NCPD (Neon City Police Department).
This place, known as the Neon City Police Department, was quite different from the typical image of “police” we might have.
In a cyberpunk world where almost everything is “privatized,” even the police can’t escape its influence.
In short, police “corruption” was taken for granted.
Even making a “direct call” to the police department required a considerable amount of credits.
There’s a reason why the reporting rate is low in the lower-class areas where credits are scarce.
Why do the police in the upper-class areas work hard?
Because the district mayor pays a substantial amount of “credits” to the NCPD, and that’s how it works.
Moreover, with the existence of stocks specifically for “NCPD,” it was hard to view them as just the regular “police.”
However.
The emergence of a private police corporation due to privatization wasn’t necessarily all bad.
【Inmate ‘Merlin’ has the following charges: ‘illegal entry,’ ‘illegal disclosure of personal information,’ ‘illegal management of personal information,’ and five other charges in violation of city laws.】
The emotionless woman’s voice flowed from the unmanned kiosk.
What on earth has he been up to?
He sure has quite a list of charges.
Anyway, I touched the hologram screen that popped up. I pressed the arrow image.
The kiosk’s voice echoed once more.
【The amount for the city bail set for the subject is as follows. If additional complaints are made by the reportee, the subject may be re-incarcerated, and additional credits may be required.】
The amount displayed on the hologram was substantial.
If I hadn’t received a settlement from Kojaka’s chairman, I would’ve thought, “Hmm, I should just turn back,” and turned around without a second glance.
But since I have more than enough money right now,
I casually transferred the amount.
【The city bail has been paid. Thank you.】
Originally, the concept of “bail” doesn’t act as a “get-out-of-jail-free card.”
However, in this cyberpunk world, where the backwardness is even worse than in the medieval era, it’s the same old story.
It was essentially a release.
It showed just how strange the extreme capitalism-drenched world of cyberpunk can be.
After a moment,
A familiar old man slowly walked out from inside, patting his own shoulders.
Suspiciously looking around like he was unsure who had gotten him out, his expression brightened as he spotted me.
“I knew I could count on you! You were the one who got me out! Thank you!”
“…Ah, you’ve had a tough time.”
“Seriously…. I told them I had already spoken to the building owner, but no one acted like they heard me.”
“……Haha.”
It was true that the conversation didn’t go through.
“But I’m glad you got me out. If it weren’t for you, I’d have to eat those awful nutrition tubes for who knows how many days. That’s just horrible. At this age, eating becomes important, you know.”
And it was also true that the old man was caught because of “me.”
I had messaged the chairman that I didn’t know the old man’s identity.
By the way, that’s the reason he was stuck here.
“…That’s right. That could’ve been a serious problem.”
But I intentionally didn’t let the old man know that fact.
I smiled at the old man, convincing myself I had no clue.
There was no need to reveal the hidden truth and earn the old man’s resentment.
Not to mention, with the ‘magic’ I would be learning from him, it was the last thing I wanted.
*
Side EP. Easy, right? (1)
After that day’s incident concluded,
I offered to call an ambulance for Maya, whose arm was broken, but she shook her head and declined.
“I’m a cyborg anyway, so it’d be better to just go home and have Dr. Terra look at me instead of going to a hospital.”
That made sense.
But the problem arose afterward.
It’s common for people to form attachments quickly, even if it’s just from seeing them for a moment.
Especially when a “housemate” who lives in the same place has an issue,
there wasn’t a single person who could just brush it off like nothing had happened.
As Maya returned with her broken arm,
the house was in chaos.
Luckily, Natasha, who always had a busy schedule, and the chairman were not at home.
If they had been there, the commotion would probably have been at least three times worse.
Maya made excuses for me.
“…It really was nothing. I broke this arm by myself, so Siwoon didn’t do anything wrong.”
But being just an innocent Fusion-Japanese restaurant part-timer (and even the youngest), no one believed her.
Julia, who didn’t know that Maya used to be a Chrome Psycho, couldn’t hide her sympathy even though she was usually less expressive.
“Are you really okay?”
“Come here~.”
Maya, who was busy insisting that she was fine, was swept away by Dr. Terra for treatment.
Katherine, Julia, and Andrea’s gazes turned to me.
In their eyes, there was no blame directed toward me. Just a curiosity about what had happened, filled the atmosphere.
I explained what had happened.
The ambush Maya suffered.
The Transhumanism group.
And the events leading up to us going to eradicate them.
I honestly wished they would blame me, yet they comforted me instead.
“…Well, you had some bad luck.”
“That can happen.”
“……But I’m glad it didn’t go to the worst-case scenario.”
I shook my head calmly.
“…No, I did mess up.”
