Chapter 57
The Sparo Rapido Family and Hakuga-gumi had been at odds with each other for a long time.
Although the long-established Sparo Rapido Family was often overwhelmingly superior.
Hakuga-gumi, which had fully absorbed the old Japanese factions and crossed over into District 49, was also one of the organizations dividing—or rather, tripartitioning—the underworld.
In fact, the very fact that it had managed to preserve its influence and foundations while standing against that ‘mafia’ was proof of Hakuga-gumi’s strength.
But.
Recently, a strange rumor had been spreading among Hakuga-gumi’s subordinate organizations.
- Boss, a pretty good job came in….
- Don’t ever touch that grocery store.
- Huh?
It was a rumor related to a certain grocery store.
The two organizations, which treated attacks on each other’s businesses and hideouts as casually as ordinary greetings, never stopped attacking each other.
Naturally, the grocery store—the Homeless Clan, which had recently grown by gathering homeless people into a single force—was also a tempting target for Hakuga-gumi’s subordinate organizations.
- Isn’t this enough? Why….
- If I say don’t, then don’t!!
- Did something happen last time?
Just blowing up the building’s entrance alone earned a fairly large reward from Hakuga-gumi.
Therefore, it was hardly strange for large and small forces staying in District 49 to plan and carry out attacks on the grocery store.
If there was a problem….
- N-no, it wasn’t me. I didn’t do it. I didn’t see anything. I, I…. B-brother, big brother went to heaven!!
- Uh-oh, he’s having another fit. Bring me a double Black Mamba mixed in!!
Even now, a full week later.
The grocery store building was perfectly fine.
As the number of organizations they could no longer contact gradually increased, the other organizations that had not attempted an attack from the beginning also slowly began to sense that something was wrong.
If they had failed, then they had failed.
If they had succeeded, then they had succeeded.
There should have been some worthwhile news to hear.
Yet the grocery store was still operating normally, with only the reward posted by Hakuga-gumi remaining unchanged.
Who on earth was guarding the grocery store, such that not a single person had collected the reward?
“Ready, Dum?”
“Of course. Damm.”
The mercenary group─Dum & Damm, notorious in District 49 for being particularly ruthless, intended to find out why this time.
The maintenance of their combat cybernetic bodies was flawless.
The fingers fitted with recoil-control processors specially sold by Logic Systems moved properly, and implants such as the Ion Sensor and Synapse Amplifier, purchased with loans, also functioned perfectly.
Although their performance was inferior to that of specialized bodies available only to megacorp mercenaries or the military cyberware used separately by the city government.
Conversely, if the opposing side had no city-government- or megacorp-grade personnel, the outcome was obvious without even looking.
“What about the EMP, one last time?”
“Including the anti-personnel mines, everything’s perfect.”
“Still, let’s not let our guard down.”
“Aren’t you the one who’s too stiff? Sure, lots of idiots have failed, but you can’t lump us in with them.”
“I know.”
─If only the ambush had succeeded,
things would have gone exactly as they expected.
““……””
If a specially configured artificial intelligence had not happened to acquire an android body with high processing power and hack the city’s surveillance-camera data to discover the attack in advance.
If experimental subjects with abilities good enough to assassinate the chairman of the megacorp ruling the city had not been continually patrolling near the grocery store.
If an unusually loyal businessman had not actually founded an organization made up of homeless people and stabilized security not only in the blocks near the grocery store but also in the surrounding areas.
Then they, too, might have succeeded in their ambush, like the Bogus gang’s truck missiles, now gone.
If that had been the case.
“…Wait, there’s someone over there.”
“Hey, you! Get your head down and lie flat!!”
And then.
A ninja appeared….
* * *
The grocery store was quiet today as well.
There had been no special incidents or minor disturbances.
Of course, there were no customers either.
“Peaceful….”
It was not exactly the sort of sentiment one could have in a game world filled with bullets and explosions.
But what could I do about the fact that nothing was actually happening?
‘This is normal, actually.’
There had been far too many incidents lately.
Starting with the Bogus gang, I had gotten entangled with an unexpected mafia family, Anna had suddenly been kidnapped, I had heard Rivera’s circumstances, stolen the megacorp chairman’s belongings from Black Square, and, most recently, even had a cultist go on a rampage.
