Chapter 32: The Traitor Bleeds Out
“H-Hey! I'll give you money! Take everything I got! Just spare me!”
The middle-aged elf shouted desperately as Roque hauled him to his feet by the collar. But Roque said nothing, just dragged him roughly through the midst of the dismembered soldiers' corpses. The elf struggled, but he couldn't break free from Roque's iron grip.
“Goddamn it...”
Seeing the routed soldiers' bodies, the elf's face drained of color. He looked terrified, as if wondering if he'd end up just like them.
Then, the unyielding grip suddenly loosened. The elf collapsed in a heap with a thud. He'd taken Kaylee's bullet in his left thigh to begin with, so he couldn't stand or even sit properly. He flailed awkwardly, not knowing what to do with his injured leg.
“F-Fuck... it hurts like hell...”
In the end, he dropped to all fours like a dog and trembled. Cold sweat poured down his face as he glanced nervously between Roque and Kaylee.
Kaylee watched him for a moment, then raised her pistol and aimed.
“Sit up straight.”
“Y-Yeah, straight... gotta sit straight...”
Staring down the barrel, the elf shook from the pain in his thigh but forced himself to kneel upright. His ears still drooped limply. Roque stood with arms crossed, silently looking down at him.
Meeting Roque's gaze while sweating bullets, the elf flicked a glance at Kaylee and spoke up.
“I-I had no choice. I was just cooperating to save my own skin.”
Kaylee let out a scoffing snort.
“You bastard. Bet it was just a few bucks that sold you out. I jumped through hoops to keep your insurance intact...”
“N-No! They were threatening my life for real! I was digging around everywhere after you contacted me, I swear!”
He waved his hands emphatically, as if truly wronged.
“Then those guys came swarming in outta nowhere, saying if I didn't wanna die, I had to lead you to the meetup spot we'd agreed on. They wouldn't even listen to me! It was do what they say or eat a bullet right then—no questions! If I'd gotten out of that mess, I'd have pulled every string I had for revenge!”
“You still betrayed me in the end.”
The middle-aged elf gaped, at a loss for words. Then he dropped his head and muttered.
“...Doesn't mean I wanted to die...”
Roque glanced at Kaylee, and she shrugged when their eyes met.
“I get it. If he was really just saving his own ass, couldn't be helped.”
“Big heart.”
“I'm a generous soul.”
She said it without lowering her pistol from the elf. He didn't protest. Kaylee knew it, Roque knew it, and the elf knew it too—understanding didn't mean mercy.
Roque turned back to the elf, who still had his head bowed.
“Look at me.”
“Uh, y-yeah?”
The elf cautiously raised his head to meet Roque's eyes. Roque said,
“Name.”
“N-Name? Oh, my name? Levi. Levi Clark.”
“Job.”
Levi swallowed hard under Roque's impassive stare.
“...Hard to pin down exactly... but if I had to explain, it's like I specialized in personal insurance from brokerage work. Handling services for folks in dire straits without a broker, plus corporate intel and such...”
“You're a go-between for individuals and corps, or an info broker for smugglers into Midland. Charges a premium but doesn't deliver value. Never scammed before, so I trusted him—then he stabs us in the back.”
Kaylee cut through Levi's rambling. Roque nodded. Midland was a city shrouded in dark undercurrents. Everyone dipped a toe in every crime. Brokers didn't just broker, mercs didn't just take jobs. They chased any connection or payout that came their way.
Roque's questions continued.
“Who were they?”
Levi looked baffled.
“...You butchered them without even knowing?”
“They shot first.”
Levi's lips trembled at the calm reply. This Aura Master was as off-kilter as those goons who'd shown up guns blazing.
“Th-They were after Kaylee. Rambling about remembering the glory of ancient dragons or some shit. Fanatics... psychos...”
Roque's eyes narrowed. Dragon worshippers. The ones digging relics from Dragonland—the same ones who'd brought the artifact Elizabeth had been in to Midland.
Kaylee spoke up then.
“Why the hell are they after me? Just grudge-fucking?”
“I-I'm not sure, but it didn't seem like just payback...”
“What? Why?”
Levi glanced sideways.
“...You gonna let me live?”
“This guy's still clueless.”
Kaylee swung her pistol toward the concrete floor and fired. Bang. Levi flinched and yelled.
“Th-They wanted you alive! Aura Master! Said they'd pry info outta the Aura Master who showed up back then! And get the relic back! They never bought the rumor it got destroyed in Dragonland!”
“...They sprayed bullets just to capture me? And megacorps bought that story, but they didn't? Who the hell are they, beyond 'dragon worshippers'? They gotta have a public name.”
“W-Well...”
Levi hesitated, like he knew something. Kaylee looked to Roque, who nodded. Seeing their silent exchange, Levi opened his mouth to spill—but Kaylee's pistol barked first, punching a hole in his right thigh. Bang.
“Argh—fuck!”
“Get it through your skull, Levi? We or them, we can both ventilate your head just fine. So spit it all out nice and easy.”
Clutching his right thigh and writhing on the ground, Levi shuddered, squeezed his eyes shut, and spoke.
