Chapter 108 : Something That Must Be Done
The smuggling market is fundamentally an industry that is not exposed to the public. It has been a month since the city government and the Public Security Bureau began their intervention and crackdown on the smuggling market. On the surface, the way this city was running seemed unchanged. However, the sentiments of those engaged in the smuggling market and those who had even a slight connection to it were different.
“The stories I’ve been hearing are not to be taken lightly. The word on the street is that the city government isn’t just putting on a show to collect bribes this time, but has really sharpened its sword.”
“They’re slitting the belly of the golden goose. Everyone’s in a frenzy to pick up the pieces.”
A terrible chaos had arrived. The order that had been maintained by customs, tacit agreements, and the logic of power had completely collapsed. Thus, all sorts of riffraff had jumped into the smuggling business and attacked to get their hands on goods. The Parnoche gang and the transporters I had encountered in this request were like that. They were so basic they weren’t even worth a punch. They were all of a low level.
Having half-stepped into the market while carrying out related requests, I felt it keenly.
“How bad must it be for even a low-level employee like that, who has only heard about this industry superficially, to make a request related to the smuggling market?”
It would have been impossible if the smuggling market hadn’t been in chaos. It wouldn’t have been strange if some kind of interference had come in while he was loitering on the street, saying he was waiting for me. From the client’s perspective, it was lucky.
“Heh.”
Cromwell, who was listening to me, raised the corner of his mouth.
“……? Was there something funny in what I said?”
“No, it’s just that you’ve changed too.”
He was talking nonsense.
“It’s true that the level of the requests has dropped. But I think you should also recognize that your own level has risen.”
“What do you mean?”
“The riffraff gangs and operators. That’s from your perspective. In reality, it’s not something you can handle alone with your experience.”
It was in the same vein as the flattery of the client who had been talking about a rising star.
“That’s how high the difficulty of the requests you’ve been handling so far has been. So you’re no longer satisfied with just any request.”
“……”
Was that so? The goblins in the slums, the black mage, the Brotherhood branch manager, the werebeast, the Mad House… Come to think of it, I had been running breathlessly against increasingly powerful enemies. Since things had never gone smoothly, my short career was rich in the quality of experience. Insight is a type of ability that is developed and accumulated rather than being innate. It must have been inevitable that my insight had grown.
「The World Tree shrugs its leaves up and down.」
Yes, you did well. I didn’t forget to play along with the self-praise of the World Tree, which was still just a teenager.
“In any case, you’ve been picking and choosing requests, making money, and building a reputation, so isn’t that good enough?”
“That’s true.”
Requests related to the smuggling market had exploded due to the chaos. And I, who had been preparing after getting a heads-up from Reina, was in an advantageous position in this situation. Apart from my reputation, I could pick and choose requests that offered what I wanted as a reward, such as money, precious metals, and artifacts.
“Then I can expect that information about the item I wanted has also come in by now, right?”
The requests I had received during the month of chaos in the smuggling market were not what I wanted, but what suited my circumstances. To put it nicely, it was a reconnaissance to gauge the atmosphere, and to be blunt, it was just killing time. Of course, it wasn’t that there were no gains. Through this, I had raised my name value in the smuggling market and built several connections. They were things that would be helpful in finding the item I wanted.
“What do you think?”
Cromwell asked back playfully.
“If you had nothing to say, you would have just told me to wait, as you always have.”
In that case.
“Did it come in as a request?”
“Unfortunately, not that far. It’s a compilation of rumors.”
“It’s fine, I have no intention of clinging to a request.”
By taking the form of a request, unnecessary personal grudges did not accumulate. It was a struggle to survive as a weak individual in this huge jungle of the law of the jungle.
‘It’s a risk I can handle now.’
I had accumulated that much skill. It was a target I couldn’t give up. I was prepared to handle personal grudges.
“You’ve thought it through well. The higher you go, the less you can remain an innocent individual.”
