Chapter 8: Steel Assassin(3)

The office was slowly filling up with furniture, but it still felt bare.
While browsing second-hand trading sites for cheap deals, I noticed Cynel in a corner, her face unusually serious.

“…”

Cynel had only been working for me for three days.
I worried she might already be fed up with guarding me.
I approached her as she sat on the empty sofa, lost in thought.

“Cynel, what’s wrong?”

“Boss.”

“Yeah, is there a problem?”

“There are no customers.”

Her concern was simpler than I’d expected.
No customers in the office.
Rather than being bored, she seemed worried about the business.
Of course, I’d deliberately set up the office in a remote location, so it’d be odd if anyone showed up.
To ease her concerns, I explained.

“I don’t take just anyone as a client.”

“Right. The boss… the famous dark merchant.”

“…”

“If the boss doesn’t choose them, they can’t even come as clients.”

Cynel still hadn’t let go of that moment.
Dark merchant.
The phrase alone made me feel like someone else entirely.
After hearing it so many times, I almost started believing I was the dark merchant.
Shaking off the thought, I grabbed the remote for the large monitor.

“It’s weird hearing that. Since we’re on the topic, let’s find something to do next.”

I turned on the monitor and pulled up a list of wanted criminals.
If there were any low-difficulty targets, I planned to take Cynel bounty hunting after wrapping up with Valiant.
Cynel glanced at the monitor and spoke.

“Is that a wanted list?”

“Yeah.”

“There are way more names than I expected.”

The Black Market’s service displayed wanted criminals organized by rank.
The bounties included not only official police listings but also unofficial ones from underworld organizations and companies.
Still, the rewards followed a clear structure:
Grade 3 bounties were in the four-digit range.
Grade 2 bounties started at 10,000 credits.
Grade 1 bounties averaged 30,000 to 50,000 credits.
Special-grade bounties exceeded 100,000 credits.

“After this, I’m thinking we’ll do some light bounty hunting. Of course, I’ll offer decent incentives for catches.”

“…Incentives.”

“So, what kind of targets have you been chasing?”

“Special-grade or first-class wanted criminals.”

“Now I see why you haven’t caught any.”

Catching a special-grade criminal could net a fortune in credits.
But unless you were on a whole other level, it was wiser to steer clear of them.
Even Usher Hayes, the overpowered protagonist of War City, found them tough to handle directly.
These criminals were combat specialists, and their long-standing wanted status meant they’d either outrun or eliminated countless pursuers.
I felt bad for Cynel, but she was lucky she hadn’t crossed paths with them yet.

“Is that so?”

“Special-grade targets are for later. We need a solid team and a perfect plan first.”

I already had plenty of info on special-grade criminals from the novel.
What I needed now was someone with combat skills I could rely on.
Hiring top-tier mercenaries was an option, but the costs would outweigh the bounties’ profits.

“That’s a shame. I wanted to make big money fast.”

“That’s rare. If we’re aiming for profit, third- or second-class targets are the way to go for now.”

“Third or second class?”

“Like this guy, Lennon…”

Thump, thump.
I stopped mid-sentence, my attention drawn to footsteps outside.
A group of men was approaching.
None had weapons drawn, but they likely had them concealed.
Among them were familiar faces from my last visit to Valiant.

“Looks like we have guests.”

“Yes.”

“Probably the ones we’ve been waiting for.”

No one else would come to this out-of-the-way office.
It had to be Mr. Trillo, having checked my background, arriving with Valiant’s elite.
Was he finally ready to make the deal?
Mr. Trillo pushed through his subordinates in the hallway and entered the office.
Out of courtesy to me, the owner, only a few of his men followed him inside.

“Been a while, dark merchant. This office is in such a remote spot—kind of shabby for your reputation.”

“No need to overcomplicate things. We don’t get many visitors.”

“Fair enough. Let’s step over here.”

Mr. Trillo sat on the sofa across from me, leaving his men behind.
The sofa, a second-hand luxury piece, seemed to meet his approval.

“You came in style. Ready to make a deal?”

“You wouldn’t have come to my office otherwise.”

Unlike at Valiant’s base, Cynel and I were armed this time.
Mr. Trillo’s choice to meet here showed a degree of trust.
He signaled a subordinate, who placed a bag on the table.
The bag opened to reveal checks from the city’s prestigious Hernant Bank.

“Is this the amount you asked for?”

“I’ll give you 40,000 credits as a down payment.”

“Down payment?”

“I know you’re a top information merchant. But since this is our first deal and I can’t verify the info yet, I’m not handing over the full amount.”

So, he wanted to pay in installments.
He wasn’t skimping entirely and had already brought more than half the 70,000 credits I’d asked for.
It was hard to refuse.

“And the rest?”

“I’ll pay it once we confirm the guy on-site. We’ll handle the capture.”

Valiant would take care of the fight.
A second-class wanted criminal like Ironclad shouldn’t be too much for them, and since Mr. Trillo’s assassination in the novel hadn’t happened yet, there shouldn’t be any major issues.
Cynel and I just needed to observe.
If anything went wrong, Cynel, my bodyguard, would step in.

“Alright. Here’s the info you wanted.”

“…”

“Ironclad, Dagas Phillip. Wears a gauntlet with an iron plate on one hand—hence the nickname.”

“Dagas Phillip. That’s his name?”

“He’s a 4th-circle ‘Sharpness’ user. The magic itself isn’t too dangerous, but his contract work suggests he’s skilled.”

Truthfully, I didn’t know much about Dagas’s abilities.
All I had was his second-class wanted status and that he was a 4th-circle wizard.
In the novel, he was defeated instantly by the protagonist’s overpowered magic, so there was no real fight scene to draw from.
Still, as a second-class criminal, I figured he wasn’t too formidable in a direct confrontation, unlike his assassination skills.

“Where’s his hideout?”

“District 8, Outer District. There’s a restaurant called Aderis. Dagas is hiding on the second floor.”

“I’m sending my men now. Want to come along?”

It’d be best to see the scene myself to avoid any disputes later.
I responded while organizing the bag of checks.

“I’ll sort this and follow. Wait downstairs for now.”

“We’ll be on the first floor.”

Mr. Trillo nodded and left, his men following like a receding wave.
The office fell silent.
I grinned at the bag holding 40,000 credits in checks.