“I-I don't know exactly. Just that some rich guy's at the top...”
“Rich guy? A corp?”
Tears welling, Levi shook his head.
“No... literal moneybags. Owns a mansion in Little River, south Midland...”
“What? Some shadowy tycoon's secret cult?”
Levi let out a hollow laugh at Kaylee's incredulity. His pain-twisted face made it grotesque.
“...Problem is, that rich fucker's money's flowing into the mayor's campaign. Get what that means? He could run the mayor's office if he wanted... You're already screwed...”
Kaylee frowned and looked to Roque. He stared down at the gasping Levi with sunken eyes.
Levi kept going.
“Why do you think X-Techno sold your info...? Sure, the payout was huge, but they didn't wanna clash with the mayor's office. Figured that tycoon would be a pain in the ass...”
“That's all you know?”
Levi, still squirming, panted up at Roque.
“...Wh-What else you wanna know?”
“The rich guy's name.”
Levi's face twisted again.
“Fuck... I don't know that. Wanna find out? Hack the mayor's office yourself...”
His face paled further. Blood streamed from both thighs. He'd stanched one as best he could, but not both.
“...Damn... why the thighs... shit... need a tourniquet... or...”
The middle-aged elf blinked fading eyes, mumbling sporadically. A red pool spread beneath his legs. It wasn't long before his body slumped.
Kaylee muttered at the elf's corpse, dead from blood loss.
“...We're pretty fucked now.”
“Are we?”
Kaylee stared at Roque's serene response in disbelief.
“Aura Masters all this stone-cold? We might end up wanted in Midland.”
“Plenty of wanted perps slip through still. Why else bounty hunters stick to Midland?”
“...That's not the point. These dragon cult whackjobs were after you and Elizabeth too.”
Roque brushed off his coat casually.
“Seems that way.”
Kaylee blinked blankly, then rubbed her temples with both hands, looking exhausted.
“...I'll scout a mage to help, at least.”
“Why a mage?”
“Might need to crack the mayor's office for real. Gotta know who this rich fucker is to do anything. Let's search those cultists' truck first.”
Roque watched Kaylee stride toward the dragon worshippers' truck. As a merc, she assessed her situation and jumped on immediate action. Best mindset for surviving Midland.
“Not helping? I do it alone?”
Kaylee yelled, half-buried in the truck cab, yanking out a terminal. Roque, who'd been watching her back, finally moved.
* * *
Roque and Kaylee pried the storage drives from the worshippers' vehicles and returned to the Black Knight. Kaylee plopped into the passenger seat, arms full of wires and pads. She turned to the back.
“Elizabeth? You okay? Not hurt?”
“Elizabeth fine.”
“Good. Thank God.”
While they talked, Roque fired up the Black Knight. He eyed the bullet holes in the hood with a touch of sorrow. Garage visit incoming.
Kaylee said to Roque,
“Head to my place first.”
“Your house?”
“Need gear to crack these. Yours barely has a TV.”
She casually tapped her address into the Black Knight's terminal. The nav popped up.
Roque checked Elizabeth in the rearview—blank-faced, lost in thought—then followed the directions without protest.
As the Black Knight rolled out, Kaylee pulled a button-like device from her pocket. Glancing at her wrecked truck in the side mirror, she pressed it hard.
A boom echoed behind. The rearview showed her truck exploding. She sighed deeply.
“Liked that truck.”
The Black Knight with its three passengers escaped the trashed concrete channel onto Midland's main drag. Bullet-riddled hood blended with the black paint and dimming sky—not too conspicuous. Police sirens wailed in the distance.
Following the terminal's guidance, they wound through downtown alleys for a while. Kaylee, lost in thought in the passenger seat, finally spoke.
“Here. Pull over a bit farther.”
The Black Knight eased into an alley and stopped before a large warehouse door. Kaylee hopped out, worked a panel, and the door rumbled up.
A typical garage inside, but walls lined with all manner of guns. Roque followed her gesture, driving the Black Knight in.
She lowered the door and headed deeper. Roque and Elizabeth, out of the car, watched her.
Kaylee glanced back with a smirk.
“What? Come on in.”
She opened an inner door; Roque and Elizabeth followed. Beyond was a spacious loft living space.
Kaylee grabbed beers and sodas from the kitchen fridge, handing them to the pair scoping the place.
Roque, with his beer, said,
“Nice place.”
“Hard work pays.”
She grinned, chugged her beer in one go, and let out a short burp.
Wiping her mouth with her sleeve, she exhaled heavily. Her chest rose and fell noticeably for a moment. She eyed Roque and Elizabeth alternately, seeming to mull words, then just shrugged.
“Alright, let's get to work? Crack these drives. Lots to do—need that mage too.”
“No need for a mage.”
“...Why?”
Instead of answering, Roque looked to Elizabeth. She gazed up at him.
“Elizabeth's time to shine?”
“Yeah.”
“...What?”
Elizabeth faced the puzzled Kaylee.
“Elizabeth's time to shine.”
The robot Bini, who'd quietly trailed at her feet, beeped in agreement: beep-boop.