Survival Instinct (4)
“Caught him pretty quick. The money he stole is right here.”
Sinel held the money envelope out toward me, her eyes shining with the clear expectation of a reward. It was unmistakably the same envelope the pickpocket had snatched only moments before.
I stared at the envelope in her hand for a moment, then spoke.
“Any interest in working for my company?”
I replayed the movements I had just witnessed in my mind. Sinel Cloverbloom. She was far more skilled in combat than I had given her credit for. If I ever had to face her myself, how long could I last? Not long at all, I was certain of that. Hiring the girl in front of me as a bodyguard would make me feel considerably more secure.
“Is this a recruitment pitch?”
“That’s the idea.”
“I prefer freelancing for now… but there’s one thing I want to ask.”
“What do you want to know?”
It was only natural to be curious about a potential workplace. Salary? If having a bodyguard meant I could move more aggressively, I was willing to meet her halfway. Benefits? With no actual employees and no real foundation as a company, I could offer welfare packages no other place on earth could match. So what would Sinel ask?
I waited, tense, for her next words. What came back was a question beyond anything I had imagined.
“What’s the company name?”
“The company name?”
“If I’m going to join somewhere, I at least want it to be a place I’ve heard of.”
The condition that it had to be a company whose name she recognized made me press a hand to my forehead without thinking. The company existed only in my imagination—how could it possibly have a name? And even if I told her one, the odds of her having heard it were zero.
Unfortunately, recruiting Sinel seemed impossible. Feeling deflated, I gave a hollow laugh and waved a hand.
“You’ve never heard of it. It’s not exactly the kind of place that gets a lot of clients.”
Bringing up the company name would only make things awkward, so I chose to brush past it. Sinel didn’t seem particularly interested either; she didn’t press the matter.
“Is that so?”
“Shame. I thought I’d finally found a capable colleague after a long time.”
“My condolences. I’m an elite bounty hunter—not just anyone can hire me.”
Elite, huh. She looked even less reliable when she said it, but in a limited sense she wasn’t entirely wrong. Watching Sinel praise herself, I counted the credits still left inside the envelope. It wasn’t an outrageous sum, but a considerable amount remained.
“You like bounties?”
“Yes. I do.”
“This one’s from me. Good work catching the pickpocket.”
I handed her the entire envelope of money—the same one she had brought back to me in the first place. I still had plenty left from the fence James, and if I thought of it as an investment in the future, it didn’t feel like a bad deal at all.
Sinel’s eyes went wide as she carefully examined the envelope I held out. Blink. Blink. She seemed unable to believe I was suddenly handing over such a large sum. Her gaze darted rapidly between the money and my face before she asked,
“You’re giving me all of it?”
“Is the amount not to your liking?”
“Of course not.”
Permission granted, Sinel’s hand snaked out and snatched the envelope. She already had a rough idea of how much was inside, so she didn’t bother counting it—just stuffed it straight into her pocket. A satisfied smile spread across her face as she patted the pocket fondly. From my perspective, watching her, she looked exactly like a squirrel with its cheeks stuffed full of seeds.
“Well, I’ve paid the bounty. Mind doing me one favor?”
“Of course.”
“I’d like you to haul that guy over to the security force for me.”
I pointed at the pickpocket still rolling around on the ground, clutching his thigh. I had no idea if there was even a bounty on him, and if there was, it probably wasn’t worth much. I had no desire to walk all the way to the security force myself just for that kind of pocket change.
“Understood.”
“Then I’ll head back to the hotel. Take care of the security force.”
Sinel accepted the cleanup without a single complaint. With the criminal’s aftermath handed off to someone else, I turned to head straight back to the hotel. Clean, full, and starting to feel the drowsiness creep in.
Just as I was about to walk toward the hotel, I felt a hand tug at my sleeve from behind and stopped. When I turned, sure enough, Sinel was holding onto my clothes and looking up at me.
“What if there’s a bounty on him?”
“……”
“What should I do?”
“……You keep all of it.”
“You’re a generous man, Mr. Percival.”
It was about the money after all.
Before this body became mine, my mother always used to say: You’re the kind of person who would survive even if you were dropped on a deserted island. I had to agree—I was fairly good at handling crises. Not always perfect, but more often than not I managed to pick an option that was at least average. People around me called it scheming. But labeling my excellent improvisation as mere scheming made me feel a little pathetic about myself. So I gave my real-world techniques a different name: the “survival instinct” that kept me safe from danger.
“Who are you looking for?”
That was why I had come today to a four-story building on the outskirts. Cross Network. The company with the grandiose name made its living connecting people to people. Linking mercenaries with clients was the basics; if needed, they didn’t hesitate to put you in touch with information brokers or even more dangerous types. Cross Network sat right on the blurry line between legal and illegal.
“I’d like you to call Riman.”
“Mr. Riman, is it? Do you have a prior reservation?”
“No reservation.”
“No reservation, I see. Understood.”
The reason I had come here today was to meet a man named Riman who operated out of Cross Network. The receptionist at the desk nodded, picked up the receiver, and began dialing somewhere—clearly checking Riman’s schedule directly. Riman was a fairly well-known information broker even within Cross Network. Odds were high he already had other appointments.
“I’m sorry, but he has a full schedule today and won’t be able to meet.”
“How long would I have to wait? I don’t mind waiting.”
“If it’s urgent, his assistant can see you instead. Shall I show you in?”
Riman’s assistant, huh. The office Riman ran wasn’t small by any means. An assistant would still have some connection to Riman’s information network, so it wasn’t a bad option. And when you got down to it, what I had to say wasn’t particularly important to Riman anyway.
“That works. Where do I go?”
“I’ve registered you. Please proceed to Meeting Room B24.”
“Having a counterpart who’s too popular is a headache.”
I took the keycard from the receptionist and started walking. The letter on the meeting room indicated the floor: A01 meant first floor, B01 second floor, C01 third floor. Meeting Room B24 on the keycard required taking the escalator up to the second floor.
When I arrived at B24 and held the card to the reader, a soft electronic tone sounded and the door opened. Inside sat a man in a suit with hollow eyes.
“Young client. Must be pretty urgent.”
“The sooner the better, yeah.”
There was an empty chair across from him. I pulled it over, sat down, and answered. Information brokers in War City tended to be rough by nature. Dangerous clients showed up at all hours, and the constant power games translated directly into results. Of course, if anything went wrong here, Cross Network would step in immediately.
“What kind of information do you want?”
After a brief appraisal of me, the man got straight to business. But I hadn’t come here today to buy information. I had come to sell information to Riman. Information brokers sometimes purchased important intel as well.
“I don’t want any information. I only came to sell some.”
“Information? We do buy from time to time, yes. What are you looking to sell?”
The information I intended to sell was extremely important—both to this city and to my own future path.
“I’m selling information on Percival Smith.”
“Percival Smith…… Wait. Before that, what’s your name?”
“Percival Smith.”
The man’s eyes went blank.
“You crazy?”
“Pretty much.”