Overture (4)
In this city, two private military companies stand above all others in the eyes of the people.
One is the Knighttail Knights, specialists in VIP security.
The other is Secondary Beat, reputed to command the largest scale of any PMC in the city.
Deron Beltz was the 1st Team Leader of Secondary Beat — and its second-largest shareholder.
"Deron."
Gazing out the window over the cityscape, Deron turned at the familiar voice.
Jack Beltz. His older brother was calling him.
A nameplate bearing the title of CEO sat on the desk before the man in the chair.
Deron looked at his only blood relative and answered.
"I'm listening."
"You remember the last job?"
"The Magic Tower?"
"That's right. The one that old monster requested."
At Jack's words, Deron cast his mind back.
The Magic Tower — infamous for its arrogance — had come to Secondary Beat asking for support. And they had done it under the name of the city's most distinguished mage, the Great Intellect herself.
Even considering her personal power alone, most mercenaries would be a joke to her. That a woman like that wanted their help made no sense to Deron at all.
"If the Magic Tower itself is asking for help, the opposition can't be anything soft."
"Obviously. It's that woman talking, after all."
"So I looked into them. Those Cabal bastards."
An organization of unknown origin whose outline had begun to surface years ago. They hadn't known its exact name — until the Magic Tower's commission solved that problem for them.
The Cabal. A criminal syndicate formed from a considerable number of wanted fugitives linked together. They tended to move with some purpose beyond simple profit, and most of what they did left a trail of corpses in its wake.
"What did you find?"
"Looks like a fair number of top-priority wanted criminals are tied up in it."
"Top-priority, huh…"
"The Cabal's probably helping them stay on the run."
Jack rubbed his chin at Deron's report. Deron recognized the gesture at once — his only brother was in a foul mood. Jack Beltz, CEO of Secondary Beat, had a habit of stroking his jaw whenever a situation sat wrong with him. Most of the time, those situations meant losses for the company.
"What's Public Security's response?"
"They won't make the first move. Doing so would only diminish the Magic Tower's standing."
"At this rate… we might not even break even. I'll need to think this over."
"So what, then? You planning to turn them down?"
"If we do, people will sneer that we tucked tail and ran. That's what makes this worse."
In this city, looking weak was a death sentence. It was a savage place where nothing but hyenas prowled in every direction — and Deron, who had clawed his way through countless fights, knew that better than anyone.
This wasn't a fight you could walk away from just because you wanted to. If Secondary Beat meant to keep its place at the top, there was no other choice.
"Top-priority types are a real headache, no question."
Public Security classified long-term fugitives — the kind that demanded heavy casualties to bring in — as top-priority wanted criminals. Even with enormous bounties on their heads, most bounty hunters refused to chase them. Public Security itself struggled to pin them down. Even a famous hunter who took one on had to accept the near-certainty of serious losses. The math simply didn't work.
"Doesn't mean they're completely untouchable, though."
"Deron."
Jack's face tightened at his brother's battle-hungry remark. The reputation of Secondary Beat's Sword Demon, Deron Beltz, was known to everyone in the business. Even so, Jack had no desire to send his little brother into a place that reeked of risk.
"Well. If we can't avoid it, I'll just go myself."
"…I can't pay you much for this."
"Doesn't matter. The day I run is the day the Magic Tower shuts its doors."
Deron smiled and tapped his sword. The thick scabbard at his hip rattled with a heavy clack. The blade was a custom piece ordered from Lesert Industries — something special.
"I trust you… but don't get careless."
"As if. I'm always careful."
At his brother's fretting, Deron turned his gaze back to the window. Secondary Beat's offices occupied a high-rise in the central district. The view from the CEO's office never changed much — people shrunk to the size of ants, vehicles threading between them, and the endless accidents and incidents that bloomed among the crowds.
Looking down on that landscape, Deron wiped the smile from his mouth and spoke to Jack.
"If you're going to bite someone, you'd better be ready to get bitten yourself."
The day after my meeting with Spinel.
Sinel's cold seemed to have eased somewhat — she had stopped coughing. She showed no sign of illness at all, padding over to Blackie as usual and stroking him. Meanwhile, my lower back ached from sleeping on the sofa.
"You feeling all right?"
"I'm fine now."
"Good. Glad to hear it."
Apparently out of consideration for her ailing colleague, Sword Star had brought over a whole box of health drinks. Sinel, of course, took one sip, declared it disgusting, and never touched them again. So I, with my sore back, decided to finish them off myself.
I cracked one open and drank. I understood immediately why Sinel had given up. I had expected a health drink — but this was too healthy. The taste of pure wellness, and nothing else.
"Looks like she's back to normal today."
Sword Star watched Sinel playing with Blackie as she spoke. She hadn't so much as glanced at the drinks she'd bought; she was drinking a cola from the fridge instead. Judging by her attitude, she had known exactly how those things tasted when she bought them.
I gave a dry laugh and asked,
"What's wrong? Disappointed you don't get to do bodyguard work?"
"It's not that. I already know where I'm useful now."
"Good that you understand. You're better suited to other things than security detail."
When she moved quietly, few things were as threatening as Sword Star's magic. Not that she would ever actually move quietly — not so long as she wore a sword at her hip. That was the image of the Sword Star that Yuell held in her mind, after all.
"Are you going out today, though?"
Sinel stood, still cradling Blackie in her arms.
Business that required leaving the office. We weren't currently hunting any particular fugitive. Even so, I needed to step out for a while today — because of Spinel's visit yesterday. I intended to find something nearby that could hide an identity.
"A little later. I'm thinking of going shopping."
"Shopping?"
"Yeah. Not a department store or the Black Market, though."
"Hmm. There are places worth shopping besides those?"
"If you look hard enough, you'll turn up at least one decent find."
True, department stores and the Black Market had better merchandise. But those places were packed with surveillance cameras. If you didn't want the origin of your purchases traced, you needed somewhere more… suitable. Somewhere like the junk shop of James, the city's finest fence.
"In two days, I'm giving both of you time off."
Then I brought up the most important matter. Only two days remained until the operation. On the day itself, I planned to put Sinel and Sword Star on leave and keep them clear of it.
The announcement was abrupt enough that both of them looked puzzled.
"…Time off?"
"You're giving us leave all of a sudden?"
There was only one reason I was forcing vacation on them. Neither Sinel nor Sword Star could come on this operation. Keeping my identity hidden was part of it — but even setting that aside, the job was far too dangerous. It was a large-scale operation under the Successor's orders. Cabal officers I had never seen before were likely to show up.
"You've both worked hard enough. One day off won't hurt."
"Not long ago you said you didn't want to pay our salaries."
"That was then. Lately you've been putting in real work. The day the name Sword Star spreads across the city doesn't look far off."
"R-really?"
Not one Cabal officer — several of them would be there. I had no illusions that Sinel or Sword Star could handle that. Staying glued to Spinel's side myself was the best option. Sinel and Sword Star were not people I could afford to lose in a place like this. The risk of this operation was mine alone to carry.
"And as for you, Sinel…"
"I don't want it."
"…"
Apparently Sinel had other ideas. At her flat refusal of the leave, I could only stare at her blankly.