Osian judged that the current situation was not good.
'Of all things, even a high-ranking civil servant who dislikes me has stepped forward. At this rate, I'll have to give up on entering District 17.'
It might be better to join up with Grace Seeker and move together with the Blood Brotherhood. Of course, the route they use would be an illegal path strictly prohibited by Tirna.
'I'm about to end up following the exact route used by terrorists.'
He was aware that from the moment he joined hands with them for work, he had already committed an irreversible act. Well, considering that being a fixer isn't exactly honorable or legal work either, it's not something to worry too much about.
While Osian was thinking such thoughts, Basilio conversely persistently clung to Plimene.
"Plimene. Since we've met here, let me ask you a favor. Could you let me and that junior of mine go inside?"
"I told you, didn't I? It's impossible without a permit. Or are you openly making an improper request to me, a civil servant?"
"Letting us go in is perfectly possible. There's no need to make a big deal about it being improper or whatever."
"I am being proper."Plimene said this while glancing at Osian. Unlike when looking at Basilio, her gaze toward this side wasn't that cold. Instead, there was a clear intention to analyze what kind of person Osian was.
"Please, I'm begging you! I absolutely must go inside!"
"How many times do I have to say no? If you keep talking such nonsense, I'll call people to forcibly kick you out. Leave on your own two feet before you get into trouble."
"No. I can't do that."
When Basilio spoke in a firm voice, Plimene seemed to intuitively realize that words wouldn't work. She adjusted her glasses with her hand and said,
"Fine. Then if you kneel before me here and beg, I'll consider it."
To kneel in front of everyone. It was a very harsh demand for a fixer whose reputation was most important. Moreover, wasn't Osian, a junior from the same office, also present?
In effect, Plimene was indirectly telling Basilio that she had no intention of granting permission, so he should get lost.
She thought that making such an excessive demand would make him back down, but surprisingly, Basilio knelt right there on the spot. Without hesitation.
"Could you let us in, Plimene."
"You..."
Plimene stared at Basilio with disbelieving eyes, then bit her lip hard, dropped her shoulders, and sighed.
"What on earth are you doing all this for?"
Plimene knew Basilio's personality well. At least he was someone who would never do anything that would tarnish his reputation as a fixer.
He wasn't the type to throw a tantrum about wanting to go somewhere or kneel like this. The fact that he was going this far meant he had something very important to do.
"I can't tell you that. You might already know, but at least that's something I shouldn't say."
"...Fine."
Plimene took out a permit from her pocket and immediately signed her name with a pen.
"Here. Take it."
"...Are you really letting us in?"
Plimene had said she would only consider it even if he knelt. If she wanted to, she could have used that part to still refuse Basilio's request.
"If you're going that far, it must be no ordinary matter. And don't misunderstand. I'm granting permission because I think what you're trying to do is important. From before until now, I have never forgiven you. Take it quickly. Before I change my mind."
"...Yes. I know that part too. Anyway, thank you. I'll definitely repay this debt."
"I don't need it. I don't even want to exchange words with you anymore, so get out of my sight immediately."
Osian quietly watched Plimene's retreating figure until Basilio approached and waved the permit in front of his eyes.
"I was right, wasn't I? I got the permit."
"...You said it was a free pass."
"Hmm. Since Tirna is a city that develops day by day, such minor problems can arise."
At such a shameless remark, Osian had long given up on arguing.
This was someone who had even knelt in front of him. It wouldn't be anyone else but himself who would be most embarrassed, so he didn't want to remind him of that fact.
'He might think it's that important.'
Basilio acted frivolously on the surface and never properly revealed his true feelings. But when he knelt earlier, Osian could see the sincerity he possessed.
'His hostility toward the Eternal Church is real.'
If nothing else, his hatred toward the fallen ones related to Red Eternity was genuine to the extent that he was perfectly willing to tarnish his reputation as the top fixer for that purpose.
"Come on, let's go in quickly."
"Let's do that."
"By the way, did you see that just now? Me kneeling, I mean. Originally, an excellent fixer should be able to kneel for a purpose."
"..."
Perhaps he doesn't consider the value of his kneeling very important.
"By the way, that woman just now."
"You mean Plimene? Yes. She's a beautiful woman. But even though she looks like that, her actual age is approaching 60, so you'd better not pay unnecessary attention."
She looked at most around 40, but her actual age was that high? That was unexpected. She didn't even look like a different species.
Just looking at her face, she appeared younger than the fallen ones who craved blood and yearned for youth. Though their ages probably weren't that different in reality.
"I have no such thoughts."
"What? You have no interest in such an attractive woman!"
"...I don't know what tune you want me to dance to. More importantly, what happened between you two in the past? From what I saw, you don't seem to have an ordinary relationship."
At Osian's question, Basilio shut his mouth tight. It was completely different from how he had been chattering excitedly until then.
"It's just a relationship where we can't forgive and can't be forgiven."
Can't forgive and can't be forgiven.
"It seems you made a big mistake with her."
"A mistake...Yes, you could call it a mistake. A very big mistake. The kind that can never be undone."
Basilio's voice as he muttered this contained the bitterness of worldly lament. For a moment, Basilio, who had been an unidentifiable mysterious fixer until now, appeared exactly like a middle-aged man of his age.
"Well, enough of such talk, let's go in quickly. We don't know what schemes those bastards might be plotting inside. We need to move as quickly as possible."
