Fame (2)

"You ruined everything because of you! Take responsibility!"

I looked at the woman shouting that with an utterly incredulous expression. No, how the hell was I supposed to know if getting kidnapped in that alley was part of an investigation or the real deal?

"Uh, sorry?"

"Sorry fixes everything!? Huh!? Then why do we even have the Guard Force and laws!"

"No, I'll somehow make it right for you."

"Make it right? Make it right!? Do you have any idea how much I suffered these past few days to get kidnapped by these guys? But if you just smash them like this, how do you think the bastards will react!"

After ranting for a good while, she finally caught her breath, panting, and wiped the sweat from her forehead.

"......Fine, whatever. It's not like it's your fault. You were just trying to help, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, exactly."

"Sorry. I've been chasing these punks for months, thought I finally nailed them after pulling all-nighters these past few days....... But then I lose them right in front of me like this."

"No, I get it."

She pulled some rope from her pocket and tied up all the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fallen criminals, then tapped on the shiny stone.

"Ah, Crow here, Crow. Headquarters, respond."

[All good.]

"B-2 status. Requesting backup at current location."

[Confirmed.]

I watched her shove the stone back into her pocket, my eyes sparkling as I stared at her.

"That thing......."

"Hm? Oh, first time ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠seeing one of these?"

"Walkie-talkie, right."

"Walkie-talkie? What's that? This is a Communication Magic Stone."

"Holy shit......."

I knew this was a world with magic. But in a place without guns or cannons, they just casually have walkie-talkies?

'This world's more advanced than I thought.'

With walkie-talkies, conquering dungeons would be ridiculously easy. You could station support forces in the rear and just call them in from inside.

Hell, even mapping would be a breeze—they could draw it from outside based on what you call out.

And if the vanguard doesn't return, the follow-up team could rush in super fast to back them up.

"Hey, where do you get those?"

"Not for sale. It's national strategic material. Get caught stealing one, and your whole clan gets wiped out."

"Oh...... too bad. Was hoping to use it in the Dungeon."

"In the Dungeon? Impossible. These things can't pierce the Dungeon's magic."

"─Really?"

"Yeah. If they could, the country would've sent an army, taken over the Dungeon, and monopolized the Magic Stones for sale or as strategic resources......."

"Captain Arhas!"

Right on cue, the Guard Force members she'd requested showed up. She laid into the ones who'd rushed over.

"You're late, you bastards."

"Sorry. These the guys?"

"Yeah. Take 'em away. Would be nice if interrogation squeezes some info out of them."

The Guard Force hauled off the criminals I'd taken down, and she lit a cigarette with an irritated look.

"You should head out too. Next time something like this happens, I don't recommend butting in. Honestly, cases like mine are super rare—usually it's a real crime scene......."

"Wait a sec."

I didn't want to lose this connection with her. She was a local, and locals always know shit we don't.

Up till now, we'd been ignored by those closed-off types, and we'd ignored them right back. But with an opportunity like this? Different story.

"What now? Gonna ask for a reward?"

"Nah...... these guys, they famous?"

"Famous as hell. Criminal org Blackjack. You have no idea the grief they've caused me trying to catch these fuckers......."

"Famous, got it?"

I thought of a guy rolling around in bed. A guy who was famous, and if you knew a name, he could dig up anything.......

"You're gonna find them? You swing a sword decently, sure, but this ain't something you fix with good blade work......."

I took her back to the dorm and introduced her to Deokgu, who was lounging in his room.

"Hmm, this guy's the famous info broker?"

"Yeah. If it's a name we know and it's famous, nothing he can't find."

"Sketchy, but...... whatever, no skin off my back."

"......Hey, Dojin. What the hell's going on?"

He tilted his head, looking back and forth between me barging in and her.

The dude's pose was gross, so I kicked his shin to tell him to cut the crap.

"Ow! What the—?"

"Quit screwing around. This is......."

"Ilone. Ilone Arhas. For now, I'm captain of the city's Guard Force."

"Oho? What do we have here—a big shot dropping by......."

"Damn, Deokgu. How can you be this repulsive?"

"Ugh— Hey, in a place like this, shouldn't you play along?"

"Why should I?"

After bickering with Deokgu for a bit, I spotted Ilone giving us that "can I trust these idiots?" look and cleared my throat with a cough.

"So, basically...... she's looking for this criminal org called Blackjack. Doesn't know where they are, so we came to you, the info guy."

"Heh heh, finally time for this body to shine......."

"You actually know, right? You've been spouting bullshit since earlier—got something wrong with your head......."

"Ah, yep. Info coming right up. One sec......."

Deokgu closed his eyes and sank into thought. More like logging into his mental wiki.

His ability, the World Record Akashic Record (self-proclaimed), lets him read records left by people in this world.

The more people know it, the stronger the record. If few know, sometimes there's zilch.

Plus, it records facts, not truth—so lies people believe as truth get logged as fact too.

Can't search without a name, and even then it might be off. Super iffy cheat ability.

But also a cheat that lets you peek at the world from your seat.

"Hmm, Blackjack info...... Assistant! Fetch paper from my room!"

"Why am I your assistant? And your room's right here......."

"Ah, slip of the tongue. Fetch from your room."

I sighed and headed to my room to play along with his roleplay.

