Those Who Live Without the Law

Chapter 6

Getting a Job

* * *

Jonathan, who had been staring at Kairus, asked a question.

“So, is that idiot doing well?”

“By the standards of life outside? Or by the standards inside the labor correctional facility?”

The answer changed depending on the conditions. At Kairus’s words, the shop owner let out a “Ha!” sound.

“Considering he smashed the heads of three of the Valorn Empire Security Corps bastards and crippled seven more, is he doing well?”

“He is doing very well.”

Having committed crimes of that degree and yet becoming the cell leader inside the Carlson Labor Correctional Facility meant he perfectly fit the standard of doing well.

From the shop owner’s fist came a cracking sound.

“But you’re not here running your mouth thinking you’ll pick up some scraps by using that crippled bastard’s name, are you?”

The shop owner seemed to harbor some suspicion toward Kairus.

“They said if I mentioned Cloud Lighthouse, you’d understand.”

At Kairus’s words, the shop owner immediately sprang up from his seat and approached. Even at a glance, he was well over two meters tall, to the point Kairus had to look up at him.

“My name is Jonathan. Welcome to your new job as an employee at Longwave Bistro, you runt.”

It wasn’t that Kairus was short Jonathan standing in front of him was simply enormous.

“Weekly pay is 350 Pyint. Meals are provided. If you’ve got nowhere to stay, there’s an attic here in the shop sleep there if you want.”

He wasn’t completely sure, but considering room and board plus 350 Pyint a week, it didn’t seem all that bad.

“What should I call you?”

“Call me whatever the hell you want, brat.”

At Jonathan’s words, Kairus pondered briefly before replying.

“Then I’ll call you Chief.”

“You crazy bastard. Do I look like some bandit leader to you?”

It was Jonathan himself who said to call him whatever he wanted. And honestly, he didn’t seem to dislike the title all that much. Kairus noticed that as well.

“I look forward to working with you, Chief.”

“Today, there’s not much time left before we close the shop. I’ll show you where you’ll be sleeping first.”

A moment later, after checking his pocket watch, Jonathan shut the shop door and led Kairus to the attic.

“It’s rather shabby.”

An attic wasn’t the kind of place to boast a pleasant environment in the first place.

There were cobwebs visible, some dust, and everything creaked here and there. But it was fairly dry, so he wouldn’t have to worry about mold.

A small lamp, caked with grime, was the only light illuminating the room.

“What were you expecting when I’m letting you stay here for free?”

“It’d be nice if there were something like a room service menu.”

Jonathan smacked Kairus on the back.

“Here’s your bedding.”

He threw over a worn-out blanket. Still, it must have been washed recently since it didn’t reek.

“For food, there’s some stew I was going to throw out tomorrow morning anyway. Make do with that.”

Stew that was going to be thrown out tomorrow. Kairus quietly stared at the stew in the dish.

“Got a problem with the menu?”

“Of course not. I’ll happily eat whatever I’m given.”

“Good.”

Jonathan ladled a generous portion of stew into a rather large tin bowl. It was a stew with tomato, celery, and mushrooms in it.

And there was also a chunk of dense, sour-tasting black bread.

Even with just this, the prisoners in the labor correctional facility would have rolled their eyes back and lunged at it, devouring it like dogs starving for three months and ten days.

“That’s why your business is doing so well.”

Having emptied the bowl in an instant, Kairus spoke in admiration. At this level, the taste wasn’t all that inferior even compared to the fine meals he had eaten as a child.

“You’re stating the obvious.”

Jonathan replied with a grin. He had the look of someone brimming with pride about the restaurant he ran.

And rightly so.

Longwave Bistro wasn’t a brothel, nor did it deal in illegal drugs.

Moreover, it closed at night, so liquor sales were never the main source of income to begin with.

The reason this restaurant was thriving was simply because it sold delicious, plentiful food at reasonable prices.

Longwave Bistro was one of the few real “restaurants” one could find in Bennett City.

“Since you just set foot in this rotten town, you probably don’t know a damn thing. Listen while you eat.”

Jonathan planned to tell this newcomer about the kinds of people and factions he needed to watch out for in Bennett City.

