Cloverbloom (3)
Archmage. The weight that word carried in War City was never light.
The girl standing before me was one of the monsters that lurked in the city's darkness.
And that monster was smiling at me now, holding out her hand.
"I'm Spinel Cloverbloom. Who are you?"
"The Skyscraper Mage, is it. I didn't realize you were Sinel's family."
Hearing Spinel's full name through to the end, I couldn't help but be surprised. Of all things, she and Sinel were related.
In War City, Spinel's surname was never mentioned. Only her epithet — the Skyscraper Mage — ever appeared alongside her name. Until I heard it from her own mouth, it had never even crossed my mind that her family name might be Cloverbloom.
"You know who I am?"
"This savage city isn't a place you survive by being slow on the news. Pleasure to meet you. Percival Smith."
I took her hand and accepted the handshake.
The moment our hands met, the air itself shifted, and a crushing pressure rolled through my skin. At the level of an Archmage, it was possible to move mana and oppress an opponent without casting a single spell. So-called Pressure. Its physical effect wasn't particularly great, but it was more than enough to plant a proper sense of intimidation.
"Percival Smith. So that's your name."
"Does it ring any bells?"
"Unfortunately, no."
"Figured as much. By the way, this is more unpleasant than I expected — I'd appreciate it if you cut it out."
Meeting Spinel's deep eyes, I tightened my grip on her hand. Unless she acknowledged someone as her equal, Spinel had a habit of needling them like this without end. I pushed back with just enough force that she wouldn't take offense, and she reined in the aura she'd been letting spill free.
Having withdrawn her Pressure, Spinel pulled her hand free and asked,
"It was just a simple test. Don't worry about it."
"I already told you. I don't like being tested."
"Didn't you say you knew who I was?"
Spinel looked at me with eyes that said she found this entertaining. Spinel Cloverbloom — a special-class bounty target the security forces had half given up on controlling. There was a proper way to handle a monster you couldn't fully contain. This city was a thorough world of the strong devouring the weak. The moment you showed your hand against a monster, the predator's fangs that had been hidden would bare themselves. If necessary, I would have to lean even on the name of the Dark Merchant — a title I'd never been particularly fond of.
"Of course I know. Everything from where you belong right now to whose orders you're taking."
"You seem to know more than I expected."
"More than you think."
"Then you understand what that statement just meant, too."
"Want me to stand here and give a full commentary? On the whereabouts of that famous cripple, or what the Successor is thinking?"
At my words, the light in Spinel's eyes changed. In the same instant her entire body was sheathed in a cold blue radiance of mana, silver blades began to orbit around her. She was one of the executives of the Cabal that followed the Successor. Reacting to talk of the true mastermind who moved the city's darkness was only natural.
"Are you trying to die right now?"
"Did you just say you'd kill me here?"
"If you're counting on Sinel, you'd better drop that expectation—"
"Is that your own call, or the will of the Successor standing behind you?"
"…"
"If you don't plan on causing a scene in the Market, put the weapons away. If there's something you're curious about, I'll play along at a leisurely pace."
No matter how reckless Spinel was, she still knew enough to read the room when it came to the mastermind. And among the Cabal's executives, she was one of the more reasonable ones to talk to. The blades floating in the air slid back into their cases. Passersby who had turned their eyes this way returned to their own business.
Once the surroundings had settled somewhat, I started toward the next destination and spoke to Spinel over my shoulder.
"Follow me. I'll answer on the way."
Thud. Thud.
Sinel fell in right behind me as I moved toward another corner. Spinel, who had been standing still, followed after Sinel and trailed me as well. Rising into the air, she drifted up beside me, gray hair streaming, and said,
"I have a question."
"Questions go one each. Back and forth."
"What?"
"There's no free information. That's the information merchant's rule."
It was a principle held by the information broker known as the Drunkard, Jackson. Anyone who used an information dealer in this city knew Jackson's rule. Hearing it, Spinel nodded.
"…So you were an information merchant. Fine."
"What do you want to know?"
"How do you know about that?"
"I'm an information merchant. Having a certain amount of important information isn't exactly strange."
"That's a completely useless answer."
She wasn't wrong — it wasn't a particularly meaningful reply. But short of that, I had nothing decent to fall back on, so I chose to brazen it out. Telling Spinel the truth — that I'd transmigrated into this body and read about it in a book — was simply not an option.
"My turn. You and Sinel don't get along, do you?"
Having arrived at the weapons corner and begun looking around, I asked. The reason for the question was simple: Sinel's reaction upon facing Spinel had not looked like a welcome.
Spinel showed a somewhat awkward expression.
"That's the question you use on me?"
"As far as information goes, there's nothing else I want."
"We just don't understand each other. If one of us compromised, there wouldn't be any problem."
"Which side compromising looks better to you?"
"Sinel, of course. Then this big sister would feed her, house her, and give her plenty of allowance."
"Is that so."
I'd rather she did that for me.
Setting aside that modest wish, I carefully examined the weapons of the Black Market. Most of the firearms on display were low quality, but every so often a solid piece manufactured by Lesert Industries turned up. Moving a little deeper in, the things I'd been looking for came into view as well.
"Then it's my turn again. How much do you know about us?"
"When it comes to the Cabal, I probably know more than any other information merchant. But don't worry. I have no intention of poking him."
There was a saying: a sky beyond the sky. The city's mastermind — the one we called the Successor — was a being that phrase fit perfectly. Usher Hayes, the protagonist of the original work, would eventually challenge him, but by then the city was already half ruined. If possible, maintaining the status quo without provoking him was the better path. Failing that, deal with him before he could pull anything.
"That's a little hard to take at face value."
"Because I know too much?"
"Even Clairvoyance wouldn't know as much as you. And that information might get in our way."
"An information merchant only sells information for money. But whether this city has any magnate rich enough to buy information on him is another question."
In other words: no matter what happened, I would never sell information on the Successor. Right after that, I picked up a smoke grenade from the weapons corner. Considering the advantages my telepathy gave me, it was a rather well-matched item. Besides, any magic that reached the 6th Circle became a considerably threatening ability while retaining its original direction. Looking ahead to the future, this was a solid purchase. Judging by the bulk and weight settling into my hand, though, carrying too many of them would be difficult.
"A smoke grenade? You're buying something like that too?"
"Is that a question as well?"
"…"
Spinel glared at me with dissatisfied eyes. Looking at her like this, she almost felt like Sinel when Sinel used casual speech. Whatever their relationship, they were sisters — they weren't completely without resemblances.
"I'm joking. I do bounty hunting on the side, so I figured I'd need something like this."
"You've got a bit of an attitude."
"So. Once we leave here, are you planning to kill me?"
"No. I won't kill you."
"From the way you're talking, you sound full of complaints."
The Skyscraper Mage did not casually touch those she had acknowledged. The entire conversation had been work aimed at making Spinel regard me as a heavyweight. Fortunately, she seemed to have revised her opinion of me to some degree — she declared she wouldn't kill me even setting aside the Black Market's rules. For the time being, I wouldn't have to worry about being assassinated by a blade flying in through a broken window.
"It's true I have plenty of complaints, but for now I plan to keep an eye on you."
"A rather generous sentence."
"More than anything, if I kill you, Sinel ends up unemployed, doesn't she?"
"…Spinel."
Sinel's expressionless eyes turned toward Spinel.