Vol.? Cleaner Side Story

It happened all of a sudden.

"...Heh, heh, heh... You really had the nerve to provoke me earlier, didn’t you...? Huh? ...A cornered rat will bite a cat... complacency is dangerous... Only those prepared to be provoked should do the provoking...!"

"...You were provoking them too just now, Komori..."

"Ugh... b-but they started it by doing squats first...!"

"But you followed up by shooting the corpse, didn’t you."

"Ugh—!? ...T-that much doesn’t count as provoking..."

On the wall hung two firearms and a mysterious painting, alongside the remnants of our boss’s calligraphy that read "One Evil a Day," boldly brushed across the paper. And then there was the sofa I was lying on—its seams and repair marks glaringly visible, though it must once have been quite a respectable piece.

The luxurious—well, at least decently put-together—office our boss had designed in pursuit of the "ideal outlaw office"—

"...! Alright, one down~ Think about why you lost by tomorrow and then—... huh?"

—was abruptly swallowed by darkness with a sharp snap.

"...!?"

"Komori!"

"Roger...!"

Kayoko drew her handgun from the holster at her waist and kept watch on the door and windows, while I slid smoothly under the desk with practiced ease.

Just like that, I sent messages to the rest of the team.

The tick, tick of the clock felt unnervingly loud.

What should have been a simple slice of everyday life instantly transformed into the abnormality of a battlefield.

My heartbeat sped up, my breathing growing shallow.

When would the attacker come? Any second now, I thought, bracing myself—

"...This might just be the circuit breaker tripping."

"...But we weren’t using that much electricity... I think..."

"Hmm... Oh. Come to think of it, that paper arrived the other day."

"Paper...? ...Ah, right... that kind of paper..."

With no attack forthcoming and no gunfire to be heard, Kayoko and I concluded this wasn’t an assault but a simple blackout. We relaxed our guard and crawled out from under the desk.

We shouldn’t have been running the classic breaker-dropping combo—hair dryer, microwave, washing machine, and all that... or so I thought, until Kayoko’s mention of "paper" led me to a certain possibility.

Just then, the door connecting to the next room flew open with a flurry of noise.

"What on earth is going on!? An attack!? Is it an attack!?"

"Aru-chan, you’re panicking way too much~"

"W-where’s the enemy!? I’ll blow them all away!!"

...So loud.

"Boss, this probably isn’t an attack."

"Th-then what is it!? We haven’t been using that much electricity!?"

"Hmm... ah, found it..."

"? W-what is this?"

Facing the fully armed trio, I dramatically held up a single slip of paper I’d dug out from the mess of documents, flaunting it like an official seal.

"Does this invoice not catch your eye~?"

"...Huh?"

"An electricity bill...?"

Written there was unmistakable proof—a past-due electricity bill.

"Yeah... exactly... in short, our power got cut."

"...! W-who would do such a thing!? Aru-sama! I’ll shoot them dead—!"

"N-no! Don’t!?!"

"And~... that’s not all."

As I said that, I pulled out two more sheets of paper from the mountain of documents.

"I thought I remembered this right... so I checked, and sure enough..."

The papers in my hand bore the words "Water Bill" and "Gas Bill."

Naturally, they were invoices.

"These’ll probably be cut too, any moment now..."

"Aru-chan! There’s no water coming out!!"

"What did you sayeeee!?!"

...Looks like we were too late.

"By the way, if my memory’s right... rent’s about due too. And that’s bad."

"W-w-w-what do we do...?"

"You seem pretty desperate..."

"Komori!! Anything! Isn’t there some kind of solution!? Even this month’s food budget is at its limit!?"

"...Any jobs?"

"None!!!!"

"That’s not something to say so proudly..."

"But there aren’t any!"

"Sigh... hang on a sec..."

While Aru-sama shook me, I pulled out my smartphone.

I opened MomoTalk and skimmed through my messages—starting from Sensei at the top, then some students I kept in touch with, former mercenary buddies, corporations... and some shady adults.

Sensei... no. I’d just helped out on a so-called "request" the other day. I couldn’t trouble him any more. He’d work himself to death.

Next, the students I knew... also no. Even if there were requests, they’d just be errands—not enough to cover living expenses.

The shady adults... absolutely not. There was no group less deserving of the word "trust." Just looking at them, they screamed suspicious.

So then, mercenaries. Mercenaries, huh… yeah. There were some old friends among them, but they were more like bad influences… not trustworthy—or rather… the type I’d rather not get involved with…

"Rrrrring…"

……

"Hm? Sounds like a phone call?"

"…I’ve got a bad feeling about this…"

I brought the voice changer up to my mouth and answered the call.

"Well well, long time no see, Cleaner. You look well—glad to hear it!"

"………"

"………Tch."

"Uh, um, hey, what’s with this atmosphere?"

Waiting at the corner of an abandoned building mentioned over the phone were two students: one with indigo hair and dog-like ears, and another red-haired student with wings, apparently also from Trinity.

"Honestly, I never imagined it! That the famous high-paid Cleaner would jump at such a low-budget request."

"Luckily for you, we’re running a sale right now. That aside, you sure have a slick tongue. They say the weaker the dog, the louder it barks—and it seems that saying was spot-on."

"Hey! How many times do I have to tell you!? I’m not a dog—I’m a wolf!"

"Close enough. And that’s really what you’re correcting?"

"Well, it’s true that I’m weak!"

