Mercenary (1)
In the end, I passed the exam.
Completing it made me a 4th Circle mage, and now four rings turned steadily around my heart.
Of course, reaching the 4th Circle didn't mean I'd suddenly become dramatically stronger than before. The abilities I'd already been using had simply undergone a few changes.
First, the range and output of my telepathy had increased by nearly fifty percent. If the volume of my telepathy had previously sat at about half of what a person could tolerate, it now approached eighty percent of that limit. If my Circle kept climbing and the output eventually hit that ceiling, I might even be able to keep enemies inside the range from registering any outside sound at all.
"……Boss?"
On top of that, I could now tell what Sinel was feeling as she sat in the office tilting her head. With the magic active, I had become sensitive to other people's emotions. Feeling them, though, didn't mean concrete information came through. I still wasn't at the level of reading anyone's thoughts.
"You're wondering what's for lunch."
"Huk. Did you learn mind reading?"
"Myaa―."
"……."
That last one had nothing to do with the ability. I'd simply guessed what Sinel was thinking. Most of what came through were rough fragments of emotion—joy, sorrow, pleasure, regret. If the magic evolved as my Circle rose, it would probably grow into a way of exchanging intent between people.
Sinel, who had been sitting still and watching me, pulled Blackie into her arms and spoke.
"Boss. You seem a little different somehow."
"I reached the 4th Circle."
"The 4th Circle…… Then that's something to be happy about."
"Still a long way to go. I've only just stepped up to the starting line."
It wasn't false modesty. The city was crawling with real monsters. A 4th Circle mage was the kind of level you ran into constantly once the real story got underway. And with only a single non-combat 4th Circle spell to my name, the limits in a fight were painfully clear. Sinel's older sister Spinel was a 6th Circle Archmage, wasn't she? By the later parts of the work, every figure who stepped into the spotlight was a heavyweight who broke the mold. I had no guarantee I'd ever climb to the 6th Circle myself, but I needed to keep training and build teamwork with my subordinates as far as I could.
Sinel, though, paid my words no mind and stubbornly stuck to her own.
"Still, raising your Circle is something to be happy about."
"Maybe so."
"Then it's something to be happy about."
"Now that I think about it, it might be."
Apparently the important part was that I was happy. I wasn't sure, but if I was supposed to be happy, I nodded.
Sinel's eyes sparkled as she looked at me.
"That's right. It's something to be happy about."
"……."
"It's something to be happy about?"
Expectation and interest. Those raw emotions came through from Sinel as she faced me. At this point I more or less knew what she wanted. There was only one thing Sinel would be looking forward to.
"……Fine. If something good happens, we should eat something delicious."
"I'm happy too."
Sometimes it was fine to mark your own growth. So what should we eat? I stood up from my seat, turning over possible menus in my mind. I was planning to visit Brian's office today anyway to pick up information on the wanted criminals. Brian hadn't been running his information business for long. Bringing a little opening gift along wouldn't hurt.
"Seafood's sounding good today."
"Seafood, is it."
After some thought, I settled on seafood for the day's menu. Rather than something ordinary, I intended to spring for the more expensive dishes.
"You said it was an opening gift, but this is a lot fancier than I expected."
"I put a little thought into it."
Brian's office sat in a corner of District 7. Corner or not, it was in a better location than ours, and inside it Brian and I sat across a table from each other. Between us, a long spread of seafood dishes filled the air with a fragrant steam. The word "fancy" suited the combination perfectly, just as he'd said.
Brian picked up a claw from a nearby plate and asked me,
"……Is it really okay for me to eat this?"
"Of course. You don't dislike shellfish, do you?"
"Against lobster? Not a chance. And this next to it is king crab?"
"It is. I hope you're satisfied."
Brian nodded, extracted the meat, and put it in his mouth. The pieces had been cleaned and prepared for easy eating. There was no need to waste time on anything tedious. I enjoyed the feast myself and glanced at Sinel beside me.
"It's delicious."