At the very least, I shouldn’t have taken Maya with me. No matter how much she asked, the decision to agree was mine.
If only I hadn’t let my guard down or prepared a bit more,
Maya would never have gotten hurt.
I reflected on myself.
What kind of professional mercenary am I?
I couldn’t even protect an ordinary girl.
The ones I’ve been tagging along with are amazing, not me.
I resolved to return to my original mindset.
For that, I first needed to message the chairman to ask what happened to “Merlin.”
Then, while explaining the situation, it was inevitable that the chairman would be shocked to hear that Maya got hurt.
This was my heavy sin.
*
[This is breaking news from NCB24. The corporation ‘Black Monolith Corporation’ has issued a warning to many ‘extreme Transhumanism’ groups. Experts have opinions on this matter─.]
The audio news echoed through the lobby.
“Ugh….”
Merlin, with words beyond his age, gulped down a fizzy drink.
The ordered product was ‘Kojaka’s Rainbow Flavored Cola’. Actually, it’s called ‘rainbow flavor,’ but in reality, it was just a mixture of seven different flavors.
Maybe mint chocolate or pineapple pizza would be understandable,
I just couldn’t wrap my head around that kind of taste.
The image of Merlin in my mind dropped a level. Minus one point.
Still, he looked like a stylish old man, so I thought he would order black coffee to match that image, but
I never expected he’d order something so grotesque.
Just looking at it made my throat feel dry.
I took a sip of the molecular coffee I ordered.
We were currently in a café.
There were too many unwelcome guests (housemates) at home to learn magic properly. It was a place where I couldn’t focus on anything.
As I set down my coffee cup, Merlin finally turned his gaze toward me.
“I’m glad I could see you again safely after being locked up.”
“You really had a big ordeal.”
“Haha, not at all.”
The fact that he was imprisoned because of me should never come to light. Honestly, I hadn’t thought he would be in jail.
I had only asked the chairman to ‘handle it without injury,’ not to send him to jail.
In the end, it was true that I was at fault, but…
Thinking about it, I had more than a few things to hide from Merlin.
The whole jail situation was one thing, and the fact that I was the Guild Master of the Warrior Craftsman Union was another.
“Usually, they would accept some backhand money from the NCPD, but strangely this time, they seemed unwilling. I was almost in trouble, but I’m truly relieved.”
I cautiously speculated that it was probably because the one who said to send him to “prison” was ‘the Chairman of Monolith.’
I carefully told Merlin,
“This is all because I didn’t check the message. I’m really sorry.”
“It’s fine, you can’t see everything in life. Haha.”
Truthfully, I had also ignored that on purpose.
I got awkwardly shy and scratched my head.
“By the way, I don’t think I’ve ever told you my address. How did you know to come?”
Thanks to Eve, it should be tough to hack it.
“Oh, that.”
Merlin scratched his head like I did.
“Well, um, actually, that day, I pretended to leave and followed you for a bit.”
“…….”
Hmm.
That made my slight guilt lessen.
Merlin slowly stroked his beard.
He seemed a bit shy about exposing his own shortcomings, stuttering his words slightly.
“So, um, now you’re thinking of properly learning magic?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
I nodded at Merlin’s words.
The options for how I could become stronger in this situation were limited.
Installing cyberware was challenging due to my physical attributes, and studying new technologies like hacking wasn’t something I was particularly talented at.
That’s why I sought Merlin out.
‘Magic.’
Merlin continued calmly.
“Right, good choice. If you learn magic properly, you’ll become truly amazing. Really.”
“Oh wow.”
They say compliments make whales dance.
Receiving praise made me feel good.
Usually, it was rare to be taught such specialized skills for free without paying credits.
(I observed from the time I started the warrior profession) but it seemed this person was familiar with helping others.
Merlin cleared his throat briefly.
“Hmm, anyway, starting from the basics of magic will be a bit challenging.”
And the atmosphere became serious.
“Humans naturally adapt to what they’ve gotten used to, so when did you say you started learning magic?”
“It’s been about ten years now.”
“In that case, it’ll be tougher.”
That was expected.
I had come to terms with that, despite it.
I resolutely nodded and replied.
“It’s okay. Let’s do it.”
“Good, then let’s begin.”
*
“First, feel the presence of mana─. You already feel it? Ah, right.”
“Yes.”
“Then you need to absorb mana into your body through breathing…. Wait a minute. You right now.”
“It’s working.”
“…Controlling the mana in your body will be a bit difficult. It doesn’t flow through your blood vessels. You need to feel that flow, and usually, in this process─. Um, you’re moving?”
“Yes.”
The old man’s face was gradually turning to horror as he continued explaining.
What’s difficult about this? Everything’s working for me.
I waited for his next explanation.
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