In fact, in the case of what happened at Black Square, my share of the blame was obviously more than ninety percent, but I casually ignored that minor detail.
Anyway.
Somehow, I had ended up living alongside homeless people with all sorts of circumstances.
But when I recalled the day I had first fallen into the grocery store, this was actually the normal daily routine.
‘I still don’t know what that ominous premonition was about.’
It was not as if I had heard some blood-pressure-raising voice say 【Random Encounter Occurred!】 either.
Knowing nothing about what was happening outside, I fiddled with my terminal and focused on cyber-web gossip.
『Hello! The fine dust blowing in from District 48 is absolutely dreadful today as well! This is your broadcast-tower guardian, Dobble-Dobble! Today, let’s talk about the noisy organizational situation lately─.』
Beep.
『RBC News reporting. Famous actress Yulia Volkova, who arrived in Risk City this morning, has canceled all her schedules and holed up in her mansion─.』
Beep.
『The Astra Group’s power struggle has recently taken an extreme turn. Chairman John has yet to issue an official statement─.』
The news was especially boring today.
When will Mc&Hamm release a new hot dog product….
While I half-heartedly flipped through the terminal’s screen to kill time.
Ding-ding.
The bell hanging on the grocery store’s front door rang.
Needless to say, it was not a customer.
“Out for a walk again today?”
“…Yes.”
Following Rivera’s calm voice, Nova came in and nodded.
The two of them had been leaving together more often lately.
Were walks really that fun?
“Seems more manageable than I expected.”
“Well…….”
“Well?”
“…I suppose so.”
Unlike Nova, who maintained a poker face, Rivera wore an expression that seemed to show some kind of guilty conscience.
Aha.
I saw through Rivera’s thoughts.
“Should I come along next time?”
She must have felt bad about going with just the two of them.
But the response that followed was the complete opposite of what I expected.
“…It’s fine! It could be dangerous if you came─, no, that’s not it. What. Um…, anyway, it’s fine.”
“The current fine-dust conditions are extremely, extremely poor, so a user closer to a Purist should probably wait at the grocery store.”
Crestfallen.
Her shoulders immediately slumped.
You didn’t have to state it quite so definitively….
Well, there was nothing bad about the two of them getting along.
I shook my head from side to side, banishing the gloomy thoughts along with it.
At times like this, it was best to change the subject.
“Come to think of it, have you seen that guy?”
“…Michael?”
“No, not him.”
I continued speaking without much thought.
“The guy I beat up at the church last time.”
“Were you looking for me?”
At that moment.
Without any warning, a black mask suddenly popped up beside me.
“Boo.”
“Boo?”
─You scared me.
I nearly took a swing at him.
“At least use your turn signals when you move around….”
“I shall endeavor to do so.”
I had not even realized he was right beside me.
‘…When did he get here?’
In fact, even when I first met the ninja at the church, I had not noticed his presence.
He kept going around calling himself Cat, and even his presence followed a cat’s example.
As I sighed and rubbed my chest, Rivera stared at the runaway ninja with a somewhat wary gaze.
“…Yes, I saw him earlier.”
“Oh, then I don’t need to explain.”
“Because that’s what Hot Dog Man decided.”
Rivera answered with an unwavering attitude.
If my younger sister back home had followed even half of Rivera’s attitude….
Anyway.
“I hear you got kicked out of Hakuga-gumi.”
“I quit of my own accord.”
“Voluntary resignation doesn’t even qualify you for unemployment benefits.”
“…I do not know what you mean.”
The most intimidating-looking one among us stood with his arms folded gravely.
“I shall do my utmost to earn the trust I lack.”
“Are you thinking of changing your name?”
“Regrettably, no.”
“For fuck’s sake.”
How could someone’s name be Cat….
He had principles in the most pointless way possible.
Anyway, we had accepted him into our organization—or rather, as a guest at the grocery store.
Since he had been part of a yakuza organization, I hoped the two of them would take care to be cautious on their own.
Though it was not as if adding one runaway ninja would make the situation any more complicated.
Rivera’s eyes lit up at my words.
“…Yes! I’ll keep a thorough eye on him whenever I can, so that no problems arise!”
“You don’t have to go that far….”
I answered casually.
“Well, I’ll leave it to you.”
Incidentally, at this point.
