Ten days later.
I arrived in District 20, which belonged to the outskirts of the city. The dim dawn air was filled with the inorganic sll of concrete and the cold scent of the railway.
Hwiiing!
The wind that squeezed through the dense barbed wire fence split and cried out eerily. I felt that the presence of rats or beasts was closer than that of humans. It was a neighborhood that ordinary people rarely frequented. The dry blades of grass rustled as they were crushed under the soles of my shoes.
「The World Tree senses a human presence and becos alert!」
At the place I arrived, a group of people were gathered. Three people, sitting apart from each other and tending to their weapons, did not seem to be close. Among them, a man dressed in sowhat antique leather armor spoke.
“Hey, I don’t know how you got in here, but go back before you see sothing ugly…”
“Don’t you have eyes? He’s our client.”
“What?”
The man with the disheveled hair shut his mouth as the woman snapped at him.
“……Ah.”
The man, who had been suspiciously scrutinizing my face, finally let out a cry of realization. It seed he had recognized . It wasn’t just because of my gradually spreading fa.
“It’s a relief that everyone has gathered on ti.”
I stood in the center of them.
“Then, let’s begin the operation briefing now.”
These were the contractors I had been introduced to through Cromwell. I had planned to strike the Brotherhood with them.
***
“First, the deal starts in an hour from now. The location is a closed station about 2km from our current position. There, the Brotherhood and an employee of the Arman Company will exchange money and cargo.”
It was information that had been confird by cross-verifying Cromwell’s and the Public Security Bureau’s information networks until the previous day. There was no possibility of the location or the trading partner changing now.
“Wait.”
At that mont, the man in the leather armor raised his hand and spoke.
“I’ve heard the na of the Arman Company. Aren’t they a general transportation company unrelated to this? If they got involved in this deal without knowing, it would leave a bad taste in my mouth to touch them.”
From the Brotherhood’s perspective, it might be smuggling, but for a general company, it could be a deal. Contractors are not the type to care about such circumstances. But there were always exceptions.
‘It’s essentially a plunder disguised as a request.’
The client was . There were no interests involved. If one had a disposition to feel burdened by harming civilians, it was a question that could certainly be asked.
“Rest assured. It is smuggling. They say they’ve been secretly smuggling goods like this through the back door. At least, there will be no innocent civilians among the employees involved in this deal.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“I confird it in the Public Security Bureau’s database.”
“……The Public Security Bureau?”
The atmosphere of the group stirred.
“You said the Public Security Bureau wouldn’t get involved in this deal. Isn’t that why not only us, but all sorts of riffraff are trying to get in on this deal?”
“Yes, the Public Security Bureau will not get involved.”
“Then how did you confirm it in the Public Security Bureau’s database…”
The man who had been mumbling suddenly shut his mouth. The man’s pupils dilated widely, as if he had realized a shocking fact.
“So that’s how it was. I thought the details of the request were too specific for the information that had spread to the public.”
The woman with the disheveled hair nodded and muttered.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I shrugged and played dumb. Since I had ntioned the Public Security Bureau, anyone with a brain would suspect that the Public Security Bureau was behind this request. The reason I didn’t deny it was because this was also my groundwork.
‘They will beco my trumpeters and plant the suspicion of a Public Security Bureau crackdown in the public.’
Of course, I had only ntioned the Public Security Bureau’s database. They too were only guessing, so they wouldn’t speak of it as a certainty. However, they would spread the story with an ambiguous nuance, under the calculation of using the Public Security Bureau as a shield.
A request from the Public Security Bureau, led by the notoriously strict Councilor Giselle Willow. Could the Brotherhood really ignore it?
“Let’s continue the briefing. The cargo will depart from the closed station and be transported to the city. From that mont on, it will not be easy to track. So we must strike them before the deal is completed.”
It was said to be a closed station. It was normal for trains not to be able to move.
‘That’s the official position of the city governnt.’
Vehicles were still coming and going from each station. The nurous officially closed stations in District 20 were still operating normally, unofficially.
“The other guys who are drooling over the news of the deal will probably think the sa. But they won’t intervene right away. Because if the Public Security Bureau starts to intervene, they’ll have to pull out imdiately.”
Look before you leap. Cross the bridge when you co to it. Even an ignorant person who didn’t know these proverbs knew how to read the room. No matter how blinded by wealth they were, being the target of a Public Security Bureau crackdown was a burdenso thing. Unlike or the Brotherhood, outsiders couldn’t be sure of the Public Security Bureau’s non-intervention. There would be no commotion right away.
The story would change when, even after ti passed, there was no sign of the Public Security Bureau’s crackdown team.
“After they are sure there will be no crackdown, they will start to run wild. In that sense, even if we don’t do anything, the deal will not be completed smoothly.”
Nurous hyena packs were drooling over a single target. It was a race against ti, a competition. I had set the stage for it to be so. I wanted the scene to beco a chaotic ss, and I was confident it would be as I wanted.
“I don’t know who will be the final winner among them… but there might be an unfortunate incident. For example, soone desperately trying to snatch the cargo first and succeeding.”
The man let out a chuckle.
“Even if we fail, it’s like a natural disaster. Don’t resent it as unpaid labor. Is that what you’re trying to say?”
“No.”
It was an operation that must not fail. I wanted to prepare for even the slightest unforeseen event.
“We will first control the station. There are a total of four control towers that control the entry and exit of trains on the railway near that station. Since there are four of us, we will each take one and subdue it. After trapping the train in that station, when the battle reaches a lull, we will smash the remaining guys and snatch the cargo.”
