Checkpoint.
Officially named the 0th Descent Gate, it was the only official access control facility dividing Magiterra's Surface Level and Underground Level.
Managed by Gardin Security Corporation, it was known as the second most heavily guarded facility in Magiterra.
Bristling with countless surveillance drones and automated turrets, it consumed a massive amount of supplies each day, earning it a reputation as a major client among defense contractors.
Were it an airport, there would have been a dedicated VIP lane, but no such thing existed here.
After all, VIPs had no reason to come here in the first place.
Most who passed through this gate were headed down.
Criminals, tax evaders, lower-class folk stripped of residency rights, or corporate castoffs.
And finally, those deemed no longer useful to society.
Of course, rumors claimed people occasionally came back up.
But the staff of the 0th Descent Gate treated such stories as mere urban legends and mocked anyone who believed them.
Those who went down never returned. No, they couldn't.
At least, not once in all their years of working here had they ever seen someone come up.
That was why they never treated the people passing through like human beings.
Sexual harassment was par for the course whenever a passably attractive woman walked by, and punches and kicks followed any man who looked like an easy target. To them, these people were merely sandbags to vent their stress on.
That day was no different.
A male employee was holding onto a scrawny man.
Another employee smirked as he flipped through the man's papers.
"Removal of food scheduled for disposal?"
The colleague next to him walked over and skimmed the documents.
"What is it?"
"Look at this. They dressed up 'digging through the trash' in the prettiest words possible."
His colleague burst out laughing at that.
"That's theft of corporate property."
"Right. Even trash belongs to the corporation."
The two took turns mocking the man, but with his head hung low, the scrawny man could say nothing.
When the employee shoved his shoulder, the man collapsed helplessly onto the floor.
"Get up."
As the man tried to push himself up, the employee stomped on the back of his hand.
"No, take it slow. The inspection isn't over yet."
The man's face contorted in agony.
Just then.
A low engine rumble echoed from the distance.
Several sleek, luxurious black vehicles came into view.
At the unusual sight, the male employee lifted his foot from the scrawny man's hand.
"What the..."
His colleague muttered.
"Those look like seriously high-end rides, don't they?"
"Why are they here?"
It happened on occasion.
High-ranking figures sometimes ended up being sent down to the Underground Level.
Whenever that occurred, the Checkpoint staff considered it a jackpot and thoroughly savored the situation.
Because the upper-crust people who normally looked down on them like insects had to wait for their permission before this very gate.
Holding back a burgeoning grin, the male employee walked toward the vehicles.
As several automated turrets swiveled toward the approaching vehicles, the convoy halted in front of the inspection line.
The male employee tapped on the car window with deliberate leisure.
Tap, tap.
"Checkpoint inspection. Roll down your window and prepare your identification."
There was no reaction from inside the vehicle.
At that, the employee frowned.
"Didn't you hear me? You don't just drive on through here."
He gestured for the window to be rolled down.
"I said roll down the window."
Whirrr.
As the window slowly slid down, the employee was left speechless.
For what greeted him beyond the window was not a face, but the muzzle of a gun.
In an instant, his previous smug composure vanished completely.
"Uh..."
Barely swallowing his breath, he looked past the muzzle into the back seat.
An elderly man with silver-white hair sat there.
"Uh, er..."
It was a face seen everywhere.
Sometimes on corporate promotional screens in the Checkpoint Lobby, sometimes on economic news in public broadcasts.
The moment he recognized Adrian Arkwright, the Representative of Seraph Industry, all the color drained from the employee's face.
Exactly whose window he had so insolently tapped, whose identification he had dared to demand—
He finally realized.
Without so much as looking at him, Adrian merely uttered a short command.
"Open it."
A single word.
That was more than enough.
Stumbling backward, the employee shouted.
"O-Open it!"
A flustered voice crackled back from the control room.
"B-But the protocol..."
The employee bellowed at the top of his lungs.
"It's Arkwright! Open the gate!"
***
The concealed elevator descended in silence.
Inside the elevator, Adrian Arkwright simply clasped his hands behind his back and stared at the floor indicator.
[Underground Level 12]
[Underground Level 13]
[Underground Level 14]
Each time the indicator dropped another floor, his heart felt as though it sank with it.
He was anxious.
Yet he betrayed none of it on the outside.
For he was Adrian Arkwright, the Representative of Seraph Industry and the current Patriarch of the Arkwright family.
He could not show the slightest sign of wavering in front of his subordinates.
Just then, a bodyguard standing beside him asked cautiously,
"Representative. Are you all right?"
Without turning his gaze, Adrian answered.
"I'm fine."
How could he possibly be fine?
At the thought of what Rin Arkwright, his granddaughter, might have endured in the Underground Level over the past few days.
[Arrived at Underground Level 20.]
A soft chime echoed inside the elevator.
