Ch.151The Fourth Entanglement – Elegy for the Vigilantes (12)

The angel only showed the children to the detective after directly confirming with Pandemonium’s patron. Though it took longer than usual, the detective didn’t comment this time.

Their condition was fine. They seemed properly fed, and they wore new clothes. It had been a while since the detective met an angel who lived up to the name. Probably a fallen angel—a good person who was also a corrupt cop.

Still, while this angel existed, the detective’s collaborator was the type to come out in pajamas even when visiting someone else’s house. The detective sighed. Yehoel had many useful qualities, but that was about it.

The children, guided by the angel, feared the detective. Though he had rescued them, what they had witnessed in that room was nothing short of a scene from Hell.

The detective’s goal was merely to confirm the children were unharmed, not to be hailed as a savior, so he wasn’t particularly concerned. Only Yehoel was smirking.

“Hey, what did you do to make the kids look like that? Did you do that thing again? Smashing them against stones like the God-President said? You’re not even devout…”

After glancing at the children, the detective nodded. The carpet in that bedroom was originally blue. Not anymore. He had disposed of the warlock just as he would dispose of any warlock.

“That’s why the kids are scared. But hey, he still saved you, right? You should at least thank him. Whatever happened, you’re outside now! Only a bright future ahead. Probably?”

Yehoel was an angel with many flaws. He seemed to preach blind optimism, but then would undermine his own confidence with words like “probably.”

Still, that attitude was good for getting others to open up. The oldest of the four children spoke up, with biting words.

“Besides being outside, what’s different? Our names will be splashed across the newspapers. What will people call us then?”

His eyes were full of hatred and anger. The detective met his gaze. Though afraid, the child didn’t look away.

“Raise your middle finger. Throw punches. A girl with an archdemon as her guardian can act like a bitch all she wants. Nobody will say anything.”

“And if that doesn’t satisfy me?”

The detective took out his wallet and handed the child one of his business cards. The detective didn’t discriminate between clients as long as they could pay. Not at all.

“Twenty dollars a day, plus expenses.”

The child pulled out a dirty wad of bills from inside his clothes. He had apparently saved up whatever he could, believing money was his only hope. He took out two ten-dollar bills and held them out to the detective.

The detective’s response was a smirk. Acting like a client wasn’t bad, but the child was closer to being the target of an assignment than a client. Though this case wasn’t quite that businesslike.

“Your life is only worth twenty dollars, huh? You don’t need to hand over those few bills—I’ll get paid handsomely by the demon anyway, so don’t bother with payment. I’ve heard the archdemon already paid me for the kids. I absolutely don’t want to see what they’re doing.”

Though it was a smirk, the child—barely thirteen or fourteen—didn’t get angry this time. Looking at the detective, he asked a question the detective wouldn’t answer.

“What if getting my whole life back doesn’t satisfy my anger?”

“I wouldn’t know. Do I look sixty or seventy? I’m not old enough to give life advice.”

They felt a momentary connection. The detective knew why, but for the child, it was an inexplicable sense of kinship. Still, the child was somewhat better off. At least he had someone besides himself to blame.

The child smirked at the detective. His expression made it obvious what he was about to say, causing the detective to sigh briefly.

“I thought you looked young for sixty, but if not, that’s disappointing. If you’re twenty, you look really worn down.”

This kid wouldn’t be pushed around easily. Having someone to be angry at would help the other children too. Just as the detective was about to respond, the sound of a car approached from outside.

The smooth sound suggested it was quite luxurious. It was clear who was coming. Leaving the children with the angel, the detective exited the angels’ townhouse. Two cars were parked on the road outside.

The driver of the first car got out and opened the back door. A red-skinned demon with a protruding belly stepped out, despite wearing a suit that would normally make one look slimmer. He looked at the children—the typical demon entrepreneur. What he was planning to do was equally typical. Probably.

The bold child who had confronted the detective approached the demon. Despite knowing this person was supposed to protect them, the child was still bristling.

They might accept good things graciously, but right now all they knew was to act like a kitten with puffed-up fur. Their personality would improve once things got better.

