Chapter 134: Yanagisawas Business (1/2)

The first floor of the Seranthal building was filled by the Hunters that were sent by Kugamayama city, to be more precise, they were a group of Hunters who accepted the request from Kugamayama city. They also sealed the way to go to the upper floors and to the basement.

Something was still blocking the Hunters from making connections from inside the building. As such, they installed a huge relay device near the entrance to connect them to another relay device outside.

The first floor of the Seranthal building was reinforced so much that it looked like a forward base.

That was where Yanagisawa and his men made an appearance. The mood on the first floor immediately changed, it was obvious that someone of high ranking was present. Yanagisawa just ignored that mood and proceeded through the first-floor atrium to one of the receptionist desks. Due to the fighting before, the receptionist desks were completely destroyed to the point that they were unrecognizable.

Yanagisawa started speaking while facing empty space.

“I want to ask for permission to enter the facility.”

Nothing happened. Yanagisawa’s men tilted their heads while checking up Yanagisawa’s expression. Yanagisawa then once again said.

“I want to ask for permission to enter the facility. The rule states that even when it’s inactive, I should still be able to apply for a visitor permit. If you won’t follow it, then I have no other choice but to take another alternative. With this, at least you know that I tried to follow the proper procedure, right?”

When he said that, Seranthal suddenly appeared in front of Yanagisawa. Seranthal then gave a very formal introduction before answering Yanagisawa’s query.

“Dear customer, the building is not open at the moment, anyone with no business in this building is not allowed to enter. So please leave the building.”

Yanagisawa smiled.

“I’m Yanagisawa. I can’t make a proper connection because of some reasons, but I’m the one who made the application to visit the 60th floor. Can you check it?”

“My apologies, but there’s no such visitation application to this building.”

Yanagisawa’s smile slightly clouded.

“…Is that so? I confirmed that the application was properly received though.”

“There is no such visitation application during the closing of this building in our record. We’re really sorry, please try sending the application again.”

Yanagisawa placed his hand on his chin.

[…Did I make a mistake when I sent the application? Or is it that I can’t send an application when I properly make a connection? It can’t be helped, I guess I’ll try using that.]

Yanagisawa pulled out a black card from his pocket and showed it to Seranthal.

“I have some business on the 60th floor. Just let me pass.”

When Seranthal saw that card, she smiled and lightly bowed.

“Understood, I will guide you, over here please.”

Seranthal walked and guided Yanagisawa and his men to one of the elevators.

The way past the elevator was sealed with a strong barricade. Seranthal, who did not have a corporeal body walked through that barricade.

Yanagisawa smiled at a guard near that barricade.

“Sorry, but can you open the barricade.”

That guard nervously replied.

“I’m really sorry, it’s a type that once set up, it can’t be opened or moved. I’m really sorry.”

“Aaah, I see. Well, it can’t be helped then. Nelia, cut it down.”

A girl with cyborg body stepped out from Yanagisawa’s men. She was wearing a rather exposing bodysuit. Although she had a nice figure and beautiful face, the bodysuit from her neck down seemed to be made of a mix of metal and rubber. It was obvious that it was not a fleshy body. She was one of the relics thieves that Akira fought back in Kuzusuhara ruin, Nelia.

Nelia stood in front of that blockade and frowned, she then swiftly cut the blockade down with her blade. The blockade wall that was even strong enough to withstand tank warhead was cut into small pieces in a blink of an eye and crumbled down to the ground.

Yanagisawa smiled.

“Well done. Want to go grab some food together next time?”

“No thanks.”

“That’s so cold. I’ll take you to a good restaurant. It’s a restaurant with high reviews and delicious foods, you know?”

Nelia looked at Yanagisawa with very cold eyes. Her cyborg body was not equipped with devices to digest food.

Yanagisawa just smiled and gave an order to his men.

“Nelia will accompany me, the rest of you stay here until we return.”

Nelia looked surprised.

“Why won’t you take everyone?”

