Seren's words were quite shocking. It wasn't shocking in a serious sense. If anything, it was surprising that the Broker Union had stepped forward.
The Broker Union is an organization formed by mediators coming together. There was nothing strange about it. Tirna was full of all kinds of labor unions.
Tirna was a place where even washerwomen doing laundry by the river could form a Laundry Union. It was as natural as the sun rising in the east for mediators to form a union among themselves.
'The problem is that this Broker Union specifically targeted me for attack.'
The reason was, as Seren said, that an individual fixer had created a private organization. There was no point in examining the detailed reasons here. Osian had no choice but to head to Violet Fox.
"You've arrived."
Ronan, who would normally have greeted him with his usual "hehehehe" laughter, offered his greeting without any laughter. Hmm. Osian sighed inwardly. Just from this alone, he could tell that Ronan was taking this situation seriously.
"You must have heard the story on your way here from Miss Seren."
"What exactly is happening?"
Osian nodded. It was a knights' order he had raised, so shouldn't he know what they were doing?
Even if he didn't try to find out, the knights would come directly to him and boast about their exploits, telling him what they had done, so it was impossible not to know.
"Actually, because of that, there have been massive holes in the fixers work recently."
Ronan calmly explained how this had come about.
The trigger was the appearance of the Starlight Knights.
After Osian and Asmer's harsh training, the Starlight Knights had become proper knights. They had embraced starlight, and to master its use, they threw themselves into various real battles.
While wars didn't break out in the city, wasn't Tirna City full of war-like situations? Thus, the Starlight Knights took on and solved the difficult jobs that fixer avoided. And at a tremendous speed at that.
"100% success rate. It's been a really long time since I've actually seen such numbers. Actually, there are occasionally fixers with perfect request success rates, but they only pick things they can handle, so their credibility is somewhat low. But the Starlight Knights are different."
"They swept up and solved even the jobs others avoided."
"Yes. That's exactly it. Usually when someone claims a 100 percent success rate, other fixers laugh at them. They think they're showing off with easy requests and moderate requests. The Starlight Knights are the opposite. The surrounding fixers praise them with one voice."
Fixers have strong pride. Being in a position where they have to solve problems alone, they need the pretense that they can do anything.
Since it's a profession that lives off such an image, they don't easily acknowledge others. They're shy people who can't honestly express even sincere praise.
'Especially the bottom-tier fixers are worse.'
They resort to extreme measures to somehow raise their reputation. They deliberately act aggressively or adopt unusual concepts.
"......"
Osian's gaze naturally turned toward Mist before returning to its original position while Mist looked at Osian as if he didn't understand what was happening.
Ronan continued his explanation.
"The surrounding fixers are being greatly influenced by the knights' order. And they actually follow them around, volunteering to help with their work."
The decisive reason was probably that the Starlight Knights' background properly stimulated their sense of kinship. David and Jonathan could be considered exceptions since they had been veteran fixers, but the other four were not.
Buck-toothed Anthony. George, who liked to show off and put on airs. Taciturn and slow Burkan. And the youngest, Perth, who hadn't yet been tainted by society's corruption.
Like the fixers who now aspired to join the knights' order, they had once operated at the bottom of the fixer industry. Then one day they suddenly disappeared, and when they returned, they had changed beyond recognition.
As members of the bizarre organization called the Starlight Knights, something they'd never heard of before.
There was no time to feel puzzled by this. The knights' order's subsequent actions made the word "overwhelming" seem pale.
Admiration.
Yes. The Starlight Knights had become an object of admiration for those living at the bottom. They had become a beacon leading to a better world.
As a result, a considerable number of fixers had left to join the Starlight Knights. For the Broker Union, it was truly a bolt from the blue.
"The Broker Union is an organization that handles various miscellaneous tasks throughout the city. In Tirna City, problems arise constantly, and the methods to solve them are limited."
Though fixers were freelancers, without them, Tirna would face considerable problems.
From illegal matters to tasks awkward to ask the guard about, and jobs requiring strength. It sounds funny to say this, but there was no work fixers couldn't handle. No matter what request was made, if the client wanted it, they could call a fixer.
In other words, they had excellent versatility. And excellent versatility meant, in another sense, that it included even menial tasks that not even dogs or cows would do.
"The city's trivial chores have piled up and piled up to a level that's difficult to handle."
"Even without fixers, couldn't the Broker Union handle it somehow? Don't they have dedicated fixers under their command?"
Loraine pointed out what everyone would be curious about.
"Their numbers are woefully insufficient. And even if they're dedicated, they can't work them like servants for such tasks."
"Then don't you not need to accept any request that comes your way?"
"That's also impossible from the Broker Union's standpoint. Do you know why they step forward to organize such miscellaneous tasks, even worthless administrative work throughout the city?"
Since she didn't know that far, Loraine kept her mouth shut.
-Crack.
Edgar, who had been crunching the candy in his mouth, answered instead.
"They're subcontracting on behalf of the city government."
"Correct. As expected of Edgar. You're smart."
"It's an obvious answer if you can use your brain a little."
‘That brat.’
Loraine's face twisted. Wasn't that saying she couldn't even use her brain?
Loraine looked at Mist and Diolan. Those two still seemed clueless so she felt somewhat relieved.
"The Broker Union has a close relationship with the city government. From the city government's perspective, it's good because administrative power isn't drained by miscellaneous tasks, and the Broker Union receives support from the city government while scraping together profitable work from the city."
The Broker Union was a kind of huge subcontracting company. Because the work they handled was so extensive, they were a very valuable department that even the city government couldn't eliminate.
