Cyberpunk Orc (5)
Cyberpunk Orc (5)
"...Hmm."
The large Orc in the office.
Michael sensed something ominous.
It was a feeling honed over long years as a mercenary.
'What is it?'
He couldn't put it into words clearly, but he instinctively picked up on the fact that something 'ominous' was about to happen to him.
This wasn't the first or second time, so instead of trembling with anxiety, Michael speculated about what misfortune might be coming his way.
'Gang trouble.'
Probably not.
There weren't many Orcs in this neighborhood who didn't know Michael was a former mercenary. The gangs weren't stupid enough to go out of their way to mess with someone who kept to himself.
In that case...
'Maybe an unprofitable customer is about to show up.'
Put nicely, an information broker. Put poorly, an errand business.
It was a plausible guess, since he was practically the only one in Redwood running that kind of 'business'.
But even that was something he could handle.
Unless some 'outsider' from beyond the neighborhood came looking for Michael, the troublesome matters that arose around here were all more or less the same.
The hardest one recently had been dealing with a 'mutant contaminant' that crawled up from underground.
Michael rose from his chair.
Since he still worked on the front lines, the thick musculature his clothes couldn't hide gave him an intimidating presence.
Moving his footsteps, Michael walked over to the window and aimlessly shifted his gaze outside.
Several months had already passed since he quit his mercenary work and returned to his hometown.
The neighborhood scenery, which had initially seemed just peaceful, now felt ominous.
Looking out at it, Michael felt like he was staring at a powder keg right before it exploded.
At the same time, he saw his own face clearly reflected, semi-transparently, in the window glass.
Michael instinctively raised his hand. The countless scars covering his face itched.
And it was at times like this that the ominous feeling in a corner of Michael's heart grew little by little.
"What the hell is it."
Though he muttered to himself in frustration, there was no one around to satisfy his curiosity.
In the end, Michael briefly dismissed his worries as 'just his imagination' and moved on.
'...Nothing much will probably happen.'
After all, he had quit being a mercenary. Time was more than enough reason for sharp senses to grow dull.
Having finished his thoughts, Michael turned his body back toward his work desk.
And so.
- Jjeojeok.
A crack formed in the perfectly fine window glass.
A clear sign of 'misfortune' that anyone could see, but Michael failed to notice it.
Exactly thirty minutes before Michael threw himself out that window, that was what happened.
24. Cyberpunk Orc (5)
"You're Michael, sir."
"...Yep."
.......
Who is that?
That was the thought I had after briefly exchanging names with Michael, the Orc who had thrown himself out the window.
He hadn't hesitated at all. And now, meeting him face-to-face again after he'd hurled himself out the window was far more awkward and uncomfortable than I'd imagined.
The one who'd been caught probably felt the same way, I quietly predicted. He must have felt like time had stopped, or been turned back.
Thanks to my magic, Michael, the Orc brought back into the room, was in considerable confusion at that moment too.
"...What the?! I definitely jumped out─."
And then his eyes met mine.
"Fuck, the Only Mage was here too! What the hell did I do wrong to deserve...!"
I wonder that too. What wrong had he done to make him jump out the window? I was honestly curious.
Michael's pupils darted back and forth, his whole body now drenched in cold sweat. Unable to find a resting place, they were lost in confusion and terror.
He was going to pass out at this rate.
"Hey, calm down."
To help him breathe in and out comfortably, I grabbed Michael's shoulders and guided him.
"One, two, breathe in. That's it."
"Hoo......."
Hmm.
He seemed to have calmed down by now.
"So why did you run away?"
"...Koff!"
At my sudden question, Michael coughed loudly as if he'd choked on something.
His breathing grew ragged again. In the end, it took another ten minutes before I could have a normal conversation with Michael.
"...Well, you see."
Once he'd calmed down, Michael's gaze shifted to Catherine, who was standing behind me with her arms crossed, observing the situation.
I already knew he had tried to run because of Catherine. Right before he jumped, Michael had muttered, 'Goddammit, it's the Shooting Star!' and thrown himself out the window.
But that wasn't what I was curious about. No matter how notorious Catherine was, was her reputation really so terrifying that a complete stranger would throw himself out a window the moment their eyes met─?
"......."
─maybe it was.
Come to think of it, that was entirely possible.
"...I'm running an information broker business now, but before I returned to my hometown, I worked as a mercenary."
Oh, so you were in the same line of work.
Michael calmly continued his explanation.
"One piece of advice from a senior mercenary I owed a lot to back then was... If the Shooting Star is anywhere at all, run away immediately."
His speech was rambling, but it was enough to convey the meaning.
"I thought it was a joke at first, too. ...Until I heard the rumor that the entire group, including that senior mercenary, had disappeared after a direct hit from the Shooting Star."
Since there were plenty of cases like that, I doubted even Catherine herself would know who he was talking about if he told her.