“Isn’t that something a broker shouldn’t say?”
“What can I do, it’s the truth. It’s the same for a contractor who is hired as a tool. Contractors also have their own purposes. As you move for your purpose, you’re bound to clash with someone eventually.”
“……”
“What’s important is the ability to handle it. It could be personal skill, or it could be connections. It’s the path to gradually becoming a resident of this city, so I don’t see it as a bad thing.”
This must be the realization that Cromwell, who had been active as a broker for a not-so-short period, had seen and felt.
“In that process, whether as a client or a contractor, there will be a time when you have to ask a broker for help. In any case, it means there’s no loss for me.”
It’s something that naturally happens when a contractor goes beyond being wielded as a tool and builds a position to truly choose a request. If there is no request that meets their purpose… they will take the lead themselves. Since they will have the connections, skills, and information to decide.
Am I also becoming like that? At least, Cromwell seemed to have started to keep that in mind.
“The story has strayed.”
Cromwell made a call on the intercom. At the place where the sound of stomping up the stairs stopped, Jack was standing. When I asked with my eyes instead of words why he had been called, Cromwell explained.
“You said you wanted to know about rare creatures, especially spirit beasts.”
The profit I wanted to gain from the chaos of the smuggling market this time was one thing. The retrieval of a spirit beast like the Guardian Hawk. Apart from the growth of the World Tree, it was one of the means to increase the capabilities of the druid class.
“Unfortunately, no request has come in with a spirit beast as a reward. It’s usually the target of a request, not the reward, so please understand.”
“I know it’s difficult, so forget the small talk. So?”
“I had this friend Jack investigate Greenwood before.”
“……Was that the gift?”
“I prepared it in advance because he seemed to have potential.”
At that time, I was desperate to find out about Greenwood. Even now, the news about Greenwood was significant to me. It probably wasn’t a gift but a way to put me in his debt, but anyway, it was welcome information.
“I’ve been digging into Greenwood until recently, and I found out about one of the activities they were putting a lot of effort into.”
Jack continued, chewing gum noisily.
“It happened to be similar to your purpose, mister. The snatching, or liberation, of rare creatures and spirit beasts.”
Greenwood, an organization related to the elven royal family, was different from the current elves who had compromised with the times and moved away from their essence. A path that had become my guide, aiming for the prosperity of Mother Nature. It wasn’t strange that they were interested in spirit beasts.
“There was a time when they got into a fight with some guys over that.”
“Who were they?”
They would probably be the target I should aim for this time.
Jack scratched the back of his head. He glanced at Cromwell with a troubled look, as if asking if he really had to say it. When Cromwell silently nodded, Jack answered with a sigh.
“The Brotherhood.”
***
How many gangs are there in this city? How many criminal organizations are there? There probably isn’t an accurate statistic. The list managed by the city government would only include those who had a risk of baring their teeth at them. But among the countless organizations that were rampant, there was one that everyone knew the name of.
The Brotherhood.
The largest single organization with branches not only in Gellerg City but all over the continent. They were not a supralegal organization that operated in both the light and the shadows. However, in the shadows, there was no industry where their influence did not reach.
‘The trade of rare animals is a business where a lot of money changes hands.’
Just like works of art and artifacts, being rare in itself creates demand and gives birth to avid enthusiasts. It was perfect for the upper class, who wanted to be different from others, to exercise their sense of superiority. As a lot of money was exchanged, the transactions took place in the realm of illegality rather than legality, due to factors such as taxes.
That’s why I had been moving busily in the chaos of the smuggling market. It was a calculation that if I searched the smuggling market, I would eventually find a trace of a spirit beast.
‘I didn’t expect the one that got caught on the fishing line to be the Brotherhood.’
Well, the Brotherhood is a giant in the shadows. It was only natural that they had a great influence in the smuggling market.
‘It’s not the first time I’ve been hostile to the Brotherhood.’
