episode_0023

“What? Bram Stoker?”

We, gathered at Luna’s bar, informed Luna and Mason of the information we’d heard at the pub.

Luna, who was diligently managing the bar today as well, seemed curious about our sudden arrival but soon became indifferent, as if her interest had waned.

Wouldn’t she be disqualified as a bartender who should be engaging customers in conversation?

“The bounty offered by the EPSB is a whopping 300,000 credits. If we get this one, we can play for months.”

“Even so, it hasn’t been set yet. And if such a huge bounty is offered, all sorts of mercenaries and gangs will swarm in, turning it into a complete warzone.”

She seemed worried about the uncertainty of the information and the insane actions mercenaries would take in the overheated treasure hunt.

In truth, mercenaries are merely quasi-criminals who take requests through fixers, claiming to solve widespread problems in Eclipse Point, but their actions aren’t much different from gangs.

They probably wouldn’t hesitate to cause trouble if money was involved.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen Luna Anthony Taylor so scared, hasn’t it?”

“Haa… I’m not scared; it just doesn’t add up financially. This isn’t even a request, and we don’t have a shred of information. You’d have to handle the search from the beginning.”

Luna, who had almost ripped out Jay Q’s hair but refrained, sighed and brought up the fundamental problem with this job.

That we’d have to do everything from the very beginning.

One might wonder what the problem is, but the Tonybony district itself is surprisingly vast and a dilapidated area, so its zoning is improperly organized, making it chaotic.

The very reason why a lone-wolf serial killer, who doesn’t move with a group, can operate freely is probably due to the characteristics of the Tonybony area.

“What does it matter? It looks fun to me~”

Mason Black, the unruly rookie bartender who, despite wearing a bartender’s uniform, was only coveting the drinks Luna made, sipped his synthetic alcohol and raised a hand to us in approval.

“But if you want to go to Tonybony, I recommend wearing a gas mask or getting a bronchial filter implant, Oppa. The air circulation system there doesn’t work properly, so smog accumulates~”

“Even if it’s dilapidated, there’s a place like that in this era?”

“What do you think if I tell you it has the lowest GAP (Gross Area Product) index in all of Eclipse Point?”

“No wonder they don’t even bother with the air circulation system.”

I had heard it was a considerably poor neighborhood, but the news in Eclipse Point never mentioned anything negative or that improvement was needed, so the only way to know the situation of the area was to go there in person.

[Activate full satellite map of Eclipse Point?]

‘No.’

In any case, after pushing our opinions back and forth for several hours, we finally decided to capture the pseudo-vampire named Bram Stoker in Tonybony, both to end the urban legend and to claim the bounty.

A resounding five votes in favor.

Luna shook her head, but everyone’s eyes were fixated on the enormous sum of 300,000 credits.

Plus, if I just do this job, I can pay off almost all my remaining debt to Luna!

“You’ll go anyway, even if I stop you… Do as you please. I have other business, so I can’t help.”

“Haha! What mercenary asks a fixer for help with a job? Of course, if you return as the mercenary Luna Anthony Taylor, you’re welcome.”

“If you’re just going to drain my alcohol without paying, get out!”

*Bang!* Chased out of the bar by Luna’s hand, which had smashed Jay Q’s annoying head, we casually tossed the unconscious Jay Q into the car. Just then, a hand *grabbed* my shoulder.

I turned my head to see pink-haired Mason smiling sweetly, yet with a slightly scary grin.

“Is there something else you needed?”

Was she asking for sex, like usual?

Having sex without Luna, who was facing away, catching us was fun, but wasn’t the timing a bit off right now?

“If you’re thinking of going to Tonybony, what did I tell you to do, Oppa?”

“A gas mask or a respiratory implant?”

“That’s right~”

And then Mason dragged me back into Luna’s bar.

I thought for a moment, and only then did a chill run down my spine, but before I knew it, I was tied to an operating table.

“Hey, wait, the anesthetic…!”

“Just a little prick~”

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”

It seemed Luna’s workshop was soundproofed.

Otherwise, a hefty fine notice for disturbing the peace in the dead of night would have happily flown in.

***

Tonybony.

A region mostly composed of residential areas, with densely packed buildings and mega-apartments, it felt like a place where the stifling atmosphere wouldn’t disappear even if the air circulation system were working.

Despite this, its exterior walls were heavily adorned with neon signs and graffiti, as if trying to appear glamorous, but they were obscured by thick smog, appearing hazy and distant like a mirage.

“Here, just someone walking by could start an urban legend.”

*Hiss—*

“Yes, I agree too.”

A landscape that looked like a completely different country compared to the relatively clean Nexus Block or Centum Street.

But the fact that this was merely a section of the same city made me wonder if megacorps really discriminated so much, even among the poor, just for a few cents.

Everyone marveled at the scenery of Tonybony, where the air, buildings, and people were utterly dismal, so much so that even bronchial filters screamed.

“Let’s split up for now.”

Without delay, we, who had come straight to Tonybony, decided to start by gathering information.

After all, all we knew was the existence of a criminal with unusual dietary habits named Bram Stoker, who drank blood, and that the disappearances were being carried out by Bram Stoker.

The first stage of the operation was to split up and gather information.

Jay Q went into a lodging to launch his drone, Blake seemed intent on roaming around in his ridiculous getup, and Raleigh had already vanished from my side.

