Chapter 9

Deathwish (2)

Aiden had no idea why the Second Princess of the Holy Kingdom had become even more interested in him, but he still had things he needed to do.

His first step was to find Noel as soon as the next morning arrived.

Every movement he made was being managed from this side, after all. Considering Noel’s abilities, sneaking around without her knowledge was impossible.

“You want to go out?”

“I do not think I said anything that strange…?”

At Noel’s narrowed eyes and questioning tone, Aiden responded in bewilderment. A person should be allowed to go outside from time to time. There was no reason for her to stare at him as though he had just said something outrageous.

“Are you perhaps dissatisfied with your current living conditions?”

“Pardon?”

“If there is anything you need, please tell me. If it is within my power, I will provide it.”

“No, I am not uncomfortable or anything…”

To be frank, spending every day idling beside Noel while she worked at military headquarters was exhausting in its own way. To an outside observer, he would look exactly like a live-in son-in-law with nothing to do.

When he explained that reasoning, Noel gave him a puzzled look.

“…Is that not a good thing for you, Mr. Aiden?”

“…”

“You receive a salary from me even while doing nothing, and your food, clothing, and housing are all provided.”

“…”

She had a point, which made it a rather strange argument to present as a complaint.

While Aiden stood there silently, Noel let out a deep sigh and brushed back her hair.

“I never intended to imprison you in headquarters forever, so I do not mind. But if possible, please take an escort with you.”

“An escort?”

“You have already demonstrated enough ability that I do not expect anyone to harm you easily. Still, Mr. Aiden, you have a certain atmosphere about you that seems to attract incidents and accidents.”

“…”

“To be perfectly honest, that is why I am reluctant to let you go out at all.”

Aiden agreed completely. No one wanted to escape that tendency more than he did.

“…I am only going out for a little fresh air. Would an escort not be rather cumbersome?”

Considering what he intended to do outside, bringing an escort was not a particularly good idea. He was not exactly going somewhere he could proudly tell other people about.

“No, even so, an escort…”

“I need some time alone.”

“…”

It sounded like the excuse of a married man exhausted after more than ten years of domestic life, but Noel merely sighed without challenging him further.

It was true that she had spent nearly every hour of the day beside him lately.

“Then go ahead.”

Aiden blinked blankly, not expecting permission to come quite that quickly.

“No guards, no wiretaps, nothing. Go do whatever you want. Just take this with you.”

Noel handed him something as she spoke.

It was a switch about half the size of his palm, shaped like a personal alarm.

“What is this?”

“A tracking device. You cannot run away before the wedding.”

“…”

“I am joking.”

“…I was not planning to run away anyway.”

Even if he did, this woman seemed like the type who would chase him to the ends of the world.

Noel gave a satisfied little smile at his answer and continued.

“It is a signal transmitter. If you find yourself in even the slightest danger, press it. I will come immediately.”

“…You would go that far?”

Aiden knew better than anyone how overworked she normally was because he watched her from beside her every day.

Each of the matters on her desk had serious consequences for the administration of the state. Was he really important enough for her to abandon all of them at once?

“I am the one who brought you here, so returning you safely when our contract ends is also my responsibility. This is not ‘going that far.’ It is simply the obvious thing to do.”

Noel turned her attention back to the documents as she said it, and Aiden stared at her with slightly widened eyes.

This woman really is something.

Setting aside the fact that she had kidnapped him without warning, she certainly took responsibility seriously.

For someone who had abducted him, the way she looked after every detail was almost parental.

“Thank you.”

He found himself thinking that she really was a good person.

✦ ✦ ✦

“I have been kidnapped by a strange person, Dad.”

Of course, once someone had kidnapped you in the first place, it was difficult to rate them much higher than that.

The first thing Aiden did after leaving headquarters was naturally call his family.

“What are you talking about now?”

His father’s startled voice came from the other end of the receiver.

“Did you borrow money from the mafia or something? I told you over and over not to get involved with criminals like that…”

“You and I are criminals too, Dad.”

It was hard to believe such timid, ordinary citizen sentiments came from someone who had supported himself through things like theft.

