The Maze (4)
“What the hell are these guys?”
A clean-faced young man, and behind him a man in a suit.
The same pair Sinel and I had faced earlier stood blocking our path.
Knighttail Knights. In this age of chaos, a man who styled himself a knight fixed us with a sharp, cutting stare.
“Knighttail Knights, is it?”
“I asked for your identities.”
The bodyguard didn’t yield an inch, turning those eyes on us.
The entire department store had been paralyzed by an unidentified assault. For strangers meeting for the first time to eye each other with suspicion was only natural.
Usher seemed to finish sizing them up in an instant. He pulled a notebook from his pocket and stepped forward.
“Usher Hayes of the 7th Special Mobile Unit. Currently operating independently under supervisor authorization.”
It was a notebook issued by the security forces exclusively for mobile unit members.
The bodyguard came forward to inspect the notebook Usher held out. He studied it for a moment, then his expression went flat and he stepped back again.
“So you’re the security forces’ hunting dogs. Just pass through.”
“One question. Have you run into any suspicious types?”
“No. You security forces types have your own business — get lost already.”
Even inside the security forces, the hunting dogs’ reputation was poor. They were people who had committed anti-humanitarian crimes and, instead of serving their sentences, hunted other criminals. If the other party was a member of the Knighttail Knights, that went without saying. From his perspective, the way he looked at a hunting dog could never be kind.
At that rough, thorn-laced remark, Usher answered as if it didn’t touch him at all.
“……Fine. We’ll do that.”
“…….”
It wasn’t obvious on the surface, but a subtle crack ran across Usher’s face. Even so, the Usher of right now couldn’t afford to pick a fight carelessly. He wore the security forces’ restraint collar around his neck, and what he carried now was the name of Ney Terdos.
But just standing there watching left something heavy sitting in my chest. I didn’t like this situation one bit.
“Dark Merchant. This doesn’t seem to be the way. Let’s just keep going where we were headed.”
Even after hearing Usher’s words, I didn’t move to follow him.
This city is a world of the strong devouring the weak. And the other party was a powerhouse belonging to the Knighttail Knights, sitting at the top of the food chain. But that was no reason for me to stay quiet.
This dangerous city never stops moving. If I don’t keep moving constantly either, the moving city will someday start tightening around my throat.
Yeah. I can’t just sit still after being ignored.
“You guys happen to see anything?”
I grabbed Usher’s shoulder, stepped out in front of him, and spoke to the young man before us. The young man who’d been leaning against the window looked at me with startled eyes. Of course, the bodyguard standing beside him didn’t look pleased. Murderous eyes reflected my figure.
“Who the hell are you? Don’t speak to the Vice President so casually.”
“Who the hell are you? You’re the one who shouldn’t speak so casually to me.”
“What……?”
The bodyguard’s face flooded with bewilderment in an instant. As he frowned and started to say something, the young man beside him waved a hand. Smiling, he spoke to the bodyguard.
“Haha… That’s enough, Ban. Watching this is entertaining enough.”
“But, Vice President……”
“Unfortunately, I don’t recall seeing anyone. Sorry I can’t be of help.”
“Is that so. Appreciate the cooperation.”
Unlike the man he’d called Ban, the young man received my conversation with a gentle, easy manner. I’d assumed Ban’s attitude was clearly on the young man’s orders, but what the young man showed was somewhat unexpected.
He waved Ban back and asked me.
“By the way, what’s your name?”
“Why do you want to know my name?”
“You seem like someone worth remembering.”
Someone worth remembering. It could mean something good, or something bad. Either way, there was no reason to refuse giving my name. I cheerfully introduced myself to the young man.
“Percival Smith. Information merchant.”
“Dark Merchant Percival Smith, is it. Good. I’m Regan Heronnuts. One of the vice presidents of Heronnuts Bank.”
The young man’s identity. It was none other than a vice president of Heronnuts Bank.
As I was briefly running the calculations in my head, surprised by Regan’s identity, a loud propeller sound rose from the nearby window. At the noise ringing in our ears, Usher’s gaze and mine turned naturally toward the glass.
Beyond the translucent department store windows, a helicopter was lifting into the air.
“Looks like it just arrived. Nice meeting you.”
“……So you’re planning to escape.”
“Percival Smith, was it? If there’s a chance next time, I’d like to see you again.”