As the doors parted, the Underground Level came into Adrian's view for the first time.
The very air was different.
And above all else... so were the people.
Adrian was rendered momentarily speechless by the shocking reality of the Underground Level.
'In a place like this, Rin...'
He had known of it through reports, but those had only ever offered a vague impression through numbers.
"..."
Meanwhile, Adrian's anxiety only deepened.
"Representative."
The bodyguard team leader spoke cautiously.
"Please stay behind us."
When Adrian gave a slow nod, the bodyguards moved immediately.
Two took the front, two covered the flanks, and one guarded the rear.
The rest remained by Adrian's side.
As they marched forward, the people of the Underground Level scrambled out of their way.
Those who failed to know their place and blocked their path were ruthlessly disciplined.
Adrian said nothing as he watched, but a weight settled even heavier upon his heart.
Had Rin wandered through a place like this? Chased by someone, unable to trust a soul.
Every time that thought crossed his mind, Adrian wanted to kill Pale all over again.
Before long, the bodyguard team leader raised a hand.
At the hand signal to halt, the entire group stopped in unison.
Underground Level 20, Room 1409.
Adrian's heart pounded frantically.
One operative stacked up beside the door while two others took positions on either flank.
The bodyguard team leader signaled with his fingers, and then—
Bang!
An operative kicked open the door and breached the room.
"Left side clear!"
The second operative followed right behind.
"Right side clear!"
The third and fourth operatives swept inside in rapid succession.
Gun barrels scanned every corner of the room.
"Targets identified!"
"Two adult males!"
"No visible weapons!"
Adrian peered into the room from behind the bodyguards.
It was a cramped, dark, dilapidated room.
He shifted his gaze toward the two figures standing in the center.
A young man with black hair and dark eyes, and an old man wearing a magnifying loupe over one eye.
Both had their hands raised high to show they were unarmed.
While the old man broke out in a cold sweat, the black-haired young man remained remarkably composed—almost as if he had anticipated their arrival all along.
Even with multiple muzzles aimed straight at him, he didn't so much as blink.
Adrian's eyes locked onto the youth.
Right then.
A faint sound of breathing drifted from behind a ragged cloth, prompting Adrian to snap his head around.
A bodyguard instantly swiveled his rifle toward the makeshift curtain.
"Someone's behind there!"
Adrian's heart dropped into his stomach.
And then.
"Don't shoot."
The command tore from his throat on pure reflex.
The ragged cloth shifted slowly, and a frail silhouette emerged from behind it.
She was far more gaunt than she had been just days ago, but she was alive.
Rin Arkwright was standing right there.
For a fleeting moment, Adrian felt his breath catch entirely.
"...Rin."
At the sound of his cracked voice, Rin's blue eyes wavered.
At first, she couldn't bring herself to utter a word.
But then, she finally managed to part her lips.
"Grandfather..."
In that instant, the mask fell away from Adrian's face.
The Representative of Seraph Industry, the Patriarch of the Arkwright family, the man feared by countless people across the Surface Level.
All those titles meant absolutely nothing in this moment.
He was merely an old man who had nearly lost his granddaughter.
Adrian pushed past the bodyguards and stepped forward.
Rin took a tentative step before throwing herself toward him.
"Grandfather!"
As Adrian pulled Rin into his arms, he could feel her tiny frame trembling violently.
His grip tightened around her without him even realizing it.
Desperate to confirm again and again that his granddaughter was truly alive.
"It's all right."
Adrian spoke, his voice trembling ever so slightly.
"You're safe now. I'm here."
Rin couldn't answer; she simply clutched his overcoat with all her might.
As if the breath she had been holding back finally broke free, her sobs spilled out.
"I was so scared..."
At those words, the corners of Adrian's eyes hardened.
"I know."
He gently stroked Rin's hair.
"I'm sorry."
Rin shook her head.
"No. I... I just acted on my own..."
"No."
Adrian cut in firmly.
"It isn't your fault."
Grasping her shoulders, he checked her face.
Checking for wounds, searching for anywhere she might be hurt.
"What about Pale?"
Rin's expression froze.
That reaction alone told Adrian everything he needed to know.
The girl bit her trembling lip, tears streaming down her cheeks as she spoke.
"He... he tried to kill me."
Adrian shut his eyes for a brief moment.
He had already deduced as much, but hearing it straight from his granddaughter's lips stirred an indescribable fury within him.
"I understand. You don't have to worry about a thing anymore."
Rin buried her face back into Adrian's chest.
Adrian held her in silence for a long time.
Just then.
An excessively nonchalant voice shattered the silence of the room.
"I hate to interrupt such a touching scene, but..."
Adrian's gaze slowly turned toward the source of the voice.
The young man with black hair and dark eyes was still standing there with both hands raised.
Seemingly unfazed by the multiple gun barrels trained on him, he asked flatly,
"Is there no reward?"