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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator:Bobt
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Daniel, who had been blankly staring at the closed door, shook his head to come to his senses. And he pounded on the door and shouted,
“Hey! Wait, listen, listen to me! Hey!”
As he noisily knocked on the door, the closed door opened again. The latch was still on. Locke’s Black eyes were visible through the gap.
“It’s noisy. If you make more of a fuss, I’ll file a complaint.”
“Co, complaint…”
As Daniel faltered for a moment at the word complaint, Locke immediately closed the door. Daniel came to his senses again at the clanging sound of the door closing. He urgently clung to the door and shouted,
“Damn it! A complaint isn’t the problem! You, you! Ronin! You think I couldn’t get a warrant? I deliberately didn’t get one! Do you know how much would be involved to put charges on you! I know you’re related to the factory fire that happened just yesterday-”
The door opened. This time, the latch wasn’t on. As the door opened wide, Locke’s Figure standing in the middle was visible. Daniel stepped back, startled.
Locke’s Black eyes silently stared at Daniel. Daniel slowly stepped back, but soon his back touched the corridor wall.
Locke said,
“Are you threatening me?”
“Ye, yeah. As much as necessary. It’ll depend on how you act. But right now, only I know about this. No, my senior knew too, but he’s in a coma now…”
Daniel closed his mouth. He realized that what he had just blurted out was a mistake. Saying that only he has the threatening information in front of the person being threatened. In this Midland.
Locke’s Eyes deepened.
“You’re not cut out to be a negotiation expert, detective.”
“…What?”
The next moment, Daniel found himself directly facing Locke’s Black eyes. He didn’t intend to look. However, that unfathomable black well forcibly captured his eyes. Daniel’s back became soaked with cold sweat. His right hand instinctively reached for the gun holster at his waist.
“If, if you kill a detective…”
Daniel’s pupils dilated. Because he saw something beyond Locke’s Black eyes. An eerie gray light inside the black pupils. The star of death shining alone in the pitch-black night sky.
He abruptly stopped the hand that was about to grab the gun. An interest rose in Locke’s Eyes.
“Your senses are good, detective.”
At the same time, freed from the strange pressure, Daniel slid down the wall and sat on the floor. Sitting on the floor, he had a blank expression for a moment, then soon contorted his face. He covered his face with both hands and began to whimper.
Locke’s Face also showed absurdity at the sight of him suddenly crying.
“Hey.”
“Sniff, damn it. Sob…”
Seeing him crying without answering, Locke’s Posture naturally became crooked with the thought of what the hell is this kid trying to do. It was a truly weak display for the MLPD, which was deeply connected to major corporations and gangs in Midland and was sometimes even called just a big gang.
At that moment, someone tugged on Locke’s Clothes. Looking back, Liz was looking up at him.
“What.”
“I made tea.”
“What?”
Liz only said that and returned to the kitchen. Locke blankly looked at her, sighed, and scratched the corner of his eye. Then he stepped aside to one side of the door and said,
“…Come in for now.”
Daniel, who had been sobbing, raised his head. Snot was running down his face.
“Huh?”
Locke silently looked at him. At that gaze, Daniel quickly got up and entered the apartment. The door closed again with a clank.
* * *
Daniel, who had been sitting in a chair wiping his tears, received the warm mug Liz offered and bowed his head.
“Oh, thanks.”
He kept sipping the tea, then suddenly looked at Liz.
“…I didn’t know you had a daughter.”
“Not my daughter.”
“Huh? Then a niece?”
The eyes of Locke, who had been leaning against the sink with his arms crossed, glowed dangerously.
“Curious?”
“…No. Not at all. Not curious.”
Daniel quickly shook his head. It was newly felt, but he had doubts about this detective job. His nose sniffled involuntarily. Seeing that, Liz offered him a tissue this time.
“Oh, thanks.”
Locke watched the detective blow his nose with a foolish look. Judging by his lacking appearance, he was definitely not a subordinate of corporations or gangs.
He said,
“How did you know and come to me?”
Daniel, who had been wiping his nose, quickly put on a serious expression. Of course, even so, it wasn’t very imposing due to the disgraceful behavior he had shown so far.
“An Auror Maste rwho made mercenary work his profession in the back alleys. It’s a rumor that’s spread through word of mouth in this Midland. Some outstanding people know that it’s not a rumor but the truth. Of course, I also, with the insight gained through numerous crime scenes…”
“Cut the crap.”
“…My senior told me.”
