But at That Moment (1)
But at That Moment (1)
Dirty pipes twisted this way and that across the ceiling, and to the side, polluted water of unknown depth surged past at high speed.
Having left the underground village area and now passing through the sewers, we briefly halted in front of the passage leading into Neon City.
There wasn't any particular reason.
Just a few people blocking the way.
Going purely by the situation at hand—
Since they were obstructing the entrance to the city, it was reasonable to suspect them of being hostile—either Koozaka employees or the Vice Chairman's men.
But for that to be the case,
they looked far too shabby.
Honestly, they were decked out in 'street fashion' so authentic it's rarely seen even in the lowest layers of Neon City.
One of them spat out a long, thick wad of phlegm.
Another guy's arm was a prosthetic—and in place of the limb was a hook, simplified enough to graze Captain Hook's cheek, conspicuously on display.
It was an exceedingly rare form of prosthetic arm in the cyberpunk world.
In an era where cyberware body replacements are mass-produced, even homeless people scraping by day-to-day don't wander around with that kind of prosthetic.
In a way, it was remarkably unique.
You could also see it as a glimpse of reality for outsiders living beyond the city limits.
A vagrant, a homeless man, and a thug all rolled into one spat out a needlessly long wad of phlegm.
He cocked his head at us, crookedly.
"Huh? What are you bastards— Grrrk."
Fortunately, it was resolved without violence through peaceful dialogue (electric shock therapy).
Catherine casually nudged the collapsed vagrants with her foot, moving them to the corner.
Her every movement radiated a fierce determination not to touch them with her hands under any circumstances.
Kozaka William muttered, wearing a sheepish expression at the vagrants who had all collapsed in unison, foaming at the mouth.
"...Is this okay?"
"Well, why wouldn't it be?"
The reality was that outside the city, you couldn't even count on basic human rights anyway.
Frankly, if we'd been weak, we might have ended up as someone's meal, harvested for organs.
Well, since we didn't kill them (probably), there was no need to worry about problems arising.
Before entering the damp sewer, I took out the mask I'd gotten from Four-eyes earlier and handed it to Kozaka William.
"This?"
"As you can see, it's a mask."
He carefully accepted the mask I offered.
And as he did, he asked me—
"If I wear this, will the smell be a little less noticeable?"
He still hadn't adapted to the stench, it seemed.
An expression like he'd discovered a ray of light in the darkness was spreading across his face.
I shook my head firmly.
"Nope. The smell stays the same whether you wear it or not."
"...Then I'm fine."
He handed the mask back to me.
"I don't do well with masks—they feel stuffy. Besides, my lung-function bioware is custom-made, so it filters polluted air cleanly anyway."
"Oho...."
So he was a rich man after all?
But I didn't take the mask back.
I pressed him further.
"Does it purify lethal gas too? Also, depending on the zone, there are airborne compounds like tear gas or highly lethal pathogens floating around. Are you good against those as well?"
"......."
Apparently, that wasn't the case.
Kozaka William subtly retrieved the mask he'd just handed back.
With an awkward motion, he immediately covered his face with it.
"...What kind of place is this..."
Kozaka William murmured to himself in an embarrassed tone.
It was definitely a strange place.
This was something that deviated even from my common sense—which had already become very, very broad after falling into the cyberpunk world.
Well, thinking about it more seriously, maybe it was because the whole concept was that of a dungeon in a game.
Even so, no matter how favorably you looked at it, it wasn't a place fit for people to live.
It felt astonishing that there were people barely scraping by in a place like this.
Kozaka William fumbled around his face, trying to properly adjust the slightly crooked mask.
Then his gaze shifted to Catherine, who wasn't wearing a mask.
He seemed to find it odd that she wasn't wearing one, contrary to what I'd explained.
"What about that mercenary over there?"
"Ah, she's fine."
Unlike the custom-made product the Vice Chairman had mentioned earlier, she was someone fitted with the genuine article. There was no need for ordinary people like us to worry about her.
Once Catherine confirmed we were both masked, she strode toward the sewer's iron door.
And then she kicked it with full force.
—Kwang!
The massive iron door flew clean off and sailed into the dark corridor beyond, where not a single light source was visible.
Catherine looked at me and said:
"Ready?"
Hmm.
I kind of wished she'd asked me that before kicking the door down.
I nodded.
"Yeah."
Come to think of it, this was the second time I'd passed through this door.
For reference, the first time was when Catherine and I first entered Neon City together.
After that day, I thought there'd never be a reason to enter Neon City through the sewers again....
You really never know what the future holds.
14. But Then (1)
"......Hoo, Lee Shun and Catherine. Aren't they famous mercenaries affiliated with Monolith?"
"Ah, we're not really affiliated with them. We just took on a lot of requests from Monolith."
We walked down the corridor shrouded in darkness.
As if on an ill-timed picnic, we had a peaceful conversation while making our way through the sewer.
Catherine walked at the very front.
Kozaka William was in the middle, and I walked at the rear.
In the unseen darkness, only the loud sound of rushing water could be heard.
