Hero Party After the Nuclear War

Chapter 11

Dante pulled him up by the collar and somehow dragged the samurai out from beneath the cold water of the bathtub, smiling foolishly while reminding him that he could kill him at any moment, then asked again for the client's name.

"Who the hell was it, then."

"The name of the client who hired us..."

At that moment, Dante sensed a vague, ominous killing intent that couldn't be detected through the data provided by the summoner and turned to look behind him.

Just then, the tightly shut bathroom window burst open, and three shurikens flew in an arc, embedding themselves into the samurai's carotid artery—the very one Dante was holding by the collar.

"What...!"

Determined to extract information before the guy died, Dante grabbed the samurai's collar and shook him.

"Hey! If you're gonna die, at least finish your sentence first! Who the hell was it! Hey! Hey! You bastard!!!"

Despite Dante's shouting, the shurikens must have been coated in deadly poison, as the samurai died on the spot before he could say anything.

Though he was an enemy, Dante desperately needed information. Half-pale, he checked for a pulse, but it was already too late. Clicking his tongue, he carefully pulled the three shurikens from the samurai's neck and put them into his pocket.

"The only ones who use this kind of weapon are those guys in Neo Kyoto."

Clicking his tongue, he sighed as he looked at the corpse sprawled in the bathtub. Having one more corpse to deal with was never welcome news.

Who the hell was targeting him? All he had done was take on a delivery job to retrieve the Holy Sword. Could it be that some faction in that izakaya was after the Holy Sword and eavesdropped on his conversation with McKinsey?

Dante slung the corpse over his shoulder and trudged off to dispose of it. With each step, he could feel the piercing gazes of the people around him.

He couldn't understand exactly what they were muttering under their breath, but they all seemed to be saying the same word.

That is—

The word 'Harbinger of Misfortune'.

* * *

"You're telling me all the Onimusha sent to assassinate Raven were slaughtered...?"

McKinsey was shocked as he heard the report from atop Neo Kyoto Tower. He had thought that even a summoner who could command multiple Servants and wield various magic could still be assassinated if overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

So the only way to kill a summoner is by using another summoner. McKinsey rubbed his forehead and glared at the other 'samurai' who had come to report.

"That aside... who are you? I don't remember hiring anyone like you."

Though his outfit was similar to other samurai, his armor covered less of his body. It was clearly designed more for mobility than for defense.

A blood-soaked red scarf fluttered around his neck, and the rusted pauldrons on both shoulders bore a clearly glowing crow insignia.

His limbs had all been replaced with cybernetic prosthetics, and on his left arm was the same terminal and summoner circuit board that Dante wore.

Wearing a gas mask modeled after a grotesque oni mask, he pressed his index and middle fingers together and held them out in front of himself as he began his introduction.

"Do-mo. McKinsey-san. As for myself, I'm just a ronin who happened to be passing by. And once, I was also Karasu, who worked under Raven's Logistics. I know the situation.

You want to assassinate that crow, right? Seems like you tried to kill him using Onimusha, but it's impossible to take down Karasu with just warriors implanted with wild spirits.

If I hadn't silenced that samurai back then, Karasu's next target would have been you, McKinsey. So I have a proposal—why not leave the assassination to me?"

"I have no reason to trust you."

McKinsey shook his head and initially refused. Raven's Logistics assigns each Raven a rank based on their strength, client evaluations, mission performance, and credibility.

But those who are no longer Ravens are free from this ranking system. The reason McKinsey could entrust Dante with a job was because he was a Raven ranked quite high at Silver.

There are more than six ranks below Silver, and above it, only Gold and Platinum exist. In other words, Dante, a deliveryman at the Silver rank, was fairly high-tier.

But how could he trust a ronin who operated outside of that structure? McKinsey's refusal was a very reasonable one from the perspective of an employer hiring a mercenary with money.

"There's only one reason an employer would want to assassinate Karasu. When the crow can't recognize who holds its leash and rebels. Don't you think leaving him be any longer will make things worse?"

"If I hire a trusted Raven..."

"It'd take far too long to hire another Karasu. Just consider it taking a chance. Let me handle the job. You think some elegant samurai can take down a flying crow?

Just like you use a chicken knife for chickens and a cow knife for cows, to take down a crow, you need to send another crow."

"Alright then. Let's do this. Originally, I gave that Raven, Dante, a mission to retrieve an ancient weapon from the underground ruin. If you kill Dante and bring me both his head and the weapon, I'll give you the reward I promised him. What do you say?"

"Hmm. I'd like to be paid more, but... given my current low credibility, I guess I have no choice. Fine. I just need to bring back Karasu's head and the weapon he was supposed to retrieve, right?"

"Right."

"Got it. Let's do that. When is Karasu set to move?"

"Three days from now. Here, I'll give you ten thousand as an advance."