“Eh? You want to know?”

Nelia, who saw his smile decided to not ask further.

“Nope, not really.”

“The biggest factor is because I know I can blow your head off with one push of a button.”

A bomb was planted inside Nelia’s head. As long as she had not paid enough contribution to overweight a death sentence or as long as she could not escape the position that she was in, that bomb would stay.

Yanagisawa then passed over the cut down blockade and went ahead. Nelia lightly sighed and followed behind him.

“Ah, by the way, ask for a replacement for the barricade too!!”

Yanagisawa said to the rest of his men before leaving that place.

—*—*—*—

Elena and Sara were taking a rest in their home. Both of them were completely in their relaxed state. Because both of them were very tired after returning back from Mihazono ruin, they did not make any complaints about each other’s appearance that day.

After Akira left, Elena had to finish up an extremely troublesome negotiation. Thanks to the help from Carol, both of them were able to secure a good amount of reward.

Elena had nothing to complain about Carol, who was good at fighting as well as negotiating. Normally, she would have used this chance to form a connection with Carol. But there was still one thing that was bothering her, it was something that Shikarabe had told her about Carol.

“Say, Sara. What do you think about what Shikarabe said back then? You know, that one when he said that Carol was a bad girl.”

Sara thought for a bit before replying.

“Hmmm, well, she is someone who would use that augmented suit out of her own volition after all, if it still bothers you, how about asking Shikarabe? He did say to ask him after that request if it still bothers us, remember? So I’m sure it’s okay if you ask him now.”

Elena thought for a bit. It was not like she wanted to look for Carol’s bad sides. She just wanted to check if Carol was a problematic person or not and if she should stop trying to associate with Carol. But, Carol had some connections to Akira. For someone labelled as a ‘bad girl’ to be around Akira, Elena could not help but wonder.

“You’re right. I guess I’ll do that.”

Elena took her information terminal and called Shikarabe. It was also set so that Sara could listen to their call once they were connected.

“It’s Shikarabe. Elena, huh. Did something happen with the request?”

“Nope, it’s not about the request. I just remembered that there’s something I wanted to ask you. It’s about what you said about Carol back then. You did say that you’ll tell me the details later, right? Carol really helped me during the negotiation, so I was thinking if it’s a good idea to get along with her, but then I remembered what you said back then.”

“Oooh, about that, huh.”

Shikarabe paused as if he was thinking about what to say.

“Well, uhh, you saw it for yourself that she was using that attire. So I’m sure you can make some guesses yourself. If you don’t want to be seen under the same light as her, you might want to refrain from associating with her. I guess that’s the gist of it when money is not involved. If you want to know more about the details… Well, I guess I’ll need to have you pay me 500,000 Aurum.”

Elena’s expression did not change at all as she operated her information terminal.

“Done, can you check it?”

Shikarabe was surprised as he asked.

“…The heck? You really paid the money?”

Honestly speaking, Shikarabe only said that to let Elena and Sara know that he actually did not want to talk much about Carol. After all, Carol was such a notorious woman, who caused so much trouble, that you would normally need money to know more details about her. He did not think that Elena would really pay him.

Elena, herself, would not have paid if the one who brought Carol to the team was not Akira.

Although Shikarabe only said that half-jokingly, now that he really got paid, he had to properly tell Elena and Sara the details now. Elena and Sara could hear Shikarabe sigh, he then continued with a serious tone.

“I can tell you the details, so, is it okay to tell you now through this call?”

“Sure.”

“Carol’s main job is being a Hunter, but she’s also selling her body to other Hunters as her side job. Although she would serve almost anyone, her customers are mostly based on her taste. She has no fixed price either. She sometimes is willing to take as little as 100 Aurum. But, I bet she only does that to let her customer have a taste of her body and ask for more money next time. It’s basically like an entry price for a narcotic. She’ll increase the price every time the same person asks for her again, in the end, she sometimes asks for a few billion Aurum just for a night. Moreover, I heard that her aim is not simply the money, but it’s the money that the Hunters get from risking their lives. I heard that is the exact reason why she will only accept Hunters. After all, risking life is a professional hazard for being a Hunter. So I guess that perfectly fits her taste.”

