Chapter 3: Survival instinct(3)

“Top-tier bounties are massive.”

“They’re good at hiding and fighting, though.”

“But if you catch one, you’d be set for a while, right?”

“I suppose. It’d be nice to catch one someday.”

Top-tier wanted criminals.
They frequently appeared in the original novel as well.
These top-tier criminals used their cunning or formidable combat skills to cause trouble in the story.
Of course, most of them ended up defeated by the protagonist or subdued by the security forces.

“If you keep at it, you’ll catch one eventually.”

Their appearance in the novel meant there was detailed information about them.
Affiliations. Combat levels. Behavioral patterns.
I knew quite a bit about them.
If I ever gathered enough forces, hunting them down wouldn’t be a bad idea.
The thought of 100,000 credits dangled before my eyes for a moment.

“You seem pretty confident.”

“You’ve got to have some guts in a city like this, or you’ll get eaten alive. Especially in this outer district.”

“Then, uh… what was your name again?”

“Percival Smith.”

“So, Percival, what do you do?”

Cynel’s question about my job caught me off guard.
If I were honest, I’d say I was an unemployed con artist.
But I couldn’t exactly admit that to a bounty hunter.
I racked my brain and settled on a story that seemed easy to spin.

“Me? I’m in business.”

“So, you’re a boss? What kind of business?”

“Information trading.”

“Information trading!”

For some reason, her reaction was enthusiastic.
And, in a way, it wasn’t entirely a lie.
Hadn’t I sold promises of power to get gold and jewels?
Looking at Cynel’s eager gray eyes, I took a bite of my now-cold burger.

“Thanks for the meal. I’m stuffed.”

At the entrance of the fast-food joint near the hotel, Cynel, who had polished off her set menu faster than expected, even ate an ice cream for dessert before finishing.
As we stepped outside after clearing our trays, the dark alley greeted us, no different from when we’d entered.
It was too late to call it evening—more like a midnight snack.
As I started walking back to the hotel, Cynel followed alongside me.

“Cynel, was it? Is your place far from here?”

“Not too far. Maybe thirty minutes if I walk normally.”

“Closer than I thought.”

I chuckled to myself as I walked.
Cynel was a bounty hunter who could take down criminals single-handedly.
Meanwhile, I wasn’t even sure I could beat the girl next to me in a fight.
Who was I to worry about anyone?

“…?”

Thud.

Lost in my pointless thoughts, I stopped short as someone bumped into me.
A man in a hooded jacket had brushed past me and Cynel.
He glanced back at me briefly, muttered a single word, and kept walking.

“Sorry.”

His steps were hurried, as if he had somewhere urgent to be.
Watching him disappear into the alley, I reached into my pocket and realized the problem.
Something that should’ve been there was gone.

“…A pickpocket.”

The thin envelope with the credits inside had vanished.
Luckily, it seemed he’d only rifled through one pocket, as the bulk of my credits in the other pocket was still there.
But losing the entire bounty Cynel had given me soured my mood.
Even if it wasn’t much compared to what I had, money was money.
I wasn’t about to shrug it off just because it was a small loss.
Cynel, keeping pace beside me, asked,

“Pickpocket?”

“Looks like it.”

The outer district I was in was notorious, even within a city already infamous for its crime.
It was a place crawling with criminals and bounty hunters.
A pickpocket popping up wasn’t exactly surprising.

Cynel, hearing about the pickpocket, pushed up the tip of her goggles with her fingers and said,

“I’ll catch him.”

“What?”

“He might be a wanted criminal. [Haste].”

With that, Cynel took off running.
Haste. A magic that warps the body’s time to move faster.
Cynel’s figure, sprinting after the pickpocket, was so swift it was hard to track with my eyes.
Now I understood why she said her magic burned so many calories.
With her body’s metabolic cycle sped up by the time distortion, her calorie consumption must skyrocket.
I couldn’t just stand there, so I ran after her as fast as I could.

“Cynel! Cynel Cloverbloom…!”

Both the pickpocket and Cynel had vanished into the alley.
Hurrying after where Cynel had gone, I heard a familiar voice.
It was a short phrase, but memorable enough.
Of course, it belonged to the pickpocket I’d just run into.

“Ahh! My leg!”

He was writhing on the ground, clutching his leg and screaming.
The red wound on the leg he held told me everything I needed to know.
Next to him, Cynel was wiping blood off her knife.
Was she extraordinary? Or just aggressive?
Despite her appearance and personality, she was unmistakably a bounty hunter.

“Caught him quick. Here’s your stolen money.”

Cynel handed me an envelope, as if expecting a reward.
It was definitely the one the pickpocket had taken.
I stared at it in her hand for a moment before speaking.

“Any interest in working for my company?”