How To Live Like A Big Shot

That night, in Room 104 on the first floor of Hotel Snark, Solomon went over the contract the elf Yuria had given him.

‘The elf mafia?’

One of the massive criminal organizations that exerted influence over Downtown, the area that could be called the heart of Guild City.

‘They are people who value the organization’s code and elven honor more than their lives.’

A mafia made up solely of elves, as the name implied, a corporate-style criminal syndicate.

‘Guild City has five major Families, and within the territory they rule, even major guilds are not free. They have enough influence to sway the city council.’

He remembered seeing it in the rulebook. Among Guild City’s criminal forces, they were counted as one of the Big Three, alongside the Orc Gangs and the Werewolf Cartel.

‘What do I have to do?’

‘For now, nothing in particular.’

‘What?’

‘Because the contract hasn’t come in yet.’

‘The contract hasn’t come in….?’

‘It’ll come soon.’

Yuria answered, her monocle glinting as usual.

‘In one week, there will be a meeting of the Five Families. The contract will arrive 49 minutes after the meeting ends.’

With that, she left. It was as if she could see the future. All that remained was to wait.

Fortunately, Solomon was far from being in a position where he had to just suck his thumb and wait.

Downtown District 2, where hundreds of financial guilds were packed together.

As its nickname, 「Golden Street」 suggested, this place was the entrance and exit of the web where all the city’s wealth gathered and scattered.

The golden arcade that symbolized District 2, the mechanically armed transport carriages that moved without rest, even the gilded clockworks that constantly moved everywhere, hounding brass steam pipes.

On that very Golden Street, Solomon had one destination. It wasn’t hard to find.

The tallest, biggest, and most expensive-looking golden fortress in District 2.

As if gold wasn’t enough, it had sapphire, ruby, and diamond-like jewels plastered all over it, with the name 「Shylock Bank」 written out.

‘…Even their rich-idiot flexing is insane.’

The peak of nouveau riche tackiness

In a way, making gold and jewels look this cheap was a kind of talent.

Solomon didn’t hesitate, crossing between the golden pillars and heading into the bank.

Inside, unlike the exterior, it boasted an intimidating presence befitting Guild City’s number one bank.

A gear-shaped desk sat heavily in the center. From all around, all kinds of automated devices counted checks, certificates, banknotes, and the like without rest.

It was enough to make the lobby feel like a single, precisely moving clockwork mechanism.

Automated guardian machines moved throughout the lobby, and beneath their medieval-style knight armor, you could see countless gears and spring mechanisms interlocking as they moved.

“What brings you here, customer?”

Then, as if he had been waiting, a gnome in a red suit approached.

“I want to open an account.”

“Oh! Thank you very much! Our bank offers three types of private accounts, and the details vary depending on asset source and transaction scope! Is there anything in particular we should note?”

“Under the name of Hotel Snark.”

“!”

The moment he heard Solomon’s answer, the gnome’s words cut off.

His eyes went wide, and you could practically see the color drain from his face, like a grim reaper had appeared before him.

“M-My apologies, customer! I will escort you to the VIP reception room at once and assign a Grade-1 Financial Attuner to you!”

The gnome bowed so low his head looked like it would touch the floor.

“At Shylock Bank, we guarantee our customers’ privacy above all else, and we pledge, staking the trust that is as good as our lives, to keep the confidentiality of this procedure!”

[Unfortunately, this city is filled with all kinds of nauseating suspicion and distrust…….
Shylock Bank is different. There are countless unfilial children who say, even if you can’t trust Mom and Dad, you can trust Shylock Bank. Turns out that their moms and dads feel the same way…….]

Even the automated guardian machines that blatantly radiated intimidation seemed to understand the meaning, and lowered their heads before Solomon very slowly, but clearly.

An understanding of sorts that said, this customer exists on a different level.

He followed the gnome into a cozy looking room.

Before long, a goblin in a green suit came in. With the relaxed air of a superior. He looked like a completely different species from the creature Solomon had first shed blood against in this world.

“Oh, I apologize for being late. I am Shylock Bank’s Grade-1 Financial Attuner….”

“Enough with the pointless ceremony.”

“Oh, of course! Time is money! I love doing smart business with the customers of Hotel Snark!”

As he said that, the goblin spun a crank attached beneath the desk.

“At our bank, I will briefly explain the secret account we open for the customers of Hotel Snark.”

“Fine.”

“Officially, this account belongs to the unofficial high-tier account group, and per regulation, the PAF―7 Layer Encryption Protocol is applied.”

Chiiik, steam pressure kicked in, and a machine of unknown identity revealed itself from beneath the drawers.

“Additionally, the circulation of funds deposited to and withdrawn from this account is conducted based on a currency-route complication system, and under a fragmentation protocol, it passes through dozens of relay channels across the continent, disguised as ‘unquestionable nominal transactions’ each with their own alibis.”

“…Instead of chewing bullshit, can you say it more simply?”

“In other words, your account… exists formally, but in practice it is a cluster of anonymized nodes!”

“……”

The goblin added as he skillfully operated the machine.

“Really, really, really simply put! Your account exists all over the world like bullshit.”

“Ah-ha! That makes perfect sense.”

It was really bullshit.

Click. Around then, after one last crisp sound, he stopped operating the machine.

“Now, with that, the account creation is complete.”

“…Already?”

Solomon was thrown off. He had thought he would at least have to circle something on a form or sign his name.

