were machines. Unless they were expensive magitech models, they were inevitably vulnerable to electricity.

Current flowed from my feet along the ground. Of course I moderated the output—just enough to disable the security robots.

I walked forward. The security robots cleverly hidden in the bushes were already neutralized and showed no reaction at all.

Having successfully infiltrated, I placed a hand on the shoulder of John, who was sitting on the sofa watching TV and drinking beer.

"Interesting movie you're watching. Planetarium. Good film. A bit raunchy, though."

"Y-you…!"

John Clark shot up from the sofa in terror. The beer can rolled from his hand and spilled yellow across the floor.

"Thanks to you I didn't sleep last night. Staying up all night is something I haven't done in a while, so I was in a foul mood the whole time I was working the shop."

"I-I only wanted the recipe! I swear!"

"You kidnap someone over a chicken recipe? What would have happened if I hadn't had any power? Would I still be alive?"

"I-I never planned to kill anyone! Once I got the recipe I was going to let them go!"

"Even a dog wouldn't believe that garbage. Anyone kidnapped by a gang in this city is already a dead man. That's common knowledge here."

A low hum. Mana stirred and a magic circle formed in the air. The moment he saw it, he dropped to his knees, bowed his head, and rubbed his hands together frantically.

"I was wrong! I'll apologize like this… just once…! Just one more chance… Die!"

He yanked a pistol he'd hidden under the sofa and fired a bullet straight at my head.

Ting!

The result didn't even scratch the barrier.

"Under the sofa, behind the TV, inside the drawers…. You've got seven weapons hidden in the living room alone. Must've had a lot of guilty conscience?"

"S-security robots! Intruder! There's an intruder—why aren't you moving?!"

He pulled the trigger again. The hail of bullets failed to break even a single layer of the barrier.

Crackle-zzzt.

The completed magic circle flashed and vanished. Deep despair settled over his face. Showing him the circle on purpose had been worth it.

"The movie ends with the heroine and the man breaking up. And this is my original magic."

His body swelled, then burst with an explosive sound.

Since his entire body ruptured in an instant, I didn't know whether he felt any pain. Visually, though, it was more horrific than anything. Blood and entrails splattered everywhere. If I hadn't adjusted the barrier, they would have hit me too.

I left carefully, making sure to leave as little trace as possible.

Five days later, a call came from Rose.

"No. I'm fine. Is this a request?"

The shop had stabilized.

I had hired people to take over the kitchen in my place, and now the only remaining issue was the people hoping to franchise. All other time was personal time. I was using it to research magic.

The keyword had been dropped.

Jupiter.

That meant the client knew the details of my relationship with Harvers and Jupiter. The client could be a member of Jupiter. Or connected to the female ninja's side.

"I'll take it."