The Answer Only One Doesn't Know (2)
The Answer Only One Doesn't Know (2)
I let out a habitual sigh, consoling my own pathetic state.
"...Haaah."
......I just wanted to go home.
I mused vaguely, recalling the house in my homeland Korea and the shabby one-room apartment in the Lower Layer.
It was a relief that I was wearing a mask, at least.
At least my sighs wouldn't be made visible by the cold air.
Normally, this was a place I should have come to with Catherine, Drex, or Andrea.
So why the hell had I ended up coming here alone?
I truly couldn't understand it.
I tried to jog my memory for a moment.
The huge dwarf, Drex, had earnestly pleaded with me.
- '...What can you do? I was going to refuse too, since the opportunity presented itself, but it's no one else but the Boss of No Answer who personally asked.'
Truthfully, I understood Drex's position.
If it had been me, I wouldn't have had the nerve to refuse either.
Of course, that was that, and this was this.
I complained to the apologetic Drex in a grumbling tone, appealing to my own weakness.
- 'No, no matter what, do you think it makes sense for someone as physically weak as me to go there alone? I mean, just last night I almost got shaken down for credits by local Scavengers.'
- 'Ah, I see. That explains it, then. Anyway, there's been a rumor spreading like wildfire in that neighborhood about Scavengers falling from the sky.'
- '.......'
The appeal had failed.
Drex continued in a nonchalant tone.
- 'Still, when I heard the rough outline of it, it didn't seem like a big deal.'
- '...Really?'
- 'But take this. Don't forget it.'
I accepted the small device Drex handed over.
- 'What is this.'
- 'A rescue signal emitter.'
- '...You said it wouldn't be a big deal?'
- 'Just in case.'
- '.......'
Anyway, that was how I ended up here—through such trivial circumstances.
...I really didn't want to go in.
Even so, I kept moving my feet slowly, walking toward the brokerage, 'No Answer'.
How many years had it been?
The building from the game I'd seen so long ago stood before my eyes, unchanged.
If I had known it would turn out like this, I should have at least played the game a bit more diligently. No, I shouldn't have chosen a Mage in the first place—no, if I'm going to blame anything, I never should have had that strange idea to start a new character in the first place...
"You are Shun-nim, correct?"
A heavy voice cut off my idle thoughts.
When I lifted my head, which had been staring at the floor, an Orc with a highly intimidating appearance was looking down at me.
He was terrifying every time I saw him.
I habitually bowed my head slightly in greeting to him.
"Ah, yes. Th-that's right. You were Mr. Smith, weren't you?"
"The Boss is waiting. Please, go on up."
"......."
Needlessly stiff.
It hadn't been long since we exchanged names, but I had a feeling that no matter how much time passed, I'd never really become close with this person.
First of all, just the way he looks was terrifying.
I grumbled inwardly as I moved, following his heavy footsteps.
33. The Answer Only One Person Doesn't Know (2)
Noisy club music assaulted my ears without pause.
As soon as we stepped onto the 1st floor, the gazes of countless mercenaries fixed on me.
If I had come in alone, would someone have started trouble?
But fortunately, Smith (of the curt manner and terrifying appearance, an Orc) was with me nearby.
He was an ally—how reassuring that was.
I nonchalantly kept walking, following behind Smith as if nothing was wrong.
Smith guided me to the front of a large elevator.
When the elevator door opened, Smith brought his wrist to a scanner that was set up at the entrance.
【Destination, 3rd floor.】
With the mechanical voice, the destination I was to go to was activated.
I muttered to Smith, more to myself than to him, aiming for some light ice-breaking.
"Oh, I was wondering how one gets to the 3rd floor. So this is how it works."
Of course, going up to the 3rd floor wasn't my first time.
I'd been up there in the game, and I'd gone up with my colleagues when taking requests in this city.
It was just that having a private audience with the Boss was a first.
Seeing the Boss herself wasn't a first.
Whatever the case, it was true that I would have to keep encountering this person as long as I didn't quit the mercenary work.
No need to be deliberately distant, right.
"Besides what you see, there are several other procedures. So even if someone were to cut off my wrist, getting to the 3rd floor would be impossible."
"......."
I wasn't that curious, though.
Smith's guidance only went as far as the front of the elevator, so he didn't ride inside it with me.
The elevator door closed, and beyond it, I saw Smith bowing his head with model propriety.
Still, he wasn't a bad person.
Well, not all Orcs are bad.
But really, what kind of request was it that I was being called in alone, and Smith—rumored to be the Boss's direct subordinate—was guiding me from the entrance himself?
.......
I didn't know.
I'd just have to go and face it head-on.
I took a deep breath, trying to shake off my tension.
A moment later.
The elevator door began to slowly open.
......It'd be okay to just go right back down, right?
Staying wary of my surroundings, I stepped out of the elevator.