Since he had decided to hire Kairus, he also had to do his best to keep any trouble from spilling over if Kairus made a mistake.

“First, I can’t leave out the story of the Grand Canal.”

At Jonathan’s words, Kairus paused his meal and looked up at him. The Antaria Grand Canal? What did that have to do with all the stories that would follow?

Between the Antaria Grand Canal and the countless dangers lurking inside Bennett City, there were tangled interests knotted together like chewed-up gum in a woman’s hair.

“To start with, there’s the Aylan Republic Police Department and the Valorn Empire Security Corps.”

Both were organizations Kairus had already encountered back at the train station.

Two nations’ security forces operating in a single area. Was there any simpler example to explain what a territorial dispute looked like?

Both the Aylan Republic and the Valorn Empire coveted Bennett City. And the reason neither nation could ever bring themselves to give it up was the Antaria Grand Canal.

On top of that, the balance of power between the two countries was so exquisitely matched that neither side wanted to risk a full-scale war.

“The Police Department and the Security Corps. Neither of them seemed all that concerned with maintaining public order.”

At Kairus’s words, Jonathan stuffed a handful of chewing tobacco into his mouth and mumbled a reply.

“They’re deliberately looking the other way. Let’s say you arrest a criminal. Which country are you supposed to extradite him to?”

“Hmm, ah. I see how it is now.”

Kairus gave a small nod. He thought he roughly understood what Jonathan was getting at.

The Valorn Empire and the Aylan Republic were locked in a fierce territorial dispute over the Bennett City area. In this situation, even if you apprehended a criminal, it was difficult to simply haul them off to your own country.

“So they just decided not to create any cause for dispute in the first place?”

“That’s exactly it.”

“What an insane solution.”

Kairus clicked his tongue. If you arrested a criminal, deciding which country to extradite them to could trigger conflict. So both the Police Department and the Security Corps had simply given up on maintaining public order in the city.

But if they weren’t going to enforce the law, why the hell were the Police Department and the Security Corps even staying here?

“Besides, if they carelessly arrest criminals, they might earn a bad reputation with the city’s syndicates.”

If you were to ask why it mattered so much for state security forces to maintain a good reputation among criminal organizations…

The answer was that, once again, it wasn’t such a simple situation.

Trying to seize control of Bennett City without the cooperation of the crime syndicates? One wrong move, and you might have to pull out of Bennett altogether.

And if either the Police Department or the Security Corps ended up getting chased out of Bennett City, where the entrance to the Antaria Grand Canal was located, the punishment for the commanding officer wouldn’t end with a mere reprimand.

“But likewise, I doubt the crime syndicates would do anything too reckless either.”

Kairus spoke.

The little larvae crawling around and throwing their weight around this town probably didn’t want this delicate balance to collapse either.

“The important thing is the possibility. Just the thought that something could happen!”

Even that possibility alone imposed a huge burden on anyone trying to act carelessly.

Spitting the chewed tobacco into a tin, Jonathan continued.

“Next are the ones you really have to watch out for. The heads of the organizations that make up the Operations Committee.”

This was where it truly began.

Honestly, knowing you had to be careful around the Empire’s Security Corps and the Republic’s Police was just common sense you’d follow in any city.

It was simply that in Bennett, their danger level was somewhat higher.

But from this point on, what Jonathan was talking about were the criminal syndicates that actually controlled Bennett City and the unique rules they had created.

“The Operations Committee, huh.”

“The official name is the Antaria Grand Canal Operations Committee.”

It was a committee consisting of the bosses of the major criminal syndicates that ruled Bennett City, along with the heads of the Security Corps and the Police Department.

At regular meetings, they decided how to distribute the profits generated from the Grand Canal and set policies for its operation.

At irregular meetings, they negotiated and settled important issues that would have a major impact on Bennett City and the surrounding area.

“In effect, it’s a small independent government.”

“That’s about right. If I tried to tell you everything, it’d take forever, so I’ll just cover the most important parts real quick.”

Jonathan began talking about the organizations belonging to the Operations Committee.

Lukas’s Children

Lanternlight

Lumis & Wesson Transport Company

Areumdri Pawnshop

Rose Garden

The bosses of those five criminal organizations, plus the head of the Empire’s Security Corps and the chief of the Republic’s Police Department.