Then again, this was the same man who had spent Aiden’s childhood teaching him never to play in waters too deep for him.

Aiden let out a heavy sigh before continuing the explanation.

“I was kidnapped, but it is not that serious. I am being held somewhere warm and comfortable, fed well, and even paid.”

“…What kind of kidnapping is that?”

“It is complicated. I cannot tell you right now, but amazingly, all of that is true. I am living like this in one of the most expensive neighborhoods in the capital.”

“Can they kidnap me too?”

And this was supposed to be his father.

Still, if his father knew exactly where Aiden was staying, he would probably faint from shock. Aiden decided to tell the story later, after everything had settled down enough to become an amusing family anecdote.

“More importantly, Dad.”

His father might not inspire much confidence in some areas, but there were other matters Aiden could trust him with completely.

“Do you know anyone in the capital’s black market?”

There was a brief silence on the other end, followed by a heavy sigh.

“Are you planning to work there too?”

“I need to gather some information. I have no connections here, so I need an introduction. Where should I go?”

“Billy Hagan’s tool shop. The passphrase is ‘crescent moon and sunshine.’”

Even if his father was only a back-alley petty thief, nobody could survive for decades in that line of work without building some kind of network through the job.

Aiden chuckled softly at the unexpectedly cute passphrase.

“That is surprisingly cute. Got it.”

“Aiden.”

“Yes?”

“Be careful. Never forget that Sisella and I are always on your side. If anything happens, make sure you tell your family.”

“…I know.”

These two, at least, would remain on Aiden’s side until the world ended.

That was precisely why he was struggling so hard now, because he wanted to return to a peaceful life with his father and younger sister.

He let out a long breath as he looked around his current surroundings. Calling what he was doing a struggle did not feel exaggerated in the slightest.

The capital’s underworld lived up to its name, radiating a dangerous atmosphere. No matter where he looked, everyone around him gave off the distinct impression that they had something to hide.

There was only one reason he had gone out of his way to come here.

Act 1 begins here.

Act 1, Fracture in the Imperial Capital, centered on a large-scale disturbance and rebellion within the capital of the Empire. Aiden remembered at least that much with certainty.

He also knew the first thing he needed to pay attention to.

A huge quantity of illegally distributed weapons gets dumped onto the black market.

A large-scale uprising and rebellion naturally required trained forces, and the supplies needed to arm those forces would not simply fall from the sky.

They had to be smuggled in through illicit channels.

Act 1 began when the protagonist became involved in an incident connected to those illegally distributed weapons.

The protagonist was the key to everything.

Noel and the Second Princess of the Holy Kingdom were described by the system as figures of utmost importance to the scenario. As that description implied, they were central figures who would become deeply entangled with the protagonist, but they were not the protagonist themselves.

Somewhere in this world had to be the person at the center of the game’s entire story, the savior who would ultimately rescue the world.

That person absolutely had to exist.

Because that guy is my express ticket out of the scenario.

What Aiden needed to do was find that person and dump every burden currently assigned to him straight into the protagonist’s lap.

An extra like Aiden should disappear while the person who was truly meant to shine stepped onto the stage.

Lionheart’s groom, the scenario for saving the world, and every other troublesome responsibility could all go where they belonged.

To accomplish that, he first needed at least a rough picture of what incident would occur a few days from now.

If the protagonist existed in this world, then the protagonist was certain to become involved wherever that event unfolded.

A troubling possibility still lingered at the back of his mind.

What if there was no protagonist at all?

What if, just like the records he had searched before, the person simply did not exist?

…No, I still do not know that for certain.

That uncertainty was exactly why he had come all the way here to investigate.

By the time his thoughts reached that point, he had arrived at his destination.

Billy’s Workshop was an almost painfully plain name for a tool shop operating inside the black market.

The moment Aiden stepped through the door, a middle-aged man who seemed to possess absolutely no intention of greeting customers gave him a lazy look.

“Crescent moon and sunshine.”

At the passphrase, the shopkeeper scratched his cheek.

“Information costs fifty gold. What do you want to know?”

“I will give you five hundred gold, so dig up everything on these and make sure it is solid.”

Aiden placed the bundle of papers he had prepared onto the counter.

