Chapter 8
No Brand Knew
* * *
“Well, it wasn’t good or bad.”
From the start, Shin had never known what a normal life was.
Just like fish swimming in the ocean couldn't understand the mindset of a beast running on land.
He could guess intellectually, imagining what it might be like, but it didn’t resonate with him emotionally.
“If I were you, my evaluation might’ve been a bit different.”
As if to ask what he ant by that, Shin looked at him, and Thomas continued.
“Looking back, I spent all my ti on regrets and self-reflection. I never really considered how short human life truly is.”
“No one has spent their life as rightly as Master has.”
That was sothing Shin could vouch for without hesitation, having watched him closely.
“And unlike Master, I don’t even have a proper child who grew up well. I'm not exactly soone to be envied. I may be complete as a lifeform, sure, but as a human, I'm defective. I can't even end things on my own terms.”
At that one sentence, laden with regret, Thomas couldn’t hide the awkward look on his face.
“Ah, seems I said sothing unnecessary.”
“So let’s stop talking about things that don’t matter. Why don’t you tell about your trip to Mars? I’ve never been there myself, so I’m quite curious.”
At Shin’s urging, Thomas recalled his mories.
“Everything there was different from here.”
“Well, at the very least, you could walk around freely.”
“Maybe because of the place, but it felt much more open—both the people and the technology. On the way back, I even saw soone marrying an android.”
“It’s rare, but that happens on Earth too.”
“But you can’t avoid public criticism here. Over there, the culture’s different. I guess you could say they just go with whatever feels good. The public perception of Fixers was also much better. There was no shortage of work either.”
“Which ans there were a lot of incidents and accidents.”
“Either way, for a job like a Fixer, it might as well be paradise. Don’t you think?”
His words were blatantly suggestive, enough that Shin could feel the subtle push. Shin shrugged and responded.
This year had been unusually busy, running around here and there, and he seed to have learned a lot from it.
“As you said, Master, it wouldn’t be so bad—if I had the device, that is.”
There were a few ways to cross continents. But moving between planets was extrely limited. Even soone like Shin couldn’t attempt it carelessly. Moreover—
“The spaceport’s operated by the city governnt.”
It was an area so tightly controlled that not even a gacorp with near-absolute power could ddle in it freely. In other words, no matter how much money one had, it was useless without a proper legal status.
There was a reason Shin had postponed Mars and eventually forgotten about it.
“Now, you haven’t forgotten who I am, have you?”
His voice was quiet—barely enough to be heard by anyone else.
Only then did I begin to understand what Thomas had been trying to say.
Thomas Russell—he was both the owner of Attitude and a famous broker, known throughout the area. But even soone like him had his limits, things he could and couldn't do. One of the most notable examples was securing a device—in other words, issuing a citizen ID.
Just a few years ago, he had expressed a clearly negative opinion on the matter.
“Don’t tell you found a way?”
“I just brought back a gift for you while I was on my trip, that’s all.”
He didn’t say it outright, but that mischievous expression—one I hadn’t seen since he got older—said it all. Out of nowhere, he had recomnded Mars, and now it was clear he’d secured a ticket to get there.
“You’re as sly as ever. So when do I get it?”
“Your birthday’s not far off, is it? Wouldn’t be right to unwrap it just yet.”
“You’re telling to wait until then?”
Thomas smiled as if to say, what more needs to be said?
I laughed along as I downed the last of my vodka martini.
* * *
After that, I began to tidy up my personal affairs, step by step. Nineteen years living in Do No.3 wasn’t a short period, but I’d moved several tis before. Now, I went through the process quickly, almost chanically, erasing all traces.
If there was one thing I absolutely had to rember, it was to extend the rental period on the storage unit. Unfortunately, I couldn’t carry the antiques or other equipnt with . I had to minimize the bulk.
The best course was to take only enough funds to settle down. There were similar places in other dos anyway—nothing to get sentintal over.
Everything went smoothly, right up to the final step.
Or rather, it almost did.
Until I noticed that strange gaze.
I had stopped taking requests and had been lying low, so it didn’t make any sense. I couldn’t think of a single person I’d be at odds with. But if you asked whether anything was weighing on my mind, I wouldn’t say no.
Sheriff Jeremy, who couldn’t let go of his grudge, might’ve betrayed . It wasn’t too far-fetched to think he’d hired soone to co after .
But that theory didn’t hold for long.
I soon realized that the group tailing was nothing like Gerald’s gang, the ones I’d roughed up a few days ago.
They weren’t the kind of people a sheriff could bribe with a few bills.
So I picked a secluded empty lot and lured them in. Then I murmured softly.
“Why don’t you co out already?”
I had no idea what grudge they held to have followed for three straight days. Clicking my tongue in irritation, I looked up to find the space filled with burly n. There was sothing different in the air around them—this wasn’t your average bunch of criminals. Even a blind man could tell the difference.
‘Striders?’
It seed they had successfully settled into the do, as each of them was ard with a nacing weapon.
