Chapter 9 Part 2: Commission – Gate Missing

“I’ll leave it in your care.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll contact you when the results come out, so just wait leisurely.”

“…Yes.”

Is it really okay?

After seeing off the client who was making such an expression appropriately, Haran and I looked through the data we had received from the client.

“Wow, this is amazing. How did you find this kind of data?”

“He probably couldn’t stand the fact that the guys who he thought had killed his wife were walking around normally. There were often such people.”

“Hee…”

I told Haran as if it was something I had already experienced a few times, but in fact, I had never seen anyone dig up information on the target of revenge so tenaciously like this.

The family relationship of the target of revenge, the place where they currently live, the areas where they frequently appear, etc.

I was unintentionally tired of the amount of information, which was more abundant than I had imagined.

If a little more time had passed, would he have taken a knife and gone to find them himself?

Whether he can take revenge or not is another story.

“But, Ella.”

“What?”

“Do you really think what that person was saying was true?”

“Well. At least he seemed to think so. His heart rate went up.”

“Heart rate?”

“This body has quite a few functions built into it, so I can read people’s bio-signals. At least it’s true that he was excited.”

“…I’m jealous. The place you used to live was so technologically advanced.”

“It wasn’t as comfortable as you think. Thanks to the technology, it was a complete mess.”

If there aren’t more than three gunfights a day, that day is a peaceful day.

Neo City was such a mess that such words were jokingly exchanged.

A person who lost his job because of artificial intelligence and gave up and started a shooting spree.

A person who threw a bomb at a square where people were gathered, saying that he would take revenge on the hacker who stole the money in his account.

A person who was furious that he had been backstabbed and pointed a gun at a stall owner.

I directly witnessed only three incidents on the first night I fell into Neo City.

What does the public power do when the security is such a mess?

People become insensitive unless it’s their own business.

The high-ranking people of Neo City were no exception, and they were not interested in the fact that ordinary people without money were killing each other.

It’s good because they had to reduce the population anyway because the population was overflowing to the point that it far exceeded the city’s capacity.

The only weapons that citizens without money could have were outdated firearms, and expensive prostheses were hard to injure with those outdated weapons, so it was their world.

The public power had already degenerated into a service for the upper class, and what replaced it was mercenaries.

But even mercenaries can’t prevent incidents in advance. The end was just to take revenge on the perpetrator of the already happened incident.

“It’s not always good if technology is too advanced. Even crazy guys can easily kill people.”

That’s why prosthesis surgery was popular.

A world that is such a mess that such incidents always break out. Those who didn’t carry self-defense prostheses or guns in preparation for an emergency had already died.

In that respect, my hometown, which I have been seeing for a few days, was pretty good.

The security is a little insecure, but… The police don’t point a gun at me and tell me to hand over the money, and there aren’t always gunfights. It was very peaceful.

On the contrary, I was so scared that I thought the business might not be doing well.

That thought seemed to be an unnecessary worry.

“Okay, then…. Shall we go to work soon?”

“…Did those people really kill the client’s wife?”

“I don’t know. That’s why we’re going to check.”

Whether those guys are really guys who commit such things, or ordinary people who are misunderstood by the client.

I decided to check that and decide the disposition of those guys.

“Is this the gate? It’s amazing.”

I looked around, looking around the gate.

I was so out of my mind when I rode the gate, so I couldn’t check it properly, but it’s like this.

I couldn’t help but admire the red gate, which felt ominous and fascinating at the same time, as it was captured in my eyes.

“Monsters come out of here, and you catch them and make money… It’s really like a game.”

Haran explained that some of the appearing gates are intentionally not closed and maintained.

Mainly, it was because they were created in areas with low land prices, or the monsters coming out of the space connected to the gate were valuable as materials, or they were easy to manage.

If what she said was correct, this place is being maintained because it is easy to manage.

The monsters that appear are low in value as materials, but the monsters are weak enough that low-grade awakened people often use the gate.

As if to prove that what she said was true, numerous monthly rent and charter rooms were rampant around the gate, and the front of the gate was crowded with people.

“Let’s see, they definitely said that they mainly go in and out of here…”

The place where the client’s wife died was also here.