Starting as a low-level pickpocket to a branch manager of a branch. I had fought with various members of the Brotherhood.
‘This time will be on a different level from then.’
The number of people in the Brotherhood who have an interest in the smuggling market would not be just one or two branches. If you gathered them all, wouldn’t it be close to a single faction? The three factions that the orc branch manager Hatig had mentioned when explaining the Brotherhood’s organizational chart. I couldn’t ignore the possibility that they were related to them.
‘I shouldn’t just be afraid of the megacorps.’
One pillar of the Brotherhood. Being openly hostile to them was also not something to be decided easily.
「The World Tree taps your shoulder, telling you to look at it.」
Was I thinking too deeply? The World Tree called me and then rolled up a leaf and swung it.
「The World Tree rolls up a leaf and swings it, making a whooshing sound.」
“……Don’t worry too much and just trust you?”
「The World Tree nods its head confidently.」
I smiled and tickled the World Tree’s leaf. It trembled its branches as if it were giggling.
“The option of not doing it was never there from the beginning.”
Something that must be done and something that has to be done are different. This case was the latter. It wouldn’t end just by putting it off. Time doesn’t wait, so it was foolish to wait for my preparations to be perfect.
“They’re an opponent I have to face anyway.”
I had come too far to be scared, and I couldn’t even stop. I could only do my best in my current position.
***
The members of the Brotherhood that Greenwood had clashed with were from Branch 52. Given the characteristic of the Brotherhood’s organizational chart, where the smaller the number, the larger the scale and the higher the quality, they were at least middle-ranking guys.
Even so, I didn’t think I would be able to retrieve a spirit beast immediately after stirring them up.
‘They are probably just minions too.’
At least, according to what Jack had found out, there was no story that Brotherhood Branch 52 had directly traded a spirit beast. It was right to start from there and work my way up.
‘It’s not enough to just end it as a small commotion where a single minion they use is taken down.’
I had to start a huge fire so that they couldn’t just watch from a distance and enjoy it like a fire across the mountain. So much so that their superiors would feel threatened. So that they would reveal an opening for me to dig into.
“Hello.”
A captivating scent wafted over. When I turned my head to the seat next to me on the bench, there was a woman with an innocent impression, wearing a white one-piece dress and a straw hat.
“If you have some time, could I ask you to be my conversation partner?”
“……”
“Yes? It’s boring to walk alone.”
For someone who had put in so much effort, it was a very clumsy come-on.
I got up from my seat and walked. She stuck right next to me and walked with a bouncing step.
“I was wondering why you made an appointment to meet on the street, I didn’t know you had this kind of hobby.”
“Oh my, what are you talking about?”
“Stop playing dumb. The woman over there, pretending to read a newspaper and watching us, isn’t that Secretary Milina?”
Although she had covered her eyes with sunglasses, she couldn’t escape the sensitive senses of this body. Her nerves were all focused on this side.
“……You’re quick on the uptake.”
The woman pouted her lips. It was a look like a child whose prank had been discovered. That was probably also an act.
“Don’t misunderstand. It wasn’t a hobby, I was just trying to see if my disguise was good.”
“It does seem close to a disguise.”
The person’s impression had completely changed. Her behavior was also different, but her face was that of a completely different person. I guess this is why they say makeup is a fraud. If it weren’t for the familiar scent, I would have been unsure even after seeing Milina.
“That’s great. Then from now on, when I inspect the employees, I can go around disguised like this.”
“……?”
What did I just hear?
“Why?”
“Um, no, it’s nothing.”
She probably meant it as a consideration, thinking that people would be nervous if a superior was in front of them. But would that really be a consideration from the employees’ perspective? In terms of being nasty, it seemed worse than a sergeant pretending to be a peer and teasing a new recruit…
“Anyway, we don’t have time, so let’s get straight to the point. Why did you contact me?”
Her identity was none other than. The royal family and heir of the megacorp Sylvesta. I was the one who had called her.
(End of Chapter)