At that mont, a man who appeared to be their leader stepped forward and asked abruptly,
“You know Brand, right?”
“Oh,” I exclaid, piecing the words together.
“I know No Brand.”
The man bared his fangs at the pun that wasn’t even worth a laugh.
“Don’t give that bullshit. I’ve got no interest in playing gas with you.”
“I’m being honest.”
“Cut the act. The field investigation’s already done. I’m not asking because I don’t know.”
“I’m telling you, it’s the first I’ve heard of it.”
But despite what I said, my mind was working quickly.
It seed sohow related to the Striders I’d encountered not long ago. The young man I dealt with back then and the one now standing in front of looked strikingly similar. He had been full of confidence before he died—and now I could see why.
“I know my little brother used to stand guard near the pawnshop, looking for prey. And on the day he died, the na that ca up was yours.”
“……”
As I held my tongue, the man spoke on, as if expecting my silence.
“Fixer Shin. You’re a well-known figure around here—no one doesn’t know your na. They say you’ve never failed a job in all these 19 years.”
That might sound like the record of a legendary professional, but the man knew the truth behind it.
“But once I looked into it closely, it was laughable. Adultery investigations, school bullying cases, and loan shark disputes. I couldn’t believe my ears. Thought it was so kind of joke.”
“May not an much to you, but to the people involved, those were matters of life and death.”
“Sure. And now it’s your life on the line too.”
“Even if I keep denying it, you’re not going to believe , are you?”
“Not at this point. I’ve got to avenge my little brother no matter what.”
Wiping the smile from my lips, I swept back my hair.
“I like volunteering as much as the next guy, but cleaning up the town for free feels like a bit much.”
“Oh, so that’s the attitude you had when you took out my brother?”
The man’s expression turned even more vicious as he stepped closer, raising one hand. The mont he flicked his fingers, the atmosphere would surely explode.
The tension in the air told we were on the brink.
Breathing itself felt stifling—when suddenly, a massive and unnatural shadow stepped in between us.
“Del.”
At the heavy voice, the man—Del—hesitated.
“I told you to keep a low profile, didn’t I? It’s the crackdown period. Didn’t I say that?”
The hulking man bent down to et Del’s eyes.
“Or was my advice useless?”
“No, sir.”
I knew exactly who this man was. He was a living example of how organized cri had adapted and evolved over the centuries, even as humanity entered the 24th century and ventured into space.
One of the leading figures of the underworld factions in this district—the Guerrilla Family.
His na was Mark Rossi.
In other words—
“Mr. Steroid. You've shown up at the most exciting part.”
“Cut the nonsense.”
Brushing off my comnt with clear annoyance, Mark shifted his gaze toward Del and the Striders following him.
“You lot, back off too. This Fixer is under my jurisdiction.”
“This is about my family’s honor. Even you, Mark, have no right to interfere.”
“You think I’m making a request here? That was an order.”
Grabbing Del’s shoulder hard enough to crush it, Mark growled.
“You keep failing to learn when to step forward and when to stand down. That’s why you’re always stuck in the fringe.”
It was a statent bordering on outright insult, but Del had no choice but to swallow the burning anger inside. The difference in their size was overwhelming—in both physique and power.
In the end, he had to back off.
I watched them disappear like an ebbing tide, indifferent, then turned to Mark.
“So what’s this about?”
“Hurtful. Have we grown so distant that we only et when there’s business?”
“If you had no reason, you wouldn’t have stepped in.”
With that sharp remark, Mark gave in with a sigh.
“A broker is looking for a Fixer. There’s only one thing that could an, right?”
“You’re saying there’s a job?”
“That’s right.”
The approach couldn’t have been more suspicious. Given our positions, Mark wasn’t the type to offer a delivery service. He usually contacted people half-heartedly through a ssenger, maintaining a policy of “If you want it bad enough, co and beg.”
And besides, the trust between us had been broken long ago.
Because of the ss Mark had caused a year earlier.
“You didn’t forget, did you? You lied to .”
Back then, I was still taking jobs out of habit.
Even on the day that incident happened.
At first, I got involved because I heard innocent lives were at risk. But what I found at the end was one of Mark’s dirty secrets. Or more accurately, a situation that had already been cleaned up perfectly.
“You tricked into chasing down the guy who stole your secret ledger.”
I realized too late how tangled it all was and pulled out, but there was no denying it had been a frustrating experience.
He had clearly used .
For his own gain.
I knew he was rotten to the core, but I hadn’t expected him to be that blatant. So I cut ties and stayed away.
“Let bygones be bygones. I paid you plenty for that job, didn’t I? More importantly, this request—it’s a good one, even for you.”
“You an it’s good for you, not .”
“It ca from up there.”
I froze for a mont. From the way he was acting, it was likely he ant the city governnt or a gacorp.
“This isn’t the place to talk about it. Let’s move sowhere quiet.”
It was the first ti he’d been so insistent, so I quietly agreed. I wasn’t planning to take on any more jobs while wrapping up my affairs, but there was no harm in hearing it out.
A Fixer should never slack on information gathering, after all.
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