Rivera reportedly intended to firmly put the ‘ninja’ threatening her position in his place.
* * *
After Abel Anderson’s request.
Rivera continued observing ‘Cat.’
But even after several days had passed.
She could not find anything suspicious.
If anything.
“……Ah.”
“You arrived at just the right time. I caught this fellow red-handed trying to ignore Hot Dog Man’s goodwill and resell valuable food elsewhere.”
“…Well, um…. You did well, but….”
Rivera swallowed her disappointment.
This had originally been Rivera’s job, after all.
Although the runaway ninja—who called himself Cat—had been caught by her quickly at the church, he moved pointlessly faster and more stealthily once he came to the grocery store.
Only his mindset had changed.
Unaware of that fact, Rivera found the ninja increasingly suspicious.
Similar situations continued to arise.
“Ah, Rivera wasn’t at her post, so I went with Nova to stop an intruder.”
“…I, I was taking food to the kids.”
“It is all right. Everything we do is for Hot Dog Man, is it not? I do not think it matters much who does more or less.”
“…….”
An arrow drove straight into Rivera’s chest, even though she had been helping Hot Dog Man with ulterior motives.
Of course, in most cases, Rivera finished her work much faster and more easily than Cat.
But if the ninja finished the job more quickly even once in ten times, Rivera would sink into self-loathing.
Because she was a being made by human hands.
Because she felt she was failing to repay Hot Dog Man’s faith, even though he understood everything.
In the end, Rivera’s expression grew darker with each passing day.
But since she went around with her face hidden by her hair, almost no one noticed the change.
Fortunately, Kanf noticed it one step earlier than Abel Anderson and rested his face against Rivera’s shoulder as he asked.
“Has something been going on lately? What’s with that expression?”
“…What expression? Nothing.”
“Don’t give me that. Tell me. What is it?”
“……It’s just.”
She was the one who had first met Hot Dog Man.
It felt as though her presence was gradually disappearing.
And that made her anxious.
Rivera could not honestly put those thoughts into words.
Rivera slightly distorted her own feelings.
“…I’m worried about Hot Dog Man’s safety lately.”
“Did something happen?”
It was not actually a lie.
Hostile forces had been attacking the grocery store for more than a week already.
Fortunately, Kanf did not doubt Rivera’s indirect confession.
“Come to think of it, I’ve heard that from here and there too. …Hot Dog Man is an incredibly kind person. He can’t help but attract attention.”
“Yeah.”
“What should we do….”
Rivera saw an opportunity and spoke.
At least having one person help her with her work would be enough.
“Lunlun isn’t doing anything these days anyway─.”
“We could take the kids out to see the world while we’re at it─.”
Two different opinions came out at the same time.
Rivera tilted her head to the side in confusion.
“……Huh?”
* * *
───────────────
【Risk City, District 49, Temporary Bulletin Board】
───────────────
Title : You guys, don’t casually accept jobs involving the grocery store... An acquaintance of mine really died...
My acquaintance, who usually took plenty of jobs and regularly maintained his cybernetic prostheses...
We accepted a grocery store job together, then found some small kids nearby...
Since you normally don’t even see little kids in District 49, he said they were cute and tried to pat their heads. We all stopped him, but he said it was fine and touched one...
He died right before my eyes... They grabbed him in an instant and dragged him onto the roof... He left behind only a single scream, and I still can’t contact him... I still haven’t forgotten it...
Never go near there...
─ LOL, how much did this bastard stutter for the post to end up this shitty? LOL
─ It’s so absurd I can’t help laughing LOL
─ But was it pretty?
└ (Author) You crazy bastard
─ The post is stupid as hell, but yeah, it’s true that you shouldn’t accept grocery store jobs. The method was different, but my acquaintance died the same way.
└ Holy shit;;
───────────────
* * *
A frightening person contacted me out of nowhere.
[Hello.]
“…Yes, hello.”
It was the mafia family’s boss, whom I had cautiously saved as ‘Luciana’ because I felt I would genuinely die if she caught me trying to save her under the nickname ‘Mad Bomber.’
She did not seem to be calling because she had any particular business with me.
[I was just wondering if things have been quiet lately.]
“Well, nothing’s happened. It’s almost boring, actually.”
[……. ]
When I honestly told her that nothing had happened.
A short silence followed.