“Who’s your senior?”
“Detective Harry Wilson.”
Locke rubbed his chin.
“I don’t know that name.”
“My senior knew you. He said he had seen traces of your sword over the past few years…”
A detective who inferred traces of the sword. Locke thought it could be possible. It had been several years since he had been active in this city. Even though Midland was the world’s largest metropolis with a population well over 30 million, like the magician who wanted his body last time, it was time for people who knew of his existence to appear.
He never thought he could live like a ghost forever from the beginning, so he didn’t particularly try to hide. It was just that very few of those who saw his Auror Blade survived to give a proper testimony. The fact that he was a bit different from other Auror Masters was also one of the reasons.
Locke, who finished a short reflection, asked again,
“What happened to that senior and why did you come?”
“Senior… is in a coma now…”
Daniel held the mug and had a gloomy expression.
“It’s as if the senior wanted to go to Valhalla like an orc…”
“Explain. How did you get here?”
At Locke’s Successive questions, Daniel nodded. He took a moment to catch his breath and organize his thoughts, then brought up the story.
“I don’t know if you saw the news. The MLPD is now busy tracking down a terrorist group called the ‘Children of the Trees’. They’ve been causing problems for the past few weeks. My senior and I had also been tracking their traces from the very first incident, and last week we were able to get a lead. But…”
He fiddled with the mug and hesitated for a moment. He seemed to be pondering whether it was right to tell the whole investigation situation. But soon he continued the story with a firm expression.
“As the terror continued and the incident grew, the attention from above increased, and those who are good at showing off rather than proper investigation, those who engage in politics, began to intervene. With factories blowing up and people dying and getting injured, those guys were busy appeasing corporate executives rather than them, babbling nonsense, so how could the investigation proceed properly? Moreover, some bastards even interfered with our investigation. Thanks to that, we even lost sight of the criminal’s tail right in front of our eyes.”
Daniel contorted his face as if he got angrier the more he thought about it. His eyes turned red again.
“…Still, thanks to the experienced senior, we were able to continue tracking their tails. And the day before yesterday, we were able to meet the one who seemed to be their leader right in front of us. If we had caught them then, we could have prevented the terror that happened this morning. If only the support had come a little faster, at the right time… If the higher-ups had believed my senior’s words and given us manpower from the beginning, then…”
Daniel’s face filled with resentment was visible. But Locke asked again without any particular emotion.
“Thanks to that, I understand the internal power struggle within the MLPD well. But why does that become a reason to find me?”
“The leader of the bastards who sliced up my senior’s body. That guy used an Auror Blade. A shining energy whip. That’s an Auror Blade, right? I heard from my senior that the best way to deal with an Auror Master with another Auror Master. And the only Auror Master I know is… you.”
Locke didn’t bother to explain the properties of the Auror Blade. There was a vast difference between an Auror Blade and just an energy weapon, but it was hard to think that this apprentice detective would have the eye to distinguish that.
So he asked a question.
“I know the MLPD also has elite forces. Like the Special Operations Unit or the Mayor’s Security Office. Especially in the Mayor’s Security Office, isn’t there an Auror Master?”
“Of course I requested support from those forces too! But… damn it, the higher-ups neither believe my words nor accept my request. They say they’re too busy supporting other investigations… Those bastards, there was even a guy who said my senior should be criticized and disciplined for getting injured while investigating the wrong gang. Someone who’s not even conscious…”
Daniel, who had been getting angry by himself, put down the mug and stared straight at Locke.
“I’m not asking for much. I can handle most guys with my own hands. But that leader, the leader who dodged bullets and sliced up my senior’s arms and legs, even I can’t do anything about him. I already know where to find them, so I want you to deal with that guy.”
But Locke shook his head.
“I’m a mercenary. I use my sword and receive payment. Do you have money?”
“Mo, money?”
Daniel’s lips trembled.
“Money… I don’t have much, but… yeah, think of it as making connections. You’ll have someone on your side among the police. For now, me, and when my senior wakes up, he will too…”
“Two detectives being bullied by their colleagues? I don’t need such connections, so if you don’t have money to give, finish that tea and get lost.”
Locke straightened his body that had been leaning and turned towards the living room. Seeing his back, Daniel stuttered as if bewildered. He closed his eyes tightly and opened them.
He shouted,
“People are dying and getting hurt! What’s been announced so far is not even a third of the actual victims! But the investigators who should be tracking down the terrorists are deploying police forces to corporate factories that have received backdoor money! We don’t know how many more will get hurt and die in the future, and how the corporate guys will cover up that damage…”
Daniel trembled and even knelt down on the floor.
