Chapter 113
The attack by the remnants of the Haku-gumi was wrapped up much sooner than expected.
The Haku-gumi had once been one of the three great powers dividing up District 49, but with the death of its boss, it had now fallen to almost the level of the Bogus Gang, so this was only natural.
And unlike the Spaaro Rapido family, which could boast a relatively long history, or the Black Star Society, which at least had plenty of underhandedness and financial power, the Haku-gumi had undeniably grown too large in too short a time.
Luciana briefly added that even when Bansho Takemaru had been alive, its influence had not been particularly strong compared to the other two factions.
She continued speaking while casually nudging with her feet the remnants of the Haku-gumi—what had once been remnants, anyway—as they rolled around on the ground.
“I guess that rat bastard did have some measure of popularity after all. I didn’t know the scraps left after everything was cleared out had been waiting for a chance to take revenge on you.”
Come to think of it, Luciana had called Bansho Takemaru a ‘rat bastard’ last time too.
I didn’t need to see her face to know what she thought of him.
“That’s what I thought.”
I replied while carefully watching Luciana’s reaction.
After all, I was the reason we had been attacked.
The air vehicle we had been riding in had been completely wrecked, and the members of her subordinate organization who had been following us had also been seriously injured.
Yet Luciana seemed to be looking for the cause of the attack somewhere else.
Luciana casually tossed her gloves, stained dark red with electrolyte fluid and blood, onto the ground and let out a rare sigh for someone of her personality.
“Tch, it’s my fault.”
“…Pardon?”
I tilted my head at her words.
Even if I sent the footage to a YouTube channel specializing in traffic accidents, this was an incident where I would have been found 100 percent at fault.
I wondered if she was saying that deliberately to spare my feelings, but the bitterness lingering on her face made it seem as though she truly believed it was her fault.
“If I hadn’t impulsively come looking for you in District 44…. These damn bastards probably wouldn’t have been able to track your location.”
In other words, this was what she meant.
I was the reason they had started tracking me, but she was the reason I had been tracked in the end.
But as the only person in this world who could proudly claim to possess a living conscience, I immediately argued back.
“No, what kind of strange logic is that?”
If I hadn’t come to District 44 in the first place, if I had wiped out all the remnants of the Haku-gumi, if I hadn’t tried to hide my telekinesis and simply watched the incoming missiles without doing anything….
The air vehicle we were riding in would never have crashed in the first place.
Of course, I had used telekinesis to protect the two of them during the crash, but that wasn’t entirely without excuse, so it was fine.
Anyway.
I spoke to Luciana sincerely.
“This happened because of me, no matter what anyone says. You were only dragged into it, Ms. Luciana.”
Then Nova, who had been standing silently beside us, suddenly opened her mouth.
“Actually, there is no need for the two of you to fight. If I had detected the attackers’ presence in advance─.”
“What are you talking about now?”
I lightly flicked Nova on the forehead, cutting her off.
It was already awkward enough that the two of us were insisting it was our own fault.
Yet when Luciana saw our natural reaction, her eyes narrowed.
“Anyway, I’m sorry.”
“Just words?”
“……”
Her response left me momentarily speechless.
Her gaze as she stared at me felt somewhat different from usual.
At the same time, a miserable future in which I was billed for the air vehicle’s repairs and rental fees, as well as my subordinates’ medical expenses, vividly appeared in my mind.
If things went that way, Michael—who was probably still busily earning dollars by selling paper straws and Daedong River bottled water—might come to strangle me.
No, but it really was my fault.
“I-I’ll do anything I can. So, if you could just wait a little before sending me the repair bill….”
I looked at Luciana with my eyes opened as wide and earnestly as possible.
But Luciana seemed to be concerned about a different part of what I had said.
She covered her mouth as if startled and put on a surprised expression.
If it weren’t for the blood on her face, she might even have looked like a girl.
“…Anything?”
“Yes, well….”
She wouldn’t tell me to die, would she?
Luciana smiled faintly at my answer.
And then.
“Could you document what you just said in a contract?”
“……”
That was a little much….
* * *
Fortunately, we didn’t suffer the misfortune of encountering a multiple rocket launcher twice on the way back.
When we safely arrived in District 49 aboard a newly arrived air vehicle, the neighborhood’s characteristic damp, moldy smell gently drifted in.