Since the place was completely unmanaged, there wasn't a single working lamp to cast any light.
Of course, it wasn't a problem for Catherine or me.
That's because our eye implants basically came with a 'night vision' function installed.
But expecting such a feature from the eyes of an ordinary person like Kozaka William was asking too much.
So for safety, I maintained a brightly shining orb of light suspended in the air above my shoulder.
When I first conjured the light, Kozaka William's eyes went round with surprise—it was a sight to behold.
'Creating plasma from your bare hands......!'
It was only after that moment that I realized we hadn't told him our true identities.
After hearing who Catherine and I really were, Kozaka William nodded to himself.
"Then stopping those bullets on the airship—that was all done with magic as well."
"That's right."
"......The Shooting Star, and the Only Mage. I suppose I can entrust my safety to you."
He didn't know our faces, but he seemed to have heard the rumors circulating in the mercenary industry.
His shoulders, which had been hunched with worry, seemed to relax slightly.
I saw that and said, shortly:
"Still, you should stay on guard."
"Haha, the legends of the mercenary industry are protecting me. What do I have to worry about?"
"Things like this."
Right as I answered, I conjured a mass of cold air in mid-air.
Thanks to having gathered mana so I could continuously use magic even while walking, the reaction was fast and accurate.
With a popping sound, something ricocheted away in the air.
If I hadn't used magic, a massive liquid mass that burst through the ceiling would have drenched Kozaka William completely.
"Urk!"
Kozaka William ducked his head with a single shriek.
Thanks to my quick reaction, he wasn't hurt.
I slowly walked over to where the 'thing' had bounced off.
I shone the orb of light and pointed at something frozen solid by magic.
There, a liquid mass containing a giant eyeball was completely frozen.
I kicked it with my foot as if it were a soccer ball.
It naturally rolled over to Kozaka William's feet.
"......What is this?"
"You could call it a giant amoeba, I guess. The difference is this one eats people."
Whether it was a corporate test subject, or a mutant born from contamination, I didn't know its exact origin.
And since there were quite a few of these things around, I wasn't particularly interested either.
There was also the option of burning it whole with fire, but using fire in an enclosed space required taking certain risks.
Besides, I figured it'd be better to show Kozaka William firsthand exactly what else was dangerous down here.
Kozaka William scratched the back of his neck, his face pale.
I looked at him and continued my explanation.
"Honestly, we're fine. It's not that dangerous unless you go a few more floors underground from here."
"......Hmm."
He probably understood what I was implying.
We were fine.
But what about you?
Kozaka William's shoulders, which had briefly straightened, shrank back like a startled octopus.
He didn't need to be overly tense, but being too relaxed was also a problem.
A moderate level of tension was more helpful for the security detail.
"Alright, let's get moving again, then."
"......."
With the now-silent Kozaka William sandwiched between us, Catherine and I resumed walking along the path.
Drip, drip.
Only the eerie sound of dripping water echoed.
Although it was a path I'd passed a very long time ago, it was also a place we had risked our lives to break through back then.
Because when we were young, both Catherine and I had been weak.
Thanks to that, the structure and layout of this place were still etched into my memory.
So there was no worry about getting lost in the labyrinthine sewer.
It seemed Catherine was the same as me, as she continued walking unhindered, without a moment's hesitation at the forks in the road.
.......
We just kept walking.
Hmm. Too quiet—it was boring again.
I'd meant for him to keep a moderate level of tension, not to stop talking altogether.
With the goal of helping Kozaka William relax a bit,
'So, which Koozaka stocks should I buy to earn some credits?'
I was about to ask.
Even Eve wouldn't be able to block the stocks the Vice Chairman had tipped me off to buy.
But then—
[Sudden biosignal detected directly ahead.]
Along with Eve's words, Catherine moved.
She probably didn't hear Eve.
Because it was a voice only I could hear.
The reason Catherine moved could be understood through sound.
With a sharp 'Clang!', a burst of sparks erupted in front of Catherine as metal ricocheted.
I looked ahead.
Piercing through the darkness, multiple strands of curved light shot toward us.
Looking closely, the strands of light were shurikens.
And among the LED-studded sparkling ones, matte-black shurikens flew in alongside them.
Against opponents relying solely on night-vision eye implants, it was an old-fashioned yet effective method.
But I had a floating orb of light above me, and if I got hit by something like this, I'd have to retire as a mercenary.
......Actually, there was nothing for me to do.
Catherine casually deflected the incoming shurikens with her bare hands.
Not a single scratch was left on the palm that swatted away those razor-sharp blades.
Wait—shurikens?
Had the cleaning robots around here finally gone insane?
Or, since this is a cyberpunk world, had some vagrant obsessed with Japanese culture appeared?
I expanded the light.
I brightly illuminated the surroundings.
A narrow alleyway.
Sewage water flowing off to the side.
Amoebas rolling their eyes in the corner.
And beyond all that—
at the far end of the sewer passage—
Multiple shadows came into view.
"Fuck."
I couldn't hold back the curse.
Ninjas had appeared.