episode_0078

*Blast!* As the entrance burst open with a loud bang, as if a shotgun had been fired, everyone flinched.

And there was a familiar face.

Healthy-colored skin and a scar running across her face, a long ponytail, and a voluptuous, feminine body that couldn’t be hidden even by a tight bartender’s uniform. Despite an appearance that showcased various charms, Luna stood in the entrance, radiating a fierce aura that overwhelmed them all.

“Oh, Luna. You’re here?”

“Just be quiet for a moment.”

“…”

Wasn’t it said that when a tiger roars, its prey’s muscles stiffen due to some effect, preventing them from escaping? At Luna’s low whisper, I felt as if I were a rabbit facing a tiger, and cold sweat dripped down my back.

She’s angry!

“Hey, Johann. I just heard the news that you captured the Shape-Shifter and rushed over, you know?”

“Ahaha! It must have taken quite a while to get here from Nexus Block, didn’t it? You’re fast~”

Behind Luna, at Johann’s jest, a tired-looking Yuki and Kana appeared, stumbling and almost crawling.

“Ugh… To drive so fast that you get a five-digit fine without even causing an accident, could Luna actually be a Rigger?”

“My stomach’s churning… Ugh…”

It seemed she had driven quite recklessly to get here.

“By the way, I heard something strange… You let him capture the Shape-Shifter alone?”

“Haha..! I’m ashamed of that, but I couldn’t help…”

*Wham!* Johann, who had taken a direct punch to the face, spun 360 degrees in place and stood up straight again. Watching this spectacle, I decided I would never mess with Luna.

Afterward, Luna’s furious beating continued, but it was so shocking that no one dared to step in.

“Ugh, Ughaaaaa! S-Save me! I’m sorry!”

Even Seira, a member of Vanishment, could only turn her head away and ignore her leader’s plea for help, such was the intensity! Actually, it just seemed like she was distracted by popcorn, but Luna stomped on Johann thoroughly, ‘educating’ him.

“Phew! I feel much better now!”

Beneath Luna, who was dusting off her hands with a slightly brighter expression, lay a battered Johann, like a martial artist who had self-destructed against a green alien monster with a cabbage head.

And Seira, who had been watching for a long time, poked him repeatedly with her scabbard to check if he was still alive.

‘He has no popular support, huh…’

Even as the leader of the Seven High mercenary group, it’s surprising he’s treated like this, but then again, he’s a cheap guy.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“He was a pushover, wasn’t he?”

Luna approached, examining me all over. Even though she knew my body would recover quickly as long as I was alive, thanks to the nanowear, she was still meticulously checking, as if worried.

Luna, who had beaten Johann for a long time and even stolen my top, making me feel like a virgin on her wedding night, only then turned her gaze to the Shape-Shifter, who was tied up and leaning against a wall. “So, is that him, the Shape-Shifter?”

The Shape-Shifter, seemingly deep in thought from his negotiation with Johann, soon raised his head at her gaze and met Luna’s eyes.

“Luna Anthony Taylor, I presume. It’s an honor to meet you like this.”

“I’m just an ordinary mercenary. I don’t think I’m in a position to hear such words from someone at the pinnacle of this industry, you know.”

“Everyone who knows, knows. Are you trying to hide it?”

Again, the two exchanged meaningful words that I didn’t understand. Both Johann and those above him, what information do they have that lets them understand? Judging by the nuance, it seemed to be about Luna’s identity, but it was clear Luna was reluctant to bring up the topic.

‘Taylor… Taylor… Is this name important? Martina, do you know anything about it?’

‘It’s classified as Class 2 confidential, and physical access to the Ayakashi internal data center is required to view that information.’

‘So even Megacorp considers it Class 2 confidential… That’s scary.’

While Class 2 confidential might not sound like much, a Megacorp Class 2 confidential document that was once leaked contained information that could reignite corporate wars, such as details on anti-matter weapon-possessing organizations, serial numbers, and activation codes. Therefore, it’s essentially the highest level of undisclosed data, excluding singularity-level technology that is practically a company’s lifeline.

A secret from a friend of ten years is tempting, but I’m really reluctant to dig into Luna’s past behind her back. I can only hope that one day she’ll be able to tell me herself.

“…I said I don’t want to talk about it. You wouldn’t be unaware of your current situation, would you?”

“That’s right. According to the contract with Vanishment, I will guide him to the Doctor.”

“The Doctor?”

At that moment, Johann, half-wrecked from Luna’s beating, scratched his head and got up.

