Chapter 4 Part 4: First Day

“Wh, wh, what is this…!”

“Emergency! Emergency! Murder occurred! This is the Zone 3 Association. I repeat. This is the Zone 3 Association. Murder occurred…”

The association turned into chaos in an instant.

The onlookers who had been watching the commotion also had bewildered expressions, as if they hadn’t thought that a real bloodbath would occur.

That was no exception for Haran, who had been trying to mediate the commotion somehow.

“Wh, what have you done! Why did you kill him?!”

“Is there a problem?”

“Of course there is! It’s obvious that Hresvelgr will come looking for revenge! Because their son died… Kyaaak?!”

I hugged Haran, who was shouting about why I had done such a thing, and rolled on the floor.

And immediately after that, a huge sword swept past our heads, as if trying to cut Haran and me at the same time.

It was the sword held by the bodyguard who had failed to protect the protectee who had become a legendary Dullahan.

“Hide yourself properly. You’ll get hurt.”

“He, hey…?”

“…I was going to cut you together.”

“Too bad for you. I’m not weak enough to get hit by that kind of attack.”

“Do you know what you’ve done!? You son of a b*tch!”

He seems very upset.

Well, it’s understandable that the bodyguards are upset, since they couldn’t even protect their protectee.

Judging from the fact that Haran is so terrified, it seems that he was a higher-ranking person’s child than I thought…

These guys won’t be able to get away with just saying that they couldn’t cope with the unexpected situation.

The guys they sent to protect their son, instead of protecting their son, had him die horribly in front of everyone?

I could roughly imagine what would happen to the bodyguards.

They would suffer so horribly that they would think it would be better to die, or they would meet their protectee again in the afterlife. One of the two.

The bodyguards also seemed to know that fact, and they wanted to somehow catch me and beg the higher-ups for mercy.

“I know very well? You killed your protectee. A bodyguard who failed to protect their protectee… Too bad, friend. I’ll wish you good luck in your next life.”

“You b*tch…! You and your colleague will never get out of here! I’ll make you regret committing such a stupid act!”

“M, me too?!”

I’ll make you regret it.

Even while saying that, the bodyguards did not actively rush in.

Rather, as they gradually distanced themselves from me and started to step back, Haran expressed her doubts.

“Why, why aren’t they attacking? Was Ms. Ella scary?”

“…No, that’s not it. They’re more level-headed than I thought.”

“Pardon?”

“They must be aiming for the public power to come quickly, since they’ve made such a fuss.”

I don’t know if it’s the police or the military. Maybe it’s both.

One thing is for sure, the bodyguards seemed to be trying to tie us up as much as possible instead of attacking us.

Since the person they had to protect was gone, they chose a way to win for sure.

Even though they couldn’t control their emotions in the sudden situation, they made a choice with little risk.

They’re quite careful for showing such an passionate reaction.

Thanks to that, it seemed that we could easily get out.

“Haran, grab my waist.”

“Ye, yes?!”

“Grab it quickly. There’s no time. You don’t have to grab it if you want to be imprisoned or die.”

“Hiiiik! I’ll grab it!”

After confirming that Haran was holding on tightly as if she was going to break her waist, I raised my right hand.

The bodyguards, who had seen what had happened with their own eyes, were staring at me intently to respond to the attack and preparing to receive it.

Fools.

I laughed at them and pointed my hand not at those guys, but at the window placed far away.

“…! Attack!”

“Pardon? But…”

“Just attack! They’re trying to escape!”

“Too late.”

It seemed that the guys belatedly realized that I was trying to escape, not attack, but it was too late to realize it.

The grappling hook that popped out of my wrist in an instant broke the window and firmly hit a tree that was rising high.

“Hold on tight and close your eyes. The impact will be quite strong.”

“Pardon? What do you mean… Kyaaaaaaaaaak!”

When I pressed a button that popped out of my wrist once, my body began to be sucked into the anchor that was stuck in the tree with tremendous force.

Shattering the glass that came close in an instant, we leisurely left the Awakened Association.

“F*ck, we’re screwed…”

What remained in the association were scattered pieces of glass showing that they had escaped, and outsiders who had been watching the incident.

And, only the bodyguards who realized that their future lives were twisted, and twisted firmly.

“Haa, haa… I, I thought I was going to die…”

“…Aren’t you too weak? You didn’t do anything.”

“It’s Ms. Ella who’s weird for flying through the sky without any safety devices and not having any reaction! Wh, why am I in this mess…”

How prickly.

It’s not like there’s a hole in her head, or that one of her arms has flown away and she has to find a new prosthetic hand, or that her account has been frozen and she’s instantly become a beggar sitting on the street.

I didn’t know she would be this scared just by flying through the city on one line.

Well, come to think of it, it’s only natural that I and Haran, who lived in Neo City, feel different.

“I’m sorry. I had no choice because it was urgent.”

