Hero Party After the Nuclear War

Chapter 20

It's already been three years since we parted ways that day. I tried to write this in formal language, just like you taught me in letter etiquette, but that kind of style doesn't suit me at all, so I quit halfway through.

If you had been by my side, you probably would've smacked me on the head saying it's just like me. But no one's around to smack this dumb head of mine now, so I'll write it in my own style.

I'm still at Raven's Logistics, spending each day taking on requests from various factions in the wasteland. Most recently, I got a request from a high-ranking member of Holy.

Yeah, Holy from the Order of Diviners that you're part of. But unfortunately, that guy hit me in the back first, so I couldn't just sit there and take it—I hit back.

Lately, Holy and the Order of Diviners seem to be interested in the Hero's Legend. While completing that request, I picked up a few fun toys.

One of them is a fairy who was sleeping in an ancient ruin.

You might be disappointed if you're imagining something like a pixie, but she's a human who can use magic. She seemed pretty useful, so I'm traveling with her now.

The other is a 'Holy Sword' found in the ancient ruins.

It's a massive mechanical greatsword named Liberator. It's something else. It consumes magic bullets and allows a Summoner to fight on par with Servants. According to the fairy, I'm officially a Hero now.

Saying such nonsense to a half-human, half-demon. I never imagined I'd suddenly inherit the title of the one who caused that infamous genocide.

Sorry. I've been talking all about myself, huh? How have you been lately? Are you doing well? How's life in the Order? Are you in good health? I know we're completely strangers now, since we've broken up. Asking about you might be selfish.

And Virgil... are you doing well with him?

No... maybe that was too nosy. Anyway, since you left Logistics and joined the Order, I hope you've found your own happiness there. You told me that day you'd be fine even without me. Right?

Well then... I'll stop here.

Always loving you, Dante.

To Beatrice, the Witch of the Crow.

* * *

"Master. What is that?"

Dante, who had been focusing on writing the letter, quickly folded the paper almost crumpled and stuffed it into his coat pocket when Eris suddenly poked her head in and asked.

"It's nothing! Really. Just a record of the latest request."

"Didn't you already store the record in the Summoner?"

When Eris tilted her head and asked, Dante shook his head in denial.

"I thought it might be good to leave a written version, too."

"Hiding it like that just makes me more curious. I mean, it's not like it matters if I read the request details, right? Let me see."

As Eris reached for the crumpled letter in Dante's hand, he twisted his body to avoid losing it, and eventually, in a final act of resistance, shoved the letter straight into his mouth.

"Amahuhdoahiaiga (I said it's nothing!)"

Watching Dante resist so fiercely, Eris let out a sigh with a face that said she regretted asking.

"Fine, fine. I thought you were writing a love letter or something. Your face looked... unusually serious, not like you at all, Master."

"... Gulp."

Struck right in the heart by Eris's words, the flustered veteran Deliveryman instinctively swallowed the letter he had been holding in his mouth.

"Cough. Cough cough. Ugh! Ptooey... Tastes awful."

"You didn't have to eat it! I wasn't going to ask any further..."

"I didn't plan on eating it either."

Really...

This is supposed to be a Hero?

As Eris looked at Dante with a face full of disdain, he casually grabbed a water bottle rolling around the cargo hold and poured it into his mouth.

"So what are you going to do now?"

When Eris asked, Dante shrugged as if he didn't know himself.

"Wait for a request to come in. Or go wandering around looking for one. One of the two, right? I'll probably stay in Neo Kyoto for a while. For now, there's no strong reason to leave."

"Really?"

"In big cities like this, there's always work to be found. And someone like Raven, with a Silver Rank, often gets jobs rolling in without even looking. Though sometimes, trouble rolls in instead of work. But thanks to the money we earned from the last job, there's no need to worry now."

Dante laughed heartily and stretched out on the field bed set up in the cargo hold. But Eris, who knew the truth, held up the coin pouch from a corner of the cargo hold and shouted at him.

"You blew all that money! On Kui-Kui, poker, blackjack, slot machines, pachinko, and even stuffing cash into girls' butts!"

"Last I checked, we still had some left. Are you saying it's almost gone already?"

"Don't you remember? Why we're staying in Elizabeth's cargo hold instead of an inn? We got kicked out because we couldn't pay for lodging! If you had just spent a little more wisely, we wouldn't have to spend the night here!"

"Ahaha. Now that you mention it, you're right."

"'Ahaha' is all you have to say? Seriously?"

What even is his sense of financial planning...

"Well, Elizabeth's passenger seat isn't so bad, right?"

Still lying on the field bed, Dante opened a dirty magazine and used it to cover his eyes, clearly not wanting to hear Eris's nagging. Seeing a nearly naked woman on the page, he crossed his legs with a satisfied smirk and let Eris's words go in one ear and out the other.

And just then.

Dante, having received word from a Servant stationed near Elizabeth that someone was approaching the truck, quickly turned his head and rose from the crude field bed.

"Wh-what is it?"

