- Target with mana reaction on Underground Level 23 eliminated.
A brief report came over the radio, but Pale didn't bother to reply.
Step, step.
Flanked by bodyguards in black protective suits, he was slowly descending the metal stairs.
- Underground Level 22. Two targets with 1st-Tier reactions confirmed. Disposed of beyond recovery.
- Underground Level 21. Three illegal ACU users subdued. No residual reactions.
The low-tier magicians hiding in the Underground Level were disappearing one by one. Since the operatives on the radio were at least 4th-Tier agents, he expected the operation to go smoothly.
"...."
However.
Right now, only one thing mattered to him.
It was confirming whether 'she' was alive or dead. Of course, it was fine if she was dead, and if she was alive, he could just kill her. This Underground Level was often used as a disposal ground for Megacorp, so even if they ran wild here, no one would be able to stop them.
- Sir Pale.
At the new report, Pale opened his tightly closed mouth.
"Speak."
- A faint mana reaction has been detected on Underground Level 19.
Pale stopped in his tracks.
- The reaction is unstable. It is slightly different from an ACU signal, but the location is estimated to be inside the scrap market.
"Transmit the coordinates."
- Understood.
The moment he gave the order, Pale checked the coordinates displayed on his wrist terminal.
The corners of his mouth slowly curled upward.
"You managed to hide yourself pointlessly well."
Pale raised his hand and gave a signal.
"Move out."
..
..
Underground Level 19's scrap market was unusually quiet. The bustling crowd that was always loud had completely vanished, like bugs instinctively scurrying into dark and narrow spaces.
All simply because people from the upper levels had descended. To the people of the Underground Level, those from the Surface Level were beings of that sort.
"This way."
A subordinate led the way and pointed to a dilapidated stall located on the edge of the market.
"...."
On the outside, it was an all-too-common scrap stall. At a glance, it looked like a stall that repaired and resold discarded junk. Faint traces of mana leaked from the magitech items mixed among the displayed goods.
'It can't be... because of these items.'
Reactions leaking from junk like this could be caught on a detector, but something felt unsettling.
The stall owner looked calmly at Pale standing in front of him.
"We're closed."
"Hoh."
He had quite the guts. Most people would grovel on their own when standing before him, and those who responded so calmly to him were extremely rare.
"If you need anything, come back tomorrow. There isn't much here to suit the tastes of upper-level lords."
Ignoring his words, Pale shifted his gaze deeper into the stall.
"You bastard inside."
He spoke in a low voice.
"Come out."
The old man's eyes twitched.
"There's no one inside. Just heaps of junk and dust."
"Is that so?"
Pale tilted his head slightly at his words.
"Does dust breathe?"
As the subordinates stepped forward and aimed their gun barrels at the stall owner's chest and head, the old man slowly made a gesture of raising his hands.
"Good grief. You folks sure have short tempers."
"I told the bastard inside to come out!"
One of Pale's subordinates shouted.
"Don't make me say it three times."
Then, after a brief silence, a young man with black hair and black eyes pulled back the curtain and walked out from inside.
He looked like a greenhorn who had tumbled into the Underground Level. However, sensing a strange chill, Pale raised his wrist terminal and scanned the young man.
[Biological reaction confirmed.]
[No citizen registration information.]
[No ACU detected.]
[Mana reaction: Faint.]
[Circuit unidentified.]
Pale fell into thought for a moment.
There was a mana reaction despite having no ACU. However, such a case had never been reported before.
Which meant....
'Is the scanner broken?'
Pale took a step toward the young man and pointed a finger at him.
"You."
The young man looked at him in silence.
"Are you a magician?"
At Pale's single question, the atmosphere froze.
The young man looked at Pale for a moment before calmly answering his question.
"What if I am?"
Harun's expression contorted.
"Ha."
He couldn't fathom whether this guy was a crazy bastard or an oddball.
In that instant, Pale's subordinates also raised their gun muzzles a little higher.
Pale stared silently at Kael.
'At most, he's around 1st Tier. Either the scanner is broken, or he's someone who handles magic of the lowest output even among 1st Tier.'
Questioning his own contradictory thought, Pale fell into contemplation.
Even if it were the lowest output, could an ACU really go undetected?
No such case had ever existed among all reported instances. Nor was there any possibility of it.
"...."
[No ACU detected.]
[Mana reaction: Faint.]
[Circuit unidentified.]
Pale looked down at the text displayed on his wrist terminal, then looked back at the young man. Then, he slowly glanced around the stall.
'Is it a residual trace of mana left behind from handling junk?'
Magicians.
They were those who had an ACU implanted, passed the compatibility test, and were granted a circuit grade. Whether registered or illegal, only humans who had an ACU implanted inside their bodies were called that.
Yet no ACU was detected from this young man, and with such a faint mana reaction, no circuit could be identified.
Then the answer was obvious.
