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Outside the city is largely divided into two.
The ‘Hell’ stolen by demonic beings.
The ‘Paradise’ that was reclaimed.
As of 2088.
Only six percent of the Earth is paradise.
Vrooooom-
A massive ship rose above Paradise Sector 81.
A vast pitch-black deck.
Countless turrets jutted from the metal shell like thorns.
The thrusters spat blue flames like a live volcano, and the constant roar of the engines sounded as if the sea-dragon Leviathan had returned to life.
This overwhelming airborne fortress was the commanders’ headquarters.
It was ‘Grave’.
Thud!
Commander Baek slammed the deputy commander’s office door and stepped out.
He walked the corridor with cold, chilled eyes and moved his lips.
“Siléntĭum.”
He blocked sound with black magic and brought his hand behind his ear.
“Sophia.”
-Yes, Commander. Did Masamune approve?
“No way.”
-Ha… I’ll come forward as a witness. Should I go to Grave right now?
“There’s no need. Those bastards weren’t aiming for Baek Ho from the start. They attacked expecting you’d stop them.”
-…Why?
“To lure me out of Sector 17, probably.”
-Are they trying to delay our operation?
“Yes. Our special unit’s repeated successes set them on fire. I didn’t expect they’d come out this far.”
-How despicable and low… Then I’ll return to Sector 17 immediately. I’ll complete the mission just to show them.
“No. You stay in Underheaven.”
-Why?
“Wataru hasn’t returned to Grave. I heard he was demoted to the central government.”
-Was he disciplined for this incident?
“No. Wataru is Masamune’s trusted subordinate. That wouldn’t happen. He’s definitely planning something inside Underheaven.”
-Then what should I do…
“Watch Wataru. See what he’s plotting.”
-I will. But he’ll likely be aware of me. He’ll act guarded if he thinks he’s being watched.
“That’s why I have a good idea.”
-Say it.
“Loiter around Baek Ho.”
-…Excuse me?
“Act like a guard a worried father sends to watch his son. That will create openings.”
-I… will. Um. But which is the real priority? Is the main goal to watch Wataru, or to keep Baek Ho safe?
“Of course… tchkk.”
-Commander?
“The com…munication… isn’t good…”
-Ha.
The transmission ended with Sophia’s incredulous response.
And Commander Baek Ho remembered.
That there can be no signal failure between a sorcerer connected by a vessel and their familiar.
“…Damn.”
Back in Baek Ho’s office.
Sophia sat on the torn sofa and began a long explanation.
“So.”
To summarize roughly, it went like this.
She claimed to be a witch of Chernobog and a free Reaper who fought on the front lines for over twenty years before recently retiring.
After retiring she revived her old skills and became a broker.
“So why did you come to me again?”
“First, I have a confession. Actually… at first I came looking for D because you resembled someone I knew.”
“Someone you knew?”
Baek Ho asked though he already knew the answer.
If she’d been on the front for twenty years, she’d inevitably have met his father.
“No. Don’t worry about it. Having met them, it’s definitely not them.”
“…Why not?”
“If they were that person’s family, they’d be on the front lines, not in the city.”
“Is that so?”
Baek Ho shrugged as if he didn’t know.
“Then it’s not me. I have no intention of becoming a commander.”
“Is that so.”
Sophia smiled faintly, and Baek Ho stared straight into her eyes.
He was still unsure.
Whether she knew about him or not.
But it didn’t matter.
What difference would it make whether she knew?
It wouldn’t change anything.
“To tell you the truth, I suspected you.”
“Why?”
“The commission was unusually large. It wasn’t something Deiven’s wife could afford.”
“Ah~ about that.”
Sophia moved her left hand and transmitted something to Baek Ho.
A holographic business card appeared before his eyes.
It read ‘KidarI Agassi’ Volunteer Center.
“It’s my company I established recently. We solve people’s problems at low prices. A kind of social welfare project, you could say.”
“A witch? Why?”
Sophia’s mouth twitched at Baek Ho’s question.
A hint of menace showed through her smile.
“I don’t know what rumors you’ve heard about witches, but is there any reason I shouldn’t do this kind of work?”
“No.”
Baek Ho answered quickly.