"Ten thousand, received loud and clear. Then... I'll go assassinate that arrogant Karasu."

* * *

"Have you seen anyone buy these kinds of shurikens recently?"

On the day he was to leave Neo Kyoto to complete the request, Raven spent nearly three days visiting every weapon shop and forge in the city, including the gun shops.

A deadly weapon with a round hole in the center and three sharp blades jutting out. To make something like this, it would have to pass through the hands of a highly skilled blacksmith.

"I haven't seen any customer buy something like this recently."

Stroking his chin, the blacksmith examined the shuriken Raven handed over. Perhaps sensing something from a small comment, Raven cautiously swapped out the Servant he had equipped.

[Summon: Spirit-Type Pixie.]

A cute fairy, slightly smaller than a human, hovered once around Dante before winking with one eye. He briefly entertained the Pixie's charm, then suddenly cast 'Magic' on the blacksmith who had been feigning ignorance.

[Pixie: Alluring Wingbeat.]

Alluring Wingbeat is a magic that inflicts the 'charmed' status on the target, with its success rate determined by the user's 'Charisma' stat.

Dante already had a base Charisma stat of 9, and with the Pixie's boost, it increased even more. For him, charming an ordinary person was an easy feat.

The blacksmith, momentarily blinded by the Pixie's seductive dance, lost strength in his legs and collapsed to the floor. Dante approached him with a smile and asked,

"'No one recently,' you say? Then that means someone bought something like this before. Hm? What about that part?"

As Dante persistently questioned him, the blacksmith—mesmerized by the fairy—spoke slowly and haltingly.

"About... two months ago. There was... a customer. Yes."

"What kind of guy was it?"

"...He wore... samurai-like clothing. I remember. Of course I do. He wore... strange clothes. Yes. On his face... a weird gas mask. And on his shoulders... pauldrons with a crow emblem..."

"A weird mask on his face. Pauldrons with a crow emblem on the shoulders. Samurai-like clothes?"

Having pieced together the clues, Dante discreetly slipped a box of .45 ACP rounds from the counter into his pocket and said,

"Thanks for the info. I'll just take this for free."

"Sure... whatever you say..."

Enchanted and unable to think straight, the blacksmith blankly watched the Pixie's dance with a goofy smile, then collapsed on the spot, unconscious.

Since he had the owner's permission, it wasn't technically theft. Thinking that, Dante shoved his hand into his pocket and rejoined Eris, who was waiting nearby.

"So? Did you find the culprit who attacked you, Mr. Dante?"

"Finding the client is a lost cause. But I've got a decent idea who the new assassin hired to kill me is."

Dante said briefly, waving the shuriken in his hand side to side in front of Eris.

"Really? How did you figure it out?"

"It was nothing special. Once I cast a charm spell, he just blurted out everything he knew and didn't know."

Witnessing yet another absurd use of magic, Eris rubbed her forehead and reaffirmed her belief: there was no way that man could retrieve the Holy Sword buried underground without her help.

"Got this as a bonus, too."

Proudly showing off the box of .45 rounds he brought back as loot, Raven smiled.

"Alright. Ahem. Got it. So who do you think it is?"

"Judging by the assassination method using shurikens, I thought it might be an assassin from Neo Kyoto. But surprise—it seems to be an old associate."

"An associate? Then the assassin targeting your life is also a Raven...?"

"That seems most likely for now. If the enemy is a Raven... that means at the very least, they can use magic or possess Servants... That makes things a bit tricky. Not knowing when or where a Servant attack might come from... really makes my heart race."

Even though he was in a situation where his life could be taken at any moment, Dante leaned against the wall with a carefree smile. The gas mask with glowing red eyes hanging from his waist almost looked like it was smiling too.

"What about retrieving the Holy Sword?"

"Gotta go. The client told me to retrieve it. Orders are orders, right? But I'm 100% sure that guy's going to try to stop me from getting the Holy Sword.

Seems like someone who doesn't want me to retrieve it hired him. I'll need to prepare thoroughly. Later, I'll squeeze some extra cash from the client, claiming I had a hell of a time dealing with a Raven."

Finishing his words, Dante climbed onto the truck parked in a nearby lot—Elizabeth—and inserted the key under the wheel to start it.

"Do Ravens... always live like this?"

When Eris cautiously asked, Dante nodded nonchalantly and replied,

"The only ones who can stop a Raven who uses magic... are usually other Ravens. Ravens fighting each other is pretty common.

In fact, opposing factions often hire Ravens to wage something close to war. Servant battles aren't anything new for me. I'll be fine."

Accessing the Raven's Logistics database through his summoner, he scrolled through to search for any remaining data on the 'assassin'.

"Now then... let's take a look, shall we? Maybe there's still data left on the Servant that guy used?"