“Oh dear… I’ve really been through it. First, since you handled the matter excellently, I should give you the reward right away, shouldn’t I?”

Johann lightly touched his temple, appearing to manipulate something, and a holographic notification from a banking app appeared before Luna’s eyes.

An amount with no less than eight zeroes.

At the outrageous act of depositing a massive sum of 100 million credits in a single payment, Luna also flinched, perhaps a little flustered.

“I’ll assume you’ll handle the distribution yourselves.”

“Of course…”

“Oh… what can I do with this…?”

Even if we divide it roughly by the number of people, wouldn’t it be like receiving as much as a Super Bowl champion? Should I buy a house and a car first, and invest the rest? What had been nothing more than wishful thinking whenever I bought a lottery ticket, hoping ‘What if?’, was now truly within reach, entering the realm of certainty, so I couldn’t help but be happy.

“By the way, what’s this about a contract with Vanishment?”

It was Johann who answered Luna’s question a step faster than I did.

“It’s simple. Instead of killing a strong competitor or handing them over to the EPSB, the Shape-Shifter broke ties with his original client and agreed to help us. And it’s a simple deal: he’ll introduce us to the engineer who manufactured that high-tech equipment.”

“…The latter is the real reason, isn’t it?”

“You figured it out?”

Johann exaggerated a pained ‘Ow-ow-ow’, then sat in a chair, crossed his legs, and smirked.

“We needed the equipment the Shape-Shifter uses. Or at the very least, we had to prevent it from falling into the hands of other factions.”

‘From the perspective of having faced him, he was definitely incredibly difficult, but *that* difficult?’

Honestly, if it weren’t for Martina and Kerberos, who far exceeded the normal military standard, I would have 100% died, but couldn’t someone with higher skill than me somehow subdue him?

‘The optical camouflage performance of that individual makes it undetectable not only in visible light but also in all wavelength scans, including infrared and X-ray.’

‘Seriously?’

Besides contaminating him with black paint spray like I did, I thought he might be detectable with industrial special goggles, but if he was perfectly invisible, that would be a different story.

‘It really was a fluke…’

‘In addition to that, it seems various other technologies were applied, such as fluidic distortion, noise cancellation, and perception inhibition.’

It seemed to be plastered with such advanced technology that I could understand why Martina’s computational power couldn’t detect it. Weren’t each of these something that would scarcely be found in top-tier military equipment? The fact that even what we discovered when assassinating the Closing Age was merely a coincidence made me grimace.

And I secretly informed Luna of that fact.

[‘Is this real?’]

[‘Martina told me, so I guess it probably is?’]

To Luna, Martina was just a kid with a lot of knowledge but an unknown identity, so Luna made a face as if she found it a bit hard to believe, but she soon nodded, as if to say she believed it.

“Johann of Vanishment. Since our member subdued the target Shape-Shifter, I think a more proper negotiation regarding the reward is necessary, don’t you?”

“Haha. I have nothing to say to that. Anything you want?”

“First, Vanishment… meaning Vanishment, which is recruiting and operating the Shape-Shifter, will not act hostile towards Rune’s Bar.”

“A non-aggression pact, then? Of course. Vanishment won’t accept any requests targeting Rune’s Bar. However, Rune’s Bar must also not accept any jobs against Vanishment.”

*Nods.* A non-aggression clause for both sides. If a fight were to break out with Vanishment, now including Johann and the Shape-Shifter, we would clearly lose, but we are a formidable opponent for them as well.

Both Luna and Johann nodded in agreement, and the first condition was met.

“Second, Vanishment will cooperate once upon Rune’s Bar’s request.”

“Hmm~ Since we’ll be helping each other out~ I’ll accept this as well.”

Since we helped capture the Shape-Shifter, one of the Seven High, they should cooperate if we run into trouble.

“Vanishment will unconditionally side with Rune’s Bar, no matter what you do, just once. For example… like overthrowing Megacorp?”

“…”

“Ahaha! Let’s not make such grim faces. Everyone has dreams they’re chasing, don’t they?”

Johann, who casually made a statement that would have brought down all sorts of corporate special forces and Ayakashi ninjas if JQ hadn’t installed a wiretap prevention system in my house while planning the operation, lightly shrugged his shoulders.

“Now, for the third and final one.”

“Three of them? That’s a lot~”

“We also need to meet the engineer who is connected to the Shape-Shifter.”

“Hmm~”

Johann’s snake-like eyes narrowed.