The Mages' Outing (3)
The Mages' Outing (3)
Inside a dark room.
An old man was focused on his monitor screen.
《Bounty Board》
【Bounty】 [Julia] (Updated)
(Photo registered on city ID)
We obtained information confirming the target was sighted near the Business District, South Pillar area.
Due to the target's high threat level, we are recruiting members to attempt a group assault.
Upon success, the NCPD bounty, corporate bounty, and civilian bounty placed on the target will be split equally.
Interested parties please contact via DM, the deep net address below, or secret comment.
— Long time no news; guess she was alive after all
— Stop posting bounty threads on the game board
ㄴ Take it to the farming board
— (This is a secret comment.)
ㄴ (This is a secret comment.)
— Casually posting a fucking dangerous job lmaooooooooo
·
·
·
— (This is a secret comment.)
ㄴ (This is a secret comment.)
The old man stroked his long, unkempt beard downward.
"......Hmm."
He let out a short, deliberative hum.
The deliberation didn't last long.
Had he not seen the post, things might have been different. But having already seen it, there was nothing to be done.
The old man closed the board.
The landscape of the 'game' he had been watching for so long spread across the monitor.
Just then, a character came bounding over, leaping all the way to where the old man's character stood.
[ InfoSellerNo. 7(Warrior): Oh, you were in front of the board. I'm gathering a party for the Kantaros raid right now, care to join? ]
Before checking the bounty post, he would have naturally typed back saying he'd join. Now, with urgent business at hand, the old man had no choice but to type a refusal.
[ P2034871140(Warrior): No, I have matters to attend to today, so I can't join you. Let's go together next time. ]
It was time to go out for the first time in weeks. The old man hurried his preparations to leave.
29. The Mages' Outing (3)
The surrounding air was sharp with the smell of gunpowder.
"......Huh."
I didn't know exactly what had happened. I cautiously guessed a group with considerable firepower must have swept through all at once.
Eve checked the identity of the person—or what used to be a person—strewn across the floor.
"Member of the organization 'Black Doom.' No biosignal detected."
I didn't know if it was Black Doom or Kajat Doom or whatever.
The body had been separated into head, thorax, and abdomen like an insect's segments—if a biosignal could still be detected on something like that, you couldn't really call it a person anymore.
Honestly, 'gang members' and 'bugs' could be lumped into similar categories for their tenacious vitality, that much was true.
Anyway.
While running those pointless thoughts through my head, I continued questioning Eve.
"This is the organization that commissioned the attack on Julia, right?"
"That is correct."
It was a case of wiping our noses without lifting a finger, so to speak. But that didn't mean I could just laugh it off—there was an unsettling aspect I couldn't quite ignore.
"...The scene looks exactly like the Shooting Star dropped by."
"The human 'Catherine' is currently resting on the sofa at the Golden Smile Condominium."
The first candidate I thought of, and the most likely one, was apparently lounging around at home right now.
"......Hm."
I didn't really have any other candidates in mind besides Catherine.
Truth be told, a 'gang organization' could accumulate countless grudges and obligations just by breathing and walking around. It was only natural to assume something had happened without my knowledge.
Thinking that, I muttered to myself.
"Should we just head back?"
"Biosignal detected inside the building. Subject is currently walking out toward the exterior."
"Huh?"
At Eve's words, I looked toward the building entrance, where black smoke was seeping out.
"Not running out?"
"That is correct."
With the entire place a wreck, I hadn't imagined a member could still be walking around calmly.
Which meant there was a high probability this person was the one who caused all this mayhem.
Maybe I should gather some mana. We maintained a certain level of vigilance as we watched the building entrance.
The person who walked out was an 'old man'—a rare sight in the cyberpunk world.
The reason for their rarity....
If you checked Neon City's high crime rate and suicide rate, the reason became self-evident.
And there was another reason too.
Like 'Old Man Bill' who used to live on the same floor as me, once you reached that age, you typically underwent implant procedures related to 'anti-aging.'
Nobody hated youth.
Even among the people around me, there were plenty of examples: Kozaka William, who maintained a middle-aged appearance despite being nearly eighty; the Chairman, who had replaced their entire body with bioware prosthetics.
But the person standing before us was literally a 'classic' type of old man.
His long-grown gray beard hung shabby and greasy, while the gray suit he wore, though weathered, was kept impeccably neat.
Like many old men, he stood with a cane propped at his side.
Eve identified the old man.
"Target confirmed. He is a bounty hunter, also registered in the NCPD identity database."
"He didn't look like an ordinary old man at first glance."