Sinel's hands moved as busily as if she'd cast Haste. In front of her, neatly dismantled shells had already piled into a small mountain. Noticing me watching her with a crab leg in hand, she leaned in and whispered by my ear in a tiny voice.
"Boss, aren't you eating much?"
"I am eating."
"Okay."
Hearing my answer, Sinel went back to the seafood. I let out a dry laugh and turned my eyes to Brian across from me. He was picking through the food diligently enough that his earlier words hadn't been empty, but he wasn't devouring it with Sinel's single-minded focus. Since I hadn't come here simply to eat, I asked him while working on a crab,
"By the way, what about that job I left with you earlier?"
"The list of wanted criminals whose combat style leans toward close quarters?"
"Good memory."
"Of course I looked into it the way the client asked. I left the special-grade ones out—too dangerous, and not much information on them anyway."
"Any you'd recommend?"
"For now, one from Grade 1 and one from Grade 2."
A Grade 1 wanted criminal. Depending on the situation, that could be a slightly risky choice. You got less without risk, but I still needed to learn the details about the targets before deciding.
"What are their names?"
"The Grade 1 is Begus the Boulder. His magic level itself isn't that high, but his defense is solid enough that the security forces find him a real headache."
The moniker "Boulder" alone suggested a heavy connection to defense. From Brian's added explanation, it seemed bullets and blades didn't do much damage to him. That didn't mean he took no damage at all, so if I thought the approach through carefully, it shouldn't be too hard.
"And the second?"
"Grave Robber Tedius. He uses Dig magic. Close combat in name only… He's not even a violent offender, and from the security forces' perspective he's such a pain to chase that they've basically left him alone. He'll be easier than the Boulder."
A grave robber and a boulder. Neither of them had been major figures in the original work. Purely by notoriety, the Grade 1 was obviously more dangerous than the former. Even so, my mind was leaning toward taking down the Boulder. I preferred the option with fewer variables, even if it meant accepting a certain level of difficulty. Besides, this world wasn't a game. Superiority of matchup didn't solve everything, so magic that could generate a lot of variables was something to be wary of.
"Begus the Boulder. We'll go with him."
"Wouldn't the grave robber be better?"
"He's someone even the security forces struggle to pursue. Looking at the bounty on him, there's no point burning energy chasing him for nothing."
Dig magic alone suggested any number of irritating applications. Used well, it could be more threatening than the Boulder in urban combat. One method that came to mind immediately was casting Dig under a finished building. If the earth supporting the structure vanished all at once, even a solid building would tip in an instant. Ruining perfectly good roads was a problem in its own right, but there was a reason the security forces were holding back on the chase.
Brian accepted that and continued.
"Got it. Then I'll start with Begus."
"I'm listening."
"Begus the Boulder. He's a 4th Circle mage who uses a spell called Stone Skin."
"……Stone Skin."
"Like I said, the rank of the magic itself isn't high, but the problem is that ordinary guns and blades barely sink into him."
In a way, he resembled Calvin, the one they'd called Runaway Train. But Calvin had combined the defense of full plate with physical abilities that far exceeded human limits—the kind of strength that could smash a solid concrete wall in a single blow. He was effectively both defense and offense in one package. If this was simply a magic that raised hardness, the situation would be very different from Calvin's. Among Grade 1 wanted criminals, this one looked like it sat on the easier end of the scale.
"His offensive power itself is nothing special, then."
"That's about right."
"How much is the bounty on him?"
"Thirty-five thousand credits by security force standards. Come to think of it, I heard the Sword Saint is after him too."
The Sword Saint. A figure who had appeared several times in War City. Hearing a familiar name drop from Brian's mouth, I reflexively asked again.
"The Sword Saint?"
"Yeah. That famous 'self-proclaimed Sword Saint.'"
"Then there's nothing to worry about."
There were plenty of mages specialized in cold-weapon combat. But in this city, only one person claimed the name Sword Saint. A mercenary and bounty hunter who walked around with a heavy sword on his back and carved up criminals. A man who styled himself the Sword Saint while having no idea how to use a sword at all—an extreme concept artist. That was the Sword Saint.