The Management Bureau's Dossier
"The first thing I want to confirm is this: how did you know I'd been in contact with S.E.N?"
S.E.N always moved with cunning. No outsider could have witnessed his contact with them.
"Naturally, you'd be curious. First, there was the Iron Blood incident. We were convinced S.E.N stood behind Iron Blood, and we tried to round them all up in a single sweep. But in the end they destroyed themselves through 'narcotic addiction.'"
"You gathered information well enough from that garbage heap of an Entertainment District. So?"
"While investigating the case, we also learned about the arson at Jucheongwang. Why would Iron Blood target a curiosity shop in the Entertainment District? We dug into it from every angle at the time, but unfortunately came up empty. After that, however, the name 'Jucheongwang' surfaced once again."
Namely, the emergence of Jucheongwang, which had proudly inscribed its name as a game developer with the dawn of the Yggdrasil 2.0 era.
"So you paid attention to the name Jucheongwang?"
"It wasn't certainty. We merely thought there might be a connection, and while we were watching... you held a tournament, didn't you?"
The Super Gemini tournament.
"That was the second. In that tournament, one of the S.E.N members we'd been keeping under surveillance entered quite openly."
Hecate.
It seemed Midgard had already identified Hecate as S.E.N.
"Then why didn't you arrest her?"
"Code H hadn't committed any 'crimes' as of that point. So we were only at the stage of monitoring her movements. The Section Chief had also given instructions not to touch 'H' yet."
"Meaning you were waiting for her to slip up so you could arrest her?"
Arti gave a small nod.
"Direct arrest orders have been issued now. Understandably so — she caused a colossal disaster."
The Rider-On incident, no doubt.
"We confirmed afterward that H was the main culprit behind the Rider-On service disruption. Unfortunately, our Midgard still lacks the means to counter S.E.N who appear and vanish like phantoms. We hold 'privileges' for fighting them, but..."
From the look of things, even as the department in charge of managing S.E.N, Midgard was still being dragged around by them one-sidedly.
"Since I resolved the Rider-On incident, you speculated I'd contacted S.E.N? But that alone wouldn't be enough, would it? You only handed me this business card because you were certain I'd been in contact with S.E.N."
"That's right."
"Then tell me. How exactly did you become certain I'd contacted S.E.N?"
"That is..."
Arti couldn't answer right away and hesitated.
It was then that someone's voice rang out.
"Shall I take that question myself?"
It was the voice of a man who seemed quite advanced in years.
The voice came from the badge pinned to Arti's chest.
"Section Chief, it's rather troublesome when you butt in uninvited?"
Arti furrowed her brow.
"No, no, I did intend to hold my tongue... but thinking it over, there was simply no way I could keep quiet. Wouldn't you agree?"
"Haaaah..."
A sigh that carried the whole pathos of a subordinate being pushed around one-sidedly by her boss.
"What does 5555 have to do with this?"
Arti unclipped the badge from her chest and held it out.
"This is the Section Chief of Midgard. He's bound to commit a rudeness or two, so please, feel free to commit as many as you like right back."
"My, isn't that rather much from one's own subordinate? In any case — a Class 1 agent of the countermeasure department Midgard, and its Section Chief. In truth I ought to meet you face to face, but I am a terribly busy man. My apologies for greeting you in this fashion."
"Skip it. Get to the point already. How did you become certain I'd contacted S.E.N?"
"As if there were any way I wouldn't know?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Hmm, I wonder if you'll understand when I answer this way. What sets my soul a-shiver is the delightful battle of wits against S.E.N."
He found himself speechless. The absurdity made his head ring.
"Wait. Don't tell me you're S.E.N?"
"But of course."
In an instant, his trust in Midgard took a vertical nosedive and hit an all-time low.
"Looks like I've wasted my time. I have no intention of playing along with your little games."
He made to shove back his chair and storm out.
"An institution of the administration, of all things, dancing to S.E.N's pranks — this world really is finished. Enjoy your fun, all of you."
"S.E.N will do anything for the sake of the 'pleasure of the soul.'"
But the Section Chief's next words caught his feet.
"You've met other S.E.N by now, haven't you? Then you know full well what manner of beings they are. And surely you know just how deadly serious they are about their own pleasures?"
"Yeah, utter sons of bitches, every last one. So what is it one of those damned gentlemen would like to say to me?"
"Let me say it once more — my soul delights in a battle of wits against the other S.E.N. This body takes pleasure in smashing, one by one, every scheme they hatch. Surely you don't think anyone is better suited to this seat than I?"
"These goddamn sociopaths..."
"The highest of compliments."
Ryu Hwi pressed hard between his brows.
He'd known for ages that S.E.N were lunatics, but he never imagined there was one like this in the mix.
"Talk is cheap. If you want to persuade me, put up evidence to match."
"But of course. Arti, give him the data."
"Yes, sir."
Arti transmitted the data to Ryu Hwi at once. When he checked its contents, his head ached all the more.
"It's the roster of 'S.E.N' we've identified. Of course, this is not all of them. Some simply wish to keep quiet and live in peace, you see."
It was the S.E.N data Midgard had compiled.
He examined the data in detail.
"Every last one of them does as they damn well please."
"What is written there is, in the end, only the S.E.N whose activities have been confirmed. My own data is in there too, you see. There are likely many more who live quietly, taking care never to reveal themselves to anyone."
"Is there some special rule behind S.E.N names? I can't claim to understand it, but there's a strange pattern to them, isn't there?"