A half-wit delusional enough to believe he was special. That had to be it. The Underground Level was full of all kinds of crazies, after all.
Pale scoffed at the young man.
"A magician... When you don't even have an ACU?"
Yet despite his intimidation, the young man didn't even bat an eye.
"Feel free to test it."
As their gun muzzles rose once again, the tension heightened.
Pale stared intently at the young man, scanning his every expression and movement.
"...."
What he just said wasn't a bluff. What's more, this bastard was deliberately provoking him. Realizing this, Pale didn't fall for his scheme. Rather, his curiosity was piqued.
Why?
Because he had something hidden inside the stall?
Or did he have a backer that would be troublesome to touch?
Pale's eyes narrowed.
'What is he relying on to act like that?'
Normally, he would have broken the young man's fingers one by one until that curiosity was satisfied.
However, the timing was bad.
- Sir Pale.
The radio crackled.
Without taking his eyes off the young man, Pale replied.
"Speak."
- At the wastewater junction on Underground Level 18, a residual trace similar to the target's unique wavelength was detected.
The look in his eyes shifted.
"Are you certain?"
- It's not a complete match. However, it resembles Seraph's unique circuit resonance. There is a high probability it will fade further over time.
"...."
Knowing time was running short, Pale clicked his tongue inwardly.
It was certain that both the young man in front of him and the stall owner were hiding something.
However, he judged they weren't worth digging into right now. Furthermore, the target's residual trace would disappear over time, and once a transport route in the Underground Level got tangled, it was difficult to pick up the trail again.
Above all, he wasn't idle enough to cling to an amusing toy.
As Pale raised his hand to stop his subordinates, the gun muzzles lowered little by little.
He stepped closer to the young man.
"Consider yourself lucky."
He tossed those words out and stepped back.
"You half-wit."
The young man merely shrugged instead of answering.
That attitude grated on Pale's nerves once more.
Normally, one ought to be relieved to have survived.
Yet that attitude seemed as if he had anticipated this outcome to some degree.
Pale hesitated for a moment, but—
"...Fuck."
He gave a brief order to his subordinates.
"Move out."
"Yes, sir."
The black protective suits turned around in unison.
Before leaving, Pale looked at the young man one last time.
"The next time we meet,"
As if searing his prey's face into memory.
"Let's see if you can still shrug your shoulders like that."
The young man calmly responded.
"I'll look forward to it."
***
Kael pulled back the curtain and stepped into the back of the stall.
He caught sight of Rin crouching in the corner, trembling violently.
With her hood pulled down low, she was clamping both hands over her mouth.
Kael looked down at her for a moment.
"...It's all right now."
Rin didn't answer.
"They're gone."
"...."
At the sight of her, Kael let out a short sigh.
"Haa."
Only then did Rin slowly raise her head.
Her blue eyes, visible above the mask, were trembling violently.
"A-Are they really all gone?"
"Yeah."
"Really...?"
"Why would I lie to you?"
Kael sat on the chair beside the workbench and casually propped one foot up on it. It was a posture that would have made Harun throw a fit if he saw it, but right now, Harun was outside the curtain surveying their surroundings.
Kael looked at Rin with a serious expression.
"I'm not particularly keen on asking either, but..."
At his words, Rin's shoulders stiffened.
Tapping the circuit board on the workbench with his fingertip, Kael asked Rin a question.
"The one those guys are looking for. It's you, isn't it?"
Rin flinched.
That reaction alone was enough.
Kael narrowed his eyes.
"As I thought."
"...."
Rin bowed her head and tucked her fingertips inside her sleeves. She looked even more frightened facing this question than when Kael had deliberately stalled for time in front of Pale earlier.
Yet Kael didn't press her. He merely continued in a low voice.
"If I'm going to protect you, there are some basics I need to know too."
"...."
"Information is critical. Enough to overturn not just skirmishes, but the tide of war itself."
Rin slowly raised her head, but Kael paid it no mind and continued speaking calmly.
"Just the basics."
Her eyes wavered at his words, and she remained silent for a long time.
Kael waited without rushing her until Rin was ready to speak on her own.
"I, I'm..."
Finally, Rin opened her mouth and spoke in a tiny voice.
With a trembling voice.
"The granddaughter of a high-ranking executive at... Seraph Industry."
Kael's finger, which had been tapping rhythmically out of habit, stopped.
Seraph Industry.
Medical care, bio-circuits, circuit stabilizers, artificial organs, high-tier treatment facilities.
And the component fragment for preserving bio-circuit tissue that Harun had shown him.
Because that name clicked in his head.
"Go on."
Rin clutched the edge of her mask.
"Those people... were my bodyguards."
"Were?"
She nodded.
"To be precise, they were people pretending to be bodyguards."
Her voice grew even quieter.
"They weren't assigned to protect me..."
Rin caught her breath for a moment, then spoke in a near whisper.
"They're assassins sent to kill me."