“How long can we stay? When the news stops and people quiet down, we’ll have to go back to the streets, right?”

The archdemon smiled. He laughed for a while as if it were a funny joke, then stroked his horns and answered.

“A week-long heartwarming story is better than a one-day story, and a month or year-long story is even better, little one. People in this city are emotional. Especially about matters involving children. They’ll admire a businessman who protects children, but they’ll sing hymns on their knees for a businessman who protects children and gives them new lives. That’s my desire.”

The demon had more than enough money to feed, clothe, and house the children. He was wealthy enough that he wouldn’t run out of money until death, even without making any effort to grow his company or increase sales.

But demons were a race that didn’t know when to stop. Their sin of envy was so severe they couldn’t stand seeing others get ahead. For this demon, these children were an opportunity to stay at the forefront of competition.

Demons never miss an opportunity. The demon let out a laugh mixed with sparks and continued.

“Living like a human is your desire. You boldly set such terms despite not knowing what it means to live like a human. It’s quite presumptuous, but I still have more to gain than lose. You’ve come to the right place.”

Though he pretended to negotiate, he was simply a typically good demon. After the four children got into the car that had followed his, the demon finally looked directly at the detective’s face and extended his hand.

They shook hands—the demon’s hand was hot, as expected of a demon. The detective’s job was essentially finished. The demon and detective spoke simultaneously. Only money remained to conclude the business.

“Let me make one thing clear. I was definitely the one who proposed this deal. Until then, you hadn’t even thought about taking those kids and using them. I won’t ask about expected profits. If I try to take a cut from that, I’ll end up bursting my stomach and dying pathetically. For employees who come up with profitable ideas…”

“I give my employees a cut of the profits. But you, at best, are just a subcontractor. After all, you’re employed by Madam Pandemonium.”

The detective clicked his tongue briefly. The demon’s attitude of trying to save every penny was transparent.

“Let’s call me an affiliate employee rather than a subcontractor. Pandemonium doesn’t work for you, does it? So this term fits better, my demon lord.”

The demon also clicked his tongue briefly. His attitude of trying to extract every penny from himself, as long as there were no future consequences, was equally transparent.

“Pandemonium’s business isn’t related to ours. Not an affiliate, but more like an external collaborator. Unfortunately, you’re our first external collaborator, so there’s no precedent for compensation amounts. Then it’s not strange to set it arbitrarily based on appropriate standards. If you have any complaints, speak now.”

The demon defined him as an external collaborator—a term with no existing standards—because following company guidelines might cost him more money. This way, he could pay just enough to be acceptable without being burdensome.

The detective understood why the demon had created this new term and was satisfied with the reason, so there was no further discord in the deal. The demon handed his business card to the detective.

“If you have expenses, submit a claim under the external collaborator name. When you send the invoice, I’ll send the claim amount plus the pre-calculated fee. Are you satisfied?”

“I am satisfied. Contact me again if you need me. Well then.”

The whirlwind conversation ended quickly, and the demon got back into his car. He was briefly puzzled by the angel in pajamas but soon stopped paying attention.

Soon the cars departed, taking the children away beyond the streets. Luxury they had never seen before awaited them. Demons were a race that indulged in extravagance to flaunt their arrogance.

Watching this scene, Yehoel suddenly struck his palm with his fist as if just remembering something. He smiled very confidently.

“Since we’re out, should we go to Eden now? I’ll change clothes and come back, so wait here, you bastard. If you’ve squeezed payment from a demon, we can splurge a bit today, right?”

He was an angel whose mind worked quickly only for useless things. It was amusing that someone who wore pajamas when meeting an archdemon and the rescued children would change clothes just to go to a bar.

Nevertheless, Yehoel soon descended, dressed in a suit. The only times Yehoel landed this gracefully were when he was holding brothel women or going to bars.

“I prepared right away. Ah, if it’s free Tree of Life liquor, I could… empty at least ten bottles. Doubt not, my friend! Ha!”