"Oho?"
Midgard's Section Chief, 'Great Sage Equal to Heaven,' reacted with evident interest.
"An effect of the UR, perhaps? No human has ever caught on to that until now, you know. Well, it is hardly a matter of consequence — pay it no mind."
"You mean to hide it at this late stage?"
"Because at this point, hiding it would mean nothing at all. The names S.E.N bear carry a kind of sneer within them. Beyond that, they hold no particular meaning."
"Fine, good. I'll hear you out — that much, at least. What is it you want?"
"A constructive talk, just as you wished. As for the rest, you'll discuss it with Arti, a Class 2 agent of our Midgard. As I said before, I am a rather busy man. Arti, I leave him in your care."
"Yes, sir."
Arti answered with a nod.
"I look forward to our next meeting."
Before long, the connection went dead.
A brief silence followed. As if to shatter it, Arti cautiously opened her mouth.
"Shall we move somewhere else for now?"
Once they had moved to the reception room on the first floor, Arti gave a brief overview of Midgard's role and duties, and then the two of them talked over several matters.
According to Arti, Midgard was a department that had only been established recently — barely three years old, she said. In those three years, they had somehow managed to gather this much information on S.E.N. No doubt thanks to Great Sage Equal to Heaven's cooperation.
"At first, we suspected you might be S.E.N yourself."
"Is that supposed to be a joke?"
"Your track record was simply nothing an ordinary person could have shown, so I suppose you can't blame us for suspecting."
His track record to date had only been possible because he was the master of a UR. Anyone who knew of S.E.N's existence would have had no choice but to suspect he belonged to the same classification as them.
Arti proposed a 'united front.' She hoped that if S.E.N ever made contact with him, he would notify Midgard immediately. At present, Midgard was close to being led around by the nose by S.E.N, and they must have needed his power as one of the means to turn that situation around.
"Well, fine. It's not as if I can't cooperate with the likes of you. Naturally, you'll be sharing all of your information as well?"
"I promise to share, without reserve, at least the information accessible with my Class 2 authority."
"That won't be nearly enough..."
What means were there to make use of Midgard? Ryu Hwi pondered for a moment.
"First of all — can the 'privileges' available to you Class 2 agents be applied to me as well?"
"No, that's a bit..."
Arti's expression turned troubled.
"You're the ones requesting my cooperation, and you can't even manage that much?"
"These privileges are already bordering on overstepping our authority as it is. We only barely received permission for them as a means to stand against S.E.N..."
"I don't even need to guess — it's authorization to use Yggdrasil Items, isn't it?"
Her expression stiffened slightly. He'd hit the nail on the head.
"From here on, game labyrinths will be led by our Jucheongwang. We have no intention of yielding ground to anyone else."
"Uh, umm..."
"Then where do you suppose the most useful Yggdrasil Items drop? It wouldn't hurt anything if we used a few on the side, would it?"
"Are you threatening to commit 'illegal acts' right in front of me, an administration official?"
"'Threatening'? How unpleasant. It's an offer, an offer. They say the world runs on mutual aid — shall I share a tidbit of information of my own too? With that Great Sage Equal to Heaven around, you may already know it, but..."
As for conditions to put on the table for bargaining, he had any number of them.
"Against S.E.N, Yggdrasil Items from versions before 2.0 probably won't work."
"Ugh."
Arti's face crumpled. From the look of it, she already knew.
"You said the only item of B rank or above from 2.0 so far is King Drapper's Magic Sword, right? You're the ones asking a favor of me, and I'm the one being asked — which side do you think has the advantage?"
"For now, I'll bring it up with my superiors."
But the dealings didn't end there.
"And..."
"What now? What else could there possibly be? You really aren't S.E.N, are you? You are, aren't you? Please just say you're S.E.N. I'll have you arrested this instant."
"This one's nothing much. The data on 'Great Sage Equal to Heaven' — hand over everything you're able to access."
Midgard's Great Sage Equal to Heaven. He, too, was nothing more than a dangerous existence who might turn enemy without warning.
Because S.E.N were, every last one of them, beings who did as they pleased.
By the time Ryu Hwi left the administration office, the sun was already sinking low. He'd finally planned to explore District 13, and the schedule had gone completely off the rails. Still, he'd made achievements of his own, so it had been a satisfying use of time.
"Doesn't matter. The cooperation was only ever going to be skin deep."
──Don't trust that bastard 'Great Sage Equal to Heaven.' That one is the truest trash among trash — deceiving people comes as naturally to him as eating a meal.
Loki had warned him not to trust Great Sage Equal to Heaven. It wasn't that he blindly believed Loki's words, but there was nothing wrong with being careful. At any rate, the word 'trust' had long since been erased from the dictionary in his head.
"Call it mutual aid — in the sense that we're each exploiting the other."
"What the hell do you take me for?"
He hurried his steps to return to Jucheongwang before dark.
It was then that a strange sense of wrongness washed over him — the feeling that the atmosphere of the world itself had suddenly shifted. He knew this sensation well. He'd experienced it a horrifying number of times lately, after all.
"Damn it all. S.E.N, out of nowhere."
From the far reaches of the reddening sky, someone revealed themselves. That damned face — even trying to forget it, he couldn't.
"It has been some time, hasn't it? I trust you have been keeping well?"
A man in a suit that suited him not at all.
S.E.N's Crowley had once more appeared before his eyes.