A witch who’d fought on the front for twenty years would surely have amassed wealth.
What’s wrong with her choosing to give it away herself?
He’d seen people create such images and later exploit others more than once, so he let it pass.
What mattered was that it didn’t harm him.
He just needed to scoop the honey before the jar emptied.
“So why did you come to me again?”
“I want to work with you. The center needs a fixer to help with cases.”
“Hmm…”
“We’ll mostly take on good causes, so I hope you’ll consider it positively.”
Despite his thoughtful expression, Baek Ho had already decided.
He intended to suck every drop of honey from this jar.
“What’s the pay? I can’t afford to volunteer.”
“I’ll pay around the same as last time. How about it? Will you work with me?”
“Sounds good.”
Baek Ho meant the pay was acceptable, but Sophia took it as him approving the mission’s purpose.
The Baek Ho she saw when he resolved the Undeadog case seemed like a good person.
So she had prepared this oddly named ‘KidarI Agassi’ operation.
You can’t tempt the scions of chaebol families with money, can you?
“Shall we start discussing the job right away?”
“Wait.”
Baek Ho impassively operated his Smartbone.
He sent a message to the fence Holiday.
“Okay. Start.”
“This request is to find a missing person. I’ll show you the details via a VO (Virtual Observer) video like last time.”
Baek Ho took Sophia’s outstretched left hand.
A notification window popped up before their eyes.
{Playing the video.}
A moment later.
Baek Ho’s blurred focus returned.
Since the clip was short, there wasn’t much to see.
It showed a young woman consulting with a tech-surgeon for facial surgery.
Up to the scene where she was being anesthetized for the operation.
The video had been automatically uploaded to the web.
“The client, the husband, says she went missing after that day.”
“…”
“The investigating officer identified the operating Surgeon as the culprit. The suspect has also disappeared.”
“…”
Compared to the simple video, Baek Ho’s expression grew serious.
“D? Why are you like that?”
Baek Ho clenched his teeth and rose from his seat.
He turned his head and glared at Frank lying on the mattress.
Then he lunged.
“You bastard!”
He drove his elbow into Frank’s lower back.
“Gah! What’s wrong with you!”
Frank yelped in surprise, and Baek Ho struggled on top of him.
“I told you not to trust a guy with a long tongue!”
The Surgeon seen in the video was the same one who took Frank’s surgery fee in advance.
They were the same person.
Just as doctors and hospitals are humans’ domain.
Tech-surgeons and clinics were originally created for the Undead.
But as more healthy humans turned their bodies into machines, the line blurred.
Now there are more tech-surgeons than doctors, and clinics outnumber hospitals.
-Murmur murmur
A crowd had gathered in front of the ‘Eternal Beauty Full Face’ clinic that opened two weeks ago.
Some clawed at themselves or lay on the ground and wailed.
“My money! That was my entire fortune!”
“I’ll kill that bastard!”
“What do I do! What do I do!”
The most famous maxim in Underheaven is ‘don’t even trust family.’
There were too many victims.
They’d been lured by sweet ads and shocking discounts.
“Step back!”
UHPD (Underheaven Police Department) officers blocked the clinic’s entrance.
They waved their submachine guns up and down to push the victims back.
“The investigation isn’t finished yet…”
“Move.”
At that moment someone put their body in front of the muzzles.
Black hair swept back and a long black coat nearly touching the ankles.
Pale skin and a cold expression.
It was Baek Ho.
The officer looked Baek Ho over with an unpleasant face.
He wore the black coat Reapers favored, but anyone and their dog wore them these days, so it wasn’t certain.
Anyway, even a Reaper couldn’t interfere with UHPD business.
There was no reason to let him in.
“Step back now or we’ll open fire…”
Baek Ho opened his right hand.
Black mist hovered over his palm, and the UHPD officers and surrounding victims fell silent.
A Necromancer, huh.
They lowered their eyes for fear of making eye contact.
“Sorry.”
The officer lowered his gun and stepped aside.
Whether he was connected to the case or not, it was best to avoid a necromancer.
When Baek Ho entered, the officer cocked his head.
Because of the expression on Frank’s face who followed him.
The mix of rage and grievance made him think of an orc being dragged to a lab from afar.