Fortunately, Eden had a strict dress code. When the detective had visited with Yehoel before, he had worn a proper suit rather than his work clothes.

And now, he was in plain clothes with a thin coat, smelling of gunpowder. Eden’s bouncers would surely stop him.

“They won’t let me in Eden looking like this. Let’s go somewhere else. Ah, I’ve made an appointment with the Two Face bartender, so let’s go to Two Face. No, follow me to Two Face. I’ll be waiting out front.”

The destination suddenly changed from Eden to Two Face, but Yehoel knew he had no choice. Today, the detective was paying.

Yehoel cut through the buildings first, while the detective drove to 14th Street. It had been a while since he’d gone to a bar on a day he’d hunted vigilantes without killing anyone.

The detective showed his invitation to the bouncer who had taken an unpaid week-long vacation because of him, patted him on the shoulder with a promise to buy him a drink, and pushed through the doors of Two Face.

Should he report to the journalist? There was a telephone there… It wasn’t necessary, but… his mood was good today, so he should at least leave a message. People become a bit more mellow on days when they finish their work.

The concerns about catching vigilantes with another vigilante were the journalist’s problem. The detective had no intention of sharing someone else’s worries, and he didn’t have that much space on his shoulders anyway.

The wolf behind the bar had been wrinkling his nose even before the detective entered. Seeing the detective enter at dawn, he growled as if it were expected.

“Micky! You haven’t been drinking elsewhere, have you? Last time you said you’d come by more often…”

“I came straight from work, so don’t worry. Can I use the phone in the back room? I got dragged here by Yehoel without reporting to my client. Oh, how much has that guy had to drink?”

The bartender’s wolf muzzle formed a leisurely smile. Though the beast’s expressions weren’t always clear, they had known each other long enough that reading his expression wasn’t difficult.

“He’s been pouring it down like an open faucet. Weren’t you originally planning to go somewhere else?”

It seemed like Yehoel wanted to spend as much as if they’d gone to Eden, but his capacity was less than the detective’s. And even if both of them drank as much as the detective could, it would be less burdensome than drinking Tree of Life liquor at Eden.

“We were going to Eden, but I smelled of gunpowder, so we changed our destination to Two Face. There’s no dress code here. Even if there was, I could just wash up and change in the back room.”

The bartender growled briefly. He wasn’t angry, but a wolf’s muzzle showing teeth and growling wasn’t something many people would consider just everyday irritation.

“I’ll have to make something. The regular dragons won’t care anyway… Come to think of it, you always dress like that when you come here! Why do you always dress so casually?!”

The detective reached out and stroked the bartender from between his ears down to the bridge of his nose a couple of times. Though the bartender had intended to continue being angry, a weakness was a weakness, and an effective method was an effective method.

The bartender quickly calmed down. He thought he was just in a mood to hear the detective’s excuse once, but it was closer to simply being pacified.

“This is a place I can visit without a gun, that’s why. I’ll go make that call and be right back, so wait a bit.”

Escaping the bar’s noise, the detective headed to the back room and picked up the phone. He dialed the journalist’s apartment, and the call connected before it could properly ring.

“It’s Husband. Everything’s finished. All the vigilantes were captured without any deaths, and I found someone to take care of the kids… Well, that’s about it. I’ll submit a separate expense claim, so you don’t need to pay me.”

When compensation came from someone else, the fee from demons was often cut in half. The journalist, who had been quietly listening, cleared his throat and spoke.

“I’ve already written the article, but… where are you now?”

The journalist thought the detective would be at a bar. That’s where he usually was on days when he finished a job.

“At Bar Two Face. If you want a drink, come over. If you say you know me, they might let you in… the bartender will gladly hand over an invitation. Oh, it’s Cafe Two Face on 14th Avenue. It’s a bar at night.”

People who had put in so much effort to finish this job deserved to drift through the night completely drunk on the day it ended. Everyone thought so at that moment.

Two Face was a cozy place. Bars frequented by dragons and vampires were generally safe. There was no better place to drink without worry. The city night found peace after several weeks.