[796] Complex (1)
"Excuse me."
The Jeistin guild members who were about to leave for the arena after breakfast turned their heads at the unexpected visitor.
"If you've got business, come in. But who are you?"
She was a prim-looking woman with oversized glasses that were clearly for show and a bob that suited her neat face.
"Is this the Jeistin Guild?"
The one-eyed member stepped forward as their representative.
"Of course this is Jeistin… ugh!"
He'd meant it as a joke, but when a pale man with his eyebrows shaved off pushed in, he hastily stepped back.
"What are you doing in a place like this?"
Freeman looked around as the four top officers of the Angmu Mercenary Corps filed in one after another.
'They're pros.'
Each of them carried an air that marked them as dangerous.
Jeistin rose from his seat and demanded, "Who are you? Busting into someone else's guild in the morning."
Marsha snorted.
"If you summoned someone, you should've sorted rank first. Young lady, do you know who we are?"
"No, but I have an idea. Anyone who opens with a line like that is rarely decent."
Marsha raised a forefinger.
"I agree. But I'll make an exception this time. If you live in the same world as us, we're in the same family."
"Hmph, that kind of—"
Just as Jeistin moved to step away, Shirone — having finished bathing outside — opened the back door and came in.
"Oh? Marsha nuna. When did you get here?"
Marsha narrowed her eyes as Shirone shook a towel over his hair.
"Hmm."
Because the Shirone of the Undercoder had been nothing more than a copied record, this was the first time Marsha had actually seen him since they parted in Galliant four years ago.
'You've grown.'
He still had the simple look of a seventeen-year-old, but his temperament had been sharpened significantly.
Shirone hung the towel on a chair and ran over to take Marsha's hand.
"It's been such a long time."
Marsha slipped Shirone's head into the crook of her arm.
"You! You summoned me in some strange way again! What's going on? Even if I wanted to refuse, I couldn't reply!"
"Aaah! There were circumstances!"
Marsha tugged Shirone's head like snatching it and then turned to Freeman, laughing loudly.
"Circumstances? You've grown up and you're talking nonsense now."
The Jeistin mercenaries who had been watching the commotion straightened and narrowed their eyes.
"Could it be… the Angmu Mercenary Corps?"
Marsha addressed Jeistin.
"Yes. Someone said they desperately wanted to see me. Who is it?"
"I was the one who asked to see you. I need a favor."
As Shirone explained the situation in a petulant voice, Jeistin studied Marsha intently.
'This woman…'
The patron saint of all the forsaken.
'What a foul personality.'
Whatever her exact relationship with Shirone, her raucous boldness — the way she brandished the Odaesung like a thug — showed she wouldn't be picky about targets.
"Hmm, so that's it…"
After hearing the explanation, Marsha moved to the table and everyone made way.
She sat alone, took out a cigarette, put it between her lips, and beckoned Shirone over.
"Light."
She had debts to the Undercoder and it was a favor, so she couldn't refuse.
'She really never changes.'
Marsha used the flame made by Yahweh to light the cigarette, pinched it between her fingers, and drew a long drag.
"All right. Jeistin Guild, I accept. Whether it's Habitz or whatever, once you're family, you stick with it to the end."
"Thank you, hehe."
Shirone's unexpected cheekiness made Marsha chuckle despite herself.
'He's an adult now.'
Still, she thought of him like a little brother.
"But we have one condition. It's nothing major, but it'd be faster to go through you."
"What is it?"
Marsha's expression turned serious for the first time.
"Do you know anything about Fermi?"
Given they'd fought together in the Undercoder, it wouldn't be strange for Marsha to know him.
"No. I only heard he left after the graduation exams. I don't know what happened after that…"
"Do you know what they call him around here?"
Marsha straightened the cigarette.
"The Scarlet Drug Lord."
Shirone stared blankly.
"He's already taken the central continent and is spreading to the south. The weaker the addiction, the higher the price. Odd as it sounds, it works—ordinary people use it. He's exploiting people's fear of demons."
"But why drugs? If he needed money, couldn't he deal in depreciable goods or other trades…"
"You don't get it. This isn't simple. The advance from Cassan's empress was already spent and then some."
Even so, it was hard to accept.
'Has he broken down?'
Had the shock of the graduation exam destroyed the mage's convictions and Yolga's will?
"How did you find out?"
"As Angmu's power grew, all sorts of people drifted in. A few of them took to drugs. As you know, our mercenary corps strictly forbids drugs."
When Marsha gestured, a dark-skinned, broad-shouldered man stepped forward.
He was Seike, deputy leader of Angmu's Unit 3 (Rat, Tiger).
"Greetings. I'm Seike."
He introduced himself, rolled up his sleeve, and showed the hieroglyph on his left arm that represented a rat.
"I'm a warrior of the Mun clan. The chosen warriors can inscribe two of the twelve animals on themselves."
A kind of shamanism.
"Specifically, one from the six combat types and one from the six support types. The Rat can activate a Tunnel Site. It can bend the direction of light."