Only then did I understand why Regan had been standing there looking out the window.
What moves the world is money. Someone was trapped in the department store waiting for the security forces’ rescue — but someone else was not. And Regan Heronnuts was the latter.
Inside the elevator moving toward the floor with the vault room. Beyond the firmly closed elevator window, the colorful lights of the building’s illumination seeped in one after another. Usher Hayes watched them with melancholy eyes, then called me.
“Dark Merchant.”
“I’ll say it again — I’m Percival.”
“Not particularly important. Setting that aside, why did you step in earlier?”
“What are you talking about.”
“The bank’s vice president. An information merchant of your caliber would have known who he was. Why deliberately do something that might make him dislike you?”
Usher was under some grand misconception. I was merely someone who knew the plot developments of the novel — not some directory that had every person in the world catalogued. I’d just figured Regan was roughly some well-off young master from a good family. And that guess had been somewhat accurate, too.
But since it was hard to lay out the full details, I just said whatever came to mind.
“Whim.”
“An interesting whim.”
“What. Didn’t like it?”
“No. It wasn’t bad.”
Heh. Usher said it with a light laugh.
Ziiing—. The short conversation had barely ended when the elevator doors opened. The elevator’s travel time wasn’t long enough for a deep conversation with anyone.
Getting off, Usher began leading the way toward the vault room with silenced footsteps.
“……Is this the right direction?”
I nodded at Usher’s quiet voice.
On the floor we currently occupied, there existed a special vault room storing mithril. If we moved making loud noises, Calvin’s group targeting the mithril could discover our position. We needed to move more carefully than before.
“……The numbers on the walls look fewer.”
“……Indeed.”
Looking around, the concrete walls visible were fewer than on other floors. Spent casings and bloodstains on the floor also stood out. Traces of a fierce battle. If we followed those traces of combat, we would surely find the attackers not far away.
“Stick close. We’re going through the wall.”
The long trail of bloodstains ended, blocked by a concrete wall. With quiet footsteps, Usher pressed himself against it and put his ear to the surface.
Tap, tap.
Right after Usher’s fist lightly knocked on the wall, he moved his hand and gave me a signal.
“Got it.”
Blink
Usher, pressed against the wall, grabbed me with his hand. Right after, my vision blurred and dizziness flooded through my whole body. Having experienced the same phenomenon repeatedly, had I adapted somewhat to Blink’s aftereffects? The motion sickness shaking my head settled a bit faster than before.
Steadying my breath and looking ahead, I saw bloodstains spread everywhere.
“What rats have come sniffing around.”
“……Calvin.”
A savage voice slammed into the walls and echoed back. In my vision that had returned to normal, a massive man in heavy full plate armor stood blocking our way. The culprit of the department store raid we were chasing — Runaway Train Calvin.
When I unconsciously spoke Calvin’s name aloud, he revealed fierce eyes through his helmet and said,
“You know me?”
“How many people wear that insane armor besides you.”
“Well, true enough.”
I reached into my coat and pulled out a handgun. Click. The heavy sensation of the handgun with its safety off wrapped around my palm. Facing my weapon, Calvin took a stance to charge at me. Of course, against that thick full plate armor of his, the handgun I carried couldn’t deal effective damage. Naturally, the fight had to be handled by Usher beside me instead.
“What was your purpose in raiding this place?”
“You think I’d tell you that……”
Blink
Usher rolled up his coat sleeve as he asked Calvin. Just as Calvin was about to answer, Usher used Blink to move above him. Startled by Usher’s sudden disappearance, Calvin hurriedly swept his eyes around searching for him.
“You piece of——!”
Usher, who had transferred above Calvin, immediately dropped downward with his hand outstretched. Where Usher’s hand aimed was Calvin’s head. Calvin, who’d been looking around, quickly noticed something and raised his head — and found himself facing Usher’s palm descending toward him.
But Calvin was also a first-rate mercenary tempered by countless battles. With an absurd reaction speed, he swung his arm trying to shove Usher away.
At that moment, Usher’s form vanished again and reappeared at my side.
“I was aiming for the head. Shame.”
Thud.
With a heavy sound, a thick gauntlet fell to the ground.
Area Bind
Usher’s combat technique of seizing space and transferring had been deployed. Calvin glared at Usher while gripping the severed cross-section of his arm.