The clinic was a mess inside.
Just yesterday it had been elegantly and comfortably decorated; now it looked like a pigsty.
Word was it had been like this since the UHPD burst in.
Inside, investigators conducting an on-site probe swarmed about.
Sophia said there were nine missing-person cases linked to this clinic.
Because it was a major crime, many personnel had been dispatched to the scene.
Baek Ho stood among the investigators and scanned the area.
It was a position that could easily be obstructive, but no one called him out.
The officer guarding the entrance had begged his team via group message.
It was because headquarters had instructed them not to touch the necromancer.
“Did you find anything?”
Sophia said as she entered the clinic.
She had come after checking the nearby CCTV.
“Not really. Not yet.”
“So why are you here? I was going straight to meet the client.”
He wanted to pick up anything profitable.
He couldn’t say that for pride’s sake.
“It’s a hunch.”
“Oh my, another hunch?”
Leaving Sophia’s wry smile behind, Baek Ho looked around.
“How did that guy know and escape?”
“The information must’ve leaked. Buying off an investigator with money is easy.”
Investigators nearby overheard them but no one reacted.
“What about the surveillance cameras?”
“As the investigator said, the Surgeon wasn’t captured on the cameras leaving the clinic. He must have had an emergency exit.”
“Hmm…”
Baek Ho glanced around the waiting room and then entered the operating room.
A large operating table sat in the center, with unidentified instruments hanging all around it.
At once he remembered Frank lying there and his brow tightened.
He turned and glared at Frank.
Frank, picking his nose, froze in surprise.
After a brief hesitation, he extended the finger he’d just pulled from his nostril toward Baek Ho.
“Ta-da…”
“I will kill you, seriously.”
Lieutenant Otis’s beard trembled at the sight of the two.
‘They’re treating the crime scene like absolute trash,’ he thought.
As the officer in charge of the case, he was very irritated.
Even for a necromancer, this was too much.
“Alright! If you’ve all checked everything, let’s withdraw!”
Otis shouted to his subordinates.
There was nothing more to see here anyway.
Anything that could be evidence had been removed or destroyed.
“Hurry up! We’re busy!”
While the investigators began to withdraw on Otis’s orders.
Baek Ho folded his arms and stared at one spot.
“Necromancer, you can leave too. Call us if you have any questions about the case.”
Otis extended his left hand toward Baek Ho.
He sent a holographic business card, but it was refused.
“Move.”
Baek Ho passed Otis and walked to a wall in the operating room.
‘Has he completely lost his nerve…’
Otis shot a glare at the back of Baek Ho’s head.
He knew necromancers tended to be unbearable, but he hadn’t expected such behavior from someone so young.
It was predictable.
Men who failed to become commanders but flaunted their necromancer status.
Not worth dealing with.
“Alright then, good work.”
Otis turned and headed for the exit.
Then Baek Ho’s voice came from behind.
“Break it.”
Break it? What?
As Otis turned back.
“Hyaa!”
Frank, crouched in a corner, suddenly charged across the operating room like an enraged rhino.
He swung his fist and struck the wall.
Kraah!
“What the hell!”
Otis was startled and fell on his backside.
Other investigators rushed in at the commotion.
Fragments rained down.
Dust rose in a cloud.
Through the split wall, pieces of a dismembered body fell.
Head, torso, arms, legs.
All from one person.
“W-what is this!”
Otis gaped.
How many corpses did he see a day?
How many did he move from the slums when he was new?
He had no real reason to be surprised by bodies, but this was different.
Because the dismembered corpse belonged to the suspect he was looking for.
“Why is the Surgeon—!”
The culprit was dead!
Was the case more complicated than expected?
How would they find the missing people now?
Another cold case? Another failure?
Unlike the grave Otis, Baek Ho was elated.
He smiled up at Sophia.
“See? I said my hunch was good, didn’t I?”
“Y-yeah…”
Baek Ho crouched happily in front of the Surgeon’s corpse.
“And there’s something I haven’t mentioned.”
He reached his hand over the Surgeon’s head.
“This bastard was Undead from the moment I first saw him.”
Creak—
The dismembered corpse was swallowed by black mist and began to reassemble into one.
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