episode_0006

“No matter how I look at it, he just seems like a nouveau riche who got lucky and hit it big in business.”

“Just shut up, please.”

The former director of EPSB possessed an appearance befitting his voice.

To the rich, who undergo extremely expensive life-extension surgeries to the extreme, he had an appearance they’d call a mere young brat, someone who looked like they had just entered his thirties.

In other words, he looked younger than me, who was exploited working as a salaryman in a crappy corporation.

“Well. I know that mercenaries being rude isn’t particularly special, so I’ll graciously overlook it. I’d like to confirm if the goods arrived properly.”

“Before that, it seems we have something to settle between us.”

“Even though I haven’t directly received the goods yet?”

“There are simply too many rogue clients who try to kill us all and cover their tracks as soon as we hand over the goods, so we can’t just pass them over like that.”

Though the mercenaries of Eclipse Point are no joke, those who try to hire them for expensive sums are also far from ordinary.

I imagine there are slightly more troublemakers who try to stiff them on payment or simply kill them, rather than excellent clients who diligently pay their fees.

Of course, if the mercenaries trying to kill them survive, their remaining lives will be quite arduous.

In that sense, the former director of EPSB could be called a cooperative, excellent customer who didn’t show any inclination to negotiate further or try to cover things up in response to Luna’s demands.

“I’ll give it to you immediately.”

*Thud* Usually, credits are transferred via bank account, but perhaps to avoid tracking, the former director placed a large case down.

Just by hearing the heavy sound, I could tell how much was inside.

However, Luna didn’t just grin widely and take it like me; she immediately opened the case and checked the contents.

“Whoa!”

“It’s embarrassing, so keep it down…”

Inside the case, credits in banknote form were neatly arranged, filling it completely.

Luna individually inspected the credits as if checking for counterfeits, and upon confirming they were all genuine, she nodded and closed the case bag.

“I have confirmed receipt of 100,000 credits in physical form.”

“Ha, would EPSB, which protects the public order and citizens’ safety of Eclipse Point, possibly use counterfeit money?”

“You should add ‘former’ in front of that. And it’s not like EPSB didn’t commit illegal acts.”

Even police agencies working under the state are bound to be corrupt, so I couldn’t even imagine how rotten a privatized police agency would be internally.

Luna’s distrust was very reasonable, based on reality, and the former director’s words were quite laughable.

“Tsk. I should have just ignored the lower city.”

The former director, having received the red crystal chip from Luna, inserted it into his slot without hesitation.

Even if it contained an urban legend virus that would paralyze the nervous system of the person who downloaded the program and make them bleed from every orifice until they died, his attitude showed trust in the ICE (Intrusion Countermeasures Electronics) intrusion countermeasures technology system.

I was immensely curious about what information was contained in the chip, which supposedly held data capable of changing the power structure of EPSB itself, but isn’t there a saying that curiosity kills the grasshopper [a proverb about the dangers of excessive curiosity]?

As the former director briefly appeared to be receiving the vast data from the chip, Luna sighed as if relieved and casually threw herself onto a nearby sofa.

“You’re making yourself at home.”

“If not now, when would I ever get to enter a rich house like this? Anyway, they’ve made taxidermy out of animals I’ve never seen before.”

In the direction Luna pointed, animals that weren’t particularly rare, like goats or pheasants, were preserved as taxidermy.

Of course, ‘not rare’ was by the standards of their original habitat; by Eclipse Point standards, hundreds of thousands of credits might not be enough to buy a single living, un-genetically-modified original species animal.

Even the taxidermy, while perhaps cheaper than live animals, would still be an enormous price.

Dozens of them. Their presence, decorating both sides of the wide hallway, showed that the former director truly lived for the pleasure of spending money.

“How delicious would they have been if we roasted them and ate them…”

“You know how to cook?”

“Professional chef… maybe not to that extent, but I can do a little.”

“Really!?”

What common people eat mostly consists of genetically modified, disgustingly tasteless factory-farmed livestock, synthetic organic matter, insects, and so on, so the culture of cooking itself has regressed significantly.

High-end restaurants in the upper city might still be making wonderful food, but even there, it would likely be inferior to original fine dining, or the prices would be dozens of times higher.

It was understandable that Luna, who seemed like a seasoned mercenary, was surprised by the mere mention of cooking.

At best, it might be comparable to a student who just follows recipes from videos, but here, even that would qualify as an excellent chef.

“Then please cook something for me. My wish was to have a chef friend by my side, and here you were, right next to me!”

“Sorry, but I don’t have money for ingredients.”

