Chapter 1447 – 1447. Dark Moon
I involuntarily opened my mouth at the sight of the female ninja who had vanished in an instant.
I guess you could call it ninja-like, she was incredibly fast. I immediately scanned the surroundings with detection magic, but there was no sign of anyone. She had completely disappeared in that short moment.
‘I wanted to ask her about the power the ninja was using.’
I knew she wouldn’t answer easily. Still, I couldn’t resist the curiosity that had surged for a moment and had opened my mouth.
‘That’s definitely a power related to magic.’
It was different from the magic I used, but it was definitely a power created based on magic.
‘Ninja characters are hard to see even in the original game, but I’m seeing one here.’
The ninja was one of the jobs that players couldn’t choose. I remember there were rumors that the content added later as DLC would be the ninja. I think so too.
I turned around. The corpses that the suddenly appeared ninja had massacred were scattered, filling the floor with blood. I felt a little relieved while smelling the fishy odor.
‘I didn’t even know that female ninja was nearby until she revealed herself.’
If she had entered my sensory range, I would have noticed her right away, but the fact that I didn’t notice her until right before she killed the gang members was quite shocking.
‘I don’t know her exact skill… but she’s probably stronger than I am now.’
I checked the four transparent barriers surrounding my body. With the barriers, I would be able to block a few attacks.
‘The problem is that I can’t keep the barriers up all day because I’m afraid of assassination.’
I need a solid countermeasure against assassination. I have something in mind, but it was difficult to implement it right away. Even if my magical talent is genius-level, I haven’t mastered all magic yet.
‘I know far fewer spells than other 5th-grade mages.’
I stopped while walking out of the building. I looked back at the corpses scattered behind me once more. I pondered for a moment. My original plan was to kill the gang members brutally and then display them. But the female ninja had intervened. Would it be okay to leave them like this?
‘It’s a warning, so it should be fine. Still, for now… should I talk to Rose?’
She might know something about ninjas.
•••
Instead of going home, I went to the X Manpower Agency in X District.
It was still early dawn, before the sun had properly risen. Workers were lined up in front of the agency, waiting. They weren’t mercenaries like me, but workers who were dispatched to places like factories to earn money. They completely ignored me. I didn’t bother talking to them either.
Soon, Rose appeared. She looked around once and then assigned work to the workers.
“Don’t cause any accidents on site.”
“Haha… I wasn’t in my right mind back then because I was drunk.”
“Don’t secretly drink while working. I’m warning you, this is really the last time.”
Rose exchanged a few words with each of the workers. Rough words were exchanged. After all the workers had disappeared, she beckoned me with her finger.
“Come in. What brings you here today? A request?”
“Personal business.”
I sat facing her in the office. Rose frowned as she listened to my explanation.
“You caused an accident… but you have the justification here. The Fraxson Mercenary Corps won’t get involved. They’re not a group stupid enough to not know the difference in this kind of situation. The Harvers Gang… could be a problem. Those guys sometimes don’t care about the consequences. It should be fine for now. As far as I know, Jupiter is quite busy right now.”
“Do you know anything about ninjas? They called themselves Invisible Blades.”
“What’s with that ridiculous name? You got involved with a weirdo.”
“Not a weirdo, a weird woman.”
“…She’s a really weird woman. I know a few ninjas, but I don’t know the name Invisible Blade. You said she was skilled?”
“I don’t know her exact skill. It’s certain that she’s not ordinary.”
“For someone that skilled to massacre a small-fry gang like Harvers… there’s no reason other than to build fame. She’s probably a newbie who hasn’t been in the city for long.”
“Do you know much about ninjas?”
“I know a few famous ninjas who are active in Neo London. I’ve heard that the roots of ninjas are in Unbelievable Japan?”
Unbelievable Japan.
An ancient country that existed about 800 years ago. It doesn’t exist now.
“Do you know anything about the ninjutsu that ninjas use?”
“I don’t know much. Are you that curious about it?”
“With my shallow knowledge, ninjas use hand seals when using ninjutsu. But that female ninja used ninjutsu without using hand seals.”
“Mages use hand seals too. And you even use no-chanting. Is that such a surprising thing?”
“Ninjas and mages are different.”
“You must have been really surprised to see a ninja.”
“I was surprised. It was a real ninja reality shock….”
“What’s that?”
“It’s a thing.”
“Anyway, I’m sorry, but I don’t know much about ninjas.”
“Okay.”
I got up from my seat.
“Aren’t you taking a request? There’s a request that came in for you yesterday.”
“I’m busy, so I don’t have time for that. But what kind of request is it?”
