Free Web NovelSteal Seraz’s tablet. That was the very second when Gunther, slowly sweeping his gaze over the bar’s interior, began weighing possibilities and methods of execution. Levain shook his head decisively.
“Don’t worry. We’re not going to make you do anything anyway.”
“...What?”
“Today, just watch how your seniors work.”
That in itself was frightening. freёwebnoѵel.com
“Seraz isn’t a simple person.”
She was far more capable—and dangerous—than the rumors made her out to be. Parco and Levain were unlikely to know those deeper details. Gunther made a barely noticeable gesture, making it clear he intended to take part as well.
“Why are you excluding me again? Haven’t you already accepted me into the team?”
“No, no, don’t get it wrong. Of course you’re part of the team now. But...”
Parco hurriedly waved both hands, justifying himself.
“We read the report on you. You’re a pure combat type.”
...Probably records from before the entrance test. Since then, he’d gained more talents, but Gunther decided to listen first to what Parco would say.
“We can’t take a magical artifact from Seraz by force, right? So leave this to us. We’ve got a few skills besides swinging our fists.”
Skills, huh. Interested, Gunther stepped back.
“Fine, suppose so. But you’ll tell me the plan, right?”
This time, Levain answered.
“First, you need to know Parco’s abilities for this to make sense.”
“Parco’s abilities?”
Gunther tilted his head in confusion. He’d seen the name of the deity Parco was contracted with back at their first meeting.
[He Who Takes and Divides]
Just from the title, it was hard to guess the nature of the power. Better to see once than hear a hundred times. Parco smirked and snapped his fingers.
“In short, it works like this.”
Whoosh—
In that instant, a strange sensation washed over Gunther. The buzz from the alcohol he’d recently drunk evaporated immediately. His mind turned crystal clear, like he’d just woken up after a long sleep, and Levain’s flushed face returned to a normal shade in the blink of an eye.
...Instead, the man sitting beside him—Parco—reeked of alcohol twice as hard as a moment ago. Parco spread into a grin.
“I... I take other people’s status conditions or wounds onto myself. There are a few restrictions, explaining them all now would take too long, but basically—yeah. Like that.”
Gunther understood the usefulness at once.
“A healer position.”
Absorbing debuffs, damage, and so on. Most likely he didn’t just transfer them “as-is,” but had some kind of mitigation coefficient.
“But how do we use that ability to...”
He barely managed to form the question when a new sound followed.
Snap—
Another finger snap. And immediately, there was a reaction from Seraz, sitting across from them.
“Hm...?”
She froze with her glass halfway to her lips, then shook her head in confusion before setting it down. Bewilderment crossed her face—why am I getting this drunk when I’ve barely had anything?
“Don’t tell me.”
Gunther turned to Parco—Parco looked noticeably more sober now. Gunther couldn’t help being impressed.
“So he can function as a debuffer, too.”
Worthy of being called an elite of “Night Raven,” and of a seat in the Executive Squad. The applications were endless. But that wasn’t even the end. Levain, smirking, continued:
“And I... I can do this.”
Whoosh—
Gunther barely caught the motion of Levain’s hand before the bottle of alcohol in front of them split. No—there were three. Three identical bottles with identical labels stood in a row on the table, as if they’d always been there.
Swish—
Levain’s hand moved again. No extra gestures, no flashy flourishes. No sound, no gust of wind, no flash. Just a fleeting, barely noticeable motion through the air.
“Ha...”
The glass that had been in front of Levain was now in front of Gunther. And Gunther’s glass was already in Levain’s hand. An exchange so natural it didn’t even feel like it had happened.
“What the...”
[A demonstration of the Great Thief’s mastery stimulates your fingertips]
[Skill proficiency for “Wicked Sleight of Hand” Lv.1 increases]
[Alphonse of Red Street gives rare approval, noting it’s “a pretty decent level”]
“This isn’t just sleight of hand or technique... It’s something else.”
You could feel illusion magic mixed into it. Gunther recalled Levain’s deity name—“Spell Thief.” Levain’s class seemed like some kind of hidden class combining mage and thief.
“Definitely, there are no ordinary jobs in the 4th Platoon.”
The other two members he hadn’t met yet were probably outstanding as well. Seeing that Gunther couldn’t stop looking astonished, Levain added, looking a little embarrassed:
“Well, my power has plenty of restrictions too... But you get the gist. If we somehow get that tablet, I’ll crack the protection.”
...Technically, they could’ve used Dimona for that. Gunther thought for a moment, then replied:
“Get Seraz drunk and steal the tablet in the opening? Sounds like you need someone to draw attention.”
“Hah, no need to explain anything. Perfect.”
