A famous philosopher and sage, Ninja Jirobo-sensei, once said:
‘When five people gather, one is guaranteed to be garbage.’
This quote is often used to chastise human malice, but it also signifies the complexity of ‘humans’ as organic beings.
It was an undeniable aspect of life’s providence that multiple opinions could not unify as one.
Following this logic, it was completely natural that the political stances of the ‘six women’ gathered here differed.
The first to speak were the ‘hawks’, Catherine and Natasha.
“They could have just been kidnapped, you know.”
“Well, it’s not like there aren’t people wanting revenge after a long mercenary life.”
Next came the ‘doves’, Andrea and the Chairman.
“If Eve was taken too, then how can it be kidnap?”
“…It seems like she’s been under a lot of stress lately; we need to be careful.”
They were the ones who understood the current situation thoroughly. There was sufficient evidence of circumstances suggesting a covert escape, making it simplistic to label it merely as ‘kidnapping.’
Finally, the moderates of the ‘owl faction’, Julia and Maya, chimed in.
“…For now, I think it’s best to observe the situation. She had a gaming appointment with me, after all…”
“…Am I the only one thinking this? Can’t a person just leave for a bit alone?”
Maya’s brave comment lightly faded into the background.
Regardless, with everyone’s positions differing, it was impossible for their opinions to unite—except for one part.
“So we’re all agreeing to wait for just one more day, right?”
“That sounds good.”
“…Yes.”
24 hours.
For those with an ‘E’ disposition, this was the benchmark for a ‘good rest.’
It was also the only time Siwoon could rest without worry moving forward.
—
28. Method of Rest (4)
“……Hmm.”
I made a brief decision internally.
A week.
Yeah, just a week.
That was the minimum cutoff I could think of. I reached this conclusion by judging my surroundings as objectively as possible.
There’s no way I can’t endure a week.
I chuckled as I explained this thought process to Eve.
“I’ll return in a week, so just know that. It’s only a week; nothing will happen.”
“……”
But for some reason, Eve’s gaze toward me was subtle. It looked as if it carried the meaning of, ‘…are you an idiot?’
“Why?”
“……It’s nothing.”
At that moment, Tom, driving the vehicle from the front seat, chimed in.
“Hey, obviously a week should be fine, right?”
“Right?”
I nodded, agreeing with him again.
Tom was working hard with a taxing taxi job to earn credits today.
It was lucky for us.
If today had been Tom’s day off, we might have called someone just chilling at home for no reason.
Knowing how vile it is to call someone who’s resting at home, I let out a secret sigh of relief.
But that didn’t mean I wouldn’t call.
As if he knew what I was thinking, Tom, sitting in the driver’s seat, looked at us through the rearview mirror.
“By the way, is it just the two of you today?”
“Pardon?”
“Weren’t you with that blonde lady last time?”
“…Ah, I’m just on an outing right now.”
“?”
Tom tilted his head with a puzzled expression.
I hadn’t given any detailed explanation yet. That was partly because Tom had rejected it first.
“……Well, you did say you wanted a quiet place, though.”
“Yes, a place where we won’t be detected.”
Tom scratched his head slightly.
It was a bit of an unusual request.
“To be honest, I thought I’d have to contact you first because of the gang, but I didn’t expect you to reach out to me first.”
“Feel free to just call me Siwoon.”
“Haha…….”
Tom laughed as if he had heard a strange joke.
But it was true.
I could understand why Tom said that.
I initially gave Tom my number for that reason.
I never dreamed I’d need to ask for Tom’s help first.
“……”
But it couldn’t be helped.
Just as there are times you need to borrow a cat’s paw, sometimes you need to borrow the hand of an acquaintance Orc.
One reason many people around me didn’t know about ‘Tom’ was that Catherine, who had actually seen Tom’s face, probably forgotten him by now.
In other words, he was the most needed connection for me right now.
“Alright, we’ve arrived at Redwood. If we go just a bit further in, you’ll see the house I mentioned.”
I wished Tom’s house was spacious, but regretfully, he said his home was a one-room apartment.
No matter how kind Tom was as an Orc, I didn’t want to share a confined space with a hulking Orc.
That’s why Eve and I had come to ‘Redwood.’
After parking the car, Tom led us.
“Here we are.”
Tom stopped in front of a wooden house.
Maybe it was the Redwood, but there were many wooden structures that were hard to find elsewhere.
Tom pointed at the house and said.
“It used to belong to a cousin who no longer lives here.”
“…So where did your cousin go?”
I cautiously inquired about my cousin’s whereabouts.
I guessed it might have been an incident caused by the Orc gang shouting ‘F*-them-all.’