“I’m the one being treated, so would I really make you prepare it? I’m not expecting the quality of a restaurant in the upper city, so take it easy. Take it easy.”

Somehow, the conversation shifted to me cooking for Luna, but it didn’t matter.

I guess I’ll just make her eat it while wearing the micro bikini that was delivered.

“Heh…”

*Stagger* As we were chatting like that, the former director, who had been downloading data with the chip installed, grabbed his head and staggered.

I wondered if something was wrong, but seeing Luna and me stand up, the former director spread his palm, as if it was just an overload from receiving an excessive amount of data in a short time.

“It’s done. The chip is genuine. Indeed, money is meant to be spent to see results.”

“Then, we’ll take our leave now.”

The job was successfully completed.

We delivered the package to the client without incident or damage, and the client, highly valuing the deliverers’ commitment, coolly deposited the fee, didn’t he?

Although there was a minor incident involving splitting someone’s head open, the thought of receiving 10,000 credits filled me with joy rather than anxiety.

Wasn’t Eclipse Point a place where human lives were cheap to begin with?

Let’s just consider that their lives were worth a high price.

Thinking that, I offered a brief silent prayer and was about to leave the former director’s house, following Luna.

“Wait a moment.”

“What is it?”

The former director called us to a halt.

Though there was no need to use honorifics now that he was no longer a client, Luna’s face showed a mix of ‘This is an opportunity!’ and ‘I want to go back and sleep, why are you calling me?’

“I need to go to EPSB’s lower city branch office starting now.”

“The request we received was just for chip delivery.”

“Are you saying that, thanks to the lump of trouble you brought along because you couldn’t handle things properly, I’m suffering damages?”

“If you expect after-sales service from mercenaries, you naturally know it’s a paid service, don’t you?”

Simply put, it was a demand for more money.

As corporations have gone mad and become money-hungry demons, it’s only natural that the people living beneath them also become money-hungry.

Watching Luna delight in how much more she could extort, I felt like I was falling for her mercenary-like nature.

“Tsk… how much…”

*BOOM—!!!* Just as the negotiation was about to commence.

An enormous vibration and explosion sound shook the entire villa!

It was all too easy to tell that it had started on the first floor.

“Damn it..! Jay Q! Raleigh! Blake!”

I immediately opened the window and shouted, but I soon regretted that choice.

Because dozens of gun-wielding mad samurai, who had surrounded the villa, unleashed a volley of shots from their guns towards the window where I had poked my head out.

*Rattle of gunfire!* The windows shattered like biting into a snack, taxidermy burst open, and the ceiling tore, instantly turning the former director’s house into a chaotic mess from ricocheting bullets.

“I’ll give you an additional 100,000 credits, so get me out of here right now!”

“I’m sorry, but our vehicle overturned on the way!”

“My car is in the underground parking lot, take that!”

While I, not daring to stick my head out amidst the endless hail of bullets and retaliating downwards with my shotgun, Luna began taking the former director out, as if a dramatic negotiation had been concluded.

“Throw a grenade downstairs and follow me! We’re going to the parking lot now! Got it?!”

Following Luna’s order, I pulled the pin from the Vortex Industries fragmentation grenade I had received and tossed it down as a gift.

*BOOM!* A moment later, just as big an explosion as before shook the building, and the sound of gunfire briefly disappeared, but it was truly only for a moment.

Leaving behind the low-intelligence monkeys who were once again dedicated to turning this luxurious building into a hole-ridden Spongebob, I followed the two descending to the emergency elevator.

“Luna! What about the others?!”

“If the situation has already erupted, there’s nothing we can do! They’ll have to survive on their own! I’ve already sent a communication too!”

“Damn it, they’re alive, right?”

“How would I know that?! Have you already grown fond of them?”

“Damn it. You’re cold.”

Or perhaps, that’s just like a mercenary who doesn’t know when they’ll die.

As we rapidly descended underground, we heard charging sounds and the distinct firing noise of a weapon that wasn’t a conventional gunpowder firearm.

At the operational sound of the sniper rifle Raleigh was holding, which fired high-speed magnetic projectiles that pierced through targets along with walls, I knew for certain that at least one person was alive.

“—’Hey— I’ll slice up these fucking yellow monkeys with this maid staff for Oni-chan and GOSUJIN SAMA!’”

“—’What is this crazy bastard again?! Shoot!’”

“Looks like Blake is alive too.”

“I guess so… Then Jay Q should be fine too, right?”

The sound of a second chaotic battle breaking out outside, mixed with security sounds calling private security firms, created an ear-splitting noise.