They contained information about weapons circulating through the black market. If Billy could identify even their general flow, it should be easy enough to sketch out the trading locations, sellers, and buyers involved.

The shopkeeper flipped through the papers, scanned them, then gave a nasal snort of derision.

“You are poking around information that is perfect for getting yourself killed. Is dangerous work your specialty?”

“…I do not have much choice.”

“That so?”

There was something painfully ironic about having to walk straight into danger for the sake of avoiding it.

As Aiden wiped away his imaginary tears, the man added another question.

“How long do I have?”

“As fast as possible. How long will it take?”

“Tomorrow is enough. Do not forget the five hundred gold.”

As expected of someone his father recommended, Billy seemed reliable at his work.

Aiden nodded and wandered around the shop while the man carried the documents from the counter to his worktable.

The capital’s black market tool shop clearly handled a far wider range of goods than the magic tool stores in the remote back alleys where Aiden normally worked.

The fact that something immediately caught his eye was proof enough.

Why in the world are they selling this on the black market?

As someone who worked in the same general industry, Aiden recognized the items instantly.

One was an adjustable mask powered by a mana stone, and the other was a voice modulator.

They were perfect tools for crime, but they had originally been developed by a government agency. They were certainly not objects that should be sitting openly in a place like this. Only in the capital could one casually encounter merchandise of this quality.

“You buying? Quality is guaranteed, but I do not haggle.”

“…I do not have the money.”

In truth, Noel had paid him such a generous contract fee that he had a fair amount of spending money. Even so, there was no obvious reason he would need tools like these anytime soon.

It was difficult to imagine a situation, even in his current position, where he would need to go this far to deceive someone.

That would have remained true if a particular scene outside the window had not suddenly caught his attention.

Aiden stretched his neck forward and stared at what was happening directly in front of the shop.

Something about it felt familiar, and he had the uncomfortable sensation that this was not a scene he should simply ignore.

The moment he clearly recognized what he was seeing, his eyes slowly widened.

System Message

▶ A Sub Quest has been issued.

▶ Failure will result in a penalty.

▶ Would you like to view the details? [Y/N]

As soon as the message appeared in response to the scene outside, Aiden’s face went deathly pale.

…No.

No. There was no way this was the situation he thought it was.

With trembling eyes, Aiden opened the details of the Sub Quest.

He dragged a hand down his face with unfocused eyes, and a bleak thought immediately followed.

I do not want to live anymore.

Considering what he was apparently about to have to do, it was a perfectly natural reaction.

“Let me ask you something.”

“What?”

“How much are these?”

Aiden pointed toward the mask and voice modulator he had just rejected for being too expensive.

✦ ✦ ✦

By its very nature, a black market attracted every imaginable sort of person, but there were still several things everyone implicitly understood should be avoided.

Standing out, carrying obvious valuables, or arriving completely defenseless were all excellent examples.

In that sense, the small girl currently walking through the market was like wounded prey bleeding openly among a school of sharks.

Her appearance made one wonder why someone of such obvious status had come to a place like this at all.

She wore a luxury suit that had clearly been tailored stitch by stitch by a master craftsman. Even her gloves and boots matched, and selling any one part of the outfit would probably cover an ordinary family’s living expenses for an entire month.

No matter how one looked at her, she did not belong here.

“If you walk around dressed like that, young lady, nothing good is going to happen to you.”

When all those factors combined, people like this were bound to appear as naturally as iron filings being drawn to a magnet.

A group of thugs surrounded her with leering smiles. The weapons in their hands were not particularly high quality, but a few carried small firearms such as pistols.

For ordinary people without supernatural abilities, that alone offered a perfectly reasonable excuse to pretend they had seen nothing. Besides, this was the black market, a lawless district where scenes like this barely deserved attention.

Indeed, while the group surrounded the girl, not a single person nearby showed any intention of interfering.

“This is not the kind of place where you can walk around dressed that nicely with your face uncovered. Did you come here without even knowing what kind of place this is?”

“Is it not the black market?”

“…”

Her reply was so cheerful that the man who had spoken found himself momentarily speechless. Anyone listening would have thought she had come out for a picnic after lunch.