As Levain admired him, Parco tipped his chin toward the bartender hovering near Seraz.
“That role will be played by that pretty boy who ate thirty of our gold.”
He was a remarkably striking handsome guy.
“They say he often keeps her company in conversation. We bribed him in advance, just in case.”
“......”
Hearing all that, Gunther sank into thought. The plan was simple, but solid. A huge plus was that, if it worked, the difficulty of the next scenario would drop significantly. But...
“Not enough.”
...If Seraz were just a capable, honest police officer, that level of preparation would be plenty. But not here. They needed something more. A reliable support. A trump card.
“......”
And Gunther held that key in his hands. Because he knew perfectly well what Seraz couldn’t resist. He knew what she liked.
“It can’t be helped...”
This theft mattered. It would make their first truly dangerous mission even a little easier. He’d just heard the resolve with which the 4th Platoon went into missions. If he could help in any way, there was no reason to refuse. Gunther made his decision and spoke:
“I’m participating too.\”
“...What?”
“I’ll be the distraction.”
Gunther took off his mask and stood up from his seat. And then—
“...Oh.”
The noise in the bar began to die down.
“Because I can do it better than that bartender.”
.
.
.
[Alphonse of Red Street screams in ecstatic delight at your career change!]
[The King of Ninety-Nine Defeats lets out a heavy sigh]
.
.
.
A glass in hand. A pipe between his teeth. Seraz, paying no attention to the commotion in the bar, worked at her tablet. Behind the screen, veiled in a gray haze of smoke, lists of problems tormenting the Public Security Bureau lately appeared and vanished.
Step—
Only when footsteps sounded right in front of her nose did Seraz lift her head.
“......”
She stared at my face for a long time in silence before finally parting her lips.
“You a host?”
...Of course not, but today I’d have to play a similar role. I answered deliberately in a casual, cheeky tone.
“What makes you think that?”
“If you weren’t, you’d go up to those lovely ladies, not to a scarred-up cop.”
Seraz’s gaze flicked toward the richly dressed women staring our way with all kinds of expressions. They didn’t dare glare at Seraz herself, so they drilled their eyes into me, as if condemning my choice.
“You’re a host, right?”
The moment I hesitated with my answer, she smirked and added:
“If not, you should definitely try. It’d be a waste to ruin such natural talent...”
She paused briefly.
“But if you are a host...”
“If I am?”
“Then I don’t understand why you still haven’t sat down. There’s a chance for a big score right in front of you.”
Seraz Bolton. She loved order and beauty. On rare weekends, she spent almost all her time in art museums.
In the game’s main storyline, she was highly likely to end up on the protagonist’s side. Why? Because the main character, “Dominic Wolf,” was damn handsome.
Her personality was fairly specific, but thanks to her unwavering firmness and devotion to justice, she was a popular character with many players. ...What she was like in reality, I still had to find out.
“Then allow me to sit.”
I sat down beside Seraz. As if she’d been waiting for it, she turned her chair toward me by about thirty degrees. Blue eyes, half swallowed by scars, pinned me with a hard stare.
If I were a criminal, that gaze alone would be enough to make me spill a full confession down to the last dot. But I couldn’t show weakness now. I had to play the role of what she wanted to see.
“Seraz likes confident, slightly insolent types.”
Glug-glug-glug...
I took the bottle and filled her glass.
“Hm, I didn’t say I’d drink.”
“It seemed to me that when you’re drunk, you get even more charming.”
“Haha, you’re good at getting people drunk.”
A favorable light filled Seraz’s eyes. I felt a bit more confident.
“Still, it’s unexpected. Usually diligent, unbreakable types like you avoid hosts.”
At those words, Seraz burst into loud, ringing laughter.
“What’s wrong with hosts?”
“Huh?”
“In this damned city, where every other person is a thief, a murderer, a fanatic, or a corrupt cop, hosts are basically angels. At least they don’t ruin people’s moods—they make them better.”
...Thieves, huh. That jab pricked me, but I didn’t show it, and countered smoothly:
“Nice to hear. It’s waking up my sense of professional duty.”
“Yeah? Then show it properly.”
Saying that, she drank again. Even though she’d had quite a bit, there wasn’t the slightest hint of her losing control. While she drank, I glanced toward the corner of the bar. Levain was quietly polishing a glass.
“Move more decisively.”
Still, looking at Seraz in her current state, snatching the tablet felt impossible.
“Hm?”
Glug-glug-glug...
I caught Seraz’s empty glass, filled it to the brim. Drained it in one go and held it out to her again.
Clink!
