[H-help! We need backup here! Bring someone over!]
[Damn it! What is this monster! Aaaaah!]
The other cleaners didn't understand what was happening when they heard these urgent voices over the communicator.
Something had happened to those who were trying to enter through the back door and those who were controlling people moving between the alleys.
"Looks like something's gone wrong, what should we do?"
"Call all reserve forces for backup. We'll continue with our task."
Their role was to storm through the front door and subdue the ones inside of Violet Fox.
Actually, rather than subduing, it was about killing everyone inside.
As they were about to storm through the front door, they saw it open by itself.
They saw a handsome young man in an elegant coat walking out from inside."That guy is......"
The cleaner leader narrowed his eyes.
Since he came from inside, he must be a fixer, but judging by his appearance, he didn't look like one at all.
He looked more like a young master from a wealthy family, or a client coming to make a request.
However, judging by the sword at his waist and his cold gaze directed at those approaching the office, that didn't seem to be the case.
The cleaner leader raised his eyebrows.
Behind Osian who had come out, Lucent appeared.
"Eek! Th-those are them! The people sent by Saint Tree!"
Lucent, pale-faced and frightened, hid behind Osian's back.
Seeing this, a sneer formed on the cleaner leader's lips.
"Well, well. Chief Researcher. What a coincidence to see you here."
Lucent didn't respond to those words. Yes, that man had always been like this.
A coward who openly showed his dislike for people living in the underworld like them, yet never dared to meet their eyes.
"I was being nice since you at least knew your place, but why cross the line? This means I can't let it slide anymore."
The cleaner leader wiggled his finger at Lucent.
"As you probably know, the higher-ups are very angry right now. If you come quietly even now, we'll send you off without pain."
"Hah, Leader. Isn't that too merciful?"
"What if that gentleman starts crying tears of gratitude?"
The subordinates chuckled while agreeing.
Osian narrowed his eyes as he watched them.
"What vulgar fellows. I suppose that's inevitable for sewer-dwelling lives that only feed on food scraps."
Though it was just casually spoken words, everyone present could hear them clearly.
The expressions of the cleaners who had been mocking Lucent froze coldly.
Osian's words had touched their sore spot.
"Looks like this fixer bastard is dying to get killed."
"Are you trying to act tough in front of your client?"
The cleaners glared at Osian without hiding their killing intent.
It was such a chilling atmosphere that even Lucent, hiding behind Osian, felt his knees weaken.
Facing this head-on, Osian spoke as if nothing was wrong.
"I don't associate with vulgar fellows like you."
"...Let's see if you can still say that after getting holes put in your body."
One of the cleaners pulled the trigger, aiming at Osian's knee.
There was clear malice in wanting to destroy the knee joint and cartilage to completely cripple him.
But Osian just stood still in his place, seemingly unconcerned.
As if he was certain that those bullets couldn't harm him at all.
Before the bullet could reach Osian's body, a shadow dropped from the sky and cut down the incoming bullet.
"Are you alright, Successor?"
It was Asmer who appeared.
He asked about Osian's well-being while keeping his eyes fixed on the cleaners before them.
"You know that those things won't work on me anyway."
"Yes. However, I cannot forgive those who dared to point such filthy bullets at the Successor. Please give me the chance to deal with them."
To Asmer's earnest request, Osian asked.
"What about the Knights?"
"They are not that weak. The uninvited guests in the open space are probably being taken care of already."
Osian briefly concentrated on his hearing. He could faintly hear a series of disturbances occurring beyond the open space.
Even from the intermittent sounds, he could tell that the Knights were overwhelming their enemies.
Asmer's words were true.
"Besides, don't you have other business to attend to right now, Successor? Please leave this to me."
"Very well. Then I'll leave it to you."
When Osian said this, Asmer showed a proud smile revealing his snow-white teeth.
Seeing this scene, veins popped up on the cleaners' foreheads.
"These bastards are ignoring us right now?"
They felt infuriated by how the two were having a casual conversation as if they weren't even worth considering.
When the cleaner leader made a chin gesture, his subordinates drew their weapons.
"You seem to have gotten cocky because you're well-known in the fixer industry, but let us show you how different it is in the field where real ones like us play."
"Sadly, I don't know anything about the industry or field you speak of."
Asmer gripped another sword in addition to the one he was already holding.
"I only know that your skills don't measure up to the Successor."
Whoosh.
Snow-white flames blazed up on his swords.
Starlight descended upon the two swords in his hands, and Asmer took his stance.
"And that you dared to target the Successor with such sloppy skills."
Asmer's eyes and aura changed. The cleaners felt goosebumps rising on their skin.
Asmer, who was just being respectful when dealing with Osian, now looked like a beast.
"Shoot, shoot! Kill that bastard!"
Asmer's dual swords descended upon the panicking cleaners.
*
"Is, is it really okay to leave him alone like that?"
Lucent, who followed Osian away from the scene, was worried about Asmer who was left behind.
Those who pursued him were the cleaners who handled the dirty work for Saint Tree's board members.
At first, Lucent didn't know their identity either. He just thought they were security guards for the research wing, and that they were just guards with somewhat bad personalities.
But he wasn't completely oblivious, and it didn't take long to realize that they were people who monitored the researchers.
Lucent thought Osian didn't understand how dangerous these cleaners were.
Just as he was about to explain, Osian, who was walking ahead, spoke first.
"You don't need to worry. He's not weak enough to lose to such fellows."
