Even in This Life (5)
"What that man commissioned was information about himself."
After all the haggling, that was the scrap of truth they finally wrung out of him. The information broker drove his staff hard into the ground and dropped into a crouch, knees folded under him.
"What kind of information, exactly?"
"Exactly what it sounds like. The Demon Knight bought every scrap of intel there was on the existence called the Demon Knight. His past deeds, speculation about his future moves—every last question mark."
"…Why would he buy that?"
"You think the people who buy information tell me why?"
At the broker's flippant shrug, Deathbringer's brow furrowed. After everything they'd gone through to get this far, was the man still holding out? Or did he genuinely not know? The two thoughts collided in his head.
"Ah… now I get it."
Meister, on the other hand, looked like something had clicked. Both the broker and Deathbringer turned to him in surprise. "What are you staring at?" came the prickly retort.
"You know?"
"No way—you actually figured it out?"
"Who knows. How about we keep going first? Or is that all there is?"
"You asked what the Demon Knight bought. That is all there is."
…Honestly, Deathbringer wanted to grab Meister by the collar and shake out whatever he was hiding, but this was not the time. He put the conversation with Meister on hold and kicked the broker's knee with the toe of his boot.
"You're still leaving something out."
"I really don't know why he bought it!"
"Not that."
Deathbringer planted his own foot where the staff had been and jerked his chin.
"Information on the Demon Knight is within my clearance to view. So why did you refuse to talk?"
It wasn't just the intel itself—who had purchased what was also something he was entitled to hear. That was a privilege unique to Deathbringer, meant for selecting and tracking those marked for execution.
So why had the broker hidden it? Knowing full well that concealment would only breed suspicion?
"…Damn it, fine. Fine! It was a commission I never even reported to the Information Guild, that's why!"
"…If the Guild found out, they'd have taken your head."
Even if the information itself was low-grade, selling it behind the Guild's back still violated the rules. Only then did Deathbringer understand the man's choice.
"You can keep something secret from the Guild?"
"You can. It's just that if you get caught, they cut your throat."
"Hmm. Why take a risk like that?"
"…It wasn't my idea—he demanded it himself. And for something that dangerous, the pay was just as high. More than anything, look at the request itself. The man wanted to buy information on himself. It was a commission with zero blowback."
When you sold someone else's secrets to a third party, it was only natural that the subject of those secrets might hold a grudge. And if you'd taken a bribe to do it and the Guild had already cast you out, well—that went without saying.
"I don't usually pull this kind of stunt. I only did it this time because I figured nothing would come of it."
"Hmm."
"I'm serious. How many corpses do you think I've seen who got themselves killed taking kickbacks to get where I am?"
He had, in fact, seen far too many die that way. Which was why he usually tried to keep his head down.
In the end, because the Demon Knight's commission had been about buying his own information, there had been no one left to hold a grudge—so the broker had accepted it.
"And more than anything… he was the Demon Knight, you know?"
Of course, the fact that the Demon Knight's previous commissions had brought the Guild enormous profits had also played a part. Since the broker had been the one handling those jobs, he had pocketed a healthy share of the cut for himself.
It hadn't been done out of pure goodwill, but he had taken enough of a stake to feel like extending a little favor in return.
"As a human being, how could I refuse to help the man standing on the front line against demons? So I did him the favor. It wasn't like he was buying someone else's secrets—he was buying his own. Hardly seemed like something I couldn't accommodate."
But he couldn't exactly admit all of that out loud. The broker brazened his way through the excuse, and those who didn't know better accepted it well enough. No Information Guild agent is that much of a soft touch, someone thought, eyes narrowing, suspicion lingering to the last—but still.
"So you really don't know why he bought it?"
"I don't."
"Sounds like you do."
"Damn it, this is exactly why I hate running into coworkers. You people never listen."
The broker cracked another easy joke, then lowered his voice as if checking the room.
"Anyway… keep your promise. I told you people this not just because I value my own neck, but because I want to honor my agreement with the client as much as I can."
"If the promise was to keep it secret from everyone, hasn't it already been broken?"
"True enough—but at least the Temple and the whole Guild don't know yet."
If the Temple or the Guild got their hands on it, how many people would end up learning the truth? Ten? Twenty?
"I figure telling just the two of you and burying it is still better than letting those two organizations find out. Least-worst option, you know?"
Besides, the Temple and the Information Guild were hardly friendly toward the Demon Knight—unlike these two. The broker judged his choice the best one available.
