Mercenary (4)
"The Sword Saint?"
A great cape draped over her frame. A mechanical scabbard fastened at her hip. And last of all, those golden eyes, glittering sharp and clear even through the dark.
The Sword Saint from the stories stood before me exactly as the tales described her.
And in her hand she held a single broken sword.
"You know who I am?"
The words had slipped out on reflex, and the Sword Saint turned them back on me with a question of her own.
For anyone who made a living risking their neck, knowing the Sword Saint was hardly strange. I nodded and gave her an answer.
"Someone of the Sword Saint's caliber would be fairly well known even outside the Cross Network."
"Good. Since you know me, I'll do you a favor."
"A favor?"
Of everyone in the world, the Sword Saint was the one most sincerely devoted to her own renown. The moment she heard that word of her had reached me, her mood seemed to lift a little — and she put on the air of someone bestowing mercy.
A favor from the Sword Saint.
I already had a fair idea of what she was about to propose.
"You saw the bounty target I was chasing, didn't you?"
"You mean Begus."
"Catching that guy is the priority right now. Help me hunt him down, and I'll split half with the two of you. That works for me."
Catch Begus, and she'd hand over half the bounty. That was the Sword Saint's offer.
Even on a casual listen, it was a hard story to swallow. The reason she was making a proposal like this was obvious enough.
"So the two of us are supposed to split fifty percent between us?"
"That's right."
"There are three people here. Why is the split like that?"
"If you've got a problem with it, you're welcome to experience my swordsmanship firsthand."
When hunters' prey overlapped, one of two things happened. One side backed down, or the two of them fought. In short, it was a staring contest between bounty hunters.
I glanced for a moment at the broken sword in the Sword Saint's hand, then brought up the one subject she hated most.
"I've heard some ridiculous things in my time, but this takes it."
"...What?"
"You can dress Wind Cutter up as swordsmanship all you like, but anyone who can't see through that is—"
"Mmph—!"
Thud-thud-thud-thud.
In a blink the Sword Saint closed the distance and clamped a hand over my mouth. Her slender fingers pressed against my lips, and nothing more would come out.
Still covering my mouth, she whipped a frantic look around us, then hissed at me.
"W-who is going around spreading that kind of nonsense?"
"Mmph...!"
"Where did you hear that garbage? Spit it out!"
"..."
How exactly was I supposed to answer with a hand sealed over my mouth? I calmly raised a finger and pointed at the palm currently barricading my face.
The Sword Saint looked from the hand over my mouth to Sinel and back again, then finally pulled it away and stepped back.
"There. Happy? So who told you...?"
A long breath. The moment her hand left my face, air rushed back in. The whole thing had been a little rough, but it didn't look like anything too serious. After a short recovery, I gave the Sword Saint a simple introduction.
"I'm an information broker."
"An information broker?"
"That's right. I know most of the major intelligence that moves through this city."
"Then..."
"Everything I have on you is information I gathered myself. It didn't come to me through anyone else's mouth."
"I-I see..."
"Does that settle what you were wondering about?"
"...I'll say it again. I am a real swordsman. Keep spreading weird rumors about me and I might just kill you."
The Sword Saint's broken blade leveled at me. Her sword was shattered and the criminal she'd been chasing was getting away, but for the moment she seemed relieved that her image hadn't been fully exposed.
I had no intention of quietly backing down, though. Like most of the city's mercenaries, she was a woman who trusted nothing but her own strength and threw her weight around accordingly. Between Begus's bounty and the balance of power between us, I wasn't going to feel comfortable until I held the upper hand.
Meeting those golden eyes, I let her in on one of the secrets I was carrying.
"Sword Saint."
"Yeah."
"I happen to be rather good at spreading rumors."
"...Huh?"
She tilted her head at that. Good at spreading rumors to people. The look on her face said, And what of it?
"What do you think happens if I start circulating the truth about you?"
"You wouldn't."
"I'm a first-rate information broker. Depending on how hard I work at it, you could become this era's true swordsman — or just some deranged woman who walks around with a sword on her hip."
The Sword Saint was extremely sensitive about her reputation. The moment she understood I could shape the narrative around her, she would do whatever it took to stop me.
Her expression darkened in an instant.
