The Dark Merchant (1)
The interrogation room at the security forces headquarters.
With the atmosphere turned strange by Daygers' death, I had no choice but to follow Ney, and now I sat face to face with her.
Having finished a brief talk with Sinel, Ney had come back to question me.
Under ordinary circumstances the words "bounty hunter" should have been enough to let us walk free, yet Ney kept holding us as if she were after something else entirely.
"The woman called Sinel is still keeping her mouth shut."
"So?"
"I'd like you to give me accurate information."
"I've told you any number of times. Bounty hunter."
My gaze drifted past her. Usher stood leaning against the door, watching us in silence. If it had not been for those eyes on my back I might have tried some small trick, but with surveillance that thorough there was little I could do.
"We had intelligence that Valiant members were flooding into District 8 as a group."
At her words I glanced at the clock. There was still time left for Ney to hold me on her own authority. The information she wanted was almost certainly about Valiant. Thinking back to the original timeline when the protagonist first got tangled up with Ironclad, it made sense that she would be hunting the gang now. After all, even in War City Ironclad had fallen to Usher's hand.
"That happened, did it?"
"And you are an information broker who goes by the name Dark Merchant."
"……Even the security forces shouldn't know that much."
I pressed a hand to my forehead at the alias that was starting to feel uncomfortably familiar. The information I had fed into Liam's network had spread in a twisted form. This was nowhere near the result I had originally aimed for. Someone inside had made a serious blunder, and Mister Trillo's own intelligence had gotten mixed in; the ripple effect was large enough that even I, the one who had set the whole thing in motion, found myself thoroughly unsettled.
It does not take much for a lie to become the truth. The moment I built a force worthy of the name, I might well become the Dark Merchant of this city in the truest sense.
"Well, I'm a little different from an ordinary security officer."
"I suppose so."
"And information brokers are a profession that, surprisingly, folds pretty easily once you start squeezing. You'd do well to be careful."
My head was starting to ache. What story would make the young woman in front of me quietly let me go? Being swept along without a fight simply was not in my nature. Even the slightest chance of taking the initiative was enough; I was the sort who only felt satisfied when I held the reins.
"Is that so. Then let me tell you an interesting story."
"What kind of story?"
"First I'd like the man behind you to step outside."
I pointed a finger at Usher standing behind Ney. She glanced back for a moment, then turned to me with a smile.
"Is Usher scarier than I am? He's got quite the infamous reputation, so I suppose that makes sense."
"It's a personal matter that concerns you. I doubt you'd want a story like this circulating either."
The reason I was asking Ney rather than Usher was simple. Usher Hayes. He was a member of the 7th Special Mobile Unit. Officially he belonged to the security forces, yet his status was rather different from an ordinary officer like Ney. The restraint collar around his neck was proof enough.
To deal with the criminals nesting in the city, the security forces ran the 7th Special Mobile Unit—hunting dogs, as they were called. Every member of that unit was a former convict who had received a prison sentence. In short, it was a plan to catch criminals with criminals; for every one they brought down, a tenth of their remaining sentence was reduced.
Usher had slaughtered dozens of people for the sake of avenging his younger sister and been assigned to the 7th Special Mobile Unit. In other words, he was a hunting dog of the security forces with a leash around his neck, and the one holding that leash was the special supervisor sitting right in front of me—Ney.
"Usher, step outside."
"Ney. It could be dangerous."
"Just go. He's only an information broker. What could possibly happen?"
He could not defy her order. With a resigned look Usher left the interrogation room. Once the space he had occupied was empty, Ney drew closer and repeated her earlier question.
"All right, let's hear this interesting story of yours."
"I know far more about the darkness of this city than you think."
"……?"
Perhaps because the content was nothing like what she had expected, Ney looked openly flustered. But I had no intention of giving her the answer she wanted. Just as I had said, I knew the underside of this city better than anyone.
"Put a call through to Abel Terdos. Clearing one debt while I have the chance wouldn't be a bad idea."
"You……"
"What, is that too much pressure? Then you'd better hand over the bounty money right now and send me on my way."
"Ugh……"
Standing Committee member Abel Terdos. She was extremely sensitive when it came to her half-brother. That was only natural—the Terdos family ranked among the most prestigious houses even in this city. Yet the relationship between Abel and Ney was closer to open hostility.