"…Why protect him?"
"Hm?"
"By now you know he's carrying a demon in his body. You know he fled to escape execution."
Apparently there were still people who found that "best choice" strange.
And fair enough—it was strange. The Guild's policy was to sell information to anyone, and then quietly dangle just enough of that collected intel so that anyone whose past looked dirty could end up dead. When it came to the kind of secrets the Demon Knight was hiding… there were plenty of branch chiefs who would have gone straight to the Temple to sell him out.
"Well… because he's a client?"
But the reason this particular broker stayed silent was nothing so grand. He simply found the Demon Knight… a little pitiful. That adventurer who, with no memories, had hunted demons like a beast. That was all. He was hiding it under the pretext of client confidentiality.
"You're not going to give me grief over that too, are you?"
And besides—weren't these two doing the exact same thing? Moving in secret without reporting to the Temple or the Magic Tower or any of the other powers? They could hardly lecture him for it.
"I'm not."
"Then our business is finished, right? Can I go now?"
"You broke the confidentiality clause. That means you owe a penalty."
"What?"
"You took extra for hazard pay, didn't you? Hand it over. I'll return it to His Lordship."
"Son of a…"
Deathbringer held out his hand without a shred of shame, and the broker finally, grudgingly, dug through his coat. A pouch appeared.
"Maybe it's for the best. Dealing with this was giving me a headache anyway."
Thump. What rolled out of the pouch was a claw of some kind.
"You took this as payment? Are you insane?"
"If you've got a problem, take it up with the man who paid. I nearly had a heart attack myself when he said he'd settle the bill with this!"
The broker shouted, then ground his teeth.
"I was going to convert it to cash once I got to Bemyurhen—except of course the damn city had to go and get wrecked again…"
He seemed irritated that the trouble of coming all this way in person had been for nothing. Whether that irritation was an act or genuine, there was no way to be sure.
"More importantly—are we really done now? Can I leave?"
"Not a chance."
"Ah, what now?"
"Sell me the information the Demon Knight bought."
"What are you, a stalker?"
"Shut it. Are you selling or not?"
"Son of a… bitch."
But there was nothing more to gain by holding the man here. Deathbringer declared his final intent: he would purchase only the materials the Demon Knight had bought.
In principle there was no rule against it—anyone could buy personal data on the individual known as the Demon Knight if they paid the fee—so he felt reasonably justified. A tiny bit guilty toward the Demon Knight, maybe, but still.
"I burned everything I gathered and now you want me to gather it all over again…?"
"This time it doesn't matter if the Guild finds out. The other powers will buy it anyway—especially the Temple."
Now that the Demon Knight had fled, several factions would be after his information just to hunt him down. With that in mind, there was no need to compile it in secret. Everyone would know soon enough.
"True enough… haah. It'll take some time, though."
"How long?"
"A month?"
"That's too long… Can't you at least pass along whatever you still remember for now?"
"Do I look smart enough to remember all of that?"
"You clawed your way into that seat. You can't be that stupid."
"Damn it. Then pay more."
In the end the deal closed successfully. A little extra coin changed hands, but they would at least get the remembered fragments quickly—with a proper information packet to follow later.
"Hell. Let's never see each other again. You know it'll get messy if the Temple hears we met, right? Keep a tight leash on that Inquisitor of yours."
"Same to you."
"Fine. Get lost."
There was no more reason to detain him. Deathbringer and Meister let him go. Stabbing them in the back would only drag the broker down with them, so they had no fear of him talking.
What remained was to muzzle anyone who might have witnessed them, and to seed a few false leads.
"So. Do you know? Why His Lordship bought that information?"
"I do. You don't?"
"…No. So tell me."
"Mm, I'd rather not."
"Are you joking?"
"Sorry, but I'm serious. I don't have any reason to tell you."
But for the rest of the work to proceed, one more compromise was required—and Deathbringer was left speechless by Meister's not-quite-betrayal.
"What—why…"
"Why? The only reason I can even guess is because of something I happened to overhear from the Demon Knight. And that isn't something I can go around repeating. That's also why I'm not telling you."
"……"
"See? You should've gotten close enough to hear it yourself."
The problem was that, yes—there was absolutely nothing Deathbringer could say in rebuttal.
Unless you made your living buying and selling secrets, you didn't go around airing other people's private affairs. And the fact that he had never become close enough to be told such things was, indeed, on him.