"You're saying you'll spread rumors about me?"
"Of course."
"Even knowing it might get you killed?"
"Then the rumor that the Sword Saint is a murderous thug who goes around killing innocent people will spread right alongside it."
With every exchange, I could see her face hardening further. And for some reason, the look on Sinel's face behind her was shifting into something unreadable as well.
I drove the wedge home and laid a cruel choice in front of the girl standing before me.
"Keep spouting nonsense and I'll leak the truth about you across the entire Cross Network."
"Th-that's...!"
"But if you quietly help us catch the bounty target, I'll let it slide — and you can take this job's bounty for yourself."
"Ugh..."
"What's it going to be, Sword Saint?"
Her eyes flicked between her sword and me. Protect the image of the peerless swordsman she had built — or go after the money sitting in front of her. Honor or gold. She had to choose one.
And I fully expected her to pick her image without a second's hesitation.
My prediction proved worthless. The Sword Saint waved the broken blade in my face and latched on.
"But... my sword broke on that guy!"
"..."
"My sword! What am I supposed to do about the grudge my sword is owed?!"
At that, my gaze drifted naturally to the scabbard at her hip.
A Spellholder. A type of equipment used by mages with emission-type magic to control their output. The sword the Sword Saint carried around functioned as a kind of Spellholder. It didn't change the fundamental nature of the magic, but it could adjust things like power and precision.
"What's the problem? If it's a Spellholder, you could just use another—"
"It was handed down to me by my grandfather, the previous Sword Saint. It's the only one of its kind."
"..."
"Without this, I'm not the Sword Saint anymore..."
So the thing had a hidden history after all. The thought that she had never been a real Sword Saint to begin with rose all the way to the top of my skull, but I decided to leave that one inside my head for now.
Even though the number of mages who actually needed one wasn't large, Spellholders were both hard to come by and expensive. A Spellholder built in an unusual form would be even more difficult to repair. The odds that a Sword Saint scraping by as a Cross Network mercenary could get it fixed easily were not high.
"Sword Saint. Let me ask you one thing."
"What do you want to know?"
"Do you know how to get that sword repaired?"
"Probably if I go to the technicians in the Black Market..."
"And you trust the Black Market crowd? No — before that, I'm curious whether you even have the money to fix it."
"Ugh..."
A broken sword. Enormous repair costs. A skilled technician. Listening to her, I was starting to feel like there was more profit here than Begus's bounty alone.
No — the bounty wasn't even the point anymore. Handled right, I could put the mercenary standing in front of me to work cheap.
Watching the corner she'd been backed into, I ran the numbers fast.
Wilson Eldeer.
A researcher at Lesert Industries I had saved once before. If it was Wilson, he might be able to help with the Sword Saint's Spellholder.
"Sword Saint. I've got a proposal for you."
Calculations finished, I held out my hand to the Sword Saint in front of me. Still seething, she stared blankly at it.
"A proposal?"
"A one-year mercenary contract."
"Why are we suddenly talking about a mercenary contract?"
"I'll throw everything I've got into helping repair your sword. The bounty will be tight, but I also promise to leave finishing Begus to you."
"You'll help me fix my sword?"
At the mention of repairing the blade, the light in her eyes changed. She was serious about that sword to the end.
"I know someone at Lesert Industries."
"...Lesert Industries."
"I'll ask them to help with the repairs."
"Really?"
"On top of that, I'll pay you a modest monthly salary for the duration of the contract. Do you accept?"
Lesert Industries. The contract term was only a year, but I was confident I could keep her for something closer to two. That long, and most of the major incidents would already have passed.
I cued up some suitably dramatic background music inside the hesitating Sword Saint's head. She flinched, then swallowed hard as she fell in line with the music, and reached out to take my hand.
"If it means I can get my sword fixed... a year is fine."
"Good. We'll draw up the contract once we're back."
"...So does that mean we have a new coworker?"
Sinel poked her head in, having listened to the whole exchange. The contract had been sealed out of nowhere. Of course she was thrown by how fast it had all happened.
But there was something that needed handling faster than that right now. I nodded and tossed her one of the bags I'd been carrying.
"Sinel. We're running out of time."
"What's this?"
"Something I prepared for catching Begus. Use it to pin his feet down."