“Yes, no separate procedure is necessary. Deposits and withdrawals can be made freely at any counter or branch, and additional services can be requested directly from our bank or handled through Hotel Snark. And….”

Lastly, the goblin continued.

“As a commemorative account-opening service, we have deposited 100 million krona.”

“A service?”

“Of course! To the customers of Hotel Snark, something like 100 million krona is no different from pocket change. Please consider it a small token of sincerity.”

“……”

A hundred million krona, no different from pocket change.

He immediately remembered stealing bread to survive after first opening his eyes in this unfamiliar world. A piece of bread that cost almost nothing, and he had risked his life to steal it.

Next, he remembered the tab for the outrageous gear the smuggler Maya had provided. Even as he called it credit because of the favor she had shown him, it had been only a few days ago that he wondered if a day would ever come when he could repay it in a lump sum.

Not anymore.

After finishing his business at Shylock Bank, Solomon’s schedule still wasn’t over.

Downtown District 19, a place called 「Steel Heart Street.」

As the name implied, District 19 specialized in all kinds of weapons and equipment. From standard-issue weapons to supply the army, to customized gear used by contractors, and more.

Just stepping into the street, it felt like the hammering and clanging metal ringing out everywhere, the surging soot and sparks, reached even here.

And unlike Shylock Bank, finding the Deadlock Guild in District 19 wasn’t easy.

‘No, where is it?’

From what he heard, they didn’t even put up a simple, obvious sign on their guild or workshop.

That was when.

“…Solomon?”

A voice from behind. When Solomon turned his head, a face more familiar than the voice was there.

A blonde woman in a black leather jacket, the smuggler Maya.

“Maya.”

“Heh-heh, what brings a big shot to this street?”

“…A big shot’s secret.”

Solomon answered like it was someone else’s business. Maya snapped back with a dumbfounded look.

“A secret, you say. Don’t tell me you’re planning to trade directly, leaving Maya out of it?! Let me tell you, dealing with me is several times more cost-effective than going to a guild and buying things one by one—!”

“Enough. I’m looking for the Deadlock Guild.”

“…What?!”

“Because I think I need to modify the automatic crossbow I’m using.”

At Solomon’s words, Maya blinked with an even more incredulous expression, like she was watching a rookie make a ridiculous mistake.

“Hey, Solomon, you just got to Downtown… I don’t think you know much about the Deadlock Guild yet.”

“Yeah.”

“Unless you’re carrying a weapon from the mythic age or a hero’s armament, those stubborn bastards won’t budge. Even if you try to make a reservation, it’s backed up by at least a century.”

Solomon nodded without particularly denying it.

“I happened to get something.”

“Got what?”

“A modification ticket for an automatic crossbow that can be used at the Deadlock Guild.”

“A modification ticket…? Don’t tell me you got scammed….”

“Don’t worry. It’s a geas promissory note I got from someone at Hotel Snark.”

“?!”

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a person but an elf.

Either way.

At Solomon’s words, Maya went silent, not understanding the meaning for a moment. After a brief silence, she blinked, then widened those blinking eyes and swallowed.

“They gave it to me as a benefit package. Told me to keep it up and keep poking knife holes into the back of people’s heads.”

“Yeah… you can trust the name Hotel Snark.”

In this world, it seemed that name was synonymous with trust.

“You look like you know where the Deadlock Guild is. You can take me there, right?”

“Well… it’s not hard.”

Maya answered.

“And give me your account.”

“Why my account?”

“The Ghost Whale bone blade. The 100 million krona I put on tab back then, I’ll pay it back right away.”

“No way.”

Maya blinked with an expression that said she could not believe it.

“You’re paying back 100 million that casually already?!”

“Things happened.”

“Wow! Solomon, you bastard… you really became a big shot!”

“You’re making a big fuss.”

In front of Maya, flustered and happy, Solomon shook his head with forced humility.

“Anyway, where is the Deadlock Guild?”

The reason the Deadlock Guild workshop did not stand out was truly absurd.

Under an old sign that read 「Closed Sewer! No Entry!」, a subterranean passage bored out like a rat hole. It was here.

When the two of them went straight through the underground passage, before long the blazing heat of casting and metallic bursting sounds slapped against their skin.

Kkang, kkang, the sound of heavy, rhythmic hammer blows, and shrill shouts that rang out irritably.

With rough, indifferent-looking expressions, long braided beards stood out on them all, regardless of gender.

Even as they were blackened by the furnace heat, their eyes were cold and sharp like ice.

As if even a desk to greet customers at the entrance was a luxury, the underground workshop opened out immediately.

Plenty of the workshop’s dwarves did not even spare them a glance. It was like they didn’t even realize they existed.

‘What was that called? A vibe. An ambush vibe….’

That was when.

“Here it is. Ignoring weight, I loaded all the requested specs to match maximum output.”

“My thanks.”

Not too far away, two people were talking. A customer and a dwarf. The customer was an orc. Wearing a white suit tailored to fit a frame easily over three meters tall.

And as for the dwarf, he wasn’t in work clothes, but a British-style traditional outfit like a men’s skirt. Maybe he was the only one in the workshop who handled customers.

Koong!

What the skirt-wearing male dwarf indicated was a hammer. It was so big and heavy that it couldn’t be carried with two hands, and was loaded on special equipment.

A jumbo weight that belonged on construction heavy machinery. There were even quite a few blades stored along the pillar-like handle.

The orc gripped the extra-large hammer with both hands without hesitation, then spoke calmly.

“It seems the next customer has arrived.”

The orc in the white suit said without even turning around.