A massive sofa was placed in the center of the room, and on it, a sharp-featured woman was in the middle of her work.
As if she had a great many worries, her fingers kept tapping the table lightly—tap, tap.
It didn't take long for her gaze to turn my way.
Eyes of a frozen, icy blue stared straight at me.
"Hmm."
The woman, the Boss of No Answer, pressed the switch of the e-cigarette she had been holding in her mouth. The smoke that had been spreading like fire vanished in an instant.
She must have been smoking continuously, as the room was filled with a gray-white cloud.
"Sorry about this. Had so much on my mind I couldn't even check the report that you'd come up."
"...It's fine."
Even just turning off her cigarette when a person entered put her in the top 5% of smokers in cyberpunk.
As the Boss manipulated her vision interface, a ventilation system somewhere kicked in.
After confirming that all the smoke lingering in the air had disappeared, I slowly removed my mask.
"Don't just stand there, you can sit."
"Yes, ma'am."
It was nerve-wracking, though.
I moved quickly to the seat in front of the Boss.
The Boss, for her part, seemed to have a lot to do.
She kept checking electronic documents or her vision interface.
It was the Boss who broke the silence first.
"It's a truly ridiculous thing."
I didn't make the stupid mistake of asking, "Huh? What is?" right there.
I just listened silently, with an expression that said I was still following, my eyes fixed on the tip of the Boss's chin (looking her straight in the eye felt too daunting).
"A charity party for the mercenary industry, being held in the Upper Layer, they say. I don't know who thought of it, but it's a total comedy."
Was this a moment where I should laugh?
.......
No.
I focused on the Boss's words.
It seemed like she was about to explain the reason she had called me here.
"Isn't that right? The Upper Layer citizens won't give a damn about the mercenary industry anyway. What on earth are they thinking? I have no idea, just like pigs oinking away."
The Boss continued speaking in a low voice.
"So normally, even if an invitation came, I'd just ignore it.... But this time, the city side is applying pressure, so it's hard to refuse."
I slowly pieced together the story I had just heard in my head.
Mercenary industry, Upper Layer, charity party, city side pressure.
.......
I cautiously asked the Boss a question.
"...Are you thinking it might be dangerous, by any chance?"
"Roughly, about 10%."
The Boss said, fiddling with her e-cigarette.
"...Still, if the cost of a 10% risk is my life, I should take precautions, right."
Then the reason she called me was—
"Right. I will be taking security personnel, but to get inside the party hall, you see, I have to enter as a companion."
I had only thought that inwardly.
She answered as if she had read my mind.
I spoke calmly to the Boss.
"Then you could have chosen another suitable person for the role without it necessarily being me."
"Unfortunately, there's a body modification level restriction for the companion. And of course, you can't bring in weapons like firearms."
Then I could guess why this request had come all the way to me.
"Also, if you can't trust a mercenary with a 100% request success rate, who can you trust?"
"...That's because my colleagues are exceptionally outstanding...."
"Excuses end here. So, what are you going to do?"
Hmm.
I tried my hardest to rack my memory.
Was there an incident similar to this in the game?
First off, it hadn't been a quest.
There was no way I wouldn't have done a quest of such high importance.
.......
Was it because several years had passed?
I couldn't quite remember.
Truth be told, it had been enough time to forget most trivial things. It wasn't even quest content, so if I still remembered it, that would have been strange.
In the end, I had only one answer.
"...Alright. Let's do that."
My petty, small-citizen mentality was too strong to refuse a request from a person of power.
I should use this opportunity to build up a rainy-day fund.
If it's a request from the Boss, the compensation would be s-sweet too.
I answered the Boss and asked a question at the same time.
"Is there anything I need to prepare separately?"
"It's alright. The party attire will all be prepared on this end, and anyway, as I said earlier, bringing in dangerous items like firearms is prohibited."
If all I had to bring was myself, that was even better.
I nodded in agreement.
With that, the Boss slowly rose from her seat.
"Shall we get going, then."
"Huh?"
At the sudden remark, I burst out with a question.
What the...
.......
No way.
* * *
"So that's why I was incredibly flustered at first, too."
"Fufu, I was scrambling to find someone on short notice myself, you see."
Natasha laughed as she answered my words.
Unlike back then, she stared at me with a gentle gaze.
Her gaze was a bit much to bear.
Feeling awkward, I quickly changed the subject.
"Ah, now that you mention it, what happened to the other brokers who invited you to the party, Natasha?"
Natasha hid a smile at the corner of her lips.
A coldness like before swirled in her eyes.
"What do you think happened?"
"...I think I get the picture even without you telling me."
Even if she was in a laughable state right now, wearing teddy bear-patterned pajamas, the Boss of No Answer was still the Boss.
.......
Seriously, where did she buy those pajamas?
I shook my head slightly, recalling the memories of that day once more.