"Why didn't you ask that woman for help instead? Since you know her personally, she could have at least passed along a message."
"Are you crazy? Didn't you see how much she hates me? If I had asked for help, she might have genuinely kicked me out, asking where I heard such nonsense and getting angry."
Well. Was that really true? If she truly hated him, Plimene wouldn't have given Basilio the permit even if he knelt. The fact that she granted permission when Basilio showed sincerity meant that while she disliked him emotionally, she still had some good impression of him deep down.
Of course, he didn't bother to voice this thought. If he did, he couldn't handle what nonsense this talkative old man might spout next.
"Well, actually, I didn't need to say anything."
This was what Basilio said as they passed through the inspection checkpoint.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Didn't I tell you? The city government would be moving on its own too. And she's one of the rare capable women in Tirna. She climbed to the position of high-ranking civil servant as a woman."
From Basilio's words, Osian realized something.
"Don't tell me."
"That's right. Her being here wasn't just a coincidental visit either."
Basilio looked back at the spot where Plimene, no longer visible, had disappeared.
Osian felt that the gaze behind the mask was somehow wistful.
"Probably the higher-ups entrusted this case to her."
"It sounds like we might run into her on site if we're unlucky."
"Probably. But still, what we need to do doesn't change."
For a moment, a red glow flickered like a candle flame from inside Basilio's black helmet before disappearing.
"Erasing those damn bastards who treat humans like toys and devour them from this world."
The main headquarters of the Eternal Church was located in District 17's massive structure, Trinity Building.
Naturally, Osian, Basilio, and the Blood Brotherhood were planning to assault Trinity Building.
Of course, since they couldn't start trouble immediately, Osian first decided to look around District 17 with Basilio.
"Junior. This is your first time in a place like this, right? No matter how much you've made a name for yourself lately, districts in the 10s are on a different level."
Basilio boasted that he had been invited to such places several times. You might say that coming to just one district isn't worth bragging about, but in Tirna, it's enough to brag about at a drinking table.
'I knew Tirna was a major city, but this is the first time I've seen it developed to this extent.'
Most of the Tirna buildings Osian had seen followed European architectural styles. Even the most splendid buildings were just the villa mansions of the rich in the 20s districts.
But from the 10s districts onward, the situation was completely different.
Osian raised his head. Skyscrapers reaching high into the sky were reflecting light through their glass windows as they caught the sunlight.
Massive Art Deco style skyscrapers with an estimated height of at least 200m. And not just one of them, but clustered together block by block.
He knew there were big differences between districts, but from the 10s onward, he couldn't shake the feeling that the era had changed entirely. It was a scene reminiscent of America's greatest boom period, the Roaring Twenties.
"Amazing, isn't it?"
Basilio asked, clearly predicting Osian's reaction.
"Don't be too surprised. The skyscrapers here are huge, but compared to what's further inside, they're at a cute level."
Cute level. If the early 10s districts were like this, then the single-digit numbered districts further inside must be much more developed.
No matter how developed, he had thought Tirna couldn't stray far from the modern era, but looking at these skyscrapers now, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they were comparable to contemporary times.
'Considering the construction dates of Earth's skyscrapers, it's not entirely impossible.'
And another peculiar thing about District 17 was that the district itself wasn't that large in scale. It was clearly smaller compared to the 20s districts, and compared to the 30s districts, the difference was like that between a huge stadium and a house courtyard.
"The buildings are tall, but the scale isn't as large as I thought."
"It has to be that way. From the 10s districts onward, land prices are astronomically expensive."
The reason the buildings in the teens districts soared high into the sky wasn't anything special. It was simply because the land prices here were so expensive that it wasn't feasible to construct buildings with large footprints.
The land prices here were at an unimaginable level - even with all the money Osian had earned working as a fixer, he wouldn't be able to purchase land in the 10s districts.
"Most of this area consists of banking buildings. You could say it's the core hub where Tirna's money circulates."
In the center of this place where money circulates, a massive organization called the Eternal Church was secretly hiding. Moreover, Trinity Building, where they had established their lair, was one of the notable buildings boasting the highest height even in District 17.
A place that people would recognize just by hearing its name - and fallen ones who worship Outer Gods were hiding there. They avoided suspicion by being too brazen. The common perception was that heretics hide in dark, damp underground places or abandoned locations.
'In a way, you could call it a modernized cult.'
Earth's cults were actually better. They only praise illusory beings. Of course, that doesn't make them entirely good and benevolent, but at least they don't kidnap and devour innocent people.
"That building over there."
Basilio stopped walking and Osian looked at a building following his gaze.
It was a massive skyscraper, distinctly taller than the surrounding buildings, exceeding 250m in height. From its sharply rising spire to its silver-gleaming form, it was at a level where it wouldn't be out of place to call it a landmark of District 17.
The fact that such a building's construction period was only two years was one of the anecdotes that made Trinity Building famous.
But from the perspective of knowing the truth, that building didn't look entirely beautiful.
Inside that splendid exterior, there would be an otherworldly realm where heretics who worship outer gods lurked.
'Red Eternity.'
Through the building, Osian was conscious of a certain being. Just thinking about it made Trinity Building seem to shake and transform into some kind of red mass of flesh.
An eyeball sprouted from the center of that mass of flesh, looking down at him. Though it didn't exist in this world, somehow Osian couldn't shake the feeling that he had made eye contact with it.
'Whatever happens, things won't flow the way you want them to.'
The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!