Unlike usual, the colleagues who had been working with her that day were absent for personal reasons, and she said that she had hurriedly formed a party with people she was seeing for the first time because she felt a little bad about resting.

But unfortunately, she was caught by those guys and suffered a terrible accident, or so she said.

“There they are.”

About ten minutes had passed as I was going through the crowd of people to find the target.

I found the targets who were leaning against the wall and talking to each other.

Take a deep breath once…. Okay.

“Th, there…”

“Yeah? What is it?”

“A, are you perhaps going to the gate?”

“…Why are you asking that?”

“I, if it’s not rude, I was wondering if you might need a porter….”

I spoke to the guys while making the most pitiful expression I could.

If those guys were really killing someone secretly inside the gate as the client said, they wouldn’t miss this opportunity.

It’s like prey has come to them on their own.

“…What do you want to do?”

“Well, it might be okay to be in the gate for a little longer sometimes.”

“Okay. Let’s go together.”

“Th, thank you!”

After saying that they would use me as a porter, the guys showed me a good-natured smile and asked me.

“What about weapons? We can’t always protect you, even if you’re a porter.”

“Ah, I, I brought them! Here!”

“…A revolver?”

“Yes! Is it okay?!”

“Hey, how long have you been working as a porter?”

“That’s… Well… Th, this is my first time…”

“Yeah, that’s why you have a gun like that.”

What is it?

Was something wrong with my acting? How did you know that I hadn’t been working as a porter for long?

Is it my posture wrong? Or my outfit?

I made such a big noise to Haran, but if I make a mistake from the first request, what will she think of me?

As I was secretly feeling anxious, the guys opened their mouths.

“Revolvers aren’t very helpful in the gate.”

“I, is that so?”

“Hey, this guy really doesn’t know. Guns are useless. You can’t put mana in them.”

“Think about it. There’s an army, so why is the awakened person slaving away over there?”

“…Huh?”

Come to think of it, that was the case.

There are definitely armies here too, so why are awakened people closing the gates?

I realized that I had carelessly overlooked that fact.

“Mana has the property of scattering in an instant when it is separated from your body, so long-range attacks are very difficult.”

“Wasn’t it said that the only thing that’s possible is a bow? Because the arrow touches your hand, you can put a little mana in it. But bullets are contained in the gun, right? It’s just a lump of steel because it doesn’t contain mana. You can’t break through the mana barrier with that.”

“What?!”

I was sincerely surprised by the story I just heard.

What?

You can’t kill an awakened person with a gun? Really?

…But I killed them?

“D, don’t awakened people die if they get shot?”

“Look at this? To break through the mana barrier with physical force, the efficiency is very bad. Of course, the strength varies depending on the grade, but even a B-grade can’t even make a scratch with that kind of revolver.”

“If awakened people can easily kill monsters with guns, why would they carry cumbersome things like swords? It’s much easier to shoot a gun.”

“Oh, wait…?”

“So just give that to us. We’ll throw it away later.”

“Geez, who would use this kind of junk.”

Swoosh.

I blankly stared at the revolvers that the guys had taken as if water was flowing.

…Even a B-grade awakened person can’t even make a scratch with this kind of revolver?

Well, come to think of it, that was the case.

If you could kill them with just a revolver, a B-grade awakened person wouldn’t have been so proud, and people wouldn’t have just endured their misdeeds.

It was strange if I thought about it.

Around the time I killed that guy I said I was going to use as an office.

He was resting comfortably on the 2nd floor, even after hearing the gunshot.

At first, I just thought he was an arrogant guy, but that wasn’t it.

Was he relieved when he heard the gunshot?

Because such a gun couldn’t even make a scratch on the body of a B-grade awakened person. That is common sense.

So he could rest so comfortably even after hearing the gunshot.

A person who uses a gun can’t be an awakened person, and he can’t be killed by a gun.

…But why could I break through that and kill them?

“To kill an awakened person with something like this, um… it’s impossible unless their whole body is a machine? If their body is a machine, they can put mana into the revolver. Because they’ll recognize the steel as their own body.”

“Don’t talk nonsense. Where is there such a person? If their whole body is a machine, it’s a can. I’ve never even heard of such a person.”

“Well, I guess.”

I blankly stared at my hand and thought.

…It seems that me stealing this prosthesis and running away was the best choice in my life.