"They're not people you can dismiss so easily!"
"True. Being employed by board members of Saint Tree's caliber, they must have done many dirty and dangerous jobs."
Just looking at how they casually tried to mess with Violet Fox showed this.
If one had any knowledge, they would know that Violet Fox held an extraordinary position even in the fixer industry.
But judging by their reactions, they seemed completely unaware.
Those who move only in darkness, not in light. Living in different worlds, they probably had no information about this side.
And they had enough pride to think it didn't matter even if they didn't know.
"There might be a difference between fixers who do all sorts of jobs for money, and those who only kill people and clean up afterwards."
Looking at the industry average, that would certainly be true.
But they wouldn't know. While fixers have a low average, the highest level that exists at the end of that distribution curve is by no means low.
"You probably won't believe me saying this. You'll find out soon enough anyway."
"But still......"
"Just focus on what you need to do right now."
Lucent seemed reluctantly convinced by Osian's words.
"But those cleaners aren't the end of it. They're just people who handle one-dimensional dirty work, there are people who do even worse things!"
According to Lucent's explanation, the cleaners weren't all that the Saint Tree board members had under their control.
Looking at how thoroughly they prepared, this situation must have been planned quite a while ago.
'And now Lucent is trying to ruin that, so they'll desperately try to silence him.'
Based on Lucent's explanation, they probably tried to persuade him with good conditions, dangling carrots in front of him.
After all, this operation wouldn't work without Lucent.
If nothing else, the technology he mentioned was real.
'They might try to gather money by inflating stock prices, then sell the technology elsewhere or use it separately.'
In other words, Lucent was both the core of this incident and the key to ending it.
'Still, it's surprising. Given his timid and cowardly personality, he might have been tempted by the conditions offered by Saint Tree's board members.'
He wouldn't get anything in return for doing this.
Rather, feeling the threat to his life, it was essentially an irrational choice.
Lucent could have comforted himself by ignoring what happened to others and just living well himself.
But he didn't. Was it because he feared being pointed at by others?
That wasn't it.
The reason Osian accepted Lucent's request without properly hearing about the compensation was because of the look in his eyes that showed for a moment.
'Well, it also helps Lorraine as a bonus.'
Actually, even if Osian hadn't stepped up, Lorraine, who had been caught with the stocks, would have taken this request.
After all, when it came to obsession with money, Lorraine wouldn't lose to anyone.
Speaking of which, Lorraine joined them from behind.
"Why did you go ahead!"
"Were you worried about me?"
"No way! Of course I was worried about our client!"
"Our? I'm the one who received the request."
"It's a Violet Fox fixer job, of course I should help!"
"That's a nice thing to say, but maybe you should remove that madness from your eyes first."
Lorraine's eyes seemed to have currency symbols drawn in them as she looked at Lucent, her intentions quite obvious.
Even Lucent was terrified of Lorraine's gaze, though for different reasons.
"Anyway, leave the escort to me. But what's this about going to meet that person?"
"I actually called someone over there. They should come to pick us up soon."
"Hmm. I see."
Osian's group continued their conversation as they came out to the main street.
Lucent felt relieved internally. He judged that at this level, they wouldn't try anything considering the eyes watching them.
At that moment, Lorraine's gaze changed.
She swiftly pulled out a pistol from her waist and pulled the trigger without hesitation.
-Bang!
With the ripping sound of gunfire, a worker walking down the street fell to one knee.
"Eh, ehh?"
Lucent turned to look at Lorraine in surprise.
Her previous somewhat strange appearance was nowhere to be seen. At Lorraine's eyes, now sharp as a thoroughly honed dagger, Lucent looked toward Osian.
"J-just now, she shot...!"
As Lucent was about to say something about stopping his colleague, Osian waved his hand telling him to be quiet.
"Hmm. I thought they would behave themselves coming out this far considering the watching eyes, but they were more reckless than expected."
"Well, it's a city where money makes many things possible. If they're willing to cause trouble here, they must have bribed the district guards and officials."
"Uh, what? What do you mean......?"
Lucent had trouble following their conversation.
Osian gestured with his chin toward the worker Lorraine had just taken down.
"Look at him."
At the fallen worker's feet lay a hidden gun. Even to Lucent, it looked like an expensive gun.
There was no way an odd-job worker who seemed to work in a factory would carry such a gun.
"Wh-what is that......?"
"It means people moving secretly to kill you have arrived."
Lorraine had already noticed this and drew her gun first to subdue the opponent.
But how was that possible? With such perfect disguise?
Osian turned to look at Lorraine. Lorraine was rolling her eyes, scanning the surroundings.
"There are five more people with guns nearby."
Lorraine spoke with certainty.
It wasn't a learned skill, nor was it systematic analysis.
Lorraine, known by the alias "Witch of the Battlefield," could hear the voice of bullets.
It was an instinctive sense developed to the extreme.
It was truly close to a supernatural ability.
"We've been found out. Take care of them immediately!"
When one was subdued, those who were disguised or hiding appeared and immediately opened fire.
The driver of a steam car parked on the road, a gentleman reading a newspaper in an outdoor lounge chair, a young man watching from a second-floor window, a sniper hidden on the building's rooftop, a vagrant begging in the alley.
They fired almost simultaneously, quickly and swiftly.
And none of it reached Osian, Lucent, or Lorraine.
"What's that now?"
Behind Osian's head, who was standing still in place, a golden ring floated like a mandorla.