“Have you calmed down a bit?”

“…Yes.”

After stroking and patting Haran’s back for a while, Haran took a deep breath as if she had calmed down.

Okay, she’s probably okay now with this.

“What do we do now? If we go home, those guys will be there, and if we go back to the association, we’ll be treated as colleagues without a doubt. Oh, wait…?”

Cancel.

She calmed down for a moment, but that seemed to be the problem.

As if she properly recognized the current situation because her head had cooled down for a moment, she started sweating profusely.

Haran’s life has been messed up badly. Because of me, not anyone else.

Frankly speaking, I could have survived alone by leaving her as she is now.

We weren’t particularly close.

The relationship between her and me was just complete strangers who had met by chance last night, so I could just treat her as a woman who had been unlucky enough to get caught up in the incident and go my own way.

“If you have nowhere to go, come with me.”

‘…Ms. Ella also has nowhere to go. I saw everything yesterday when you returned…’

“No, I do.”

“Pardon?”

Was I longing for the warmth of a person that I hadn’t felt in a long time?

Or was it because I felt guilty towards Haran, whose life had changed in an instant because of me?

Before I knew it, I was proposing to Haran to act together.

It wasn’t a cheap emotion like pity. I knew how luxurious such cheap emotions were in Neo City.

Love, friendship, compassion, mercy, trust…

I’ve seen more than once or twice guys who lived with such useless emotions being buried in a pile of trash in some back alley and then being taken to the crematorium.

You don’t need such emotions to survive.

But why am I making this offer to her?

“I, I was working as a problem solver before I came here.”

“A problem solver…?”

“Yeah, a problem solver. I’m thinking of doing it here too.”

…That’s right. Haran definitely knows more about this world than I do.

Although it’s my old hometown, it’s a place where I lived decades ago.

They said that the gate incident happened and it became like a completely different world, so the knowledge I had would be useless.

So it was a rational decision to make this offer to Haran.

In order to do the job of a problem solver in this world, I need an assistant who knows this world well.

That’s why I made the offer. I decided to think that way.

“I’d like you to come with me, Haran.”

“…I, I’m weak?”

“It’s okay. I’ll do the fighting. It’s enough if you just assist me.”

Haran had an expression as if she was wondering if she could really trust me.

Even in this situation, no.

Rather, that attitude of trying to act carefully in this situation was worthy of high praise.

But in the current situation, such worries were a luxury.

There were also guys who were thinking about the future even in a messed up situation…

What happened to those guys? They died without being able to endure the present while drawing the future.

“Anyway, I’m being treated as your colleague by those guys. Shouldn’t we at least struggle before we die?”

“…Okay, I’ll do it, you happy?”

“Good choice.”

By the way, a colleague. How long has it been since I worked with someone?

I think the last time I worked with someone was when I was stealing Aegis Corporation’s confidential documents.

I felt like old memories were coming back.

“Hey… In commemoration of becoming colleagues, can I ask you just one question?”

“What is it?”

“Strange things keep popping out of your arm, what is that?”

“Ah, that?”

Come to think of it, technology isn’t as advanced here as it is in Neo City, so there might not be someone like me.

To solve Haran’s question, I tore off the skin of my arm and showed it to her.

Inside the skin, which was reproduced with Irmin Biotechnology’s technology, cold machines were pulsating.

“Th, this is…”

“This body is a machine. I don’t know if you’ve heard of a full body prosthesis.”

In Neo City, prostheses that could perfectly respond to the human body were popular products.

A dangerous world where dozens of people die every day.

Even ordinary citizens often get procedures on their bodies for self-defense.

In such a world, surviving as a mercenary was not easy.

Even if one leg or one arm flew away, it was a world where it was possible to come back even stronger…

Of course, everything in the world requires a price.

Even prostheses vary greatly in performance depending on the price.

“When you said full body prosthesis, you mean…”

“Everything except the brain. This is a really expensive thing? It’s a body that even most rich people can’t get, it’s literally worth whatever you call it.”

So it was a very rational decision for me to transfer my body to this body, even though it was a female body.

An item that is a full body prosthesis is so expensive that even executives of large companies have a hard time buying it.

Because all kinds of the latest technology are plastered all over the body.

In addition, unlike other full body prostheses, this body is not for sale.

It’s a specially made product prepared by high-ranking people to launder their identity in case of an emergency.

But how did I switch to that body?

A fight broke out with the guys who were aiming for this while it was being transported, and the lock was accidentally released, so I snatched it and ran away.

Because of that, I became mortal enemies with the guys who were trying to take it…

As I said before, a guy who gives up the present thinking about the future dies without being able to endure the present.

“Are your questions answered? Then let’s go. We don’t have time.”

“Where to?”

“Where else? We have to find an office.”

I thought I was a well-known mercenary, but I’m going to start all over again from scratch.

You never know what will happen in the world.