"But I…"
"I've been wondering for a while, actually. Why do you follow the Demon Knight?"
Meister, for his part, had his own questions.
Judging by the way this one talked, and by the Demon Knight's own bearing—he didn't seem to place any particular value on the people around him. So why follow someone like that so devotedly? What was there to like?
"Is there a reason to pour that much of yourself into someone who doesn't care about you?"
Waiting for an answer that would never come was as worthless and exhausting a labor as any.
Even with the unspoken words hanging in the air, Deathbringer's face did not crack.
"…And what about you, then?"
After a long silence, what he finally produced was the classic counter-question of a man with nothing left to say.
"Me? I stepped in because I thought the way they treated the Demon Knight was unfair."
But Meister had plenty of ready answers for that. It was Deathbringer's misplay.
"Of course, the moment he ran, any talk of unfair treatment stopped mattering. So I won't be defending him anymore. I'd only get branded a heretic myself."
"Then why come looking for the information broker now?"
"Curiosity. Honestly, isn't that how it always goes? When something that seemed like it would never change suddenly does, everyone gets curious."
When you stripped it down, Meister had come this far more out of a gossip's hunger for scandal than anything else. Not for the Demon Knight's sake, but because he wanted to know why a man like that had made such a choice.
And that meant there was no next step. He would not move for the Demon Knight's sake again. As a matter of basic human decency, he would guard the man's private history—and nothing more.
"……"
Realizing that, Deathbringer bit his lip once more. Have we failed? The first regret ever shown by a man who had seemed unbreakable rose again across the surface of his eyes. Am I truly unable to help him? The image of that stubborn, headstrong fool who had wept without a sound. If the only salvation left for him is a thing called death, then I— The vision of light falling from the sky.
"…Then… then is that not allowed?"
But did that mean he had to give up?
That foolish idealist had collapsed—so did that mean he, too, had to stop?
"Does there have to be a reason to follow someone?"
Deathbringer thought of the candy that had somehow ended up in his pocket. The candy so precious he still hadn't finished it, still carried it with him.
It had been a sweetness far too fine for the man he had been then.
"If you want a clear explanation, I can give you as many as you like. Because I have something to atone for with him. Because he is not the kind of man who deserves this. Because he…"
Because… it had been so very sweet.
He had wanted to share that sweetness with the Demon Knight. That was all.
"But is that really what you were hoping to hear when you asked? Is 'it just turned out this way' not enough?"
Truly—that was all.
"No."
Meister finally lowered his eyelids.
"That's fine. Yeah. That can be enough."
His violet eyes took on a distant cast for a moment, as if tracing some long-ago instant. Then the brown lashes fluttered up again.
"But… so what are you going to do from here? Chase after him? You're traveling with the Hero."
"…I don't know. I didn't join this journey for the Hero's sake anyway."
"No plan at all, huh."
Meister shrugged at Deathbringer's words. "Still can't tell you, though," he added—the kind of remark that drained the strength right out of Deathbringer's limbs.
"Instead, I'll give you a hint. Something even a guy who only uses his head as a flowerpot for hair should be able to figure out."
"…What?"
"The reason a person buys something is because they don't have it."
But the disappointment had come too soon. At Meister's hint, Deathbringer blinked.
You buy what you lack. And what the Demon Knight had bought was information about himself. Which meant the Demon Knight…?
"Oh, right. Take back the things the Demon Knight left with me, too."
"…What did His Lordship give you?"
"I needed something to show the Temple. I had no choice."
"What are you talking about?"
"I mean… haah. Do I have to spoon-feed you every last detail?"
Smart, knowledgeable—fine. But did he have to be so insufferably smug about it? Deathbringer pouted and pried the full explanation out of him. Fortunately, it wasn't that the Demon Knight had valued Meister more highly and entrusted him with anything special.
It had been exactly what he said: he had simply had no choice.
"This is…"
But when Deathbringer looked over the assortment of items the Demon Knight had handed to Meister—when a little braided thread bracelet, the kind a child might weave and gift with their own hands, settled into his palm—
he could not stop thinking, Was it really because he had no choice?
…Did that bracelet still hang from your wrist?
"…Sangun is moving."
But before Deathbringer's thoughts could settle, Meister spoke, eyes fixed on the scene beyond. With a deep, rolling rumble, the Mountain Lord's vast body began to dance through the rain.
A long white form started to cut through the downpour.