Such a Broker Union was now in a difficult situation. The Starlight Knights were the catalyst, and tracing the roots further back, there was Osian.
"The Broker Union said they would file a complaint against you, Osian."
"Is it even possible for a union to file complaints? When you think about it, this happened because of their own incompetence."
Ena argued that it didn't make sense.
"They have the city government's protection. Moreover, the money they earn is enormous. They may be picking up pennies that others in this city don't even notice, but do you know what scale that becomes when spread across the entire city?"
Even drops of water falling one by one become like containing a waterfall when collected from all directions. And such funds are naturally used extensively to expand the union's influence.
A prime example of this was lobbying.
"The Broker Union has created various bills related to themselves by conducting massive lobbying of the city government. Among them is a bill that prohibits fixers from creating private organizations, claiming to respect fixer traditions."
You might think what kind of bill could a mere Broker Union create, but laws made this way were actually common. Because they were completely unfamiliar to ordinary citizens. Because they would never be affected by these laws in their entire lives. So no one opposed them.
"What tradition is there in fixer work? They're just freelancers."
Diolan laughed hollowly as if he found it absurd. Wasn't freedom from any constraints the motto of fixers? So what was this about tradition and bills?
"W-wait a minute. No matter what, suddenly filing a complaint is a bit strange, isn't it? There weren't even any warnings before this."
Ena seemed to feel something unsettling about this.
"Yes. The Broker Union's criticism is somewhat forced when you think about it. Because Osian isn't the first fixer to personally create a private organization."
There were cases where fixers formed separate teams among themselves or hung around together in groups. And fixers didn't always stay only under the Broker Union. They had the freedom to join other labor unions, so there were cases where fixers united with each other in different unions.
They sometimes used loopholes, but there were quite a few who openly created organizations. The law was that ambiguous. They had said nothing to such people until now, but suddenly pointed out only Osian openly.
"Perhaps they fear that Osian's knights' order is becoming too influential."
"That's inevitable. An organization led by a fixer who suddenly rose to become a city hero overnight. It's bound to draw attention. It's like a basilisk, not a snake, popping out of the sewers."
Finding the comparison funny again, Seren giggled.
Well, things worse than basilisks lived in Tirna's sewers, but there was no need to point out such trivial matters.
"The point is, the Broker Union has targeted Osian."
They wouldn't have even sneered if some mediocre fixer had created a social club. But Osian was not a mediocre fixer.
A legend of the industry, a junior acknowledged by Basilio. The hero who solved the District 17 incident. The leader of the emerging powerhouse, the Starlight Knights.
His achievements were so brilliant that it was puzzling why such a person hadn't been famous until now. Like suppressed history suddenly opening dam gates and flooding out, Osian's reputation grew day by day.
'It feels like receiving an unwanted Christmas present in midsummer.'
He couldn't purely rejoice. Rather, such excessive attention was conversely breeding more people's hostility.
The Broker Union was one of them.
'Perhaps behind them, someone's influence might be at work.'
Looking at how they were blatantly targeting him, he felt a strange sense of unease. From the Broker Union's standpoint, rather than openly eliminating Osian, a scenario where they joined hands in cooperation was also possible.
Not even considering this and trying to cast him out could only be seen as someone instigating them.
'And that's probably the ones who tried to attack me this time.'
Could it be that the military's influence had reached the Broker Union? No, he couldn't conclude that it was all the military's doing. It could be that the Broker Union purely disliked him. Though the possibility was low.
"To summarize the situation: The Broker Union has strongly recommended that Osian cease all activities of building private forces. If he doesn't, they said they would handle it through legal procedures."
"So they're saying they'll do it according to the law."
Fixers were the freest from the law, but that was only a superficial reason. Fixers also faced judgment if they broke the law. The reason they didn't was that there was no felt need to apply legal standards to mere fixers.
But Osian was different. The Broker Union, knowing he was an opponent they could hardly face, prepared the strongest leash they could handle. The Violet Fox members had to acknowledge that they were serious from their thorough preparation.
"This is really unpleasant."
These were the first words spoken by Basilio, who had been quietly listening with his arms crossed. As if affected by that emotion, a suffocating aura emanated from his body.
"Grung!"
Lupona bristled her fur and stood as if protecting Ena. Belatedly, Basilio realized his mistake and suppressed his presence.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to do that. My nerves were just too on edge."
"It's okay. I honestly feel the same way."
Ena was also angry at the Broker Union's moves. And it wasn't just Ena.
"Those bastards who take mediation fees and regularly collect tribute from broker offices but do nothing for us, only moving quickly at times like this - it's infuriating."
Edgar also frowned while chewing the empty candy stick.
"Would it be okay if a few Broker Union executives got sniped?"
Loraine looked ready to grab a gun and rush out immediately.
"Stop it! Loraine!"
Diolan restrained such Loraine. It seemed he still had some reason left.
"If you assassinate with firearms, it leaves traces. I'll just go and slice their necks - swoosh."
"In that case, I could secretly handle it with magic."
"Oh my. Did everyone forget what my ability is? I'm the most optimal for sneaking in secretly and handling things without evidence or traces."
Far from trying to stop them, Edgar and Seren were actually trying to step forward themselves. Mist quietly observed the scene and thought to himself.
'I should just fucking stay still.'
Rather, it was Ronan who was flustered.
"Won't you all calm down? Let's put aside such vicious talk about killing and have a rational, constructive discussion. Osian, please say something."
Ronan asked as if requesting help.
Osian thought for a moment before speaking.
"I know an assassin who won't be caught by anyone. Shall I introduce you?"