I stared at the girl through the screen as she puffed out her completely flat chest with inexplicable confidence, then let out a sigh. Yes—these two were my fellow mercenaries, old friends, bad friends, and business rivals all rolled into one────

"Now then, my apologies for keeping you waiting. I truly never expected a capable group like yourselves—strong enough to knock some sense into that idiot—to actually come to his Problem Solver 68, but—"

"Too long. I’m Akatori Homura. I’m good at fighting. It’ll be a short job, but let’s work together."

────…Sigh. I’m Kuroshō Imu. Honestly, I wish he’d at least let people finish their introductions.

They’re the duo commonly known as the “Information Brokers.”

"Ah, pleased to work with you. I’m Rikuhachima—"

"Lady Aru, no need to take them seriously. It’s obviously a fake name. It’s different from the one she used last time."

"What!? A f-fake name!? …How very outlaw-like…"

No, no, Lady Aru. You really shouldn’t take that kind of outlaw as a role model.

"Did you hear that, Homura? ‘Lady Aru,’ she says. The humble honorifics of the great Cleaner herself. I can practically hear the ‘lol’ at the end already. Pfft—heehee."

"…Shut up."

…Annoying as they are, they’re reliable as work partners. Imu—aka “Black Wolf”—specializes in information warfare, while “Red Bird” specializes in combat. In the black market, they’re mercenaries whose names carry weight—second only to the Cleaner, of course. I’ve fought them once before as enemies, and they were tough… or rather, overwhelmingly annoying as a pair.

In any case, why am I meeting these two in an abandoned building like this?

"Ahem. Let’s get down to business. Since you’ve all gathered here, I’ll take it that you’re willing to accept this request… no, this event?"

That’s because I accepted their invitation.

"Shall we review the details of the job?"

Saying that, she pulled out her terminal and deployed a hologram.

"Millennium’s ‘Ruins’… as you all know, it’s a unique location on par with Trinity’s ‘Catacombs’ and Gehenna’s ‘Abyss.’ We’ve detected a certain signal coming from there."

…The ‘Ruins.’ A common name for a specific area within Millennium territory that includes the remains of old military factories—and also a place that’s been very useful to me for gathering OOPArts in my work as a ‘Cleaner’ and ‘Scatterer.’

It’s a restricted zone due to access controls imposed by the Federal Student Council President, so ordinary students can’t enter. I’m fine, though. I haven’t been caught.

"And as for the source of that signal—it’s a massive OOPArt. When we scanned the area, we also confirmed that various kinds of OOPArts are piled up around it, almost like an OOPArt stockpile."

"…So that means!"

"Exactly… in short, it’s a mountain of OOPArts! A treasure trove! Packed with valuables!!!"

Spreading both arms wide in exaggerated fashion, Imu answered Lady Aru’s question. And she wasn’t wrong. If her information was accurate, the OOPArts sitting there alone would be enough to make a small fortune.

Not only would it cover living expenses, it could dramatically improve one’s quality of life. Moving into a much larger office would even be an option.

"S-so how do we split it!?"

"Let’s see… hmm… how about seventy–thirty? You get the seventy."

"S-seventy–thirty……… seventy–thirty!?!?"

At the ratio Imu proposed, Lady Aru couldn’t hide her shock, letting out a voice somewhere between a scream and delight.

"Ah—well, since I’m the one who brought the info, could you cut me some slack and make it sixty–forty?"

"R-really? You’re really okay with sixty–forty!? We get the sixty, right!?"

"Of course."

"Ah, ah, ah…"

"Yayyyyyyyyy!!!"

Letting out that adorable cheer, Lady Aru dashed off toward the others. Truly precious…

…Which is exactly why, to keep Lady Aru out of danger, I’ll cover for the parts she falls short on.

"…What are you playing at?"

"…What do you mean, ‘what am I playing at’?"

Trying to play dumb?

"You just called me a ‘high earner,’ but don’t tell me you’ve forgotten that you were charging the client a pretty hefty fee yourself?"

"—!"

"…Akatori, please step back. And you too, Cleaner. Don’t point a gun at us out of nowhere. You startled me."

I eased the hammer down on the gun.

"…Haa. Do you really trust me that little?"

"Yes."

"…You say that so bluntly. That hurts."

"Get to the point."

"Alright, alright."

As if saying “surrender, surrender,” she raised both hands.

"Part of it is that, given the sheer quantity, sixty–forty is still more than enough… but that Ruins site. It’s beyond our capacity to handle."

She explained. The former military factory had since turned into a high-difficulty dungeon of sorts, with combat automatons and guard robots still roaming the area under someone’s control. With just the two of them, not only would retrieving the target be impossible—they’d struggle just to reach the target location in the first place.

"So even though your style is to avoid combat as much as possible, you’re someone who went in and out of the Ruins alone. That’s why we decided to approach you."

"…I see. I still have questions—like how you were tracking my movements—but fine. I understand."

"Oh, then—"

"But."

I raised the gun I’d been lowering and aimed it back at Imu, placing my finger on the trigger. With eyes filled with killing intent, I put it into words clearly, pressing the point and intimidating her.

"If you so much as make one suspicious move, I’ll kill you. Got it?"

"…Haha, scary, scary."

Turning my back on her as she forced a strained smile, I headed toward the others.

"…Then we have a deal."

And so, a small side-job event to earn some pocket money began.