Suddenly alone, I lit a cigarette, adding a cigarette’s worth of pollution to the already contaminated air, and walked down the street.

“Hey, I have a quick question.”

“Whatever you ask, I don’t know, so get lost.”

As I walked by, I finally spotted a person through the thick smog and tried to speak to him, but the gas-masked man coldly brushed me off and vanished back into the smog.

Shrugging, thinking he was ill-tempered, I met a few more people afterwards, but without exception, men, women, old, young, and even robots, all cut me off and quickened their pace.

“Tsk… Everyone seems to be struggling to live.”

[The current public safety satisfaction in Tonybony is at its lowest. In a situation with limited visibility, the vigilance towards individuals who suddenly emerge through the smog and attempt to converse is considered high.]

“Where would you find an innocent citizen like me?”

In any case, stopping random passersby to ask questions like this was highly inefficient.

Nor could I invade their homes to ask questions, as most of the surrounding areas were residential.

“Scan within 50 meters.”

[Confirmed. Generating a 4D holographic three-dimensional map within a 50-meter radius.]

Equipment is meant to be used for situations like this.

Just by keeping this on and walking around, I could search several times the area compared to others, making it highly efficient in places with poor visibility and chaotically divided sections.

Although it consumed a lot of RAM and storage, Ayakashi automatically deleted data, so it didn’t really matter.

“Hmm?”

Had I been walking around for about 20 minutes?

Movement was detected in the alleyway section of the miniature Tonybony model, which appeared as if it were laid out directly in front of my retina.

Two dots, appearing to be human, ran through the alley.

“Zoom in here.”

[Confirmed. Restoring saved modeling resources.]

As it zoomed in, the two spheres, though ambiguous, began to take on human forms, allowing me to at least discern their genders.

A woman ran desperately in front, followed by a man.

“Is running through smog-filled alleyways a famous date spot for couples in Tonybony?”

[Negative.]

“I know. Of course it’s a joke, you idiot. So, is that guy Bram Stoker?”

Even if he wasn’t Bram Stoker, this seemed related to the assault and abduction incidents reported in Tonybony.

There was no reason to ignore it, so I immediately ran, turning from the main road into the alleyway, cutting through the neon lights scattered by the smog, and drew my shotgun.

‘Should I blow off an arm or a leg? A leg, probably, to prevent escape here, right?’

While my thoughts might have become a bit extreme doing mercenary work, I’d realized it was simply easier to just blow off limbs and get started, even if I didn’t kill them, because there were so many awful bastards.

And if it was a chrome psycho, since conversation was useless, killing them was the best course of action.

The physical performance displayed by my musculoskeletal system, enhanced by nanoweare’s automatic procedures, allowed me to instantly kick off the curving, tangled building walls and soar, catching up to the strange cyberware-laden assailant who had almost caught the woman.

“Screaaaaam! H-help me!”

He looked like an idiot, equipped with chrome resembling the head traps seen in slasher movies where people are kidnapped and grotesquely tortured, an automatic injection device sloshing with red liquid, and even bioware that extended his fingernails.

And then I dropped from the sky, kicked his head, and using the aiming assistance simulator, fired two shotgun blasts into his legs without aiming.

*Bang!* Shotgun pellets flew in, completely shattering his legs, which didn’t seem to be replaced with chrome, sending him crashing face-first to the ground and rolling.

“Groooaaan!!!”

He screamed, flailing his claws wildly, but as I lightly shot his wrist, shattering it, he was instantly neutralized.

“Groooaan! Screeeech!!”

But the guy, screaming bizarrely as if reason didn’t exist, thrashed wildly with wide, bloodshot eyes before suddenly *stopping* and collapsing, no longer moving.

[Subject death confirmed.]

“What the…”

Could this guy possibly be Bram Stoker?

But for someone so infamous, he was utterly pathetic, closer to a beast than even a chrome psycho.

“Tsk, I hope this isn’t the one. He needed to be alive for the bounty.”

I *tsked* and kicked the guy’s corpse.

He hadn’t seemed to have much cyberware inserted in the first place, as he flew lightly with a squishy internal sensation, hitting the wall and spewing blood.

“Gasp…!”

At the sound, I turned my head to see the woman, who had just been chased by this idiot, sitting on the ground after falling.

Her eyes filled with terror, her legs seemed to have given out, and she tried to stand up but failed repeatedly.

She had a simple appearance, not trying to excessively display her individuality like people in Eclipse Point, which wasn’t bad to look at.

Her figure, revealed through her clothes, was a bit lacking, but that was only because Luna, Mason, and Raleigh around me were overwhelmingly stunning; she looked quite decent.

Besides, maybe I could ask her something.

“Come on, get up. The monster chasing you is dead.”

“Ah… Th-thank you… for saving me… I owe you my life.”

I offered my hand, and after a moment of hesitation, the woman carefully took it and stood up.

But she was swaying, so I offered my shoulder to support her.

As I grabbed her buttock, my fingers bounced off the firm flesh.

“I have a few questions about this incident. Do you have a moment?”

“…Yes.”

“Then, if you don’t mind, could you guide me to your home? A safe house is better than a dangerous alley like this, isn’t it?”

“Yes… this way…”

The woman, still looking dazed as if not fully conscious, guided me along the way.