episode_0107

Establish a company. And make mercenary work its main focus.

Mercenary work, unlike industries such as food or manufacturing, is a 100% consumer-based sector that produces nothing. Of course, there would be no problem if individual mercenaries under command were told to acquire all their own equipment, but then, what would differentiate them from a gang? Far from being distinct from corporate soldiers, their quality would only decline.

This means the company would have to spend money to provide support, risking tremendous financial hemorrhage if things go wrong.

Given the current skyrocketing prices of military-grade products, only those who were already immense magnates or leading a megacorp could withstand such a hemorrhage. Naturally, both are synonymous.

However, a proposal to fully fund it, claiming there’s no need to bear such risks.

“Wait, wait! Suddenly talking about creating a PMC… Do you even know what you’re saying to a mere mercenary? Besides, as you yourself said, what power do you have?”

Luna frowned and pushed back, as if Hiko’s proposal was a vain delusion from someone trapped in the Ayakashi cage.

Even if she was the Ayakashi princess or whatever, in a situation where she held no real power, such financial operations couldn’t be trusted.

To Luna’s suspicion, Hiko moved her hand once more, as if she had already anticipated it.

“The location is the Nexus Block in the Lower City. I will give you Cylinder No. 77, located one block away from the terminal ascending to the Upper City. It is my property, so use it as you please.”

“Wha—”

The hologram displayed an X-RAY map of Eclipse Point, slowly zooming in and highlighting a massive skyscraper located slightly east of the Nexus Block’s center in yellow.

A cylindrical ultra-high-rise building connecting the Lower City and the Upper City. Literally cylinder-shaped, the building also seemed to support the Upper City.

“No… Even if you hand over a building like this so easily…”

“Now that you have received the Ayakashi surname, shouldn’t you prepare for external activities? Nozaburo, the one who loves to show off, won’t object to establishing a subsidiary on the pretext of giving you a position.”

“…Wait, then I’m the president?” It felt like he had heard something strange.

“That goes without saying. Even I cannot just casually hand over an entire company to an outsider.”

The words, ‘That would be difficult even for family,’ almost escaped his lips, but he managed to swallow them.

I shook my head, which was turning completely white, and chewing on the sushi Hiko fed me, I spoke seriously.

Ah, this sushi is good here.

“There’s a problem. I have no talent for management…!”

Even before I fell here, I was a ‘minus hand,’ instantly going bankrupt and getting game over even when trying tycoon games on the lowest difficulty.

If even a mere game could reveal glimpses of my devilish talent, then what about leading a real company?

‘What else? The mass production of hundreds, thousands of unemployed people.’

I could only see an ending where I’d be showered with lead bullets as unemployment benefits by a group of jobless people who suddenly came knocking with guns.

For me, who wished to live a long and prosperous life, the worst possible future was drawn, one that made cold sweat drench my back.

“Hmph. You’re easily scared. You have many cute sides, too.”

“Stop getting all cozy and lovey-dovey with him… I still don’t understand. Isn’t a PMC too large in scale for a mere mercenary who, at best, runs a small mercenary group?”

“Don’t be modest.”

“I’m not being modest, I’m stating a fact.”

Once again, Luna and Hiko’s gazes shot at each other.

“Me, Dojun, JQ, Blake, and Raleigh. We’re a small mercenary group of only five people. Even if you intend to use us as your limbs, wouldn’t it be better to contact Vanishment, who is also small-scale?”

Indeed, they also had quite a small number of members.

Johann, whose thoughts were utterly incomprehensible; Nebel, wearing a bizarre, perverted frog mask; Seira, who vowed to kill an old man; and two others whose names he didn’t know.

With the shapeshifter joining this time, they would be six, so their numbers were roughly similar.

Moreover, when I fought Nebel once during the Tonybony incident, Blake, JQ, and I all had to rush in together just to barely stop him.

Though it didn’t seem like he couldn’t win one-on-one now, looking at the team as a whole, they could be considered slightly inferior to Vanishment.

And Luna, as their leader, knew that precisely.

“Just seeing that the comparison group is Vanishment, the legend among current mercenaries, seems qualification enough… but if you insist on asking for another reason, I have no choice but to reveal it.”

But Hiko raised her head and calmly looked down at Luna, as if disagreeing.

“The leader of the Grey Decker Alliance and the Ruinweb’s most frequent survivor, JQ. Kwang. Attacked by a malicious killing-ware lurking in the Ruinweb during his last dive two years ago, he’s said to be recuperating for the cleaning of his dorsolateral prefrontal cortex?”

“Huh.”

“…”

He had no idea what she was talking about.

