Ch.166Work Record #024 – All Birds Must Learn to Fly (2)

On Fridays, I find myself longing for Thursday. Whether it was because of the weekend, or because of what the end of the weekend looked like, it was difficult to answer.

I disassemble the small misdeed, and quietly caress the ten characters that spell “small misdeed” written on the slide. Right now, I was using all my strength to avoid even choosing a small misdeed.

Is this effort destined for betrayal? I can’t know. It was a question that couldn’t be easily answered, and I wouldn’t hastily conclude it either. I pick up the small misdeed with one hand and reassemble it. I tuck it into my waistband.

Today, I had to look after Kanun Company again in the morning. The Belwether security and mobile unit training programs, which I’ve already gone through numerous times, would be good for learning basic squad tactics.

When you spend eight hours training every holiday and sit in virtual reality training machines all night on sleepless days, you quickly run out of training programs. There were still many left to use.

The assault course training manual would still be insufficient for Noah. The special operations training manual, which taught how to infiltrate by climbing walls and ceilings with freely moving limbs, still had things left for me to learn.

After gathering that, I connect a call to Mila. After picking up Mila—who was dressed a bit too cutely to be called a mercenary—in front of her office in the night view, I cross the city toward Kanun Company’s office.

The city is cloudy again today. The sky is gray as always, and the sun shines down like a cigarette ember through smoke. Though the temperature was only about fifteen degrees in the morning, it would get hotter during the day.

Upon arriving at Kanun Company, Mila hopped off the bike first. I received the motorcycle helmet she struggled to remove, and we entered Kanun Company together.

The place was full of people learning to live without Jimon. The smog seeping in had been blocked with insulating tape, and tablets that were rarely used before were now being actively utilized.

In situations without someone to guide them, people can fully demonstrate their abilities. I, too, was able to come this far because my records of working at Belwether disappeared and I joined the Night View.

The gazes of Kanun Company employees, who were conducting their own business meeting inside, turned toward me. Ms. Riley even stood up lightly from her seat. She jumped over her desk nimbly and approached me.

“Come this way! Do you all think it’s normal for freelancers to come help us with our work? Just sitting there staring blankly! And what about the official Belwether partner company employee?”

Ms. Riley was always the most grounded person. Because of that, she couldn’t push herself too hard and feared reality, which is why she used adrenal stimulants. I assess the situation.

Noah scratched his head as he stood up and gave a slight bow. He seemed a bit uncomfortable with the situation where Ms. Riley, who had been sitting next to him, rushed over as soon as she saw my face.

With Fitts and Morrison right in front of me, I didn’t need to become another source of anxiety for him. I lightly patted Ms. Riley’s shoulder as she approached me.

“Of course, it’s also a bit much for the CEO to drop everything she was saying next to the president and rush over here just because one partner company employee arrived. Let’s go back. I brought the training programs, but… what’s the job?”

Ms. Riley smiled pleasantly, telling me not to treat her like a child, and returned to her seat. Noah also seemed to have a relieved expression. Probably. They displayed the request on the hologram projector.

This time, the briefing was Noah’s responsibility. I leaned lightly against the chair with a backrest and scanned the hologram screen. It was a gang elimination request. This seemed to be Kanun Company’s main business.

“Ah, so, this job is also gang elimination! The, the atmosphere in the back alleys has been unsettling lately. Since the Ashwood guys got wiped out by Belwether after getting into a shootout, the balance has become unstable.”

When balance collapses, fights break out. And knowing the reason why such things happened made the back of my neck tingle with a slight sense of guilt.

“But, um, Ashwood had more remnants left than expected, so they fought desperately with challengers… everyone’s weakened now. To the point where anyone could take a shot at them.”

Of course there would be many remnants left. The Ashwood gang had never been suppressed by Belwether. It was simply that Mr. Gunter had created a truth by saying whatever came to mind at the time.

Those who were intoxicated by that manufactured truth and challenged for control of the back alleys—in other words, for the glory of being the first grass to be cut—would have had to bleed… all gangs had become minor gangs.

I understand why fights have increased and Noah Verami has more work. I organized what he said in my mind. I read through the request again.

Either they had an excellent informant, or they had seen something they shouldn’t have, or the information was so accurate it could be considered a scam. Information had come in that a gang was holding a meeting.

It was a simple and straightforward request: show up there, shoot, and collect the payment. There are many ways a request can go wrong, but if it doesn’t, success is just a matter of time.

Noah continued speaking. When should I point something out? Since work coming through the partner company network didn’t even need to be reviewed, this was my first experience with it.