"Approximately 60% of his entire body is reinforced with cyberware implants. 'Si-un,' I especially do not recommend engaging this individual in close-quarters combat."
I had no intention of doing that anyway.
In the world of cyberpunk, they said to beware of children, women, and the elderly.
He fit that saying perfectly.
Anyway, if he was a bounty hunter, did that mean he too was after Julia?
I prepared to gather mana, just in case.
Well, I was about to.
"......Teacher?"
"?"
If only Julia, standing beside me, hadn't said that.
The old man had spotted Julia, too; his wrinkled eyes flickered with slight surprise.
"Oh, Julia. You look bright—seems you've been doing well."
...Julia's teacher, huh.
It was only natural that a certain possibility surfaced in my mind.
I asked Julia about that possibility.
"...So the person who taught you magic is..."
"......Yes, he is my magic teacher."
I lowered my guard a little more. He was Julia's acquaintance, and a Mage—an exceedingly rare presence in this city.
Just as people flaunted blood ties, regional ties, and school ties, such connections probably existed among Mages as well.
I was just about to express my pleasant surprise.
"......What the hell? What happened here."
"Who's standing over there?"
"Hey, you! Over there!"
It seemed the gang members who had gone out had returned—voices that sounded violent even just from the tone came from behind us.
Eve looked at them and said.
"Members of 'Black Doom.'"
So this was for real.
When you'd lived in Neon City long enough, you could tell a gang member just from their voice.
"The insect-like things have come swarming again."
The old man passed us naturally, heading toward the newly arrived gang members.
Since these were guys who'd collapse the moment Eve so much as blinked, I was about to stop the old man.
That was when it happened.
Out of nowhere, a 'grenade launcher' suddenly appeared in the old man's previously empty hand.
"?"
The gang members seemed just as bewildered. They stood there gaping blankly, watching the magic show.
I felt a faint flow of mana.
Instinctively, I realized the old man had used 'invisibility magic.'
And that wasn't all. I also noticed a multitude of 'weapons' hanging behind the old man.
"......."
No wonder.
I'd wondered where Julia learned such rootless magic as setting her katana on fire.
...Her very teacher was the one who wasn't Mage-like at all. At that level, shouldn't he be called a con artist?
Using an aged appearance to lower the opponent's guard, then annihilating them with heavy firepower.
- Kwaaaaang!!
I was just dumbfounded.
After finishing the job, the old man, his hands empty once again, slowly leaned on his cane and walked toward us.
As if fully aware of my astonishment, the old man introduced himself in a calm tone.
"You may have heard about me from Julia, but it's a pleasure. I'm the one who taught Julia magic—I'm called 'Merlin.'"
That was obviously an alias no matter how you looked at it.
But that aside.
Merlin (uses a grenade launcher).
Julia (sets her katana on fire and swings it).
"......."
Honestly, it was something I could understand.
If Mages could make a name for themselves with magic alone, the status of magic in this world would have been a little different.
...But still, even so.
'......Those people are Mages? Hehehe....'
This time, at least, I sympathized with what the Great Mage inside my heart was saying.
What kind of Mages are those....
* * *
The old man, Merlin, kindly explained to us how he came to find this place.
"You came after seeing that game board?"
"That's right."
As a bounty hunter, he said, he was a user of the classic game we played. He added that he saw a post there detailing the attack on his student Julia, and he couldn't pretend he hadn't seen it.
But more than that, I had another question for Merlin.
"...By any chance, what's your character name?"
"It's a rather complicated name, you see. From the sound of it, you play that game as well."
"Haha, I just play occasionally for fun. If it's troublesome, you don't have to tell me."
"No, actually, it's a bit awkward to even call that game an underworld network anymore, isn't it."
.......
I suddenly felt a sense of foreboding.
As if reading my mind, Merlin continued speaking.
"...Have you perhaps heard of the 'Warriors' Guild'?"
I was momentarily flustered, but I barely managed to maintain my poker face.
"Ah..., I only really log in very occasionally. I'm not quite sure."
Good, that was natural.
But regardless of how natural I was, I couldn't stop Julia's mouth.
"...My ID is 'Tokkigyeongdyu-nim.'"
"Dealer-nim?"
""......""
In an instant, the chat Julia had typed before we headed out today flashed through my mind.
[ Tokkigyeongdyu-nim(Archer) : Ah, my mom sent me on a tofu errand so I have to head out quickly ]
[ P2034871140(Warrior): Dealer-nim? ]
...Hm.
I suddenly felt like I knew the ID of the Mage (Warrior) standing before me.
Should I just pop a smoke screen and run right now?