Wasn’t JQ a total pushover?

“Blake Onum. A Sword Saint certified by the EP Old-Style Swordsmanship Council. He is currently downgrading his implants to alleviate the prodromal symptoms of Chromesykos.”

“Sword Saint?”

Blake, that perverted, muscular, bald, Black maid?

By the way, what’s a Sword Saint anyway?

I decided to ask Blake later how he got the ‘Sword Saint’ title, which sounded incredibly badass.

But I’ve never used a sword before.

Thinking about it, the katana he acquired from Kyojinkai wasn’t visible, he must have discarded it somewhere while carrying it around.

“Then there’s Raleigh 01… a special chassis for enforcers that was made with considerable effort, but it was stolen.”

“Why do I know nothing about any of this?”

He looked at Luna, demanding an explanation, and Luna was sweating profusely.

“…I was going to tell you everything. The timing was just a bit…”

As Hiko suddenly revealed his comrades’ personal information, Luna stammered out excuses, seemingly flustered, and I just chugged my drink.

Am I an outcast?

“My brother… is using a serum the Ayakashi concentrated without sparing any expense, and that ornament made by Rossmore, and you are Taylor’s…”

“Stop. I want to hear Luna’s story directly from Luna.”

“…Jun.”

While JQ, Blake, and Raleigh’s backstories were a bit disappointing, he hadn’t asked them directly, so it was understandable. But when it came to Luna’s circumstances, he stubbornly wanted to hear it directly from her.

“Hehe… Such overflowing love. It makes me truly jealous.”

At my request, Hiko nodded and did not delve into any more personal details.

“At any rate, I don’t believe that Rune’s Bar, which you lead, falls behind Vanishment. Both are legends among mercenaries of this era.”

“…Haa. I don’t know how much you know.”

“Discovering that would be a form of entertainment, wouldn’t it? It won’t be such a bad proposal.”

“Alright… I’ll accept.”

The conversation continued deep into the night.

***

The aggressive movements of Roden Global Enterprise, which had been ransacking the Lower City, immediately ceased.

This was because they determined they couldn’t find the shapeshifter, and simultaneously, the new Ayakashi family, ‘Ayakashi Jun,’ was mixed in as one of their targets, risking an adversarial relationship with the Ayakashi if they made a mistake.

The damage incurred was perhaps limited to his home being turned into a mess and Luna’s bar being destroyed.

But even that didn’t matter much.

Nexus Block, a central area close to the terminal leading to the upper city, one of the few wealthy districts in the Lower City. The giant cylindrical building connecting heaven and earth, located in what could be called the best position for a dispatch company, was currently bustling with activity.

“What sudden money do you have to start a company? And moving into such a ridiculously expensive place? You should just give me that money instead!”

“Bullshit! Shut your mouth and move the damn luggage! If I gave money to a Bastard like you, what else would you buy but a car?”

“You fucking bastard. You bald nigger!”

“Oh! If you want to fight, you’re always welcome. Fucking Nerd.”

Who would have known that their true identities were JQ. Kwang and Blake Onum, two of the legends among current-generation Deckers and Solos?

“…”

A woman in a tight bodysuit with ash-gray eyes looked at the two with disdain and walked past them.

Raleigh, the sniper of RB, silently picked up her share of the boxes and briskly headed for the upper floors.

Since this entire cylinder was to become RB’s new headquarters, she could use any place she wanted.

As Raleigh indifferently walked past the two men, who were pointing guns at each other, someone suddenly rushed out from inside.

“Oh my! You fucking brats! You’ll destroy the entire building before the company even goes public!”

The nominal president, the newcomer to Rune’s Bar, and now one of the world’s few blue-bloods who had received the Ayakashi surname. Ayakashi Jun ran between the two growling men.

“Kid! You said you were Ayakashi? I never thought I’d live to see the day I’d work on the same team as an Ayakashi! Well, after all, what kind of person’s name is John Doe…”

“Oh! Master! Get out of the way! I need to teach that motherfucker some manners…”

Clank. A cold muzzle touched the chins of both men.

“Before my Black Zirhok plants a close-range blow in your jaws, shut the fuck up and move the luggage.”

“Hahaha! Actually, I was just thinking I should move some luggage! Ah! Moving luggage is so much fun!”

“All right! I agree with that Nerd too! I should bring more boxes!”

At the desperate plea made by the one who had become the building owner, the two began to carry luggage even more diligently than before they fought, shedding tears as if deeply moved.

“Idiots…”

Watching them, Luna, who had been semi-forcibly made COO (Chief Operating Officer), covered her throbbing forehead with her hand.

Form a company with these strong but foolish people?