Since it was an officially closed station, the departure and stopping of trains were not controlled by the central system. It was a system where the control towers near each station individually released the control of the railway to permit passage. This was the reason why the closed stations in District 20 could be operated as unofficial smuggling routes. In other words, the mont the nearby control towers were subdued, the passage of trains was impossible, even if you died and ca back to life.
“As you may have guessed from the story, it’s a plan where each person has to do their part. Do your best not to be a drag.”
If even one person failed to subdue a control tower, the closure of the station would be out of the question. Each person had to do their part without fail.
There, the man asked another question.
“What are you going to do with the public officials working in the control tower?”
“……You really don’t know anything.”
The woman who had been listening gave him a scolding look.
“What?”
“They’re all in on it. Otherwise, why would the railway in District 20 be used as a smuggling route? They’ll all be gone before the deal ti.”
Suddenly, a single phrase on a dust-covered, dangling billboard caught my eye.
「The starting point of the city’s logistics through land routes!」
It was a glory of the past. District 20, like District 12, was an outlying district of the city, bordering the borderlands. As the exchange on the continent collapsed, the railway transportation that had been dedicated to international logistics lost its power. District 20, with its densely intertwined railway network, was hit directly and suffered decline and stagnation.
However, the infrastructure of District 20, which had transported enormous amounts of logistics, had not collapsed. A logistics transportation infrastructure without the interference of the city governnt. It was extrely attractive to those who wanted to make shady deals. Thus, the abandoned stations here were operated for smuggling. The soldiers and public officials who remained here chose to collude with them rather than drive them out. It was a disaster that combined the special location of the outskirts, where central audits were rare, and the corrupt public service culture of the city.
“It’s not a very difficult plan, so I believe you all have understood it. Let’s disperse now.”
“I’ll go north.”
“I’ll take the west.”
The group gathered their belongings and moved. I also intended to decide on a direction and move when their backs were far away.
Right before I took a step. A strange voice caught .
“The reward is certain, right?”
It was the last contractor, who had been silent until now. When I stood up and faced him, he was taller than . His long limbs, the mask covering his face, and the single thread hanging from his chin were unique.
“The remaining mbers, excluding you, the client, will divide the snatched cargo. That’s how I rember it.”
“Yes.”
What I wanted was chaos. Material desire was secondary. In order to be fully prepared and recruit skilled people, I had made the decision to give up my share.
“I will rember that clearly.”
The man touched the sword at his waist. The blade, which protruded about a finger’s width from the scabbard, reflected the dawn brightly.
“That the reward will be distributed among the remaining survivors.”
What I had said and what the man had said were slightly different, but I didn’t mind. Everyone would be thinking sothing similar anyway.
***
As the destination grew closer, the unique silence of District 20 disappeared. I could feel hidden presences here and there, and people in balaclavas were patrolling the streets. On their forearms, wrists, necks, the parts were different for each, but they all had a cool-looking skull tattoo sowhere on their skin. It was a symbol of a mber of the Brotherhood.
It was good to reduce their numbers, but it was sothing to refrain from subduing all of them. If regular reports from one area stopped, they would feel suspicious. For now, I intended to avoid them and enter the control tower. It was a simple matter.
「The World Tree tickles the man’s ankle.」
“Tsk, what was that? The wind?”
The Totem of Stealth. Under the influence of the totem, my presence blurred, and even my breathing subsided. It wasn’t a concept like an invisibility cloak, but a person’s senses are not perfect. Unless it was a mage using mana detection or a martial artist sensitive to presence, they wouldn’t even be able to perceive .
…But that didn’t an it was okay to play pranks. I restrained the World Tree, which was laughing as if it was fun, and arrived at the entrance of the control tower.
“Phew.”
I took a deep breath of the cold air. As I looked up at the tall control tower, old mories ca to mind. It was when I had escaped from the factory. I had climbed a watchtower in the incinerator behind a factory that looked similar to this and had snatched the supervisor’s ID card. At that ti, I had been very nervous even against an ordinary supervisor. It was because I was sure I would be beaten to death if I was caught.
Has it been almost a year since then? Now, even in front of the control tower, there was no change in my heartbeat.
Beolkeok!
I opened the door on the first floor and entered. mbers of the Brotherhood were also on guard here. I didn’t feel any presence that required special attention. In that case, there was no need to waste ti.
Chwararak!
“Hwaaa… Ugh, ugh!”
The Brotherhood mber, who was fighting off sleepiness and standing guard, struggled as he was choked and then went limp. With every step I took, the whip-like stem extended further than my stride. Beyond the first floor, up the stairs, to the second floor, the third floor… all the way to the top.
There was no commotion. No screams. As I slowly went up the stairs, all I could see were fallen people. In the hallway, inside the office, in the corners hidden by the shadows. With my sharpened senses, I subdued the inside of the building perfectly, without missing a single presence.
“……”
Flustered, fear, shock. The emotions that appeared on their faces were different for each, but they were all in the sa vein. They had lost their lives without even knowing what had hit them.
mbers of a Brotherhood branch in the 50s? Compared to the enemies I had faced so far, they were just small fry. So much so that they couldn’t even catch my footsteps.
And so, I reached the top floor as if I were walking through an undefended mountain.
Teolseok!
I pushed away the corpse leaning on the chair and sat down. I couldn’t hear anyone’s voice in the communicator in my ear yet.
Am I the first?
I felt a strange emotion and reported.
“The east control tower has been subdued.”
The answer ca after a wait of about ten minutes.
(End of Chapter)
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