“Oh, he moved out now.”
“?”
“He went to New Mexico to play in the big waters. I heard he’s working with a gang there.”
So, his cousin was in a gang too.
It seemed the big waters for those gangs were not ‘USA City’ or ‘Neo Japan’ but rather ‘New Mexico.’
Tom walked over to the wooden house.
He first blew hard to clear the dust from the old lock and then input the password while recalling it.
“You might find it inconvenient since it’s not the typical biometric scanner used for dog houses these days.”
“…Our place also uses a password.”
“……I’ll send you the password via message.”
Tom looked at me with eyes reminiscent of an elderly man who couldn’t keep up with the times.
No, people can use password-protected security systems too.
However, I remained silent at his gaze, knowing my reasons for using it stemmed from nostalgia for my hometown.
Tom threw open the entrance door of the wooden house.
Dust pouring from the sealed space stung my eyes.
“Cough, I don’t know if this air purifier is still working.”
“I’ll check it later.”
At least I was wearing a mask, so I didn’t cough.
The area right next to Redwood was the factory district, Cloud Park. Honestly, I didn’t want to take off my mask even inside this house.
Tom didn’t enter the house but explained to us from outside.
“Anyway, there’s no owner here, so feel free to use it as if it were your own home. I’m sorry that this is all I could provide.”
“No, this is really enough. I truly owe you a huge debt.”
As I bowed my head in gratitude, Tom waved his hand, discouraging my gesture.
“No, it’s really nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
…It could become something serious.
Still, it was true that Tom helped me without hesitation, without reservations.
Gratitude is gratitude.
I took a credit chip out of my pocket.
“This is my way of thanking you.”
“No, what are you talking about? Just keep it.”
Brother first, little brother next.
Just like in some old tale, we kept exchanging the credit chip back and forth.
In the end, with the help of my artificial muscle implant, I firmly shoved the credit chip into his hand before Tom finally accepted it.
“……are you sure it’s okay?”
“I mean it sincerely.”
I had received help from him before as well.
Tom awkwardly scratched his head again.
“…Anyway, I’ll get back to work now. If anything happens, just contact me.”
“Why not take today off?”
“Unfortunately, if my attendance score drops, my salary goes down too. That would be a big problem.”
“……”
The plight of the bloodless, tearless laborer in a cyberpunk world was sad.
Honestly, if I thought about the amount on the credit chip, he could probably just quit immediately.
But then he’d probably feel even more pressured to return it, so I intentionally didn’t mention the amount.
I waved my hand briefly.
Watching Tom disappear in the distance.
“…Phew.”
Now I could really rest.
Letting out a light sigh.
The house was filled with dust. It wasn’t even a moment to remove the mask. But somehow, I found the air refreshing.
Hmm, is this the scent of freedom?
…….
I first powered on the air purifier.
The follow-up actions were as follows.
Wash my hands, take off my coat, and change out of my shoes into indoor slippers. Honestly, the state of the carpet or floor was dreadful for walking barefoot.
The building had two floors, and a gigantic bedroom was at the center.
Fortunately, there was a cloth covering the bed.
Just by folding back the cover on the bed, I could get rid of some dust.
“…Ah, so comfy.”
Humans want to sit when standing, lay down when sitting, and sleep when lying down.
I felt my eyes gradually closing as I laid down on the bed.
I could faintly hear the sound of a vacuum coming from downstairs, suggesting Eve might have started cleaning.
I let out a lazy yawn.
…Should I take a nap and think things over?
At that moment.
“Oh?”
I noticed the notification light on my visual interface blinking.
Most of the notifications were alerts for incoming messages.
The messages were from…
Catherine, Andrea, Julia, Maya, Natasha, and the Chairman.
“……”
Looks like everyone except Eve sent something.
I pondered briefly and then finally closed the visual interface.
Just a spoonful of ‘I’ defiance.
A spoonful of a cyberpunk citizen’s mindset.
And maybe about ten spoonfuls of plain old sleepiness.
Like a failed recipe, this led me to not check their messages.
I instead sent a reply to all, expanding a simple “I’ll figure it out, good work.” into three lines.
This would be the first step toward becoming a hope for all “I”s in this world.
My struggle (for a week) starts now.
—
*
A day later.
The best mercenary in Neon City opened his mouth.
“Shall we go look for her now?”
““……””
And then…
Neon City’s most famous singer.
The boss of the brokers ruling Neon City.
Chairman of Megacorp, Black Monolith.
An ordinary fugitive.
Just a part-time worker at a fusion-Japanese restaurant.
Their opinions united as one.
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