Hero Party After the Nuclear War

Chapter 7

Hello again to all our listeners who are tuning into the radio without fail today as well. This is your neighbor Leon, bringing you masterpieces to move your heart in this godforsaken wasteland where no one can be trusted!

Up until yesterday, you had a tough time with the wind soaked in Maso blowing in from the eastern part of Red Grave, didn't you?

Fortunately, today is expected to have clear weather with not a single breeze or cloud. Everyone, are you enjoying the warm sunlight and the blue sky?

For you, who are feeling excited by such a mood, here's what I have for you. Let's start today's morning track with this.

Electric Light Orchestra's Mr. Blue Sky!

Raven bobbed his shoulders as he hummed along to the music playing from the truck's radio. Occasionally, he'd take his hands off the steering wheel and just press the accelerator, clearly showing he wasn't new to driving.

"Sun is shinin' in the sky!

(The sun is shining in the sky.)

There ain't a cloud in sight!

(Not a single cloud in sight, such nice weather.)

It stopped rainin' everybody's in the play.

(The rain has stopped, and everyone's become the star of the play.)"

"Mhm."

Watching Raven, who seemed particularly excited on the road trip, Eris jabbed his shoulder with her elbow and asked.

"So, what's our next destination?"

"Neo Kyoto."

When Raven casually mentioned a ridiculous name that sounded like it came straight out of a comic book, Eris, thinking it was a joke again, asked with a smile.

"That's a funny joke. So where are we actually going?"

"I said we're going to Neo Kyoto. What did you think I said? Should I turn the radio down a bit?"

"It wasn't a joke?"

"Why would I joke about that now?"

"Then tell me. Where exactly is this Neo Kyoto place?"

Hmm, Raven held the steering wheel with his left hand as he drove down the winding and half-destroyed highway and added,

"Honestly, I don't even know what kind of town it is. But it's famous for a few local specialties. Ever heard of Demonic Samurai?"

"De-Demonic Samurai?"

"They jam cybernetic implants and electronic drugs into their bodies to enhance their physical capabilities and increase resistance to dense Maso. Then, they forcibly implant wild Spirits captured into their bodies. After some ideological reprogramming, they become Demonic Samurai.

Usually, they use easy-to-catch Evil Spirits, so they're called Demonic Samurai... Depending on the specs of the implanted Spirit, they can vary greatly. But most of them are just human weapons. Even I have a hard time dealing with them."

Raven pointed at his waist with his finger and said,

"Here. They carry long, curved swords at their waists. They wear heavy armor covered in mechanical parts all over their bodies. They look absolutely ridiculous.

Anyway, it's a place founded by those samurai. Even though Demonic Samurai look ridiculous at first glance, they're insanely strong. They're a proper faction that splits control of the wasteland, so you can't underestimate them."

"Cybernetic implants... electronic drugs... and forcibly implanting Spirits into the body. People usually die from that kind of stuff."

As Eris spoke, shrinking her shoulders in disbelief, Raven shot back as if to say she had no right to talk.

"A Fairy housing an Archangel inside her body shouldn't be saying that, right? Also, about the cybernetic implants—I've had a few myself."

Raven said with a smirk, as if it were no big deal.

In the era she lived in, about 200 years ago, cybernetic implants were certainly revolutionary technology. They could help a paralyzed person walk again or increase mental processing speed by inserting implant chips into the brain.

However, most cybernetic procedures were banned as their long-term side effects began to surface in earnest.

"Where did you get them?"

"Some around my eyes. So bullets don't miss. Of course, even if the implant breaks, I'm confident I won't miss my target. See that?"

As they started transitioning from the highway to a local road, a large tower appeared at the edge of Eris's vision.

"That's the Neo Kyoto Tower. Kind of a landmark. If you've got time, check it out. There's a lot of fun stuff. Casinos, red-light districts—you name it."

Well, in a place with cyborg samurai enhanced with Demons, what wouldn't you find? Eris sneered inwardly, realizing how far the world had descended into chaos.

The area near the Magi-Tech Research Facility they had just left still bore the scars of nuclear war, but around Kyoto, the roads were clean enough for cars, and there were a lot of people around.

As the name Kyoto suggests, for some reason, Far Eastern culture seemed to have spread widely. Hairstyles and clothing resembled those from the mid-modern Far East she had seen in history books.

Among them, a few of the Demonic Samurai Raven had mentioned were visible. Their bodies were so heavily modified it was hard to tell where the machine ended and the human began.

And the massive 'Great Katana' hanging at their waists.

Just as Eris was swallowing nervously without realizing it, the truck Elizabeth was stopped by a guard at the city entrance.

"Identify yourself."

Dressed in a traditional armor-slash-bulletproof vest like the other samurai, the guard asked Raven, who showed the dog tag hanging from his neck and a crumpled delivery slip from his pocket through the window.

"I'm Raven from Raven's Logistics. Here's my ID and the delivery slip."

As soon as he said he was from Raven's Logistics, the guard snorted and looked at him with disdain.