No paper in my room, obviously, so I grabbed some letter paper from the table.

Deokgu frowned a bit at the blank sheet, then picked up a quill from the corner.

"I'll write the base here......."

"For real!?"

"......Jeez."

Ilone, who'd been quietly watching our exchange, slammed the desk and spoke up.

"What?"

"You're saying you know Blackjack's base? For real?"

"Pfft, of course."

"How? Our Guard Force has been chasing traces for months and barely got scraps."

"Uh...... trade secret?"

Deokgu skipped explaining we crash-landed from the Otherworld and got cheat abilities as a result.

Ilone eyed him suspiciously, but Deokgu—zero doubts about his power—wrote the base address on the paper without a care.

"Here, these three are branches, this one's HQ. Garrisoned forces......."

"W-Wait, you know their forces too?"

"Ah, don't need it?"

"......We do."

"Got it, writing it down."

Ilone took the paper with the info, glanced between it and Deokgu, then asked the big one.

"Uh, how much?"

"Ah, the price."

Deokgu winked one eye and extended his index finger long.

"Your smile's enough."

I stepped out with Ilone. Once outside the room, she asked me again.

"This info solid?"

"Hmm, assuming there's only one crime org using the name Blackjack, yeah, the info itself is legit."

"Right...... Honestly, hard to believe. If this is real, what was all our suffering for......."

"But you met me thanks to it?"

"Oh, yeah......."

She pulled out her Communication Magic Stone. Then read off the addresses on the paper.

"......Over. HQ."

[Crow, where'd you get this intel.]

"From a secret agent. Heading straight to HQ—request backup. Over."

With that, she pocketed the stone and let out heavy sighs.

"This info...... real, right? I'm not fucking up from being sleepy, am I?"

"Should be real."

"Sigh, if it's bullshit, I get disciplined, write reports? Might actually get fired this time......."

"You cause a lot of incidents, huh."

"Bad luck, see? Today too. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Because of you...... no, undercover op failed 'cause of bad luck."

"Want help?"

"Help?"

"Yeah. Can't do much else, but catching bad guys? I got that."

Tap tap, I patted the sword hilt at my waist. She'd admitted it herself—my swordplay's top-notch.

She burst out laughing, pffft, then clutched her stomach howling.

"Alright, you're staking your life on it too?"

"Huh?"

"Here's the deal. If the info's wrong, you take the fall and go to jail instead?"

"Eh, c'mon. Joke's on you."

"Not a joke."

"What?"

"Kidding, actually."

Watching her drop heart-attack lines nonstop, we headed to the HQ Deokgu had pointed out.

"Freeze! Guard Force! Anyone moves is a criminal! Anyone who doesn't move is a criminal too!"

"Round 'em all up!"

Deokgu's info was spot-on. The Blackjack goons enjoying narcotics and gambling got totally wiped out by the sudden Guard Force raid, and Ilone—who'd brought the tip—got a promotion offer, apparently.

"Kuhh, this is it! Booze after a big score!"

"Been a while, huh."

"Right? This big sis, slaving away on investigations for months, undercover for weeks...... you think I can drink then? Never know when the perps show."

"......I gave the info."

"Oh, right! Our info man! You wanted a smile! Here—ta-da!"

Drunk as hell, she yanked her mouth wide with both hands in a forced grin.

Didn't last. Three seconds in, she chugged beer like crazy, craving more.

"Ahahaha! Getting rescued by you was a total godsend!"

"Uh, yeah."

"What's with the stiffness? Just call me noona! Loosen up!"

"Should I? Noona?"

"Hahaha! Guy's got some balls—love it!"

"......I'm the one who took 'em all down."

Ignoring grumbling Deokgu, we pounded drinks.

She was buying everything tonight, so I ordered the pricey stuff without holding back.

Drank all night till dawn.

"Guhk— Drunk, so drunk......."

"Gotta get home, noona."

"Home, home...... where's home......."

"......You're wasted?"

Tsk, I clicked my tongue, pondering what to do. Deokgu was passed out too, so no choice—I carried her to my room.

"Sleep it off."

Laid Ilone on the bed, went back down to the shop, shouldered Deokgu, and hauled him to his room.

Tossed the muttering "plot holes" idiot inside, then headed back to mine.

Click, door shut. I eyed Ilone lying on the bed. Bed's big enough for two. Unless her sleeping habits sucked, no issue crashing.

'Gotta sleep.'

Busy ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠couple days yesterday and today. Intense as hell. Pulled up the blanket thinking that.

"......Hey, you asleep?"

Heard her boozy voice from beside me. Exhausted, I pretended not to hear and stayed silent.

"Ahh, this little shit... hot babe noona sleeping right next to you and you don't make a move?"

Straddling me as she said it. Felt the weight—couldn't fake sleep anymore. Opened my eyes and looked at her.

"......What?"

"Noona needs some body worship too. Huh? Haven't even masturbated in months......."

"Then just hit up any dude. You're hot, tons'd line up to fuck you."

"Brat! Even noona's got standards—ain't giving my first time to just anyone!"

"......What'd you say?"

"Tch...... what, turned off 'cause I'm a virgin at this age?"

The virgin word hit.

I shot upright.

So did my dick.

Sat up facing her eye-to-eye, glaring like I was licking her face.

"Not at all."

If anything, I liked it.