District 50 right next door was a landfill, while District 48 was an industrial zone.
By that standard, this air was clean and refreshing enough to put it roughly in the top ten percent.
It seemed no new incident had occurred at the grocery store during the few days I had been away.
The building’s entrance was intact, and Mikhail was still lying in a relaxed position on one side of the alley.
“Good to see you.”
“……”
Leaving the taciturn Mikhail behind, I looked toward the grocery store, where warm light was spilling out.
I had only intended to be gone for a little while, but I hadn’t expected to be held up there for several days.
Naturally, there was a zero percent chance that some sudden housekeeper spirit had appeared while I was gone and taken over inventory management at the grocery store.
At most, perhaps someone had taken out and organized the goods delivered to the logistics warehouse or the ones past their expiration dates.
‘I’ll be working hard for another few hours.’
With a light sigh, I pushed open the glass door, and the store’s distinctive old-fashioned bell rang out loudly.
Ding, ding.
“Dyu.”
“?”
“…Ah.”
Nova sometimes had another personality pop out, presumably because operating the turret and android body at the same time was quite inconvenient.
Hearing the bell as the door opened, the metal door set into the back of the counter swung wide open.
“…Hot Dog Man!”
“Good to see you too.”
The golden eyes visible through her shaggy hair sparkled brightly.
I had only been away for a few days, but seeing Rivera come scampering toward me excitedly like a puppy lifted my mood considerably.
Come to think of it, Rivera’s personality had definitely become much brighter compared to before.
But those lively footsteps came to an immediate stop when she spotted another woman standing behind me.
That woman was Luciana, who had suddenly said she wanted to look around the grocery store.
A position with Luciana on the left and Nova on the right—more frightening than having a Blue Dragon on the left and a White Tiger on the right….
Rivera threw off the innocent puppy mask she had been wearing until just moments ago and glared at Luciana like a wary cat.
(I don’t mean the other cat.)
“…What’s a mafia boss doing here─, yo.”
For a moment, I thought she was speaking informally.
But despite her sharp attitude, Luciana maintained her usual relaxed expression.
“I think I understand why the store’s business is so poor. A customer has arrived, but the clerk’s attitude is absolutely dreadful….”
“…What do you mean, customer!!”
Then Rivera’s sharp gaze shifted to the paper Luciana was clutching tightly.
Paper itself was not particularly valuable in this world; there were even plenty of artificial-pulp paper straws made from cornstarch in the homeless shelter behind the grocery store.
Still, Rivera seemed bothered by the sight of a mafia boss holding a piece of paper against her chest as though it were precious.
“…But what is that paper?”
“This?”
Nova and I, who had been watching the conversation from the side, sighed along with each other.
I really hadn’t expected her to actually turn it into a contract.
Luciana added in a languid, slightly teasing tone.
“I’m not telling you.”
Teasing Rivera purely out of curiosity was so very Luciana.
Since no one knew what would happen to Luciana if the furious Rivera unleashed a Nymph Punch—no, an Imp Punch—I stepped in to mediate between them.
“Now, now, everyone calm down.”
There weren’t any suitable seats inside the grocery store.
It wasn’t as though I could sit at the counter by myself.
Should I go bring out a box of cat food from the logistics warehouse?
Thinking that, I offered Luciana milk from the dairy management office she operated, and Rivera a fruit-flavored drink (more suitable for someone her age).
“……”
“……”
Then Nova’s gaze seemed to pierce straight through the back of my head, so I handed her the aluminum-can bottled water I had taken out for myself—Fluid Balm—and took out another one.
I could record the inventory later.
Before long, Rivera had quieted down again and looked up at me with a cautious question.
“By the way, you changed your clothes….”
“Oh, right. I should ask Michael later if he has any spare clothes. They’re definitely new, but I don’t know why the material feels so uncomfortable.”
Maybe it was because I had dressed like a homeless person ever since falling into this world.
This might also be a form of self-defense mechanism.
Thanks to my 【Iron Mind】 trait, I could objectively assess my own condition.
That was how great an influence the trait had on me.
It wasn’t as though my personality had changed, but 【Magic Circuit】, 【Extreme Cold】, 【Hellfire】, and even 【Telekinesis】….
It felt as though knowledge of them had been hammered directly into my head like Doraemon’s gadgets, so I didn’t feel any difficulty using them.