"The crow's here. Look, I'm asking you—please don't cause any trouble here. We're tired because of people like you. Do you know how much manpower it takes to clean up after the messes you guys make?"

"Not my problem."

When Raven replied with a sour expression, the guard, who had been on alert after seeing the shiny Pistol at his waist, stepped back, thinking, 'This bastard might actually shoot.'

"Let's keep it civil. I'm just here to make a delivery. If you want to pick a fight, wait until I've shot someone."

"The Shogunate will be watching you. Karasu."

The guard let Raven through but added a strange remark before opening the gate. What did that last word mean?

"What does Karasu mean? Is it some local dialect?"

"Karasu?"

To her question, Raven answered bluntly as if it was nothing.

"It means harbinger of misfortune."

* * *

Getting off the truck, he slung a leather bag over his shoulder containing the remains of the security robot Death Stalker for the client and stood up lightly.

Although Eris had often seen Raven take things out of the truck, it was her first time seeing the inside of the cargo hold. As expected of a Mercenary who wandered without a fixed home, the truck was modestly equipped with all sorts of facilities for living.

From camping tools to his weapon collection. Scattered war-era scrap that looked like it could fetch a high price. The truck was filled with such things.

Among them, Raven pulled out a double-barrel shotgun, the kind often found in old houses, and handed it to Eris.

"Take this."

"Huh? What is this?"

"Thinking about it, asking a complete beginner to hit something with a Pistol might be a bit much. So I'm giving you a shotgun that's easier to aim with as a gift."

"Wait. Is it okay to carry something like a shotgun around inside the city?"

When Eris asked absentmindedly with the 'pre-war common sense' she had, Raven snorted and tossed her a small leather pouch from his pocket.

"What, you think your ancestors will protect your wallet? Wherever you go, you've got to protect your body with your own strength. They may call themselves samurai, but some of them act no different from criminal gangs. It's better to carry at least a shotgun."

Taking back the Pistol he had given Eris earlier, Raven pointed toward Neo Kyoto with a jerk of his chin.

"I'm going to meet the client now. You should spend your time however you want. I left a few yen in that pouch. That should be enough to buy some simple food and drinks."

"O-okay... Wait, what? You're leaving me here alone?"

"So what am I supposed to tell the client? 'I found this woman frozen in the Magi-Tech Ruins. So here's the Death Stalker remains I got from there'? The client will be more interested in you than the Death Stalker."

"You could just say I'm your coworker."

"That won't work. Raven doesn't make coworkers."

With those final words, Raven picked up the Death Stalker bag. Though he acted indifferent, perhaps worried about Eris, a woman from 200 years ago, he tossed her a small transmitter.

"If anything happens, contact me with that. It's linked to my Summoner. See you later. Ciao."

Tapping the large PDA on his left arm with his index finger, Raven said that. Finally, he turned off Elizabeth's engine, pulled out the car key, waved goodbye, and walked into the neon-lit Kyoto.

In the end, all that was left with Eris was a large double-barrel shotgun, a few 12-gauge shells to load into it, and the money pouch he had given her.

Having little sense of money, she peeked into the pouch Raven gave her and inspected the coins inside. They had 'YEN' written on them, but how was she supposed to know their value...

"Sigh. I guess I'll have to figure it out one step at a time."

Letting out a sigh, Eris followed Raven's path and stepped into the brilliant, Far Eastern-style city. Without the slightest idea what kind of threats awaited her in this insane world.

* * *

"Anyway, these Kyoto bastards' characters are hard to read. Let's see..."

Grumbling, Raven struggled to read the Far Eastern characters as he entered a tavern named 'Izakaya Mori'.

If there's one thing that sets Dante's company, Raven's Logistics, apart from other delivery companies, it's that all of their deliverymen are either Magic users or Summoners.

Since only people who can fight fairly well are recruited, clients who hire Raven's Logistics typically fall into two categories.

The first is when they need to make a delivery under strict security.

When the item being delivered is extremely valuable or dangerous enough to require caution, and they need a deliveryman who can provide a certain level of security and safety—not just any ordinary courier—they call Raven.

The second is that although delivery is their main selling point, Raven's Logistics also takes on security, assassination, or Mercenary work.

This time, if you had to categorize it, it would be a job that combines delivery and Mercenary work.

They had to enter an Underground Ruin crawling with security robots, dig up a possibly non-existent artifact, and deliver the item inside to the client.

In particular, this client had requested to receive the item directly, and the meeting place was this Far Eastern-style tavern filled with the scent of raw wood.

"Welcome. Hm."

The standard uniform of Raven's Logistics—'a black leather coat with bulletproof capability,' the 'dog tag' with his name and ID, the holsters hanging from his waist, and the deadly firearms strapped to his back.

The shop owner, who instantly recognized he was Raven, looked at him with an awkward expression.

Well, he was used to the stares that people who could shoot a gun got, so he flicked a coin from his pocket with his thumb to the shop owner and gave a short order.

"Alright, I don't speak Kyoto. Just give me something cold and refreshing. You can speak the common language, right?"

"Yes. Y-Yes. Understood."