“Pl, please. If you help, I won’t forget it. Don’t think of it as stopping corporate terror, but think of it as protecting the workers who will be hurt in that rampage, that is, ordinary people…”
Locke was standing with his back turned, and Daniel was kneeling on the floor, looking down. And Liz was sitting across from Daniel, watching the scene while sipping warm milk. Locke turned his head and looked at Liz like that. The girl looked back at him with dull eyes as if asking why.
Locke sighed and turned his body completely.
“You’re really not cut out to be a negotiation expert, detective.”
“Oh, oh? Well, actually, I haven’t been promoted to detective for long…”
“Do you really think it was an Auror Blade that sliced up your senior?”
At the following question, Daniel nodded his head vigorously.
“At that time, that guy not only cut my senior’s implants but also the surrounding rebar and concrete like pudding. Ordinary ultrasonic katanas can’t do that.”
Locke turned his gaze towards the apartment window and said,
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen another Auror Master. Bring 10,000 dollars as a down payment first. We’ll start sorting out the balance and work after that.”
“Te, ten thousand dollars? Alright, if I break my savings account…”
“Now go.”
At the words to go, Daniel quickly straightened his knees and stood up. And he immediately headed towards the front door, then suddenly stopped and said again,
“I’m meeting an informant tomorrow afternoon. I’ll bring the money before then, so let’s move together.”
When Locke nodded, agreeing, he turned his body with a much brighter expression than when he was knocking on the door. He even gave a thumbs up before leaving through the front door.
After he left, Locke looked out the window again, lost in thought. It was uncertain whether the terrorist leader was really an Auror Master. Auror Masters were so few in number that few people knew their exact characteristics, and once that blade of light appeared, most of them were sliced to death and couldn’t even leave a proper testimony.
So sometimes there were also rare mystics who disguised themselves as Auror Masters by borrowing the power of high-output implants. Perhaps this case was like that too.
Anyway, if this job was wrapped up well, it seemed like he would really have a connection with the police. Even if it was a bullied cop, it was much better than nothing. Either way, Locke was a mercenary who crossed the boundaries of the law, and having someone to handle the aftermath meant that his range of activities could expand.
At that moment, Liz, who had finished her milk, put the glass in the sink and approached Locke, tugging at his clothes. When he looked down to see what was going on, she said, blinking her eyes dully,
“I’m sleepy.”
“…”
Locke picked up the kid and laid her on the bed. As soon as he roughly covered her with the blanket, Liz immediately started snoring.
Locke, who had his bed taken away, sat on the sofa and looked at Liz, who had fallen asleep like that. Unknown thoughts flashed through his black eyes.
* * *
Daniel, who showed up the next day, had really brought 10,000 dollars in cash. When he handed over the money, his trembling figure was pitiful, but Locke pulled the wad of money from his hand without hesitation.
They decided to move in Daniel’s car. Locke’s Black night stood out too much, after all.
“…By the way, why is this kid coming along?”
Daniel, who was holding the steering wheel, cautiously asked, looking at the black-haired girl in the rearview mirror. Instead of telling the story of how the kid shed thick tears with an expressionless face when he tried to leave her behind, Locke silently pointed his left index finger forward and signaled him to just depart.
Daniel, who had been about to say something, suddenly remembered Locke’s Eyes that he had seen yesterday and just quietly drove the car. In any case, as long as Locke fought well, that was all that mattered.
After a while, their vehicle arrived at the destination after passing several streets and alleys. It was an apartment built in the old downtown market. People crowded the alley.
“Over there. Let’s go.”
Liz tried to follow this time too, but Locke’s Fierce gaze stopped her. Liz obediently sat back in the back seat.
Locke and Daniel parked the car in the alley and went up to the apartment. The apartment didn’t even have an elevator, so the two had to climb many dirty stairs.
As Daniel led the way and reached the fifth floor like that, it was that moment. There were people moving in a group at the other end of the apartment corridor. They saw the two who had come up to the fifth floor and abruptly stopped.
Naturally, Locke and Daniel also stopped and looked at them. An ominous feeling flashed through the minds of all those standing in that corridor.
The one who broke the silence was someone on the other side.
“Cops!”
At that shout, submachine guns and pistols poured out from their pockets.
At the same time, a gray blade also rose from Locke’s Right hand.
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