But Rivera hadn’t brought up my clothes to compliment my neat appearance.
“…Were you really injured badly enough that you had to change your clothes?”
At Rivera’s trembling voice, I quietly looked toward Nova.
Since my terminal had melted completely and I couldn’t contact anyone, Nova had said she would contact the grocery store on my behalf.
She nodded firmly.
Since I didn’t possess a mind-reading trait, I had no choice but to come up with a few interpretations from her impassive behavior.
1. She hadn’t gone into detail about the injuries yet because the people at the grocery store might worry.
2. Oh, I forgot.
The correct answer seemed closer to number 1 than number 2.
She had probably only told them briefly that I had spent several days in the hospital.
If I told Rivera that my nerves had died and my muscles had melted, it was obvious she would start crying, so I calmly lied.
“Aw, it was nothing.”
“…Even the terminal in your pocket melted completely because you were so badly burned.”
“……”
Well, the answer was neither number 1 nor number 2.
Rivera already knew that I had been seriously injured. She had simply asked me again because she found it difficult to believe the fact outright.
Luciana, who had heard that from beside us, drew in a small breath.
“…No wonder you never answered any of my calls.”
Why was the mood turning so gloomy again?
I took Rivera’s face in both hands.
A soft, squishy texture like a tender rice cake spread through my palms.
“Huh?”
At the sudden contact, Rivera’s trembling eyes began trembling even more.
“Drip.”
“I-I wasn’t crying….”
“Drip.”
“……Y-yeah.”
The gaze watching me from behind felt sharp enough to sting, but I desperately ignored it.
Just then.
Kuuung─!!
A tremendous noise rang out from behind the grocery store.
My head reflexively turned in that direction.
‘…There wasn’t any notification announcing a random encounter?’
Nova, who had a general understanding of the situation around the grocery store, immediately followed up.
“I have received word that an unidentified intruder has appeared in the vacant lot.”
What now?
Setting aside the question that came to mind, I quickly ran out into the vacant lot behind the grocery store.
The three of them followed after me.
And the moment I opened the back door of the logistics warehouse and stepped outside, something enormous flew into the grocery store wall and embedded itself there.
Kkwa-deuk!!
A cracking sound that could not have been more ominous.
That something was Mikhail.
Until moments ago, he had been guarding the alley, but apparently he had noticed the anomaly before anyone else and begun fighting ahead of us.
But how could Mikhail, a former corporate mercenary, be unable to do anything but get embedded in a wall like this….
He didn’t seem to be dead, but I had no time to finish checking Mikhail’s condition.
A tremendous presence, almost as though it were burning the skin, was emanating from the center of the vacant lot behind the grocery store.
The black mage’s flames from Hell Service?
Compared to this presence, they felt like a child playing with fire.
I had become fairly sensitive to the sense known as my sixth sense, but this was the first time I had ever faced killing intent this intense.
…Gulp.
The sound of someone swallowing rang out loudly.
The vacant lot behind the grocery store was where the greatest number of homeless people gathered on this street.
And now.
Nearly dozens of homeless people were lying face down with their heads pressed against the damp ground, as though they had been crushed beneath some kind of pressure.
Of course, even amid that dire situation, some of the homeless were still struggling.
A familiar homeless man swung a steel pipe, while the cat wielded a heat-treated katana with all its strength, but.
Every weapon froze as though it had been suspended in midair.
A moment later.
Without any visible physical force acting on them, Michael and the cat’s bodies slowly rose into the air.
“…Ghk!!”
After confirming the situation up to that point, I yanked the throttle of my 【Magic Circuit】 all the way open.
‘Hellfire’ and ‘Extreme Cold’.
I was going to use both at once to rescue Michael and the cat……
‘…???’
Then I saw the intruder’s face and slammed on the brakes.
The brakes carved deep skid marks into the filthy vacant-lot floor.
The voice that escaped me before I knew it broke the heavy silence.
“Bawss?”
““……?!””
The women running out with me came to a halt.
Christine, her face masked, fixed me with an icy gaze, then her eyes widened as though she had seen something astonishing.
Everyone in the vacant lot wore a startled expression.
Even Michael, dangling in midair, was overcome with shock.
“…T-the boss’s boss?”
It was the true owner of this grocery store, whom it felt as though I hadn’t seen in several months.