Chapter 58
My panic was brief; I regained my composure and thought it over.
I could understand why the blonde Young Lady had stepped forward so confidently.
This was Dusk City, a place where you couldn't judge a person just by their outward appearance.
Even if she looked like nothing more than an immature rich man's daughter on the Outside, there was no telling how much destructive Body Modification, cyberware, and Bioware lay dormant beneath her skin.
To someone just looking at Dragon's Lair's Head Bartender, Sey, she appeared to be nothing more than a terrifyingly beautiful woman on the Outside, but in reality, wasn't she an incredible expert capable of taking down hordes of rampaging Ronin?
I suspected she might have received an Ultra-high output Implant procedure...
It was a mystery how on earth she had obtained such a thing, and where or how she had gotten the procedure done, but well, that wasn't the important issue right now.
The point was that Alexandra was more than capable of protecting her own body.
That was probably why her bodyguards, despite being so restless, couldn't Step forward and desperately block her while shouting, "Absolutely not!"
At a glance, they didn't seem worried that the Young Lady would get hurt, but rather that she would cause a massive accident, and that they would be reprimanded by their Superior, the Young Lady's 'Father'.
This means that the point of their concern was completely different.
Honestly, I'd probably feel the same way if I were a bodyguard.
Just looking at the clothes she was wearing, it was evident she was plastered in money, so there was no way she would have neglected investing in Enhanced cyberware for Self-defense, which directly ties to her safety.
There was a reason for the joke going around about a noble-looking Chaebol young Master and a fierce-looking Street robber with a knife running into each other on the Street, only for the Street robber to get scared, drop his knife, and run away.
The ones you really had to fear weren't gangs, thugs, robbers, or killers, but Rich People with a lot of money.
This was an advanced Cyberpunk World of Mammonism where money could do anything.
In Dusk City, wealth directly translated to Force.
As long as you had money, you could invest endless resources into your body, weapons, and employees to gain the power to crush others.
There was a very high probability that this wealthy Young Lady, despite her fragile appearance, possessed the monstrous strength to bend steel, as well as the agility and Reaction Nerves to dodge bullets with her bare body.
So it wasn't strange at all for a Rich Young Lady who was curious about underworld duels and fights to test her strength against the people who had picked a fight with her at just the right time,
especially when they looked like bottom-tier workers who wouldn't cause any repercussions even if she beat them to a pulp.
The cool image of herself swiftly dealing with the riffraff who started a fight in the bar, muttering, "That was nothing," and dusting off her hands.
Wasn't it something anyone would imagine at least once?
Furthermore, in the case of that blonde Young Lady, she actually had the ability to turn such an imagination into reality, so it must have been hard to resist the urge to show off to her heart's content.
The problem was that her opponents weren't just riffraff.
If they were normal thugs or gangs, I wouldn't have overreacted this much either.
I would have just told them I didn't care and kicked them out to fight Outside on their own.
However, they weren't a normal gang, but affiliates of the terrorist gang, Luddite.
She was dealing with actual terrorists. Though that Young Lady probably couldn't even imagine it.
For Luddite gang members who were experts at Sabotage against a robot Factory or Corporate Production Facility, even if their Body Modification Level was low, there was no telling if they had hidden secret weapons somewhere inside their bodies.
They were those bastards who committed Terrorism using Bio Explosives as if it were their daily meal. If they lunged at her in a life-or-death struggle, she might suffer a massive blow while Caught Off Guard.
If they suddenly activated a Bio-bomb and it clung to her clothes, it wouldn't matter how much cyberware she had plastered all over herself.
I wasn't just making a fuss.
Seeing the venom gathering in the eyes of those Luddite bastards dressed as Factory workers, I found it a highly plausible scenario.
I had to stop this first.
"Um, Lady Alexandra?"
I hurriedly stepped between the blonde Young Lady and the Luddite gang and spoke.
My plan was to somehow calm down and stop Alexandra, who was at least somewhat reasonable to talk to.
Wasn't that more realistic than trying to calm down those Luddite bastards?
"Not Alexandra, Young Lady."
"...?"
"Do not call me by my name; call me Young Lady, hand Butcher. That is the correct title for the person who will become your Master."
And at her response, I was momentarily dumbfounded.
This was driving me absolutely Crazy.
Acting so shamelessly in such an urgent situation made me want to flick her on the forehead. Not that she'd let me hit her even if I tried.
Taking a Deep Breath, I regained my composure and spoke again.
"Young... Lady."
"Right, you do well when instructed. So, what is it you want to say to me?"
"Didn't you say you wanted to talk to me about a contract? You also need to order a drink."
"Hmm, I did."
She gave an affirmative expression, and I thought my plan to divert her Attention was succeeding, but there was no chance.
She hadn't stopped her staring contest with the Luddite gang members who had jumped to their feet.
"Take care of the order yourself. You're the Manager here, so you should know what drinks are good. I have another matter to deal with."
Thud—.