“It’s a bodyguard request. It’s almost Dark Moon now. The pay is quite high, are you going to do it? There’s still some time until Dark Moon.”
“…A bodyguard request is a bit….”
“Why? If you’re lucky with a bodyguard request, you might not have to do anything and just get paid.”
“I’ve done bodyguard-related work a few times… and it hasn’t been a good experience.”
“Okay. Then I’ll reject this request. Oh, thanks for coming and telling me about what happened today. Well, there’s nothing I can do… but there are some guys who cause accidents and don’t say anything.”
I said goodbye to her and went home.
•••
I closed the shop earlier than usual and hid in an alleyway, watching the fish and chips shop across the street. I quietly followed the shop owner, John Clark. He was cowering, looking around nervously, expressing his anxiety with his body.
‘He must have heard the news about the Harvers Gang.’
He knows the inside story, so he’ll guess that I’m involved. He’s afraid of the blade of revenge.
John’s house was in F District. A so-called upper-class district. The edge of the upper-class district. A district for the nouveau riche who just have a lot of money.
‘A guy who runs a fish and chips shop lives here? That doesn’t make sense. Did he make a big score when he was in the gang and buy a house?’
I watched him open the front door and go inside.
[Detection]
I checked the surroundings with magic.
There were no guards. Instead, there were unmanned security robots in the garden and inside the house. They were hidden so that they weren’t easily visible from the outside.
I assessed their level. I immediately took action. Back in the military, I had countless experiences infiltrating past security robots.
Security robots are machines. Unless they are expensive magic engineering security robots, they are vulnerable to electricity.
[Electric Field]
Electricity flowed along the ground from my feet. Of course, the current was adjusted appropriately. Just enough output to neutralize the security robots.
I walked forward. The security robots, which were cleverly hidden in the bushes, were neutralized and didn’t react.
Having successfully infiltrated, I placed my hand on John’s shoulder as he sat on the sofa, watching TV and drinking beer.
“You’re watching an interesting movie. Planetarium. It’s an interesting movie. A bit racy, though.”
“Y-you…!”
John Clark was startled and got up from the sofa. The beer can rolled out of his hand, staining the floor yellow.
“Thanks to you, I couldn’t sleep last night. It’s been a while since I stayed up all night, so I was in a bad mood all day while working at the shop.”
“I, I was just trying to get the recipe! Really!”
“Do you kidnap people for a chicken recipe? What would have happened if I wasn’t strong? Would I have survived?”
“I, I didn’t plan to kill you! I was going to send you back after I found out the recipe!”
“You’re talking nonsense that even a dog wouldn’t believe. Anyone who is kidnapped by a gang is already dead. That’s common sense in this city.”
Woo-oong.
Mana moved, and a magic circle was drawn in the air. Seeing the magic circle, he immediately knelt down, bowed his head, and begged.
“I was wrong! I’ll apologize like this… just once…! Just once… please don’t kill me!”
He took out a pistol hidden under the sofa and fired a bullet directly at my head.
Ting!
The result was that it didn’t even scratch the barrier.
“Under the sofa, behind the TV, inside the drawers…. You’ve hidden seven weapons just in the living room. You must have had a lot of things to be worried about?”
“S-security robots! Intruder! There’s an intruder, why aren’t you moving?!”
He pulled the trigger. The bullets that poured out couldn’t even break one barrier.
Pajijijik.
The completed magic circle flashed and disappeared. A deep sense of despair settled on his face. It was worth showing him the magic circle on purpose.
“The movie ends with the female lead and the male lead breaking up. And this is my original magic.”
[Microwave]
His body swelled up and then exploded with a bang.
Since his whole body exploded in an instant, I don’t know if he felt any pain. But outwardly, it was more gruesome than anything else. Blood and guts splattered everywhere. If I hadn’t controlled the barrier, it would have splattered on me too.
I left, taking care not to leave any traces.
•••
Five days later, I received a call from Rose.
-Are you busy these days?
“No. I’m fine. Is it a request?”
The shop has stabilized.
I hired people to take over the kitchen for me, and now it’s about the people who want a franchise. All the other time is personal time. I was using it to study magic.
-That’s right. It’s a designated request specifically for you. The content is a request related to Jupiter. I don’t know the details yet. They’re demanding strict security, so they’ve made it a condition that they’ll reveal the content if you accept the request.
The keyword was thrown.
Jupiter.
The client knows the details of my relationship with Harvers and Jupiter. The client could be a member of Jupiter. If not, they could be related to the female ninja.
“I’ll do it.”