"What will you do, Ney Terdos?"
"You—what kind of relationship do you have with that bastard?"
"Who knows. No one can say what kind of relationship it will become."
That much was true. At present there was not a single thread of connection between Abel and me. At least not "now."
"No relationship at all?"
"At the very least it seems clear he would welcome me. So from here on it depends on how you act."
Abel Terdos never spared effort when it came to recruiting talent. And he was in a position to exert more than enough influence over the security forces. If a man calling himself the Dark Merchant were to become his ally—well, she would hardly want to increase the number of potentially dangerous enemies simply for the sake of hunting down one criminal organization tucked away in a corner of the underworld.
"I……"
— ―――♩♬
There was no need to hear any more of the conversation. I rose from my seat while playing a quiet, melancholy song right beside her ear. All she had to do was let the music wash over her and sink into a little sentimentality. Human emotion is heavily influenced by atmosphere, after all.
"I'll take the bounty, then."
A short request. Immediately afterward I walked past Ney and out of the interrogation room.
"What a tiring day."
Yawning briefly, I walked on with Sinel trailing behind me. The blood that had spattered her face must have been cleaned off completely at the security forces; her face was neat again, nothing like earlier.
I rested a hand on her disheveled hair and asked,
"Sinel, are you hurt anywhere?"
"Nothing uncomfortable. Only……"
"Only?"
"I was worried something serious might have happened."
I smoothed out the hair that had been mussed by the aftermath of the fight, then slipped my hand back into my pocket. She had even drawn a weapon to protect me from the security officers. That kind of reaction was understandable.
"Don't worry."
"Pardon?"
"No matter what happens, all you have to do is protect me."
That was why I was paying her so much, after all. In that sense the performance she had shown today was extremely satisfying. The image of her saying she wanted to join a company with a real name had long since been erased from my mind.
"Of course."
"Hah, is that so."
"The salary the boss pays is precious, after all."
"……"
In the end it was about money. The world ran on money. I looked at Sinel with a hollow little laugh, and in the distance an elegant sedan approached. The vehicle that had been racing down the dark road finally stopped right beside us.
The window rolled down, and from the back seat Mister Trillo looked out at me.
"Get in."
A short command. It did not look as though he intended to drop me off somewhere. He simply wanted to finish the conversation we had not been able to have inside the car.
I gave Sinel a signal with my eyes, then opened the rear door and sat down beside Mister Trillo. Once I was inside, Sinel turned her back to the window and began watching the surroundings.
"You've had a hard time of it."
"Of course I have. A hard time indeed."
Hmph. Mister Trillo snorted and flicked his cigarette into the ashtray beside him. Contrary to his lukewarm reaction, my claim of having suffered was no joke.
After putting away the cigarette he had been holding, Mister Trillo asked me as if he had been waiting for the chance.
"Mind if I ask about the job?"
"Ask away."
"I heard my men failed and that Ironclad bastard got away. What happened after that?"
Liam, was that the name? The Valiant executive Mister Trillo had sent had fallen to Daygers. There was no way the events that followed had been fully reported to him.
"I caught him, all right—then I got caught by the security forces myself. Daygers had his head taken off by one of their hunting dogs."
"Killed by the security forces, was he. What a shame."
Mister Trillo had wanted to kill Daygers with his own hands. That was why he looked so genuinely disappointed. He had lost quite a few Valiant members, and he had failed to catch the Ironclad he had so long awaited; it must have been a rather painful day for him.
"Leaving aside how the bastard died, we still need to settle our outstanding deal."
"Of course. If anything, even an extra payment would barely be enough. Bring it out."
"Understood, Boss."
At Trillo's order the man in the driver's seat produced a bag and held it out. When I opened it fully and checked the contents, it was packed, just like before, with checks from Herenants Bank.
"Forty thousand that was left as the balance. You already collected the bounty, so we'll leave it at this."
"Forty thousand. Not bad."
Ninety thousand credits. And a name so flashy it was almost gaudy. Those were the things I had gained from this job.
Together with the heavy feel of the money bag in my hand, the fatigue that had been piling up all day came crashing down at once.
