Chapter 100
Every older brother and younger sister in this world is made to hate the other.
This is a truth that can be explained simply, based on the facts.
First, there's the basic biological mechanism that reduces the expression of recessive genes, and second, there's the 50,000 won my younger sister stole from me, which proved it beyond a doubt.
A colossal sum, enough to buy an A-grade game on Steam without a discount….
But that didn't mean every sibling relationship inevitably ended in disaster.
The relationship between an older sister and a younger brother was different.
I'm absolutely not saying that because I don't have an older sister. Anyway, that's how it is.
In Korea, the duty between blood relatives, like parents and children or brothers and sisters, is called ‘heavenly bonds.’
(For example, it means that a younger sister must always respect her oppa while also mastering water-style ninjutsu, so she can summon a glass of water from a barren wasteland whenever she says a single word: “Water.”)
Heavenly bonds.
It means a bond ordained by heaven.
And anyone who fails to uphold it receives the special title of ‘depraved child.’
For reference, that title also comes with being subjected to countless pointing fingers from society.
That was how weighty heavenly bonds─.
Blood relations were weighty, and frightening, too.
In the central districts of the city, where clear skies stretched over lush trees unlike in the other districts and enormous mansions stood in rows, a woman from a ‘family’ enjoyed a lifestyle that made her yearn for a proletarian red revolution while spooning shaved ice made from Shine Muscat grapes or apple mangoes in the cold weather….
The fact that she had come all the way down to such a bottom-level district herself showed just how thick and sturdy the tie known as heavenly bonds was.
“Shine Muscat shaved ice?”
“Ah, or was apple-mango shaved ice the most expensive these days? Looking at it, prices sure are…….”
“…Where do they even sell that?”
“Anyway, that's not what's important right now.”
I swiftly changed the subject.
I clapped lightly to draw her attention over to me.
Clap.
“Your brother…. You said he was your younger brother, right?”
At my words, Eleanor Crossfell gave a small nod.
Her brother's name was Aiden Crossfell.
To summarize the explanation I'd heard so far in three short lines:
1. Aiden Crossfell, who had been living just fine in the city center, entered puberty.
2. He quickly ran away from home. No one knew why, but he headed toward the outskirts of the city.
3. Eleanor Crossfell tried to get her family's help finding her runaway younger brother, but for some reason, the family didn't care about Aiden Crossfell at all. There were even signs that they were trying to erase his records. Enraged by this, Eleanor Crossfell secretly shook off her guards and came down to the outskirts alone, determined to find her younger brother by herself.
Then, while Eleanor Crossfell was beating up innocent homeless people on the street, she happened to hear about ‘Hot Dog Man,’ a purist with formidable physical abilities who was also widely rumored to be a good person…!
The three-line summary was a little strange in places, but her story could be organized that way regardless.
“……Hmm.”
I see.
My hidden identity was─.
Her younger brother.
No wonder living in Area 49 had been unusually difficult….
It seemed the time had finally come to eat hot dogs dusted with truffle powder instead of candle-wax-like gruel.
Of course, I wasn't eating candle-wax-like gruel even now.
I looked at Eleanor Crossfell with a glimmer of hope.
Opening my eyes as kindly as possible was an added touch.
“…Sis?”
“……”
Oh, dear.
I thought murderous intent had taken physical form.
One ill-timed joke earned me nothing but a barrage of disdainful looks.
As I'd sensed earlier, she wasn't the type who responded well to jokes.
Was it because she came from a family?
As I'd said as a joke, there wasn't the slightest chance that she was my relative.
The body that had fallen into this world was….
My real body.
I had only gotten a little bigger after receiving the super-soldier serum.
My fierce appearance, which had often made babies cry in elevators, and the scars on my forearms from carrying an 81mm mortar around were proof of that.
Anyway.
“So, did you ask where I learned magic circuits because you thought I might have learned them from the younger brother who ran away from home?”
“…Uh.”
Then those ice-cold eyes turned back to me.
“But now that I look closely…. That doesn't seem to be it. The feeling is completely different. Could it be….”
She asked, a strange look in her eyes.
“……Did you run away from home, too?”
“Absolutely not.”
I answered without hesitation before another strange misunderstanding could arise.
Whether then or now, leaving home only makes things harder for the person who leaves.
The utility bills double.
…I did eventually live on my own, but still.
“Hmm…. Well, never mind.”
Whether she believed me or thought I was hiding something,
she didn't press the question.
It was personally difficult for me to answer, so I rather liked Eleanor Crossfell's reserved attitude.
“Since it was difficult to search alone anyway…. It would be better to get help from someone native to the outskirts—no, a resident.”
“Huh?”
What resident?
When I tilted my head, Eleanor Crossfell quietly opened her mouth.
“You said you'd help me find my brother, didn't you?”
“Ah.”
I'd said all sorts of things just moments ago to somehow get out of that situation.
My mouth was always the problem.
“Then, as for compensation……”
“…Didn't you say you didn't need any payment?”
“……”
Right.
I'd said that, too.
I take back what I said about liking her attitude.
It was no wonder nobles got cursed out in medieval society.
I could really use a guillotine.
* * *
“Whew, I'm kidding. …This is an advance payment. Even so, it's from my secure account, so it isn't a particularly large sum…….”
“…Is this what noblesse oblige tastes like?”
“???”
In truth, money wasn't particularly important to me while I was living and eating at the grocery store.
But there was no harm in having more money.
For one thing, (Michael) was running a club made up of homeless people.
The more mouths there were to feed, the more unexpected expenses there were bound to be.
Besides, I'd already spent all the money the mafia boss Luciana had given me….
I thought it had worked out well.