“…I did not realize you were stupid enough to come even though you knew. What were you thinking when you came all the way here?”

“For my hobby.”

The answer was so far outside the expected range that all the thugs went blank at once.

“What?”

“This is my first time visiting the capital’s black market. I have been to the back streets in my homeland plenty of times.”

The girl continued smiling brightly as she spoke.

“Could you help me a little? You people seem about right.”

The thugs exchanged looks before snickers began spreading through the group.

“Sure, we can help. Of course we can. Why do we not go over there first and hear exactly what you need help with?”

One of them pointed toward a secluded alley even deeper inside the black market.

In his head, he had probably already completed a plan down to the second: strip the girl of everything valuable, take her hostage, then squeeze even more money from whatever wealthy parents she belonged to.

Yet even with that desperate danger right in front of her, the girl’s smile only grew brighter.

She genuinely looked relieved to have found people who could ‘help’ her.

“Let us take our time and talk. All right? We have plenty of time from now on…”

The man was continuing with a face that had already failed to conceal his intentions when someone suddenly clamped a hand over his shoulder.

“What bastard is this?”

The thug spun around aggressively and immediately flinched.

The man gripping his shoulder had the appearance of a walking nightmare.

His skin was rough and uneven as though someone had painstakingly carved it with a knife. A scar ran from his forehead down to his neck. He had a hooked nose, only one functioning eye, and half of one lip seemed to have been sliced away somewhere in the past.

Even hardened criminals who had survived every kind of trouble would have turned pale the instant they saw such overwhelming ugliness.

“Get lost.”

Even his voice sounded like a blade scraping across sheet metal, a grotesque tone that made every man gathered there instinctively step backward.

“Wha, what? You trying to start a fight, bastard?”

“Do not make me say it twice.”

His voice dropped another level as that horrific face moved closer, someone in the group let out a frightened squeak.

“Last warning. Get lost.”

It was clearly an exceptionally persuasive speech.

Every thug present understood the message, because the whole group scattered and fled without offering a single word of protest.

“You too.”

After displaying such impressive eloquence, the hideous man turned toward the girl and spat out his next words.

“Go home. This is not a place for someone like you.”

Without lingering for another moment, he coolly turned away as though his business was finished and he had somewhere else to be.

“Mister.”

A voice immediately caught him by the back of the neck.

The disguised Aiden slowly stopped walking as his hands and feet seemed to freeze.

“You know who I am, do you not?”

“…What are you talking about?”

“You did not come to save me, did you?”

“…”

“It is fairly obvious.”

She was absolutely correct about his intentions.

The people Aiden had intervened to save were not the seemingly defenseless girl. They were the armed thugs surrounding her.

More precisely, that was the only sensible interpretation once one knew who this girl was.

!! Sub Quest !!

▶ Contact established with Deathwish, Katya Heinkel Craven.

▶ Resolve the current situation as peacefully as possible.

▶ If you handle the situation smoothly, the target’s favorable feelings toward you will increase dramatically!

▶ Failure will result in a penalty!

Aiden had essentially grabbed those men by the backs of their necks and dragged them away from the jaws of a lion.

“No fair. I was finally about to have some fun, and you ruined everything.”

“…”

“Those men could have been handled as ‘self-defense,’ you know?”

With her hands clasped behind her back and the same bright smile still on her face, the girl trotted toward Aiden.

Her voice was as clear and beautiful as jade beads rolling across a silver tray, but listening to it made Aiden feel as though every drop of moisture in his blood vessels was drying up.

“What are you going to do about it?”

“…What exactly do you expect me to do?”

“Take responsibility. You ruined my leisure time.”

“…”

“I had a little time left after coming all the way to the Empire, and I finally found a good opportunity after squeezing this into my schedule.”

Damn it. Damn it all. Those were the only words Aiden could think of.

While he repeated them inside his head, the girl continued speaking with the same cheerful smile.

Aiden remembered her face well enough.

She was the Second Princess of the Holy Kingdom and one of the most important central figures in the Holy Kingdom side of the main scenario.

Now that very person spoke as though asking the most trivial favor in the world.

“Would you keep me company for a little while?”