“The gang we need to deal with today is one of those. They’re guys who decorate themselves with cheap implants, and although they’re unstable because they’re recklessly attached parts ripped from dead people…”

There might be dangerous implants. And such gangs… would want more implants. If so, the motive is clear. There are more than enough means to suck dry a novice mercenary company like Kanun Company.

I raised my hand lightly to stop Noah. Seeing him gesture to me, I spoke. He looked somewhat tense. Whether he was worried about being scolded or about losing the floor. Probably both.

“Noah, have you checked the client’s identity? Gangs don’t usually have strategy meetings at set times. But you’re saying these guys scheduled a meeting, and someone found out about it and commissioned this job?”

It’s not impossible. There was even an unnamed hacker in this city skilled enough to break through Belwether’s security and help the transparent eye escape. Gang security would be even more lax, so it was entirely possible.

“Of course, it’s not completely impossible. The important thing is this: does the client have that level of capability? Could you tell me the client’s details?”

“Ah, well, I didn’t receive anything separately, just exchanged a few calls… the name is here. Ellis Joe. There didn’t seem to be anything suspicious…”

I connect to Chance. I relay the name and request a check with Belwether. It doesn’t take even a few minutes for a response from the personnel management team.

I push that screen toward the hologram projector to make it appear. A photo of a woman with her lower jaw replaced by machinery appeared. She was one of the gang members under Belwether’s surveillance.

The information request I sent to Belwether took less than a minute to return. Noah unnecessarily clenched his fist and then released it. He naturally passed the floor to me.

“Partner companies usually only get requests verified by Belwether, so there’s little chance of being scammed by clients. But regular mercenary companies don’t have that, so you should have been suspicious of the client first. What do you want to do, Noah?”

I return the floor to him. Noah Verami seemed unfamiliar with such schemes. After pondering alone, he asked something unrelated to solving the problem.

“So, it was a trap?”

“Of course it was a trap. They’re idiots who believe they can get stronger by stealing other people’s implants and shoving them into their own bodies. I think he asked what you’re going to do next, Noah.”

I deliberately push him once more. I hoped to see the same drive he showed when he called Night View to vent and then confronted me when he came afterward.

But Noah still… had no catalyst. The only catalyst he had was about his mother. Noah played it safe.

“If we know there’s an ambush, we should cancel the request. That way we can save our colleagues’ lives too. Isn’t that right?”

“No. No, it’s not. The information advantage has flipped. We’re now ready to receive a proper mission briefing. We know the real client and the client’s true purpose. We should strike now.”

Now we knew more about them than they knew about us. Kanun Company had a freelancer helping them and a partner company mercenary.

If Noah truly had talent, he needed to demonstrate his abilities here. He needed to figure out who to place where and make it clear as the CEO of Kanun Company. He was the CEO.

“Then… since we know the location, while Mr. Arthur enters from the rear to distract those guys, can Kanun Company and Ms. Mila… attack from the front?”

“A CEO doesn’t ask for permission. You should propose the most rational means possible, and then listen to your employees’ opinions. Let’s try again. I’m only going to tell you once, so don’t worry.”

“Ah, then, while Mr. Arthur enters from the rear to distract the gang members, we’ll lead with Wilder as before and Kanun Company will subdue them.”

I gestured briefly, meaning “and then,” and Noah nodded again.

“If there are any objections to the plan… please speak up. Phew…”

Though he couldn’t maintain a stiff voice at the end due to his tension easing, whether he spoke stiffly or not wasn’t important. The barely noticeable IT staff member raised his hand.

“Those guys recklessly buy and steal implants from everywhere and stick them in their bodies. They probably don’t have proper firewalls or security systems in their computing aids. How about trying to infiltrate first?”

Faint presence but strong ability. Noah nodded briefly but seemed somewhat rushed. He probably wanted to show me that he was perfectly in control of every situation.

The beginning of growth is recognizing that you’re not yet perfect. And rejoicing in that imperfection. It’s a joy to still have more things to learn.

“That’s a… good idea. Then, can you neutralize them by infiltrating their computing aids when Mr. Arthur enters from the rear?”

The IT staff member nodded as if it wouldn’t be a problem. Now the plan was set. I wore a bulletproof vest under regular clothes to look like an ordinary pedestrian.

When I first started working as a mercenary, I thought I’d always wear combat gear for jobs, but lately it felt like I was doing more jobs in civilian clothes.

Well, I had been walking around in costume-level outfits while working as a gardener for a while, so I decided to consider this as compensation.