Damn. Strong stuff. Definitely over forty percent. Intoxication rushed over me instantly, but... a few seconds later, everything settled again. Right now, I was invulnerable. Trying to ignore the “B-e-e-eh” sound coming from the opposite side of the bar, I met Seraz’s gaze again.
“Hm, you’re a tough one.”
“...Occupational hazard.”
Seraz laughed brightly again. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
“Fair. You know what the special thing about my job is?”
“Well...”
“That I never have time.”
“What?”
“I can’t stand wasting time.”
Bang!
That was when Seraz’s behavior changed abruptly. The moment she finished the sentence, she shoved a bucket toward me with a bottle standing in it. Half-melted ice sloshed inside the steel container. And into it—
Plop-plop-plop...
She poured all the remaining alcohol. Seraz pointed her pipe at the amber liquid, nearly to the brim of the bucket.
“Drink.”
“......”
...What is this? Why the sudden personality flip? But she wasn’t joking. Seraz urged me again, expressionless:
“Drink. You drink it—and I’ll give you what you want.”
“And you know what I want?”
“It’s obvious.”
She said it without a trace of a smile.
“Whether you’re a killer, a thief, a corrupt cop, or a host—doesn’t all the beasts in this city want the same thing?”
...Money.
“What, you think a civil servant won’t have an amount that can satisfy you?”
Seraz patted her inner pocket. It was a provocative gesture that stirred an ugly feeling. I stared into her eyes. I wanted to read her intentions, ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) but it wasn’t easy.
“I’ll have my fun abusing authority, and you’ll get what you want. Win-win.”
With the air of a seasoned bully, she simply shoved the bucket of booze closer to me. I thought for a moment.
“Did this bitch have an especially shitty day today? Or is she testing me in her own way? Or did the character’s personality just glitch?”
One thing was clear: I couldn’t drag this out any longer. If I hesitated and lost the momentum battle, it was over.
“Fine. Looks like this conversation won’t happen without it.”
I grabbed the bucket. And started drinking until I saw the bottom.
A gulp, another gulp. The taste was monstrous. I felt my esophagus so clearly I could’ve drawn its outline. If I dumped this drunkenness onto Parco right now, he’d definitely pass out. Barely holding onto consciousness, I muttered:
“F-fuck...”
Even more outrageous, Seraz wasn’t even looking at me. The moment I started drinking, she turned away and began fiddling with her tablet.
Bang!
The moment I set the empty bucket down on the counter.
“Good job.”
Seraz spoke. And as if it were nothing, she tossed her tablet straight into the empty bucket. Clink—the remaining ice at the bottom chimed.
“......?”
“Hm. If you leave it like that, it’ll get ruined. Take it, wipe it down, study it, you can even take it apart—then return it somehow later.”
Before arguing, I first pulled the tablet out of the bucket. My head was spinning, but figuring out what was happening wasn’t all that hard.
“...You knew. You were messing with me?”
“Occupational hazard.”
“How?”
“Hm. One tablet wasn’t enough, so you decided to shake me down for every last thing? You’re getting too bold, relying on that face of yours.”
Across the bar, Parco and Levain, stunned by the unexpected turn, were already about to stand. I signaled them to “wait” and continued:
“...If answering ‘how’ is hard, then maybe you’ll answer ‘why’?”
“I like beautiful things.”
Seraz answered without hesitation.
“Whether it’s expensive works of art, the neat, cute face of the man sitting next to me... or clean streets, completely purged of fanatics.”
By someone else’s hands. I understood instantly. With her position, Seraz surely knew about all the atrocities Luthien was committing. But the Public Security Bureau and Luthien were tightly entangled, so even Seraz couldn’t act openly. And now Night Raven came to her on its own—it’d be a waste not to leak information. I gave a bitter smirk and greedily gulped water.
“So... you’d have handed over the tablet even if I didn’t drink.”
“Hm, well, how should I put it—this was just my whim.”
“Whim?”
Seraz smirked and said:
“From my perspective, I hate the ones who reek of rot, but I’m not particularly fond of the crows that flock in to peck at their corpses, either.”
“......”
“You should’ve gone into hosting with that face instead of getting mixed up in dangerous shit like this. It pisses me off.”
...Like I wanted this. I sighed and tapped the table. It was a signal for Parco.
“Then I’ll be a little petty too.”
“What?”
“Now it’s my turn.”
The moment Seraz tilted her head in confusion. The drunkenness that had already climbed up to my throat vanished instantly. It popped over to Parco for a split second, then flew straight to the target.
“Seraz Bolton, next time let’s be polite to each other.”
For the first time, horror showed in Seraz’s eyes. But it didn’t last long.
“B-ugh...”
Seraz planted her face on the bar counter.