As I grinned from ear to ear, Eleanor Crossfell's expression shifted into one of vague displeasure, and she handed me a paper business card.
The business card, which had been deep blue as if frozen solid, gradually turned white.
This seemed to be magic at work, too.
Its quality was on a completely different level from the magic-powered flyers that occasionally circulated on the streets.
“This is my contact information. I'll keep searching around the outskirts. …If you find out anything, make sure you contact me at that number.”
Perhaps she hadn't even considered that I might take the money and run; Eleanor Crossfell coolly departed after saying only that.
Whew, I broke into a cold sweat for the first time in a while.
It brought back vivid memories of when I first met Luciana, who had reminded me of Two-Star.
‘Looks like I'm going to have to play at being a fixer, despite it never being part of my lot.’
Why did things like this keep happening to me when I was nothing more than an ordinary grocery-store part-timer?
- Ta. Since our home base got raided, we should go raid theirs, too.
- Ta-da.
- Surprise, Motherf*cker.
Hmm….
Come to think of it, I hadn't actually acted much like an ordinary grocery-store part-timer.
Anyway, since things had turned out this way.
I went up to the grocery store's rooftop, for what felt like the first time in ages.
Since no one had probably been up there since I last went, there should surely have been a gray-white snowfield…….
“Nope.”
The grocery store rooftop was dotted with countless tiny footprints and several fairly large snowmen built from snow.
Had Rivera's family—the little imps—come up to play and then left?
Come to think of it, when I'd looked last time,
they had seemed to play up here a lot.
Still, the rooftops of other buildings might be dangerous, so I'd have to warn them next time I saw them.
“They did a good job.”
The snowmen on the rooftop were crafted so skillfully that they were almost more like snow sculptures.
I could see Rivera, as well as the little figures of Runrun and Kanpra, whom I'd seen before….
Was this Michael and me? There was a cat, too.
There were even figures of some of the other homeless people.
At the very end, I spotted Nova, with huge turrets attached to both hands.
Now that's some handiwork.
A smile naturally spread across my lips at the peaceful scene.
At least.
It was a sight—and a part of daily life—that I could take my time appreciating because I hadn't been acting like an ordinary grocery-store part-timer.
I leaned against the old rooftop railing, my heart warmed.
Creak.
For a while, I stood there absently watching the dazzling holograms and neon signs glittering beyond Risk City's towering walls.
Then I took my terminal from my pocket and tried to message the capable web spider─, Troy Mason, who had helped me several times recently….
“Hmm.”
But I stopped before sending it.
‘Had Troy asked me to tell the boss that he'd taken good care of me last time?’
I'd already been meaning to contact her anyway.
I just hadn't had the chance with so many things happening lately.
I scrolled through my terminal and searched for my boss Christine's contact information.
Then I held down the call button.
A refined classical ringtone suited to Christine rang softly.
But unlike before, the call never connected, no matter how long it played.
[The call could not be connected due to the user's circumstances. Please leave a voice message.]
I scratched my head at the mechanical voice.
‘…Is she busy right now?’
Maybe I should at least leave a message.
* * *
In Risk City, Districts 1 through 20 are called the central districts, Districts 21 through 40 the inner districts, and Districts 41 through 49 the outskirts.
The central districts were home to many city government facilities and family buildings.
The inner districts contained many skyscrapers and factories built by various megacorps.
The outskirts were, for all intents and purposes, abandoned land.
And here.
District 21.
A factory site in the central business district.
Inside a factory burning amid the sudden all-out war between Veltech and Ryan─.
A woman with deep red hair quietly held a cigarette between her lips.
The factory contained countless chemicals, making the flames truly dangerous, yet the area around the woman standing at the very center of them was incredibly peaceful.
It was as though she had used something invisible to erect walls around herself.
A megacorp contract mercenary watching that astonishing sight muttered in a trembling voice.
The mercenary's limbs, lying among the wreckage of broken security robots, looked almost crushed to pulp.
“A city-government psyker with power output this overwhelming…. I thought the rumors about the Collector were nothing more than an urban legend….”
At the mercenary's words, the woman, Christine, exhaled smoke from a cigarette she'd made herself by blending herbs.
“Corporate warfare in District 21 is prohibited by city law under the Public Security Maintenance Act. Why are people who know better making trouble like this…….”
No one answered her mutter.
After resolving the situation in an instant, Christine returned to her aircraft.
She had been extremely busy lately, rushing around because of the corporate war being waged by the two companies.
‘…What on earth are they fighting over?’
It was truly a nuisance.
Then Christine noticed a missed call and a message she hadn't seen, thanks to having turned off notifications.
The sender was…. Abel Anderson.
The subordinate whose name she had personally chosen.
Christine's eyes softened slightly when she saw it.
But.
After Christine finished reading the message, a question mark appeared above her head.
───────────────
Subject: Is everything all right?
A cold, harsh season has arrived before I knew it, with the chill sinking all the way into my bones. Every time I see snowflakes falling from the sky, I think of you, Boss, who took such good care of me, and I can't stop worrying. I seem to remember you saying that you were in such poor health that you made and smoked your own herbal cigarettes. I hope you haven't caught a cold in this weather….
For reference, I─.
(Excerpt omitted)
Goodness, I've gone on a tangent.
So many things have happened. It's been really hard, seriously…. I wanted to talk to you about that, so if you have time later, please contact me.
P.S.) I also have some questions about psykers, or rather, psychic abilities. For example, telekinesis. Please contact me. Please.
Oh, and that friend named Troy is quite a decent fellow. Troy seems quite fond of you, Boss, so thank you for introducing me to such a good friend.
Then I'll be going. Toodle-oo….
───────────────
“…??”
There were simply far too many things in the message that caught her attention.