In total, the committee was made up of seven members.

“Among them, you and I will be heading to the Bennett branch of the Rose Garden first thing tomorrow morning.”

“What?”

Kairus looked at Jonathan with a slightly surprised expression. Just what kind of organization was it that they had to go see it first thing in the morning?

“Is this area under the control of that Rose Garden syndicate?”

Maybe it was something like when a newcomer arrived in prison and had to go greet the senior inmates. When Kairus asked, Jonathan snorted and spat his chewing tobacco into the tin.

“That’s true, but do you think the Rose Garden cares about some shabby little diner like this?”

Then why? Kairus was about to ask, but Jonathan spoke first.

“The core business of the Rose Garden is guarantees.”

“…Guarantees? What’s that supposed to mean?”

Jonathan tapped the table with his finger and explained.

“In this town, nobody’s fool enough to start something just by trusting the words coming out of someone’s mouth.”

In a city crawling with swindlers, criminals, and robbers, words alone had almost no credibility whatsoever.

“The Rose Garden guarantees the execution of contracts between two parties and takes payment in return.”

“Guarantees as in…?”

In response to Kairus’s question, Jonathan elaborated.

“You leave a copy of the mutually agreed contract at the Rose Garden’s Guarantee Office. You state what compensation will be demanded if the other party breaches it.”

Then, you pay whatever fee the Rose Garden demands, and that’s the end of the procedure. Jonathan slowly got up from his seat as he spoke.

“In this city, any contract not backed by the Rose Garden is just a worthless scrap of paper.”

“It must be held in very high esteem.”

Even if they specialized in contract guarantees, earning that much trust couldn’t have been easy. When Kairus said this, Jonathan lowered his voice slightly.

“Have you heard of Delsun City?”

“Yes, it’s a city not too far from here, isn’t it?”

A city owned by the Valorn Empire.

“Recently, the mayor there broke a contract guaranteed by the Rose Garden and ended up dead.”

“Good grief. Was he assassinated?”

At Kairus’s question, Jonathan shook his head.

“Not at all. In broad daylight, their men just stormed City Hall and lopped his head off.”

“What… How is that even possible?”

Even if it was a large criminal syndicate, they had slit the throat of a mayor appointed directly by the Emperor in broad daylight with the sun high overhead?

“With that kind of decisiveness, it’s no wonder the people of Bennett City trust any contract backed by the Rose Garden.”

They possessed such power that they could execute an imperial official over a broken contract. That alone was enough to create an atmosphere where the Rose Garden’s guarantee was considered absolutely reliable.

“Tomorrow morning, we’ll first go to a scribe’s office to draft your employment contract, and then head to the Rose Garden’s Guarantee Office to have it certified.”

Jonathan himself couldn’t read or write. When Kairus heard that, he offered a suggestion.

“If it’s about writing, I can do it for you.”

At Kairus’s words, Jonathan snorted.

“What part of you do you think I’d trust enough to let you handle my contract?”

It was disappointing not to be trusted, but in truth, it would have been even stranger for Jonathan, who’d only just met Kairus today, to trust him outright.

“You have a point. Understood.”

“Good. Then see you tomorrow.”

Jonathan immediately rose from his seat. At that moment, the sound of weapons clashing and people exchanging curses rang out from outside.

Someone began screaming, begging for help, pleading not to be killed. Kairus flinched for a moment, but Jonathan spoke without even turning around.

“Just think of it as a lullaby. Once night falls in this town, you’ll hear that sort of thing at least five times before sunrise. If you’ve finished eating, go get some sleep.”

It was one hell of a filthy, menacing, and ominous lullaby.

Kairus stood up from his seat, washed the dishes he had used, and headed for the attic.

Listening to all the noises that symbolized the unstable security and rampant crime, Kairus pulled the blanket over himself in the attic.

“Ha.”

He let out a thin sigh. For now, he had at least succeeded in arriving in Bennett City. And, at the very least, he had secured a way to survive here for a while.

He would have to quickly get used to how this place operated and find a lead to reclaim the scattered legacies of his family, whose whereabouts had become uncertain.