Uncovering the Truth (1)
An office in the Security Forces headquarters, lined with every manner of weapon on display.
The blond young man who managed the entire force sat in his chair, watching his younger sister. Standing before him under the pretense of a report was the Security Forces' special supervisor, Ney Terdos, her eyes full of resentment.
"Mithril. That certainly could have become a headache."
Standing Committee Member Abel Terdos. He was one of the eight members of the Standing Committee that set the city's operating policy. Under the Committee's rules, he also concurrently held the post of Chief of the Security Forces, one of the city's executive organs.
Abel watched Ney continue to glare at him, then finally let out a sigh and set the papers he was holding down on the desk.
"You recovered the item for certain, yes?"
"It's currently in Security Forces custody for the investigation."
"To think someone would make something like that out of mithril. Remarkable. Just walking around with it would make you a target for every criminal in the city."
"Apparently so."
At a glance it might have looked like a clean separation of public and private, but to Abel it was nothing more than the face of a family colder than strangers. Ever since he had shut down an investigation years ago, the cold war with his younger sister Ney had dragged on without end.
The real problem was that the conflict had long since passed any reasonable measure. Ney's decision to use the family's influence to secure a post in the Security Forces had itself been an act of defiance against Abel's choices. The more they faced each other and traded blows, the deeper the sediment between them grew. By now, neither of them could understand the other at all.
"Incidentally, according to the report, you caught them together with Usher Hayes."
Even so, Ney and Abel met often enough. More precisely, Abel kept summoning her. This report, too, had only happened because Abel had called her in after hearing the outline of the case.
Standing before him, Ney forced herself into the coldest composure she could manage and continued her explanation.
"As stated in the report. Code E172 eliminated one of them and recovered the item."
"Then why did you let this Nicholas get away?"
"I've already reported this, but because of the restraint collar's range limit—"
The restraint collar continuously transmitted various data to the Security Forces' servers. Even Ney could not paper over anything related to the collar with a lie. In her view, Abel was a family member she could not trust in any number of ways. For that reason she had intended to leave the information broker out of her report as much as possible—but Abel drove straight into the gap she had left open.
"Doesn't that strike you as odd?"
"That's—"
"It's not like you. There are too many pieces that don't add up, and it feels as though you're deliberately hiding something."
"…"
"Is there a secret I don't know about?"
Abel's sharp gaze met Ney's green eyes. Young as he was, Abel had already carved out his place in the political arena—a seasoned snake. The longer the conversation went on, the more cornered Ney became. She felt the fist she had been clenching since she walked into the room tighten further and further. Unable to cool her heated head, she floundered for a moment—then decided to leave everything to impulse.
"…Abel. It's resolved. Isn't that enough?"
"Resolved is resolved. I think so too."
It was a petulant answer unfit for a Security Forces officer, but Abel Terdos did not dislike it. If anything, he welcomed Ney showing a vulnerable side. In rank, influence, and experience, Abel held every advantage. Even the people of the Terdos family followed Abel over Ney. As she was now, Ney had no means of beating him.
Sick of dealing with him any longer, she turned her back on Abel.
"That's the end of the report. I'm leaving."
Anyone else would have been reprimanded for such behavior. But Ney knew perfectly well that Abel would never lay a hand on her. Biting her lip, she walked toward the office door.
"Ney."
Abel called out just as she reached it.
"What now."
"You still have no intention of leaving the Security Forces?"
"…If it's that conversation again, stop."
"You've been steadily racking up results, just as you promised. But from an older brother's point of view, watching his little sister keep running into criminals is—"
Always so fake. He didn't worry about her in the slightest, yet he spoke as if he saw her as a younger sister. That thought circled through Ney's mind—and then burst out of her mouth as a sharp, irritated cry.
"I told you to stop!"
"…Ney."
"I move my own way. I don't know what you're hiding or what you're working toward, but I'll reach the truth in my own fashion."
Bang.
The door slammed hard enough to echo through the room, and Ney Terdos vanished from the office. Left alone, Abel stared at the door she had disappeared through for a moment, then leaned back with a smile.
"Still as stubborn as ever."
Everyone has their own story. On the day every hidden truth came to light, what face would his little sister show? Anticipation lit Abel's green eyes as they reflected the office ceiling.
The day after the incident.
Ney Terdos came to my office with Usher in tow. The purpose of the visit was to pay me the outstanding fee. When a sudden phone call pulled her out of the room for a moment, I turned to Usher, who was leaning against the window and smoking, and asked,
"Your young lady looked like she was in a foul mood."
"She ran into someone she can't stand recently."
"Would that someone be me?"
"She may not like you, but you're not that bad."
"Then it's none of my concern."
Ney and her older brother Abel did not get along. Beyond merely not getting along—they were practically dying to tear each other apart. There was a great deal of history buried between them, and digging too deep into either side was a bad idea. Maintaining a careful balance between the two of them was the position I needed to hold for now.
"You seem to know a fair amount about Ney as well."
Usher ground out the last of his cigarette in the ashtray and spoke. Information on Ney Terdos. As the main heroine of the original work, I knew plenty—but saying it straight out would have felt strange somehow. I gave a vague answer and returned to my seat.
"As much as I need to, at least."
"I'd like to know as much as you do."
"Who knows. Sometimes knowing nothing is better."
As if on cue, Ney finished her call and came back into the office. Usher, having finished his cigarette, took the seat beside her. Setting the bag she was carrying on the table, Ney turned her head and looked around the office.
"I'd heard you were quite the information broker. Your office is more out of the way than I expected."
"The rent is cheap."
Not many people passed through, and it was decent enough to live in. Of course, it hadn't been built for that purpose. From the perspective of a young lady from a prestigious family, though, it might have been hard to understand.
Perhaps my answer left her feeling awkward. Ney took a sip of the coffee in front of her to wet her throat, then pushed the bag on the table toward me.
"The credits we agreed on. Feel free to check."
I undid the bag's lock and glanced at the contents. Just like what I'd received from Mister Trillo before, the bag was stuffed full of Herenants Bank checks. Nothing seemed wrong with them. I closed the bag again and set it under the table.
"Checked. Looks fine."
"Of course it does. Getting help from an information broker… how did the Security Forces end up like this…"
"You still protected the item, so you should count yourself lucky."
"That's true, but… you're a bit unexpected. Wouldn't it have been far more profitable to take those guys down yourself, quietly walk off with the mithril, and pocket more than eighty thousand credits?"
I gave a short laugh at Ney's question. The value of mithril was incomparably higher than eighty thousand credits. On face value alone, she might have been right. But mithril had one enormous blind spot: its price came from extreme scarcity.
"Something like that—you can't use it, and you can't dispose of it properly even if you take it. Leaving it with the Security Forces is the better choice."
Anything that rare draws attention just by existing. Even James, the junk dealer I'd once owed a favor to, would have had a hard time moving anything with mithril in it. And if I failed to sell it and ended up using the thing myself, that would be a problem too. The moment someone recognized the mithril and word started circulating, trackers would come—Security Forces or criminals, it wouldn't matter.
After my detailed explanation, Ney spoke as if she'd had enough.
"So that's how you think. You really are a slippery one."
"And yet, thanks to that, I've earned a measure of trust from the young lady of the Terdos family."
"Trust? I still don't trust you."
Mithril aside, eighty thousand credits was no small sum. It more than covered the equipment costs I'd burned through at the department store. If I needed to, I could even hire a decent mercenary for a while. I looked at today's guest with a satisfied feeling.
"Well. That's a shame."