Elena then asked a question.

“Well, at least I get it that she’s a problematic person, but was there any need for me to pay 500,000 Aurum for that information?”

“It depends on each case, but she basically has caused so much trouble that asking for more detail about it will cost you that much money. To be more precise, 12 people already dead because of her.”

Elena’s expression turned stern. Shikarabe then continued.

“The number of Hunters who died because of her is simply too much to ignore. Each Hunter had a different reason behind their death. Some of them got into a fight with their friends to get enough money to pay Carol, some of them got killed fighting other customers over Carol, some of them got killed trying to force Carol although they didn’t have enough money. The real problem starts here. Some of those Hunters were veterans from Drankam.”

Elena’s expression turned even sterner, she understood the severity of the subject.

“In the past, Drankam took a special request from the City Management. At that time, they were given secret information about old-world relics for the request, but that information got leaked out. And after an investigation, it was found that someone leaked that information to Carol.”

“And the one who leaked that was a veteran Hunter from Drankam, huh?”

“To be more precise, there’s a good chance that was the case. From what I heard, the Hunter paid Carol with that information instead of money. That Hunter should have known what would happen to him if he leaked secret information from the City Management, but even so, it seemed that his mind got so messed up that he did not care about consequences. It’s still unclear whether Carol sold that information to someone else. That Hunter told Carol in a cheap inn where she might have set some audio recorders or something.”

“So then, what happened to that Hunter next?”

“He was furious and went to kill Carol, but he ended up getting killed instead. By the way, I was the one who killed him. At that time, I accepted a request from Carol to be her bodyguard. I don’t know if Carol had known that Hunter was coming to kill her beforehand or not. But one thing for sure, Drankam did not leak that information to the public. Nonetheless, Drankam still took the responsibility for the information leak.”

Elena and Sara were listening to Shikarabe with stern faces. From what they heard, it seemed that Carol was far more problematic than both of them had thought.

“The 12 dead people are also the number that came up after an investigation. In reality, there might be even more people who got killed. Well, basically, a lot of people get killed just by associating with her. So with all of this info, I have no other choice but to see her as a problematic girl. But putting that aside, Carol is indeed a skilled Hunter. I heard that she’s making profits out of information that she received from the other Hunters in place of money. Depending on the subject, she can also gather information about old-world ruins through negotiations. So depending on how you get along with her, it might be really profitable. But if you slip-up, you might get yourself in big trouble.”

Shikarabe then changed his serious tone to a more relaxed one.

“I guess that’s the gist of it. I believe that I gave you enough information for what you paid for. I won’t take any complaints, okay?”

Elena replied with a serious tone.

“…Don’t worry, that’s good enough.”

“I see. Do invite me again if you get any profitable requests, okay? Later then.”

Shikarabe then ended the call. Elena and Sara looked at each other, both of them had an expression saying that they were worrying for someone.

—*—*—*—

Shikarabe was drinking together with Kurosawa in a pub. The table in front of them was a big table designed to accommodate the server girls too. But the ones sitting on that table were only Shikarabe and Kurosawa. That in itself was a rather luxurious way of using that table.

Shikarabe and Kurosawa were enjoying their expensive drinks while talking about the current popular topics among Hunters, which included what just happened in Mihazono ruin too.

Kurosawa there threw a question to Shikarabe in a good mood.

“By the way, what happened to the Hunters whom you rescued back there?”

Shikarabe sounded totally uninterested as he answered.

“No idea. I bet they’re negotiating with the Drankam’s upper echelons even now.”

“I heard that one of the maids that you rescued even threatened Drankam.”

Shikarabe looked slightly surprised. He looked a bit annoyed as he said.

“Even you have heard about that too, huh…”