As she said that and tried to move forward, I moved One Step to the side and blocked her.
At that, a freezing chill settled in Alexandra's eyes as she looked up at me.
"What do you think you're doing right now, hand Butcher? I let it slide earlier since you didn't know any better, but blocking my path twice is unacceptable."
Wow, as expected of someone who had lived her whole life nagging her subordinates, every single word was sharp.
But I wasn't this Young Lady's subordinate. I had my own boss, and the Headquarters Chairman who paid my salary was someone else entirely.
Therefore, I had no reason to be overly intimidated.
For me, since my persuasion had already failed once, my bigger concern was how to send that Young Lady back to her seat.
Telling her my guess—which was practically a certainty—that they might be a Luddite gang was one option.
Just like how explaining the reason why Ronin didn't stare for long had caused an adverse reaction, making her openly stare and pick a fight, things could flow in a similar direction this time too.
It would be fortunate if this Young Lady knew exactly how dangerous a Luddite gang was and obediently backed down.
If she started acting up out of a desire for glory, claiming she would personally catch the wanted members of the Luddite gang.
It would be like making the mistake of pouring oil on a Burning House all over again.
Therefore, I felt I had to consider revealing their true identities as a last resort.
For now, I just... had no choice but to do my best to stop her.
"No. According to the Bar Regulations I informed you of, fighting is unacceptable for any reason."
When I shook my head without any particular Change in Expression despite her Cold tone, Alexandra seemed quite surprised.
When she parted her lips with wide eyes, it seemed her words had never been rejected so directly by another person before.
She really seemed like a Young Lady who had been raised incredibly sheltered.
Up until now, whenever she glared so fiercely and spoke with a lowered voice, anyone would have listened to her, because they would have all been servants or attendants of her Family.
But not me.
The only person who can unilaterally give me orders is the person who pays me. And that isn't you.
"...Isn't that limited to inside the bar? What if we go Outside and fight? Is that still not allowed?"
"Yes, it is not allowed."
When I continued to say no until the end, she frowned and fell deep into thought.
Seeing her twirl her bright hair with her finger and stare straight at me without a single word, I felt a somewhat eerie chill.
She wasn't thinking of swinging her fist at me for being annoying instead of the Luddite gang, was she? She wasn't some fighting cock.
And fortunately, that didn't happen.
As the situation progressed to that point, the Attendants who had just been watching blankly from behind cautiously stepped forward and pulled on her arm.
, taking my side timidly from behind, unbefitting of their large builds.
"Um, Young Lady. The hand Butcher must have said it for your sake, so please don't mind it too much. How about you take a seat for now?"
"That's right. There's no benefit in intentionally causing an accident, is there? Last time, the Head of the Family also..."
Alexandra closed her eyes and remained silent for a moment before finally opening her mouth.
"Fine. Power demands responsibility... Father always said that accepting the opinions of subordinates well is also a skill."
"As expected of you, Young Lady. You are brilliant."
Leaving the bodyguards' flattery behind, she fixed her sapphire-like shining eyes on me and spoke.
"However, that only applies when it is the opinion of my subordinates. If someone who is not under my influence dares to make presumptuous interferences, I would be in a very foul mood."
"..."
"Since you interfered in my business, I will believe you have also prepared yourself to become My Person."
"...!"
"I shall return to my seat. hand Butcher, we can Finish talking with you about the contract, just as you wanted."
I hadn't imagined this kind of development at all.
It sounded like she was going to sign a contract and relentlessly nag me, giving me chills. This would make it several times harder to refuse.
The gaze she gave me as she glanced at me once and returned to her seat felt like it was stickily clinging to my body.
...At least I had overcome the immediate crisis, so that was a relief. It was just as I was about to heave a Sigh of Relief, thinking I could finally relax.
Suddenly, I realized I was missing something.
I had barely managed to send Alexandra back to her seat.
However, the Luddite gang members did not sit back down in their seats.
And like all interactions in the World, a fight wasn't a problem that ended just by stopping one side.
The other side had to be stopped as well for it to end.
"..."
I heard the sound of someone trudging closer. Heavy work boots, the kind you'd see at a construction site, pounded the floor as the wearer walked.
A figure with an exceptionally messy appearance, a small, hunched frame, and a long scar across his face stood at the front, walking toward us with the other Luddite gang members.
They were Domineering, looking as if they would lunge at any moment.
...Nothing in this World is easy.
Gritting my teeth, I blocked their path this time.
Surely, they wouldn't suddenly try to kill me when I had nothing to do with this.
There was no human purer than me in this World. I didn't have a single machine in my body. There was nothing for you guys to destroy. It was all just naturally born carbon-based organic compounds.
Actually, I did have one tiny chip in my head, but you could overlook that much, right? You guys were walking around with all sorts of cyberware while pretending not to, so wasn't I practically a Yangban compared to you?
Right? Luddite friends. Just go away.
While maintaining an expressionless attitude on the Outside, I screamed that desperately in my head.