I follow the Kanun Company employees, who had strengthened their resolve like when they first worked at Night View, as they head toward the van. I briefly stop Mila, who was about to board the van with the Kanun Company employees.

“You understand this feels different from working with colleagues at Night View, right?”

“Yep! There’s no Vola who can take all the bullets and keep walking, so I need to quickly eliminate high-risk targets while relying on ballistic shields! I’ll activate the fire control system before going in. Any additional instructions?”

“I don’t know who you were trying to give advice to. You’re excellent. I’ll handle the rear, so please take care of Kanun Company at the front. Can I ask you that?”

Mila smiled brightly again. I don’t know how much the stock of people who could smile like that had decreased since that war, but there were at least two in Los Angeles.

“Yes! It’s always a pleasure to see people leading others forward! And if I can be part of that leading process, it’s ten, a hundred times more enjoyable. I’ll gladly go with Kanun Company!”

Mila took off her somewhat childish outer garment, put on a bulletproof vest over her T-shirt, tucked two pistols into her waistband, and then put on a helmet, smiling brightly again. With her visor up, she said:

“Good luck with your work too, Mr. Arthur! In my opinion, you’re definitely a worthwhile person, so you’ll do well!”

The word “worthwhile” is always pleasant to hear. After closing the van’s passenger compartment door, I get back on my bike. Since I needed to arrive first, I depart immediately.

The van follows behind me as I head toward the building in the ruins that was our destination. It was once a high-end restaurant, but when the ruins became ruins, it was abandoned and became a desolate landmark.

I speed up enough to outpace the van and arrive at the back of the restaurant. Two gang vans were parked side by side, and between them, I could hear human voices and the sound of parts being sorted. The disgust was almost instinctive.

“I told you not to bring more prosthetic hands. We already have so many hands piled up in the warehouse, and you bring more? And, you idiot. This is what we sold to those other bastards! Look before you rip it off.”

At the very least, slaughtering these unqualified individuals here would make the back alleys of Los Angeles a slightly better place to live. It seemed like I needed to handle this quietly for now.

As I approached, I deliberately took a wide turn and accelerated. One of the figures sorting parts poked his head out from the van and said:

“What? The delivery just left, how could it already… no, you…”

Before words like “who are you” could come out, I drew my high-frequency dagger and threw it. With the strength of Type 4, the dagger flew at a speed he had experienced once or twice himself and lodged in the gang member’s forehead.

I jump off the moving bike and vault over the low iron fence of the parking lot. I arrived faster than the gang member who was frantically getting up after seeing his comrade collapse.

I grab him by the nape and slam him into the van. Seeing the prosthetic hands and legs, and a few artificial eyes covered in blood and tissue scattered haphazardly on the floor, I moved my hand to the back of his neck.

I grabbed the end of the implant reinforcing his spine and slightly loosened my grip on his nape. After tearing off one section of the spine reinforcement, I covered his mouth with my hand to prevent him from screaming.

Only when the scream subsided and he was barely catching his breath did I remove my hand. I spoke slowly without voice modulation. I needed to make it confusing as to whose fault this ridiculous situation was.

“The bastards who threw you here with this low-level punk and got you into this mess are inside, right? Aren’t they?”

As I prepared to tear off another section, he finally spoke, unable to nod anymore. The pupil of his artificial eye might not convey other emotions well, but the moment of being soaked in fear was clear.

“Wh-what do you want! The, the rest of them are all inside! Except for the three who went out for delivery! They’re all, uh, waiting for some stupid mercenary company to come and donate parts! Past the kitchen in the dining area!”

He answered without even being asked. I tore off his spine reinforcement and prosthetic hand and placed them on the pile of implants they had looted. Something more expensive than a prosthetic hand was added to the pile, as he had wished.

I killed the now immobilized gang member cleanly by stabbing the high-frequency dagger into the back of his neck and connected a call.

“I interrogated one guy and confirmed their location. They’re all in the dining area, so be careful from the moment you open the front door. I’ll infiltrate through the back door into the kitchen. Please provide hacking support.”

Since shorter guns are better indoors, I turn the selector switch to three-round burst on the Small Misdeed and enter the back door interior with it and the high-frequency blade.

Since they’re implant-riddled guys, aiming for the head would be best. Shooting other body parts wouldn’t cause that much damage.

The once-dim kitchen, which used to be responsible for celebrities’ weekend dinners, had long been abandoned and transformed into a gang’s warehouse filled with ammunition boxes and broken implants.

Kanun Company will not die today. The restaurant will lose its owner once again today. I heard the voice of a gang member cursing due to a computing aid malfunction.