I subtly turned around to look at Catherine. Just as I'd expected, she was counting on her fingers, trying to recall who this 'senior mercenary' might have been.
While I was turned, I made eye contact with Eve.
Eve, regardless of the current situation, was just staring at me. It was a bit frightening.
I turned away from Eve's gaze and looked back at Michael.
"...And so, that's why. I instinctively jumped out before I knew what I was doing."
No further explanation was needed for what happened next.
Catherine wasn't even a tactical nuke. But her mere appearance had been enough to make a person leap out a window.
In a sense, that was impressive.
"...Still, isn't that going a bit too far?"
Catherine quietly voiced her opinion. But upon hearing her voice, Michael let out a tiny, delicate "Hiiik!" of a shriek and scrunched his neck down into his thick trapezius muscles.
With a body that looked like it could easily total 800kg on just the three big lifts, acting like that made it even more bizarre.
Holding a Level 1 Catherine Safety Manager certification, I raised my hand to stop Catherine from speaking.
It wouldn't help if Catherine opened her mouth right now. After all, we had come to this Orc, Michael, to ask a 'favor'. Making him too afraid wouldn't be a good way to lead the conversation.
With the intention of changing the mood, I approached Michael again.
I'd been flustered by Michael's unexpected 'escape route', but the situation was more or less sorted out now.
The neck that had scrunched in like a frightened turtle was slowly emerging again to look at the outside world.
Going just by the scars on his face and his muscular physique, he looked like a battle-hardened veteran. I didn't get why he was so timid.
I let out a short, dry cough.
"Ahem."
Michael's gaze focused on me.
"We didn't come here with any bad intentions, so don't panic. Please calm down."
At my words, Michael came to his senses. As if realizing he'd shown an unsightly side, he wiped the cold sweat soaking his forehead with a handkerchief he pulled out from under his desk.
I'd noticed from the moment he threw himself out the window: this Orc seemed thoroughly prepared in many ways.
"...You're right."
Having barely regained his composure, Michael answered in a calm tone.
"...What business brought you here?"
Finally, we could get to the main point.
In response to Michael's question, I asked about the reason we had come.
"...Do you know an Orc named Smith?"
"Roughly a few dozen─."
I'd phrased the question wrong.
"Do you know anything about the recent cases of Orcs going missing?"
When he came to find me, Smith had said his 'brothers' had lost contact. That meant other Orcs might have gone missing alongside him.
Michael's eyes were momentarily lost in thought.
"......Hmm."
Was the explanation a bit lacking? I elaborated, telling him what I knew: Smith's missing brothers, and Smith himself, whose contact had cut off about a week ago. I gave a brief explanation.
After hearing the whole story, Michael gave me a short answer.
"...I think I have a rough idea."
Indeed. An information broker's business, where information gathers, was a bit different after all.
Having finally found a clue, I leaned forward and asked Michael,
"Who kidnapped them? Or is there some culture we don't know about?"
That last part was a slightly species-discriminatory remark. Even for Orcs, surely there was no hood culture that kept people captive for a week. Probably.
Michael looked around. After confirming that Catherine, Eve, I, and even the dazed Tom were no longer listening, he lowered his voice and explained,
"Uh, I'm not sure if that other Orc brother who guided you mentioned it..."
He gave Tom a slight side-eye.
"The gang disputes have gotten serious recently."
It was something I'd already heard, so I nodded in agreement. I'd also seen it on the way here. It was the main reason I'd realized this neighborhood was a total mess.
"I suspect it might be the work of the gang that's most recently sprung up among them."
So it was a plain kidnapping, not a culture thing. It was the most likely option. ...So it wasn't Orc hood culture after all. Soothing my slightly disappointed feelings, I asked Michael,
"Can you identify which gang it is?"
"......They go by the name 'Red Orc'."
Their main weapons must be the sickle and hammer, then. Just as I was entertaining the thought that the waves of red revolution had risen even in the Orc world, Michael added an explanation.
"They're truly vicious bastards. They're not guys to be taken lightly, either."
The LED on the tusk near Michael's mouth lit up, adding sincerity.
"They're immensely violent, and illegal business is their baseline. On top of that, there are rumors they've recently even joined hands with outside 'eco-fascist' groups or 'Neo-Luddite' groups... so just the equipment they're being supplied with is no joke."
Perhaps because my reaction was weaker than expected, or because he was worried, he fiercely emphasized their danger.
"Though a few generations old, some of their gang members even have military-grade cyberware. They're absolutely not an opponent to take lightly."
No, even if you explain it like that...
I turned my head while listening to the explanation.
"Ah."
Michael's gaze followed mine exactly, landing on 'Catherine' behind me.
No matter how scary they were, could they be scarier than Catherine?
"What? Why are you suddenly looking at me?"
"".......""
Snapping back to his senses, Michael looked at me.
"I worried needlessly. I offer my sincerest apologies."
I nodded.