Shirone thought that was incredible.
"For example, I can see inside this ceiling. It's not x-ray sight. I follow gaps in the floor, ride the drains up, go through ventilation, and look. Anyway, I watched suspicious subordinates closely that way. I found the coins the drug dealers used. Like this."
As Seike pulled out the coin, Shirone recognized it at once.
"A gold coin-wheel…"
Seike flicked the coin and snatched it up midair.
"You knew, huh. It took me a month to find where this mark was used. It's from the magic school in Tormia—Fermi's alma mater. It's the emblem he used."
It had to be Fermi.
'No one else could expand a drug route this fast unless it was him.'
Shirone clenched his fists.
"Fermi… you really…"
No matter how profit-driven, he never imagined someone would use a drug that ruined people as a business.
Marsha said, "So here's our condition. We don't know where the drug factories or Fermi himself are. If you meet Fermi, let me know where he is."
"What would you do if you met him?"
"Try to coax him, or if he's willing, partner up. Of course, not in drug trafficking… but Fermi's talented."
That was the impression she'd gotten in the Undercoder.
"Got it."
Because Hexa could exist thanks to Yolga, Shirone felt he should meet Fermi at least once.
"Are we settled then? Jeistin Mercenary Corps, pack up. We have things to entrust anyway."
Shirone stopped Marsha.
"Not yet. I still have unfinished business with Arachne. Let's finish that first, then depart."
Although the original goal of Beta Fish had been achieved, he couldn't leave before the World Beauty Pageant was settled.
"Unfinished business? What kind of business?"
Shirone sighed.
"Well…"
* * *
When Shirone arrived at the venue, there were more guards than spectators.
After the terror attack, the show's commercial appeal was gone, but they had to complete the contest to have any hope for next year.
'That guy came today too.'
The man from the parade was handing out flyers again as a volunteer.
"Representing Arachne, Barho Rangi! Please show him your support! Rangi for the win!"
Only the chant had changed.
'This is no time to worry about others.'
The contestants had been moved from the bunker to the arena early, and their safety was now Shirone's responsibility.
'I'm no good at calming people.'
He took a deep breath at the door and knocked, but there was no reply; not even the usual "come in" sounded.
"Um, Shirone."
When there was no answer, he turned the doorknob and the door opened on its own, the crack widening.
"I'll come in."
Peeking his head inside first, Shirone found dozens of women waiting.
"Surprise!"
Paper confetti exploded and white flakes fluttered down over Shirone's head.
"Surprised? This is the welcome we prepared! Hurry and come in!"
Miss Oldhill, with snowy pale skin, grinned and pulled Shirone inside by the arm.
All the contestants were gathered, and some of them were in nothing but underwear.
"Um… excuse me."
Pony met his eyes and sighed.
"Sorry. It's my fault. I was talking with Rangi yesterday and your name came up…"
Rangi approached with an apologetic look.
"I just thought I'd feel better if you were here. I told them honestly."
"That's fine. Nothing's more important than safety. But this is a bit—"
A staff member called out.
"Twenty minutes until the contest."
At that, some contestants began changing from underwear into swimsuits.
"Aaaah!"
Shirone spun around in panic at the overwhelming sight, and the women burst into laughter.
"Shirone, you're so innocent. You'll be fine. This is our job, and we even have male designers."
"Of course not everyone is allowed in. But Shirone isn't lecherous…"
Rangi turned away shyly and started getting changed.
"I'm not okay with this! Hey! Get out of here, you—get out!"
Pony's face flushed like a persimmon as she shoved Shirone's back, and in that instant—
'Hostility?'
He turned around sharply and the tense energy vanished as if it had never been there.
"Hey, hey! Don't dart off like that!"
'Pony didn't sense it?'
The hostility had been directed only at Shirone, and the other women, clueless, giggled.
"Hohoho! How was it? Up close, not so impressive, right? Still, we got a show, so you'll watch until the contest's over, won't you?"
It wasn't nothing, but only one thought filled Shirone's mind.
"Ah—"
He made a small sound, and Pony shouted even louder.
"Get out!"
How had he not thought of it?
'We didn't confirm the terrorist's face. And if her unorthodox method can steal part of a body…'
It meant she could have swapped faces with someone.
'There must be traces left, right?'
He inspected the women's necklines carefully but found no inconsistency.
'Maybe a mental change…'
If only the face had been switched, the brain would be the terrorist's, but he didn't know the contestants' personalities well enough to check.
'The hostile aura was probably a mistake.'
If the terrorist was here, the farther Shirone moved away, the greater the danger.
"Don't worry, Pony."
Shirone said seriously. "Seeing with your eyes isn't the same as truly seeing."
The contestants turned toward him, and Pony blinked and let her shoulders fall.
"…What kind of crazy talk is that?"
She grabbed his ear, opened the door herself, and pulled him outside.
"Get out, you pervert! Out—now!"
"Wait."
Shirone tugged her wrist, closed the door, and whispered into her ear.
"Did you notice anyone acting strange this morning?"