Dante immediately strapped the gun hanging on the wall to his waist, ready to issue a Command to the Servant, and began keeping watch from the truck's cargo hold.

"Looks like they're coming down on their own."

As they approached Elizabeth, seeing Dante come down from the cargo hold, they rudely pointed fingers and began murmuring.

At a glance, they didn't appear to be carrying any special weapons.

At most, just a Pistol for self-defense.

However, Dante, with his keen eye, noticed that some kind of concealed weapon was hidden inside their Far Eastern-style clothing.

Though they were dressed like the commoners often seen in Neo Kyoto, their aura suggested they hadn't come in the middle of the night just to deliver a simple package to Dante.

More importantly, the reason Dante was this alert wasn't just because of the two people openly standing in front of him. Though the Servant hadn't reported anything unusual, there were one or two more people hiding nearby.

Thanks to the faint breeze swirling around Neo Kyoto, Dante barely picked up on the subtle presence of others.

"Are you the one called Karasu, who entered Neo Kyoto with dirty feet this time?"

When the man on the right spoke, Dante formed two possible theories.

One was that they were assassins hired by a faction related to McKinsey.

The assassination using Jack O'Lantern's 'Rune of Explosion' magic at Kyoto Tower had been a great success, leaving no evidence behind.

However, the fact that the incident occurred after Raven, known as a harbinger of misfortune, entered Kyoto—and that almost no other magic users had been in the tower besides Raven—made it natural for Dante to be suspected.

McKinsey, with Holy's support, had plenty of money and a fair amount of power, so it was entirely possible he would pursue revenge even after death.

The other possibility was that they were a client coming to offer him a job. Specifically, a client of the shady kind.

That case would actually be welcome. After all, he'd already blown through most of the money from the last job, and it wouldn't hurt to pick up another one.

Dante confirmed that they weren't drawing their weapons first, then brushed his hair back and asked.

"Yeah. I'm the Raven you were looking for. So, what do you want?"

When Dante asked, the two men who had sought him out looked at each other and nodded.

"We'd like to make a request. Would that be alright?"

"Always welcome. So. What and where do you want it delivered?"

"This isn't just a simple delivery. Rumor has it you're a 'Silver Rank'—a top-tier mercenary just below Platinum and Gold. Is that true?"

"Something like that."

"It's a job with some risks... is that okay?"

"Depends on the story? It's fine. For business reasons, I always keep my clients' identities strictly confidential. Now, if you want to talk, come on in. Hurry."

As Dante spoke, Eris, who had been silently listening, asked him,

"I appreciate the job offer at this timing, but... doesn't the atmosphere feel a bit off?"

"What kind of atmosphere?"

When Dante asked, Eris groaned and answered.

"It just feels like they're going to ask us to do something shady."

"We won't know until we hear them out."

* * *

"Allow me to properly introduce ourselves."

Sitting inside Elizabeth's cramped container, the two clients began to speak.

"I am Oda, the Tactician of the Shogun who currently leads Neo Kyoto."

"To think the Tactician of the Shogunate would personally bestow a request."

Raven bit down on a cigarette and lit it.

"And making a request in the middle of the night like this... sounds shady to me."

"You're right. This is something that would be quite troublesome if it became public."

"What is it, exactly?"

Neo Kyoto is currently building a friendly relationship with the religious city-state, the Order of Diviners.

But according to recent intel, the Order of Diviners has been digging up old relics all over the place to develop their own Cybernetic Tech.

The reason the Diviners are cooperating with Kyoto right now is due to the Demonic Samurai tech and Cybernetic-related technologies.

If the Order of Diviners manages to develop their own Cybernetic Tech, the friendly ties between them and Kyoto could end at any moment.

So there's one thing I want to request of you. Right now, the Diviners are using trains they've developed themselves to transport various items via the pre-war railroads.

Apparently, they recently recovered a 'Data Chip' from one of the ruins that contains concentrated Cybernetic Tech. If that falls into the hands of the Diviners, it could cause all sorts of trouble.

So here's my proposal—I'd like you to raid their train, bring it to a halt, and hand over the Data Chip containing Cybernetic Tech to our Shogunate.

"Is it not possible for the Shogunate to attack directly?"

"If that happens, the current friendly relationship between Kyoto and the Diviners will collapse. What's important here is that the friendly relationship must be maintained as before.

You are a third party. As long as you don't reveal your employer, no one will know who's behind you. If you use that status strategically, Kyoto can monopolize the Cybernetic Tech without ruining its relationship with the Diviners."

"Hmm."

If I were to directly confront the Order... that would mean fighting the Order's knights. And beyond that, if things went wrong, there was a possibility of ending up in a hostile relationship with Beatrice, who was currently affiliated with the Order.

"Got it. I understand the gist of the request. You all probably know better than I do what it means to go up against the Diviners, right? I'll weigh the risk and return a bit. Can you wait a day?"

"The train in question will pass by four days from now. I hope you make your decision before then. Harbinger of Misfortune, I hope you make a wise choice."

"Alright."